My Bad

Dear Phil,

I take it all back.  Sorry I ever doubted you.  I hope you can forgive me.

Your #1 Fan,
Jake

Dear Phil...

Dear Phil,

You don't know me, but I've been one of your fans for 22 years.  I started following you in January of 1991 when you won a PGA Tour event as an amateur.  I was 12 years old at the time.  You were a cool 20 year old with a great golf game.  You had the flop shot, and you skipped balls over water.  Frankly, you were really cool!  I wasn't anywhere near being a great golfer, but I learned the flop shot because of you.

So here we are in June of 2013, and I've just watched you finish runner-up at the U.S. Open for a record 6th time.  In my head, I knew the heart break was coming again when you bogeyed the 18th hole on Saturday, but my heart wouldn't let me accept it.  So I dutifully tuned in today and watched putt after putt just miss.  Just when I was ready to give up, you holed out for eagle on #10, and I thought..."today might be different."  Turns out, you were just teasing me.  You over thought the 13th hole for the 3rd straight day, then hit your worst iron shot of the week at 15 after pulling off a great tee shot.  Another 2nd place finish, another Father's Day spent watching golf that ultimately ended in disappointment.

Sure, we've had good times.  The 2004 Masters was one of the greatest sporting events of my life.  I watched that with my father-in-law, and it's such a positive memory.  The 2005 PGA, 2006 Masters, 2007 Players Championship and 2010 Masters were also great days. 

But for every great day, there's been twice as much heartbreak.  Let's start in 1999 at the U.S. Open.  You had that tournament won, until you starting missing putts and then Payne Stewart buried that par putt at 18 to beat you.  The same thing happened two years later at the PGA Championship, only this time in was David Toms.  In 2002 at Bethpage, I thought you were poised to make a run against Tiger, but you ultimately fell short.  This was before we knew Tiger was a scum bag, so I took a lot of heat for that one from the Tiger fans.

Then in 2004, you rewarded my loyalty with your first major.  And then you almost won the U.S. Open at Shinnecock...oh so close.  That darn putter again.  You flirted with the British Open and the PGA that year too, before ultimately fading in those events.  But the glow from that Masters win carried things through.

In 2005 you won the PGA championship and followed it with the 2006 Masters...times were good.  There was talk of the Mickelslam, and you were 1 par from making it 3 Majors in a row, and then the disaster at Winged Foot.  A double bogey on 18 to lose by one shot.  That was B R U T A L!!!  I should have quit caring then.  Oh what a fool I was.

The next few years were mostly lean years, but you got my hopes up again in 2009 when you took the lead at the U.S. Open at Bethpage after that eagle on the back 9.  But then your putter got you again.  You miss a lot of short putts for someone who's won 41 PGA events, you know that don't you? 

In 2010, you won the Masters...won it for the family.  I felt for you when Amy got cancer and then your mom right after that.  And then you were diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and I really thought that was the end.  I figured you'd win a few more events before retiring, and I was ready to accept that.  And for a while I was right, but as always, my heart got in the way.

In 2011, you made a run at Darren Clarke at the British Open before your putter got the best of you again with a missed short putt on 11.  And then there was the 2012 Masters...that one was yours to win, and you make a triple on 4???  Who makes a triple on 4?  I was so disappointed after that one, but maybe because Bubba won it, my disappointment was softened.

But after today, I have to be done.  Justin Rose?!!!  Really?!!!  For the 2nd time in 9 months, he gets the best of you...you have more talent in your pinkie that Rose has in his whole body!!!

I can't keep doing this!  Look, it's not you, it's me.  This is who you are...you are brilliant with a golf club in your hands, frustratingly brilliant.  You see shots that nobody else even thinks of, and occasionally you pull them off.  I still want you to win...I still want to root for you...I still want to see you win that U.S. Open, but I can't invest the time in it anymore.

I'm sorry, but we both knew it would come to this...ok, only I knew that.  Eventually you were going to retire, and I would just be a casual golf fan.  I love professional golf, and I love to watch you play, but it's become too heart breaking.  So, I'm moving on to the next phase of my life.  I am moving on to being a causal golf fan.  I'll still watch, but I'm no longer going to invest my heart into the outcome of these events, or the results of a specific player.

I wish you the best of luck.  If you ever do win that U.S Open, I'll be smiling from afar.

Sincerely,
Jake

You Can't Handle The Truth!!!

I love the movie "A Few Good Men."  One of the best parts of the movie is the exchange between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson near the end of the movie.  I think most of you know the one I'm talking about, but here it is just in case:

Col. Jessep:  You want answers?
Kaffee:  I think I'm entitled to...
Col. Jessep:  You want answers?!!!
Kaffee:  I want the truth!!!
Col. Jessep:  You can't handle the truth!

This is how I feel today after spending a few minutes reading up on the political news of the day.  Some of the major news outlets are covering the ongoing questions over the Obama Administration's response to the Benghazi Terrorist attacks.  These same news outlets are also covering the fact that the IRS was targeting right leaning political non-profit groups for "extra scrutiny".  And now today we have the news that the Justice Department seized and unprecedented number phone records from the AP as part of an on-going investigation into security leaks.

Predictably, those on the left are either stating that these "scandals" are much ado about nothing, or they are trying to deflect attention from these issues by pointing out that the House Republicans just voted to end overtime pay.  This opinion piece from CBS News charts the typical response from the left today.  In fact, the following from this opinion piece gets to the crux of the issue for the writer.  "These twin controversies will spur more congressional hearings. That, in turn, means months more of disclosures, rabbit holes, and partisan attacks. For many liberals, this is the obvious point of the politically motivated Benghazi inquiries: to pin the president down and leave him ineffective."

Personally, I don't view the Benghazi inquiries and purely political.  Four Americans died and some of us want to know the truth of what happened and was the more our elected leaders could have or should have done.  We need to learn from tragedy so it doesn't repeat.

But that's not what this blog is about.  This blog is about truth.  The writer of that opinion piece is not interested in the truth of what happened.  He is more interested in the political spin and defending his side.  This is the problem with the truth...it can often be ugly, and often for the "side" you support.  For those on the left, you would have been up in arms had a Republican administration acted this way, but you want it ignored when it's your guy in there.  For those on the right who are happy that this is going on, you better be okay with an investigation when (or if) your side ever wins an election and does something stupid.

The truth is rarely easy to face.  That's why we lie to each other and accept lies so willingly.  Facing the truth means confronting our own ugliness and our own mistakes.  It means making difficult, life changing, and frequently unpopular decisions.  But, when we have the truth and we are prepared to accept it, it is liberating.  For me, accepting the truth that both the right and the left in this country are in this for political gain was freeing.  I was no longer beholden to one side or one ideology.  Granted, I'm still a conservative, but I recognize that the Republicans aren't all good and the Democrats aren't all bad, and that both parties are capable of screwing up royally.  And when they do, Democrat or Republican, we need to know about it...the whole ugly truth.

To borrow from "A Few Good Men", I know I can handle the truth.  Can you?

