So I forgot to mention that I saw "A Man Apart" on Friday with Shiv and her family. I hadn't seen it yet, so I was interested in checking it out. I'm not a Vin Diesel fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoyed watching his characters in Pitch Black and xXx (Triple X)... gotta respect a mean bald guy, haha.

Anyways, the movie was aight... the plot started out well, but seemed to drop off toward the end. Blame it on the bad writing. The movie's redeeming quality however, was the characters... central to the movie is the friendship between the main character Sean (Vin Diesel) and his best friend Demetrius (Larenz Tate). The plot of the movie basically goes like this: Sean and Demetrius are undercover DEA cops who help to takedown a major cartel by arresting its boss and sending him to prison. They return home happy, but as a new, ruthless cartel takes over, Sean is attacked at his house and his beloved wife is killed. The rest of the movie follows Sean's path of vengeance against the people that killed his wife... not a very mindbending plot, eh?

Like I said, the characters and their friendship is what saves this movie from being a complete waste of time. As Sean quite visibly sinks deeper and deeper into depression and rage over the loss of his wife, his actions become more and more dangerous to those around him. In the meantime, Demetrius struggles with the dilema of doing his duty as a cop and helping his friend.

Diesel and Tate have a good chemistry and are completely believable as friends... the defining scene happens when Sean has been kicked out of the DEA and comes to Demetrius house to ask for his help to raid the club of one of the men he believes responsible for his wife's death. With passion, grief, and anger, Sean shouts the line most often seen in the trailer...

"Once you turn your back on me, I have no one... what would you do if it were you?! What would you do if she DIED!!!"

It makes you think about friendship, and what lengths a man would go to help a friend, especially one in such grief. True friends are tough to come by in an age where popular culture has loyalty reduced to a situational moral law - depending on circumstances, friendship may or may not apply. I'm pretty introspective person, the sort with only a few close friends... but I'm thankful for the ones I do have.

I'd consider myself of the old school of thought, a bygone time where a good friend is a blood brother, a pallet-bearer who will help to carry you when you're down. I think my friend Mel Lu once commented in unique terms that my personal beliefs in loyalty and honor in such things makes me a relic... haha.

Sure, it's easy to share in someone's happiness - that's why weddings are big events. But to share in someone's grief, their pain and suffering? You'll notice funerals and memorial services rarely have the same amount of people attending as a wedding.

God forbid, if something were to ever happen to a good friend like Josh or Chris or J-Tong or anyone from the Maplewood family, like having spouse or loved one murdered, and the perpetrator roamed free... you could can count on me being the first one to roll out with them to seek justice and take care of the vermin who did it. If a good friend died and left behind children, those kids would stay with me whenever they wanted, eat a hot meal and I'd tell them stories that would honor their parent's memory. People might consider these things extraordinary or heroic things to do... I don't.

To me, they only seem like one thing: the right thing. A good friend is always family. Period. people who betray their friends, disloyalty, betrayers... it all disgusts me. It makes me ill. I'd rather have 1 true friend than a 1000 wishy-washy, fake "friends".

'A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.' -Proverbs 18:24

I think Siobhan thinks it weird that in a certain week, I'll maybe only hang out with friends every once in awhile, or talk to them via e-mail or IM on occasion. Maybe it's just because I'm an introverted person, but I think more than that, guys view friendships differently then girls. I can't really explain it that well, except that men, especially Asian men, being of the generally level-headed, unemotional sort... we remember and keep our bonds with each other without calling each other 24-7 on cellphones like girls do. Our maybe, it's just typical male approach to relationships that boggles the mind. Ha.

On a less serious note...

Tonight (Saturday) was good - the first kick-off meeting for both the high school and junior high fellowship groups at my church. It's nice to see some of the kids again, and hey - we got new help. Jeff Lam is now helping out as part of his internship at CBC, and Kenny is feeling healthier again and is back... praise God.

And of course, Josh, Cassie, Kristie, and Dave are all back. It's great to serve with friends.

I'm teaching next week's lesson. Choir starts back up tomorrow, and somehow, I've already been grabbed to sing a solo for next week's choir performance. Like whoa... guess it'll be a busy next weekend at church.
posted by G at 2:32 AM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33