Two years ago I was getting ready to go to London and at that time AT&T (then called Cingular) was one of the few wireless companies whose phones would work in England as well as here in the U.S. I periodically make trips abroad and thought it would be a good idea to have a phone that works in both North America and Europe. We previously had bad experiences with Verizon Wireless–not their network coverage, but their customer service. Very poor customer service at the local Verizon Wireless storefront on the Vestal Parkway. I did not do my homework and assumed (wrongly as it turns out) that Cingular’s network would be equivalent to Verizon’s. Wrong!

So I signed my family up for Cingular (now AT&T) thinking that was the solution. And if you sign up for a two-year plan, they virtually give you the phones for free. Free? Wrong again. It’s built into the cost of the monthly charges, but only now do I know that.

The phones we purchased are now failing. Two of them don’t work properly and you can’t make calls with them. We don’t want to buy new phones and didn’t buy the exorbitant insurance originally offered to replace them. So now only two of the four phones we bought are functioning correctly. If we cancel two of the four lines before the expiration of our contract in December, we get charged $175 per line. Welcome to the “gotcha” land of cell phones. Buy a new phone for $175, or cancel the line for $175. Those are your two “choices.”

When our contract does expire, I’ll be looking for a prepaid plan or a plan with no annual contract. Can anyone who reads this blog offer me a suggestion? Are you on a no-commitment plan that you like, and has good coverage in Binghamton and the surrounding hillsides? Let me know in the comments.

Technorati Tags: Greater Binghamton, cell phones, cell phone providers, wireless providers, AT&T Wireless, customer service

By comparison, Alvin and the Chipmunks earned $45M–in its first weekend! More than The Golden Compass has earned in two full weeks.

I Am Legend, starring Wil Smith, burned up the charts by earning $75.5M this weekend–it’s first in theaters. That’s the highest opening weekend release for a movie released in December–ever. The previous record was Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003, which opened at $72.6M.

Methinks The Golden Compass might be better named The Lead Compass as New Line Cinema’s $180M investment is quickly transmuting from gold into lead. The lesson for New Line and Hollywood? Those that take pot shots at God may find it to be an expensive indulgence.

Technorati Tags: The Golden Compass, movie review, atheism, New Line Cinema, Hollywood

A few prefatory comments before I explain my opposition to this movie. First, I am not in favor of censorship and I am not telling other Christians not to see this movie. I am simply giving you my reasoning. Second, I am a big supporter of fantasy, science fiction and “the arts” in general. I love a good movie and in particular, a good story (see my review of August Rush).

Perhaps it will be surprising for other conservative Christians to learn I was not opposed to the Harry Potter movies or books (as many were). I evaluated the early books and movies and found them to contain a classic struggle between good and evil, excellent writing, and a rollicking good story, especially for kids. I was not put off by witches and warlocks. I know this sets me apart from a number of conservative Christians—but from the very beginning I thought they were fine and could not fathom the fuss and calls of boycotting the film and books.

So why would I object to this movie? In short, because of it’s worldview. Although I love movies and reading and the arts in general, when the arts are turned into tools and weapons that take aim at undermining and misrepresenting God, I have an issue with it. This film, and the children’s book series from which it came, clearly do just that.

The children’s book trilogy on which this movie is based is called His Dark Materials and is written by British author (and atheist) Philip Pullman. I had never even heard of him nor his books before this movie came along—so no doubt he’ll gain a new following from the publicity. Mr. Pullman has set out to create an atheistic “counter story” to C.S. Lewis’ series The Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, two works that (for me) define the very best fiction available.

There are plenty of metaphors throughout Mr. Pullman’s work as there are in Lewis and Tolkein (full disclosure: I have not read Pullman’s work so I base my analysis on both Christian and secular sources). Perhaps the most prominent metaphor (and ultimate villain) in Mr. Pullman’s trilogy of books is the Magisterium, which represents the church of Jesus Christ. There are also stand-ins for angels and demons in the form of animal companions for each human–the animal representing that person’s soul. The basic plot line is that the Magisterium (i.e. church) wants to control everyone and everything and suppress the “free will” of all people, but most particularly the children.

