Monthly Archives: June 2008

Star Wars. 1977.

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I still remember driving to NY City from West Point with my Dad, to watch this when it first came out in 1977.  I was not quite seven at the time….  Riley has been asking about it recently, as one of her friends loves it.  I figured she is almost 6, so almost the same age as me, and that she was probably ready for it.  It is really the 1st movie she has seen with any amount of death in it, though I’d have to say that death in this movie compared to new movies is much tamer.  There was one scene when an arm is cut off by a light saber that maybe was a little much!  Reece watched some of it as a well, but I think he is at a young enough age (2.5), that it doesn’t really register the same way with an (almost) 6 year old.

There are some decent life lessons in it that Riley and I talked about, though not really in depth.  But as things come up over the next few weeks, I’ll try to tie them and reference the movie.  Such lessons include good vs. evil (spiritual warfare, for a Christian perspective), patience, loyalty, and make believe (this is just a movie!).

Looking at the movie now, from my perspective, after 30+ years, it is pretty amazing how well they did with the special effects — the flying space ships, all the characters/creatures, explosions.  And the sound was fantastic.  Guess that is why it won best visual effects and best sound effects.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Mark Twain.

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Following along on my Twain kick, I just finished A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.  I had actually bought this and read the 1st 20-30% of it before I got and read both Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.  I then had some other things to read, and finally came back to this one.

It started out with great satire and was pretty funny and good over all, but it ended very dark, and kind of mysteriously.  The introduction of this edition explains why this is likely the case — that Twain had lots of success with Sawyer and Finn, but lost most of his what little fortune he got from those successes, and that this book started in a good time in his life, and finished in a much more cynical state of mind.  I’m sure there are much deeper explanations out there on the Interwebs than that, so go find them if you are interested.  🙂  Or I’m sure any edition you pickup will have more info as well.

A few quotes, as always:

  • when red headed people are above a certain social grade, their hair is auburn
  • many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising
  • but the minute [the thing] came into my personal experience, a thing which had been merely improper before suddenly became hellish [the thing in this case is slavery, but the point stands for many other things as well]
  • it is the spirit that stoopeth the shoulders, and not the weight…  for armor is heavy, yet it is a proud burden, and a man standeth straight in it….  [i.e. it depends on what you are “carrying” in how you handle it… something good, you carry well… something bad, you don’t carry well]

Well, I wouldn’t “highly” recommend this unless you are on a Twain kick like I am.  And unless I run across a book of his short stories soon, I will be off my kick.  🙂

Earl Woods Quote…

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I hope you got to see Tiger play in the US Open, and then hear afterwords how his knee was much worse than any of us thought at the time… It wasn’t just “a little sore” from surgery a few weeks prior — he was playing with a fractured tibia and a torn ACL.  Rocco vs. Tiger was great to watch, but what we saw in Tiger was perhaps the most mentally tough person in all of sports history.

Before Tiger, I probably would have said Lance Armstrong was the most mentally tough.  Lance was also amazingly tough in other ways — who comes back from cancer that bad to be the best athlete in the world at their given sport?   Lance always impressed me as he was up for almost every big ride.  I only saw him lose it once in 7 years of watching — and yes, I watched almost every TDF ride…  But even more than that, the little things always impressed me with him.  He was a master strategist in all the races, especially the big ones.  But most of, he was always concentrating — never letting anything get by him.  The number of times there was a crash all around him and he came out unscathed was amazing — and that only comes from paying attention.

But, back to Tiger… I have never seen anyone so mentally tough — able to will up the most incredible shots when most needed.  And then to see him fight through pain to play good enough to win.  I know a little about knee pain — when my knee got so bad that I fell to the ground trying to start a lawn mower, or later that day when I lifted my leg to see what was hurting, and again fell down in excruciating pain.  No one other than Tiger knows how bad his pain was.  But what was most amazing to me, was that he never knew when it was going to hit.  He’d line up for a shot, and not know if sometime during the shot, or on the follow through, the knee was going to hurt.  Yet he did it time after time after time.

