Sadly, there are people out there who just want to ruin the movie. My oldest now has friends who are working ago and one works at the theater. She told me that her friend said people were leaving the theater in tears because there is a very emotional scene near the end of the movie. Unfortunately I worked out exactly what happened based on passing comments people made. They didn’t think it would “spoil” the movie … like it wasn’t an inside joke people who didn’t see the movie wouldn’t possibly be able to understand.

Well, that might be true of some people, but my daughter and I both tend to predict major plot points in the movie, even without hints. I remember when Sixth Sense came out, and this was way back before everyone was online. I didn’t watch it right away because I wasn’t really that interested. Everyone kept telling me it was “so good” and there was a “OMG BIGGEST PLOT TWIST EVER!!!!!” and that I’d never see it coming. After a few times I got kind of tired of how people who had seen it seemed to feel they knew something I didn’t and just wanted to dangle this big plot twist in front of me so the next time someone tried to goad me to go watch the movie because of the plot twist I looked right at them and said, “Bruce Willis dies at the beginning of the movie but you don’t realize it till the end and he didn’t think he was dead but the boy knew and talked to him.” They asked if I had seen it and I told them all I ever saw was the preview. When they asked who spoiled it I simply said it was them and everyone else who went on and one about the plot twist. That was enough to spoil the movie for me so I never got to experience that plot twist.

Though to be honest, when I finally did watch the movie I couldn’t comprehend how anyone didn’t figure that out in the very beginning. It was pretty blatant.

Anyway, back to Infinity War. Before going to the movie I had a talk with my youngest. He gets really into these movies and loves his super heroes. If something bad happens to them it makes him angry or sad. So I warned him and said this wasn’t like the other Marvel movies. There is a part 1 and 2 so things aren’t going to go well for the heroes and a lot of his favorites might die or be hurt very, very bad.

Basically I was giving him a chance to not watch it, and he thought about it but decided to watch it anyway.

Well, it was intense, right from the start. I kept watching him and he was really into it but it was clear parts of it bothered him quite a bit. I talked with him after and he is angry at the person who made the movie. I did reassure him than in part 2 things will probably get a lot better and the heroes will win in the end. I asked if he was glad he watched it or wished he had stayed with his Nana and Papa. He admitted he was still glad to have watched it but was still mad.

For me, I really enjoyed the movie but not as much as Black Panther. It was great seeing so many characters from the MCU in a single movie. I feel they did a good job of bringing in aspects of each individual part of the franchise too. Like when they switch to the Guardians of the Galaxy for the first time, they are playing music like you’d expect from one of their movies.

They also added a lot of great comedic segments, which helped to counter balance the darker elements.

I think if I didn’t know some of what was going to happen it would have been a true emotional rollercoaster. Unfortunately some of that effect was lost on me.

There are certain things that didn’t fully make sense. I suspect it could be related to cast availability but they didn’t have certain characters and they basically said “oh, they can’t make it…” I mean the reason was a little more specific but I feel like it would have been good to at least give some effort there. It’s like how Thor wasn’t in Civil War. Granted that wasn’t an Avengers movie but pretty much everyone but Thor and Hulk were in it including new characters like Spiderman and Ant Man. We know what Hulk was up to after Ragnorak and Thor was probably busy with other stuff, but it is still disappointing they didn’t have a little more about that in the movie.

Maybe they’ll do something in the upcoming Ant Man and the Wasp movie. There is clearly some major happening that they will have to acknowledge in that movie.

Anyways, I’ve talked for a while and hopefully if you ended up on this page you have seen the movie, but if not I’m going to warn you that there is a spoiler ahead. Like the next paragraph I’m going to start talking about something specific in the movie, not just my experience and feelings about it. Before I jump to the spoiler I will say the movie is a solid A, not an A+. Might have been an A+ if I didn’t see certain things coming. Either way I can highly recommend it.

Ok, you were warned. My favorite part of the movie was actually a casting decision. As you probably know, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir was destroyed is Ragnorak (they show it in the preview which I think was a real disservice). Well, in Infinity War he seeks a new weapon. He goes to the place where Mjolnir was forged and it is a dead hulk in space. Then he is attacked by a giant. When the motion stops for a moment you clearly see the giant’s face. Turns out that space dwarves are about twice as tall as an average human but are played by people often cast as dwarves or halflings. The dwarf that towered over Thor was none other than Peter Dinklage. I lost it.

I had been avoiding spoilers or information about the movie as much as I could so I had no idea he was in the movie. When I realized they cast him as a dwarf but made the dwarf a giant I had a hard time breathing I was laughing so hard.

In my mind there had to have been a conversation something like this:

casting director: Peter, we have a part we think you’d be perfect for.
Peter Dinklage: You’ve got 30 seconds to wow me.
CD: Space Dwarf
PD: Ok, I’m interested .. but not wowed. 25 seconds.
CD: Space Dwarf that forged Thor’s Hammer out for revenge against the Titan who mangled his hands, killed his people, and broke his forge.
PD: …
CD: …
PD: You’re losing me. Dwarves, forges, seems a bit played out. 15 seconds.
CD: Did I mention the Space Dwarf is a giant?
PD: You mean like tall for a dwarf? Maybe average human size?
CD: I mean like twice as tall as a tall human.
PD: You had me at Giant Space Dwarf. Peter out!

If that conversation didn’t happen I’m still going to pretend it did. It feels like something right out of an SNL skit only it happened for real. That scene alone was worth the price of admission.

