After not having updated for a while, one would imagine that I'd have quite a bit to say. But the f

After not having updated for a while, one would imagine that I'd have quite a bit to say. But the fact is that, as I stare at this vast white space, not much is coming. It feels like I've done nothing but write for the past two weeks. Although not quite accurate, I have written a fair amount. I wrote my paper on Hephaistion (Ηφαιστίων) last weekend; the assignment was at least ten pages, but the amount of material I had took up fourteen, which I then managed to edit down to twelve. Then this weekend, I wrote my paper and completed my take-home final for Messiah, a total of thirteen pages.

I only have one final left - Hollywood and the Jews, Tuesday at 5:45 PM - which should be the easiest one. At the very least, it's multiple choice, meaning I'm done with writing for the semester. All of my other finals went well, or at least I thought so; Political Philosophy was last Thursday, Alexander and 17th and 18th-century Philosophy last Friday. Aside from the Messiah take-home final, 17th and 18th-century was the one I was most concerned about (I don't find Kant's metaphysics very easy), but the questions weren't as difficult as I had expected.

I vaguely remember complaining at the end of last semester about how tired I was of papers because I had two ten-pagers, both in the last month of the semester. I dare say that after writing an even sixty pages this semester, I can take that back. In a way, I'm just amazed that I actually wrote that much this semester.

( End of semester thoughts on individual classes. )

Finally, I'm not even sure if she checks LJ anymore, but I'd like to wish a belated happy birthday to under_the_rock.

[midshipman's report -- supplemental]

My source of relaxation during the past two weeks of studying and paper writing was borrowing DVDs from the university library and watching them during dinner. I've no plans to write up individual reviews for them, so they were:

• The Seventh Seal, a very good and philosophically provoking Swedish movie about the Dark Ages. Famously features Death playing chess against a crusader.
  
  
• Ordet, an interesting Danish film about family relations and religion. [Note: I watched Ordet after The Seventh Seal, which I think is the best way to see it. Both The Seventh Seal and Ordet address similar questions, but ultimately have different messages; while The Seventh Seal depicts both atheistic and religious beliefs as having dignity, Ordet is heavily on the side of religion.]
  
  
• Nosferatu, originally an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, I greatly prefer Nosferatu over Dracula. This is the original silent movie version, though I think the 1979 remake is better. At the very least, the 1979 version lacks the cheesiness of the silent film, which helps keeps the horrific moments horrific.
  
  
• Blade Runner, a strange science fiction mystery/adventure starring Harrison Ford. This was mentioned in Anne Rice's The Queen of the Damned as a film Armand enjoyed, but I found it ultimately disappointing with only two memorable scenes. (Though what memorable scenes they were . . .)
  
  
• 1984, the film adaptation of George Orwell's novel of the same name. A dark, totalitarian version of humanity's future that has been alluded to several times in Star Trek, including TNG's "Chain of Command" and DS9's "Tribunal".

The best DVDs I borrowed, and the ones that gave the theme to these posts ('the midshipman's report'), were the Horatio Hornblower movie series produced by A&E. There are eight movies in total, each 100 minutes long; I've seen the first six.

Horatio Hornblower is a young British naval officer serving during the Napoleonic Wars (early 1800s), created by C. S. Forester and featured in a series of novels. The A&E series, starring Ioan Gruffudd as Horatio, is loosely based on the novels in which Horatio began his naval career.

I'd first heard about Hornblower a long time ago since he's commonly listed as one of the inspirations behind Star Trek and Captain Kirk. And so, when I sat down to watch the first movie (alternately titled "The Duel" or "The Even Chance", depending on whether it's the US or UK version), I was expecting Horatio to have a personality similar to Kirk's.

To my rather pleasant surprise, this was not the case. Horatio is introverted, socially uncomfortable, intellectually strong, and self-doubting yet outwardly confident. His wits, reliability, and compassion are what inspire his men to respect and love him. Horatio's very loyal, but he follows his own convictions and does what he thinks best for his men above everything else, which causes him to come off as impudent or even mutinous to some of his superiors. In short, he's someone whom I both admire and identify with.

Throughout the course of the A&E series, Horatio advances from Midshipman to Lieutenant, facing a variety of challenges along the way. I've a growing collection of screencaps, so there'll probably be more Hornblower posts in the future.


. . . I see that I had more to write than I thought I did. Now to the long process of catching up with LJ and email . . .