netflixed "syriana" because twiddle thumbs saw it in the theaters and enjoyed it so much she wanted me to watch it. i don't know why but i couldn't get that into it. i suppose because i mistook 1 character for 2 characters (i should pay more attention) and that caused the plot to get all funky for me. anyway, the film made me more interested in the book that it is based on and CIA operatives in general. i realized that something lacking in today's culture is the fear of the cold war. times just seem to be more interesting when there is a (cold) war going on that people are passionate about. we seem to have lost passion. the berlin wall and checkpoint charlie. the russians are coming. are you now or have you ever been a member of the communist party? that's the stuff life is made of! i can't find my place in this terrorist anti-muslim world. it's much more interesting when governments are pitted against each other rather than making the enemy seem to be some grassroots band of rebels. at least be a bit more truthful on the matters. let's face it, i'm a child of the post-kennedy years. we're all only passionate about being cynics. looking to the past is romantic. looking to the future is bleak. looking at the present is a joke.