The 40 Year Old Virgin with Steve Carell and Catherine Keener. I really wanted to see this before I left for Sweden but I was unable to. Thankfully, the Swedes don't really care about the "alternative methods" of getting this film. Judging from the trailer there seem to be a lot of deleted scenes, perhaps this is good, perhaps not. I liked this movie quite a bit, I'm surprised the premise hasn't been done a long time ago, but I don't think it could've been done without the genius of Steve Carell. Considering it's an awkward sex comedy it's surprisingly not very crass, they could have made it really bad. Lately I've been analyzing movies on how realistically they portray aspects of American society, mostly because I keep getting asked about it. The main characters seem pretty realistic in that regard, oddly enough a 40 year old virgin doesn't seem that far fetched to me. Not a particularly profound movie but definitely an enjoyable one. Also, one thing about this film that definitely needs to be mentioned: Holy Christ! Kat Dennings is the hottest girl ever!

National anthems of all countries. Pretty cool, ours is the best.

In Sweden, and I gather most of Europe as well, patriotism is seen as a bad thing. They only play their national anthem on the king's birthday or on big holidays and the Swedish flag is hardly seen anywhere. Contrast with the US flag being flown at every public school, in some people's backyards, in front of McDonald's etc. We sing the national anthem at all major sporting events, in high school before assemblies and in the days before 24 hour television it was the 1st thing they played before regular broadcasts. Up until high school we recited the Pledge of Allegiance every day in the morning and in elementary school it was often followed by a random student's selection of "My Country 'Tis of Thee", "America The Beautiful" or "The Star Spangled Banner". This constant demonstration of loyalty seems scary to Europeans and Feifei said it was reminiscent of Red China. We just take it for granted, I mean do you even have to think about the words to the Pledge? I don't even think it's creepy that we have this in common with a communist dictatorship, more like "good for them."

Another funny thing, apparently American commercials are very effective against those who have not been exposed to them before. They said it was like subliminal mind control and they found it difficult to turn the program off. The closest I've ever been to being compelled by a commercial is my strong desire to eat a tender crisp bacon cheddar ranch. Mmmm...