Fun!!?? Movie Reviews

The word “fun” has numerous definitions, like in “enjoyment, amusement, lighthearted pleasure, etc.”  Yesterday I witnessed some “fun” that included, “sweat, hard breathing, colored corn starch, big people, little people, young people, middle age and even some senior citizens!”  The event, with 14,000 entrants, was the first ever Lubbock “Color Run” that involves all of the above and then some.  This concept of fun was created a little over two years ago and in 2012 had nearly 800,000 people having fun entering Color Runs across the USA.  Now here is the amazing thing, not only do you have fun but you pay at least $40-60.00 to cover the 5 K distance and have four different colored corn starch dust thrown at you as you enter into the color stations along the way.  Since you also get a white T-shirt for registering you are assured that the four colors will create some kind of rainbow affect, which of course also includes getting doused on the face and head and that is where the fun comes in.  Since everyone on the planet has a smart phone with a camera there were hundreds of photos taken of this “fun” and then distributed through the numerous social media opportunities.  

The question now comes to me by my readers that ask, “hey ole man what were you dong there, having fun or what?”  Well really I was there to use the time to guerrilla market our multi-sport events that are scheduled for 2013.  While the majority of our events are created for swim, bike and runners we do put on some mud obstacle events that offer some real different “fun.”  While a triathlete may be a more serious athlete, so to speak, they do enjoy sweating through the three disciplines.  But, then there is the mud obstacle racer who has to crawl, jump, climb, run, walk, through real mud and has to pay for it.  So, since we are always looking for the next generation of athletes to compete in our events we wanted to watch and market to these new era athletes, called “Color Runners!”  Since our number of entrants are very modest compared to the Color Run events we hoped that we could touch all of the 14,000 to help our events grow.  Our feeling at the end of this event was that people were having fun and were out in numbers to go the 5K distance.  Then they had the bragging rights to say they were  finishers in the Color Run concept of competition.  We applaud the young founder and brainchild of this concept, since he only started it two years ago and it has grown to a multi-million dollar business all through the magic of the social media.  But more importantly it gives another segment of our population a way of being active and getting some sweat time off of the couch.  High fives to all!!

Movie Reviews:  

“Dead Man Down”, ***, This is not a bad movie but will not win any Oscars.  Colin Farrell  and Naomi Rapace are two tormented souls( a long story you will have to pick up when you see the movie) who happen to meet and strike up an awkward romance.  Since Farrell is a hitman for a local gangland boss he is solicited by Rapace to put a hit on a man who had badly scared her face in a drunken auto accident.  As always sparks fly big time between the gangland boss and Farrell.  Since other dark secrets surface as the movie progresses, you will just have to go see it to discover what they are.  Some suspense, some violence, some romance, some good acting, a decent story line, and a three star movie.  Rated R for violence, language throughout and a scene of sexuality.  

“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”, ***, Another three star movie that deserves viewing at matinee prices.  Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone(played by Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton(Steve Buscemi) become life long friends and also partners in a magic act that is a star feature in Las Vegas.  But, as they make millions they began to loathe one another and it begins to show in their show and the audiences begin to dwindle.  Then a guerilla street magician Steve Gray(played by Jim Carrey) starts to gain recognition and challenges Wonderstone and Anton for top billing.  But there is a chance that Burt and Anton can save their act if Burt can just get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.  Rated PG-13 for sexual content, dangerous stunts, a drug-related incident and language.

EA, SH.......:)!