And all that leads into the quote I wanted to record here… The commercial played during the tournament, where Wood’s dad Earl is talking, and finishes with the following quote, is amazing, for a couple of reasons…

1)  The quote is so true… Tiger has to be the most mentally tough athelete I have ever seen.  and

2)  and the 1st part of the quote — “you don’t really instill anything in a child… you encourage the development of it..”   I could write a whole post on this, and maybe will someday.  🙂

“‘I promise you that you will never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life.’

Push Up Challenge…. Who else is in? :-)

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Several years ago I made two push up challenges for myself…. 600 in one hour and 100 straight. I accomplished the first goal, but got bored with the second and never finished it. I think the final tally was 78, but definitely under 80.

In the past five or six weeks, the topic has come up in a number of places — a conversation here or there, a couple of blog posts, etc. So I think it must be time to pick it up again.

First, here is the latest web page that I happened to come across, and it actually has a schedule to follow over six weeks.

Second, I created a google spreadsheet that will help me follow the schedule above, which you can view here. If you want me to share with you an empty spreadsheet, let me know, and I’ll send it over. Then you can track your own progress.

If you need some accountability, update the comments here with you initial test and a link to your schedule! 🙂 My initial test was 50, though I have done as many as 60 straight in the past couple of months, but I was tired when I attempted. 😉

Good luck!

My Boy Jack. 2007.

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Rudyard Kipling is the author of “If,” one of my favorite poems. It just happens to be the first thing I ever posted to my reading notebook, long before blogs existed. I also recently posted his The Law for the Wolves poem, which is fitting since I’m an NC State Grad (wolfpack). But beyond that, I have to admit I have not read much of his work. (I have of course watched Disney’s version of the Jungle Book with the kids, but I’m sure that takes liberties with Kipling’s.) So now, after watching this, I have added some of Kipling’s other work to my Amazon wish list.

This movie is based on the poem of the same name:

“Have you news of my boy Jack?”

Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind—
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

I have to admit, it took some time to get used to seeing Kim Cattrall in this role… And it will probably be that way for any other role she plays for some time, for that matter! And I’ve only see one Harry Potter movie, but Daniel Radcliffe will be Harry to me for some time!

I’m not exactly sure why, but my recent movie list is dominated by World War 1 era movies for some reason — Legends of the Fall, A River Runs Through It, Atonement… (I think I’m missing one there…)

Finally, this movie goes along with the Wild at Heart book (which I have now finished, but have not posted about yet), in terms of how that book portrays being a man, even though I heard about this movie from an entirely different and unrelated source.

Family Happiness and Other Stories. Leo Tolstoy.

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After watching and reading Into the Wild, a quote from “Family Happiness” caught my attention:

“I have lived through much and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet, secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people…”

I had tried to read War and Peace a few years ago, and didn’t make it much past 200 pages or so. But after seeing how high McCandless was on Tolstoy, I decided to give some of his short stories a try. This book has six stories — some short and some more like novellas — and all of them are pretty good, though I’d have to say I Master and Man caught my attention the most.

1. Family Happiness — the longest story in the book, and where the quote above is from. What is interesting is so much is lost without context, and in fact, this expressed desire is quite different from what the protagonist fins in the end. It is written when she is young and falling in love… Later in the story she finds “the end of romance of our marriage; the old feeling became a precious irrecoverable remembrance; but a new feeling of love for my children and the father of my children laid the foundation of a new life.” I can say that I disagree with what happened to the couple. The romance and love does not need to fade away. It takes work, and I know I am not always the best at it, but I will continue to try my best to keep it alive! Of course what she did find is valid too, and important. But the spark does not have to die!

A few quotes:

all of us, and especially you women, must have personal experience of all the nonsense of life, in order to get back to life itself; the evidence of other people is no good.

… a quiet life in the country, with constant self-sacrifice, constant mutual love, and constant recognition in all things of the kind hand of Providence.

