Sunday, May 27, 2012

What You See Is What You Get!! Movie Reviews


A few years ago I was on a bicycle ride with a friend of mine and the wind was blowing like it can blow around the Hub city, for no good reason and very hard.  As we were riding he kept complaining about how hard it was and how the wind made him so tired, etc.  I told him the secret to riding in the wind was to make the wind his friend and also to create, in his mind, an imaginary snow plow in front of him that would knock off all of the wind and also to quit complaining about it.  This image would help to free up the mind on how challenging the wind can be while riding and in turn would decrease the amount of fatigue.  He just gave me a big grin and said, my snow plow is not working and I hate this wind.  Well sometimes this works for some and not for others, but I have found that imagery is totally effective in everything that I do.  After receiving a swim lesson on proper stroke mechanics and set the imagery in my mind and even practiced it in front of the mirror a week before a triathlon in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin(not too far from the original Playboy club).  My goal was to take 5 minutes off of my time and most of the preparation by this time was in front of the mirror and also thinking about swimming the event, etc.  When I got to Lake Geneva I went to the swim site and since they had the swim buoys set up on the course, I sat on the beach and concentrated on each swim buoy as I would reach them and then make the turn, I found my heart rate going up and the feel of swimming it was like it was actually happening.  I never went in the water but after I completed the swim, in my mind, I actually felt like I had been in it.  Now the good news, I did take exactly 5 mintues off of my previous best time for this distance.  When I tell this story people will ask, well why didn’t you set the goal to take 15 minutes off of your time?  The answer is simple, that would not have been realistic for my style of swimming.  
My point here is that we can use imagery in all facets of our lives to become more effective or to achieve something we really want.   When I use to travel out of Lubbock every week in my industrial securement packaging days I would use my time driving to the airport to visualize my trip after landing in my destination city and would even go through the dialogue for the sales calls I would be making.  If I had a problem at a current customers business I would go over that in detail, in my mind, and always schedule it first so that the balance of the day would be spent on more pleasant things and also add new business.  If my travel fatigue was bugging me by the end of the month I would use the imagery to ease my mind and refresh myself to the degree of success I has having and the income that I was realizing.  These positive thoughts would make the trip easier and more productive.  In harmony with the imagery of a particular task I would always prepare a to do list that helped my visualize the completion of the task.  While I have never considered myself a creative person when it comes to art, painting, music, or great engineering feats, I have felt that the imagery creations that I use to accomplish different things represents some form of art.  While using imagery in the physiological things that I do seems to be a natural, my secret formula is simple, “what you see is what you get!!”
Movie Reviews:
“Men In Black3”, ***, This is the third movie about a government agency that controls the illiegal aliens that inhabit earth.  The stars are the same as the original, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and this sequel is very good.  Smith(Playing Agent J) is concerned that his long time partner played by Jones(Agent K) is just not as nice as he should be, plus if he doesn’t go back in time to 1969 and change history the earth will be destroyed.  If that isn’t a mouth full I don’t know what is.  But it is comical and well done by both actors.  Josh Brolin plays a younger(29 year old) Tommy Lee and also does a great job.  Almost believeable.  Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and brief suggestive content. 
“Dark Shadows”, ***, While I am not a vampire movie fan I went to this movie for two reasons, one, I remember Dark Shadows years ago as a popular TV series, two, I like Johnny Depp and wanted to see him carry out the role of Barnabas. The wicked witch, who caste the spell on Barnabas, is played by Eva Green and Michelle Pfeiffer(the head of the household) do a great job.  I would imagine for a vampire movie this is a very good one.  Rated PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking. (It has it all)
“The Dictator”, 0(Zero), Sorry I wasted my money, but it is better for me to waste my money than for my readers to waste theirs’.  The film tells the story of a dictator, played by Sacha Baron Cohen(how he ever convinces anyone to spend the money producing his movies is beyond me) who risks his life to ensure that democracy never comes to the country he so lovingly oppressed(it gets more stupid as I write!).  Rated PG-13 for strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images. 
EA, SH.........:)!
greerman

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Movie Review-Good, Bad and Ugly


