a book review: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Read this over break. It's an excellent and exciting story, and the movie adaptation is just as good; perhaps better. Velociraptors are to be feared as a pack of leopards who have been imbued with the agility of mongoose, the ferocity of a wolverine, and the diabolical intelligence of a chimp.

You lose details and some character development when you translate a book into a movie, just because everything has to be done with visuals and dialogue, but in some ways the movie version smooths out flaws in Crichton's story. Crichton builds things up tremendously well until the tipping point where the fat guy starts making trouble and the visitors break down right next to the T-rex enclosure, who can now get out because the electrical fences are out. But then his story starts breaking down.

He is able to keep you interested enough to keep reading, but it is like he tries too hard to do so. After the kids and Dr. Grant get stuck out in the woods with no choice but to walk back through dangerous dinosaur-island, and everything else starts going to crap, there begins weak danger-at-every-turn writing. They have so many near misses with the Tyrannosaur that it becomes cheesy.

In this way the film takes the upper hand. The movie is exciting and you feel the danger, but it doesn't break down into cheap action-film writing. (At least not as bad as the book does.) A small detail that I find irksome in the book is that it is specifically listed the 15 dinosaur species that the island's geneticists re-engineer, and then later a 16th species is running around. It is like the author just wanted filler, to take the place of squirrels as mild, chittering creatures, and forgot the rules of his own story.

All in all, my favorite character in the story is Ian Malcolm: the brilliant chaos theory mathematician who wears all black and has the cynical (and he turns out correct) view that the very concept of the park teeters on the brink of disaster. The story of a Dinosaur Park, and the way it falls apart because of the problem with attempting something within the scope of scientific possibility but beyond the scope of what humans can or should try to control, is an exciting and enjoyable one.

It should be noted that in the movie Mr. Hammond (the old rich guy who starts the park) is portrayed as a lively, happy old man. In the book where we get more insight into his character, it is seen that he is a foolish old man who tries to overstep what should be done just because it can be done so as to bring dinosaurs back from extinction. Then his idea is to keep them under control in his park so that he can make billions on the novelty. His pride and desire for riches get the better of him, and in the end his dinosaurs eat him.

Christmas Break Update

Ah, Christmas.

As the season winds down and we realize that in less than a week a new year will be upon us, I'm sure eager blog readers everywhere are asking themselves, what are those Willard boys up to?

Well my friends, let me provide some much needed info for your curious hearts.

John Carr received gifts from friends and family the other morning, then spent his afternoon in a local pawn shop selling all of them for what meager prices he could manage, in order to fight the felony case against him in the sorry state of North Carolina for driving too fast. John has a warrant out in North Cackalacky for going 80 in a 55. However, if any young bounty hunters are looking for a easy catch, be wary, John can be hardcore.

Sam is enjoying a quiet Christmas in the mountains of Fishersville, VA. Bruce and Nancy Bowman are pleased to have their only son home, and are sure to participate in many heartwarming family activities with Sam such as, but not limited to, hunting, cooking, cleaning, singing, dancing, hiking, coloring, talking, playing monopoly, healing sick animals, doing work for the city of Staunton, and taking family photos.

Jeremy doesn't celebrate Christmas, in the North, they have rallies where they burn Christmas trees, wrapping papers, and Santa Claus effigies. Yankees...

During the break, Doug will most likely spend the holidays preparing himself for the long trail ahead of him on the Appalachain trail. Additionally, Doug will be honing up on his math skills for his future profession as a high school math teacher. For Christmas, Doug asked for inspirational posters with cats and other animals on them for his classroom. These posters have phrases like "Hang in there!" with cats doing a pull up, or "come out of your shell!" with turtles rolling around on the ground. They're great.

Evan is out hunting a deer right now in order to feed the men of Willard on their trip to New York. He also may be dabbling in building green eco-friendly igloos in the snow.

Jackson is laying on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean right now probably, with his brother Tyler Strawn rubbing lotion on his back, reading a library book picked out by his mother, Susan Strawn. Jackson has been cruisin around on the ocean and stopping in tropical lands such as Jamaica, Barbados, and Florida.

Joe "DADDY" Danehower, is Broin it out in Chantilly, Virginia. kickin it old school with Josh and Jamie Danehower, the J-Danes (as they're affectionately called around the neighborhood.) are hanging out with their tiny Russian friend who visits them at Christmas. Her name is Elaina I believe, but no one has met her yet. I expect to be introduced when the Willard boys visit on December 30th, 2010.

