Contrasts

Today is an off day for me, beginning with a leisurely stroll in the xiapuyu area to find some breakfast. We found a very nice little bakery, complete with croque-monsieurs (ham, cheese, and croissant), and other delicious goodies. It was definitely worth the long, sweaty walk in the mid-morning heat.

Other than that, thus far, it's been a stay-at-home day. On the way back home, we found one of the infamous Chinese DVD stores... where they had... wait for it.... waaaaait for it....

The Dark Knight!

Yep, that's right, months before it's supposed to be out on DVD, it's available here for a mere 8 yuan... which translates out to...oh...about $1.12. And I must stress this... It has an minimum, and absolute minimum...

of people walking in front of the little video camera the guy used to record it in the theater.
Worth every jiao.
The sound is great, though... not sure how they got a hold of it. It's in multiple languages, meaning it definitely is not from the theater.

But it was interesting, at least to me, that I'd get my hands on a movie about a society so corrupt and so without hope, that its last hope would rely on a masked vigilante...
On the same day Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Colorado would give me little tingles up my spine... Contrasts. It truly was an inspirational speech, given by a man who has given so may people hope in the continued political solvency of the U.S. I'm sure you all saw it - likely well-before I did, since I had to YouTube it - so I'll skip on my natural impulse to do a full biopsy of my favorite parts. I'll just leave the issue with three words:

Yes We Can.

More to come...