The Great Wall

Our recent trip to Beijing was nothing but spectacular. We hit all of the major attractions—Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. They were all worthwhile, but the one sight that exceeded expectations was the Great Wall.

We headed to Mutianyu—just 56 miles outside of Beijing—where we practically had the Wall to ourselves. Built mainly with granite, the Wall in this area is 23 – 26 feet high and the top is 13 – 16 feet wide. The mountains and forests make a perfect setting. Fortunately, there was a gondola to take us to the top of the mountain, so we could spend most of our energy on hiking on the Great Wall.

Other than a good pair of walking shoes, we brought a tour guide, camera, and our top negotiation skills. We learned about the history, took countless photos and bought beer from an outgoing vendor—who respected a good haggler. And the trek would not have been complete without our IndieShares t-shirts, which just so happened to be the best looking shirts around.

The Internet Movie Database

Have you ever forgotten a movie title? Or wanted to know what other movies an actor has been in? IMDb not only gives you a filmography for almost any actor, director or producer, but can also tell you fun factoids. Impress your friends with trivia like the fact that Diablo Cody (the director) used her hamburger phone in “Juno;” Matt Damon was Christopher Nolan’s first choice for Harvey Dent; and Ryan Gosling’s first break was the Mickey Mouse Club.

It also includes movies currently in production or ones that have just been announced: Amy Adams is currently on location for her role in “Night at the Museum 2;” “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is in post-production; and Johnny Depp is rumored to be in “Sin City 3”.

You can also watch trailers, view photos, and make your own movie lists. It’s so useful, we wouldn’t be surprised if “I’ll IMDb it” becomes a household phrase.

For the Love of Water

Did you know that the U.S. uses approximately 17,000,000 barrels of oil per year for bottling, transporting, disposing of, and recycling bottled water containers? That's enough oil to power more than one million U.S. cars and is responsible for more than 2.5 million tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere.

Did you know that nearly one quarter of the earth's citizens lack access to clean drinking water? Or that over 116,000 human-made chemicals are finding their way into public water supply systems worldwide? “FLOW: For Love of Water”, shown at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival, is Irena Salina's award-winning documentary that brings awareness to these issues.

FLOW is an excellent film that will open your eyes to one of the greatest threats of our time–the global water crisis. Using brilliant detail and stunning photography, the film chronicles myriad problems with the world's water supply and appetite for water. Unlike many documentaries, it spends a fair amount of time discussing ways we can address this problem individually and on a larger scale.

FLOW hits theaters nationwide on Sept. 12. For more information visit www.flowthefilm.com.

Summer Movie Pool

NCAA Tourney pools are commonplace and who hasn't heard of Fantasy Football? But what about a pool based on blockbuster movies? A couple of years ago, we were introduced to such a pool and it's so much fun we wanted to tell the world about it. What started as a friendly competition among a few friends, has now ballooned into a fierce bloodsport with almost 100 participants.

The rules are simple. A moderator sends out a list of films that are scheduled to be released between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Everyone picks the 15 films they think will make the most money. You win one point for every million dollars your first ten movies earn at the box office. The first ten are not ordered and ties are settled by people’s ranking of their remaining five choices, as needed to establish a winner.

The game is easy and is a great way to stay in touch with friends over the summer—a witty moderator adds to the fun. The trick is being able to differentiate those films you think will be "good" but not make much money ("Hustle and Flow" or "Smart People") from those you think will make lots and lots of money regardless of how technically "good" they are ("The Dark Night" and "Ocean’s Thirteen"). Pull one together for yourself and see how much fun they can be.