I am....Iron Man!

I grew up reading comics, so a great many of the current action flicks coming out initially appeal to me.

When the first Batman came out in 1989, I was excited, but a bit disappointed at the storyline. I liked it nonetheless, but in retrospect, was disappointed. The movies that followed were not much better, and it seemed that they would try even harder to get that "star" power to overcome the lack of substantial acting and writing.

Spider-man, at least the latest reincarnation, is better. Tobey Maguire's acting and the writing is such as to keep me interested. Most of the time. That, and Kirsten Dunst's presence. It wasn't bad, but the third one (as cool as the black suit was), left something to be desired. It seemed as if as any of these stories progress, we have to get more stars/heroes/villains and have them all battling and such. C'mon. What's next? Carnage kidnaps MJ and takes over the Daily Bugle? The Lizard goes on a rampage? And Venom threatens to put out Spidey's secret identity to the world? All in the same movie? Too much.

One movie (again, following the Marvel universe) that really did it right (almost at least) was The Punisher. No, not the nasty Dolph Lundren version, but the 2004 Thomas Jane version. Really nice, really dark. Left some bits out from the comics, but included some others. I don't know if they plan on making a sequel, but the movie itself was fairly complete. The characters really stayed true to who they are, and it wasn't overly complicated (for a movie). A great many parts of the movie I can tie back to my humble collection of Punisher: War Journal. Props to Jim Lee's master artistry on all that work.

Many others have come out, again from the Marvel-verse. Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Blade, X-Men, Ghost Rider, and even Hellboy have all come to receive interest varying from excitement to week-old oatmeal splendor. I've seen these, in addition to DC Comic's Batman and Superman installments. I really liked the newest Batman and anticipate the return of Joker in the upcoming movie. Superman Returns is a bit of a departure from the typical story lines, but I think the writer's stayed true to the overall character. I really liked that story, and it left it open without the obvious "expect a sequel now..." type ending.

What's all this about? My son and I took in Iron Man this past weekend. Eye candy galore. The storyline, albeit updated to 2008, followed Tony Stark's transformation into Iron Man. I can't say that there was one part I didn't like. Now, there were some parts being quite predictable. Formulas for action movies don't digress much, and in this case, it's still there. Doesn't take away from the movie. Most important for me was the on-screen savy of Robert Downey, Jr. For all his troubled past, he fits this role practically perfectly. Best moments? The on-screen chemistry between Downey's Stark and Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts. The not-so-sublteness of it really amped me up and kept me into those slower parts. The soundtrack really fits, driving the action and highlighting smaller funny moments.

Now, the ending. I'm an ending kind of guy. If you saw the movie Sliver, you know that endings can really f#%! up a movie. I've heard some rumblings about Iron Man's ending. When you see it, consider this: what would Tony Stark say in that situation? That should help you arrive at your answer.

Kimbo!

Not Rambo, but Kimbo.

She's the awesome sister of a good buddy of mine.

Apparently, she's finally gotten her blog going and has started adding to it.

Check it out when you can. I've got it posted on the side over yonder, but you can also click here.

The Love of My Life

I've always loved my wife. I've always been in love with my wife. But lately, I've tried to really focus on that love, that intangible thing that connects us and makes us appreciate one another.

To set this up, read through the lyrics.

Why do birds suddenly appear

Every time you are near?

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you.

Why do stars fall down from the sky

Every time you walk by?

On the day that you were born

and the angels got together

And decided to create a dream come true

So they sprinkled moon dust

in your hair of gold

And starlight in your eyes of blue.

I love The Carpenters. An almost guilty pleasure, but no guilt. It's just clean and wholesome.

There's a few episodes of The Simpsons, and when Homer looks at Marge, this songs is played, showering them in this wonderous glow. I often times am Homer-esque and forget how wonderful she really is. I forget to tell her those simply things. I take advantage of her genorosity and her tidiness. Most of all, I don't always let her know how fouled up (you can use other words here) my world would be without her in my life. I thank God for every moment with her and for the moments to come.

I love you, oh sweet wife of mine. As our anniversary approaches, I hope you realize how much I truly love you and all that you do for our family.

Happy 11th, Honey.

Follow-Up: Samsung Juke

I've had this phone for close to six weeks now, and perhaps it time to write that follow up.

I like it. I really do. The phone works quite well. Even amidst typical Texas wind, the caller can still hear my voice well. I can't always hear them, but eh...

After having the phone for about two weeks, I arrived at a very strong conclusion: the sleeve that came with the phone sucks. No better word for it. Does it offer a modicum of protection? Sure. The trade off? Silicone is really not slick; things don't just slide right off. In my case, the phone would ring and I would have to 1) get the phone out of my pocket (silicone and jeans don't just slide around easily), and then 2) get the phone out of the sleeve (again, not easy; could be done, but at great risk of tearing the sleeve) unless I wanted to speakerphone it (yeah, let's share that conversation with the proctologist). I missed a great many calls because of this. My solution? A clear snap on face-plate. One of my golfers has this on his flip phone. I bought one at the Verizon store and haven't looked back. Love it.

The phone is really easy to use. I've download a few things, but perhaps the coolest of them all is the V-Cast Song ID. You can actually determine a song's artist and title by having the phone listen to about ten seconds of audio. Really cool.

I like it much right now. My only concern is the sturdiness of the primary hinge. It's not loose, but again, it's just a concern.

Cheers

So now I'm back...

I wish I was in space,but no, it wasn't anything that extraordinary.

It's been a bit of some time since my last post, so a brief update.

Finished golf season. I won't talk about that here. Call me if you want details.

Just finished TAKS testing with my 7th graders. Just google TAKS if you want more info. So gotta love that whole No Child Left Behind Act. Good stuff [dripping with sarcasm].

Dropped a couple of grand on some electronics, but I'll get to that in a bit.

My thoughts go back to a workshop a few months ago I had the pleasure of sitting in on. In it, the presenter gave us some food for thought:
"Think about all the things you'd like to do. Whether it be lessons or travel, whatever. Now, think of all the reasons why you don't or can't do those things. C'mon now. Make that list then think of reasons why. Now, scratch off money and time, because that will never change. It won't; you won't ever have enough money to do it, nor will the amount of time you have change. It this were the case, no one would have kids. Why don't you do the things you want to do? People have kids because it becomes a priority for them. If you want to take guitar lessons or travel cross-country on a motorcycle, you do it. Make it a priortiy. "

It's sad that I don't remember her name, but she makes quite a valid point. Few reasons exists for us not doing the things we want to do (albeit legal and wholesome things, not like shooting out street lamps and such). I thought I was doing pretty decent on the writing, but got caught up in some...well, priorities shifted from one to another. Job is important, after family. And March and April are probably the busiest times of the year for me work-wise. No excuses aside from the adjustment in prioritites.

So to all you loyal readers (yes, all six of you), thanks for being loyal and patient. Hopefully, I can regain some momentum and catch up to my homeboy Kris and get back on track.

Cheers to you and yours...