Bobby Kennedy Jr

Ironically in the same weekend that I watched Bobby, I also read an article that my mom found - an interview with Bobby Kennedy Jr in the January 2007 Oprah magazine.

There were several exterts that caught my attention. One being Bobby's opinion on how we can reduce fuel costs and reduce our dependence on oil in the Middle East. I wish I had the article so I could explain it but basically if we all reduced our consumption (ie drive a prius what gets 44 mpg intead of Hummers that get what, 10 mph) then we would be helping the economy. He has a theory of pollution-based prosperity which was an interesting take on how to improve the environment.

He also pointed out that all of American is in love with celebrities and gossip and his point is that we know more about who wore what at an awards show or who won American Idol than what is going on the news. I think this is true and very very sad. I know that I for one read Entertainment News everyday and even get People magazine every week. Maybe I should change that subscription to Newsweek. I do think as American it is our priveledge to learn about different issues and form opinions. Maybe I should have an opinion outside who should win Dancing with the Stars or American Idol - I think we all should. It is our right and our duty as Americans.

One extert from the interview about this Bobby talks about his Father's legacy:

"he felt ..America is the last best hope for humanity. And that we had this historical mission to build a country that would be a paradigm to the rest of the world and to about what human beings can accomplish if they work together and maintain their focus on a spiritual mission....He wanted to invite people to our country who were communists and who were all kidns of people and debat them, because he believed on the merits that this country was so good and that is ideas were so good that we shouldn't be scared of debating or meeting with anybody.''

Makes you ask what America missed out on by not allowing RFK to lead this country. What would he have done? Where would we be now? I think it would have been an interesting ride and wish we could have seen it..lived it.

Another topic that Bobby Jr and Oprah discuss was how the opinion of America has changed since the JFK/RFK days. I think he said it well and I tend to agree with his words. Here is a short extert:

"When I was a boy, my father took me to Europe-Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, Germany, England, France. Everywhere we went, we were met by huge crowds, sometimes hundreds of thousands of people who came out because they loved our country. They were starved for our leadership. They looked to us for moral authority. They proudly named their streets after our presidents. And I remember after 9/11, the headline in the French newspaper lea Monet was WE ARE ALL AMERICANS. For two weeks after 9/11, there were spontaneous candlelight vidils in Tehran, initiated by Muslims who loved our country. It took more than 200 years of disciplined, visioniary leadership by Republican and Democratic presidents to build these huge reservoirs of public love. We were the most beloved nation on the face of the earth. And today-in six short years, through monumental incompetence and arrogance, this White House has absolutley drained that reservoir dry. America has become the most hated nation on earth. There are five billion people who either fear or just don't know what to think about the US. For me that's the most bitter pill to swallow."

In my opinion, we have lost that American feeling. We now live in a land where everyone feels that they have a right to sue someone for looking at them wrong. We live in a land where we think we are the greatest, the smartest, the best and every other country should be glad that we reach out to help them. That is not why America was founded. I hope that we are able to reverse the damage that has been done to the environment over the last 10 years and I hope that we are able to repair the American spirit not just at home but across the globe.

Movie Reviews

So I am cheating by writing this review right after my book review but waiting to post it. This weekend, I saw The Good Shepherd and Bobby.



The Good Shepherd

This movie was loooong - 3 hrs long. I think a few scenes could have been cut so the movie was shorter. I must admit the setting that I watched this movie was a little loud so I missed some of the quiter moments of the movie - and there are a lot of these. I think overall the movie was good and Matt Damon did a good job - even though he doesn't really say much. It is kind of like watching Tom Hanks in Castaway and he just is my himsel on the island. Anyway, the movie is good if you have 3 hrs to spare and a quiet place to watch it. Angelina Jolie is in the movie but in a very small role. Alec Baldwin is even in the movie and I for one barely recognized him. As a side note, it also had Gabriel Macht in a very small role - I first saw him in the romantic comedy Because I Said So and think he is very good looking and apparently is was in an episode of 90210 (my college TV show of choice)! I give this movie a B.



