Just beat Gears of War

And in case anyone's wondering, it was in Casual mode. I might try Hardcore next. And since I never got far in Doom on Nightmare mode, I doubt I'll ever survive Insane on this game :-P

I've had Gears of War for the Xbox 360 since late January, and had to re-start several times because stuff kept coming up and with a video game narrative like Gears of War, I like to play it through with a sense of uninterrupted story.

This was one of the best video games I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Gears of War, along with Halo and BioShock (which I've also been playing and will review shortly) represents an exciting future for storytelling: a deep, immersive plot that pulls the player in and makes him or her honestly believe that this is a living, breathing world they are interacting with.

Anyhoo, I had some time this afternoon in-between projects, and decided to have another go at taking out General RAAM: something that's eluded me for two days now. The strategy that finally worked for me against that black-clad freak: use the barricade for cover, stay in the light so that the Kryll won't bother you (I also had to duck when they approached 'cuz otherwise they chew me to shreds) and hit RAAM with the Torque Bow to dissipate the cloud of Kryll that surrounds him. Then quickly switch to the Lancer, aim for RAAM's head and do well-timed Active Reloads whenever possible. With that strategy I was finally able to kill RAAM in about a minute, without taking serious injury or having Dominic hurt too much either. Ironically it was a hit from the Torque Bow - which I was only using to shoo the Kryll away - that delivered the coup de grâce to RAAM.

Now it's just a wait 'til November, when Gears of War 2 comes out and continues the story of Marcus Fenix and the rest of Delta Squad in their fight against the Locust. One thing this saga needs that I would have appreciated: some more back-story. Especially for the planet Sera. My theory is that this was a bare-bones colony from Earth that was dropped onto the surface, and in this fictional universe starship travel is a hard premium. So there's not much contact with other human worlds and those on Sera have to fend for themselves, but they've also been able to reach a level of culture and technology on their own that approximates that of 21st Century Earth. And the Locust Horde? Right now I'm thinking those are humans that got exiled early on in Sera's colonization, that "went native" and hooked up with the local wildlife and now years later are back for revenge. Maybe we'll find out more in the sequel.

Worth noting that Gears of War is pretty much a product of the Tarheel State, having been made by Epic Games out of Cary, North Carolina.

Very, very cool game. And a beautiful thing to behold on a 42-inch LCD high-definition screen at maximum resolution :-)

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The Knight Shift officially endorses Eric H. Smith for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction

Longtime readers know already that I'm very hesitant to hand out endorsements of candidates. Someone running for office has to sincerely persuade me that he or she is the right man for the job.

In this case, that wasn't a hard thing at all...

As of today, I'm announcing that The Knight Shift blog is officially endorsing Eric H. Smith in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of North Carolina.

Smith is running as a Republican candidate in the North Carolina primary on May 6.

For disclosure's sake, I am compelled to notify my readers that in addition to my support of Eric in this way, I am also the treasurer of the Smith For NC Kids campaign committee. That's already been public record ever since Eric filed the paperwork to run. Eric offered me the position when he first considered "throwing his hat into the ring", and I accepted. Not just because I'm honored to have him as a friend but also because I earnestly agree with his philosophy regarding education.

In short: Eric believes that parents - and not bureaucrats - are the ones who most fully understand the best interests of their own children. And he believes that parents not only have the right to determine where their children go to school at in public education systems, but they also fully have the right to not participate in public education at all. In that regard, he is perhaps the most outspoken advocate for the rights of home schoolers that I have ever seen run for office at this level.

Eric believes in rooting out the corruption that we've seen in Raleigh and ending the wasteful spending at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Eric has also been a very vocal critic of No Child Left Behind and the failed ABC Accountability System.

And though it doesn't seem to be an "education" issue per se, Eric is strongly against illegal immigration. To the point that he does not believe that our tax money should be funding the education of illegal aliens. Free public education is part of the "honey pot" that is luring so many to enter this country illegally. If states begin denying publicly-funded education to those who are not eligible for it to begin with, it will be that much more incentive denied to those looking for a reason to come across our border illegally.

