Getting Started

Hello, and welcome to the new incarnation of my particular vein of ranting-space. I have previously maintained a blog on xanga (www.xanga.com/davekearns), which has not been updated since sometime last summer. I have made the jump to blogger because the accessibility by others (mainly those who do not know me personally) was diminished on xanga, while this address is tied directly to google. Am I selling out? Probably.

I decided to start this because I feel the need to put some of my thoughts in writing. Those of you who know me (and I'm here making the large assumption that someone other than myself will ever read this) know that I'm not an extraordinarily outgoing chap, but that I have a lot of opinions about all manner of topics that might occasionally be of interest to others. Rather than spending hours talking to myself, I can instead write and post. Perhaps someone else will then benefit from my thoughts.

The idea is that this blog will hopefully be a record of my thoughts primarily concerning films. I am a fan of cinema in many of its various forms, and I think the artistic expression they represent is an interesting way to interpret worldview and philosophy. I am a Christian, and thus my writings will be created based on that foundation

Because of my religion, I feel it is important to engage the culture in a way that brings an intelligent picture of Christianity into the mix. It is my understanding that modern Americans are acquainted with many more movies than books, and thus it is more of a common ground through which to approach the culture. Films seem to be the modern incarnation of literature, and although the unfortunate crowding-out of the written word has resulted from this fact, films can still be just as artistic in their own right, and I think they contain just as much potential as traditional literature in promoting the philosophy of their creators.

In my writing process, I do not intend to evaluate films as many Christians feel the need to. I do not count "f-words," nor do I intend my discussions to warn people about graphic violence or sex. This is not to say that I condone such images in film, but rather that I do not think they are always inappropriate (though certainly much, or even most of the time they could be skipped or toned down with no loss to a film's artistic vision). If a reader is looking for such assessments, he should look into www.screenit.com for such information (their coverage is quite comprehensive). I have a rather strong stomach for films, and I do not intend people to read my comments on any particular film as an instant recommendation to go out and see it. Please use your own judgement in this area, and pay attention to the rating system.

Finally, I have no idea how often this site will be updated, as I do not have access to the internet from my current habitat, and will only be able to update this site when I am at work. While this situation shouldn't hamper my ability to write my thoughts out, it will probably lessen my ability to respond to comments, should anyone ever happen to read, and respond to, my rants. Still, feel free to leave comments, as I would appreciate hearing other people's ideas, as well as having some idea of how many people actually visit this site.

That's all for now. I hope someone finds my writings interesting, and perhaps even thought-provoking.