Punkin' Chuckin'

No, this will not be a funny blog, unless you laugh at stupid situations.  Last night my son and I were driving home from his band concert.  We had just made a right turn, when I caught something flying at the right side of our vehicle out of the corner of my eye.  It hit near the front bumper and was very loud.  We circled around to see if we could see anything, and all we could see was half a pumpkin lying in the street.

When we got home, we found the other half of the pumpkin lodged in the grill of our van.  One of the bars in the grill was broken, but thankfully there was no other damage.  The pumpkin was relatively small...and fortunately the people throwing it weren't too accurate.  I think there could have been real trouble if the pumpkin would have hit the windshield or any of the windows.

I'm sure it was stupid kids who did this.  I don't understand that...I never had the urge as a kid to cause damage to other people's property.  I just don't get what drives some people.

Luckily, no real damage was done.  A lot worse things could have happened so we're thankful that we got off as easily as we did.

The Weirdest Round Ever

It's been an unseasonably warm October, and as such, I've been fortunate enough to still be playing fairly frequent rounds of golf.  I generally play well this time of year because I just don't care as much about my score...maybe I should find a way to take that into the rest of the season?

So, I've been playing quite well lately...no super low rounds, but a lot of consistently good rounds of golf.  Yesterday afternoon, in 85 degree temperatures, I played 18 holes with my friend Joe.  Little did I know when we tee'd off that it would be one of the weirdest rounds I've ever played.

I started off with a birdie at #1, but bogeyed the next hole.  After 7 holes, I was 2 over par.  Number 8 at my course is a 300 yard par 4, and I drove the green (it was playing down wind).  I had a 45 foot eagle putt, which I made for my 2nd eagle of the golf season.  So, I was back to even par.  I hit a really good drive at number 9, but screwed up my 2nd shot and my chip and ended up making a bogey to shoot a 1 over par 35 on the front nine.

As I've said before on this blog, my golf course is a 9 hole, par 34.  So, to play 18 holes you just go around twice, but play a different set of tees to make the course a little different.  The 2nd time around, the course plays a little longer. 

The 2nd nine, I started out with a par, but then bogeyed number 2...I really struggle with number 2.  On #3 I hit a good drive and a good 2nd shot and made a 10 foot putt for birdie, so I'm back to +1.  Number 4 is a 288 yard par 4 that was playing into the wind.  I don't always hit my driver there, but since it was into a 10-15 mph wind, I used my driver.  I hit the ball real hard and figured I'd be 10-15 yards short of the green.  As we walked to the green, we saw my ball sitting 6 feet from the hole.  I made that putt for my 2nd eagle of the day, and now I'm 1 under par for the day.

I parred #5, then hit a terrible tee shot on the par 3 sixth hole.  I chunked my chip shot into the bunker, blasted out and then lipped out my bogey putt, for a double bogey...back to +1.  I parred 7 and then made a really good birdie at #8, so I'm back to even par.  At number 9 (or 18), I hit a terrible tee shot, and had to punch out from behind a tree.  I had 100 yards left for my 3rd shot and hit a really bad shot, then a bad chip and lipped out my bogey putt for my 2nd double bogey of the day.

So, in summary, I had 6 pars, 5 bogeys, 3 birdies, 2 eagle and 2 double bogeys.  That adds up to the weirdest 2 over par round of my life.  What did I learn?  Well, there are all kinds of ways to get the ball around a golf course.  Oh, and I learned that I always make my eagle putts when playing golf with Joe on unseasonably warm days in October...it has now happened the last 2 times I've played golf with Joe on unseasonably warm days in October.

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.