Finding Nemo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"An ecosystem contained 

in 

one infinitesimal speck."

~(Stingray the School Teacher)~

"No, he's my son.

He was taken by these divers."

~(Marlin)~

"You poor fish."

~(Dory)~

"Humans.  Think they own everything.

Probably American."

~(Hammerhead Shark)~

"There is a father looking for his little boy."

[Tearfully]

~(Bruce the Shark)~

Finding Nemo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Finding Nemo is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film written and directed by Andrew Stanton, released by Walt Disney Pictures, and the fifth film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It tells the story of the over-protective clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) who, along with a regal tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), searches for his abducted son Nemo (Alexander Gould) all the way to Sydney Harbour. Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and let Nemo take care of himself.

The film received universal critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and was nominated in three more categories including Best Original Screenplay. It was the second highest-grossing film of 2003, earning a total of $921 million worldwide. Finding Nemo is also the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006, and was the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time before Pixar's own Toy Story 3 overtook it. It is also the 25th highest-grossing film of all time, as well as the 3rd highest-grossing animated film. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the tenth greatest animated film ever made during their Top 10.

PLOT

Two ocellaris clownfish Marlin and his wife Coral are admiring their new home in the Great Barrier Reef and their clutch of eggs that are due to hatch in a few days. Suddenly, an Australian barracuda attacks them, leaving Marlin unconscious. Marlin wakes up to find that Coral and all but one of her eggs are missing, and assumes the barracuda ate them. Marlin names this last egg Nemo, a name that Coral liked.

The film then moves on to Nemo's first day of school. Nemo has a very small right fin, due to a minor injury to his egg from the barracuda attack, which limits his swimming ability. After Marlin embarrasses Nemo during a school field trip, Nemo disobeys his father and sneaks away from the reef towards a boat into unsafe waters, resulting in him being captured by scuba divers. As the boat sails away, one of the divers accidentally knocks his diving mask into the water.

The inspiration for Nemo was made up of multiple experiences. The idea goes back to when director Andrew Stanton was a child, when he loved going to the dentist to see the fish tank, assuming that the fish were from the ocean and wanted to go home.  In 1992 shortly after his son was born, he and his family took a trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (which was called Marine World at the time). There he saw the shark tube and various exhibits he felt that the underwater world could be done beautifully in computer animation.  Later, in 1997 he took his son for a walk in the park, but found that he was over protecting him constantly and lost an opportunity to have any "father-son experiences" on that day. In an interview with National Geographic magazine, he stated that the idea for the characters of Marlin and Nemo came from a photograph of two clownfish peeking out of an anemone:

It was so arresting. I had no idea what kind of fish they were, but I couldn't take my eyes off them. And as an entertainer, the fact that they were called clownfish—it was perfect. There's almost nothing more appealing than these little fish that want to play peekaboo with you.

Also, clownfish are very colourful, but do not tend to come out of an anemone very often, and for a character who has to go on a dangerous journey, Stanton felt a clownfish was the perfect kind of fish for the character.

Finding Nemo has achieved universal critical acclaim. It currently holds a 99% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes and an average of 89 on Metacritic.

The film's use of clownfish prompted mass purchase of the animal as pets in the United States, even though the movie portrayed the use of fish as pets negatively and suggested that saltwater aquariums are notably tricky and expensive to maintain. The demand for clownfish was supplied by large-scale harvesting of tropical fish in regions like Vanuatu.

Environmental concerns and consequences

The reaction to the film by the general public has led to environmental devastation for the clownfish and has provoked an outcry from several environmental protection agencies, including Marine Aquarium Council, Australia. Apparently, the demand for tropical fish skyrocketed after the film's release. This has caused reef species decimation in Vanuatu and many other reef areas.

Furthermore, after seeing the film, some aquarium owners released their pets into the ocean, but the wrong ocean. This has introduced species harmful to the indigenous environment and is harming reefs worldwide as well.

***

If not me, than who.
If not now, then when.
~(Unknown)~

  

"Why are you such an ASSHOLE?"

