Slumdog Millionaire

Excellent movie. It helped that I was craving something different, fresh, and cultural. I am amazed when people fuse and modify the traditional with the modern styles and do it well. This was seen in the style of the movie and the music accompanying it.

This movie appeals to American audiences. After being inundated with steroid-injected, action-packed movies, Americans were ready for something real and human. Slumdog Millionaire offered entertainment while offering a current, global perspective. I don't know how accurate the depiction of Mumbai is in the movie, but it still puts the audience face-to-face with domestic and economic battles so easily overlooked in daily life in the U.S. Considering the economic downturn the world is facing, I can't help but feel guilty for continuing life as usual with my main concern being how I'll entertain myself tomorrow or this weekend. It seems so selfish. In a far-fetched way, this movie made me feel better. It was entertainment, but it pointed out real problems. It made me think about the big problems again and how widespread they are.

Life is all about the moments, and this movie captures moments so well. Whether good or bad, moments are so dramatic that they become memorable and inescapable. Along the same theme of moments is the movie's focus. The characters had clear goals and motivations strung with complex obstacles. That made me wonder if my extensive list of goals actually prevents me from accomplishing any of them. With that said, I admired Jamal's determination to get what he wanted one step at a time. Jamal, the protagonist, was an easy character to empathize with and truly stole the show.

Skiing

People always talk about the uphill battle. I discovered the downhill battle last month called skiing. Unlike most people in the world, skiing is just okay for me. I'd rather be enjoying other activities. The risk versus fun factors don't work in my favor. The important thing is that I tried it and not only once, but three times now.

For those who have never skied, let me break down what is needed.

Clothing
Warm pants (i.e. sweat pants, thermal underwear)
Thick socks (i.e. wool socks, apparently wool handles moisture better than cotton but not a big deal)
Snow bibs
Warm top (i.e. hoodie)
Ski coat (These things have SO many pockets. It is wonderful.)
Hat or helmet
Ski goggles or sunglasses
Sunscreen (for the face)

Equipment
Skis (Short skis are also available. They allow easier control for beginners. On the opposite end of the spectrum, experts may also use short skis to perform tricks. I rarely have seen short skis)
Ski boots
Ski poles

Tips That Make Life Easier
-Carry your skis over your shoulder.
-When walking downstairs with ski boots, walk backwards. Ski boots are difficult to walk in!
-Use the lockers. It's $0.75 each time it's accessed, but it's worth not walking from the car to the lodge in ski boots. Packing lunch and storing in the locker is also a bonus. The food at the lodge is typical, expensive, cafeteria food.

Ranking System
Bunny Hill: For learners
Greens: Low difficulty
Blues: Medium difficulty
Blacks: High difficulty
Double Blacks: High high (like Phelps at a party) difficulty. This might involve hiking to get to the start of a double black.

The Slopes
I've been to four ski slopes and skied on three in New Mexico. Each place has its own strengths.

Pajarito in Los Alamos
I took full day lessons here. The instructors were excellent and encouraging. The slopes are steep. The bunny hill would easily be ranked as a green in most other places.

Santa Fe
The slopes are more manageable than Pajarito. The bunny slope is incredibly tame. Snowboarders would have difficulty learning on the bunny, since it is fairly flat. I've been told that boarders need some slope to keep their momentum. The indoor lodge has more space than Pajarito, but at about the same quality. Out of state visitors enjoy Santa Fe, probably because of what the town offers outside of skiing.

Angel Fire
This is a great ski resort. The slopes are very manageable, and I was comfortable going down all of its greens. The view here is pleasantly striking. The greatest strength Angel Fire has over the other ski valleys is that they label all their slopes with clear signs, so people like me don't mistakenly go down a blue when the intent was to ski a green slope. Snow tubing is an option for people in the afternoons. The three lane runways are great for racing with friends, and a conveyor belt takes all the tubers right back to the starting line.