Essentially, Mr. Pullman attempts to make white black and black white, which can be confusing for young people. He wraps lies in metaphors in order to make them palatable and believable. Make no mistake, liberals and leftists recognize they can’t win in the arena of ideas with adults—so they go after the kids and try to “turn them when they’re young” as Mr. Pullman is attempting to do with his trilogy. The movie and the books are atheistic propaganda, plain and simple.

The makers of the film (New Line Cinema, which also did The Lord of the Rings movies), and the movie’s director Chris Weitz, have intentionally watered down the anti-church/anti-Christian themes of this first of three movies in order to not incur the ire of Christians. That is, they want to make big bucks on this one so they can build a fan base and make the second and third ones without having to water down the message. Here’s what Mr. Weitz said:

How does one go about adapting a book that has controversial elements into a film that a very wide variety of people can enjoy, without betraying the original? One tries to be clever about it. I realized that the overt stating of some of the themes in … The Golden Compass would never—this is important to make clear—never ever get across the goal line. There isn’t a wide enough audience for that—yet. If I wanted to popularize this series of extraordinary books and open them to a wider reading public than ever before, I was going to have to make some compromises.

Mr. Weitz then goes on to say:

Whereas The Golden Compass had to be introduced to the public carefully, the religious themes in the second and third books can’t be minimized without destroying the spirit of these books. … I will not be involved with any ‘watering down’ of books two and three.

I simply will not support this movie, nor the ones that follow, with my money. I know myself well enough to know if I went and saw it, I would be bothered the entire time because what I would be watching is untruth being shoveled out in metaphors as truth. I’m not going because I would not enjoy it!

In case you can’t yet tell from reading this blog, I have no problem with opposing viewpoints. I’m not the type to cover my ears and hum “la la la” when someone says something that is counter to my beliefs. It will not destroy my worldview to hear an alternative viewpoint. Christians, of all people, have nothing to fear from engaging with and hearing other viewpoints. We should welcome debate because it is only through that debate and opposition we will know if our faith and beliefs are built on a foundation of truth, or a foundation of lies. We know we stand on God’s truth and have absolutely nothing to fear. We keep an open mind, and we (should) always keep a big heart and not “smash” those who oppose us. Truth is to be delivered in love, not hate.

On the other hand, there is no requirement that we support those who deal in falsehoods, as does Mr. Pullman. I do not speak for all Christians and will leave it to them to decide whether or not to spend money seeing this movie. I don’t advocate boycotts nor pickets at theaters…I’m simply telling you what I have decided for myself and for my family. We will not give one penny to support this kind of misrepresentation of our God. I suspect many others will not either, and I predict the makers of this movie will be disappointed with revenues from this movie.

How about you? Are you going? Do you have a different viewpoint on this? Whether you agree or disagree, leave a comment.

Technorati Tags: The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman, Chris Weitz, movies, culture, Christian worldview, Christianity, atheism

The title of the movie, like many movies, has nothing to do with its content. It is a modern-day fairy tale–the story of a young boy in an orphanage who is convinced that his parents are “out there” and don’t know he’s alive. The orphanage is somewhere in good ole Upstate New York. The young boy, whose name is Evan Taylor, escapes from the orphanage and travels to New York City where he ends up in the employ of a nefarious man (played by Robin Williams) who uses young children to play music and earn money for him. Hmmm… let’s see–boy in orphanage, ends up in the big city, goes to work for a man who takes advantage of kids–sound familiar? Of course! It has elements of Oliver Twist woven throughout the movie.

Not only are there Dickensian elements here, there’s a lot of great music. You see, it turns out young Evan is a musical prodigy in the mold of Mozart. Can anyone say Amadeus? Although having never touched a musical instrument in his young 12 years of life, when introduced to first the guitar, and later the piano, Evan immediately takes to them like a fish born to swim. And the music he makes! It’s fantastic. Young Evan, who takes on the “stage name” of August Rush, is soon discovered by The Julliard School where he attends and composes his first symphony.

Beyond that, I don’t want to spoil the ending, which had me wanting to stand up and cheer. It was that kind of movie.

I have but two criticisms: One is that young Evan is the result of a “one night fling.” Without revealing more of the plot, I will only say that even this element has some redeeming qualities. I was disappointed they chose to craft the storyline in that manner, but movies are not perfect in this day and age. I’m not excusing it lightly–just saying that this element should not remove it from consideration as a potentially great movie. The second thing is that the plot drags a bit here and there. But just about the time you think to yourself, “they could speed things along,” it picks up again.

