James' World 2

Nothing really matters, in the greater scheme of things everything blows over and you move on. No. It all counts, including the stuff no one sees.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that what happens today does not affect your tomorrow, if it happened it’s because it has some kind of purpose in your life. Whether it be tripping on uneven asphalt or tripping over uneven love affair – everything matters. You’re going to come into contact with people, places and things that will alter the course of your life, that will reroute the direction of your fate – Why aren’t you paying attention to those things?

The truth is at being passive aggressive about your life is only going to make your circle small, instead of broadening your horizons you are limiting your possibilities. I’m not sure why would you like to do that when there is so much life…

A door is a mystery. It is the entrance to a place essentially, but the door itself holds so much character.

It is:

The first step to a home.

The one thing that blocks you and a stranger.

The canvas for decoration and preference.

The fundamental puzzle piece to a building.

The safety net for us all.

And perhaps,

The first obstacle to dreams that lie on the other side.

Having lived in Volgograd for slightly more than 5 years now, I feel like I’m in a pretty good position to recommend 5 of the best things to do in this city. 🙂

Here we go:

1. Hike the Mamaev Kurgan.

These are the most popular historic grounds in the city, built to commemorate the Battle of Stalingrad. The hike needs you to be fit though, because it’s a hill. 🙂

Read more about this here.

2. Enjoy a Volga Cruise.

Let me introduce you to the longest river in Europe, Yes, the Volga River. There are a number of cruises offered for a very small price.

Read more bout this here.

3. Visit the Panoramic Museum.

If you’re into 3D art, you’ll definitely love this one. The museum was also built in commemoration of The Battle of Stalingrad.

Read more about this here.

4. Barbeque on…

What an unusual, pleasant, romantic comedy. Bradley Cooper plays Brian Gilcrest, a military contractor who returns to Hawaii to organize a traditional blessing for a new pedestrian gate on behalf of his new employer, billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray), who intends to develop nearby land into a space center. After enjoying a celebrated military career that ended because of shadowy deals in Afghanistan, a now disillusioned Brian is tasked with negotiating a deal with the Hawaiian Natives and supporting Carson’s launch of a privately-funded satellite. Brian’s mission is complicated by his former girlfriend Tracy (Rachel McAdams), now married to a very nice guy named Woody, (John Krasinski) plus they have two children but still carries a torch for Brian, and his idealistic Air Force liaison, Captain Allison Ng (Emma Stone), whose wide-eyed fascination with space and spunky character has drawn her to him as well as reminds him of his…

Sicario has gotten a lot of buzz as an Oscar front runner. The movie deals with a Mexican drug cartel, the FBI (International and Domestic divisions) and other law enforcement agencies. Sicario is brutal and shows us drug enforcement from a different perspective. Deceit and dangerous procedures, along with cleaver legal maneuvers were incorporated to achieve common goals. Admittedly, whatever we’ve been doing in the past has been an unworkable disaster. The amount of drugs coming into the US, via Mexico, is astounding. In Sicario, several FBI agents come together to break the pattern and make a difference, even if they all are not on the same page.

Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya) have been going through the same routines with the same results — rounding up a bunch of dead hostages and victims of the drug war while the drugs are safely smuggled…

If you’re looking for a good story and with quality acting rolled into an excellent movie, Bridge of spies is it. Tom Hanks has done it again — he manages to get involved with some of the best movies in Hollywood. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by the Coen brothers, Bridge of Spies will probably get an Oscar nod. Based on a true story, Bridge of Spies features life in the late 50s when the US was still engaged in a cold war with the Soviet Union and after Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for being spies in 1953. Unlike the Rosenberg’s, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) was not a US citizen but from the Soviet Union. He was an artist who lived in Brooklyn. After a search of his room turned up evidence that supported the claim that he was in fact a spy for the KGB, he…