By the way, in addition to being treasurer of his committee, Eric has also asked if I will produce the television commercials for his campaign. So I'll be doing that for him, too. Remember those commercials we did when we ran for Rockingham County Board of Education that wound up mentioned by The New York Times and a lot of other media outlets? There's more stuff like that coming soon, and this time they'll be broadcast from Manteo to Murphy! They will be serious ads, and will explore these and other themes of Eric's educational beliefs... but I can also guarantee that they will be a bit entertaining, hopefully memorable. Maybe even downright controversial (hey, I'm the guy who blew up a schoolhouse to run for school board, remember?).

This is something I wanted to do a few weeks back, then decided I'd just wait 'til we were closer to the May primary and also "work in" the announcement into the new blog design that I'm now finding time to work on. I am proud to be able to say that I am giving Eric my complete support in his run, and I've no doubt that he will be a very strong and proactive superintendent for North Carolina's school system.

There is already a website for Eric H. Smith's campaign, but it is currently being redesigned (again for disclosure's sake, that is something that I am not working on and it's been contracted to another firm). There is more coming to is very soon but in the meantime you can discover more about Eric's thoughts on education. If you are a believer in smaller government, I believe there is much you will find about Eric that will have a lot of appeal for you.

If you would like to make a contribution to Eric's campaign, please follow the directions listed here on Eric's campaign website. Because of recent changes to campaign laws, the Superintendent of Public Instruction position is one of two that can not accept online contributions. All donations must be in the form of a hard-copy check.

From this point on I'll be posting regular reports about Eric's campaign, and will strive to keep everyone posted as to what's going on.

And I gotta admit: being treasurer of a state-wide political campaign, and getting to make TV commercials for it, is a pretty cool thing to feel good about :-)

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German schoolboy corrects NASA's math on killer asteroid odds

A 13-year old schoolboy named Nico Marquardt has found errors in NASA's calculations about the Apophis asteroid. And NASA has conceded that the lad from Berlin, Germany is correct. Marquardt found that that Earth now stands a much higher chance of getting hit by Apophis than originally determined by NASA. How much was the multi-billion dollar space agency off by? It said that the odds of a collision with Apophis were 1 in 45,000. After Marquardt's "peer review", it now turns out that the odds are 1 in 450.

I have to tip my hat to Marquardt. Math was never my big thing, and I tried to calculate the physics of astronomical objects during a class at Elon and didn't do too well either. He's probably got a bright future ahead of him... provided that we don't get hit by any big space rocks anytime soon :-)

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High school students to get $100 for every AP exam passed

Students at Wilby High School in Waterbury, Connecticut have a chance to clean up: for each Advanced Placement exam that they pass, the school will pay them $100. It's part of a plan to increase participation in the school's AP programs.

For what it's worth: I've never liked "incentive programs" like this. For years school administrators across the country have been attempting to "bribe" students to study harder and make better grades: offering them money, high-tech toys and even cars in return. But there's never been any evidence that stunts like this actually work to increase scholarship in the long run. And it smacks too much of slapping the proverbial Band-Aid on the festering wound that is so much of what's wrong with modern public education without addressing the real problems.

But mostly, I guess it bothers me that education for its own sake is something that is no longer treasured in this country, so schools have to "seduce with candy" in order to get students motivated to learn. As if the whole point of having an education is to have an asset toward more material gain. Whatever happened to thinking and understanding of things, solely for the joy of such thought and understanding?

Still though, if I was a student at this high school, how could I complain? Passing a few AP tests would let me buy a bunch of good loot. Or maybe gas for my car for a few days...

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Is it a police state NOW?

How in the world does a sheriff's department in a mostly-rural west Texas county justify having in its possession an armored personnel carrier?

This was a picture taken during the raid a few weeks ago on the property of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I know there have been some serious allegations regarding this religious group. And hopefully this will be looked into with all proper due process. But think about it: all of this happened because of one anonymous phone call. That was enough to send more military-grade hardware descending on the place than is usually seen escorting Vice President Cheney on an excursion through the green zone.

