Harry Potter, Euro 2008, Persepolis, and my friends from the Islamic Center

It’s been a little while since my last post so I decided to give a commentary on my last few weeks.

First of all I re-fell in love with the Harry Potter movies as my good roommates (for the last two weeks) Anthony, John, Brendon, and I held a Harry Potter marathon at the Mooney household, where we have been sleeping the past two weeks. There's just something about those movies. They keep you on the edge of your seat and by the end of the movie you feel so happy. Harry's goofy little smile cracks me up every time. Honestly, if you haven't noticed it, the kid has the goofiest smile within the Western Hemisphere.

Onward to Euro 2008. My most recent entry covered the remarkable story of the Turkish national team and their journey to the semi-finals of the Euro Cup. I have been a fan of international soccer for the past few years now and I have never seen anything like it. If you haven't already heard, their Cinderella run through the tournament was ended by a 3-2 loss to Germany. What you have to keep in mind though is that 9 Turkish players couldn't play due to suspensions, yellow cards, and injuries yet still almost pulled off another win. Incredible. My pick for Champion is Spain with a final score of 2-1.

Back to movies...I recently saw two great movies this week. First was "Everything's Illuminated", starring Elijah Wood. The film is a story of a young man from America traveling to Ukraine to learn about his family’s descendents. The movie is both hilarious and moving at the same time. Check it out, like the next time you rent a movie...do it. The next movies was a new French film called "Persepolis" that tells the story of an Iranian girl during the revolution years there. The whole story is in animation. It’s an extremely visually pleasing movie that gives the viewer a unique perspective into Iranian life and history as well as the struggle to keep in touch with your roots and history as the society continues to change and progress. After you watch "Everything’s Illuminated", rent "Persepolis"...like immediately after. Ah...ah...just get it done.

While visiting with friends at the Islamic Center of Riverside this past Friday night I finally got a lead on a Middle Eastern restaurant in Riverside that serves food the way they do in the Middle East, or so I was told by a Middle Easterner. The place is called "Mr. Kebab's" and supposedly its the real deal. So for all of those who have been searching for such as place, as I have been, there you go.