Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Remembering Paul

With the tragic, and untimely death of Paul Walker, it was only a matter of time before magazines came out with stories about his life. And it's happened.

This week, US Weekly and In Touch magazines have come out with their own stories about Paul. These are the only two that I have seen so far, but there should be more soon I'm predicting.

The US Weekly magazine was nice because they had him as the cover story, however I was very surprised. I'm not an avid magazine reader, or really a magazine reader at all for that matter. But not knowing anything about them I thought that since Paul was the cover of the magazine, there would be a multiple page story about him. But to my surprise, the story was only 3-4 pages, with multiple pictures. This may sound like a lot, but when you are finished with the piece, you will think, "thats it?" and then, "I just paid 5 dollars for that?"

The In Touch magazine was a bit more realistic I guess. They were both about "his final hours" but the In Touch magazine just had a small segment of the cover being Paul, so the 3 page story about him was much more expected. They also had some very nice quotes by some of his co-stars from throughout the years that US Weekly didn't.

Even though neither of these magazines truly honored Paul to my standards, I still think that everybody should get them and read about what kind of man Paul was.

A great man.

The Dusty Wahls Words of Wisdom....

Keep your eyes peeled, for more tributes should be coming out soon...

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Delivery Man of Bad Times

Your right, it's Tuesday movie night!

So far there are a couple movies that are out that I still havn't seen. I knocked off Captain Phillips last week, and Thor a couple weeks before. And now.... Unfortunately... Delivery Man.

Delivery Man is about a guy who, when he was young, donated to a sperm bank for money 653 times, without thinking about the reprocussions. And many years later he finds out that he has 533 children. He signed the confidentiality forms under the name "Starbuck" so all 533 children are trying to find out who the mystery Starbuck is.

Now Vince Vaughn is known for his comedy's, of which he has made few good ones. The most recent being The Internship (I recommend you all watch), which turned out to be an actually good comedy with his co-star Owen Wilson. But there are many, many, Vince Vaughn movies that are not good. Including one of his first movies "Swingers", a movie he starred in that isn't worth the time searching for on Netflix, nonetheless watching.

And I'm afraid he has let us down again.

I went into this movie thinking, "this is gonna be a great comedy, good plot, good everything". And I came out thinking that the best thing about the film was that Robin Sherbatsky was in it. This is a movie that is supposed to be funny, but they also for some reason tried to add some heartwarming and sad moments in. And they just came across as depressing, and uncomfortable. Nothing you were expecting when you walked into the theatre.

The last half of the movie seemed to be the best part of the film, but still, it didn't make the movie like the ending of Captain Phillips did.

So I will have to give this one a 2.2 out of 4.

The Dusty Wahl's Final Verdict... 

See this movie, only, if you have seen everything else in the theatre.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Dude I Found My Wallet

Yep. That's right. There's new information of the Google Wallet!

Yesterday I recieved the greatest Christmas present a man could get. My Google Wallet card came in the mail! And yes, it's extraordinary.

It came in an envelope just like any other credit or debit card, however this one is different. Google definitely went into a lot of thought on how this card should look. And I have to say, they nailed it!

The card is completely white with the Google Wallet "W" in the center of the card in raised ink, below it, saying Google Wallet, and on the top right corner, Google's signature colors. One thing that suprised me was that the card number wasn't embossed on the front of the card, making the front of it look very simple. The back is silver with your information on it including, name, card number, expiration date, security code, and the Master Card logo.

At first I was a little put off by the numbers that weren't embossed on the front thinking, "that makes it look kind of cheap" as I have seen many different debit cards come across my eyes at the bank. And they always look very cheap, with weird font for the letters on the front. However the Google card is very different than that. It is sleek, elegant, thin, and simply, simple.

Today I was so excited about recieving it that I at my first chance, tried to use it. So when I was at Cub Foods I went to go get a donut. So eger to use the card that I went and swiped it, and it declined! I was agast, I couldn't believe it. This was supposed to be the greatest thing that ever came out from Google. And then, less than 5 seconds from when I swiped the card, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Solemly I went to grab it, only to see that I recieved an email. From Google! The email stated that I tried to make a transaction, including when, where, and the amount. then stating that I had forgotten to activate my card.

Less than 5 seconds later!!!!!

I couldn't believe it. I have heard from multiple people (which I agree with) that the worst problem about online banking, for any bank, is the mobile app which doesn't show transactions until hours after they are done. Ultimately ending with overdraft fees. And yet Google has figured it out! I tried to make a transaction again later that day, and again, within 5 seconds of swiping the card, my phone buzzed, and the Google Wallet app let me know when, where, and how much my transaction was for.

