100%

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint, what equals 100%?

What does it mean to give more than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100% in what they do?

How about achieving 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

If A to Z is represented as

A = 1
B = 2
C = 3

Et cetera until Z = 26,

H – A – R – D – W – O – R – K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

K – N – O – W – L – E – D – G – E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 95%

But,

A – T – T – I – T – U – D – E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

It doesn't end there. Look at how much farther you can go.

L – O – V – E       O – F       G – O – D
12+15+22+5      15+6+      7+15+4 = 101%

We can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while hard work and knowledge will get you close, and attitude will get you there, it's the love of God that will put you over the top.

And where do we start? We start of course with ourselves. Like everybody else, you and me, we are never perfect, no one is. So don't pretend to be, you're only fooling yourself. Admit your mistakes so then you can think of ways to make amends. Decide when it's not too late yet. The good news though is, nothing is ever too late in the eyes of God. So even if it's too late in others' eyes, you can still make things right. Begin with a change in attitude as you see right, and include a pocketful of prayers while you're at it, to get to the top 101%.

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Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Release Date: September 24, 2010
Studio: Village Roadshow Pictures, Animal Logic
Director: Zack Snyder
Screenwriter: John Orloff, John Collee
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Barclay, Anthony LaPaglia, David Wenham, Ryan Kwanten, Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Review Rating: 7.5/10

Plot Summary: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a 2010 computer animated fantasy film loosely based on the first three books (The Capture, The Journey, and The Rescue) of the series Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky.

Two owl brothers are kidnapped and taken to the land where the evil owl overlord is building a weapon that somehow magically captures owls and renders them helpless. One of the issues with this film is that the weapon is a complete mystery – it needs tiny little pieces of metal to function, but beyond that it’s quite literally a plot device.

While captured, the good brother vows to escape while the jealous brother finally finds the approval he’s been craving all these years – he’s trained as one of the elite warrior class and has no problem going over to the dark side.

Eventually our hero makes the perilous journey to find the fabled Guardians, where he learns to fly and fight like an owl warrior. Will good triumph over evil?

Where Legends of the Guardians really shines, is in the animation. It is simply breathtaking – the level of quality, the movement of the owls, the design of their world – everything is quite beautiful and excruciatingly detailed. The voice actors did a good job, with some engaging and funny characters and accents that add a bit of charm to them. The 3D is used to great effect and was very well done.

Where it isn’t so strong is in the story – which while pretty basic at its core, has a level of complexity in the details that younger kids will probably get lost. On the other hand, kids will probably be so mesmerized with the look of the film that they won’t mind too much. And speaking of younger audience members, for a PG animated movie some of the battle scenes are pretty intense.

The chief pleasures of the movie are visual: The dark forests and imposing seascapes, modeled on rugged terrain in Tasmania, are richly seductive. The 3D camerawork is dynamic as we soar with the owls through woods and across the ocean to the Guardians' island kingdom. The huge technical team has crafted images that often transcend traditional animation to look at once remarkably lifelike and suitably fantastical. The lush musical score by David Hirschfelder enhances the movie's shifting moods of terror and exaltation.

In the end, I’d say this is worth checking out if you’re a fan of fine CGI animation and are curious what an animated, PG-rated movie from Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) might be like.

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A Prayer For You

Today Lord, my sister will undergo a knee surgery. I ask that you keep her faith in You stronger than ever. May you lay your healing hands upon her and make her well again. May You continue bestowing blessings upon us and for all, everyday of our lives. This I pray in Your Name.

Amen.

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A Letter to Myself

Dearest Peter Paul,

Aside from the tower fan eerily moving from side to side, everything and everyone else is already fast asleep. It's past 2 a.m. Why did you wake up sweating again?

Are you not going back to sleep? You have work at 7 in the morning.

Oh, so I guess that's it again, huh?

Well, you can't say I wasn't with you all along. Since that time you came back from Manila in March, your self importance and self respect has never been the same. For almost all those times, it had just been you and me. I've seen you get sad, upset until such time you got frustrated, depressed, de-motivated, to now, when you just got too tired to get out of bed in the morning to prepare for work.

For what it's worth, you were there to help build that company from ground zero. You were there to see it lift off successfully. You were there to see it actually do well as a small business. And for some time, that made you happy.

But where are you now? Where has it lead you being always there for your job but your job not being fulfilling for you?

I have lost you.

I barely know you from who you have become.

You became sickly and indolent, pretending to be happy but depressed all these months, bitter. Since when did you become a slave of the job that didn't give you importance and self-respect? Since when did you become so stubborn to stay where you've obviously been so unhappy?

And until when are you going to do this to yourself?

I say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. I admire your resilience which some people have obviously abused down to the last beating. I admire the fact that through thick nostrils and countless sleepless nights, you go to work late, but still manage to work 9, 10, 15 hours a day, no extra pay required, to do your part in helping the continued success.

But the time to wake up has come. It is rightful that you woke up very early today.

I understand your excitement and enthusiasm to end all that is evil that got in the workplace that has now made everyone look bad. And like you, I am fervently hoping for a positive outcome so that jobs may be kept, precious people may choose to stay and for your self-respect to regain.

Sincerely,

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The Last Airbender

Release Date: July 1, 2010
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel, Jessica Jade Andres, Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub, Cliff Curtis, Keong Sim
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Official Website:
thelastairbendermovie.com
Review Rating: 8/10
Plot Summary: Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film is set in a world where human civilization is divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.

The Fire Nation is waging a ruthless, oppressive war against the other three nations. The film's hero, the reluctant young Aang, is the "Last Airbender" -- the Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of the elements and bring all the nations together. Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara and her bull-headed brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world.

My Review: This one is the first installment of a proposed trilogy. I've been a huge Avatar fan for many year now. And I'm sure that lots of other big Avatar fans out there would agree if I said that the movie was rushed.

I would not say I'm completely disappointed because although the movie's progression was fast-paced, it really went all out in the special effects department. Appa, Aang's flying Bison was exquisite and just completely blew me away. Aang's abilities were given due credit, justice and honor to the original character of the animated series. However, I was really disappointed of how Katara's and Sokka's characters came out short from what the audience had loved them for in the series. Sokka had always been gullible and lively, Katara always in the rescue whenever they got into trouble. But here, the two supporting characters were hardly recognizable from their original characters in the series.

I felt that the movie is not as good as it could have been because it did not have the ability to create equally strong supporting characters in their animated series counterparts.

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