Slumdog MiLLionaire.


Wow, loved it. I won't spoil anything for anyone because I absolutely love to watch movies and that's just plain mean, but I will say that it a very complex movie with emotion, comedy, love, pain and wit. I definitely agree with the Academy and their choice for Best Picture of the Year.

There were two dramatic moments in the film for me and neither is a plot point:

1) the images of Mumbai, and they are REAL, is absolutely staggering. The slums juxtaposed with the high rise modern buildings is a sight that illicits pity, sorrow, amazement, shock and awe.

2) the dancing children, the main characters, offset with the older main characters is heart-tugging. A brilliant display of how to attach your audience to the lives of the characters. I could hear audible sighs indicating how 'cute' that scene was to more than half the viewers in the theater.

Bottom line, if you haven't seen it yet, go. Rent. Tivo. Netflix. Xbox download. Chinese bootleg. Whatever you do to see it, it's worth it.

Weekend Warriors

I think that pretty much everyone knows a weekend warrior. They work all week and so they pack everything they can into those cherished weekends: Biking, kayaking, marathon running, fishing, golfing and shuffle boarding... and that's just on Saturday!

I thought about the mental impact this lifestyle has on the warriors themselves, and how it could be avoided for all the 25-40 year olds our there that suffer from WWS ( Weekend Warrior Syndrome). Each warrior boosts themselves with that adrenaline rush they get, and perhaps sustain, throughout the entire weekend. From one hobby to the next they push harder and harder each time, trying to outdo the effort they put in last weekend.
Can you imagine the strain this puts on the mind? These must be like the postal workers that go..., well... postal. They seem to work hard for the sake of working hard, like it won't be there in the next 5 minutes if they don't make it happen!

How long can you maintain this lifestyle? How long is it safe to maintain it? I want a NIH study outlining the effects of WWS in males over time. What about women? Is the female weekend warrior like the mullet? It's just hard to look at them. I think there could be an All-Star team of movie Weekend Warriors, that could even be their NBA team name. We'll have their home be in Seattle (sorry Sonic fans). Starting 5:

Clark Griswald - Chevy Chase

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson - Mickey Rourke

Dale Webster - the guy that surfed the most days in a row

Andrew McCarthy / Jonathan Silverman (for staring in the cinematic tragedy - Weekend at Bernies)

Arnold Schwarzenegger - just always seemed like a solid weekend warrior.

5 friends

check it out, i enjoyed it:
<5 friends>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vtHwWReGU0

Fantasy Football Woes

Fantasy Football


600 point drops in the DJIA? (stock market for you financially challenged.) That’s nothing when compared to a 1 point loss (151 - 150) in week 5 of my fantasy football league. Despair, Frustration, Black snowy field with a black crow, all these images fit this feeling of stark hopelessness to lose by 1.

A loss like this leaves a fantasy manager (FM) to –

A) look at his draft choices: “Why did I choose this guy? He was supposed to go off! He’s underperforming. Oh man, I knew I should have picked up that sleeper, I KNEW he was a great value.”

B) look at his roster assignments: “What?! The Vikings were playing the Saints and Adrian “All Day” Peterson ran for 30 yards against that terrible rush defense? Unbelievable. Larry Johnson? 4 yards? Really? After two 100+ yard weeks? Did they make a mistake and suit up some other guy named Larry Johnson? And he attempted 5 rushes?” Great offensive play calling there. I couldn’t make this stuff up.

C) to suddenly become vocal about all the point system inequities. “It’s ridiculous that this FM gets +2 for a fumble recovery but I only get +1 for an interception” or “the +1 for completions overshadows’ For example, a FM’s QB goes 10 for 10 and 50 yards passing, he gets 12 points and BEATS my QB who goes 10 for 20 and 325 yards, 11 points. Stupid.

So I look at all my mistakes and complete discrepancies in fairness across the leagues and I click on “week 6”… and start all over again.

