Posted by: ninophile | November 22, 2009

Goat Staring, Lying, and Bond Edition 132: Movies

D6767322-EAAE-4CAB-8743-218162788778.jpgI really needed a laugh the other day, so I went to see The Men Who Stare at Goats. Seemed like a good choice, but it didn’t really work out. About a secret military unit with hippie underpinnings and a belief in the ability to use psychic power for military purposes–i.e., to avoid the need for guns–it just wasn’t that entertaining. I didn’t really laugh much, and I didn’t really get hooked into the story. And the continual references to “The Force” by characters who had played characters in Star Wars‘ films was dumb.

5614C21F-5E9D-4D64-A4F2-BB79DC3978AF.jpgI’ve long thought that almost anything that Ricky Gervais says is funny. While still largely true, it wasn’t true for enough of the 100 minutes of his latest film The Invention of Lying. It is funny–loser Gervais lives in an alternate universe where no one lies, there isn’t even a word for it, until Gervais tells the first lie to good and bad results. But it wasn’t funny enough for me. So maybe I should have just watched Anchorman again.

048F3131-FB09-4D3E-82D4-463BA96434D3.jpgI have the feeling that I’m expecting way too much out of movies right now, which is why they’ve largely left me cold as of late. To wit, I ended up watching the last James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, twice. I thought I had missed the plot the first time since I was hooked up to a machine that didn’t really let me move, somewhat distracting, during my first viewing. Turns out, it’s just a movie where the plot is extremely secondary to the action scenes. I used to love Bond films, but this may be the end for me. It’s like reading a Dan Brown novel.

Posted by: ninophile | November 21, 2009

Family Dysfunction, the Plague, and the Boston Strangler: Books

0374129983.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgLast week, I went down to my parents’ place in the middle of nowhere Texas to try to rest and relax. It went pretty well, and I got to read quite a bit. First was Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections. I’ve owned this for quite some time, but I had it in my mind that this would be a terrible, sappy book. Boy was I wrong–at least as to whether I would like it; it is plenty sappy. It’s not exactly groundbreaking–looking at societal changes in just one generation–but it’s done well enough to be refreshing.

0142001430.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgSet in a small village in Britain, Geraldine Brooks’ Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague tells the story of one village’s attempt to deal with the Plague in 1665-66. The local reverend convinced the villagers to quarantine themselves from the outside world, both in the hope of preventing an outbreak in the village and, if an outbreak occurred, to prevent it from spreading beyond. When the outbreak seemed to pass, about 1 in 3 villagers were dead, leaving terrible emotional scars on the survivors.

0393059804.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgSebastian Junger, author of the tragic The Perfect Storm, puts together a more personal, yet more well known story in A Death in Belmont. In the fall of 1962 and spring of 1963, Junger lived in Belmont, a Boston suburb, as his family had a group of men doing work on their house. At the same time, Boston police were trying to solve a series of murders thought to be perpetrated by the Boston Strangler. When a murder happens in Belmont, somewhat out of the Boston Strangler pattern, a poor, black man with opportunity and a criminal record is convicted. Later, one of the workers at Junger’s home confesses to being the Boston Strangler. Junger compares the murders, looks at the black man’s trial, and questions whether an innocent man was convicted of murder. A quick, interesting read.

Posted by: ninophile | November 21, 2009

Fall League Season Ends: Soccer

Last time we checked in on Madysen’s soccer team, she was scoring whenever I showed up and they were doing pretty well with 3 games left. They’ve now played those three games. I didn’t make it to any of them, so Madysen didn’t score. Worse than that, the team didn’t score in any of the games and they lost all 3.

The results: a 4-0 loss to Dallas Texans Red 93, a 1-0 loss to Andromeda 93, and a 4-0 loss to D’Feeters 93. Something of a silver lining–they gave up only 2 of those 9 goals in the first halves of those games. Unfortunately, they played the second half in each game.

So they’ve slip from 4th place to 6th (out of 8 ) and the spring season won’t start up until late March. Never fear, they’ve got 3 tournaments before the end of year.

Posted by: ninophile | November 17, 2009

A Ginger Face Only a Mother Could Love: Birthdays

Fifteen years ago today, he of the left-handedness, ginger hair (with optional bowl cut), and chocolate covered face was born. It’s been all downhill since.