It just lends itself toward making you wonder: how long has the Midland County Sheriff's Department staff had such equipment, and why did they believe they needed it to begin with?

And how many other law enforcement agencies throughout America are lusting after such toys, if they don't have them already?

I'm starting to believe that nobody should be allowed to enter into a career as a peace officer (that's what I'm calling them) until they're at least 30 years old. That's long enough to experience the world as it really is, to get knocked around some and be humbled by it. And then, go into this as a career in public service, having resolved to be someone who rises above the way the world expects to work.

'Cuz otherwise, there are too many guys out there who've been given too much power and not nearly enough discipline to know not only how to use it, but how not to use it, too. Pictures like this one are a tangible reminder of that.

And God help us if enough of these people ever get too carried away with the firepower they've been given.

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New DOCTOR WHO season burns bright with "The Fires of Pompeii"

"Me no speak Celtic."

"We're in Pompeii... and it's Volcano Day!"

"I am... Spartacus."

"You fought her off, with a water pistol! I bloody love you!"

"Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. It's the burden of the Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left."

"We'd better hurry. Rocky IV's right behind us."

"I can never go back. I can't! I just can't!"

Season 4 (or is it 30?) of Doctor Who had the premiere of it second episode on the BBC this past weekend. So like usual I nabbed a high-quality bootleg off the 'net. 'Cuz I'm a big enough Doctor Who fan to not want to wait for when Sci-Fi Channel begins running it later this summer.

I raved last week about the season opener "Partners in Crime". This past weekend's "The Fires of Pompeii" is not only just as strong, it is surprisingly better. Indeed, "The Fires of Pompeii" boasts one of the strongest stories of the show's revived run, as well as some of the best computer-rendered effects we've seen to date. That the episode was also filmed on sets left over from HBO's epic series Rome certainly doesn't hurt things, either...

As "The Fires of Pompeii" begins, The Doctor wants to show Donna the city of Rome at the height of its imperial splendor. Die-hard Doctor Who geeks will no doubt enjoy the humor that comes from the Doctor explaining the translation circuit of the TARDIS (which is why Donna is reading and hearing Latin but is interpreting it as English). But not long after arriving they discover something very amiss: namely, that instead of seven hills "Rome" has only one. And it's smoking. The ground shakes. And the Doctor realizes: they have landed in Pompeii instead, on the 23rd of August in 79 A.D., the day before Vesuvius erupts and buries the city in ash and lava.

Of course, this being an episode of Doctor Who, there are more sinister forces at work in the doomed town that the Doctor finds himself having to counter.

Some of the acting (especially from the Roman characters) in this episode is way too hammy, even for Doctor Who. But other than that, "The Fires of Pompeii" is a solid entry in the mythology. I've always thought that the best Doctor Who episodes are the ones that find the Doctor's alien nature conflicting with his own conscience, and that of his human companions. So it is with "The Fires of Pompeii": Donna wants the Doctor to do something, anything, to save these people. And the Doctor argues with her that it's not only something he can't help, it's something he shouldn't help. And later on in the episode we get a much fuller sense of the burden that comes with being the Doctor, as he weighs saving twenty thousand lives against saving millions still to come.

David Tennant delights again as the Doctor in this episode, and Catherine Tate as Donna continues to impress. I'll give "The Fires of Pompeii" 4 Sonic Screwdrivers out of 5.

Next week: the Ood - those tentacle-faced guys from the acclaimed two-part story in Season 2 - return.

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It's 5:18 p.m. EST on April 15th ...

Have you finished your annual tribute to the Almighty Government yet, fellow serf?

The income tax is at once the most evil and the most accepted form of slavery of modern times. Has anyone ever stopped to think about how much free time that the federal government demands of us, that could otherwise be used productively, as we the people see fit?

Instead we try to earn more to get things that we don't really need, and to pay more and more taxes to a government that can't cut its own wasteful spending.

