"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