Sunday 8 April 2012

Sitting On the Fence

This is a post about religion, I mean no offence if caused

Sometimes people criticise me because I say that I am Agnostic rather than having a religion, or just being Atheist. But to be honest, I think being an Atheist is worse than having the most extreme beliefs. Having absolutely nothing to believe in, and thinking that when you die that that's it...you just die. It seems pretty empty to me.
At least I believe there is something out there. Something watching over us and that something happens to us when we die; I just don't have a name for it. I don't for one second believe in Jesus, or that he performed miracles and the like.I don't believe it's a figure or being, just some kind of "thing" that is there.
For all I know, we don't meet whatever IT is until we die and then it welcomes us into wherever we go whether it be a reincarnation depending on how you lived your life; a kind of heaven and hell; or a place similar to Earth where we live our lives backward, growing younger and are reborn as new babies. 
For all I know, it could be a giant goldfish bowl somewhere in the depths of space and our souls float around in that for eternity...
I don't think that there is a 'God' or 'omniscient, ever-present being' because then why would bad things happen to good people? Seems pretty obvious that if there was a God, bad things would happen to those that had done bad things.
This is probably all very hypocritical of me because I also believe in science - Evolution, Natural Selection and The Big Bang. The world and universe began through science, but there's nothing to say it has to end through science. Yes science is used to prove that your life has indeed ended, but there's no way of knowing what happens afterwards.
This is - for me - where belief comes in. I know there is something after this life, I just don't know what it is and have no wish to put a name to it.
I just know that we still have to make the most of this life we have.

On the fence of religion

Sunday 1 April 2012

Let the 74th Hunger Games Begin!

SPOILER ALERT!

I know this is probably everywhere at the minute but I have to say this is the best book-to-film adaptation I've ever seen. Harry Potter was amazing yes, but it wasn't as true to the book as The Hunger Games is. It's phenomenal how well the writers have done - but then they did have the author on their team.

They only changed one thing, and to be honest it was an improvement - and it's not often I say that about this sort of thing - and that was to show behind the scenes of The Games, how the Gamemakers work, the strategic ways they go about making the Games interesting for the watching public. Because that's what it is after all, an entertainment show.
I didn't know much about the cast apart from Jennifer Lawrence who plays Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson who plays Peeta Mellark, but I think they were perfect for the roles. I was so glad they used a 'plainer' girl for the role of Katniss, I didn't want her to be some perfect girl. She was tough because she had to be and she'd had a hard life. Hutcherson was exactly as I imagined Peeta to be.  As for Rue, I have noticed that some fans are objecting to her because of her colour, but the book does state that she was dark. I think that Amandla Stenberg was ideal for the role, she had a power and confidence about her that hid her true innocence, because she is after all, just a child in the Games.
As for the costumes, they were just amazing, especially the 'girl on fire' dress for Katniss' Interview. I had imagined the Chariot costumes slightly different but what they did was still incredible. As for the people of the Capitol, they were even wackier than I had envisioned with their painted faces, especially Effie Trinket; she had a different colour palette every time she was on screen.
I'm normally always dubious about book-to-film adaptations as this was already a fabulous book, written by Suzanne Collins, but I must say my expectations have not only been met, but surpassed.