Movie Reviews:  Due to a backlog of movies seen but not reviewed I decided to separate them out from the normal blog format.  There are a couple of good ones, but only one four star.  The rest are three star or below:
“21 Jump Street”  *, Terrible movie about two recent graduates from a police academy who are sent to a high school as under cover drug detectives.  Sounds serious but turned out totally stupid and poorly done.  Johnny Depp made a cameo that didn’t make sense either.  Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence. 
“The Hunger Games”, ****, The Hunger Games is about a futuristic reality program played out in the ruins of once North America.  The nation of Panem forces its 12 districts to choose a boy and girl to complete,  Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are televised events in which the 24 representatives or Tributes must stalk and kill one another until there is only one surviver.  Jennifer Lawrence does a great job as one of the 24 Tributes and Josh Hutcherson does the same as her counter part.  Of course there is some boy girl action that lead to affection and love, but to the good for the ending.  Rated PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and distrubing images, all involving teens. 
“The Lucky One”, ***,  The film opens with Marin Sgt. Logan Thibault(played by Zach Efrom) returning from his third tour of duty in Iraq.  In his last combat fight in Iraq he found a photo of a woman who he felt helped save his life.  After being discharged he was determined to find her so that he could thank her.  Once he found her the other drama’s of life begin, including romance, etc.  A good movie.  Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and violence.  
“Marvel’s The Avengers”, ***, When evil is trying to take over the world the need for super heroes is required.  So, “Iron Man”, “The Incredible Hulk”, “Thor”, and “Captain America” are assembled to fight the evil villians.  While the results is predictable the journey with these super heroes is interesting.  With Downey Jr. playing Iron Man again he seemed to dominate, but they all held their own.  Results is easy to guess but was fun to watch.  Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference.  
“Wrath of the Titans”, ***, The story takes place a decade after Perseus, demigod son of Zeus, defeated the Kraken in “Clash of the Titans.”  Probably would have been better if I had seen the orginal, but generally don’t have much interest in these kind of movies.  (Where have all the good westerns gone??) But, it was well done, with lots of action with swords, knives, etc.  Sam Worthington, Llam Neeson and Ralph Flennes are very believable in their parts.  Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of fantasy violence and action. Not a prime timer but worth matinee prices.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Heroes to Mud Slingers


As I mentioned a few blogs ago I like to learn something new everyday, no matter the importance or impact of this new knowledge.  Well the past week was spent observing some new things, again, and learning so that is the reason for no posting on fasttwitchmind.  Yea I know a punny excuse and an indication of laziness; however, I just didn’t seem to have the time to sit down and write.  Last week was spent at the Warrior Games, and Spartan Races in Colorado Springs, CO.  The Warrior Games is a series of athletic events that feature armed forces athletes with various serious injuries, mostly in combat zones.  There are literally thousands of soldiers that have survived the Iraq and Afhgan atrocities, called special hand made bombs that are designed to rip off arms and legs but leave the person alive.  So, I was able to watch these galiant men and women compete against all odds and what an inspiration it was.  I had never seen a person swim with no legs up to the hip, and only one arm.  On the basketball team(played in wheelchairs) one athlete was missing a leg, an arm, an eye, but was the best shooter on the team.  So, needless to say my three days watching these patriots compete was an eye opener for me.  I learned more about humility and appreciation for my excellent health and the fact I spent over 24 years in the US Army and missed all of the wars.  Sometimes I wonder about that and ask was I really lucky or am I missing some vast knowledge that I would have acquired in combat?  
Then the other part of the week in the Springs was spent observing the other play thing now going on big time called “mud obstacle” racing.  This again was done to learn more of the sport and see what I can do to offer these gang busters a truly professional association to serve them.  I entered the event, like 4500 other mudd loving souls, with the idea of watching and observing up close as possible.  But unlike my Tough Mudder mind melt down, when I decided to do that event and suffer for two weeks afterwards, I actually did just walk around observing.  What I learned is that people do like to crawl in the mud, jump over 8’ fences, climb 30’ ropes and then conclude the race by running through a 3’ fire pit.  Ooooops I forgot to mention that they pay $100.00 to do this!  So, now we have this relative young athletic sporting event that gives everyone the venue to vent in all kinds of ways.  And to think I thought football was barbaric!  This sport makes football players look like silly sissies from the debate class!!  Looks like it is here to stay with new events and production companies sprouting up like weeds on freshly watered and fertized burmuda grass!!  So, I take this new knowledge and see what I can do with it!  Stayed tuned on www.obstacleusa.com.
EA, SH.......:)!
greerman
Movie Reviews coming on separate post!