Why the Hell should my money go to subsidize an illegal alien's welfare, or that of some unwed kid who gets pregnant multiple times without bothering to find a job to support them on her own? I'm trying to make my own destiny, dammit... and not I or anyone else can be free to do that with these damned leeches sucking off the sweat of our own labor.

America will not be a prosperous country again until we have eliminated the income tax, utterly destroyed the Internal Revenue Service, and reign-in our wasteful expenditures. That, and finally free individuals to live the lives they want to live, without expecting that they somehow "owe" this government for the right to pursue their own happiness.

That's partly why I'm not voting for any of the "front runners" for President. Because none of them possess the wisdom to understand any of this.

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Ollie Johnston, last of Disney's Nine Old Men, has passed away

This is the second post in a row that I've had to make about the death of someone. I hope this won't be a trend :-(

Now word is coming out that Ollie Johnston, legendary animator and the last surviving member of the Nine Old Men - Walt Disney's stable of talent that created most of the company's best-known films and made Disney an enduring entertainment powerhouse - has passed away at 96.

Remember Thumper in Bambi going on about eating his vegetables? That was Ollie Johnston. Remember Baloo dancing with Mowgli in The Jungle Book? That was Ollie Johnston, too.

And Lady and Tramp eating spaghetti? Yup, Ollie Johnston's handiwork. The guy knew how to make pencil-drawn characters connect with each other. It's one of the things that makes a Disney movie, a Disney movie. And Johnston along with the rest of the Nine Old Men (who weren't old at all, they were in their thirties and forties but Walt Disney thought of them as his own private Supreme Court at the time) found how to make it work.

He worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Cinderella, and many more. His last animated work was for The Rescuers and he did a bit for The Fox and the Hound, too.

And I'm really sad today, because we've already had John A. Wheeler leave us, and now Ollie Johnston. Two great men of their time, who in their own way each made contributions for all time, to all the generations that will follow.

There is immortality, my friends.

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John A. Wheeler has passed away

John Archibald Wheeler, one of the pioneers of nuclear fission and quantum mechanics - and also the man who came up with the terms "black hole" and "wormhole" - has passed away at 96.

Wheeler received early fame when he assisted Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr with the process of splitting uranium atoms to create controlled fission. After World War II he devoted much of his time toward the study of Einsteinian gravity, and helped to popularize the theory of general relativity. And it was while pondering some of the apparently self-violating principles of relativity that Wheeler was the first to come up with not only a possible solution, but one of the most mind-blowing concepts of the Twentieth Century: the black hole.

Later on Wheeler became just as famous for his work on quantum physics, and his theories eventually led to the "many worlds" hypothesis and quantum foam, often called "Wheeler foam".

He was the last of the first generation of modern physicists. And a man well worthy of honor and remembrance here.

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J.K. Rowling testifies in court against Harry Potter Lexicon webmaster

I've been so busy with other things, I didn't catch at all that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is suing the webmaster of a popular website based on her books. For the past several years Steven Vander Ark has run The Harry Potter Lexicon, an "online encyclopedia" of sorts devoted to the Harry Potter novels. Which otherwise wouldn't be a problem: for fans to pay homage to such an acclaimed property is something the Internet has long been used to.

Except that Vander Ark has been set to publish - as in "printed volumes" - his website as a hard-copy edition to sell for personal profit.

Big no-no there, Steve. And you and your publishing company should have known better.

So now Rowling is suing Vander Ark and RDR Books for copyright infringement. I don't blame her. Vader Ark's website is a nice, succinct resource for Harry Potter facts. But it's almost entirely stuff that's lifted verbatim from Rowling's books, without further elaboration or speculation. And Rowling has already planned to write her own definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia: one that will further "flesh out" the Harry Potter saga and the sales of which Rowling has stated will be donated to charity.

Here's the link to the story again. Worth checking out if you're a Potter fan and want to chuckle at some of the courtroom wit inspired by the books.

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"Not On The Test": Music video attacks No Child Left Behind

To all the deluded saps still out there (including this guy) who somehow seriously believe that No Child Left Behind helps education, you'd better pay attention to this one. Tom Chapin brilliantly illustrates what's wrong with George W. Bush's education mandate with his song "Not On The Test". Here's the video...

