Book Review: "The Christian Atheist"

"The Christian Atheist" by Craig Groeschel was loaned to me by a friend several weeks ago.  I'm glad they loaned it to me.  It's a fast read, which is unusual for many Christian books.

Written by Craig Groeschel, a Pastor of a fairly large Protestant Church, "The Christian Atheist" tackles the topic that many of today's Christians face.  We say we believe in God, but live our lives as if we don't.  We worry constantly, we rely on ourselves rather than God and we take part in many activities that we shouldn't.  Groeschel points out his own Christian Atheism and then provides practical strategies for overcoming it.

I found this book to be pretty good.  It wasn't overly complicated...in fact Nuke described it as a light read.  I'd agree with that assessment.  The best part of the entire book was the afterward when Groeschel explained the 3 lines of Christianity.  When you cross line 1, you profess your belief in Christ, but don't really change anything.  Crossing the second line means that you follow Christ and modify your behavior when it is comfortable for you.  The third line is when you give your life completely over to God.  To me, the afterward would make a really interesting book...maybe Mr. Groeschel will take the time to write that book.

I think this would be a good read for anybody who is lukewarm in their faith, or is currently a first liner.  Overall, I don't feel like it was a waste of my time, and it probably won't be a waste of yours.

Top 5 Movies to Use for 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

A fun game that we used to play in college was Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  The game is that anybody can be linked to Kevin Bacon in six steps or less through film or TV roles.  Basically, you have to be in a film or on TV for this to really work, though because I'm a nerd, I linked myself to Kevin Bacon, through a friend who knows a famous person.

As I used to be awesome at this game, I quickly figured out the key movies to use to link to Kevin Bacon.  Here are the top 5...sometimes it helps to start at a Kevin Bacon movie and work backwards.

5 - "Animal House" - Kevin Bacon's first movie.  You can make links through John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Karen Allen and Donald Sutherland to name 3.  This one is great to use when trying to link an older actor.  You are golden if you get to Dan Akroyd, who was in "Blues Brothers" with John Belushi who was in "Animal House" with Kevin Bacon.

4 - "Mystic River" - Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne and Laura Linney are some of the top links you can make through this 2003 hit.  For example, let's connect Wil Smith to Kevin Bacon.  Wil Smith was in "Bad Boys" with Martin Lawrence, who was in "Nothin' to Lose" with Tim Robbins, who was in "Mystic River" with Kevin Bacon.  This is such a fun game.

3 - "JFK" - Oliver Stone's conspiracy buff movie gets you Kevin Costner, Tommie Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek and Walter Mathau.  As we all know, Tommie Lee Jones is in everything, as is Kevin Costner.  You can use Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau to connect to older actors if you need to.  A must have in the arsenal for any serious Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon player.

2 - "A Few Good Men" - "You can't handle the truth!"  Well, maybe you can, and the truth is, you have to understand that you get Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollack and J.T. Walsh.  You may not know who the last two are, but trust me, they are in a lot of movies.  You would know them if you saw them.  This is a key one to linking actors like Alan Ruck, who was Cameron Frye in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."  Here's another freebie...Cameron Frye was in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" with Jennifer Grey who was in "Dirty Dancing" with Patrick Swayze, who was in "Ghost" with Demi Moore, who was in "A Few Good Men" with Kevin Bacon.

1 - "Apollo 13" - One name...Tom Hanks.  You can easily get to Tom Hanks via his many winning roles.  One potential pit fall of "Apollo 13" is that it also has Gary Sinise, who was in "Forrest Gump" with Tom Hanks, but the sheer power of Tom Hanks carries the day here.  Well, add in Bill Paxton and Ed Harris, especially Ed Harris who is also in everything, and you have the best movie for linking Kevin Bacon.  This one is so powerful because it makes it easier for movie novices to play the game.  You have lots of big name actors, and a very popular movie...it's a no brainer.

Bonus - if you really want to dazzle your friends...link to Kevin Bacon through "Tremors," which has a fairly obscure supporting cast.  The key is to find a way to get to Fred Ward.  Fred Ward was in "The Right Stuff" with Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Dennis Quaid and Sam Shepard.  So...just for kicks, let's link the pig from the movie "Babe" to Kevin Bacon.  The pig was in "Babe" with James Cromwell, who was in "Secretariat" with Scott Glenn, who was in "The Right Stuff" with Fred Ward, who was in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon.

That's all the secrets I'm willing to give away tonight. 

The Greatest Ever???

This is my 500th blog post.  This obviously makes me the greatest blogger ever!!!

Ok, not really.  I'm exaggerating to prove a point.  Too often these days, especially in the sports media, I hear the term "greatest ever" thrown around.  Sports fans love to debate the greatest quarterback ever (it's John Elway by the way), or the greatest golfer ever, or the greatest basketball player ever.  The media loves to declare Obama the greatest orator ever (I may be exaggerating again).  A while back, I think some in Hollywood were ready to declare Tom Hanks the greatest actor ever. 