Reform We Actually Need

I've seen a lot of my friends posting on Facebook over the last 24 hours or so in an outrage that the Senate blocked the passage of the gun control reform bill.  This bill, among other things, increased the scrutiny on background checks for prospective gun buyers.

Now before I go further, let me state that I am not a gun owner, nor do I plan to own a gun.  There's no reason for me to have one.  But, I do respect the rights of those who want to own a gun, whether it be for hunting purposes, hobby shooting, or for a greater sense of security.  I agree with the provision in the 2nd Amendment to Keep and Bear Arms.  I believe that an armed public is a great deterrent to a tyrannical government.

I think we can all agree that the Newtown, CT tragedy was the event that spurred this current gun debate.  I believe this tragedy was more a failure of our society to recognize and treat mental illness than it was a failure of gun control.  From all accounts, Adam Lanza's mother was a law abiding citizen that had every right to own a firearm.  I am not convinced that any stricter gun control laws would have prevented the Newtown tragedy.  Further, as the Boston marathon bombing proves, crazy people will find ways to murder and wound people without guns.

On Wednesday, Chuck Grassley (R - IA) and Ted Cruz (R - TX) introduced an alternative to the gun legislation.  You probably haven't heard about this, because it doesn't fit the liberal agenda talking point of restricting gun ownership.  Instead, this law makes it easier for law abiding citizens to get guns, while providing funding for stronger prosecution of criminals who attempt to buy a gun and fail the background check.  This bill also provides for more assistant U.S Attorneys and more ATF agents.  Most importantly, this bill provides funding for resources devoted to the mentally ill and funding for schools to spend on safety measures.

So, we have a bill that directly addresses what happened in Newtown, CT, and this bill will never see the light of day in the Senate because it doesn't include stricter gun control measures.  This is the most clear evidence that those pushing the failed Senate bill were never in this to address what happened in Newtown.  They simply used that event as the catalyst to push for something that has been on the liberal agenda for a long time, stricter gun control laws. 

We have an autistic child who occasionally has a violent outburst.  We have been fortunate to be able to get really good help for our son and he is doing great!  But I know what a struggle it is to have a child that has a mental illness.  I know the stigma that can come with this, such as the stares from other adults when your seemingly "normal" kid has an outburst in the grocery store.  To make it worse, some educators and other parents who don't believe in "special needs" feel compelled to tell you why you've failed as a parent, and that if you were just "stricter and more disciplined" your child would be "normal".

A real movement could have begun to start to get people with mental disorders the help they need!  Further, this could have removed the stigma that comes with a mental disorder by educating the public.  Instead, those elected to lead us chose to make this a political fight and ignored the real issues that continue to cause these tragic events in our society.  That is the secondary tragedy in all of this. 

Fabulous Fajitas!

I've been eating more Mexican food lately.  This started because my friend Nick and I went to El Perico, a local Mexican restaurant that is unbelievably good.  With this food in mind, I decided to try my hand at some beef fajitas.  For a first run at this, I think they turned out great! 

First I made a marinade.  I did this 2 nights ago.  I had only intended to let the steak marinate for 1 night, but it went 2 nights due to a change in our plans.  The marinade was based on this recipe.  I only made 1 minor adjustment.  I added cilantro.  Here's the marinade recipe:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
4 cloves minced garlic
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (hickory)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dried cilantro

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag.  Place desired meat in the bag and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.

Okay, I used flank steak for the meat.  I had a 1.2 lb flank steak and it marinated for almost 2 days.  I'm sure 24 hours would have been plenty.  Here's what I did tonight to assemble the fajitas.

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lb Marinated Flank Steak (using marinade above)
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced
2-3 TBSP Fajita Marinade
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1/4 tsp salt
Southwest seasoning to taste
10 - 6 inch flour tortillas

Directions:
1 - Remove the steak from the marinade, wiping off the excess.  Grill or Broil to a medium doneness.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
2 - While steak is resting, add reserved marinade and olive oil to a hot cast iron skillet.  Once the oil and marinade sizzling, add the vegetables and salt and stir fry for 10 minutes.  For additional spice, add southwest seasoning at this point.
3 - Slice the steak, across the grain, into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick strips.  Add the strips to the skillet and stir fry for an additional 2 minutes.
4 - Place the tortillas on a microwave safe plate, cover them with a towel and microwave for 45 seconds. 
5 - Serve fajita beef and vegetable mixture with tortillas.  Add refried beans and cheddar cheese on the side if you want.

This was SOOOOO good.  I did add some southwest seasoning.  I liked the extra kick, but I think next time I'll leave it off so the marinade comes through even more.  The marinade is unbelievably good.  I loved this dish and can't wait to make it again!

Quick Tomato Soup

Tonight I made Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese.  It's cold and windy here, so that felt like a really good meal.  Rather than opening a can of Campbell's I decided to make my own soup.  I found a recipe on Allrecipes that gave me a good idea, but then I tweaked it and came up with a Tomato Soup that my wife said is the "best tomato soup she's ever had".  I've been doing a lot more recipe tweaking lately. :-)

Here's the recipe...sorry that I forgot pictures.

Ingredients:
1 - 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 - 11.5 oz can V8 Tomato Juice
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup veggie stock
1 Parmesan rind (or probably 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese)
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley

Directions:
1.  Add crushed tomatoes, tomato juice, stock and Parmesan rind to a large pot.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.
2.  Remove any remaining Parmesan rind.
3.  Remove from the heat and add basil, garlic powder and dried parsley and blend gently with an immersion blender.
4.  Add heavy cream, butter and sugar.  Return to the heat until butter is melted.  Serve immediately.

This is a rich soup with lots of great tomato flavor.  We ate it with grilled cheese and oyster crackers.  I can't wait to make this one again!

More Movie Reviews

It's been a while since I've reviewed any movies.  I have quite a few (for me) to get through.  If this were Nuke, this would be a short movie review since he only reviews movies about twice a year.  I've been watching a lot of animated DC movies on Netflix Instant Watch, and not too many discs lately.  So, here are my reviews.  A lot of 3 and 4 star movies that I'll rate in the order that I think you might care about them.

"The Bourne Legacy":  The latest installment in the Bourne series doesn't feature Jason Bourne at all.  This movie starts a new story line with Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner).  Cross is the next step in the Bourne Evolution.  He has been physically and mentally enhanced, so he's stronger, faster, able to heal quicker and smarter than your average Bourne.  While on a training mission in Alaska, the CIA attempts to kill Cross, to eliminate the threat of program exposure.  Of course they fail, because it wouldn't be much of a movie if they succeeded.  Now, with the risk of losing his abilities, Cross must find the only doctor (Rachel Weisz) who can help him while evading his CIA pursuers.

The movie gets a 4 star rating because I absolutely love the Bourne movies.  Honestly, 45 minutes in, I was quite worried.  "The Bourne Legacy" starts off very slow, but picks up in the 2nd half of the movie.  Jeremy Renner is good as Aaron Cross, but not great.  I really like Rachel Weisz in this role, and Edward Norton is good as always. 

