The Dragons - Game 3

Saturday was our third soccer game. The kids had fun, but everyone was a little distracted. First off, the other team was short some players so I loaned them some of mine. I guess this kind of threw my kids off a little. But despite the distractions everyone had a good time burning off some energy. The weather was a little cloudy and drizzly, but overall we had a fun time.
One of the parents on our team got this great picture of some of the kids. From left to right after Ben is Soledayo, Felipe, and Noah.

Fall Festival At School

Ben's school had their own fall festival last week, so of course we had to go to that as well. Ben and Megan got to bounce around on giant inflatable slides and bouncy houses, eat some snacks, hang out with friends, and get their faces painted. This was another one of many fall festivals we'll no doubt be participating in this fall.

Fall Festival At The Nature Center

Well...it's officially fall up here. The temperatures are cooler and the trees are starting to change. So that means everyone has some kind of a fall festival. Everywhere you look it seems like some organization, city, or park is putting one on. Last weekend we went to the fall festival at the Nature Center. The kids got to make leather crafts, learn about making apple cider, and got to see some farm animals. It was fun. The kids, and especially Ben loves fall...and he loves going to a fall festival. In fact, when it was the first day of fall he was so excited. He got up that morning and looked outside...I guess expecting to see all the trees suddenly changed with fall foliage. So I had to explain to him that fall takes a while.

At The Movies

THE WIRE: SEASON 3 - If you want to see some of the best crime drama on TV you have to give this show a chance. This is the 3rd season of this stellar series, and this was the best one yet. Old foes, gang-bangers, and dirty cops all clash with one another on the streets of Baltimore. Make no mistake...this is a series that you have to watch with a focus, but the reward is an engrossing show that goes against the norm and tackles issues ripped straight from the headlines. Such a great show that gets better and better.

YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH - This movie came out in 2007 and marked the return of Francis Ford Coppola. Actually, this was a movie he tried to make when he was young, but he didn't have the budget or the studio's backing. Nowadays Coppola can afford to make the most pretentious movie he wants to make - and believe me...this is pretentious with a capital "P." Tim Roth stars as Dominic Matei, a 70 year old man who is struck by lightning and instantly starts growing younger. But before you call this film a BENJAMIN BUTTON clone, there's a lot more to this film than just age regression. There are dream sequences, linguistics, art, history, music, new age theories, time travel, literature, you name it. Coppola attempts to tie it all together...but the more he tries the more the film bogs down in its own ego. It's almost impossible for Coppola to make a bad film. This is utterly beautiful to look at if nothing else. But when compared to the GODFATHER films and my Coppola favorite APOCALYPSE NOW, the film just doesn't hold up.

MIRRORS - Kiefer Sutherland plays Ben Carson, a security guard at an abandoned department store (not Ben Carson the celebrated doctor). As Carson works the night shift he experiences some paranormal phenomena, and sees strange things in the mirrors. This is one of those horror movies inspired by an Asian horror flick, but despite Sutherland's performance the movie is boring and laughable. Not worth the time.

HONEYDRIPPER - One of my favorite movies of all-time is LONE STAR, directed by John Sayles in 1996. I also happen to love blues music and folk blues. So when I came across this title I knew I had to check it out. Written and directed by John Sayles, HONEYDRIPPER is the story of a blues juke-joint in rural Alabama. The juke-joint is facing hard times and its creditors are looking to close its doors. So the owners try to save the bar with a new and undiscovered act. In typical Sayles fashion, the characters and their stories all intertwine and weave together. Danny Glover and Charles S. Dutton give solid performances here as the bar's owners, and Stacey Keach is solid as the racist sheriff. The music here isn't as bluesy as I was hoping for, more Chuck Berry-like instead of Robert Johnson. But overall this was an enjoyable film, and a nice change of pace from the typical Hollywood film.