… the only certain happiness in life is to live for others.

…the proper object of life was happiness, and I promised myself much happiness ahead.

2. Three Deaths — Very bizarre!
3. The Three Hermits — This is just an old folk tale Tolstoy is re-telling. It was quite ironic. 🙂 A Priest tries to teach three hermits how to pray, and then they show him a thing or two!

4. The Devil — A pretty fascinating account of what can happen when you let something worldly, like lust, take over your life. Perhaps what was most interesting in this one is that it is presented with two endings, though neither is that good compared to the rest of the story, which was passionate and intriguing.

Two quick quotes:

…if Eugene Irtenev was mentally deranged when he committed this crime, then everyone is similarly insane. The most mentally deranged people are certainly those who see in others indications of insanity they do not notice in themselves.

It is generally supposed that Conservatives are usually old people, and that those in favor of change are young. That is not quite correct. Usually conservatives are young people: those who want to live but who do not think about how to live, and have not time to think, and therefore take as a model for themselves a way of life that they have seen. [ not that I agree with this… just find it thought provoking. ]

5. Father Sergius — I really liked this one too! One quote:

It was so clear to her that bitter feelings do not make anything better, but only make everything worse.

6. Master and Man — This was probably my favorite, perhaps because it becomes an outdoor adventure caught in a bad snow storm, and I was once caught in such a storm.

Overall, all of the stories were good, the translation very well done, and now I may someday attempt War and Peace again, or give Anna Karina a shot.

Artists iLike…

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Well, well, well… I noticed the Avett Brothers have passed U2 on my most played artists, from my iLike page. That is pretty amazing considering my friend A. only introduced me to them in August of last year, and that I only have 2 albums and one EP. They still have a ways to go to catch Switchfoot. (This is about 4 years worth of play count stats…)

I’m looking forward to their new EP due out in July. Here is a “sneak peak” of a song from that EP that you can listen to here. (Sorry, can’t embed it. :-/)

And here is a video from youtube of “die die die”:

And finally, this is their bio from their web page:

“It costs nothing to be honest, loyal and true.”

If you put your ear to the street, you can hear the rumble of the world in motion; people going to and from work, to school, to the grocery store. You may even hear the whisper of their living rooms, their conversation, their complaints, and if you’re lucky, their laughter. If you’re almost anywhere in America , you’ll hear something different, something special, something you recognize but haven’t heard in a long time. It is the sound of a real celebration.

It is not New Year’s, and it is not a political convention. It is neither a prime time game-show, nor a music video countdown, bloated with fame and sponsorship. What you are hearing is the love for a music. It is the unbridled outcry of support for a song that sings to the heart, that dances with the soul. The jubilation is in the theaters, the bars, the music clubs, the festivals. The love is for a band.

The songs are honest: just chords with real voices singing real melodies. But, the heart and the energy with which they are sung, is really why people are talking, and why so many sing along.

They are a reality in a world of entertainment built with smoke and mirrors, and when they play, the common man can break the mirrors and blow the smoke away, so that all that’s left behind is the unwavering beauty of the songs. That’s the commotion, that’s the celebration, and wherever The Avett Brothers are tonight, that’s what you’ll find.

Highly recommended!

Riley’s Frist Backpacking Trip.

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I was finally able to take Riley on an over night backpacking trip. We went to a local part of Jordan Lake — New Hope Overlook — that has about 6 miles of hiking trails and 2 primitive camp sites. I had planned on going to site A as it is closest to the water and thought that would keep us more entertained, but the guard told me there were 4 sites taken by a boy scout troop, and 2 other sites taken, so we opted for Site B, where no one had yet reserved a spot.