greerman 

What If Conclusion, Movie Review, Superhuman Review

“What if”.....To conclude this series I promised in the previous post to reveal what took the place of my yearning to be a member of the crime crunching group of dark suited FBI agents.  Since I had been enrolled in the initial two years of ROTC(Reserve Officers Training Corps) I had to make a decision when entering my junior year as to whether I wanted to enter into a contract to complete the last two years and become an officer in the US Army.  This would require me to enter active duty for two years, after receiving my degree and being commissioned a 2nd Lt.  By this time I had already started my family so I decided this would be a good move and I would at least be guaranteed a job upon graduation.  With no intent of staying in past the  initial two year requirement I signed the contract for the concluding two years, got my degree and received my commission as a 2nd Lt.  So instead of joining the black suited J. Edgar group of crime fighters I signed on with the olive drab uniformed US Army.  While not a crime fighter per se I was given a uniform and gun to defend the USA against all enemies, large and small without regard to their origin.  Little did I know that I would have three commands, achieve the rank of Lt. Colonel, and retire from the Active Reserves after 24.5 years of service.   During the over twenty years I spent time in 10 different Army posts throughout the USA and one tour of duty in Germany.  So, this decision to follow through on the US Army ROTC program provided me lots of experience in working with people by serving in leadership positions and also gave me a feeling of defending the stars and stripes in a very honorable way.  Needless to say I have not ever regretted trading the olive drab for the black slick suits.  While serving in the Army Reserves I was able to have my cake and eat it to, since I could pursue my career in the industrial packaging and material handling industries and still serve in the US Army Reserves.  Even today after many years of retirement I see former fellow reservists around town who I served with.  How about this for a happy ending....!!

Movie Review:  “Hitchcock”, ***, While this movie is no longer in the movie theaters it is on cable.  This is a good movie and is well worth the $5.99.  It centers around the time of life of movie director Alfred Hitchcock, played by Anthony Hopkins in a fat suit, in that he was already successful but was trying to promote the film, “Psycho.”  He was having trouble getting it produced so he did what he had to do to get it done.  It became one of the most successful of his career and was very a very popular horror movie of the time. Helen Mirren plays his wife and does a great job.  While this film never came in with high ratings I thought it was well worth the time and three star rating.   Rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images.

“Becoming Superhuman Nutrition & Fitness Seminar,” *****,  WOW what  conference!! I have been looking for something like this and by accident found it while answering an e-mail out of curiosity.  Ben Greenfield, 31, has got to be one of the most forward thinking guys of the time when it comes to nutrition and fitness.  When I first saw the “Becoming Superhuman” marquee on the site I thought, “You have to be kidding!!”  But he wasn’t and I attended the event in Spokane, WA and had two great days of being exposed to stuff that I had never heard of.  How about for eye openers, “How To Become Superhuman-Where to Start?”, “Thermogenesis-Cold Exposure and Weight Loss!”, “Nutrition Strategies for Superhuman Stress Control!”, “Superhuman Brain-Mental Edge for Peak Performance!”, “Mycotoxins & Superhuman Performance!”, “Music and the Brain!”, “Becoming Superhuman with Advanced Alternative Medicine Tools!”, “Using the Inflammation Factor to Maximize Your Potential!”, “Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Using Biomarkers to Become Superhuman!”, “Using Nutritional Ketosis for Maximizing Weight Loss & Health!!” to name a few of the dynamic topics to becoming Superhuman!! Not only did we sit and learn but we also exercised every morning working muscles that had been sitting dormat for a while(swim, bike and run does not always work all muscles I found out!). Go to BenGreenfieldfitness.com. 

EA, SH........:)

greerman

"What if, continues..", Movie & Book Review

“What if,” continued.....!!  Well it has been a few weeks and things have been real busy so now I must reveal the rest of the story after my decision not to become a football coach.  Since athletics has always been part of my life and football is not a life style sport, I needed something that was.  So, as the time after 14 years of football playing became history, I took up a very competitive sport called handball and played it competitively for 12 years.  It gave me the opportunity to stay in good shape and meet some interesting people.   To keep myself in shape for handball I also did a little running, then advanced it to running 5 mile races, then on to marathon distance races.  Then 29 years ago I took up triathlon and found it to be a great life style sport, with formal competition and the opportunity to keep myself in good physical shape. Also another element of triathlon was to become involved in triathlon event production and  politics. This also gave me many opportunities to stay involved in athletics as long as I want, with no “body is too old” penalties such as football and even handball had.   

