Why So Unhappy?

Tiger Woods made his much anticipated return to the PGA Tour today, shooting a two over par 73 at the Frys.com open, a Fall Finish event.  Normally, Tiger doesn't play in the Fall Finish events, but due to injuries and poor play, he added this event to get is game in better shape before the President's Cup.

After his round, he said that he is "Not Happy" with his round.  Tiger is never happy these days.  In fact, he's generally really miserable.  I can't say that I blame him...he screwed up his marriage, his health has been a wreck and his golf game resembles mine more and more every day. 

But, at the same time, I can say that I blame him.  Tiger has lead a pretty charmed life.  He was the best golfer on the planet for the better part of 15 years.  He's won over 70 tournaments and 14 majors.  He's got 2 kids.  He's become the person he dreamed of being growing up.  So, why isn't it he happy?

Well, because there's more to life than being a great golfer.  I tend to think that Tiger got to the top and thought, "this is all there is?"  So then he tried to fill his life with other things, and it never got better.  That happens to us all when we achieve something we really want...in the end, accomplishments of this world always disappoint.  So then, like Tiger, we try to fill our lives with other things, looking for the one thing that will make us truly happy.

Maybe Tiger, and the rest of us, need to spend less time looking for things of this world to make us happy and more time looking for Jesus Christ.  True happiness can only come through living a truly Christian life.  Personally, I struggle with this every day.  But I have realized that I'm a much happier person when I quit trying to find things in this world to make me happy and realize that I should be happy with the many blessing God has already given me...such as a great wife and 2 wonderful boys.  Don't get me wrong, I still fail more often than I succeed, and I'm still somewhat convinced that a pickup will make me happy, but that's a problem for another day.

I wonder if Tiger will ever realize Who the true source of happiness really is?

Baseball vs. Football

With the baseball playoffs going on right now (sorry Red Sox fans), and the start of the NFL season, it's time to review the differences between Baseball and Football.  Nobody does that better than George Carlin, who is one of the funniest men that ever lived.

Here's one of my favorite Carlin bits of all time.  This is one of the few bits that Carlin did that has clean language.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Top 5 Non-Super Hero Movie Heroes

Whenever we think of heroes, we think of soldiers, firefighters, policemen, our fathers and grandfathers and sports stars. When we think of movie heroes, my brain always goes to Super Heroes. But, there is a whole other realm of movie heroes. So, I got to thinking, who are my top 5 favorite movie heroes that are not super heroes?

I decided I had to set some ground rules, because otherwise there would be too many to choose from. So, first off, I decided that the hero had to be in more than one movie (i.e. he or she had to be compelling enough to make more than one movie). Secondly, he or she cannot have any supernatural abilities whatsoever, so Jedi are out. Finally, he has to be a fictional character, not based on any historical person.

Note that I'm 33 years old and I really don't watch too many movies from before I was born, so I suspect there are people out there who will think of heroes from the early 70's and earlier that I missed. So, here are my top 5 non-super hero heroes:

5 - Aragorn: Viggo Mortensen perfectly played the Ranger turned King in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I've had a hard time accepting Viggo in any other role because he was so good as Aragorn, and so darn heroic. Plus, he got the girl at the end, and the hero always gets the girl.

4 - Rocky Balboa: Ok, let's forget that "Rocky V" was ever made. If we look at the other 5 movies, Rocky Balboa is the quintessential American hero. A hard luck guy who overcomes a lot, gets the girl, wins big, falls from grace, finally becomes comfortable in his own skin and returns to glory. One of the best movie heroes out there.

3 - James Bond: Many people would put 007 as the #1 guy on this list, especially because he has stood the test of time. From Sean Connery in the 1960's to Daniel Craig in the last few years, James Bond has fascinated movie viewers for nearly 50 years. My favorite Bond was actually Pierce Brosnan, but I understand the people who love Connery. Overall, a great hero who seemingly can do anything.

2 - Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford's classic archaeologist, explorer, hero is one of the greatest heroes of all time. I would have put him #1 on this list had Steven Spielberg and George Lucas not decided to make "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Indie is always funny, always saves the day, and generally does it with a flair and brilliance not seen in other heroes. Indie gets out of every jam and always makes the right decisions in the end. Hard to top this one, but...

1 - John McClane: Detective John McClane just can't seem to get a break. First he goes to Los Angeles, only to have to save his wife from a sadistic Alan Rickman. Next, he has to save an entire airport. Then, without much help from Samuel L. Jackson, McClane has to save the entire city of New York. Finally, in "Live Free or Die Hard", Detective McClane is pitted against a cyber terrorist bent on taking down the United States, while making a lot of money and threatening to kill McClane's daughter. As we learn in the latest "Die Hard" flick, sometimes you gotta be the guy because there's nobody else to be the guy. That is what makes Bruce Willis as John McClane the #1 hero on this list.

Movie Review - Battle: Los Angeles

Honestly, I had really low expectations for "Battle: Los Angeles", and as I've said numerous times on this blog, low expectations is key for a good movie watching experience.  Surprisingly, this movie wasn't terrible...in fact it wasn't even bad.  And, as a bonus, there was no Michael Ironside, which I was expecting in this movie...he's typically in any movie like this.

