Virunga

Jan22

I watched the documentary called Virunga last night, and really liked the film. Virunga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The park is managed by the Congolese National Park Authorities, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), and the movie tells a little bit of their story. According to Wikipedia, “the park was created in 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium as the first national park on the continent of Africa. It was founded primarily to protect the mountain gorillas living in the forests of the Virunga Mountains…” So naturally, the mountain gorillas play a big part in the movie too.

I most appreciated the story of the caretaker of orphaned gorillas. One of the park rangers, however, has my favorite quote from the film.

“All that could happen to me…”

“I will accept it.”

“I am not special.”

American Sniper

Jan16

This is a photo from my cell phone taken on February 12, 2013 from when a friend and I pulled over to the side of the road on Interstate 35. That sunny afternoon there was a funeral procession stretching over 200 miles and ending at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. After this photo, we left the car, climbed up the embankment, and joined the people on the bridge to honor the service and life of Chris Kyle. The atmosphere was somehow both solemn and celebratory. How amazing to be a part of this, and later in life to see the movie about Chris’ life and service as a Navy Seal. Clint Eastwood did an outstanding job as the Director of this film, and Bradley Cooper is most excellent.