The Fireballs - Game 4

Today we had our 4th soccer game. We were the white team today. The kids all had a great time, everyone gave a great effort, and the weather was perfect. It's amazing to watch these kids. From week to week Sean and I can see everyone getting better and better. The way they all played today was a complete turnaround compared to their first game 4 weeks ago. They're all slowly beginning to understand the game, and more importantly everyone is having a lot of fun. Megan had a great time cheering from the sidelines today. She clapped along with everyone at all the right times. She really enjoyed watching everyone run around. In fact, she was pretty exhausted by the time we got in the car to go home. Anyway, here's some highlights.

The Rescuers

Ben had been reading a Disney book version of this movie for a while, so Jenny and I rented the movie. Ben really liked it. He thought Medusa was scary in some parts, but overall he enjoyed it a lot. Brought back a lot of memories for Jenny and I. I forgot Bob Newhart was in this thing. Now there's a name from the past.

At The Movies

THE SOPRANOS: SEASON 1 - Jenny and I have recently gotten into The Sopranos. I know...I know...we're only 8 years too late. But through the beauty of DVD's we can catch up with the rest of the world and discover the greatness of this incredible series. As most of you know The Sopranos follows the lifestyles of a New Jersey mob family and their gang. There's enough mob drama here to rival The Godfather and Goodfellas, but there's also plenty of moments of humor and warmth. These characters are some of the best you'll see on television. I'm so glad Jenny and I are catching up with this series, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet done so. It's never too late.


THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM - I won't sugar-coat this one: it's a martial-arts movie starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan. There's a story here, but I won't bore you with it. There's a monkey king, a forbidden kingdom, lots of armies, shadowy spirits, a treasured staff, etc. But the main attraction here is the performances of Li and Chan. Two martial-arts legends on the screen together. In the world of martial-arts cinema this is like Deniro and Pacino performing together...and I fell for it. The movie is okay. There are some nice effects, and some interesting scenes with battles and armies. Best of all Li and Chan are worth checking out here. They're fight scenes are always fascinating to watch. This isn't their best work...but it's worth seeing if you're a fan.


I'M NOT THERE - This is advertised as a movie for the Bob Dylan obsessed. I frankly am not, and therefore didn't see the genius some critics have suggested here. 6 different actors all play a Bob Dylan character, over the course of different times in Dylan's life. Some of the performances here are great, namely Cate Blanchett, and Heath Ledger. The music performances are also pretty good, and a lot of the musical score creates an interesting mood at times. But like I said before, unless you're a Dylan fan you'll probably have a hard time sticking with this one. I'll admit though...I do admire films that challenge you and are interesting, and I thought I"M NOT THERE was something very unique and different.


DAN IN REAL LIFE - I used to think EVAN ALMIGHTY was Steve Carell's worst movie, but no longer. DAN IN REAL LIFE is so much worse. Carell plays Dan, a newspaper columnist who is recently widowed with three young daughters. The story takes place over the course of a long vacation with his family in New Jersey. The family constantly pries into Dan's life with tips on love and life, all three daughters hate him. The story takes a turn as Dan finds a love interest and the crazy antics ensue. Carell is a talent in most movies he's in, but not here. The story is very depressing. The movie begins with Dan getting little respect from his family and daughters, and the movie basically ends that way as well. Such a bad and annoying movie.


THE MACHINIST - Christian Bale is a man who hasn't slept in a year. He is grotesquely thin, and suffers from chronic paranoia. Bale is also haunted by a co-worker who may or may not be trying to kill him. In fact, Bale's character no longer knows what is real in his life and what isn't. The story and mood of the film is right out of an early Hitchcock film...even the music. And of course Bale's performance is incredible, (he lost 60 pounds for the role.) This is one of those mystery-suspense thrillers, and it works very well.