Google, you've done it again. You have revolutionized the world of banking. Today I have already transferred all of my money (not that, that's alot) from my bank account, directly into my Google Wallet account. And it was available to me right away!

I have to say, Google went out of it's way to make a great product, and I recommend that everybody get's one!

The Dusty Wahl's Words of Wisdom... 

The art of simplicity... is underrated...

Friday, December 6, 2013

Timeline

As many of you already know, a great sadness has fallen upon us all...

Paul Walker passed away on November 30th 2013.

Because of this you may have expected me to post about him already. And I wish I could. But... There is so much you could say about Paul. His movies, his charity, his passions, or his daughter. However, I can't figure out a way that can fully honor him in a way that he deserves.

Because of this, I'm going to be posting about a lot of his movies, for one, because I am going to be watching all of his movies during the next month or two. And, as time goes on, and I get over the attrocity more and more, I will post about other various things including his charity Reachout World Wide, and about his passions in life.

But for today, I will be talking about one of his movies. Timeline.

I just watched this film about two nights ago when I realized that it was now on Neflix (which I recommend you go and watch) I have watched this movie before, but it was back when I was very young. However this movie has been one of those memories that you remember, but you have no idea where it was from. I have thought about this movie for years, but not knowing that Paul was in it. Until just recently when I was looking through movies that Paul has done (which I've done quite a bit) and finally found it. Unfortunately I don't have the DVD function on netflix, so until a couple days ago I hadn't seen this film for years. And I have to say, I wasn't dissapointed.

Timeline is a film about a group of archeologists who go back in time to bring back one of their own. Paul Walker plays the son of the Professor who is lost in time. Specifically 1837 France, which happens to be the exact same place they were digging.

One of the first things I noticed, other than Paul Walker in the movie, is that Paul wears some low top converse, the exact same actually that he wears in 2 Fast 2 Furious. This caught my eye right away, because back in the summer before 9th grade I got my permit, along with a pair of low top converse, just like the ones Paul wears, just so I could wear the same shoes that he did when I first drove.

This is a great film, accompanied by not only Paul Walker, but also Gerard Butler who plays a key part in the film, and as seen in the movie, history. I would have to give this film a 3.2 because it has a good plot, some great characters, good writing, and Paul Walker.

This film, just like the characters in Timeline, made their own history.

The Dusty Wahl's Moral of the Story

Watch all of Paul Walker's films

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

How It All Began

A lot of people ask me. 

Hey Dusty Wahl, why did you start this awesome blog? What's your inspiration?

Every time people ask me that I have to ask myself the same question. Recently, after thoroughly searching my soul I discovered the answer. 

I was bored... 


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks. Is a great actor. We all know this, a lot of people know this. He's done a lot of great movies like Big, Castaway, and probably the most famous, Forest Gump. However, he has once again taken his acting career one step farther. In his most recent movie, Captain Phillips.

Captain Phillips is based on a true story about a ship captain who is taking a cargo ship around the horn of Africa, when his ship is taken over by Somalian pirates. The pirates board the ship, they eventually take the Captain, Tom Hanks, hostage with them, and the Navy intervenes.

Now like I said, Tom Hanks has done a lot of movies, and he is a very well known actor. And I just talked to one of my friends who said something very interesting about Tom Hanks which seemed to be very true. He said that whenever he watches Tom Hanks act, it's good, however whenever he is playing a character he always sees Tom Hanks playing some guy, not the character. Now after you think about it you realize, yea thats true. Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks, and it's hard to see him as anything else. However this movie totally changes that.

During the entire first 2 hours of the movie (which is almost all of it) it is a good film, very entertaining, it never lost your attention, and it had some good writing, and very realistic. However during that entire time you were watching Tom Hanks playing Captain Phillips, and you can even laugh at some of the events that are going on. And I would rate this part to be at about a 3.14 out of 4.

But the last 5 minutes is when this film really comes to life. Now I'm not going to tell you what happens because I have to say in confidence, that it truly blew my mind, I still can't believe what I saw. And I'm not talking about there being a zombie apocolypse at the end, or everybody dies. I'm saying that Tom Hanks' acting in the last 5 minutes of the movie was absolutely amazing. Some of the best acting I've seen in a long time.

And because of this I have to give this movie 2 ratings. The entire movie being a 3.14 out of 4, and the last 7 minutes of it a 4/4.

An absolutely amazing movie.

Cyber Monday

Black Friday is an interesting concept. It's the day after Thanksgiving, and because fo this, everything is on sale for 50 percent off or more almost everywhere. I've never understood why the day after Thanksgiving there is just a nationwide shopping holiday. I imagine a store owner somewhere saying, "Hey, we never get anybody coming in the day after Thanksgiving. Let's just sell everything for basically no money, that will get people in here."