So, overall, a pretty solid follow-up to the Bourne Trilogy.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides":  Finally, a "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie that comes close to capturing the genius of the original.  While not as great, this movie is so much better than the last two that it's not even fair to compare them.

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back again, this time playing a dangerous game with the English, the Spanish and the evil Capt. Blackbeard (Ian McShane) over the location of the Fountain of Youth.  We also meet Angelica (Penelope Cruz), apparently a love interest from  Jack's pass.  Honestly, there are so many plot turns that I can't do it justice by trying to talk about the plot, but let's just say it's mostly fun. 

Missing from the cast were Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley, and that was ok.  Geoffrey Rush was back and Capt. Barbosa, which I thought was a good move.  There is kind of a dumb plot line about a mermaid and a missionary, but other than that, I really liked "Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides".  I'll give this one 4 stars as well.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter":  This was a movie that I was going to see in the theater, but after really poor reviews, I decided to skip it.  It was a good decision not to spend theater bucks on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", but as a popcorn eating flick for a Tuesday night, it suffices as a 3 star movie.

The plot is fairly simple.  After watching his mother get murdered by a vampire, a young Abraham Lincoln dedicates himself to revenge against the vampire that killed her.  After a near fatal encounter, Lincoln meets a man who can teach him the skills he needs to kill a Vampire.  Once trained, Lincoln becomes a one man Vampire wrecking machine, until realizing that his battle is a futile one unless he gains political power.  Hence Lincoln embarks on a political career that ends with the Presidency and the Civil War, which is really a battle between the Vampire free north, and the Vampire lead south.

I know a lot of people were upset about the portrayal of Lincoln in the movie and about the fact that the Civil War in this movie was essentially a war between Lincoln and Vampires, and not about freeing slaves.  To those people I say, it's fiction!  Lighten up!

"Lemonade Mouth":  This is a Disney movie that we considered watching as a family back when it came out in 2011.  For whatever reason we didn't see it, and we missed out.  "Lemonade Mouth" is a really fun, clean, family movie with some pretty good music.  Also, surprisingly, it doesn't follow the typical Disney feel good ending, though you end feeling pretty good anyway.

"Lemonade Mouth" is the story of 5 high schoolers who are sort of outcasts, but band together in detention to form a music group that turns life in the high school on it's head.  Led by Stella Yamada (Hayley Kiyoko), Lemonade Mouth becomes a symbol for all the kids who don't fit the mold of the perfect high schooler.  But, can they pull it together and win the rock band competition, or will life conspire against them?

We really liked this movie.  I'd give it 4 stars.  It's not as cheesy as "High School Musical", but also not as unique.  The cast of Bridgit Mendler, Naomi Scott, Adam Hicks, Blake Michael and Kiyoko really seem to like each other and works well.  Christopher McDonald plays the school principal and basically brings "Happy Gilmore's" Shooter McGavin to the role of high school principal.  A very fun movie that's good family viewing.

Now on to quick reviews of the animated DC movies that I watched.  No pictures for these.

"Justice League:  Doom":  What happens when all Batman's secret plans for controlling rogue justice league members fall into evil hands?  Bad things man...bad things.

I really enjoyed this movie.  The correct vocal casting (Kevin Conroy) is used for Batman, which is critical.  Tim Daly also appears as Superman, again critical.  This is a 4 star movie.  

"Batman: Year One":  In this movie, we follow the first year of a 25 year old Bruce Wayne as Batman, as well as the future Commissioner Gordon's first year as a cop in Gotham.  The two must band together to save Gotham from corrupt cops and the mafia.

I'm a sucker for Batman movies...4 stars.

"Superman vs. the Elite":  In the 21st century, the ideal of Superman has become old fashioned and his methods have become tired.  When a new band of anti-heroes show up and take steps Superman will not, the public embraces them.  But, when they go too far, will Superman have enough to save the day.

I'll give this one 3.5 stars.

"All Star Superman":  After being tricked by Lex Luthor into overexposure to the sun's rays, Superman has weeks to live.  But with new powers from the sun's rays, Superman performs some of his greatest feats.

This is 2.5 stars.  Kinda sappy and not real action packed.

President Obama's To Do List

I have recently come to possess a copy of an essay written by a young Barack Obama .  I thought I'd share it here.  It's written in the form of a problem statement, followed by his solution:

What I would do if I were President, by Barry Obama:

Problem:  The First Amendment.  It reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Solution:  Destroy religious freedom by passing a health care law that forces Christians to go against their very core beliefs.  To discourage religion, belittle those who openly practice religion.  Use the term "bitter clingers" to describe these folks. 

Problem:  The Second Amendment.  It reads:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Solution:  Take advantage of a national tragedy to force gun control legislation and executive orders down the throats of law abiding Americans, while ignoring any other possible reasons for the tragedy. 

...

Ok, you get the idea.  It goes on and on to talk about growing the powers of the Executive Branch through the appointment of Czars and the unprecedented use of Executive Orders.  It talks about gaining control of the courts by appointing liberal, idealist judges that are willing to ignore the law and just make it up as they go along.  There's a particularly long and boring part of taxing the crap out of "the rich" to ensure "fairness".  He also talks about borrowing unprecedented sums of money to fund programs that will make "his subjects totally dependent on his regime" (his words, not mine).

His teacher gave him an F and recommended he see the school counselor to address his "issues".  I wonder if he ever talked to that school counselor???

Fiscal Cliff - This is Absurd!

I haven't taken to this blog for politics in quite a while, but I decided it's time to do so today, as we edge closer to the so called "fiscal cliff".  If the Congress can't reach a deal today, mandatory tax increases and spending cuts will go into effect tomorrow, affecting every American.  I've followed the debate and have come to the conclusion that this entire thing is just absurd.

First off, the only reason we've reached this point is because our Congress couldn't agree on a deficit reduction deal after the Simpson-Bowles committee made their recommendations.  So, they kicked the can down the road, and here we are.  The fact that our elected leaders can't ever compromise and figure anything out is completely absurd!  This is why we need term limits.  Our leaders are so concerned about protecting their power and getting re-elected that they are paralyzed when it comes to taking action.  Seriously, give me a team of 5 people and we could fix this...it would be painful, but we could fix it.  It's just a math problem, there's always a solution.

Secondly, make no mistake the entire debate going on right now is about nothing more than raising taxes on those making over $250,000 (or maybe it's $450,000 depending on the day) per year.  Sure, our so-called leaders are paying lip service to spending cuts and unemployment benefits, but this all comes down to tax cuts.  President Obama and the Democrats are willing to drive us over the fiscal cliff to get their precious tax increases on the "wealthy".  Obama and the Dems are confident they can go down this path because they know the left-wing media will paint the Republicans as villains for wanting to protect tax rates for "the rich", while sacrificing the middle and lower incomes.  And, sadly, Obama and the Dems are right, this is exactly what the media will do.