~(Neighbor/Charles Bliss/Useless Green Acre Faggot)~

The day Mr. Bliss asked me this question, I laughed instead of answering him. 

I've since attempted answering his question in a blog entry I wrote about that day. 

"Karma,"

I called it. 

It's called,

"Karma."

Note of Interest. 

Alexander Jerome Gould, best known for voicing Nemo in Finding Nemo , was born in Los Angeles, California on May 4, 1994, to Tom and Valerie Gould. Gould has two younger sisters, Emma and Kelly, who are also actors. Raised Jewish, he is active in the Conservative Jewish youth group USY (he was president of his local USY synagogue chapter during his senior year of high school). He participated in the Gap year program, Nativ, spending ten months living in Israel, including time in the Negev desert, teaching English to elementary school children.  Gould is scheduled to attend Clark University.

 Being the "Truly Blue Bleeding Heart Liberal" I am,
found this paragraph Wikipedia had to say about Alexander Gould very interesting.

For some reason,
it reminded me of an uproar Liam Neeson caused among Conservative Christians when he answered a question as to who Aslan was referring to when he told the children,
"But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name."

"Aslan symbolises a Christ-like figure but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries."

"That’s who Aslan stands for as well as a mentor figure for kids – that’s what he means for me."

C S Lewis had a firm view about the role of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia.

The author once wrote of the character: ‘He is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?”’

Lewis also said that the books are full of Christian symbolism, covering subjects such as heaven and the end of the world.


Anytime I see or hear the word
"Conservative," 
a red flag automatically goes up in my brain.

Really no idea what a Conservative Jew would be like.  Always thought of them to be more intellectuals.
Definitely compared to your average Christian here in America.

So I'm going to assume it to be true,
except in my case,
the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

(Boy did I roll, roll, roll, and kept on rolling!  Not even sure I've ever stopped?) 

All I know,

I've yet to meet a friendly Jewish neighbor since my yard signs started.
Not sure I understand why that is? 

Haven't started in on them yet.

And the Muslims...

 waiting their turn as well.

Will go ahead and say this, although not totally in agreement with Jimmy Carter on his stand with the Palestinians,  did find myself coming to Mr. Carter defense when two Republicans veterinarians I worked with at Beaver Crossing Animal Hospital began referring to Mr. Carter, because of his controversial book, someone no longer a voice of reason; someone who needed to retire for good.

To me he was just someone willing to take an unpopular stand where no one else would; just trying to correct an unfairness he saw in the lack seriousness the world paid to the plight of the Palestinian people as seen from their perspective.

"Those with a surplus are better able controlling their circumstances. 
Those without are controlled by them. 
One is not always able exercising good judgement."
~(Henry Ford)~

But overall,
the Christians,
are the ones I consider most spoiled/detached from reality;
 the ones who object the loudest to anything they see as a threat...
 preventing them from living their pathetic insignificant sheltered littles lives.

Not all of them,
but enough to set the stereotype...
taking way too much in life for granted.

To better understand what I'm trying to say, try comparing your life today to those who lived
during
 Abraham's,  Jesus of Nazareth's, or Muhammad's
 time.

Every waking moment was devoted to providing just the bare necessities of life.

People didn't have
the
luxury/free time
 to
pout
about
how sad/pathetic/boring their lives were.

They were too busy surviving!

"I genuinely believe you can not take what Jesus said then,
 repeat it today,
 and have it mean the same thing.
You just can not do that.
Not even Jesus himself could."
~(Simply Jim:  One Pearl, Total Pig, Anti-Christ.)~

The ability understanding how the meaning of something said can change depending on who's saying it and the context of when and where it is said is called...
 "pragmatic competence!"

Nor did they have all the
"happy pills"
available to them;
seems just about every other person today
are
popping instead of  choosing to face reality.

I've even coined a word/neologism/portmanteau I believe describes better my tendency to always appear pessimistic, angry, frustrated, etc...,
any word meaning the opposite of "fun."

HOMOPOLAR!

The reason being,
everyone else too busy preferring to be blindly optimistic instead;
no one, absolutely no one, willing meeting me in the middle.
This option I consider being treated by most as a God given right/luxary...
I believe shouldn't be.
Not the way I see it being abused.

