Sunday, February 03, 2008

Getting Caught Up

I obviously missed out on a lot while I was gone, including several things which I wanted to blog about. Rest assured, I will be getting to them in good time, including several pieces about what I think is so wrong with the USAF as of late. You can't have as many problems as we do and think you're doing things right.

However, in the meantime, I have a couple of recommendations. First, blog wise, make sure to check out the newest war blog to be created, Kaboom. To me, Kaboom is notable for a few reasons. First, the author is a newly minted Lt. It's rare to see any sort of blog written by a young military officer, much less one who is currently in a war zone. Gives a much different perspective than the usual blogs, which are either written by junior enlisted or field grade officers and higher. It doesn't hurt that the writing is quite good as well. Also, his sense of humor and interests seems rather similar to mine, which, given his relatively junior status, shouldn't be too surprising.

Next recommendations are about movies. First, if you haven't gone to see them yet, be sure to check out No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood while they are still in theaters. Daniel Day-Lewis will win the Oscar for Best Actor, and deservedly so. There Will be Blood is an excellent period piece, and there's nothing that I can really say against it. However, even it doesn't compare to No Country for Old Men, which is simply amazing. It has great acting and directing, yes, but it also has something more. Suspenseful, absolutely beautiful cinematography, and most importantly, a great story. I would say it's a modern day western, but I'm not sure if that's doing it justice. Just go see it.

The final recommendation is also about movies, but a rental recommendation. If you didn't catch it in theaters (which is likely, as I had never even heard of it until a few months ago), go rent Sunshine, a scifi film by Danny Boyle that was released last summer. A very enjoyable film, with some top notch acting, an interesting story, and some interesting themes, especially regarding the human relationship with the sun. Highly recommended.