Overall, I’m not sure I would give this movie a designation of “great” as in my list of top 10 of all-time favorites…but it comes really close to that. I give it a “highly recommend” to go and see. The music, the plot and themes, are the kind of family-friendly movies I wish Hollywood made more of. This one deserves our support.

Technorati Tags: movie review, August Rush, Oliver Twist, Amadeus, The Julliard School, Robin Williams

Friday night we took a chance and went to see The Game Plan, a Disney flick starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. It’s the story of a self-centered quarterback played by The Rock who is chasing the dream of a football championship when suddenly his 7-year-old daughter, whom he didn’t even know existed, shows up in his life. He has to deal with transforming from being the center of his own universe to having his daughter become the top priority in his life, while maintaining a pro football career.

There’s lots to cheer about in this movie. There are a few slow spots and hokey slapstick humor here and there, but overall this movie “has it.” It has great themes, no foul language, and even a day later as I think about it, it brings a smile to my face. I’m not sure how I missed this one when it was first released! If you have a family–and even if you don’t–it’s well worth it to head down to Endicott and see this movie. It’s time (and money) well spent.

After you’ve seen it, leave your own review in the comments!

Technorati Tags: Endicott, Cinema Saver Theatre, The Game Plan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Disney

But I have to say I was somewhat disappointed in the concert. Not with the music, which was excellent. Chris’ music has a blues/jazz/pop rock kind of thing going on. It’s really fun to listen to. And the musicians traveling with Chris did an excellent job. Chris himself played acoustic guitar for most of the concert (piano at one point), and then there was a guy on the synthesizer/keyboards, another who played the bass guitar, and a superb drummer. Together the quartet belted out some great sounding tunes. It sounded almost like the CDs. I love it when musicians “reproduce” in concert the way they sound on CDs–always the sign of a great musician.

So why the disappointment? It wasn’t the music, but the message. When Christians attend a Christian concert, they want to feel “connected” to the artist, and to God. We don’t want to be entertained so much as ministered to. And when the music is purely entertainment, it leaves you feeling kind of empty. Chris didn’t do much talking, which can be good or bad depending on your perspective. I personally like to hear the artist’s story–his or her biography. What’s going on in their lives. Their struggle, and how God is making a difference in that struggle. It was that which was lacking in Chris’ concert. He mentioned at one point that’s he’s a pretty positive guy. Maybe he dosen’t have struggles like I do, who knows? I suspect he’s a very private person, and that’s OK. I’m just saying that for me personally, his lack of “connection” with the audience, his lack of sharing his testimony, left me kind of cold.

Don’t get me wrong…I will continue to buy Chris Rice CDs. I find his music uplifting and challenging, as I’ve said. Perhaps he prefers to just let his music do the talking. That’s fine with me! But I won’t be in a hurry to attend another live Chris Rice concert anytime soon. I’ll stick to buying the CDs.

What about you? Did you attend? Do you have a different take? I know these kinds of things are really subjective. Whether you agree or disagree, let me know in the comments.

Technorati Tags: Binghamton Forum, contemporary Christian music, Chris Rice

Locating a store in Johnson City, as proposed, will relieve congestion at the current store. Maybe I won’t have to park a quarter of a mile away anymore! However, I do think a better location would be somewhere on upper Front Street or State Route 12–on the northern end of Broome County. Apparently there’s not a big enough parcel of land to be had in that area. The only negative I can think of for the proposed site in JC are traffic tie-ups along Airport Road…hopefully the planners will figure that out and devise a clever way to handle the increased numbers.

I do not subscribe to the philosophy that Wal-Mart kills local businesses. The same could be said for Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Sears, J.C. Penny or any large retailer. For some reason Wal-Mart is always singled out as the whipping boy for killing local business. Let me remind you–this is America–not the USSR (as fond of that failed utopia as many local leftists are). Wal-Mart has the right to build. We have the right to shop there–or not! I choose to shop there sometimes, just not very much.

Neither do I subscribe to the nutty local conspiracy theory that Wal-Mart is building a new store some 6-7 miles from the existing store just to close the doors of the existing one. The new store is going to be smaller! I’m not quite sure how that logic works, but you know how conspiracy theories work. Logic isn’t a requirement.

