I am an only child, so growing up I was used to being spoiled, having my way, and not particularly caring about anyone other than myself. My room was littered with toys and other material things, and I never wanted to give anything away to charity. My things were exactly that, my things.

Every time one of those Christian Life commercials showing children and families from Third-World countries came on the television, I would grab the remote and change the channel. “If they know they are so poor, and can’t afford to eat, why do they keep having children?” I would always say to my mother. She would just shake her head at me and tell me I had no compassion, and I would agree with her.

Up until a few years ago, I was still acting like a spoiled little brat. I had no sympathy or compassion towards anyone, and often times, I would turn my nose up at less fortunate people and charities. While browsing in The Body Shop, I came across a bracelet the store was selling where 100 percent of the proceeds went to researching AIDS. I don’t know anyone with AIDS or HIV, but something inside of me went on like a light switch, and in that moment, I felt like the Grinch, my heart grew.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Here’s your moment of shock and awe for the week.  I have not seen the first two Indiana Jones films, and I only remember bits and pieces and Sean Connery (hehe) from the “Last Crusade.”  Might I add that every time I see this card on someecards.com, I chuckle to myself because I’m still secretly hopeful that X-Men: The Last Stand will turn out to be X-Men: The Next to Last Stand.

I’ve heard mixed reviews from friends and acquaintances about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  Maybe that’s because it’s a disappointment compared to the other 3 films.  Maybe it’s because 19 years is a long time to wait to revive a character.  I can’t really speak for them, but I can say that it’s currently my favorite of the summer action blockbusters.  Granted I haven’t seen a lot of the typical summer blockbusters.  I think Ironman’s the only one I’ve seen that officially counts, but Wanted, The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight are all on my current “To Watch” list.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

If you lived in the American Colonies 232 years ago you where in quite a quandary, a few days ago a large group of your fellow citizens decided that they were going to commit treason and rebel against the duly anointed King. You’ve got to ask yourself one question, do I stay loyal? Well do ya, punk?

It is easy in 2008 to know what the right answer is, the USA is the world leader in basically everything and we have done very well for ourselves. However, in 1776 this was not the case; it would be the equivalent of Appalachia wanting to declare independence from the United States. In 1776 Great Brittan was the world’s largest and strongest empire. Eventually the empire would be large that the sun would never set on the British Empire.

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Homeland Security has the power it has because we are afraid. Terrorists have probably planned dozens of attacks our government has thwarted and not publicized. We know that some suspects are detained longer and "questioned" in ways that standard civil law does not allow, yet we look the other way because we'd rather be sure we are safe and let one man or woman suffer for it. 

Real ID is on the way in a year or two. Wire tapping is already allowed on national security threat "suspects". American citizens are systematically losing one small freedom after another, and more power is being handed over to security, intelligence, and military organizations. Why?

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Popularity: 12% [?]

I recently went and saw The Dark Knight, and believe me, it's worth the hype. Not surprising that it's breaking records… it is by far the best comic book movie I have ever seen… and I have seen them all (mostly because I enjoy them and my boys, 13 and 8, like them also. I am sure my newest addition will love them too.)

This movie is by far my favorite… I am pretty sure the success of this movie is due to the fact that there are tons of Batman fans, Batman Begins movie was pretty good, Christian Bale is perfect for the lead role, and the tragedy surrounding Heath Ledger (who was absolutely phenomenal as the Joker) along with a great supporting cast Morgan Freeman, Gray Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gylenhall and Michael Cann.  

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It was a was a pretty typical Friday night between football season and basketball season. I was fourteen, and none of my friends could drive. Of course, the fall had been full of football games and pep band would be starting shortly, so my social life would be picking back up soon. My little brother *had* to watch this Bruce Campbell show on FOX called “The Adventure’s of Briscoe County Jr.” I wasn’t impressed, so I left the room.  

A little while later I returned to the family room and I found this new show playing. The thing that caught my eye was how it was shot. It was dark but clear…um yeah I guess that is the best way to explain it. The two lead characters really seemed to have chemistry. The next thing I knew my behind was plopped on that couch and I watched the whole episode. That was the night I began my love affair with the X-Files.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

While random people arriving here after a Google search don’t know me from Adam, I have a few friends and family members who note that they stopped reading CultureFeast.com because I no longer contribute on any regular basis. They don’t really care if what I write is relevant, so long as I write. As sweet as that is, I still don’t want to write.

It’s not that I don’t have anything to say. Trust me, that won’t happen anytime soon. Rather, it’s more a combination of freakishly busy and paranoid that keeps me from weekly blogging.  Busy is not something I can change. But there are way around paranoid… namely, the super secret blog or two.

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A friend of mine reads one to two novels a week. He can do this because he considers watching TV a waste of time. I’ve encountered others who, when I ask, “Did you see that show last nigh?” will say things like, “Oh, I never watch TV.” Invariably their tone is so smug when they utter this phrase.

I admit that I watch more television than a person should. There are times when I just want to turn off my brain and veg. I don’t really have the patience to stick through a whole show so I’m always surfing the channels, trying to avoid the junk on the airwaves such as the endless number of hook-up shows. But I found a new program that is like a family-sized bag of Doritos and gallon of Coke for your eyes and mind.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

If you were to have told me, about a year ago, that I would be using social media on a regular basis, I would have thought you were insane. To me, social media was nothing more than Facebook and MySpace, nothing more, nothing less. I thought that blogging was just for nerds and people with just too much time on their hands. However, after one of my PR courses (Strategies and Issues), I found myself slowly getting used to using, and understanding exactly what social media and blogging were. The course was very social media heavy; understanding the use of blogs and social media sites, how to effectively use social media today, and about half way through the course, each student had to create his and her own blog.

At first, I could not be bothered, and my friend Dara and I would just roll our eyes with sheer boredom. As she became less and less interested in the class, I became more fixated on blogging and the Internet. I was one of the very few students who updated their blogs more than once a week because I was genuinely interested in what I was writing about (Public Relations and Popular Culture).

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When I went to see The Counterfeiters at Magnolia a few months ago, I saw the poster for The Fall.  It caught my eye as I was headed to the ladies room before the movie started.  I stood transfixed by the poster.  I’m not really sure why; I just stared at it a few moments, and then I saw the starring line, and great googly moogly, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Lee Pace was the star?!  Then I got to see a trailer for it before The Counterfeiters, and I was speechless.  I HAD to see this movie!

Ok, so at this point, you’re probably thinking, “Who the heck is Lee Pace?”  Well, he’s only the cutest thing to ever hit the silver screen.  If it’s possible, I’m more enamored with him than Daniel Day Lewis and Hugh Jackman put together.  Yeah, I know; it’s probably hard to believe, but I think it’s got a lot to do with the character he was playing the first time I ever saw him: Ned, the Piemaker, from Pushing Daisies.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

In the battle of the bulge one of the greatest weapons that we have is the diet drink.  You see, in the past if you wanted a sweet refreshing drink you had to have sugar.  Thanks to modern science, with its unnatural and inorganic ways, this is not the case.  You can enjoy a sweet refreshing drink with little or no calories.  The same great taste with no sacrifice. It truly is the ability to have your cake and eat it too. 

The diet soda is a breakthrough in ways few problems have the ability to be solved.  Imagine if you will that it was possible to have more government spending and yet pay less in taxes.  Think of the possibilities, more programs for you and me, but not taking away our hard earned money, fantastic.  This is the gift that diet soda has given humanity.  

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Popularity: 12% [?]