Myself? I been chillin out ya dig? worked at the Y one day, took a trip from San Antonio to Chesapeake, spent a night at the Orphanage with JT, Ba, ScottyCam, and Josh last night. Now I'm plannin on chillin out till I leave for NY in two days.

well my friends, its been real and its been good, and its been real good.

<3's
James Crockett Harris III

white christmas anyone?

Merry CHRISTmas everone!

D. thinks:

about death a lot. Sure, life is good. But it isn't good enough to really satisfy. What I really want is beyond this. What I really want is Jesus.

I have dreams. I want to hike the Appalachian Trail, and be a high school math teacher one day. I want to live in Colorado. I want to marry a woman, and love her. I'd like to have children with her, and love them. But I'm not holding onto these dreams. When my God says to me "Come here, now", I won't look back. There won't be anything to look back to.

So please, my friends, don't live your life for this life. There is nothing here.

To hell with the American Dream. The only retirement I am saving for is the great Sabbath rest at the end of all things. And I am trying to get 6 solid days of work in 'till then.

Yes, I love life. But God is way better than life. I love him more.

Break.

family, friends, and foes,

on the behalf of the willard house we would like to wish you a happy holiday season. you are probably thinking, oh thats sweet jackson, we hope you have a happy holiday season as well, what all are you going to be doing over break? well since you asked, ill tell...



currently over break, to be honest, i have not done much. i had gotten a call from honey baked ham a week ago asking me to report for the holiday season, however, when they found out that their loyal employee would not be able to work on christmas eve they thought it was only fair not to give me any hours. yes i am bitter. with that being said, continue to buy there hams, they are delicious. after realizing that i would not be working i had to find something to do all day rather than just be a bum around the house. and i have struggled with that. my days have consisted of reading, watching tv, and yea thats it. not that im complaining, but i would like to find something to do. and no i promise i will not be doing this all break long. for years my mom has dreamed of spending christmas on a cruise ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. after years of begging, we are finally doing just that. on wednesday morning at 5am my family and i will drive to richmond to board an airplane to fly to flo-rida where we will hop in the ship. ironically the movie titanic was on the other night and i caught myself watching it. it doesnt help that my name is jack as well. we will be cruising for 5 days in which one of those days we will be in the bahamas and another day in jamaica. i have never been on a cruise before so im pretty unsure on what people actually do. one would assume there is fun stuff to do on a cruise ship. i often view cruises for old people or small children. maybe i will have a taste of both of those lives this week. speaking of old people...



im not that big if fan of the show survivor but i often catch myself watching the 2 hour finale they have at the end of the season. the whole concept of the show is intriguing. however, im skeptical on how much they endure the harsh reality of living in the wild. someone once told me that wherever they stay there is always like a resort on the other side of the "uncharted island". with that being said, the theme of this season was old people vs young people. one of the old people on the show was jimmy johnson who is an ex nfl coach and player. he is 67 years old. now why would a 67 year old dude what to be on survivor? your guess is as good as mine. but i was reading this book the other day that said, "youth is not a period of time. it is a state of mind." with a majority of us being in college we face the reality of "growing up" everyday we wake up (ex. doug just graduated and john turned 20 today). and i would argue that like peter pan we dont have to grow older if we dont want to. just like jimmy j wanted to compete against people under half his age for a million bucks he didnt need. as most of us spend this holiday season at home, or on a cruise, and act as if christmas isnt cool anymore, lets allow ourselves to change and become like little children and have some fun. i love you all and will hopefully have pictures from the cruise to share.

final note:
"you will remain young as long as you are open to what is beautiful, good, and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature and God."

announcement:
the willard house will be going to new york city to ring in the new year. if you dont have any plans and would love to come hop on the bandwagon. dont ask questions, just come. and yes snooki will be there inside the ball and mike "the situation" and dj pauly d will be there leading us in setting the world record for most people fist pumping at once in one location.

love,
jackson

Winter Break

I apologize for the break between posts, four days, my goodness. That's unacceptable. In fact, it's so unacceptable that I highly recommend you send hate emails and facebook messages to my roommates. I understand the error of my ways, but they need reinforcement so a break like this never happens again.

Everybody finished up their first semester exams today, and are considering heading home for the holidays. The Lebaron doesn't like snow however, so tomorrow, John Carr, myself and my cousin Conner will hit the long road back to Chesapeake.