I remember back in elementary school it was the big thing to wake up and wait in line at 6 am in front of Best Buy to get the cheap TV when they opened at 8. And then in middle school, it was the big thing to wake up at 4 to go to the store at 5. But now, people don't even have to sleep. They have to wake up Thanksgiving day, eat super quick, and then sit in line for four hours so that they can be the first to walk in to Best Buy when they open at 6 pm on Thanksgiving. There is no more Black Friday, it's now Black Thursday.

However, the times, they are a changin.

So we now have Cyber Monday...

Now Cyber Monday I have to say is a great idea, in theory. It's like communism, looks great on paper, however it truly does suck!

This year I decided, I wasn't going to be participating in Black Friday, I was going to relax, maybe go see a movie. I was going to wait until Monday, when I could sit on my couch and buy everything I wanted on my computer. Again, a great idea.

However there is one thing that I did not account for. Since there is a ton of sales going on Black Friday, and even thursday, everything is being bought already. Which means.... Everything is out of stock!
The reason I wanted to do Cyber Monday was so that I could get a new suit. I went into the store a week early, found out what size I needed, and BAM. I was ready to make a couple clicks and I would have a super cheap suit.

Nope

Instead, I went online and realized there were no more sizes left of anything. Unless I was 7 feet tall or weighed 400 pounds. I was mislead, fooled, bamboozled! All of the big hype about Cyber Monday being better than Black Friday, it's all wrong!  I thought I had a bad experience during Black Friday when I got whipped with a cane from an old Grandma... But I was wrong...

The Dusty Wahl's Words of Wisdom...

 STAY AWAY from Cyber Monday. It will instill in you hope, and desire, but will give you NOTHING!



Sunday, December 1, 2013

Called It!

Recently, with the upcoming holiday's, my life has been increasingly more busy. Like a lot of peoples schedules during the holiday's. Which means there have been a few things that I have had to set aside, one sadly being this blog. However I just recieved some very interesting news from Google that I knew I would have to tell you all about.

You may remember a while ago I blogged about Google's new application they launched, the Google Wallet. I predicted that Google was going to take over the banking industry and that two years from now they will have direct deposit and their own cards from Visa. Well...

Two days ago in my inbox was an email from Google about my Google Wallet account. And as I scrolled down to the bottom, I couldn't believe what I saw.

Google Wallet has their own card!!!!

They have officially partnered with Master Card and will send you your very own card connected to your personal Wallet account for free so you can make purchases, wherever Master Card is accepted.

I may have been a little off when I said that by 2016 they would have this available to the public, but this just means that the take over of the banking industry is happening even faster.

The Dusty Wahl Predictions.... 

  • Within 2014 Google Wallet will be able to set up direct deposit with your employer.
  • By 2018 you will be able to pay bills and morgages online with your Google Wallet account.
  • By 2024 Google will be offering credit cards for people, along with the ability for you to be able to take out loans.
  • By 2025 Google will have lawsuits against them for monopolizing industries.



This is a scary thought I have to say. Google again, is one step closer to ruling the world.


Friday, October 25, 2013

Keeping the Balls Rollin'

In 2013, approximately 370 men will die from testicular cancer. Of the 370 men that die, 7920 men are diagnosed each year.

Testicular cancer is a deadly disease that is rarely thought about. This is sad to hear, because there are more and more cases found each year, and more deaths that come with it as well. Testicular cancer is increasing day by day, not only in the United States, but in other countries as well. And doctors have not been able to find a reason as to why people get it.

The Ahlzeimers Association holds 10 charity walks every year in different cities in Minnesota alone. Thousands of people raise over $2000 each year to participate in a 3 day walk for Susan G. Komen. Not to mention, there are thousands of other walks, runs, and fundraisers for breast cancer.

Now I'm not saying that these are bad causes, because they are not. They are great causes that need to be addressed and people need to be aware about them.

But nobody thinks about testicular cancer.
In the United States, there hasn't been a walk for testicular cancer ever. The Testicular Cancer Society alone is so small that they haven't even held a walk for it.

This is why my business partner, Jeff Ledin, and I have organized a walk.

We started this endeavor back in February, at one point joking about doing a walk for Testicular Cancer. And the slogan would be "Keeping the Balls Rollin'" . After coming up with the slogan and finding out that there had never been a walk before, we couldn't not do it.

It took months and months of simply figuring out what goes into a charity walk, which we thought couldn't be that much work. But we were wrong.