Now, the Republicans are far from perfect, and I think they are being stupid right now.  Even though I'm completely against tax increases without meaningful spending reforms, the Republicans have to give in on this one.  Obama is going to get his tax increases one way or the other.  That's the key point in all of this...Obama gets what he wants whether or not Congress comes to an agreement here.  No matter what happens today, Obama will get the higher taxes on the rich he campaigned on!  To me, that's the biggest story here.  For someone who claims he cares about the middle class, Obama seems more than willing to play chicken with middle class taxes to get his coveted tax increases. 

This is the ugly truth about this President and his left-wing cronies that no one in the main stream media will say.  At the end of the day, President Obama cares more about advancing his Socialist agenda than he does about protecting the "middle class".  The "agenda" is more important than the people this agenda will hurt. 

The Republicans are not blameless in this.  They should have realized this by now and acted.  With the fawning left-wing media, there's no way the Republicans come out of this looking good, but they should have the guts to act and do what is right for most Americans.  We do not need a tax increase in this economy...not unless it's accompanied by meaningful spending reform, which it most certainly will not be at this point.  But the Republicans can't win here.

Frankly, the Republicans shouldn't even be afraid to take this loss.  If you believe in the conservative economic theories, any tax increase at this point, even if it's just on "the rich", will result in some type of economic down turn.  So, if the Republicans just get out of the way and let this go through, then Obama and the Democrats have to own the consequences of this action, which I believe will be another recession.  Make no mistake, the next recession will be Obama's recession.  And that should lead the way to a Conservative revolution in 2014 and 2016.  The Republicans have to think long term here, because in the short term, they are going to lose.

The Biggest Movie Truths

I am a big time movie fan, as anybody who has read this blog knows.  As such, I have realized certain truths about the movie universe and the movie watching experience that I want to share with you, my faithful readers (I'm not giving away all my movie truths here, just the most important ones from my first 100 movie truths):

Movie truth #1 - Low expectations are the key to a good movie watching experience.

Movie truth #7 - Ryan Reynolds and Brendan Fraser automatically suck the life out of a movie.  My recommendation is to avoid movies with these actors.

Movie truth #12 - Denzel Washington always make good movies, except when Movie truth #7 is in place.

Movie truth #17 - All Keanu Reeves movies that don't require him to act will be passable to good (see "Bill & Ted" or "The Matrix" for examples).

Movie truth #24 - Once an actor or director has won a multiple Oscars, they believe the hype about themselves and make movies that are "Critically Acclaimed."  For examples, see Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg and note that Clint Eastwood seems to be the exception to this rule.

Movie truth #25 - "Critically Acclaimed" is code for "93.64% of the population won't actually like this movie."

Movie truth #37 - Kristen Stewart is on her way to being the female equivalent of Ryan Reynolds and/or Brendan Fraser.

Movie truth #39 - Pixar movies are almost always better than Dreamworks.  The exception to this rule seems to be "Kung Fu Panda".

Movie truth #40 - Jack Black's best character is a talking panda.

Movie truth #49 - Everything J.J. Abrams or Christopher Nolan touch is gold...pure gold!  If they ever team up on a project, my head may explode.

Movie truth #57 - Frodo was annoying in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Movie truth #61 - There is a place in this world for Cheesy Feel Good Disney Movies, and we all secretly like them, though we pretend that we don't.

Movie truth #73 - James Cameron is overrated...like highly overrated.  Personally, I wouldn't want him directing my son's middle school play.

Movie truth #80 - Green screens are over used in movies today.

Movie truth #84 - If Will Smith is in the movie, it will do a huge box office, but will probably be slightly disappointing.

Movie truth #91 - When in doubt, watch a movie about super heroes.

Movie truth #100 - If the masses voted for the Oscars, Bruce Willis would win Best Actor every other year, and nobody would know who Daniel Day Lewis is.

Top 5 Fictional Coaches

Earlier this week, my friend sent me a youtube video of Coach Norman Dale's speech prior to Hickory High taking the court in the 1952 Indiana State High School Championship against might South Bend.  It's a great speech, and it's all fictional.  Yes, this is the speech from the classic film "Hoosiers", starring Gene Hackman as Norman Dale.  That video got me thinking, who are the top 5 fictional coaches from the movies.

I tried to stick to fictional characters, so while Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks in "Miracle" was great, "Miracle" is based on the 1980 USA vs Russia Hockey Game, so I didn't count Herb Brooks as a fictional character.  Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Honorable Mention is Gordon Bombay from "The Mighty Ducks".  Go check 'em out...those movies are fun.

5 - Bagger Vance ("The Legend of Bagger Vance") - Yes, he was Ranulph Junah's (Matt Damon)caddie, but he's also the guy who helped Junah find his "one true swing".  And I'm a sucker for golf movies with lines like this...
"Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like..."

4 - Mickey Goldmill ("Rocky") - What can I say?  Mickey was the classic boxing coach, and father figure to Rocky.  Plus he said this line..."You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"  How can you not love that?

3 - Jimmy McGinty ("The Replacements") - Not only does McGinty (Gene Hackman) pull a rabbit out of his hat when his Washington Sentinels beat Dallas, but he plays a significant role in making Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) into a cult hero for sports movie junkies like me.  Plus, he wears a cool hat.  This is my favorite Jimmy McGinty quote...
"Listen up! By this time tomorrow the strike will be officially over and you men will be out of a job. Up until now Dallas hasn't been afraid of you, and they should be because you have a powerful weapon working for you. There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you all very dangerous people!"

2 - Lou Brown ("Major League") - Lou Brown (James Gammon) can be the manager of my baseball team any time.  With his dry delivery and no nonsense approach, Brown turns a bunch of baseball castoffs into a playoff team by rallying them against the evil owner of the Cleveland Indians.  "Major League" is still my favorite sports movie, and Lou Brown has to be near the top of my list of top 5 fictional coaches.  Here's my favorite Lou Brown quote..."Forget about the curve ball Ricky, give him the heater."

1 - Norman Dale ("Hoosiers") - You had to see this one coming.  Gene Hackman's second entry on this list is the greatest fictional coach there is.  Norman Dale takes little Hickory High all the way to the top by doling out tough love, working hard, pushing fundamentals, and taking risks.  "Hoosiers is a great movie, and Norman Dale is the greatest fictional coach there is.  The best Norman Dale quote is his speech before the championship game, and it's good enough that I'll post the youtube video here:

Turkey Enchiladas

I'm pretty happy with this meal I made tonight.  I was trying to find something to do with our leftover turkey.  I saw a recipe for Turkey Enchiladas...I wasn't keen on the particular recipe I found, but I liked the idea.

So, off to HyVee we went to get tortillas, cheese and enchilada sauce.  Unfortunately, the brand of enchilada sauce we like was gone, so I quickly googled on my phone and found this recipe for a quick enchilada sauce.  So we got some tomato sauce and I decided I'd give it a shot.  I ended up modifying the recipe for the sauce quite a bit, and I'm really happy with the results.  I even added chocolate, so it probably counts as a mole (MOL-AY).

