Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Dark Knight

Last night, Kristen and I went to see the latest installment in the Batman series, "The Dark Knight".

The movie was awesome. Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker made the movie for me, especially considering it was one of the last roles he'd ever play. He was completly in character, unbelievably scary, portraying the Joker as a psychotic mass murder. His peformance was chilling. Christian Bale also plays a great Batman, and the rest of the movie had that typical "Batman cool", even if it didn't have the "Wham" "Pow" sequences.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Volunteering: As American As Apple Pie

I'll be the first to admit that I have some issues with volunteer firefighters and EMT's. I think that their training and fitness levels need to be held to the same level as those who hold the role as career. They also need to be held to the same disciplinary standards as well. And, when they continuously can't get to an emergency in a timely fashion, they need to admit they need help and put pride aside.

However, volunteering is one of the purest forms of being a Patriot. This country was built on people who volunteered to make their country better. Nowadays, we're seeing less and less of that as peoples priorites and focus have shifted.

The volunteer fire and EMS service remains one of the strongest remenants of true community service. Sure, there may be people who do it for self-serving reason, but those people are in the minority. In a volunteer department, you'll find people of all age ranges, from all different backgrounds. I find one of the best parts of the volunteer fire and EMS service is that it introduces young people to community service, and is often the foundation of a solid career path.

Although some volunteer agencies may play up the social club aspect, it's also a great support system for members during times of hardship. Volunteer FF's are usually there for one another regardless, sometimes even more so then the career side.

How many people in your community are actually INVOLVED, actively, continuously, in the improvement of the commununity. Whether you volunteer for your local ambulance corps, or for Habitat For Humanity, it's my feeling that everyone should be obligated to give back to the community and those less fortunate then us.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Greensburg

The "Discovery Home" network has changed it's format, now called "Planet Green". All programing is related to sustainability, and how we can make a smaller impact on our enviroment.

In May 2004, Greensurg, Kansas was struck by an "enhanced" F-5 tornado, one of the largest ever recorded. It wiped out the entire town of 600 people. Homes, schools, Main Street, utilities, everything demolished. Except the Town's resolve.

The town was a typical midwest farming town, struggling to get by before it was wiped out. Living in "FEMville", a village of temporary trailers provided by FEMA, many residents remained with what little they had left and vowed to rebuild Greensburg.

But they took this tragedy and viewed it as a clean slate for the town. They were going to rebuild the entire town. But, it would be "green". With help from international "green" experts, this show will document Greensburg's efforts to become an example to the world that green living is more then just a term.

This 13 episode series, produced by an actor that's using his power to make us more eco-concious, Leonardo DiCaprio, airs Sunday night on Planet Green, formerly Discovery Home. I highly reccomend you tune in, it puts things in check and gives inspiration. From tragedy comes a clean slate, and I'm confident that this series, and this town, will open a lot of minds.