Which brings us to another heart stopping announcement, he’s getting his permit to drive this afternoon. So Trench, even though you are three states away, you wanted to be made aware. Buckle up. Now!

Posted by: ninophile | November 14, 2009

Music Idolatry, Resistance, and 60s’ Vegas: Books

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As with Coen brothers’ films, I do love me some Nick Hornby novels. His latest, Juliet, Naked, does not disappoint especially for an aging music fan like myself. Duncan, a Brit, loves the music of Tucker Crowe. In fact, Duncan is obsessed with Crowe. Thing is, Crowe disappeared from the music scene decades ago for unknown reasons. So Duncan is part of an online community that obsesses over everything about Crowe, include a pre-release unplugged version of Crowe’s last album. But Duncan’s longtime girlfriend isn’t so enamored with the mystique of Crowe anymore and their relationship is stressed because of it. I won’t spoil the rest of the plot, but I enjoyed it very much.

1596916362.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgThe latest book I received for free through LibraryThing.com’s Early Reviewers group is Angés Humbert’s Resistance: A Woman’s Journal of Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France. Humbert was an art historian in Paris in 1940 when Paris fell to the Nazis, where she began to journal her part in the resistance movement. But soon enough he was arrested and spent the next 4 years in prisons in France and Germany facing interrogations, a show trial, isolation, food deprivation, and many other hardships. Through all that, she remained part of an order of prisoner resisters. And then her prison was liberated by U.S. forces in 1945 where she helped restore order and out Nazis. A wonderful story of courage and perseverance.  

0451160193.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg Not sure how one follows up on the greatness that was The Godfather, but Fools Die is not it. Mario Puzo at least tried to put together a very different story, instead of changing the scenery and title (Dan Brown, are you listening?). Set in the 1960s, three guys meet in Vegas and do very well in just a short run. One can’t handle to success and meets his end. The other two go on to separate lives–one as a somewhat successful writer and small time scammer, the other as an increasingly powerful casino manager–but they remain close. I never got hooked by the story, and the lack of distinct voice in the story was odd and distracting.   

Posted by: ninophile | November 13, 2009

Very Good Bad News: Cancer Sucks

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That little guy up above in the crib is me with really cool glasses eating a pack of M&Ms, but–newsflash–it’s not a recent photo. It’s from around Easter 1975 when I was in the hospital with Guillian-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. Not really sure how I contracted it, butt I made a full recovery.

That was the last time I spent any meaningful time in the hospital–until recently. I’ve mentioned in some recent posts that I’ve been sick over the last couple of weeks and missed quite a bit of the kids’ activities. Turns out, I was diagnosed with leukemia on October 6 and admitted to the hospital for several days to try to reduce my white blood cell count down quickly. It was a pretty scary couple of days as the doctors attempted to get my numbers down and nail down the diagnosis so that we could move on to a long-term treatment plan.

Good news is that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and I have chronic myelogenous leukemia or CML (he’s just like me!) and the prognosis is very good. No chemo, no radiation, no stem cell transplant. Take pills everyday for the rest of my life and I’ve got an 85+% chance of going into remission.

I’m under the care of a very impressive team at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, but I don’t have to go but once a quarter. I’ve been on medication for over two weeks now and things seem to be normalizing. Looking forward to getting back to a normal schedule.

secret_agent.jpgNo idea how this movie ever got on my To Watch list, but Alfred Hitchcock’s 1936 The Secret Agent is very interesting. For nostalgia purposes maybe more than any other. Just seeing a movie this old is something of a delight for me. Anyway, based on a Somerset Maugham story, a British officer/former famous writer, who had faked his death during The Great War, is sent on a secret mission to Switzerland. Wonderful to see Hitchcock’s early works.

taken_movie_poster5.jpgLiam Neeson plays an understated badass in Taken when he is forced out of semi-retirement as a spy to retrieve his daughter who was abducted in Europe and pressed into an underground slave trade. It’s kind of a better done Seagal, less special effected Bond flick. It is likely to scare mothers of teenage girls greatly.

a_serious_man_poster.jpgI love me some . . . Coen brothers. Their latest film, A Serious Man, is somewhat difficult to relate at first for this Oklahoma kid. See, it’s about a Jewish husband/professor, Larry Gopnik–and I didn’t actually see much of Jewish life as a kid. But as the Job-ish events unfold to poor, decent Larry, the dark comedy comes through. A thoroughly engaging looka the trials of life. Another wonderful and different movie by the Coens.