JAZZ: A FILM BY KEN BURNS - Jenny and I have lived in a few different cities over the years, and I always find each location opens new doors for me and exposes me to new experiences and interests that later stay with me. With Colorado it was a passion for hiking and camping and all things outdoors. With Michigan it's been an appreciation for the changing seasons. And with New Orleans it was exposure to the world of jazz and blues that has since stayed with me. For the past six months I've been watching off-and-on this 10 disc documentary on the history of jazz by Ken Burns, and I finally finished it. Each disc in the set tells a different chapter in the history of the genre, from around 1900 to the 1990's.
DISC 1 - Tells the origins of jazz in New Orleans, from the roots of blues and ragtime into it's own genre of music. The first disc also gives you a lot of history on the city of New Orleans...which I obviously found very interesting.
DISC 2 - Focuses on the emergence of Louis Armstrong, the first great jazz artist who changed the genre forever.
DISC 3 - Tells about the "Roaring 20's," and the golden age of jazz. The "Great Gatsby" era.
DISC 4 - Focuses on the emergence of Duke Ellington and the "Big Band" era.
DISC 5 - Focuses on the transition from "Big Band" to "Swing."
DISC 6 - Focuses on the rebellion from "Big Band" and "Swing," and the emergence of "Be-Bop."
DISC 7 - Tells the story of "Be-Bop" legends Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie.
DISC 8 - Focuses on Miles Davis
DISC 9 - Focuses on John Coltrane
DISC 10 - Talks about the sects and divisions of jazz in the late 60's and early 70's. The formations of "Cool," "Free," "Bop," "Avant Garde," and "Fusion"...and how all these sects almost destroyed jazz. The disc ends with the re-emergence of jazz as it rediscovers its classic roots thanks to Wynton Marsalis and Dexter Gordon.

Like I said, this series is exhausting to get through...which is why it took me about 6 months. But I enjoyed this series a lot more than Burns' series THE CIVIL WAR. I have become a fan of jazz and I admit I really enjoyed this series.


28 DAYS LATER - This is an apocalyptic thriller set in London about a virus that wipes out humanity, and turns survivors into zombies. This was made back in 2002, and I never got around to seeing it until now. A friend of mine kept recommending it to me and I finally caved in. There are some very interesting moments here, namely the opening scenes of a deserted London. Overall, I thought this one was okay. I'm not much of a "zombie-movie" kind of guy, so I'm not sure how this one stacks up to other zombie movies, but it was okay. Good for a rental I'd say.


DARKON - This is a documentary about those people who dress up in medieval costumes and fight each other in the local park. This is not a renaissance festival or anything like that. These are people who are creating their own type of 'Lord Of The Rings.' Everyone becomes a character, alliances are formed, and armies clash...all creating a web of storylines that change from month to month. The documentary makes you laugh at these people, much like THE KING OF KONG: FISTFUL OF QUARTERS. However, the documentary spends way too much time creating a movie version of the Darkon storylines, and doesn't spend near enough time asking these people why they do what they do, and what makes them tick. There are some funny moments here, but overall the people portrayed here are very annoying.


GONE BABY GONE - I certainly hope Ben Affleck's future is behind the camera and not in front of it. We would all be better served I think. In Gone Baby Gone (directed by Ben Affleck) we have the story of a missing child in Boston, and the search for her whereabouts by both police and private investigators (namely Casey Affleck). The first two acts give us plenty of clues and twists to keep our interest. Casey's performance is very engaging, and Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris are good in almost anything they do. But in the third act we get one too many brushstrokes, and the final few twists leave you scratching your head. Overall this is a good movie worth watching, but not great. Still though, Ben Affleck definately has a future behind the camera.

The Fireballs - Game 3

Yesterday was our 3rd soccer game, and it was also "Team Picture" day. All the kids got their soccer pictures taken, and then we got our team pictures done. After that we played our game, and we were the green team this time. The kids all had their best game yet. They all played great, and everyone gave a great effort. If we were keeping score we would have won...which leads me to my next point. After the game one of the parents on our team came up to me and said he heard a mom on the OTHER team say that was their team's first loss in 4 seasons. Unfortunately, this mom also looked very upset about it and she seemed to be taking it way too hard. I fully expected to come in contact with parents like these, but I didn't expect to see it at this age level. Like I've said before, we don't keep standings and we don't keep score at this age level. Unfortunately though there are parents that still have a competitive interest in these games, and they follow all that stuff on their own.
As for us though our team played great, and everyone had fun. We've had three practices and three games so far, and Sean (the other coach) and I have both noticed steady improvement from week to week. The kids are slowly understanding the game and they're learning the "team" concept. Best of all the kids are making friends with one another. We're all having a lot of fun...coaches included.

