$400 Million Mistake

We have all made mistakes in our lives, some big and some small. I doubt, however, that you have ever made a mistake that ended up costing you hundreds of millions of dollars. According to this story, that is what Sean Connery gave up by not playing Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings". He was offered 15% of the worldwide box office receipts and he turned it down because he couldn't "understand the script". What a mistake it was because he turned down almost $400 million. Steve Mcqueen also turned down three roles as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection", Sundance in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Captain Benjamin Willard in "Apocalypse Now". He lost $3 million when he turned down "Apocalypse Now", and a potential oscar for the "French Connection". Will Smith was offered the role of Neo in "The Matrix," but he humbly turned it down explaining that he would have "messed up" the movie. You really don't know what you have till it's gone. Some of these stars have legitimate reasons like not thinking that someone else will do a better a better job, but to turn down millions of dollars because you don't want to film somewhere or not "understanding" the script is crazy. Mr. Connery should've tryed to understand the script a little more or just checked out the huge fanbase before he turned down $400 million. I thought this was very interesting especially thinking about how different the famous movies characters would be with different actors. It is definitely something everyone should read. It is related to class in that we are learning about film and literary analysis and this is a story about film. This is also related to the class theme for this semester about journeys. The actors obviously believed that their journey or purpose was to not do that movie.

Riggs, Ransom. "5 million-dollar mistakes by movie stars." CNN.com 20 Oct 2008 1. 22 Oct 2008 .

Pirates of the Somalian Coast

When we think of pirates, we think of a huge ship with a burly crew that has a win or die trying mentality trying to get treasure from other ships on the seas. We still do have pirates, but like in the movies. They are beginning to become a problem in Somalia’s coast, so NATO is sending ships to protect the seas. According to the article, pirates have seized a Ukrainian ship that was carrying weapons and hostages. Sugule Ali has been the voice of the pirates who have put the ransom at $20 million. He supposedly lowered the ransom to $8 million because of international pressure and the fact they are surrounded by six United States warships with a Russian tanker on the way. The hostages are safe and healthy, but they are still scared and uncertain of the future. The concerns of piracy aren’t just the hostages, but millions of food is sent to people who need it and they will starve without it. NATO plans are not certain as of now, but I’m sure any aid is appreciated and will help immensely. This article was very interesting to me because I thought that piracy was something very uncommon, but that does not appear to be the case. Ships are just going to have to step up security because we cannot cover the entire ocean. This relates to the theme of the first quarter books we are reading, which is a journey. These pirates feel that their journey is to seize this ship and try to earn money off of innocent people. Everyone on the ship had a journey of their own, but it took a very bad turn when they were kidnapped. I would read this again because you really don't read about pirates very often.

Associated Press. "NATO sending ships to tackle Somali pirates." CNN.com 9 Oct 2008 1. 9 Oct 2008 .

Hero or Not

Question 2-
I do not think Odysseus is a hero for modern times. When we think of heroes we think of people who are physically and mentally tough. These people do not give into their weaknesses and will stop at nothing to obtain their goal. In Odysseus’ case he is trying to get home, but along the way he gets caught up with Calypso. Calypso will not let him free to get home to his beloved Penelope. He is not entirely faithful though because he sleeps with Calypso while he is on the island. A real hero does not give into his temptations no matter what the predicament. Martin Luther King Jr. could’ve given up at any time, but he knew what he had to do and he did it. Similarly, Odysseus happens upon Circe’s island. There he becomes her lover and lives there for a full year. This one is a little different in that he chooses to stay and she freely lets him go. This is not a hero like I said before a real hero does not give into his temptations. Certainly, one would think that a hero would willingly put a goal behind him. In the end, it just takes Odysseus that much longer to get home.
Additionally I think that Odysseus is not a hero because he is just a brute and is always out for revenge. Odysseus is transformed into a beggar and ends up in a palace. Irus, another beggar, taunts Odysseus and provokes him to begin a fight. Odysseus has his power restored and beats the snot out of Irus. Does a real hero get revenge and fight back? No, a real hero shrugs it off or takes it; they don’t go and beat up everyone who says a bad thing about them. He has power and he needs to use it responsibly. He is meant to help save the family not kill innocent beggars. Once Odysseus shows himself to the suitor it is too late for them. He does not give any mercy and kills all of them. Additionally, he has the disloyal servant women clean up all the bodies and blood and then kills them as well. A real hero has mercy, they will not get revenge. Odysseus doesn’t care about anything besides the fact that they were disloyal or suitors. Therefore, in his mind, they need to be killed.

Chinese Gymnast Controversey

The 2008 Olympics were held in Beijing, China this year in spectacular fashion. Inspiring stories reafirmed our belief that anything is possible if we dream. Records were broken and the U.S. came away with the most overall medals. Should we have had more though? In gymnastics the Chinese women gymnasts won most of the medals, most notably the overall gold. However, their ages have come into question because of their appearence and sketchy birth records. An investigation was made into their ages, but the results proved the Chinese were all at least 16 that year. According to the article, Dong Fangxiao, a participant in the 2000 Olympics, was 14 during the olympics. She worked as a technical officer in the Beijing where her birthdate was listed as January. 23, 1986, but her official birthdate is listed as January. 20, 1983. The reason they have the minimum age at 16 is to protect the still-developing girls from injury. Next year, they will start using a license system to aviod these controversies. I was very interested by this story because I personally thought that they were underage just by looking at them during the Olympics. Some looked like they still had baby teeth or just losing them. I think that the IOC (International Olympic Commitee) should have looked into this earlier instead of at the very end of the olympics. This isn't a matter of sour grapes because the U.S. lost, it is a matter of trust because the Olympics are meant to be a time for everyone to come together and put aside our differences. I would read this again because I wanted to find out how this was going to end.


Associated Press, "Ruling Backs Chinese Gymnasts." New York Times 1 Oct 2008 1-2. 1 Oct 2008 .