What I Learned From Michael Scott

On March 25, 2005, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, and the cast of Friends stepped out of sight of adoring fans to make room for the newest addition of what would become a multi-Emmy-winning sitcom, unlike any the United States had ever seen before. And it would continue for nine years, taking its final bow on May 15, 2013.

Admittedly, NBC’s The Office has been lagging for the past two years, but being diehard fans of the show, the Toy household is still sad to bid farewell. With the season finale airing tonight, I thought it would be appropriate to tip our hats to this prime time phenomenon.

I’d like to point out that with Michael Scott being the heartbeat of the show, I think it’s fair to say the show died the night he left us with the words, “Let me know if this ever airs.” The last two years have been merely a memorial service, trying to recapture the life that once existed, like harnessing the ghost of a once-lively person – but couldn’t. Some jokes given by the cast of eulogists were good, and many were bad. But tonight, we gather for the long-awaited burial.

I hope and expect to use up every hankie in the house.

I’m not ashamed that I think Michael Scott is one of the most depth-filled, widely developed, funniest TV characters of all time. (Okay, truth be told, if Sarabeth would let me, I would have a poster of him hanging up in our bedroom.) But just because you’re funny doesn’t mean you’re bright. And so, in honor of the show’s ending, I thought it would be fun to take a look back and remember some good times with the world’s best boss.

(Forgive me if this seems out of place on my blog, but I just can’t help paying homage to my favorite show. Office fans, read,  remember, and laugh.)

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MICHAEL SCOTT

Don’t promise an entire class of kids that you’ll pay their college tuition until you have the funds to do so.

Don’t write an age-sensitive joke in a woman’s “bird-day” card.

Don’t conduct a meeting on obesity dressed in a fat suit.

If you’re going to fake-fire someone, make sure you have the punch-line right. (“You’ve been X’d, punk!”)

You can’t declare bankruptcy by yelling it.

Giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead bird does nothing.

Clear it with your boss before you announce in front of the whole company what branch is closing down.

Don’t invite your friends/colleagues over to a dinner party if you’re forced to sleep at the end of the bed in your own house.

Don’t hold a roast in honor of yourself. It actually might hurt your feelings.

It is, in fact, a “dog-eat-dog” world, not a “doggie-dog” world.

Abraham Lincoln never said, “I will attack you with the north.” (Though it has long been our favorite Lincolnian saying in our house.)

If the building is presumptuously on fire, and you’re a man, and the manager, don’t be the first one to run outside like a frightened little girl.

If you’re going to a job fair to represent a paper company, you might want to have some paper with you.

Don’t hold the pizza delivery guy hostage just so you can get your discount.

Watch out for indoor ponds.

Goodbye Office. We will miss you and forever continue to watch your DVD’s.

Feel free to add your own favorite Office moments.

[Image Credit]

Historical Fiction, and My Next Book Announcement

If you’ve read The Man in the Box, you know that I am a huge proponent for combining fiction with reality. That’s probably why I loved Life of Pi so much. Now, to be sure, I’ve learned to be very weary of historical fiction books, such as Gingrich’s To Try Men’s Souls. 

But there is one I’d like to point out that was awarded the Newberry Award Medal back in 1990. It’s called Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It’s a wonderful little book set in Denmark, 1943 about a little Danish girl, Annemarie, who must learn to be brave in the face of the Nazi relocation effort of the Danish Jews – especially since they’re looking specifically for her best friend Ellen Rosen.

It’s a wonderful piece of literature I plan on using as our first means of introduction to World War II with our kids. It chronicles the way life changed for so many in such a short amount of time in a kid-appropriate way. But I can’t see how adults couldn’t get pulled into this short read as well, and not walk away having learned some interesting facts about a particularly brilliant method many Danish people used to hide their Jewish neighbors.

I try not to be too random with my reading selections. Often, I find a piece of history I’m interested in, or a new work of fiction particularly catches my fancy, and I’ll dive in. It may seem kind of out of the blue that I chose a twenty-three year old kids’ fiction book about Nazis occupying Denmark.

Well, you’ll be seeing plenty more Holocaust-related books reviewed here on AdoptingJames in the next several weeks. And here’s why.

I’m proud to officially announce my next book project. Without giving much away, it will be a young reader’s fiction book that takes place somewhere in Austria around the time of the Nazi uprising. I’m being very intentional to make it so that your kids (and mine) will find it engaging and funny (watch Life is Beautiful – it can be done!), and adults will adore it.

I told Sarabeth with a deep sigh the other day, “I wish we had lots of money so I could fly to Germany and walk the streets and smell the smells of Europe, so I can better write this book.” But I’ll just have to do with what God has given me: A library.

