On Convictions and Compatriotism

[Surveying the destruction at Waterloo, in 1815]

Darius: You shouldn't be taking part in this tragedy.

Duncan: I was raised a warrior. I choose battles I believe to be just.

Darius: Oh, I'm sure. You're quite loyal to your convictions and compatriots... But I wonder what these men think about convictions and compatriotism now?

-Highlander

Peace

[In a struggle with an ancient Zoroastrian demon]

"I become one with everything...I become one with you...Because I am everything I am nothing...Because I am nothing you are nothing...Without my anger, you have no substance...Without my pride, you have no form...Without my hate...you have no being."

- Duncan MacLeod, Highlander

Castillo Speaks

"You pulled the trigger. Live with the responsibility."

- Lt. Marty Castillo, Miami Vice


(Don't know who Lt. Castillo is? Maybe no-one does. But if you click here you can get as good of an idea as anyone can get.)

"Crockett...Vice...Miami"

Brenda: How do you go from this tranquility to that violence?

Crockett: I usually take the Ferrari.

-Miami Vice

Frankincense on the altar

"Many grains of frankincense on the same altar; one falls first, another after; but it makes no difference."

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Wisdom from the Master

“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”

-Yoda

Photo Essay: Taisekiji in the Spring

Rebel Without a Cause

"Dream as if you live forever. Live as if you'll die today."

-James Dean

Review: Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Perhaps the most beautiful film ever made, Herzog's 1972 classic chronicles the doomed expedition of a group of Spanish explorers in South America searching for the elusive El Dorado. Klaus Kinski plays the role of Lope de Aguirre who hijacks the expedition and leads them all into disaster as his dreams of conquest grow ever-increasingly ambitious and delusional with each bend in the river.

Photo Essay: Night Patrol

Raging Bull

"It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward."

-Rocky "The Italian Stallion" Balboa

The Blood is the Life

"Time is an abyss...profound as a thousand nights...Centuries come and go...To be unable to grow old is terrible...Death is not the worst...Can you imagine enduring centuries, experiencing each day the same futilities..."

-Count Dracula, Nosferatu the Vampyre

We Are Going To Be Friends

Tonight I'll dream while I'm in bed
When silly thoughts go through my head
About the bugs and alphabet
And when I wake tomorrow I'll bet
That you and I will walk together again
Cause I can tell that
We are gonna be friends

-From 'We Are Going To Be Friends' by The White Stripes

Jaws is Airborne!

For all you fellow land-lubbers out there, have a look at this clip from this year's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel that contains some incredible footage of great white sharks fully breaching and invaluable tips from experts on how to fend off an attacking shark.

Contrary to the intent of the annual series the more I know about these awesome killing-machines the more I'm convinced to stay on terra firma. And I always thought those fins on the side were for swimming...Hopefully their service ceiling is under 500 ft so that I don't have to avoid flying over the water as well!

Hide yo kids n' hide yo wife!

Hide yo kids n' hide yo wife cause there's a rapist in Lincoln Park. And hide yo husband 'cause they're rapin' everybody out there.

Click here to see the story of hero Antoine Dodson from the area's local news channel. Then watch the remix here!