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

Ingredients:
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup canola oil
3 TBSP Chili Powder
3 TBSP Semi-sweet or Dark Chocolate
2 TBSP Wheat Flour
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Emeril's Southwest Seasoning
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion salt

Directions:
1.  Combine oil, flour, chili powder and minced garlic and heat over low heat to form a roux.
2.  Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a low boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

The flavor of this sauce is very similar to some mole I had at my favorite mexican restaurant in town, so I think it's fairly authentic.  It has a mild-medium heat and lots of flavor.  I had semi-sweet chocolate chips, so that is what I used. 

So now that I had the sauce, it was time to make the enchiladas.  Here is the recipe I used for the enchiladas:

Ingredients:
4 multi-grain tortillas
8 oz. shredded Cheddar-Jack Cheese
Enchilada Sauce made above
2 cups shredded turkey (you could use chicken)
1 diced bell pepper (red or yellow would be best)
1/2 diced yellow onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP olive oil

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic to a saute pan and cook vegetables until tender.
3.  Add turkey (or chicken) to saute pan and heat through.
4.  Add two ladles of sauce to the turkey/vegetables and mix thoroughly.
5.  Spoon about 1/2 cup of the turkey/vegetable mixture down center of each tortilla.  Top with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Roll up and place seam-side down in 9x13 dish.  For best results, grease the baking dish first. Top with remaining sauce and cheese.
6.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

As I said above, I'm very happy with how this meal turned out.  I thought it was very close to the enchiladas I had two weeks ago at my favorite Mexican Restaurant here in town.  I'm so excited to make this again real soon! 

Greatly Overdue Movie Reviews

I've got six movies to review.  It's been a while, but I have some good ones in here, so keep reading.

"Battleship":  This movie is the surprise of the bunch.  I had super low expectations, and found that I really, really enjoyed the 2 hours and 11 minutes I spent watching "Battleship".

Taylor Kitsch stars as Alex Hopper, a Navy Lieutenant who never quite manages to realize his full potential.  While participating in Naval exercises, Hopper receives some bad news.  Before he can realize the full implications of that news, the earth is attacked by aliens.  His ship is at the center of the initial wave, and after his captain and first officer dies, Hopper finds himself in command of the only ship left with a chance to stop the aliens before they establish communications and send for reinforcements.

Is the premise a bit far fetched?  Sure is...but it's a fun movie that is decently acted and packed with cool Naval battles.  Liam Neeson plays an Admiral, and as he generally does, Neeson raises the class of the movie just by his sheer presence.  Kitsch is better in "Battleship" than he was in "John Carter" and I think he has a bright future ahead of him.

This is a 4, almost 4.5, star movie.  "Battleship" is a great popcorn eating movie.

"Men in Black 3":  Yes, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back again, and as good as ever.  I watched this one on my recent trip to Brazil, and was not disappointed.

"Men in Black 3" finds us 14 years after the original "Men in Black".  A ruthless alien that Agent K put away in 1969 has escaped from his prison on the moon, and is looking for revenge.  When the Agents face off against this menace, Agent K suddenly becomes very secretive and protective.  The next day, Agent J wakes up to find that he's the only one at MIB that remembers Agent K.  Deducing that the timeline has been changed, Agent J, with the help of one of the many crazies living in New York, goes back in time to 1969 to find a younger and happier version of Agent K (Josh Brolin).  The two of them have to work together to save the world once again.

I have always liked the "Men in Black" movies.  I find them entertaining first and foremost.  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are always a great pair.  The majority of this movie is Will Smith and Josh Brolin, but that's ok.  Brolin does a great job playing a young Tommy Lee Jones. 

"Men in Black 3" kept me laughing and entertained for 2 hours of a 10 hour flight.  For that alone, it gets 4 stars.

"The Muppets":  David became a big fan of The Muppets earlier this year, and he begged me to get "The Muppets" from Netflix.  For those of you who are Muppets fans from way back, this movie will bring back a lot of nostalgia.

The premise is pretty simple.  The Muppets have fallen on hard times.  They aren't relevant any more, and the implication is that kids today have moved beyond the relatively tame comedy that the Muppets bring to the stage.  But, when Walter (a muppet), his brother (Jason Segal) and his girlfriend (Amy Adams) visit The Muppet Studios, hi jinx ensues to bring the Muppets back.

I really enjoyed this movie.  It took me back to when I was a kid...from the opening theme to Rainbow Connection, it was great stuff.  Although Jason Segal is not a great actor, he sings one of the best songs in the movie, asking the eternal question, "Am I a Man or a Muppet"?

This is a 4 star movie...really good stuff!

"The Hunger Games":  I read all the books in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, and while I was disappointed with the 3rd book, this was still a good book series.  I wasn't sure how the series would translate to a movie, so I skipped the theater and waited for the DVD.

In case you aren't familiar with the premise, "The Hunger Games" is set some time in the future.  The United States has fallen, and is divided into 12 districts, controlled by The Capital.  People in the Capital live high on the hog, so to speak, but as you get out into the districts, life gets harder and poorer.  In response to a rebel uprising, each district is required to send two tributes, age 12-18, to compete in The Hunger Games, a "Survivor" type show with only 1 survivor.  Our hero, Katniss Everdeen, finds herself competing along with her fellow district 12 competitor Peeta.

"The Hunger Games" made a very compelling movie, and stayed relatively true to the book.  I thought Jennifer Lawrence was a great choice for Katniss, and I liked Donald Sutherland as President Snow.  I had heard the camera work was shaky and hard to follow, but I didn't seem to have trouble with it at all.

"The Hunger Games" is a 4 star movie.  Lets see how Hollywood handles the next 2 movies.

"Man On A Ledge":  I was intrigued enough by the trailers to put this movie in my DVD queue.  This movie was on it's way to being really good, but somewhere along the line it took a detour and ended up at mediocre.

"Man on a Ledge" stars Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy, a former cop, who is sent to prison for committing robbery.  When Cassidy escapes prison, he ends up on the ledge of a building.  This is where a suicide specialist (Elizabeth Banks) is brought in.  However, it quickly becomes obvious that Cassidy is not on the ledge for suicidal reasons...he definitely has something else in the works.

The parts of this movie where Cassidy is actually on the ledge are really well done, other than the fact that Sam Worthington keeps slipping in and out of his natural Australian accent.  However, when his plot is discovered, "Man On A Ledge" turns into just another action movie, and not a great one at that.

I'll go with 3 stars for "Man On A Ledge".

"Snow White and the Huntsman":  I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this movie.  This was another airplane movie.  I knew it had gotten rotten reviews, and my friend Nick said it was terrible, but there wasn't much selection on the plane, so I decided to give it a whirl...what a waste of time.

This movie is a new telling of the traditional Snow White story.  Kristen Stewart plays Snow White, Charlize Theron is the wicked queen, and Chris Hemsworth is The Huntsmen. 

