Hey,

Wow I am going on a 6 month per blog post tear here. 

Wow long time since my last blog. I am sure you were all just awaiting 6 months for my next one.

Going into the new year, I am sure I don't need to tell you we are on the cusp of a potential depression. In my opinion, I think it is great we have a new President going into office at this time, especially one like Obama. We have a lot of people who are looking to his presidency to help the country out of this catastrophe. I believe he is prepared to do what FDR did and try a lot of solutions to a complex problem.

I am finishing up reading Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded. I would love Obama's admimistration to take that book to heart and incite a Green revolution. Not just for the environment's sake but our economy and our history as a leader of the world.

I hope everyone had a great New Years!

RD

I saw The Dark Knight last night and wow. I walked out of there with my mind totally blown. This only happens with a few good movies. I recommend you go see this movie now! P.S. Now don't read further if you haven't seen it... The one thing plenty of people are going to say at the onset of looking in the paper. Two and and a half hours long?! However when you watch it you feel they actually rush parts along to keep the story moving. So in theory to have told the entire story would have made it longer than the extended edition of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. With that said you would never notice any cuts because the story is so engrossing that you get lost in it. Many are going to compare it to The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather: Part Two because of it overpowering the original. I agree but the comparison stops there. As everyone has stated Heath's performance is OSCAR worthy. I couldn't agree more. His portrayal of a psychotic, calculating and dark humored individual shows his true acting abilities. With our first scene we see how he is taking this character with his now infamous disappearing pencil trick. Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent is another interesting character with a dark side, much like Batman. However with Harvey, his trip to the dark side is pure emotion and revenge. His death I feel will be short lived because his character is too large in the Batman story to just kill off. He makes everyone forget Tommy Lee Jones' character. See you don't even remember it now do you? Overall the story line is so grand that in the end you sit to yourself and say "oh wow it can't be over" I feel with Ledger's death they may hold off on making a sequel. The Joker is a large character in the Batman story and I am up in the air if they will bring him back in the sequel or let this stand as Ledger's legacy. All I can say is I hope they make one with in 3 years like the last one. As a prediction, to create a new duality character for Batman to contend with, they will introduce the Catwoman.

I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July. But I would like to take a look at the wonder that is this holiday. Many of us take freedom for granted. We see this holiday as nothing more than a relaxing summer day, watching fireworks, eating hamburgers and hot dogs, and drinking some beer with friends and/or family. This year I visited a neighbors party. I had never met any of the guests before and just talking with each made me sit back and say "Wow only in a country like America would this happen." I had discussed how the country of Colombia was becoming a much better country because of the help of America all with a Colombian national. He was telling us visiting Colombia is much more safe than it was just 5 years ago. Recently, the Colombian army rescued many high profile hostages from the Marxist rebel group called FARC. He said that was a huge victory for Colombia in their fight against FARC and the drug supply. Then I moved to another guest at the party. This was a Chinese national couple, who in fact one's hometown was a small city I visited on my trip there in 2004. They were talking about how China is slowly going toward more open communication with the population and the government. He said that the olympics will really help this country move toward modernization and more open society. Why am I talking about this? To see and talk with nationals of nations that are fighting for their countries' prosperity is a true gift. They come to America to learn and return to their nations with hope. What we should receive in return is that America is about individuals and cultures such as this living under one flag. Lesson many can learn on this day is that in America we all are Americans, regardless of culture. The mix of cultures is what makes America great and we all need to learn to accept that even though African-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Irish-Americans, Latin-Americans, etc. all have their cultural differences, we all are Americans.

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What to do with talents and interests? I suffer from too many that I want to satisfy in my lifetime. Most, if not all, would lead to a career. Currently I am satisfying my interest in business and my talent with numbers (and soon with stock picking/investing, hopefully). I have always had an itch for writing and comedy. Thus, whether it is a flight of fancy, I would love to be part of a comedy show as a performer/actor or a writer. Also on a media related note, a year ago I was approached by Ford Models. I honestly should have tried that opportunity just to get my foot in the door and see what it was like. I truly regret not following up on that. That is one thing I want to tell people, if you have a dream never ever fear falling on your face or eventually not liking it. The best thing to ever happen is that experience. More interests and talents are a self proclaimed news junkie (love current events), foreign culture and languages, and traveling. Obviously I have more but those are just a little taste of inside my head (scary, huh?). Just to nail down one and follow that path is hard since most don't relate to each other, and I feel I am ignoring something I love to do. Thus, the life of having too many talents/interests.

Graffiti. I drive by a major construction project every day to and from work. Just as they erect massive concrete columns for the bridges, large amounts of graffiti is all over them. Honestly the amount of work that went into pouring, shaping and even some have intricate designs must be enormous. Now, some big black blob that no one can read but the artist is up there. Don’t get me wrong I am not against art in a city. Murals are a nice addition to a city. However I have yet to say "wow that graffiti looks awesome." I see it as an eyesore. Those who have the talent as graffiti "artists" should lend their skills to a productive project like a mural.

Battlestar Galactica. Final season starts tonight. I know just the sheer sound of "Battlestar Galactica" conjures up visions of 40 year old men in their mother’s basement eating nothing but Hot Pockets and drinking Pepsi. Trust me (and numerous associations who give BG endless awards) this show is something to watch. Since I am sure I am speaking to a lot of those who have never seen it, please rent/buy/borrow the dvds. I like to compare the show to LOST (which Nicole got me hooked on) in terms of plot twists, connections to today’s world, faith versus science, character flaws, character and viewer questions about the setting of the show, among other things. I see a lot of similarities between the two shows since I feel they both take some intelligence to watch. This is a very very nice change to the mindless shows that are taking up space on the network stations.So those out of the loop, get back in and you will thank me later. Now I must be off to eat some Hot Pockets and drink some Pepsi.