Really???  In the entire history of mankind, everything that is happening now rivals the greatest thing ever?  The term "greatest ever" is really starting to bug me.  If I hear it one more time, I may puke. 

I've been on this earth a little over 30 years.  In my lifetime, I can honestly say that I've only seen 2 "greatest evers".  Well, 3 if you count John Elway, but I'm willing to admit I'm biased there.  So, we'll go with 2...for now.  Based on his performance in the last 2 Olympic Games, I think we can honestly say that Michael Phelps is the greatest all around swimmer ever.  The guy is unbelievable, having won 14 Olympic medals and countless other competitions worldwide.  Throughout his career, he's held 39 different world records.  Seriously, check out his record sometime...it's ridiculous.

The other "greatest ever" in my lifetime is Rush Limbaugh.  Based on the success of his radio show, Rush Limbaugh is inarguably the greatest radio talk personality of all time.  The guy gets over 20 million listeners a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year.  When his national show started in the late 1980's, AM radio was nearly dead...over 20 years later, AM talk radio is a huge industry, and it's mostly due to Rush Limbaugh.  Even if you don't agree with him, you can't argue with how sucessful Rush has been as a radio personality.

So, that's it, that's the list in the last 33 years.  What drove this?  Last night I watched the movie "Secretariat", and I realized how fortunate people were in 1973, because they got to witness the greatest American racehorse ever.  Secretariat's records at Churchill Downs (Kentucky Derby) and Belmont still stand today, nearly 40 years later.  And, if not for a timing malfunction, he would likely have the record at the Preakness as well.  "Secretariat" is a great movie by the way...review to come soon.

My only point with this blog is to urge people to start practicing a little self restraint.  Next time you hear someone proclaim something the "greatest ever", pause for a moment and consider if it really is the greatest ever.  My guess is, that with a little perspective, we will all realize that just because something that just happened was really neat, it doesn't mean it was the greatest thing that ever happened.

Thanks for hanging in there for these 500 blogs...here's hoping I can watch enough movies, read enough books, and come up with enough random stuff to write another 500.

Hope Springs Eternal

Everybody says that the start of the baseball season is when hope springs eternal, and that's probably true for all baseball fans and their teams.  For me, the start of the golf season is when hope springs eternal.  What will this season bring?  Will I finally get a hole-in-one?  How will I play in competition?  What type of hat should I wear to protect my balding head?  Lots of questions.

The golf season officially began for me today, with my first 18 hole round.  I actually had a "soft opening" on Thursday when I went out and played 5 holes before dark.  Being a member of a club is going to be great!  The fact that I live only 8 minutes from the first tee means I can do things like go play a few holes when I have an hour.  While Thursday was only a soft opening, it was good to swing a little bit before playing today. 

My friend Jared is also a member at the little 9 hole club that I joined, so we tee'd off at 11 am today.  We're going to try to play most Saturday's.  Jared and I are very equal in our golf games, so it's good for us to play together, and we have a friendly rivalry.  It only took 3 holes today before Jared called me a name...after my first, and only, birdie of the day.  Mostly though, we enjoy getting out there, telling some jokes, and rooting for each other to play well.  The birdie I made was my first of the year.  Jared posted his first birdie of the year on his Facebook account right after he made it.  Since I don't have a smart phone, or a Facebook account, this is the best I could do.  Anyway, back to golf...I played 9 good holes today and 9 bad holes today, and that was really secondary.  It was just so good to be out there playing.

My goals for this golf season.  Well, number 1 is to get better...at 30 something now, I have to improve my short game and my mental approach because I'm not getting any younger and I don't get time to practice like I would need, to really get a lot better.  For the mental approach, I'm trying to realize that golf isn't that important.  At times, it borders on an obsession for me, and sometimes I play like it's an obsession.  But really, I'm never going to make a living playing golf, so it's just not that important.  Nobody is going to care whether I make 18 pars or 18 bogeys, but they will care if I'm not a good father or husband or friend or coworker.  So, I guess it's about realizing what is truly important.  That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to do my best each time out, but if I don't, it's not the end of the world.

Top 5 Denzel Movies

The ultra famous are known simply by their first name, for example...Elvis.  Well, when I say Denzel, you automatically know that I'm talking about Denzel Washington, who never makes a bad film.  Wow, Deja Vu...I have this strange feeling that I've said that before.  Anyway, Denzel has 2 Oscars and 5 nominations for Oscars...he's just outstanding...one of my favorite actors.

Here are the Top 5 Denzel Movies.  I think you'll be surprised by what isn't on this list.  I haven't seen "Training Day" which Denzel won the Best Actor award for or "Malcom X", and I was never a big fan of "Philadelphia".  Now, on to the list!

5 - "Remember the Titans" - Denzel plays coach Herman Boone, the first African American coach of a high school football team in it's first season as a racially integrated unit.  Denzel is brilliant in this sports movie/character study.  You just can't go wrong when you have a football movie, with a feel good ending and Denzel.