Here are the problems I had with this movie:
1)  The story is horribly weak.  Snow White never appears heroic or particularly inspiring, but at the end of the movie, all of the sudden she is supposed to be heroic and inspiring.  It just doesn't work.
2)  Kristen Stewart is terrible.  She spends most of the movie looking stoned.
3)  Charlize Theron way overacts...I mean almost Shatner overacting, but not in a good way.
4)  Chris Hemsworth is wasted.  He was so good in "Thor" and "The Avengers" and could have been good in this, but the movie was so bad, he never got a chance to be good.

I rate this one 2 stars, only because Ian McShane has a cameo appearance, and I still think Chris Hemsworth is pretty good, despite being set up for failure with this terrible script.

Things to Do Tonight Instead of Watching Election Coverage

I started this blog about 4 years ago, right before the McCain/Obama election.  I have no idea how tonight's election is going to turn out.  I suspect Obama will win, but who knows.  I don't plan to watch any of the election coverage.  Here are some things I may consider doing, instead of watching election coverage.

-Reorganizing my sock drawer
-Washing my hair (but I don't have that much left)
-Start working on my memoirs...I'm thinking the title is "Too Many Buffalo Wings, Not Enough Veggies"
-Finally getting started on that workout regimen
-Watching reruns of Super Bowl XXXII
-Figuring out how to incorporate the Hot Pocket into gourmet cuisine
-Reviewing online articles discussing the merits of Lawn Gnomes
-Watching a "Once Upon a Time" Marathon with my wife
-Learning to dance Gangnam Style
-Playing online poker for fake money

So, as you can see, I've got lots of options tonight.  I hope you have options as well.  If not, perhaps you will consider one of the endeavors I listed above.

Enjoy not watching election coverage!

Championship Dip

Today, we held our 2nd Annual Department Dip Day contest at work.  The rules were simple, anyone who wanted, could bring in a dip (sweet, savory, salsa, etc.) and the department would provide the dipping vessel (i.e. chips, pretzels, veggies, etc.).  Everyone would sample the varying dips, and then vote for their top 3.  A first place vote was worth 5 points, a 2nd place vote was worth 3 points and a third place vote was worth 1 point. 

We had 19 different dips entered in the contest.  Interestingly, not 1 salsa.  Anyway, my Buffalo Chicken Dip won first prize.  I get bragging rights, and the Henck Cup, named after the winner of our first dip day contest.

I'm pretty thrilled since this is the first time I've made this dip.  I found the recipe a couple of months ago, and decided on Monday that it would be my entrant into the contest.  I based the dip off this recipe from allrecipes.com, but I modified it to fit my tastes.  I should have taken a picture, but I failed.  However, if you like Buffalo Chicken Wings, you will really like this dip.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup Frank's Red Hot
2 cups cubed grilled chicken (dice it up very small)
3/4 cup Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/4 cup Bleu Cheese Crumbles
1 cup Mild Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
1 - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2 - In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese and Frank's Red Hot until well blended
3 - Add chicken, cheeses and dressing to the bowl and mix
4 - Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes
5 - Transfer to a crockpot to keep warm.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Homemade French Dip Sandwiches

I've gotten a lot of criticism from certain people about not blogging, so I thought I'd share a recipe tonight. 

We have our Catholicism study in about an hour, so we ate early tonight.  Since we were being sorta lazy this afternoon, I did a crock pot meal .  I made French Dip Sandwiches, which turned out to be super easy and super good.

Ingredients:
1 3-4 lb. Beef Roast
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
Steak Seasoning (use whatever steak seasoning you prefer)
1 TBSP Minced Garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
Hoagie Rolls
Sliced Provolone Cheese

Directions:
1.  Prepare Roast by trimming off excess fat.  Liberally rub steak seasoning and minced garlic on the roast.
2.  Put beef stock, soy sauce, thyme, black pepper and bay leaf in a crock pot on low.  Add roast and cook on high for 2 hours, then on low for 2 hours.
3.  Slice roast beef thin and serve on hoagie rolls topped with provolone cheese.  For extra goodness, place the rolls (buttered) with cheese under the broiler until cheese is melted and roll is golden brown.
4.  Serve with the au jus left in the crock pot.

I love French Dips, and this was a really good one.  I can't wait to make this again!

Blue Top Ridge at Riverside

One of the great things about where I work is that I got today off as a company holiday in addition to yesterday.  So, what to do when your kids are in school and your family is going about their normal routine?  Well, I chose golf, and I decided to play Blue Top Ridge at Riverside, which is about an hour from my house. 

I was joined in this golfing adventure by 3 friends/coworkers, and we tee'd off at 9 am.  As has been the pattern all summer, it was really hot, so I was very glad for the cart that was included in the green fees.  Blue Top Ridge is a Rees Jones design and is extremely hilly, so walking would have been really silly.  To make the day a little more difficult, there was some kind of PGA Club Professional Tournament going on later in the day, so the pins were in some really tough locations.  I don't recall one pin being in the middle of the green.

Overall, I liked this golf course. I played from the $500 tees. Since the course is associated with Riverside Casino, all the tee boxes have dollar values assigned. The $500 tees were 6,989 yards, and had a course rating of 75.2 and a slope of 144. What that means is that the course is difficult!  There was a $1000 set of tees, but that set of was over 7,400 yards, and I don't need that kind of challenge. I was plenty challenged by the tees I chose.

If I had my way, I would like to see a couple of changes. I think the back nine should be the front nine and vice versa. Holes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are all blind tee shots, which is a really difficult way to start off a round of golf, especially when you don't know the course. After that, there aren't any blind tee shots until #13. If the nines were flipped, I think the course would be more fun, but it would also be easier, which maybe isn't what Rees Jones wanted. The other change I'd like to see is faster greens. I was expecting really fast greens, but they were just moderately faster than what I am used to from my club. Granted, it's been super hot this summer, so the grounds crew is probably leaving the greens a little longer to keep them alive.

I've got a few pictures to share.  The first picture is of #16, which is a 633 yard par 5.  I hammered a drive down the middle and still had around 330 yards left to the green.  I got virtually no roll off the tee shot, which surprised me because the tee shot was straight down hill.  After I thought about it a while, I think this was actually smart by the grounds crew because if the fairway was firm a lot of balls would run into the water hazard.  So this spot was obviously watered more than the rest of the course to keep it soft.  The 2nd shot is straight back up hill, and I proceeded to dork up the hole and make a 6.

The next picture is of the 14th hole, which is a short par 3.  There's a cool barn off to the right.  The hole itself wasn't overly memorable, but I thought the barn was cool.

My favorite hole on the course was #12.  It was a 540 yard par 5 that goes straight up hill.  I played it as Driver, 6 iron, 9 iron and made par.  It's a great hole, because it's a true 3 shot hole, but one that allows you to be as aggressive as you want on your 2nd shot.  I chose to lay back on my 2nd shot, but I could have tried to sneak a fairway wood in the narrow part of the fairway if I wanted.  I took this picture from the green looking back down the fairway.

Like I said above, I really liked the course, and I would play it again.  I thought the green fees were a little steep, and for the money, I'd rather play Finkbine in Iowa City then this course.  I think the next time I play Blue Top Ridge will be when the rates are cheaper, such as spring, fall or twilight golf.  I think the course is tough, but fair.  You do have to hit it straight, and wild shots are penalized.  I had two penalty strokes, and had to play out of 6 bunkers.  The course has good variety...I used every club in my bag, except my hybrid iron.

