20 DVDs recommendations in under 2 minutes

For the second time in my last three blog entries, I am resorting to cutting and pasting from an old email to keep this blog going. Survival is key!

This time, I present 20 DVDs that have my stamp of approval. In parentheses, my one-line review/thoughts of each video.

1. persepolis (awesome and enlightening comic strip. dvd extra = press conference = A+)
2. into the wild [don't we all wanna escape sometimes? soundtrack (lots of vedder) is incredible - especially if you're lost in life!]
3. american gangster (denzel and crowe at their finest - powerful stuff)
4. michael clayton (clooney takes on corporate giant with beautiful northeast feel/backdrop)
5. 25th hour (few capture nyc's spirit like spike lee. ed norton's frustration-infested diatribe is classic)
6. march of the penguins (ok, mother nature is seriously freakin' amazing)
7. juno (amazing cast and dialogue. cast interviews on youtube are cool too - who knew jason bateman was so funny?!)
8. gone baby gone (bean town thriller)
9. arthur (dude is a straight alcoholic - cracked me up! superb acting and cool 80s nyc feel)
10. batman begins (just rewatched it - so inspiring!)
11. born into brothels (kids from the motherland. so sad yet so empowering. human spirit is amazing. cried at end.)
12. sicko (america's healthcare fiasco - get rid of private health insurance companies!)
13. saving face (lesbians/asian americans/generation struggle/nyc. light and funny. joan chen is gorgeous.)
14. arrested development - tv series (who knew jason bateman was so funny?!)
15. weeds - tv series (mary-louise parker - who said suburbia can't produce strong, beautiful women?)
16. devil wears prada (nothing wrong with a good chick flick. hathaway is brilliant.)
17. hoop dreams (long but good. hardwood struggle in chitown)
18. menace II society ('what the fu*k you say about my mama?!' made 10-year old vilas want to be a gangster).
19. fellowship of the ring (life-changer. at some point, you just gotta get out there and run for your life!)
20. garden state (sometimes, we spend so much time trying to build new, fairy-tale lives in faraway lands that we simply overlook all the great people and things lurking around our own childhood backyards)

Democracy - WHOA

It's official. Obama is Prez!

As exciting as that is, I must say that seeing Bush fly off in a helicopter was one of the more remarkable scenes I've ever witnessed. This dude was as Big Brother as they come, but even he and his cronies couldn't beat out democracy. During the last eight years, there were times, especially when most of our country fanatically supported an invasion of Iraq, that I truly thought our country was heading down an ignorance-infested path of no return.

To me, U.S. democracy had become a big lie, just another marketing slogan in a country already watered down by corporate interests and big money. If our country's citizens were uneducated enough to support an Iraq war, Guantanamo Bay, and the Patriot Act, how in the world were we ever going to right this ship? I thought there was a very good chance the dumb would get dumber, the rich would get richer, and right-wing, neo-conservatives would continue to use these two principles plus fear-invoking propaganda to run our country in the same fashion for the next 40-50 years. Heck, I even wondered if George W. might, in the name of the "War on Terror", extend his term limits to become a 50-year ruler (see Mayor Bloomberg of New York).

In the end, Obama is in, Bush out. Up to this point in my life, today offered the most clear-cut picture of democracy at work. As Sachin said to me, "Peaceful transfer of power. Pretty amazing concept."

Now, let's get these next eight years right...

Palin scared the hell out of me!

With America only one day away from history, I thought it would be fitting to simply cut and paste an email written by me to a fellow "liberal" on Sept 3, 2008 (one day after Palin caused mass hysteria at the RNC Convention). As you can see, I was terrified.

your reply is littered w/ logic - doesn't really account for much w/ certain segments of this country's population.

seeing how quickly GOP was able to shift some of the nation's chatter from economy/war to abortion issue by bringing in a VP w/ a pregnant teenage daughter scares me a little and makes me wonder what else they have up their sleeves.

and we're only 5 days into the palin selection. somewhere down the road, you know abortion issue is going to be front and center in presidential debate, and i think it's safe to say mccain knew this could happen w/ palin. unfortunately, there is still a HUGE segment of the population ready to vote on nothing else but abortion. GOP will be ready to use it to their advantage and know it will be very difficult for two men (obama/biden) to pose much of an opposing dialogue against palin on the issue.

as far as having a child w/ down's syndrome and then trying to juggle responsibilities of being VP - again, too much logic. GOP can crush that argument pretty easily - "look at these democrats, always talking about equality...yet they can't handle a mother in the white house. don't tell us what a mother can or can't do - this is america!" - yes, its that easy.

finally, texted you last night while watching segments of republican convention. intro video was about a soldier in iraq. obviously, they were painting him as a war hero who sacrificed his life for his country, then they came back to convention and gave a standing ovation for soldier's sister and brothers who were in attendance. i realized how much this war crap still resonates with people, and they can still grab people's attention with it.

PS - While the end of my email may sound harsh, in no way do I mean to belittle a soldier or any other person's life. Instead, I was referring to the manner in which RNC glorified war in their campaign and the particular video in question.

Staying the Course

Man, I started off 2009 so well. Stayed in by myself on New Year's night, then had very deep meditation sessions on both January 1st and 2nd. I've realized that meditation is probably the highest priority in my life. Few things put me in such a peaceful and sometimes euphoric state of mind. Today, I skipped meditation in the morning to eat brunch with my sisters and family friends, then explored Htown some before settling into drunken fun for Keval's birthday. Good times indeed.

Nonetheless, something is missing. I need to meditate and be away from alcohol for a longer period of time than just three or four days. I know myself well enough to know that my soul is yearning for a purpose right now. Furthermore, I think that abstaining from alcohol and reaching deep meditative states give me the best opportunity to find what I'm looking for and be the person that I truly I want to be. Back to square one tomorrow...grrr, life's always a little bigger beyatch than I can handle.