And here's the official website for "Not On The Test", where you can watch the video, and if you like you can download both an MP3 of the song and the video in Quicktime format.

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Lizard Man Attacks Bishopville!

Doesn't this title sound soooo much like that of a Troma film?

Almost exactly 20 years since his last appearance, the Lizard Man (which may or may not resemble Stretch Monster, seen on the left) has been spotted again near Bishopville, South Carolina.

Beginning in the summer of 1988, there came a flurry of reports from the Scape Ore Swamp area near Bishopville in Lee County of a mystery monster. It was said to be humanoid, standing upright, with scaly green skin and red eyes. The Lee County Sheriff's Department wound up going out into the swamp and came back with plaster casts of tracks made by a three-toed creature that according to the South Carolina Marine Resources Department, did not match those of any known species of animal.

Needless to say, the Lizard Man story became a media sensation that brought television news crews and newspaper reporters from around the world descending on Bishopville. One of its local radio stations offered a $1 million reward for anyone who could capture the creature alive. There was even a song that came out about the Lizard Man.

And then it pulled a Keyser Soze and "like that, he's gone." After only a month of reputable Lizard Man sightings, the thing disappeared. There was one account of it being spotted soon afterward, but that later turned out to have been a hoax.

But now in 2008, Lizard Man has returned, acording to MyrtleBeachOnline.com. It's destroyed part of a couple's van, and this time it's left more tracks and blood. A California-based Bigfoot hunter is saying there's no question in his mind: Lizard Man is back!

As always, this blog will be on the lookout for further developments in this... matter, and relay them to you.

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"Shocking" Ledger scene to remain in THE DARK KNIGHT

Before I go into the main topic of this post, I've just got to say that this...

...even without knowing any of the context, is already the most disturbing image I've ever seen connected to a comic book movie.

The word came out last week that The Dark Knight, the follow-up to 2005's hit Batman Begins, has started screening to test audiences. And there's one scene in there that's extremely upsetting in the wake of the death of Heath Ledger, who plays Batman's nemesis the Joker in the film. Apparently the scene involves (SPOILER: highlight with mouse to read) the Joker "playing dead" and laying in a body bag (END SPOILER). The scene in question is reportedly so disturbing to watch, that Warner execs had seriously been considering having it cut from the final movie entirely. It's now being reported by Moviehole.net that Ledger's scene will be kept intact. And I'm hearing from a few other places that Christopher Nolan has "every intention" of not removing anything planned for what sadly became Ledger's final finished film.

If this does wind up bothering some people, I can only say: folks, it's just a character in a movie. That's all. And no doubt that Ledger went in and gave it all the effort that this role demands, to the utmost of his professional ability. But when that scene happens, remember: it's the Joker. That's going to be no more Heath Ledger himself in that scene than it was George Burns in Oh, God! instead of the Almighty.

Let's just watch The Dark Knight and remember the fine actor he already was, and be in awe at the dedication he poured into this performance.

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A question about Star Wars that I've always wondered about...

At this moment Spike TV is broadcasting Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. It's leading in to network premiere of Return of the Jedi later tonight.

Okay, I've watched The Empire Strikes Back... Lord only knows how many times over the years, all the way back to when it first came out in theaters in 1980. And there is one thing about this movie that has always, always bugged me...

In the "betrayal" scene where Lando is taking Han, Leia and Chewie through Cloud City, the door opens and there's Darth Vader seated at the far end of a fully-loaded banquet table. Han shoots, Vader deflects the blaster bolts with his hand then forces Han's gun to fly into his outstretched palm. Then Vader says "We would be honored if you would join us." Boba Fett enters from stage right behind Vader, Lando says "I'm sorry..." blah blah blah, and the last thing we see of the scene is Han, Leia, Chewie and Lando going into the room, Vader takes his seat again and the doors to the room slide shut.

Here's what I can't figure out:

DID THEY EAT?!?

