The Dark Knight – A new era for movies

As millions flock to theathers this weekend to catch a glimpse of one of Heath Ledger’s final roles, I can’t help but think that this is the epitaph of his career.

Having gone to see the 12:01am showing earlier this morning, I can safely report that all 2hr and 32 minutes of ‘The Dark Knight’ is filled with laughs, wonderment, scary moments and truly epic cinematography.

What I can’t get over is how in the character Heath was.  Image a man who cares nothing of the rules or laws of the land and simply does what he does, because he can… it amuses him, it entertains him.  Heath as the Joker made you love him in parts and hate him in parts. The amazing part was the balance of ying and yang or good vs. not so good vs. evil;  This movie on a character level is really light years above where Batman Begins was and I appreciate the depth.

So what does this mean for the next Batman movie as most fans are wondering?  Who knows.  I will say this… Christopher Nolan the writer and director of the new Batman movies cut about 35 mins of footage from what I saw last night which leads me to believe the directors cut of ‘Dark Knight’ will have more of the back story tied up and line up something for the third movie.  The interesting part though is that the movie leaves anything open to the realm of villians or crime lords.  Chris Nolan has even gone on record saying he might not make another one (but the outcry will be for a 3rd one) simply because he feels this movie to be a perfect representation with the cast of characters and he’s not sure he can improve on that.

Either way, $7 bucks or $10 bucks, go see this movie.  You owe it to yourself to find out what all the hype is about.  Heath— It’s a damn shame you’re no longer with us man because you truly, truly put your heart into this movie.

**** out of ****

More later….

Beirut— What an amazing place.

So you may have guessed, I’m back… sans my lovely wife who is still over there.

Wow.  What a difference two weeks makes and 10,000 miles later does to a person.

So I’d safely say that I’ve made the transition to Hockett v2.0 after my time in Beirut.  Never in my entire life has I experienced life in such a rich way.

One that that is amazing is that when you travel…. it’s like you getting away from what makes you “you” here in the States and you realize either:  A) How shallow you are or B) How un-important you really are.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that those who haven’t gone on overseas travel is a trite, shallow person with nothing to offer the world…. it’s just that your perspective of how you view the world changes how you view yourself.

So what’s different you might ask?  Everything.  One of the first things that I did when I got back was head out to lunch with my parents at Red Robin.  It was almost sensory overload since it was literally reverse culture shock (of which I didn’t have any culture shock when I hit Lebanon…. but I did when I came home…) of just how much we have here in the States.

I can honestly say that about 98.9% of people take for granted nearly everything that we are given, have or accuire on a daily basis.  Our freedom of going to work…. or freedom of traveling in a car where ever we want, our ability to discuss any topic anywhere, anytime.  While I explore these new things as only my what… 3rd day back, I still find things ironic on many levels.

One of my personal goals is to refrain from being a “filler” word talker.  You know, the person that talks on their cell phone about every little detail about how they’re not sure if they should get cheddar cheese or colby-jack.  I noticed along with the above points I made that people just talk and talk and talk and don’t think really about what they’re saying.  This translates into just about everything that we interact with on a daily basis being from this blog you’re reading to the news you watch.  We are programmed to accept what we’re told and told how to accept it.  Even the term “counter-culture” is a mainstream idea because while being different, you’re still being the same.

Where does this all lead us?  Where does this lead me?  I’d say effectively it makes me into a new person.

Also I need to preface all of this with the fact that I’m still processing my trip to Beirut.  Notice how I didn’t even say any details on what happened?  Yeah, it’s that massive and who knows when that will come out.  One thing is for sure I’d love to hear from anyone that reads either in email or a comment.  I know there are people out that check out the blog and I’d like to get input back;  Also this blog will be getting updated on a more regular basis now and I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.

More later….

Well it’s almost all over…

Boy the days just flew.  It’s now almost Friday and we really only have 2 more real days left here in this beautiful city.

Above is a picture from a Crusader fort that we went to while out on sight seeing.  Nerdy shot in Macro mode no less, but still, wanted to show the detail on the rusted ledge.

We just finished up the week with our partners and got to do some truly amazing work.  I can safely say now that I have been overseas, that I have a global perspective on how the world operates and what I can do as my part in fitting in, not just existing in my own bubble of the united states.

I think one major thing to keep in mind for those who haven’t traveled overseas is that the US as itself is still in good partership with the people abroad, but our government… Not so much.

I truly have made some great friendships here and hopefully some day will be able to return and follow up with the people and see how they’re doing.  Also more pictures will be posted in the coming days as we get closer to the end.

I do miss everyone and am looking forward to see everyone when I get back.

More later.

Day 6… I think….

Holy junk.  6 days in already.  What an amazing city.  I’ll have to say that Lebanon is quite possibly one of the coolest places I’ve been in my lifetime.

Sure there are some weird quirks here and there but ultimately you have a blend of near east meets western culture sort of mixed into one.

One of the more interesting things that I’ve experienced first hand is the driving.  Wow.  If you thought driving was hard at home, wait until you get off the continent and drive in another country!  Honestly the driving here seems a bit loony at first… you know, there not being all but maybe 10 traffic lights in a 20 mile area, however people drive surprisingly well.

One of the more utilized functions of the car is the horn.  Now you might stop and ask yourself… “well yeah, I use the horn to tell someone I’m frustrated with how they drive!”  Not really so much the case here however it can be used in that way.  Most of the time since there isn’t really a right or wrong way to go up or down a street, people honk to let people know they’re there.  So If you’re cruising along at 60MPH and you have a Porsche, Mercedes or beater Toyota honk a couple of times and pass you on the left or right, don’t feel bad, it’s just traffic as normal.

Crazy, but it still manages to work.

So with along long day ahead, I’m going to turn in for a quick cat nap.  Hope everyone is doing well.

More later.