So that’s my review and I hope you already saw the movie if you’ve made it to this point. If not, there is plenty of other stuff that happens in the movie that makes it worth your time to go watch it.

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I’m really excited to announce I’m speaking at WCDC 2017!!!

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I setup jetpack with 2factor authentication and also setup the app on my phone. I’m testing how it publishes. This is kinda cool but I don’t think I’d use this to write a big post. Not bad for a status update though. 

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Last year about this time we had to bid farewell to Tyler, our faithful lab mix. He was the best dog and my oldest son still says, “Tyler was my best friend.”

It was a difficult time and I really struggled with it for a while, but back in January we got a new puppy. The family decided to call him Link since there is a dog in the neighborhood named Zelda and you must have a Link to go with Zelda

He was born on Thanksgiving, so it is easy enough to remember his birthday. I thought he would be a great pup. His siblings were either all black or all yellow but he was black with some white spots. That made him special. I felt super excited when they let us bring him home.

The first month was tough. He didn’t kennel well to start with but we kept working with him. After a month of taking turns sleeping next to him we got him comfortable sleeping in his kennel by himself. Now he sleeps through the night and does a really good job letting us know it’s time to go potty.

Anyway, here are some of the pics we took with Link so far.

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With great power comes great responsibility.

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Just updated my blog theme. I kept some of the features from the old theme but added a much lighter color scheme, which I think is easier on the eyes, and I added the masonry script and some other little extras. I hope everyone likes it.

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The previous album, Healing of Harms, was full of haunting melodies, quite different from previous work. I truly enjoyed the progression, but it seemed like a different group. Now, on the other hand, sounds like 10 extra tracks were made for Unbreakable. Some of the songs are so similar I had to listen to them back to back to know for sure it was a different song.

Overall I think this is a good collection of songs from a band I really love, but while I’d give Unbreakable 8 or 9 out of 10 I can only give this about 7, maybe 8 out of 10. I love the sound, but it is just too much like their previous work with little sense of growth and change. Bands that hold too much to their classics (if you can call 4 years ago classic) might make some fans happy, but I think they lose something for lack of dynamic growth.

That said, if you like rock with a female lead (such as Flyleaf or Paramore) then give Now by Fireflight a chance.

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• Audio
• Gallery
• Link
• Quote
• Status

Got a few other minor changes planned to clean things up, but I’m happy with this start.

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Second, this is not a new concept. It is a conversation I’ve been having since college, but a random comment a couple of minutes ago brought it to my mind and I realized I’ve never blogged on this. I’m hoping the age of this makes it retro chic, not just hopelessly out of date.

Church 1.0 aka Church Classic

Over 2000 years of history. Church classic has received many revisions and updates, but through the revisions you will find the same rich feature set.

• Solid Foundation: I mean really solid, most are concrete with a brick and mortar setup on top of that. When the wind blows this church will probably still be there
• True HD services with full surround sound: in some services you will be able to hear shouts, amens, and other phrases from a full omnidirectional sound, and as much resolution as your eyes can perceive
• Plug N Play interface: plug your butt into pew, no other adapters or software required
• Built in social networking: the included “gossip” aka “prayer chain” network will keep you up to date on what is happening in the lives of the other church members in real time with no character limits
• On Site Support: in most locations there is a 24/7 support staff. it is a little known fact that pastors don’t sleep and only eat communion wafers and occasional meals with church members.
• Massive User Manual: a veritable Bible of church knowledge.
• Template Based Option set with literally thousands of variations: find the church that fits you.

Church 2.0 aka Church for a New Generation

With all the features of Church Classic, it is not surprising there are many users that have not upgraded, but for the new generation you can gain all these new features.

• Cloud Based: like Heaven, which means it must be holier
• MMORPC (Massively Multiplayer Online Roman and Protestant Church): no denominational boundaries, but you might want to make sure your OS is compatible
• Worship on Your Schedule: adapt to your busy life, fast forward through the songs you don’t like, and even skip sermon points that only apply to your friends and family.
• Come as you are service: Church classic has been claiming this for years, but show up in your underwear one time and they will never let you work in the kid’s ministry again
• Flexible: not like that one kid in high school that can fold into a box, but able to adapt to your life, and that’s the point right?
• Low Maintenance: reduced overhead so you don’t have to give. Tithe can be structured to mean 7%, which is a much holier number anyways.
• Achievement system: measure your holiness by achievements “You gave to help feed hungry kids in Africa, Feed the Hungry Achievement Unlocked.

Cross Platform Ideas

I have a few ideas for bridging the gap between the Church Classic and the Church for a New Generation.

• Flash Mob Service: Once a month arrange a flash mob to a different Church Classic service. Immediately following the service everyone breaks into Jesus Loves me with the hand motions
• Web Design Outreach ministry: you can tell the difference between a Classic Church and a New Generation Church by the website. Have your 2.0 church reach out to the less fortunate in the web community by offering free design services to 1.0 churches.
• Church Prayer Chain inclusion: even with Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ the church 2.0 simply cannon keep up with the gossip ability of the prayer chain. Reach out to friends in church 2.0 by offering to let them be a part of your prayer chain.
• Church Social Outreach: The church was built around community meals, just read the book of Acts. Church 2.0 is really missing out, and a lot of those poor hipsters are rail thin. This is because of a severe lack of potlucks. Invite your Church 2.0 friends to your next fellowship meal.

The Future of the Church. Church 3.0

There’s an app for that.

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I added my avatar to status updates on my site. Twenty Eleven does this and I thought it was a really cool feature. I like how it turned out. Planning a couple of posts because it has been too long.

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