In "Battle: Los Angeles" meteors are crashing to earth, at least that's what the silly humans think.  But, it turns out the meteors are aliens, and they are bent on taking over earth and using it's resources.  Yes, we've seen this movie before.  This is where we meet Staff Sargent Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who is part of a group of marines responsible for clearing civilians from a lost area of Los Angeles before the Air Force bombs the snot out of that specific area.  The remainder of the movie follows these few marines as they save the civilians and eventually find the key to defeating the alien invaders.

Aaron Eckhart is actually really good at Sgt. Nantz.  I've been seeing Aaron Eckhart in more movies lately, dating back to "The Dark Knight".  I really like him as an actor.  The rest of the cast is not memorable, but Eckhart manages to carry the cast well enough.

The story is interesting.  Usually these types of movies focus on the President and some other "top level" guys who are trying to stop the invading aliens.  Sometimes they even have Wil Smith, just because it always helps having Wil Smith when facing off against aliens.  So, to see a relatively small group of "regular guys" just carrying out their part of the job was sort of refreshing.  Of course, having them save the day was also important to making this a true "Hollywood alien movie."

I think I'll rate "Battle: Los Angeles" 4 stars.  It might have been 3 if I would have had higher expectations, but given the low expectations I started with, I'm pleased with how much I enjoyed this movie.

Book Review: The Power of Six

The Power of Six is the 2nd book in the Lorien Legacies series by Pittacus Lore (a Pseudonym for the 2 guys working on this series).  You will recall that I really liked I Am Number Four, and I liked the 2nd book as well. 

This 2nd book continues to follow John Smith (a.k.a Number Four), but in this story, we also get to know Six, who we met at the end of the first book, Seven (a.k.a Marina) and Nine.  The Power of Six takes place over a very short period of time, and thus moves extremely fast and is packed with action.  The story continues to follow the conflict between the Lorien's (good aliens) and Mogadorians (bad aliens) on earth.  The Mogadorians are trying to exterminate the remaining Loriens before they attain their full power...yes they have super powers.  Trust me, it's a good story.

You will discover that this book does not have top notch writing.  I mean, it's not terrible, but I wouldn't describe it as literary genius either.  Still, this was a great read and I'm excited about the third book, which will probably come out next summer.  My brief internet search did not reveal a title, and I'm too lazy to keep digging.

If You Love Me....

Remember back during the 2008 election when we Conservatives were saying that Barack Obama has a Messiah Complex?  Well, maybe not all Conservatives, but definitely Rush Limbaugh, and me, to name 2 prominent Conservatives.  Personally, I still believe that, and this week, President Obama gave me further confirmation that I'm correct on this one.

During a speech in North Carolina, President Obama, presumably off the teleprompter, said "If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill!"  If the teleprompter told him to say that, I question whether the teleprompter is doing his job.  This statement was made in reference to Obama's notional jobs bill.

How does this prove that Obama has a Messiah complex?  Well, to borrow from Nuke, let's look at scripture.  In John 21:15-19 we have the famous exchange when Jesus asks Peter 3 times if Peter loves Him.  After each time Peter professes that he loves Jesus, Jesus gives Peter a command.  For another example, let's go back to John 14:15, where we hear Jesus say "If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments."

In the light of what I just cited above, what Obama said does sound like an attempt to sound Messiah-like, doesn't it?  Again Barack Obama is making it all about himself, rather than about the people in this country who are out of work.  Rather than making some emotive statement like that, Obama should try to lead and actually present something that makes sense for creating jobs and growing the economy.  But, I truly believe he doesn't have the faintest idea of how to do that.

To those who are super cynical who are thinking right now, "Why is it ok for Jesus to say what He said?  Isn't He doing the same thing Obama is doing?", I would answer that the point is that it is all about Jesus.  It's an entirely different thing...altogether.  As Christians, we profess that Jesus is #1 in our life, and as such, when He says what He said in John 14 and John 21, we need to do what he asks. 

That's all I have to say about that.

Double Your Animated Fun

I've watched a couple of Animated movies with my kids lately.  So, I guess I should review them.

"Toy Story 3":  The third, and I think final, movie in the "Toy Story" franchise from Pixar is my least favorite of the three movies.  With that said, it's still a good movie...4 stars.  Disney/Pixar has managed to bring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen back for three of these movies, and I have to say that I'm grateful for that.  Without the same vocal talent, it's just not the same movie.

In "Toy Story 3", Andy is off to college, and the toys are facing the reality of life ahead of them.  When they are mistakenly donated to a day care, the toys learn the harsh reality of life on the inside.  Can our heroes make it back to Andy in time?  Will they ever be played with again?  Well, you have to watch to find out.

"Hoodwinked Too:  Hood vs. Evil":  My kids were really excited about this one.  We really liked the original "Hoodwinked", so my wife and I were looking forward to it as well.  Sadly, we were very disappointed.  "Hood vs. Evil" is only a 2 star movie.

For starters, Anne Hathaway is not back as the voice of Red, which really bugged me.  Hayden Pantierre is ok, but the change in voices just threw me.  Secondly, it just felt like the producers/directors were just going for cheap laughs rather than any substance.  Finally, the story just wasn't that good.  Everything just fell really flat with "Hood vs. Evil."