Bobby

I wanted to see this movie when it first came out last Nov but it seems that it made a quick run through the theatres and the critics weren't too kind to the movie. At about halfway through the movie, I would have agreed with the critics but the ending of the movie makes the movie. You see how all the people the movie has been following (the kitchen mgr, bus boy, campaign workers, hotel mgr, salon owner, lounge singer, couple on vacation) all are affected by the tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being shot. I thought the movie did a good job of seamlessly transition between real footage of the shooting to the movie shots covering the same event. My dad and I watched this part of the movie in silence. After the movie ended, it gave us a lot of food for thought. What would have happened had he not been shot? Why did Bobby get ahead of his security? Why were all those people in the kitchen? RFK went from a high to a very big low - he had just won the CA primary and given a speech to a roomful of supporters only to be shot a few mins later and dash a roomful of people's hope... a country's hope. You see how all the people spent their day leading up to the shooting and how after the shooting, they are all equal and only one man doesn't survive. I give this movie an A+ mainly for the conversations that it will start and a glimpse into history that is slowing fading in our country's memory.

Book Reviews

I have taken a break from blogging - not purposefully, I just havent had inspiration. But of course, inspiration hits all at once so I am going to write a few blogs and post them over the next few days. So first up, Book Review time!

I have recently read Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. I picked it up in the airport bookstore after going through about 20 books and finding none of them satisfying. Every back cover seemed to either be like a romantic themed book or a murder/mystery book that I had read a 1000s times. So I went with the lesser traveled road and purchased Obama's book partly because it was different but mostly out of curosity to find out more about the man who has thrown his hat in for the presidency. I would say that this book is a memoir - a true memoir not a memoir like A Millon Little Pieces is a memoir. Obama wrote the book after law school and the book traces his life from childhood in Hawaii, to his first big job in Chicago, and then to Kenya to explore his father's past and find out who this man was that loomed in his life yet never really played a role. I thought the book was well written and interesting. I would say the years in the Chicago were least interesting to me but were important in explaining the journey Obama has taken through life. My one argument with the book is that Obama keeps seeking to understand who he is as a black man. But he isn't a black man - his mother is white and his father is African. He is part white yet he is always struggling as a black man in a white world. I do appreciate the journey and the experiences he has, I just don't know why he doesn't feel equally compelled to trace his white history as well. Overall, an A+ and a good read that I would recommend.

As an aside, while I was reading this book I sat next to a young man in college who had read the book and was starting The Audacity of Hope - Obama's recent book. We discussed the merits of Obama and I think his ideas are great and would be behind him for the presidency except that he seems young and doesn't have the experience. I wish he had waited 4 more years or 8 more years to through his hat in because I think his unique life experiences and opinions would (and will and does) serve our country well.

Enough of the political banter, on to the next review. I just finished The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer. I have read several of his other books and classify his writing in the same strain as Dave Balducci. His books always center around the White House and major players in the government. This was a great read and while it follows the traditional murder mystery outline, it has a lot of good twists and turns and several underlying plot lines that keep the reader interested. I think his writing is a breath of fresh air in the murder/mystery genre. I will keep coming back for more as long as his books involve characters from DC who play major roles in government whether that be in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch. I hope he continues to write interesting books for us all to enjoy.

For Lost Lovers

Here are 2 websites that I have found very helpful in helping me navigate the world of Lost and to help me see the things that I missed.

Screensnaps of things you may have missed - http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/

Lost Wikipedia - http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Now that we won't see Lost for 8 more months, I have even more questions than before and a lot of unanswered questions that I think have been lost (excuse the pun) in between the Others, the hostiles, the back of the plane people, and the original cast. In an attempt to keep the Lost questions fresh ...for 8 long months. Here are my thoughts/questions after the finale...

1. Do they really get off the island?
2. Why didn't Charlie run out of the room and then shut the door?
3. Why did Locke kill Naomi only to walk away seconds later when Jack calls for help?
4. If Ben really didn't want Jack to call for help, why didn't he give a bette reason than "you don't want to do this"? If I was Jack, I definitely would want to do it because Ben and the Others kidnapped me and killed some of my own people. Hello, Ben!
5. Who is Jacob and how is he related to everything?
6. Does Richard really not age or was it bad make-up?
7. Why doesn' Mikahil ever die?
8. What happened to Ben's friend Annie? Did she get gassed too?
9. What happend between the gassing of the Dharma Initiative and the plane crash?
10. Who was Kate going back to in the flah foward?
11. Is the flashfoward going to come true?
12. Where are the igloo people that Penelope hired to find Desmond?
13. What's with the smoke monster/machine on the island?
14. Did Walt and Michael really return home?
15. Juliette - friend or foe? What is her motivation?
16. For Kate - Jack or Sawyer?
17. Does the guy who plays Hurley get his feelings hurt with all the fat jokes?
18. Who did Jack talk to on the phone? / Who was Naomi working for?

I tried to get to 20 but I am done thinking about this for 8 looong months!