My score was an 83, which wasn't as good as I had hoped, but not too bad considering the difficulty of the course.  I had 10 pars, 6 bogey, a double bogey and a triple bogey (yuck!).  Not making a birdie was pretty disappointing.  I think it's a course where I could break 80 if I have an above average day driving the golf ball, but if I start hitting it crooked (which I can do), I could also shoot in the 90s pretty easily.  If I were to rate golf courses like I rate movies, I'd give Blue Top Ridge at Riverside a very solid 4 stars.

Not Too Exciting Movie Reviews

I have four more movies to review, and sadly, none of them were super good.  In fact, all were in the 2-3.5 star range.

"Safe House":  Anybody who knows me, knows that I believe it's not possible for Denzel Washington to make a bad movie.  I think he's one of the best actors in Hollywood, and I've really liked pretty much every movies he's made that I've seen.  Apparently, my hypothesis was wrong.  All you have to do is add Ryan Reynolds and he immediately sucks the life out of the Denzel movie.

"Safe House" is really about Reynolds' character.  He plays a relatively inexperienced CIA agent, Matt Weston, who is in charge of a safe house in South Africa.  When Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) walks into Weston's safe house as a prisoner, Weston's life changes forever, and he is faced with challenges he never expected.

My biggest problem with this movie is the way Ryan Reynolds plays a CIA agent.  He spends the entire movie looking horrified or about on the verge of tears because of what is happening to his character.   My thinking is, "Dude, you're a CIA agent...man up!"  Denzel does a nice job, as always, but he cannot overcome Reynolds' ineptitude.  This is a 2 star movie at best.

"Mission Impossible:  Ghost Protocol":  I've never been a big fan of the "Mission Impossible" series, but the trailers for "Ghost Protocol" looked cool enough that I decided to give it a shot. 

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt.  Hunt has been in a Russian prison for an unspecified amount of time.  Early on, he is broken out by 2 other IMF agents, and put on a super-secret mission by the IMF secretary.  In fact, this mission is off the books, so they have to invoke "Ghost Protocol", meaning the agents are on their own and are the only thing standing between the world and nuclear war. 

Lots of cool action here, but not much of a plot.  Basically, it's Tom Cruise running around, fighting and shooting things...oh and scaling the side of the tallest building in the world.  Jeremy Renner is added to the "Mission Impossible" team, and he's excellent...is anyone surprised?  After all, he played a character in "Avengers" that was from Iowa.  Just the association with Iowa helps. 

Overall, the cool action manages to elevate this movie to a 3 star movie.  I can't see giving it any higher than this, but it's worth a watch if you are in the mood for mindless action.

"I Am Number Four":  I really liked the book, "I Am Number Four".  After resisting for quite a long time, I watched the movie after hearing from others that it was actually a pretty good movie.  Well, it's not a terrible movie, but I wouldn't classify it as pretty good.

The premise of the movie is much the same as the premise of the book.  Nine aliens and their guardians from Lorien are on earth.  The evil Mogadorians, who destroyed Lorien, are hunting the nine because the nine possess special powers that are a threat to the Mogadorians.  Each of the nine are assigned a number, and a special charm requires that the Mogadorians kill them in order.  As the movie begins, Number Four is with friends as number three is killed.  A scar is burned into Number Four's leg indicating the death of number three, and meaning the Mogadorians will be coming for him next.  So he and his guardian, Henri, flee and end up in Paradise, Ohio where Number Four takes the name John Smith and begins a new life.  But, he quickly gets too involved, his secret gets exposed, and a battle with the Mogadorians ensues.

"I Am Number Four" is a three star movie.  I thought the cast was actually chosen pretty well, though I always pictured John's friend Sam as more nerdy than he was portrayed in the movie.  Plus, it's always tough when you are getting 20 somethings to play high school sophomores and juniors.  Overall though, it was a nice job of casting, especially Timothy Olyphant as Henri.  But in the end, the movie doesn't quite do the book justice, hence my 3 star rating.

"John Carter":  This is the best movie over the four I'm rating, and I'll put this one at 3.5 stars.  My wife actually liked it more than I did, which is rare.  She says that she like it "a lot".  I know Nuke also really liked this movie.  Maybe that set my expectations too high.

"John Carter" is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs "Barsoom Series".  Starting out in 1868, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is in a cave on earth where he has just found gold.  After fighting with and killing an alien, John Carter wakes up to find himself on Mars, which is in the midst of a Civil War.  Due to the different gravity, Carter has the ability to leap extreme distances and possesses great strength.  After some struggle with the aliens who initially find him, Carter comes to the aid of Princess Dejah Thoris in the Civil War.  But how much difference can one "earth man" make in the struggle?  And what of the mysterious Thern (sp?)?

I liked "John Carter" well enough.  It's not fantastically acted, but it's not bad either.  I think where it fell short of 4 stars for me is that it just never quite reached the epic status that I think it was trying to reach.  I am interested enough, based on the movie, to read the Edgar Rice Burroughs series, or at least add it to my list to read. 

So my basic review is "John Carter" is a good movie that falls a bit short of really good, and well short of great.

Audio Book Reviews

We've been doing a lot of travelling lately, and when we travel, we listed to audio books.  Here are four books we've listened to lately...obviously these are all kid appropriate:

"Happenstance Found":  We listened to this one on our way to Aberdeen, SD for a family event.  I was really excited, and since this book is the first in a series, I thought maybe I'd have my next great series to read.  Instead, "Happenstance Found" was slow to develop and really didn't leave me wanting to read more of the Books of Umber series.

P.W. Catanese has a really neat idea here.  Happenstance is a boy, we don't know exactly how old, found in a buried city by Lord Umber and his band.  Happenstance is different in that he has bright green eyes, can see in the dark, and seems to possess a few other abilities.  As they return to Lord Umber's home, we learn that something is following them, and it's not good.  The rest of the tale takes place in and around Lord Umber's home, and we learn a little more about Happenstance, where he came from, and we find out more about Lord Umber. 

A neat premise, but it just didn't move fast enough for me.  I don't plan to read any more books in this series.

"Peter and the Starcatchers":  This is the story that we listened to on the way home from Aberdeen, SD.  This was a really good story by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.  What Barry and Pearson have done is kick off a series that tells us all the origin of Peter Pan.

Peter and 4 other orphans are being sent away from their orphanage for unknown reasons.  They are told by their caretaker to board a ship called The Neverland, but they don't know why.  On the ship, the boys are treated very poorly, and as the leader of the group, Peter takes to stealing food to make sure the boys have enough to eat.  It's on these food missions that Peter comes to know Molly, and they embark on an adventure to secure a chest of "star stuff" (the little bits of a star that falls to the earth and grants powers to the user), and keep this chest from falling into the hands of the Evil Black Stash.  Along the way, we find out how Peter gains the ability to fly, how he doesn't grow old, and how he and the lost boys end up on that island.  Oh, and we meet Captain Hook for the first time.