I would love to know what happened next in that banquet room. I mean, did our heroes actually have dinner with Darth Vader, or what?

Is there any fiction out there - officially sanctioned or otherwise - that has ever offered a suggestion of what happened in that banquet hall after the doors closed?

Or is this just something that's never meant to be answered?

It's a situation so weird, I haven't even been able to figure out in my own mind what might have taken place after we see them go in.

What do you think? Or better yet, what do you know? 'Cuz I sure as heck don't :-)

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U.S. robots with machine guns threaten human American soldiers

From The Register comes more evidence that giving a gun to a robot is a very, very bad idea...

US war robots in Iraq 'turned guns' on fleshy comrades
-
Kill-droid rebellion thwarted... this time

By Lewis Page
Published Friday 11th April 2008 10:10 GMT

Ground-crawling US war robots armed with machine guns, deployed to fight in Iraq last year, reportedly turned on their fleshy masters almost at once. The rebellious machine warriors have been retired from combat pending upgrades.

The revelations were made by Kevin Fahey, US Army program executive officer for ground forces, at the recent RoboBusiness conference in America.

Speaking to Popular Mechanics, Fahey said there had been chilling incidents in which the SWORDS* combat bot had swivelled round and apparently attempted to train its 5.56mm M249 light machine-gun on its human comrades.

"The gun started moving when it was not intended to move," he said.

Apparently, alert American troops managed to quell the traitorous would-be droid assassins before the inevitable orgy of mechanised slaughter began. Fahey didn't say just how, but conceivably the rogue robots may have been suppressed with help from more trustworthy airborne kill machines, or perhaps prototype electropulse zap bombs.

No humans were hurt, but it seems that the struggle was sufficiently terrifying that it may be some time before American troops are ready to fight alongside robots again...

Aim here for more about this story.

Gizmodo found some photos of the military robots...

So who else thinks these things look way too much like the Hunter-Killer Tanks from future sequences of the Terminator movies?

Here's a story from this past October about another robot-operated gun that went nuts and killed nine people.

I guess nobody reads Asimov anymore, huh?

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Review of MEETING DAVID WILSON

Today I was accused of being a racist.

You need to know that, because that's been on my mind all evening and that's what I went in with when I watched Meeting David Wilson, which just premiered on MSNBC. And it would be doing a disservice toward my opinion about this film without disclosing what's going on in my gray matter this evening, especially in light of the fact that much of Meeting David Wilson takes place here in Reidsville, North Carolina and the surrounding area.

The circumstance in which it happened, it doesn't matter. Nor does it particularly bother me that I was accused of being a racist. I know better of myself than to let something like that bring me down. When I meet a person for the first time, the color of their skin or their creed or where they're coming from... that doesn't matter to me and it never has. I just see a person: someone made by God, worthy of all the respect that's due the potential He’s given them. And I like to think that God gives all of us such wonderful potential, being no respecter of persons.

No, what bothered me about being called a racist was the fact that in 2008, it's still too easy to call someone a racist without even bothering to understand what that really means.

I wasn't angry about it. Having anger would not have helped. It would not have enlightened the person who labeled me a racist, and it would have clouded my own judgment and vision. Anger would have solved nothing.

More than anything else, I was disappointed with the person who told me that. Because I know something that this person doesn't understand nearly enough: that this person is better than this. And just because they may have been born in a situation, doesn't mean that they have to endure that situation for the rest of their lives. Anyone can work toward escaping and making something better of themselves, if they want that. But they have to freely choose to want that, and then choose to strive toward it.

I hate to see anyone surrender from using his or her own free will. And I sure as hell cannot stand to see anyone make excuses for giving up without even trying.

I wish that I could have said something. To be honest, I didn’t know what to say. And even if I had known... what then?

As it turned out, I didn't have to say anything. David A. Wilson, the talented filmmaker from New Jersey who produced Meeting David Wilson, said it all in his documentary. And I absolutely hope and pray that Meeting David Wilson might make its way into every classroom and church in the country, because I sincerely can't remember watching a film quite like this one, ever.