Since I can’t go to Europe myself, what better way to smell the dew on the cornflowers, and taste the stale bread, and shiver by the stove cramped in the fireplace during a cold, dark winter in Nazi-ruled Europe than to read about it?

That’s the beauty of historical fiction. It does something that non-fiction books can only do with ultra-accomplished writers (such as Eric Larson and Gregory A. Freeman), and that’s this: They serve as a time portal, picking you up out of your comfortable chair, and placing you dead-center in the middle of history unfolding all around you.

That is what my book will strive to do for you and your children. And I can’t wait for you to read it.

Life of Pi: To Read or to Watch … That’s the Question, Isn’t it?

Sarabeth and I sat down to watch Life of Pi less than an hour after I finished reading the book. Having read the book of course, I was extremely excited for the movie – and curious as to how it had maintained just a PG rating.

I know some of my readers have yet to see the movie, or even read the book. Or maybe you’ve seen it, but not read it or visa-versa. So you’re wondering, is it worth reading or is it worth watching?

Allow me to share my thoughts on both written and visual depictions of the story by Yann Martel.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Let me tell you, the first few sentences had me hooked. Now, let me make clear to you: I’m not blind to the fact that this book’s cover may have well been a picture of those “Coexist” bumper stickers. (Somebody pointed out at church recently that we already do coexist, so what’s the point of the sticker?)

I read books with many different hats on. I found myself having to switch hats on many different occasions while reading this piece of work.

As a blogger and book reviewer, I couldn’t wait to share this exciting read with my readers.

As an author, I learned many  new tricks from Mr. Martel, and am indebted to his bravery of venturing into new territories, and am awed by his storytelling abilities. He truly has proved himself a master of fiction.

As a husband, I sounded like this throughout the last two weeks: “Sarabeth, this book has a lot of potential” … “Sarabeth, I don’t agree with his religious outlook, but he’s such a great writer, I don’t care!” … “Umm… this book is really gory. You might not be able to read it” … “I just threw up” … “I just cried like a baby.” … “Finished. Let’s start the movie.”

But as a Christian, I was not blinded to the overt inclusivistic themes of the book.

(To be sure, the movie hammered those themes much more than the book did.)

I will say that it was extremely fascinating to hear the account of Christianity retold through the eyes of a Hindu/Muslim (yes, the main character Pi subscribes to both religions, plus Christianity).

I am a huge proponent of seeing the world (and God) through the eyes of non-Christians, which is one reason why I think it’s pointless for Christians to only read theology-based books, or listen to only Christian music.

There are so many passages from the book I wanted to share on this post to you all, but space (and time) limit me. So for the sake of story, I truly hope many of you get a chance to read this book. I would be remiss in not warning you however, as I hinted above, that the book is extremely gory at times, and could be overly upsetting to many animal-lovers.

Life of Pi directed by Ang Lee. If anything stood in my way from watching the movie, it would have been director Ang Lee’s weak reputation as a movie director. Need I say more than 2003′s all-time disaster Hulk? That, and his insistance on being controversial, i.e. Brokeback Mountain.

But people have redeemed themselves before. Everyone deserves another chance.

I think Ang Lee did the story more harm than good. I don’t know if it was his decision to add all the weird New Age-y special effects, which really served as nothing more than a New Age mini-sermon disrupting the story, or Hollywood’s insistance to cash out on the 3d rage. Either way, the exagerated color schemes and light shows were all for naught, in my opinion.

I never felt that sense of hopelessness and fear and desperation that we should have felt from Pi since falling into the lifeboat. There was never that Cast Away feel of being alone and missing the life that has forgotten you thousands and thousands of miles away.

Danny Boyle, director of 127 Hours would have been a shoe-in for this project. He knows how to make the audience thirsty for a single drop of water. With a certain, magical way of filmmaking, he can trap every audience member’s hand between a rock and a wall, and convince us all to long for a knife to saw off our arm. That’s exactly the kind of director Life of Pi needed.

I would suggest watching the movie if you simply can’t get to the book. Because, in Lee’s defense, he does stay true to the story, despite his weird detours and out-of place special effects.

In summary. Despite my disagreement with Yann Martel’s vision of God, I will eagerly anticipate his next book.

I think Ang Lee has run out of chances with me.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer the book or the movie?

My Review of Lincoln

Think about it.

There’s probably not a person over sixteen alive today living in America that hasn’t seen a Steven Spielberg movie.

Unless they’re Amish.

Or blind.

Still. I always say, “We can all use a little more Spielberg in our lives.”