From The Shelf

(I'm introducing a new segment to the blog...the book review. The reason I've never bothered to do this until now is often times I re-read books that are personal favorites of mine. But I recently read the book listed below and I thought this would be a good time to start.)


THE ROAD - By Cormac McCarthy
This is the story of a father and his son on a long journey together...a journey with no destination. There has been a cataclysmic event and the world is burned and scarred. Everything is grey, cold, and ash covered. Something has happened to the earth but we never really learn what exactly. The duo decide to travel south on a road, which hopefully leads to some sort of salvation. But the pair are not the only ones on the road. With civilization on the brink chaos and anarchy reign, and the father must defend his son from strangers and outsiders who are bent on survival or worse.
McCarthy is a literary genius with this perrfectly crafted book. There are elements of drama, horror, and suspense here, but the focus of the story is on the father and son's relationship and how they struggle to survive and keep some sense of family. The story is incredibly moving, and the father's commitment to his son almost pushed me to tears at times.
Every father who has a son should read this book. Every father out there can only hope to aspire to the father character here.
After I finished the book I read some commentary about it online, and I discovered that this was also an Oprah Book of the Month selection. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that, but it is a great read. The movie comes out in November I believe, and it stars Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings, Eastern Promises). So if you don't read the book make sure you check out the film.

"Mr. Amazing Reader"

Ben's reading skills are really taking off. He's already tackling books now that are beyond his age. His teacher sends him home with "early reader" books from school, and he just flies through them. They're getting easier and easier for him to read it seems like. He likes to read my old Disney books, which I would say are around a first grade level. In fact, one night after we tucked him in bed we could hear him on the monitor reading to himself. When Jenny went up to his room she found him in bed with a book in total darkness. She asked him "Can you even see the words?" He said, "Not really." So he's probably going to be that kid who takes a book and a flashlight to bed and reads under the sheets.
Another time we were out and about somewhere and he saw one of those yellow caution tapes wrapped around something. He said, "That says...CAUTION - DO NOT CROSS." I wondered to myself how he could even read a word like "caution."
His teachers at school are all very impressed with his reading level right now. This past week when I was picking him up from school his teacher said to me, "I'm going to start calling him Mr. Amazing Reader." Ben thought that was pretty cool.

The Fireballs - Game 2

Ben's soccer team had their second game on Saturday. It was raining, so the kids got to play in the rain. Because of the rain the other team didn't show up, so we divided our team and just ran a long scrimmage so the kids could play. We also decided on our team name...THE FIREBALLS.
After the game a few of us went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

Hurricanes...smurricanes!

It's been 3 years now since we went through the stressful hurricane season of 2005. Yet as the years roll by Jenny and I still get concerned when we see hurricanes on the news headed toward Louisiana and Texas...even living all the way up here in Michigan.
Here's a picture of the Galveston beach when we were there earlier this year.
I was telling Jenny last night that when I see on the news a hurricane headed toward a place we've lived at, visited, or frequented I still get nervous...especially when we have family, friends, and coworkers in those areas. When Gustav rolled through Louisiana we were listening all day to the online stream of WWL 870 AM out of New Orleans for continuous coverage and reports. Then all day yesterday we were listening online to KTRH 740 AM out of Houston for reports and updates. Even last night when Ike was headed toward Houston Jenny and I spent all night watching the news. It was crazy seeing reporters in downtown Houston, at Surfside, Clute, and Freeport...all areas that we've spent a lot of time at because of family, and the Dow facilities around there. I think I stayed up till about 2 a.m. last night waiting to see what was going to happen at landfall.
I swear, once you go through a hurricane you still get that nervous feeling about all the others that follow. Especially in areas you used to call home.

Guitar Hero

I like to get the guitar out and play songs for the kids. We sing mostly campfire songs, but we mix in our fair share of "Wheels On The Bus" and songs like that. Megan likes to bang on the guitar and hear the noises that come out. Ben has started to strum it while I change the chords. He likes being able to play a song now.

Photography from Ben

Here's some of Ben's latest photography. Why a picture of me emptying the dishwasher is interesting is beyond me, but it seemed to interest him. I like the picture of his feet.