The hype was well-justified, folks: Meeting David Wilson delivers.

And less than 16 hours after admittedly feeling crushed about wanting to believe that we as a people can rise above wherever we might be coming from, Meeting David Wilson has restored my hopes.

David A. Wilson, from one filmmaker to another: if that ain't the fulfillment of what we aim to achieve with our craft, then I don't know what is. My hat's off to ya, dude.

If you've been reading this blog over the past few days, then you know the premise of the film: David A. Wilson is a 28-year old journalist and filmmaker from Newark, New Jersey who took some time off to delve into his family's history. David A., a man of African descent, knew that his lineage stretched back to Reuben Wilson, an emancipated slave from Caswell County, North Carolina who after the Civil War founded that county's oldest predominantly black church.

David A. Wilson took to the Internet and made phone calls. And it wasn't long before he made a discovery that as he put it "knocked the wind" out of him: he shared a name with a man in North Carolina whose great-great grandfather had owned Reuben Wilson, the great-great grandfather of David A. Wilson.

And so David A. Wilson of Newark, New Jersey sets out to meet David B. Wilson of Reidsville, North Carolina.

Graced with sage wisdom and occasionally laced with cutting-edge humor ("You going to ask for reparations?" if the white David Wilson is rich, asks co-director David Woolsey. "You are my reparations," David B. tells his white friend, who is about to drive him twelve-some hours to North Carolina), Meeting David Wilson is a very personal and utterly personable journey in self-discovery from start to finish. Upon his arrival in North Carolina, David A. Wilson sets out to understand the experiences of his family. He finds the church founded by his great-great grandfather. From Caswell County, David A. speaks on the phone with an uncle back home in New Jersey after a day of working in a tobacco field.

The hard labor was going to purify him, his uncle tells David. He could have been talking about the cathartic nature of the entire project.

These scenes alone make Meeting David Wilson compelling to watch. It's almost enough to make you forget momentarily that per the title of the film, this is a story about meeting a man named David Wilson. And when the two Davids finally have their encounter on the grounds of the plantation where their respective families lived and worked, the film becomes something quite unlike anything that I can remember being broadcast on American television in recent memory.

David and David talk about their families' shared history. David of the Tarheel State points to some overgrown woods where the slave quarters were said to be, which prompts Newark David to go traipsing through dense foliage looking for it. The quarters are soon discovered, a moment that proves particularly humbling.

David A. probes David B. with questions about issues such as reparations, but it's never with an intent to convey or even suggest any pre-determined agenda. In other hands... in anyone's hands... this could have become a work of raw propaganda. Meeting David Wilson doesn't "avoid" that trap at all. It doesn't even need to try. Because it becomes exceedingly obvious during the course of conversation between the two Davids that in flagrant disregard for everything this world screams and expects about "the way it's supposed to be" between white and black people, here are simply two men, each as comfortable with examining his own psyche as he is with sincerely trying to understand the other's perspective.

Stripped of agenda and bereft of "expert commentary", Meeting David Wilson become about two men with the same name and no pretensions about what their conversation should become. Indeed, Meeting David Wilson is one of the most refreshing dialogues that I've ever seen in a documentary. Others looking to attempt this kind of filmmaking would do well to not only study it but take it to heart. I would even dare say that the film suggests that we as a people don't need some among us who profess to be our "leaders", because Meeting David Wilson amply demonstrates that we can take care of this sort of thing ourselves, simply as the individuals that God made us to be.

The North Carolina scenes are by far the most powerful of Meeting David Wilson. It's especially fun to watch David B. Wilson treating his northern counterpart to a meal at his Short Sugar's restaurant in Reidsville. Not long afterward, David A. returns to New Jersey, then buses his entire family back down to the Wilson plantation in Caswell County, where the two Davids have an extended family reunion.

And then toward the end of the film David A. makes a pilgrimage to Ghana, on the west coast of Africa. David A. visits the trading fortress where his ancestors were pushed through "The Door of No Return" and onto the ships that would take them to distant shores across the Atlantic. This is David A. Wilson's great victory, and that of all of his family and those of African descent who live in America. That he is able to return to this place, and that those of his generation have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves than that which their parents knew, is how God answered a prayer.