Alright, alright, so he messed up with the snore-fest War Horse (I still don’t know what it was about!). And maybe The Lost World didn’t come close to living up to its predecessor – but no one’s perfect, right?

I mean, I’m not a perfect husband; I’ve snapped at my wife a time or two.

Pixar made Cars 2

Congress voted in favor of Obamacare. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Anyway, all that to say, that Lincoln, though not meant to be watched for entertainment value, is far from being a mistake.

I think Spielberg actually did a masterful job, not at creating a blockbuster or a compelling story-on-film, but a rich, well-informed, educational, and (mostly) accurate documentary of the efforts to pass the 13th amendment.

Be sure, this film is not about the Civil War, nor did I feel like it was really about our sixteenth president. The film focused mainly on the collective efforts of the Republicans to persuade the House of Representatives to pass Lincoln’s proposed amendment, not necessarily for the purposes of freeing the slaves (though that was a sparkling side-effect), but to end the war on the terms of unification of the nation.

Abraham Lincoln was undoubtably one of the greats. I loved how Spielberg highlighted his political genius, and the great efforts and strains he endured to have his pure resolve brought to fruition.

Sarabeth and I were both tense leading up to the assassination, (btw, spoilers ahead) but we were relieved that it was not shown. It honestly would have been too traumatic for any patriot to see – even replicated – on screen. I think it was very honorable that Spielberg spared the audience such images, as I’m sure he knew it could draw criticism from the rougher audiences.

Passing over the assassination was akin to Oliver Stone purposefully choosing not to show the planes crashing into the towers in his film World Trade Center, diverting attention from the praise-seeking sadists. 

I will say, if you want to learn more about the historical assassination, and how Booth suffered miserably in his last days, you really need to pick up the book Manhunt by Swanson. (It’ll also give you an idea of what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went through last week in Massachusetts.) Even then, in written form, Lincoln’s untimely death brought me to near tears.

“Should we buy it?” is a question often asked in our house after we watch a rental.

My answer: “It’s nothing I would look forward to watching again in a hurry. But I think it’s worth having on hand to show our kids when they’re studying about him in school.”

Keep the cameras rolling, Mr. Spielberg.

Our Full Potential

Sarabeth and I watched Adam Sandler’s Mr. Deeds last night. I (reluctantly) admit it’s one of the funnier movies in our small comedy collection. Watching it, I kept thinking, What happened, Adam?

As goofy as his movies are, we actually enjoy a small handful of his older ones.

Several years ago, he took a detour from his usual comedy routine and stared in a few dramatic movies, one of them being  Reign Over Me, one of my personal favorite movies. Besides telling a vivid post-9/11 story of pain and honesty in a broken world, it really showcased Sandler’s true talent and potential for what seemed to be the budding of his acting career.

The movie was timely because I, along with many fans, were growing tired of his slapstick hijinks and repeatedly silly antics. His next movie dealt with a serious issue alright, but not in a serious way. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was so offensive and filthy that I literally took a shower after watching just half of it. (It is very, very difficult to offend me.)

He then goes on to make several more silly movies, continuing to refuse to show any depth, and then, just to taunt those of us who would like to support him (if only he’d grow up), he stars in a movie called – of all things - Grown Ups (which scored a whopping 9% approval rating on Rottentomatoes – but don’t worry, that won’t deter Sandler or his producers from hawking out a sequel.)

Needless to say, with the exception of Chuck and Larry, it’s been seven years since I’ve supported or seen anything new by him.

But in that small stint of time between 2004 and 2006, Adam Sandler showed true potential. I’m reminded of my high school days. I scored an A in my Creative Writing class, which prompted my mom to say, “You see? I know you’re capable of getting A’s! This proves it!”

Adam Sandler proved to the world that he was capable of more than just joke repetition, senseless beatings, and fart jokes.

It wasn’t long ago when I said to Sarabeth, “We need some more Leo in our lives.” Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor whose career choices I highly respect and admire. He could have very easily remained as the pretty boy Hollywood made him out to be in his younger days, but instead, he chose to mature with the years. His movie choices are age-related, and aren’t just ones that will keep the girls storming after him like lemmings over a cliff (though, I’m sure they still do that). From Catch Me if You Can to Aviator, he has truly reached and kept his full potential over the years.

What about you?

Are you just sticking with what’s comfortable? Or are you stretching yourself, pushing yourself, to be better in your field, your hobbies, your dreams, your career?

Don’t settle for what you were good at yesterday. Discover what you could be good at tomorrow, and keep pressing forward.