In my humble opinion, Greater Binghamton could use 2-3 more Wal-Marts scattered around. Now if we can just get them to sell more American-made products…

How about you? Do you think it’s a good idea? Bad idea? Leave me a comment.

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, Wal-Mart

Lately, the darling of the atheistic movement has been Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist and author of a number of books, including the recent The God Delusion. I won’t slip into an extended discussion of atheism (no God) versus theism (some sort of God). I just want to point out that atheism is a religion. The tenants of atheism, I would argue, are not based in science but faith, as they are not “provable” in the same sense that God is not “provable.” No human was alive at the beginning of time. No one can go back and observe “the Big Bang.” There are no records from “millions of years ago” to aide us. Instead, we must deal with the evidence around us that exists in the here and now. And so, what we are left with, is an interpretation of the evidence. Atheists and creationists both have the same fossil record, the same stars, the same “facts” about science. It all comes down to how one interprets the facts. The facts are the facts! But interpretation of the facts differs widely.

Which brings me back to the point that atheism is not a valueless, clinical “scientific” view. It is full of faith–faith about what “likely” happened so long ago. Faith about man’s beginning. And faith about man’s destiny. I would call it a blind faith–as there is little if any evidence to support it! One of the most damning arguments against atheism is the logical outcome from such beliefs…such faith. If man is a product of cosmic goo from long ago, and man is in the center of his own universe, life becomes meaningless. I think it was rather well said in a recent American Thinker article titled, The Godless Delusion:

One might think that those who worship science would wake up. Knowing much beyond what we already know about the universe is increasingly improbable. No serious person today can think that material benefits will make us happier - not in a society in which the greatest health problem is obesity and the greatest emotional problem is boredom.

And how do we sate our boredom? Increasingly, our entertainment is horrific and perverse. Our obsession with violence, promiscuous sex and dangerous drugs is as obvious as the cure to those sicknesses: God. Without God, we cannot even imagine anything good (if you doubt that, try to imagine Heaven.)  Those who reject God suffer from the Godless Delusion.

And so what does this have to do with Greater Binghamton? I was visiting our local Barnes & Noble last week, one of my favorite local destinations. And I found it interesting there was a large display of books about atheism, including a number of books by Dawkins. I’m not knocking B&N–hey, they want to make money. But I did find myself thinking, “When was the last time I saw a prominent display of books about Christianity on display in here?”

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, atheism, American Thinker, Rex Stout, Isaac Asimov, Richard Dawkins, Barnes & Noble

What was it like for so many people who lost most of their families in the gas chambers during the Holocaust–what went through their minds? How did they keep it together and not give up or go insane?

This play will help answer it. It is not a happy-go-lucky play. But neither is it a complete downer. On that score I will disagree with Ms. Miller’s review. She indicates there’s not much in the way of comic relief for the heavy subject matter. But I found there were times of laughter. We laugh at some of the antics and idiosyncrasies of the father (who, along with one daughter, made it to New York before the terrible events of the 1930s in Poland). But make sure you bring some tissues–your eyes will tear up.

My one criticism of the play is there are periods where it seems the dialog runs long and becomes a little tedious. The play by my watch ran just over two hours. But overall, this play is excellent and worth your time. The actors from the Chenango River Theatre put on a master performance. It is well worth the trip to Greene (which is only about 12 miles from Binghamton) to see it. The play runs through November 11th. Performances are Thursdays through Sundays, and the price of a ticket is really reasonable–$16 Thursdays & Sundays, $19 Fridays & Saturdays, discounts for students.

Go see it before it’s gone!

Technorati Tags: A Shayna Maidel, Greene NY, Chenango River Theatre

I’m not a big fan of fettuccine alfredo, but my wife and kids are. They report the fettuccine is superb. We’ve also tried the spaghetti and baked ziti, also favorites of ours. The service is good…the food is great. Overall I’ll give it a “highly recommended” rating. If you enjoy Italian cuisine, you need to head down to Michelangelo’s and treat your taste buds.

Michelangelo’s Restaurant
465 Court Street, Binghamton, NY (map)
Tel: (607) 724-4045
Reservations not required, but recommended

What’s your favorite Italian eatery in Greater Binghamton? Let me know in the comments!

Technorati Tags: Binghamton, restaurant review, Italian restaurant, lasagna