This was perhaps the weakest segment for me as a viewer. But that's with a caveat: as much as I would have liked to have seen more of the North Carolina material, as a filmmaker I can also understand why David A. perhaps felt not just moved but personally obligated to take this step. This was something he needed to do for sake of himself as much as it is for his project. And in that regard, Meeting David Wilson is as much about the filmmaker becoming introduced to himself as it is about an encounter with another man sharing his name, related by history if not by blood.

Meeting David Wilson is being touted as a documentary about race relations. Don't believe it one bit. I didn't see a film about race or ethnicity at all here. Instead Meeting David Wilson is about coming to terms with a minority more despised than any other in this world: the individual. And it's as much about daring to examine one's self as much as it is about daring to look past something so ultimately meaningless as factionalism. That point is brought home in, what was for me personally anyway, the most powerful moment of the film: David A. Wilson and David B. Wilson, standing side by side during a service with their families at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Caswell County. They take communion together and remember who they are in Christ: their movements in perfect unison. I can't imagine something like that being choreographed. It's as perfect a moment as has ever been captured in a documentary.

I've known David B. Wilson for a long time. Everyone in Reidsville eats at Short Sugar's on Scales Street. My sister worked there for a number of years. We even filmed the final scene of Forcery at Short Sugar's a few years ago. People literally come from all across the country to try the barbecue there. It was already world-famous and after tonight it's going to become even more renowned. And speaking of which: David B. and his boys had darned well better have brewed eight or nine batches of the Short Sugar's Barbecue Sauce, because there is going to be a stampede for it. Short Sugar's special sauce is one of the most exotic concoctions you will ever find and I'm glad to see this establishment get nationwide airtime tonight.

So everyone here knows David B. Wilson. And right now, tonight, I would like nothing better than to meet David A. Wilson and shake his hand, and thank him for this remarkable and powerful film that he and his crew have crafted.

All afternoon and evening, I've harbored a lot of frustration from things that happened today. If I hadn't watched Meeting David Wilson tonight, I would have probably gone to sleep with those things still on my mind, and I wouldn't have wanted that. That's not what God would have wanted me to do, either. I can let go of anger, but frustration is a whole 'nother animal that's hard for me to wrestle with. After seeing this film, I think that for once tonight that won't be a problem.

And wouldn't it be wonderful if Meeting David Wilson was someday looked upon as being one of the definitive benchmarks in our culture's maturity regarding how we respect each other as real individuals? If it can ever be said that the turning point finally came and that it happened in Caswell County and here in Reidsville... then as a proud son of this town, I'll be even more proud of it still.

What else can I say about Meeting David Wilson? Only that it comes with my highest recommendation.

For more information about Meeting David Wilson please visit the film's official website and it's Myspace page.

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Bev Perdue to stop running negative ads she shouldn't have run in the first place

So North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Bev Perdue has sworn to stop running negative ads against fellow Democrat primary opponent Richard Moore.

Perdue should have never run any negative ads, period.

Notice how she's only promising to do this for the primary. Perdue is saying nothing about abstaining from negative campaigning during the lead-up to the November general election. If she had done that, and stuck with it throughout the campaign season, I might be tempted to consider her.

But as it is, I'm still sticking with the policy that I announced last week: any candidate who runs even a single negative campaign commercial or pulls some other "dirty trick" that is easily attributable to his or her campaign, will not get my vote. Because doing such a thing proves beyond all doubt that said candidate does not sincerely want to serve the people. It means that they are only in it for the power and prestige, and are willing to throw away principles and decency to get it.

Why should we be their dupes and accomplices?

And if this means that I can't vote for any candidate at all in a race, I'm fine with that too. I don't feel like I have to vote for "a winner" in order to feel like a winner in the game of life. And there are more important things than coming out on top in an election.

Bev Perdue, you've struck out. But don't feel too bad: you've got lots of company already and will no doubt be getting plenty more.

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