Taos
I can't speak much to the actual skiing, since I bailed on this adventure. I have heard that Taos has steep and narrow slopes with deep drop-offs. A more advanced skier would have a greater appreciation for the Taos Mountain. I spent some time at St. Bernards having coffee and tapping onto the hotel/restaurant's wireless internet. It was a warm place with a free-roaming dog, typical of the Taos culture. I highly recommend St. Bernards for the ones that decide to skip on skiing with their buddies and just enjoy the resort. Another option is snowmobiling with Big Al. It is a 2-hour tour of the Taos mountain on snowmobiles. I haven't decided if it was worth $70, but I do know I enjoyed it.


Finally, for the non-believers, here's evidence of me skiing.

Taos

I haven't done justice to New Mexico. The natural backdrop here is beautiful. It is easy to forget to look and appreciate the mystic-looking mountains. That's when I know I'm getting comfortable here. It sometimes takes a rainbow spanning the mountain peaks to remind me. There were three rainbows in one week too.

There is more than mountains. The towns here look and feel local. Taos is a great example. My friends and I rented a house for the weekend in Taos a few weeks ago. Here are some pictures of and around the house.







Besides being a skiing town, Taos has a magnificent view of the Rio Grande Gorge. A fairly simple bridge runs across the gorge. The best part is seeing the initial drop off. The image hit me so suddenly when driving up to it that the moment deservedly got a long "Wwwow."



For the ones that love being green, Earthship demonstrates a model home that is constructed from recycled materials and is self-sufficient. This detour was certainly interesting. It offered solutions for people that have wondered how to build such a home. The challenge is wondering if one could substitute modern conveniences for such a simple life. Earthship homes have been built internationally, and several neighborhoods exist within New Mexico.




I haven't even tapped into the art scene in Taos. Metal sculpture, painting, pottery, jewelry, and even a Taos drum factory outlet store can be found in pockets of the town. Small bed & breakfasts inns give the Best Western and Days Inn tough competition. At first glance, I thought Taos was a sleepy town revolved around skiing. After two trips to Taos, its hidden charms are growing on me.

Whine-fest and Thought Vomit

One day I'll read this and cringe. I'm going to be super negative tonight. I'm just fed up with some stuff, and I'm going head first with no constraint.

I'll start off by why I haven't written in awhile. I've felt that I had other obligations that I had to do first, and this blog is secondary. The obligations weren't necessarily important, but I was trying to prioritize my laundry list. My prioritization system failed me. Sometimes I should just do what I want to do and throw my reasons out the window.

Another point of irritation for me is the lack of respect for privacy. So what if someone wants to stay home and not go out. Leave them be. The person everyone is judging is probably at home building a multi-billion business plan anyway.

Now, I'll get into the idiosyncrasies of Albuquerque. My disclaimer is that I've discovered many wonderful things about New Mexico in the past few weeks that I've restrained myself from writing due to personal issues mentioned above.

I've just been caught at a bad time, so here goes. This city is so dark. Even the best neighborhoods are poorly lit. One light goes out on my front porch, and I can't even find the keyhole to my door. On top of the poorly lit city, the street signs are extremely difficult to read at night. I'm talking about major intersection street signs that are attached to the red, green, and yellow lights. I know the economy is bad, but let's invest in some new reflective street signs, Albuquerque. Please! Now, the cops. The cops have been very special to me this year. The cops seem to always find my parked car and pick a fight. So, Ms. Sena (you know who you are) has given me two tickets already. Go easy on me, will you? I'm pretty much a tourist in your state. You want to make a good impression. It's not just her, the police is crawling all over the place here. I'm not sure if I should feel protected or worried.

I realize this is all self-induced, but I haven't reached the maturity level to react to these situations gracefully. I keep finding myself wanting things differently from the social norm, yet I always fall into this status quo way of life and it's a whirlwind. I'm frustrated that I haven't built a strong enough backbone to resist this and march to my own tune. I thought I had it too. I've lost my beat somewhere along the way.