As opposed to being a mental patient with a Bipolar disorder, (a medical misnomer by the way), Georgia Regional Hospital has labeled me as without ever once sitting down with me and allowing me a chance explaining the events leading up to my angry outbursts; definitely do not believe it is fair diagnosing one as Bipolar without first ruling out that person having good reasons. 

   As Georgia Regional Hospital failed, pretty much refused, explaining to me how they arrived at the diagnosis of Bipolar with the bunny ears being referred to as psychic features or even willing to point out any examples where they thought I wasn't thinking clearly; absolutely refuse to accept their diagnosis.

We are indeed suppose to have two poles.

And I intend to use them as I see fit!

As for Mr. Bliss question,
 again,

"Why I'm I such an ASSHOLE?"

Here's a different way of answering the same question,
but
saying the same thing:

"I'm not an ASSHOLE to everyone. 

That point aside... 

nor am I an ASSHOLE to EVERYONE for the same reason.

If

I'm going to be an

ASSHOLE...

then it's only fair that I be

an

'Equal Opportunity Asshole.'"

~(Simply Jim: One Pearl, Total Pig, Anti-Christ)~

 Personally,
I prefer being referred to 
as
"confrontational" over being call an "asshole."

Yet again,
another example of "pragmatic competence."

Long ago,
taught myself not to react reflectively to words arbitrarily chosen to be slang.

To consider them within context, instead.
   
Do not like it?
  
Just throw it back at me.  

Definitely not claiming to be perfect. 

And ...
I actually would welcome the constructive criticism.

But do not make the mistake 
of 
BELIEVING...
the only
RIGHTS
I've got,
to be anything that doesn't get in the way of you having a good time.

WHY
can't we all just let
"TRUTH BE GOD"
the 
"UNIVERSAL"
 one instead?

Then ,
let the chips fall where they may?

***

"You weren't like other kids, growing up, who preferred playing 
with 
toy soldiers, guns, and cars.  
You're favorite toy was a bucket and a minnow net; 
always down in the creeks, ditches, catching things."
~(My Mother)~

"I tell my friends, 
you were my favorite...
but you were the one that got away."
~(My Mother)~

><0>
That's me far left.  Started off butch enough.
With the help of a good bit of imagination, I see a fish; the tail being me.
Sticking out of my right ear, even able seeing my equivalent to Nemo's lucky fin.

Then came those large locks of soft curls out of no where;
them curls I'm wanting to blame for most of my isolation more than the hearing impairment.

Even when the Brady boys all went perm, still didn't quite fit in.  

"Mother, do you not realize, 
to 
EVERYONE, 
I was 
a 
'MOMMA'S BOY.'"
~(James E. Avery, DVM)~

"What do you mean?  
If anyone was 
a 
'momma's boy,' 
that would be your brother.  
Why, 
you were the one, so brave, how you left home 
for 
University of  Arkansas 
and 
never looked back!"
~(My Mother)~

"That's the day, 
'I got away'?!" 

"For years,
thought you were referring to that weekend, 
second year of veterinary school; 
 came home just to tell you I had developed an attraction for other men and no longer was going to deny myself those feelings.
Same night you made vague threat
about 
killing yourself."

"Anyway, 
there was nothing all that brave 
about me leaving home
for
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville,  
only a four hours drive away,  
instead of one of the smaller schools closer."  

"Not any difference really,
 considering, 
pretty much a loner growing up there in Prescott; 
no close circle of friends I was leaving behind."
 
"From that perspective, they all seemed the same to me."
~(James E. Avery, DVM)~

***

"An ecosystem contained

in

one infinitesimal speck."

 

 

Our Home...

PALE BLUE DOT.

Where there is water,
there is life.

"We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spaceprobe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) from Earth, as part of the solar system Family Portrait series of images. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a tiny dot (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space.^[2] The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and to take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space, at the request of Carl Sagan.

Subsequently, the title of the photograph was used by Sagan as the main title of his 1994 book, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.