Presidential Debate #2

Numero dos in the books

Every blogger worth their laptop will be writing right now about their view of the debate. They'll be talking about the impact of moments, phrases and polls that will be going out in the moments to come. They'll be trying to guess the change in voters minds and which states will be possibly changing colors. Me? I'd prefer to blog about something much simpler. My view.

I will not tell you my preference or my party affiliation, only share what I saw.

McCain- looked stiff, words were at times stumbling, seemed to go back to his talking points on every question.
Obama- moved with a smooth casual ease, had lots of pauses to choose his words, at times seemed as though he was trying to look too polished.

McCain- this candidate says "My friend" WAY too many times. I got annoyed.
Obama- he seems like he's trying to defend the clear option in going forward but no one is listening.

McCain- has experience in the military world and knows it.
Obama- thinks that diplomacy will solve all. he did add some military options that seemed like the obvious thing anyone in that position would have available.

BOTH - battled back and forth about what the other said about them.

McCain- got killed on his health care plan, just stupid.
Obama- somehow managed to get his point out there AND defend what McCain tried to say to sully his plan.

McCain- threw out some good quotes and zingers about Obama that will no doubt be repeated endlessly on the media networks (especially FoxNews)
Obama- answered one question in about 10 seconds and spent his time rebutting a tax comment made earlier... and somehow made it seem applicable.

Overall - not bad, a little controlled, I want to see them duke it out.

Impact of a Quote

Impact of a quote:

All of us have been in a social situation where someone blurted out a string of words that caught your attention. Maybe something that at least lingered with you for the night? These gems of the English language are called quotes. Some people have made their mark on history with a great quote that can last through the ages, providing insight, or inspiration, or perhaps stir the intellect.
A quote is an interesting thing. It is said by someone who means one thing and is heard or repeated by someone else, at times meaning something completely different. Politicians constantly use rivals quotes to prove the exact OPPOSITE of the rivals positions AND bolster their own.
Personally I think comedic quotes are the best. I remember back in college we had a white board where we would put a list of great quotes we heard throughout the year. Some were inspirational, some gross, some witty and some left you saying, "What?" The last ones were always my favorite because they had the "inside joke" feeling to them but left everyone else lost. These quotes were fantastic, invariably some inebriation whould play some part in there creation.

Have one to add? Comment back with your favorite!

Here's some so far:

"It's only pudding"

"I love alcoholic fruit "

"Mother Chucker "

"Bitch.. just bring me a cardigan "

"I'm sorry, I'm about to ask the stupidest question, but do you work in a hospital? "

The Surfing Stoke

Surfing Stoke:

I don't think that there is anything more recharging for the soul then what happened for me this evening. I pulled up on the corner, looked out over the railing, and saw lines rolling in and peeling off the point. In an instant I can feel my heart jump and a huge smile come across my face as I pop the trunk and grab my suit. In record time, the full suit in on and the board is under arm as I jog down the street to the stairs.

Paddling out, I am all smiles. The clean lines. The easy strokes to lift myself over the oncoming swells. The head nods and waves from friends saying hello. These all give a feeling of calm and excitement all at the same time. 30 seconds out and I'm already paddling into my first wave, popping up with ease and looking down the line. 3 others have joined me on this wave (this surf spot has a history where this is "sort-of" ok) and we all head to the right.

Much like the moment of arrival to the spot, the excitement and instant recharge of riding a wave light up my soul like nothing else out there. They call it "stoke" and for me that brings images of an old kiln oven where you had to use that blowing thing, starts with an "A" I think, to stoke the fire for heat. Well our soul is the fire that is stoked by surfing and every surfer walks away from a session, no matter how good or bad, with a stoked soul and a recharged feeling that life is actually pretty good.

I surf till an hour past sunset when the lines coming in start to blend with the horizon, making the inbound swells look like flat sea until the set is upon you and there is much scrambling to turn boards and drop in quickly. I jog back to my car and feel a sense of accomplishment for my evening surf. A strange feeling I know but trust me, ask any surfer out there and I bet they get what I mean when I say that. My day, week, month feel immediately better and wow, I'm hooked again to surf for years to come.

