Why no, I'm not gay. But thanks for asking.

This seems to be a reoccurring question from my 'friends', simply because I have chosen not to date in quite some time.

I moved to a small town (population around 3000), when my then girlfriend, whom I'd been dating for 2 years became pregnant.
Fast forward 7 years. After our second child and deciding to get married, things started to decline.

Now it's ten years later.

In the beginning, I did date a few different women from my old city (30 miles away), dabbled with online dating, but have pretty much kept to myself.

This town offers me nothing other than a job and the close proximity to my boys.
Socially, I have no interest mainly because of feeling like an outsider ever since the divorce.

That's the problem with marrying into a small community like this. When thing go south, if you don't get out right away, you're pretty much f*cked.

"Last Airbender"

After a much anticipated wait since seeing the first previews, I took my boys to see M. Night Shymalan's vision of "The Last Airbender", which is based on the Nickelodeon series.

From the first images, we were all excited to see this animated story come to life.
I for one, enjoyed the cartoon not only because it was animated (ok, so I dig cartoons), but it had an Asian feel with Hindu prophecies to it, something not really seen since the Dragonball series).

The movie in of itself was pretty good. It started out kinda loose as far as the acting and dialog, but once things got rolling, it kept going until the very end.
The special effects were very good. If this movie had been done either 10 years ago, or on a smaller budget, the elements being "bent" would have looked more cartoony. But give props where props are due, it wasn't hard to believe that you were watching people actually manipulate fire, water, the earth (dirt/rocks), and even air. (even though "air" looked like it had a little help from a big fan positioned off camera).

The only complaint the three of us shared, seemingly minor, was the changing of the pronunciation of the names of the main characters.
(taken from an interview with Shymalan):
“Aang” is not [like Tang] but “Aang” [like Tong.] Also, it isn’t “Avatar” like aaah, it is “Avatar” like “Of-Atar.” The other changes: “Sokka” [pronounced Sock-Ka] is pronounced “Soh-ka” (“soh” as in “sew”) and Iroh, Uncle Iroh, isn’t “Eye-Row” but “Eer-Row.”

Of course, when we got home, after a long discussion with my kids about the "reasoning for changing the pronunciations", I had to Google it.
M. Night explains "Because this show, this film, is inspired by these cultures. And most directors wouldn’t care, but this is something I’ve been living with my whole life, this is really important to me. But not just the names, the calligraphy, the drapery, the machinery, this all creates a world that is specific and personal and resonant.”
Yea, not much of an explanation.

But, overall, it's a really good movie. Go see it.

My Russian Bride

Well, once again, I find myself the 'target' on what appears to be a scam.

For maybe the fourth time in the past several years, I received an email from a young woman overseas that supposedly saw my profile on a dating site, and "just had to write!".

Sure, the emails start out innocently enough, telling me all about "themselves".
How they grew up in a small village, one or both or there parents were killed somehow, or they can't find " a real boyfriend in their country.
Then they decide to somehow pack up and move to the U.S. so "we can be together".
oy
Of course, after several emails leading up to the one about "I've gained my passport/travel papers and am coming to you!", comes the email we all expect.
"I am short (x-amount of money) to complete the trip. I've come too close to give up now and if you care about me you will help me".
again......oy

But this latest "potential mate" is bolder/better than the rest. They actually included a wave file of their voice and...........wait for it............A PASSPORT!
I mean, how bold of a move!

Now sure, I'm a lonely guy, and love the idea of a beautiful young woman, having seen my online dating profile, to fall in love and jump the pond to be with me and only me. But luckily, I'm more of a realist than these people are used to.
And sure it's fun to play along for a bit, but DAMN something should be done about this kind of scam.

A passport....really? Kinda scary what length people will go to for money.......

i'd LOVE to hear President Obama's thoughts on this......

so, there's a statement circulating on Facebook about the situation in Haiti.
it goes as follows:
"JUST FOR AMERICA: Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this"

I'm going to have to agree.
Too long has the U.S. come to the aid of others all the while overlooking the plights on our own soil.

Now, I understand the reasoning behind some of our assistance;usually we have some sort of stake in the country we are assisting. But Haiti? What does this country offer but voodoo dolls and easily adoptive babies? (yea, I'll probably go to Hell for that, but freedom of speech baby!).

The U.S. has joblessness, homelessness, schools closing, lack of funding, education problems, single dad's being f*cked over (yea, that one was for me), and what does the Government do to adress ANY of those issues?

Do we have six different broadcasting networks holding benefits to raise money to solve ANY of this?

I'm hoping that by putting the presidents' name in the title of my blog, some watchdog somewhere will pick this up and at LEAST offer up some sort of explanation as to why we help everyone else BUT our own.