BREAKING BAD: SEASON 1 - To put it simply - this is the story of a good man doing bad things. Bryan Cranston stars as Walter in this award-winning AMC series. Walter is a high school chemistry teacher going through a mid-life crisis. He is bored with life, his career is at a dead end, he has a baby on the way, and he has lung cancer. So to help pay the bills, and maybe also to spice things up in his life Walter decides to start producing crystal meth along with a former student. Shot on location in Albequerque, New Mexico, the show is pretty good. Cranston's performance as Walter is very worthy of the Emmy he received. You both sympathize with him as well as shake your head. He is a criminal performing illegal acts, but he is a good man trying to do the right thing. A very interesting character that's just as interesting as Tony Soprano, or Al Swearengen from DEADWOOD. But the secondary storylines are less engrossing, and are at times laborious to get through. Still though this is a very good show that will only get better next season. Worth checking out.

THE INTERNATIONAL: This is an espionage thriller starring Clive Own and Naomi Watts. Owen plays Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent on the trail of a global bank funding arms dealing and illegal rackets. Critics have been up and down on this film since its release, but I actually liked it. The script is very smart, and the action isn't over-the-top. Rarely anymore do you see an espionage movie take time to be suspenseful. Another plus with this movie are the locations. The title of the film is very appropriate because there are so many exotic and european locales here...Milan, Istanbul, Lyon, etc. This movie does have its flaws, but overall it's entertaining and worthy of a rental.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. - Here's an oldie I've never taken the time to watch. Released in 1985, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. is the story of some secret service agents on the trail of a counterfeiter. The film stars one of the best actors in the 80's, William Petersen. Long before his days on CSI, Petersen was great as the "cop on the edge" in such movies as this one and his classic, MANHUNTER. The film here is very dated, with classic mid-80's fashion and music. In fact, it gets so bad at times that it really does take your attention away from the heart of the film. And it's too bad because there's a pretty good movie here. Movies can be like wine and they can be like milk. Films like BLADE RUNNER or GODFATHER get better with age. But sometimes movies age poorly and will begin to sour, and that's what this one does.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: SEASON 2 - Jenny and I really like this show. Watching these on DVD is perfect. Each episode provides plenty of Seinfeld-like laughs, and unlike THE SOPRANOS or THE WIRE each episode is only 25 minutes, so it doesn't take long to fly through a season. Any Seinfeld fan should definately check this series out. It's funny, smart, and edgy. A lot of fun to watch.

CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO - If you've ever been to Hollywood, and walked the walk of fame on the boulevard no doubt you've seen all the wannabee movie stars who all dress up as superheroes and other characters and pose for photos. This is a documentary about those people. You get in-depth profiles and interviews with some of the main characters here, such as the guy who plays Superman, the woman who plays Wonder-Woman, and the guy who plays Batman. You not only learn why they do what they do...but it becomes clear very quickly why they are not able to do anything else. This is one of those documentaries that is both interesting and humorous, with the humor coming from laughing AT the characters and not with them. Worth checking out.

Private Balloon Show

This morning we were treated to our own private balloon show. Turns out the balloonists from the festival last night did a sunrise launch this morning over the city. Turns out their flight path was almost right over our backyard. So after breakfast this morning the kids got to watch about 20 balloons fly over the backyard. Pretty cool. We all got balloons on the mind lately.

Midland Balloon Festival

Yesterday we went to the Midland Balloon Festival. It's an event the city has every year out at the county fairgrounds. Each year dozens of balloonists come out for the festival. People get to tailgate out at the fairgrounds parking lot and watch all the balloons fly overhead, watch parachutists, and then stick around for the "afterglow" where all the balloons light up at night. It was a lot of fun, and totally free. Our friends the Manchesters were out there with their family and relatives, and they were kind enough to invite us to join them. We spent the afternoon and night grilling and cooking out, listening to the Michigan State/Notre Dame game on the radio, and of course watching all the balloons fly overhead. The kids especially had a blast all afternoon. Ben was just fascinated by it all I think. He said he was sad when it was all over. Megan liked it as well I think, but she didn't care for the "afterglow." I think she thought it was going to be like fireworks or something. Anyway, we all had a good time. We went to this event a few years ago, but it was no where near as impressive as this year's event. It was fun.