I really liked this story!  I'm hoping to read others in the series soon.  There's humor and plenty of action, and it's all offset with a story of friendship and loss.  Just a really good book.

"Holes":  I had seen the movie based on this Louis Sachar book, but David really wanted to listen to this one on our trip to Kansas City so we gave it a go.  With only 4 discs, it was a quick listen and one that David and I enjoyed.

Stanley Yelnants is an unlucky kid.  After being accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit, Stanley is sent to Camp Green Lake.  Upon arrival he first discovers there's no lake, then he meets Mr. Sir, who informs him that he is to dig 1 hole, every day.  The hole must be as deep and as wide as his shovel, which happens to be 5 feet.  As an overweight kid, this is arduous work for Stanley.  Almost as difficult is finding his place with his bunk mates.  Over time, Stanley gets better at digging holes, and befriends Zero.  When Zero runs away, Stanley goes after him, but with no water or food, how long will the boys survive, and will they break the curse that has haunted Stanley's family for over a hundred years.

"Holes" the book, is very similar to "Holes" the movie.  There's a bit more on the back story of Green Lake and it's inhabitants, as well as the back story on the Warden.  But, if you've seen the movie, you pretty much know the book.  Still, if you liked to movie, I think listening to or reading the book would be worth your time.

"The Graveyard Book":  I don't use this term often, but this Neil Gaiman book is great, not good...great!  I suspect it was even better because we listened to the audio book, read by Gaiman himself.  Such an interesting and compelling story, I couldn't wait to hear what came next.

At the beginning of the story, we happen upon The Man Jack as he's in the process of murdering a family (trust me it's ok for an 11 year old kid).  But, he fails in his task as the youngest boy, a toddler, somehow wanders off before The Man Jack can complete the job.  They young boy wanders up to a nearby graveyard, where it's ghostly inhabitants give the young boy the freedom of the graveyard and decide to raise him as their own.  They name him Nobody Owens (after the Owens family who takes him in), and the mysterious Silas agrees to be his guardian.  But how can a live boy grow up in a place of the dead?  And what will happen if he ever leaves the graveyard with The Man Jack still out there, ready to finish the job?

I loved this story.  It's so interesting to meet the various inhabitants of the graveyard, some dating back even farther than Roman times, and it's interesting to see the influence they have on young Bod (Nobody gets shortened to Bod).  Bod's forays into the living world make for some excitement, and the secondary story about Silas keeps mystery going all throughout the book.  I highly recommend giving this one a read, or even better, a listen.

Let's Just Stop and Think About This

So, I was playing Sudoku while watching Wheel of Fortune on NBC, mainly just to kill time until the Olympics started.  During one of the commercial breaks, I saw a brand new ad by President Obama.  In this ad, the voice over guy is saying that Mitt Romney only paid 14% in taxes on his $20 million dollar income in 2010 and that this is likely less than you pay.  The ad goes on to say that Romney wants to give tax breaks to millionaires while taxing you more. 

There is so much in here.  First, Obama and his team are again playing the "class card" pitting us "commoners" against the "elites."  Further, while this ad is not wrong, it's somewhat misleading.  A quick google search uncovered this article from the Tuscon Sentinel.  First if you look at strictly income tax, the ad is a lie...only 3% of the population pays a higher income tax rate than Mitt Romney.  However, if you include payroll taxes, then the ad is correct, as most of Romney's income is from dividends and capital gains, so he doesn't pay the typical payroll taxes that most people do pay.  Also, in fairness, Mitt Romney does pay a lower tax rate than most people at his income level, largely due to the fact that he donates a significant portion of his income to charity.

Finally, the ad concludes with the point that Romney's tax policy as currently stated will eventually have to result in tax increases on the middle class, but doesn't explain why.  Again, a little digging on google is required, but you can quickly find out that a report by the Tax Policy Center determined that Romney would have to eliminate certain tax breaks that middle class families rely on in order to 1) reduce income tax rates across the board and 2) remain revenue neutral.  Most of the media is reporting this as positive for Obama, but again, a little googling and you can find that Romney's plan isn't specific enough to really draw the conclusions that were drawn.  Forbes has a nice article on this that I think is somewhat fair, though I'll admit Forbes is typically right leaning.

Ok, this is gonna be a long blog, because it took all that background to get to my main point.  The President's point in this ad is obviously to get you 1) mad that Romney pays less in taxes than you (again, debatable) and 2) fearful that Romney's policies will result in higher taxes on you.  Frankly, the President is doing you and I, all of us really, a disservice by this type of campaigning.  In fairness the Romney camp is doing the same thing with some of their advertising, but given that I am conservative, Obama's ads tend to get my ire up more so I'm focusing on this ad.  There are so many conversations we should be having based on the material just in this ad, but both parties have decided that we're too stupid or lack the attention span to hold these conversations.

Here are two examples of real policy debates we should be having based solely on the material in this political ad:

1)  Is it right to tax investment income at a lower rate than earned income?  That's contributing to Romney's tax rate being so low.  I think that would be a good debate to have in the country.

2)  Our tax code is screwed up.  Who among us wouldn't do what Romney does and take all the deductions possible?  We all do it...leaving money on the table is not smart, especially in this economy.  How are we gonna fix the tax code to make it more simple and more fair?  That's a debate some have tried to have in the past and they get vilified...see Steve Forbes and the flat tax.

Sadly folks, we've brought this upon ourselves.  We've become a generation of sound bytes.  If you can't get it in 10 seconds, it's not worth it.  Both candidates for President are just campaigning to us in the way that is most effective, and that's a sad commentary on the state of our society. 

We can change this though, and we have to start now, because I believe our nation is on the precipice.  My personal belief is that if we tip one way, we go the way or Western European Socialism, but if we tip the other way, we can recapture what has made the United States the greatest nation in the history of the world.  But, we can only do this if we get informed and start thinking about these issues. 

How can we do this?  Well, here's what has worked in my life.  First off, stop listening to or reading only one news source.  I had to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh, as all it did was made me mad at the other side and being angry prevented my from thinking about what it is I really believe.  Turns out, I believe most of what Limbaugh spouts, but now that I don't listen, I'm capable of articulating it in my own words.  I've also started reading multiple news sources, especially on controversial issues.  You often have to go to Foxnews and MSNBC or CNN to get the entire story, since the new agencies are very biased one way or the other. 

The second thing I've had to do is not let myself react emotionally.  If I do that, I've failed.  Instead, if something hits me emotionally, I stop and think about why that is.  Then I analyze the issue and determine where I really stand. 

Finally, we all have to do some research and get informed.  I spent 40 minutes tonight on this blog and researching.  That's not much time really, and now I'm much smarter on this issue. 

I'm hoping this doesn't come across as preachy.  I'm hoping that it will come across as a plea for all of us, Democrat, Republican or Independent, to get informed and start having meaningful debate on the issues, rather than just reacting with hate or anger towards the other side.  That's the only way we're gonna fix this mess.