The next and maybe the last “what if....?  During my junior year in college I thought I might like to be an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  J. Edgar Hoover had made quite an impression on me and it looked like something I might like to do.  I went to Dallas and had an interview with the head FBI agent and he told me what I needed to do.  I had also ask for the possibility of working in the summer for them since I needed summer employment and digging ditches($1.51 per hour) for the Lone Star Gas company wasn’t something I wanted to repeat, as I had done the previous summer.  The agent advised me that it would be great, for scholastic training as to how the bureau operates, if I transferred to Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  He said I would probably even be able to secure a football scholarship for my last two years. While I did give it some serious thought I decided to stick with my full scholarship football playing days at Arlington to secure my degree.   So, my days as a criminal chaser started and ended very fast but there is a rest of the story to this decision......stay turned!!

Also, while it is not common for me to see my readers in person I did have that great opportunity a few weeks ago.  During our conversation he mentioned that he was at first  a little upset with my “what if” series since initially he felt that I was regretting my life.  I assured him that I was just presenting parts of my life that could have been, if not for little twists and turns that got in the way.  I assured him that I was and am very happy with the way my life has gone and that it is very common for a person of my age to go back over the “what if’s” if for no other reason just to sit back and reflect.  While we don’t want to make the same mistakes again we sure can learn from them and also learn from the right decisions we have made.  While one of my main frustrations with life as I know it now is that the society of the USA just doesn’t like Seniors and seems to place us in that big gray room not really knowing what to do with us.  In a recent survey I read concerning respect for the Senior members of societies across the Globe, I found the Asian and Native American to be among the top and the USA, DAL(dead ass last)!  

Movie Reviews:

“Snitch”, ****, This is a good movie staring Dwayne Johnson as a father whose teenaged son is wrongly accused of a drug distribution crime that includes a 10 year prison sentence.  This is based on a true story about how this father rescues his son from a doomed future.  Good action but it does not overwhelm the good story line.  Rated PG-13 for drug content and sequences of violence.  

“A Good Day to Die Hard”, *, The very worst of the Die Hard series.  It is such a waste and just involves and endless chase scene that only ends when the movie ends.  So stupid I wondered why I stayed to the end!! Ooops forgot, I still had some popcorn left.  It did have Bruce Willis in it of course and he was wasted.  Rated R for violence and language. 

“Safe Haven”, ***, An excellent romance movie and one that you will walk out of the movie house feeling very okay!  The story involves a  young woman who flees from an abusive marriage and takes refuge in a small town in North Carolina.  She goes through the adjustment of trying to fit in without the town knowing her background or that she was accused of murder.  So, boy meets girl and we have a potential romance and a rescue of this abused young woman.  Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving threatening behavior, and for violence and sexuality.   

“Bullet to The Head”, *, A really bad movie with Sylvester Stallone playing a hitman role that is so stupid it should have been named “Bullet to the Head of Stupid!!”  Stallone looks like a Botox job was botched throughout his body.  Rated R for strong violence bloody images, language, some nudity and brief drug use.

“Zero Dark Thirty”, *****, This is a long(2.5 hours) but great movie about the finding of Osama bin Laden which resulted in his capture and death.  This is well done in almost documentary fashion with the action thrown in.  Be patient in the beginning and it will all shape up.  Jessica Chastain’s performance, as the darkhorse CIA agent who puts it all together, was worthy of an Academy Award nomination.  She plays the part of a 12 year CIA veteran with mostly male colleagues and not considered the one who will mastermind this search and destroy mission, so it makes it special when she says, “I am the m-----f----- who put this plan together,” to all her superior agents and bosses.  Rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images(you mean water boarding at its‘ best!), and for language.   

While I usually wait to write a review on a book after I finish it I have decided to write one on:  “Life Is What You Make It”-Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment. A *****Five star  by Peter Buffett.  After going to his live presentation, I bought this book and really think everyone on the planet should have one, read it, and grow from what it says.  It is excellent and one that I will treasure for a life time.  It is one that you can read, re-read and then keep close by for reference.   While I have only finished half of it I am already referencing it.

EA, SH........:)!!

greerman