Our first location of choice was Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. A great spot in the middle of a bustling city that would attract people from around the country (or that's what we thought). But after fighting to be able to have the walk there, too many complications came up with financial needs and insurance purposes. We had to go to our plan B: Elm Creek Park Reserve.

Elm Creek Park Reserve is a beautiful place where you can take your dog for a walk, or go on a gentle bike ride on a gorgeous fall day. This is where the walk is going to be. On Saturday, October 26th, 2013, at 2PM, we will be having The First Annual Twin Cities Walk For Testicular Cancer. You can sign up online at the link below, which only costs 20 dollars and you also get a t-shirt to show off as well once you are done.

You can find us on Facebook and like our page: First Annual Walk for Testicular Cancer.

Join us there and walk to help stop the reign of testicular cancer!

And always remember, You... are Keeping the Balls Rollin'

Wisdom of the Day:
Life if much more enjoyable if you sign up for the walk.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Wahl Street - The Next Frontier

 "Greed is Good" - Gordan Gecko

In the hit movie, "Wall Street", where Michael Douglas plays his Academy Award winning role as Gordan Gecko, the them "greed is good" always comes up. He says that greed is good, that if it wasn't for greed, we wouldn't be where we are today. And he is right.

If it wasn't for greed there wouldn't be iPads, iPhones, computers, TVs or cars. They were all ploys designed to make somebody rich.

Ever since I was twelve, I have wanted to get into the stock market - buying and selling to make millions and retire early. And now I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and actually do it. So, it is my mission to be a trader on the NYSE before the end of November.

This is something I recommend to all teens older than sixteen. Get into some sort of investing and start your retirement fund. Whether it be a Roth IRA or some Mutual Fund holdings, anything will help start the ball rollin', enabling you to have a better retirement.

Over the next couple months, I will keep reporting back to you about how I'm doing and what I'm doing. This way if you're looking for tips on the market, The Dusty Wahl can become your number one place to go.

This reminds me of a great piece of wisdom I was once told by a very wise man when I was about ten.

Buy Low, Sell High

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Dude, Where's My Wallet?

Is Google the future of banking?

I have been known to praise google on their achievements with their new technology recently. First Gmail, then came the Calendar, Maps, Docs (which is now Drive), Google plus, the Chromebook, and now a mobile wallet?

That's right, Google has recently come out with their latest app. The Google Wallet.

This just like all of the other apps Google has, runs off of your Gmail account that you set up years ago. This new app allows people to not only pay for items online like paypal, but allows people to send their friends and family money... As long as they have a Gmail account.

You can add money to your "Wallet" one of three ways.

  1. Credit your account with a card you have, which costs 2.9% of the transaction like it would if you used a square card reader. 
  2. Link your bank account to your wallet which you can transfer money between for free. 
  3. Or have somebody owe you money and send you some in an email. Yep, google is now adding an button on gmail next to the attachments button. So you can now attach an invoice to an email, and they can reply with the payment. (or in the case of my uncles, make a bet on the vikings and packers, and pay the twenty dollars over email)


This begs the question, with Google being able to do this after just launching the app, whats going to happen to it a year from now.

The Dusty Wahl's Prediction on... The Next Thing from Google Wallet 

Millions of Americans have set up direct deposit with their employers so that on midnight thursday they have their paycheck in their account and available to them.

By 2016 google will have partnered with Visa to give out cards that are attached to their Google Wallet so people can make every day purchases with it (that is if google hasnt figured out a way to pay vendors with an app). And soon after that people will be able to set up Direct Deposit with their employer going straight into their Google Wallet.

This is Google's first step into the banking industry. And being employed at a bank currently, this makes me fear for my job. 10 years from now, there will be no more tellers dealing with customer complaints and overdraft fees. People will be yelling and screaming over google hangouts with their local banker in Silicon Valley.

So the moral of the day is...

Keep an eye on your money, because Google is coming for it.

http://www.google.com/wallet/

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Dusty Wahl

Welcome.

You have just entered The Dusty Wahl. A blog dedicated to the awareness of great, and not so great TV Shows and Movies that are on Netflix and coming out currently.

Here on The Dusty Wahl you will also here about legendary things that are happening around you. Whether it's a walk for Testicular Cancer or a milk carton boat race.

This is your one stop place for a movie recommendation if your bored, or a great activity to do during the weekend when you have nothing to do but watch all of the movies reviewed here.

The Dusty Wahl is also dedicated to helping the world become a greater place. So with every movie review or story that is told, there will always be some great wisdom along with it.

So today I shall share with you a piece of wisdom I was given a long time ago. From a very wise man.

Piece of Wisdom #1

Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.