Imagination Run Amuck

Jurassic Park is making its grand reappearance in theaters today. I remember seeing it a few times in theaters twenty years ago. Those were good times.

One of my earliest memories of Sarabeth and I dating long-distance is her mentioning something on the phone about Jurassic Park that I never caught before.

I fell deeper in love with her that day.

This dino-romping, spine-tingling movie is great in so many ways. I like to think it was gutsy of the late author, Michael Crichton, to write an adult novel about people living among dinosaurs.

Amusement park attractions break lose and terrorize the visitors! 

Sounds more like a Goosebumps plot, doesn’t it?

Perhaps Crichton purposefully took a kids’ concept and spun it with a grown-up appeal. It seems like this methodology has taken root over the last couple of years.

You’ve got shows like Once Upon a Time and Grimm – Fairy tales coming to life.

Movies such as Jack the Giant Killer and Hansel and Grettle are stealing Hollywood’s spotlight. And weren’t there several dozen movies about Snow White recently?

And while adult movies are trying to reach for the kid in us, kids movies seem to be appealing more and more to the adult in us. What father can’t relate to Marlin in Finding Nemo? What mother can’t help but root for reconciliation between Marida and the queen in Brave? And need I mention the uncertainty of passing from childhood to adulthood in Toy Story 3?

Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg together created a masterpiece that, in its day, was quite revolutionary – a kids’ movie, wrapped in a grown-up package that will appeal to all ages.

I may be wrong here. I know there are some people who would never let their nine year old watch Jurassic Park. I saw it at that age and I had the time of my life. It was the most fun I ever had being scared out of my wits!

Because they were dinosaurs! I’m not talking about blood-sucking vampires or eye-gouging zombies (or whatever they do), or ungodly exorcisms. I’m talking about good ol’ cowboys-and-Indians type of fun here.

To this day, Jurassic Park influences my storytelling and my day-to-day imagination. (Just the other day I heard what must have been a truck outside, and I asked the girls – the dogs – in all seriousness, “Was that a dinosaur?”)  Those who read my book know what I’m talking about, and see the influence Spielberg has had on me.

I’m not about to tell you to spend $50 to go see it in 3d when you likely already own it (we aren’t). But I am saying that we should appreciate the stories that appeal to both who we are on the outside (tax-paying, hard-working adults) and who we yearn to be on the inside (carefree kids who like to be spooked every now and then).

And who knows? Maybe your kids will be as inspired as I was by Jurassic Park, and, like Crichton, have the courage to let their imagination run amuck.

[Image Credit]

The Loss of Innocence

A few weeks back, Sarabeth and I attended our first Andrew Peterson concert – one of the better concerts I’d ever attended. During it, he told the story of his son whom he found crying in his bed. When asked what was the matter, his son responded by holding out a book toward his father.

The book was The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

Like any good father, Andrew picked the book up and began to read it to see what had troubled his son so badly.

As Andrew would have it, he found himself out on the front porch a few days later finishing the book in his hands that his son gave him. And, as he would have it, he was bawling uncontrollably.

Like a little boy.

His son came out onto the porch and said two words that bound father and son together in a mutual understanding: “The Yearling?”

Andrew Peterson nodded and said, with a choked voice, “The Yearling.” 

Being a sucker for sappy stories, I took this book recommendation as a great challenge. Many movies may move me to tears, but I can’t recall ever crying over a book.

Folks, if you read this book,

no matter how hard your heart is,

no matter how tough you think you are

…brace yourselves.

It’s a story more about the loss of innocence than about the loss of a childhood pet (whose death is quite more graphic in depiction than even Old Yeller, and anyone who reads it will be haunted for a while). 

The final few pages brought me back to my own innocent childhood and how that innocence has, somewhere behind the thick veil of time, flown away “somewhere beyond the sink-hole, past the magnolia, under the live oaks … and gone forever.”

It takes a few chapters to get past the Swamp People-esk dialect, and even a few more chapters for things to begin to unfold, but that’s not to say I ever really got bored. I enjoyed the lush descriptions of the Floridian sawgrass and swamps. I loved reading about the silly antics of Jody’s lovable father, Penny. And I savored the few moments Jody had with Flag, his yearling.

Andrew Peterson was so moved by this book that he wrote a song called, “The Ballod of Jody Baxter.” You can listen to it here.

I encourage anyone who needs to be moved, stirred, or even reminded of the carefree days that lay just in calendars past when all was well.

On a personal note, I know this was a timely book for me, as I’m struggling with accepting the corruption of the world, much less in myself. The Yearling taught me to remember days gone past when things were good. And even though they may be gone now, there is a day when I, when we, will share good days together again in the future…