Surf hard. Respect the Beach. Pack your trash.

Football Fever

Are you ready for some football??!!

This anthem must be sung in the voice of Johnny Pearson. MUST.

Fall arrives with a cool breeze, colorful trash, back-to-school, and the wonderful ballet of powerful men on the gridiron (gridiron… I hate that description). Time to pick your team and challenge your co-workers to a fantasy league or just a little office pool. Football is one of the most watched sports in America and I think it’s because unlike Baseball and Hockey, I don’t think there has ever been a strike in football. This shows the fans that they are the ones who are important. (Actually, there was one, in 1987… scab players were recruited from colleges and the pros eventually came back on their own and nothing came of the strike that year.
Damn, kills my point. Oh well)

Football is like any other pro sport, aside from beach volleyball, where the players make tons of money. I think the difference is that the owners and commissioner have set a good plan for drafting, signing and salaries to keep it all in check. All sides recognize that they have a good brand and it is in their best interest to protect it. Players do hold out but with such a short season, less than 20 games, if they hold out too long the season will be over and they will either be surpassed and replaced by their backups or have missed out on a whole season and then they aren’t as good and WILL be replaced by their backups.

The system is really set up to be a spectator sport. Most games are on the weekends and they’ve even got Turkey Day wrapped up as their football day. Fantasy has spread it to the few techies that weren’t into it and chics, well, a recent study found that girls like to watch football partly because the guys “are cuter”. And would you believe that football is the preferred sport viewed by women? Awesome! Pretty soon Kathy Ireland’s idea of kicking for a football team will catch on and we’ll see women around the world garner support for their player..

How can you NOT be excited that football is back!?
Go Vikings.

A Tale of Two Movies

A Tale of Two Movies

If ever there has been a more interesting 4 hours than my Tuesday last week. I watched two movies back to back (one Netflix, one Theater). Each movie served its’ purpose in providing entertainment and value, though each went about it in very different ways. The two movies were St. Ralph and Tropical Thunder (the later in the theater).

Tropical Thunder is everything that you think it will be from watching the trailers. I laughed the whole way through the film because the director actually DOES “go there” quite often. I will not provide any spoilers, I’m a big fan of the movie experience, but I will let you know that my favorite character is Tom Cruise. Didn’t know that he was even IN the movie? Sounds about right for this incredibly stacked cast that doesn’t come off like some bunch of prima Donnas. It is a movie that pokes fun at itself (Stillers’ hallmark).

St. Ralph is the complete opposite of the spectrum. I haven’t cried in a film in a long time and I have to say, “If you don’t get misty-eyed watching this film, you have issues!.” An independent film, it obviously has its work cut out for it from the start. Give it a shot and if you’re not satisfied, I’ll forward you my next Netflix at your request.

Happy theater-going.

Holiday

Holidays

If I asked you what the definition of a Holiday was, what would you reply? “Time Off, No Work, Vacation, Relaxation, Christmas?” I feel that most of America falls into one of, or a variation of, the previous. A holiday in the true sense of the word should be a celebration of life, family, friends, success and culture. For most, we see the date on the calendar, Federal Holiday, and begin planning our escape from the duties and responsibilities of our respected professions. The beach, the river, the mountains, the lake, the desert (yes, this is a destination for some – I’ll have a post about this later), all great locations for travel.

Whatever destination you choose the mental image of the fun you’ll have hits you from the moment you plan. Even if you just choose to spend the day relaxing and lounging on the chairs at home, the feeling of the holiday physically affects you days before. If only we could figure out how to make it last even after returning to work. But our memories do last and holidays definitely provide the nostalgia of the escape.

So for all those not seeing Labor Day as a day to kick back and enjoy one last day off in the sun, at least take a 15 minutes break and go stare at the sun to burn a little bit of your retina, leaving you a lasting reminder of the holiday.


SPF 35