It's a quiet evening at the Willard house tonight, we're all feeling pretty exhausted after a hard week of studying, so we're kickin' back playing supersmash and having light hearted discussions over a cup of tea.

Or are we?

What was a quiet evening at home with a couple freshmen bros quickly turned into some wild and willard activity here at the house. Let's take a look at what all the individuals did tonight...

Before the evening started, all of the residents except for Evan, Sam and Joe went to PK's to attempt winning some free pizza. I (James) always call the shots (literally) during the Tijuana Toss. THis is a game where after you eat pizzas a quarter is tossed for each one individually, if you guess the correct side, you get the pizza FOR FREE. I went a dismal 1/3 tonight, but I blame it on the girl tossing, who after I won the first toss, dropped the quarter on the floor. This threw off my groove and is what I consider dirty playing on PKS.

John and Jeremy- After sitting watching some vids on youtube, these two hooligans were persuaded by Renee, Rachel, and ASF to go sled illegally on the golf course with Craig Sweeny "Todd". John did this because he indulges in "stickin it to the man" and Jeremy did it in hopes of seeing what fun was, something that does not exist in the blasphemous north.

Doug is off at the residence of Dehart, playing Settlers of Cataan, a board game I'm sure you are all familiar with. Probably winning by this time, Doug is known for his hardnosed playing style and slight of hand tricks that keep all other Canaan contestants on their toes.

Sam and Joe are spending time with their girlfriends, Eliza and Claire respectively, at their apartment in Pheasant Run, I believe the girls cooked them spaghetti for dinner. Though details remain unconfirmed.

Evan is meandering around the house, reading and enjoying his newfound freedom from the harsh demands of mother academia, who has kept her heel hard on his windpipe all semester.

Jackson and myself had adventures.


Well my friends, this concludes another blog of the Willard home, I wish you a Merry Christmas Season. Check back soon for Christmas break updates from each of the guys individually. And to all a goodnight.

<3's
James Crockett Harris III

Date Night.

here at the willard house 5 out of the 8 roommates currently have girlfriends. however, the other three, doug, jeremy, and myself are single. tonight, three of the willard men went on dates so i figured it was only appropriate to blog about this occurrence.

first on the ballot is single man himself jeremy aaron mateyk. this 19 year old sophomore was recently part of the "white elephant" game played at our final young life leadership of the semester. jeremy however was not a participant, but a gift. this gift included a night out on the town with this handsome stud. the winner of this gift happened to be 20 year old rachel allison myers who resides at the hassel house. jeremy picked rachel up at approximately 7:05 pm (fashionably late) in a white subaru which happens to be even underwood's. jeremy and rachel went to macados, a local restaurant that is known for its amazing cuisine. after a wonderful dinner, jeremy dropped rachel back off at hassel before returning to the willard complex. when questioned how the date went, jeremy simply replied, "it was fun, we got to know each other." successful date number one.

next up on the ballot is samuel jacob bowman. samuel has been dating eliza craymer who resides in pheasant run for almost a year now. sam often woos eliza with spectacular dates out on the town. sam is very creative. with that being said, sam decided to keep it simple tonight with a little trip to the christiansburg cold stone. they figured ice cream was a perfect choice on this nippy december evening. little did they know that jeremy and i had decided to spy on their date. jeremy and i followed sam to pheasant run where he picked up eliza and two mystery characters. while on the highway jeremy and i identified one of these mystery characters as claire pendelton waldrop. jeremy and i decided to wait outside cold stone in evans car while the four went into cold stone. soon enough the other mystery character was identified as kylie gaylen. they were actually going to visit katy campbell, who is a friend of all of ours. while in the car jeremy and i dodged alex caporale and sam ross, they almost noticed us. when finally exiting the creamery sam, eliza, kylie, and claire noticed us. a couple words were exchanged before jeremy and i made the haul back to blacksburg.

on the final ballot is james crockett harris the third. james and his new girlfriend allie golden who resides in "new res", an on campus establishment. they have been baking cookies in the kitchen while i sit in the lodge writing this blog. awkward? i think not. they are now exchanging gifts in the family room. james just admitted to finding one of the christmas gifts allie had gotten for him in her room weeks ago. what a heart throb. allie also just got james overalls. i approve. is it weird that im giving a minute by minute update on their christmas exchange? maybe. but im ok with it.