4 - "Crimson Tide" - I fear I may catch some flack for this one, but I really liked this movie.  Denzel is Lt. Commander Ron Hunter, who is the executive officer on a Naval Submarine.  Gene Hackman plays Captain Frank Ramsey.  When the sub receives a command to fire it's nuclear payload, but never receives confirmation, Capt. Ramsey wants to fire away, but Cmdr. Hunter says not so fast, and begins a mutiny.  What follows is an action/drama that is just excellent.

3 - "Courage Under Fire" - In this one, Denzel is Nat Sterling, a US Army officer investigating a female chopper pilot's (Meg Ryan)worthiness for the medal of honor.  Along the way, we see Sterling struggling with his own demons over a deadly mistake he made in Desert Storm.  "Courage Under Fire" is a terrific story, and Denzel is great in this role.  No Oscar glory for Denzel on this one, but still one of his best roles.

2 - "Glory" - "Glory" was my first exposure to Denzel.  We watched this one in school, I think either early high school or late in junior high.  Denzel won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Private Trip.  Matthew Broderick plays the leader of the US Army's first all-black volunteer company on the Union side of the US Civil War.  There is some difficult viewing in this one, including the scene where Denzel is whipped for insubordination.  In the end, the all-black company leads the charge in a battle that is critical in turning the tide for the Union, and we all weep, because it's just that good.

1 - "The Book of Eli" - Ok, I'm going to include some spoilers here, so don't read on if you haven't seen the movie and plan to.  "The Book of Eli" is one of my favorite films of 2010, though frequent commenter Mediocre Coffee would call this highly controversial (inside joke there).  Denzel is Eli in a post apocalyptic America.  He is roaming the wastes and carrying a book, which turns out to be a King James Bible.  On his travels, Eli has to do battle with and ultimately escape from Gary Oldman, who wants the book so he can use it for his evil intentions.  Luckily, Eli has God on his side, along with some kick butt weapons and a somewhat helpful sidekick.  The ending will throw you for a loop, and in the ending lies the "controversy" (I type with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Movie Review: "Deja Vu"

Haven't I seen this movie before?

Repeat after me...Denzell doesn't make a bad movie.  It's one of the truths of movie making, along with the truth that Bruce Willis doesn't make a bad movie, and Angelina Jolie wouldn't have to make a bad movie, but she still does.

"Deja Vu" is an action thriller, with a little bit of Sci Fi, that came out in 2006.  I'm not sure why I never saw it before, but at the urging of my office mate, I gave it a shot on Sunday evening.  This is a great movie...4.4 stars easily.  Denzell Washington is fantastic as ATF Agent Doug Carlin.  Carlin is investigating an explosion aboard a New Orleans ferry boat that resulted in the deaths of over 500 people.  When he gets added to a special FBI squad using a new technology to track the murderer, Carlin finds that he can not only catch the killer, but may be able to stop it from ever happening.

I was entertained by "Deja Vu" from the very start.  The science fiction component of this movie really makes it, but I don't want to give it away to you.  Jim Caviezel and Val Kilmer co-star and Caviezel, especially, brings an excellent dimension to the film.  Give this one a shot...you won't be disappointed. 

A Truly Gritty Movie Review

I've been waiting over a week to use that Title.  I'm going to review these movies in the order they were released.  I actually saw the new version of "True Grit" first, then watched the original.

"True Grit" (1969) - John Wayne won the Oscar for his role as Rooster Cogburn in the original "True Grit".  After seeing this movie, I don't think Wayne's performance was much different than any of the other movies I've seen him in.  I'm not saying he was bad...I just expected more of a stretch to his acting capabilities since he won the Oscar.  Oh well, for everything he did for the film industry, I guess he deserved an Oscar anyway.

So, for those who haven't seen it, the premise is Mattie Ross' (Kim Darby) father is killed, so she hires Rooster Cogburn and is joined by Texas Ranger Le Boeuf (Glen Campbell) to track down the murderer.  What follows is a little bit of a character study and a little bit classic western, as Rooster softens towards Mattie, and they develop almost an Uncle/Niece type of relationship.

Overall, not a bad movie, but not as good as the next movie I'll review.  I'd call this one 3 stars.

"True Grit" (2010) - Jeff Bridges received a nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the 2010 remake of the John Wayne classic.  Additionally, Hailee Steinfeld was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mattie Ross.  And, for just a little more nominating craziness, the Coen brothers got a Best Director nomination, and this movie got a Best Picture nomination.

The Coen brother's take, as you might expect, is darker than the original.  The weather is worse, the night's seem longer, and the characters have a darker side, especially Cogburn.  But, this version is also funnier, and frankly just better acted.  Steinfeld was terrific as Mattie Ross, and Bridges was outstanding as usual.

The Coen brothers didn't deviate from the original very often, but where they did, the deviation was better. This version of the film had a different take on the conflict between Cogburn and Le Boeuf, as well as how the relationship with Cogburn and Mattie ends.  Frankly, this ending was more appropriate than the 1969 original, and was more true to Cogburn's character, while still showing a softening of his character towards Mattie. 

I rate this one 4.5 stars, and recommend that if you decide to only watch one of the "True Grit" movies, choose the newer version.