Revenge of the Sith

I took Veronica to see Revenge of the Sith last night. She had never seen any of the Star Wars movies. Can you imagine? I was trying to explain that the originals were Episodes Four through Six and that this was the third but came out last. I was also trying to explain that this episode was tying up a lot of loose ends about where Darth Vader came from and how he turned to the dark side and all that. But for her it was starting fresh with no knowledge of who any of the characters are. She didn't know who Luke was when Pad Me gave him his name when he was born. She had heard of Princess Leia but she was asking questions at the end about whether Princess Leia falls in love with Obi Wan. I finally just had to tell her that she's going to have to wait until she sees Episode 4. Most of us can't even imagine this point of view because we grew up with Luke, Leia, Obi Wan, Darth Vader, plus characters that haven't been introduced yet, like Han Solo. So I'm actually looking forward to showing her A New Hope.

As far as the movie goes, I really enjoyed it. Granted, some of the acting problems that were in the first two were still there in this one but I thought the story was great. They also did a great job introducing some of the characters and creatures we know from the originals. It was a far cry above the first two and I believe a worthy addition.

Homemade Mayonnaise

I learned to make homemade mayonnaise in Venezuela and it's surprisingly simple. I've been making if for my sandwiches lately and it's very tasty. Although you could make many variations, the basic two ingredients are an egg and oil. I add a clove of garlic and some salt. Vinegar might be a good addition and whatever other spices to taste.

So, crack the egg open into a blender and start it up on a low speed. Then add whatever seasonings you wish. Now, with the top on but the little round insert removed, pour a thin stream of oil until it thickens, maybe a quarter of a cup or less, and voila!

Comments:

• Don't use olive oil. I tried it once it doesn't really turn out very well. Vegetable or canola oil works fine.
• You cannot make a double batch by adding two eggs. The mixture thickens at the same point for some reason.
• At least add salt if nothing else. It's very bland otherwise.

The Word Is Flat

I Mr. Friedman hasrecently finished a great book called The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. He also wrote The Lexus and the Olive Tree and From Beirut to Jerusalem and has a way of writing non-fiction such that you really don't feel that you're reading non-fiction. I normally don't buy a hard-back book at full price but my father showed me an interview with him on Charlie Rose and his ebullient nature had me convinced, so I bought a copy in the airport on the way home.

It's a book about globalization and how a lot more countries are joining the game. The name of the book was inspired by something a friend of his said about the playing field being leveled. And that's exactly what is happening. Places that had great intellectual resources but no ways to take advantage of them are now able to thanks to modern communications technology and more importantly the fact that during the dot-com boom a few companies laid down lots of fiber optic cable to connect the world like never before and then went bankrupt, allowing for fast, cheap communication to become widely available. I'm sure you have noticed that if you call tech support these days you usually reach an Indian (you know, the ones from India). Many companies are now outsourcing their help lines to India, along with your taxes, drafting, game development, etc. If it can be digitized chances are there's a company in India that's willing to do it for you at a much better price.

This may seem like a bad thing at first but if you look at it globablly you'll find that it can be very beneficial for many, both here and abroad. I didn't really know that much about globablization except that people protest it because they really don't know enough about it. I realized a few years ago that location doesn't really matter anymore. Not only is just about anywhere in the world only a plane ride or two away, but also instantly accessible virtually thanks to the internet. Surprisingly, the example that sunk it in for me in this book was not about teleconferencing with your development team in India, but someone taking orders for you at McDonald's. There are a few McDonald's in Missouri where when you pull up to the drive-thru, the person taking your order is sitting in Denver, Colorado, two states away. After you finish placing your order you pull up to the window and there's a screen with a picture of your car and what you ordered. By taking advantage of available technology and centralizing the order process they were apparently able to cut the wait time down significantly along with reducing the number of errors made on orders.

Anyway, there's too much in the book to go into here but I found it amazing and almost overwhelming at times. Technology has the world on the fast track and it looks like there's no sign of it slowing down. Except for that whole oil thing, which could bring it to a screeching halt. But with all these great minds now able to participate in the world there might be hope for a solution.

Don't Super Size Me

I just watched Super Size Me, the documentary where the guy eats only McDonald's for a month. Scary. None of it was a surprise I suppose, but it's still shocking to see the results with your own eyes. I highly recommend it but watch it on an empty stomach...and go for a run afterwards.

I seem to be on a documentary binge lately. It can be a bit depressing, though. I think I need to watch more things from The Learning Channel or History Channel to balance out my education.

What a geek

I love unwrapping a new pad of calculation paper. That first page tears off so easily. Mmmmm...

The Next (and Last?) Oil Crisis

A couple weeks ago I fell into a real downer mood because of doomsday phropecies about the end of oil. The site that really put me in the mood was:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

It talks about economic collapse and anarchy as the system we built our society around comes crashing down. The page seems almost all negative and any arguments about possible solutions are brought up and then shown how they're only pipe dreams. Interestingly enough, the same page turned me onto a documentary called The End of Suburbia, which had a more positive spin. The end of cheap oil is a reality that we're going to have to face and it's going to be soon. The question is, though, are we preparing ourselves for it? Not really.

There's not going to be an end of oil but we're about to hit a period that they refer to as peak oil, where we hit the top of a bell curve and and start the downward path when it's going to become harder and harder to extract less and less oil. The United States hit its peak oil production in 1971. The global peak oil is predicted to happen by 2010. And our society and the American dream are built around having an endless supply of this oil. What will happen to the 3-bedroom, 2-car garage house in the suburbs when you can't commute to work, the grocery store, Wal-Mart, etc.? And what happens when the food stops arriving because it's not feasible to keep transporting it using our extensive highway system?

What we're going to see is the move back to more centralized living where we can access the necessities of life by walking to them. We will start developing communities again where you know your neighbors and spend more time outside than in your house plugged into the TV or internet. But who knows how the transition will go when the crunch time arrives and we haven't prepared for it because we're ignoring the reality of the situation.

It would be nice if we had a leader that would take a stand and do what is necessary to prepare for our future. I'm reading a book right now, which I'll talk about in another post, and the author brings up John F. Kennedy as an example of a leader who set down a goal and made sure we achieved it. He said that he wanted a man on the moon in ten years and the United States was going to do what it takes to make it happen. And it did. So, as the author continues, this is Bush's opportunity to either turn his presidency around and go down in history as a visionary or continue in the path we all see as more likely. To go down as a visionary he could say that in ten years he wants the United States to be energy independent and we're going do what it takes to make that happen. If we spent $100 billion towards that goal instead of a war to secure oil scraps for our future, it could be a reality.

But, unfortunately, that most likely won't happen. Instead we will probably continue with our war in Iraq, which was never about WMDs but about giving ourselves a presence in the middle east because it's going to be the last place on earth that has oil and we need it will be ours.

That's kind of a downer way to end this but I'm actually feeling a lot better about it. It's going to be an exciting time, the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. Granted there may be some hard and tumultuous times but we're an adaptable species and I'm sure we'll pull through it. And as my friend, Mike, said when I was feeling blue about all this:

1) It might be completely wrong... Hopefully!

2) It's good to use the possibility of it being correct to reexamine our values, don't you think? The thing to do is to become more ecologically and conservation minded right now, live by example.

3) Hopefully, if it does happen, there will be more time for juggling :-)

PostSecret

My friend Dave linked to this site a couple days ago and I just read through all of them. Some make you laugh, some make you want to cry, and others just make you go hmmmm. This one below is just one example that stood out for me. (Bloggers are allowed to use one postcard on their site.)


Click on the picture to go to the site.