I picked out all of our gear and food, and then split the load into my pack and Riley’s. She insisted on a couple of small stuffed animals, but beyond that she only had her sleeping bag, sleeping pad, a tiny flashlight, energy bar, and small nalgene. At first I loaded in the tent ground cover (13 oz), cup, and spoon, but she pulled those before we even left. Either way, I ended up carrying her pack about 90% of the time anyway! I have to say, though, that it is mostly due to the pack she was using. It is really a “sleep over” backpack, in that it has a place for a sleeping bag and clothes, but is really meant for the trip from the car to a friend’s house. There is no real support structure to distribute the load, so it was not comfortable for her at all. If she continues to show interest in this, we will look into a kids backpack, but I doubt they make any for someone her age/size!

Here we are at the start of the trail. I took this from behind Riley so you could see her pack. The picture I took from in front is all blurry, or I’d show that too.

I

The guard was quite surprised when I told him we were going to park at the trail head, rather than drive to the camp site parking area. While they call it “hike in” camping, you can actually drive to within a couple hundred yards of where the sites start, and that is what most people do. But we parked at the trail head to make sure it was a real backpack trip. 🙂 From there to area B, is about 1.25 miles, but we actually hiked all the way to end of area B, which is more like 1.75 miles. We didn’t see any other campers on any of the sites on the way to there, so it looked like we had the whole place to ourselves! It was only about 5 p.m. though, so more could have come in. Turns out when we walked out the next day we did see two sites with tents on them, but it FELT like we had it all to ourselves while we were there.

We also discovered that the last site in area B (site 15), had some trails down to the lake after all, so we were in luck! When we arrived, we set up the tent and grabbed some fire wood for later, and then we walked down the trails, which kind of disappear after bit into just woods, down to the water. This picture of Riley in front of the tent is blurry, but I wanted to include it since it is the only one we have of it.

Here are a couple shots of the beach area:

While I cooked our dinner (black beans and rice, crackers, cheese) in my Jet Boil stove, I still made a fire and we made smoores (after a 2nd beach trip and sunset).

We retired to the tent around 8:45 or 9 p.m., when it was getting pretty dark and Riley was getting pretty tired. I read a few pages from “Walden” to her, which is really not age appropriate for her yet, but she still had some questions and I tried to point out some interesting points, or explain what Walden was writing about. We then slept as best we could in the tent. The 1st night is never as comfortable as the 2nd — or maybe on the 2nd you are just more tired! — but we made due, and overall Riley did very well. We awoke around 7:15 a.m., had breakfast — coffee for me, hot chocolate for Riley, oatmeal, pop tarts — packed up, and went back to the beach for a little while.

We then hiked out the other part of the loop, which was probably around 2.5 – 3 miles total. I again carried Riley’s pack a fair amount of the way, even though this time I had taken everything out except her sleeping bag. It was still a 3 or 4 lbs pack though, not suited to backpacking, so again understandable. The way back was also longer, but Riley made it through. Here are a few final shots of us on a bench about two-thirds of the way through:

And finally a turtle we found on the trail:

Riley seemed to really enjoy it, though she definitely enjoyed the “camping” part more than the hiking. Hopefully she’ll continue to show interest in both aspects!

Atonement. 2007. (8/10)

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[I’m going to start rating movies in the blog post title — this is an 8/10.]

Kelly and I watched this, via Apple iTMS rental. Very good — I don’t give many movies 8/10 ratings! Hard to say much about it without spoiling, but Kelly was mad at the ending, while I thought it was sad yet appropriate.

As we were watching it, I thought the musical score was very well done. It incorporated sounds from the film into the score in a fairly unique way. Little did I know at the time that this had actually one an Oscar for best score in 2007.

Horton Hears a Who. 2008.

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We took the kids to see this last week at the “dollar theater” (which now costs $1.50! and of course they gouge you on popcorn and drinks). It was Reece’s 1st movie theater experience, and he did pretty well — only had about 8-10 minutes in the middle where I took him out to do something different.

The movie is pretty good and has some decent “life lessons” for the kids that we talked about a little afterwards, though I wouldn’t put it on the same level of most of Pixar’s works, both in terms of animation and story line.