Posted by: ninophile | November 12, 2009

Freshmen Football Ends, Nothing More to Come?: Football

So last Thursday was the final football game for Speed. Hard to believe he’s even a freshman and that he’s gaining ground on becoming, maybe, a sophomore. Anyway, they played Rockwall Heath at home and won 28-13. With the time change, it was already too dark at kickoff for me to get any decent pictures with my camera, so I’ve only got a couple here.

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On the sideline, at least 2 months since a haircut

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In on this tackle

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Pursuing

A pretty successful season. Only one loss and that to a combined freshman team. Speed got to play a ton, made many tackles, defended several passes, caused and recovered a fumble, and recovered an onside kick. He also had a great block on an interception return–see below.

As a final note on the season, here are a couple of better photos from the last away game against Rockwall.

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A pass defended

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Shepherding the interception return to the endzone

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Celebrating the pick-6

So now that the season is over, normally he would be moving on to lacrosse. But he’s decided, much to my and mother’s chagrin, to not play lacrosse anymore. I think it is a mistake, but he’s gonna make bigger ones. He thought about playing baseball, but he really wants to focus on football, so he’s going to do offseason football all year long. He’s hoping to keep growing and add some weight to that frame. Good luck with that.

Posted by: ninophile | November 12, 2009

Big, Big Happenings and I Almost Missed It All: Volleyball

Several months ago, we were discussing the kids’ potential schedules for the fall. For the first time, Emma was going to play volleyball. Great, but I wasn’t that hopeful that 3rd grade volleyball would be all that exciting from a spectator’s perspective.

The season was to start in early October and Emma’s team was in need of a coach. When Holly, somewhat begrudgingly, agreed to coach, the must see factor went way, way up for me.

At the first practice the girls decided they wanted be named Cookie Monsters. Not Holly’s first (or hundredth) choice. This was going to be fun.

And on the day of the first game, I got sick. I missed that game and all but two during the entire season. The first game I made it to, Emma didn’t even play. She had scraped her knee pretty good at recess that afternoon and couldn’t really bend her knee. Of course, considering that they didn’t really move much on the court, I probably would have had her play if it were up to me. But I’m not the coach.

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Emma watches me from the bench as Holly coaches

Monday night was the next to last match of the season. Don’t know if you’ve ever seen 3rd grade volleyball, but not much happens other than serving. Rarely does a serve get over the net, and much rarer still does a serve get returned. And there are stories, though few have seen them in person, of an actual volley. So Emma went 0-for-as-many serving in the match. The teams split the first two games with the opponent winning the third and shorter game.

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Lefty serve coming

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Nice follow through

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Another serve coming

After tonight’s final match, which they won, the season is now over. Cookie Monsters had a 4-3 record, putting them clearly in the top half of the league. Emma had fun, and I’m pretty sure Holly is putting away her coaching shorts for good. That’s a pity.

Posted by: ninophile | November 12, 2009

Candy and Football: Halloween

I decried last year how Halloween seemed to be receding into a holiday no longer impacting our lives–mostly because Madysen and Speed are getting too big to cuddle.

That was true again this year, maybe even more so since Madysen and I were in Norman for the OU game against Kansas State. It was a beautiful day, though Madysen almost missed it all since I woke her up at 2 p.m.! Anyway, the game looked to be a walkover as we had an early 21-0 lead, but the lead was cut to 6 points twice in the second half, which had me awfully nervous. But they won 42-30, and I think Madysen enjoyed herself. A big treat that she got to see the Pride play “Thriller” at her first game.

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(image via SoonerSports.com)

Meanwhile, back at home, Emma and Layla and, to a lesser extent, Speed, got their Halloween on. The girls decorated pumpkins with Mr. Potato head parts and carved a pumpkin with bats and stars. Speed carved a skull pumpkin.

Though hard to see in this picture, Emma went dressed as a candy corn (most people thought witch because of the hat, which irritated her greatly) and Layla as a bumblebee in a costume made by her friend Rachel. Emma made the bigger haul, which pleased her.

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