Catching Up with Rocky, 007, and John McLane

Seen a few movies lately featuring characters in long-running movie series:

Live Free or Die Hard
Also known as Die Hard 4. I liked this movie, it was a lot of fun, exactly what a summer movie is supposed to be. Bruce Willis is very good at this character and it didn't disappoint. To appeal to a younger audience, they added a young sidekick, who actually turned out to be very good. A computer geek, but not whiny or too smart aleck. He actually added a lot to the movie. Lots of chases, lots of explosions, lots of times when maybe things were not terribly realistic. But, so what, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Rocky Balboa
Also known as Rocky 6. The last Rocky was not very good at all, and that's one reason Stallone gave for making this one. This really evoked the memory of the first one in style and tone. This is very much for fans of the series, Stallone isn't trying to win new converts, but focusing on those that, especially, liked the first one in the series. You have to really think back to that first movie to know who Little Marie and Spider Rico are, who have major (Little Marie) and minor (Spider) roles in this one.

Yes, there's a fight at the end, and yes, there's a training montage, but what would a Rocky movie be without those. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one. Stallone closes the series on a very high note. For die hard fans, watch the closing credits and see if you don't say to yourself, "Yeah, I'd like to do that, too." Next up for Stallone is "John Rambo," due in 2008. In this one, he goes to Burma to rescue some Christian aid workers. That's probably a better career move than in Rambo III, when he went to Afghanistan to fight with (not against) the Taliban.

Casino Royale
Also known as the 27th James Bond movie (or something like that). In this one, the series is completely rebooted. You are basically supposed to wipe out all memories of the Bond movies that came before (kinda like what they did with "Batman Begins"). This tells the origin of Bond, and to be quite honest, I wasn't too intrigued. Daniel Craig did okay as Bond, but the movie itself I found lacking. There was a bizarre chase scene near the beginning where the bad guy is jumping onto buildings and off things and through things, using Matrix and Jackie Chan moves. really odd. Also, not sure why they kept Judi Dench as "M," since she's a direct link to the most recent Pierce Brosnan Bonds.

I understand what they were trying to do, and sometimes the movie was interesting as you found out the origins of different Bond things (his favorite drink, set of wheels, etc.). But overall, I just didn't care for it all that much.

"Greeeeeen Acres is the Place to Be"

Tell me a few years ago I'd be living in the country and lovin' it, I'd be telling you "no way, no how." But here I am with my family in a little house in the country with an acre in our back yard, a dairy farm on one side and a hay barn across the street.

We have all just really latched on to country life. This is going to be such a great place to raise our kids. Things have just really slowed down for us. We don't run around town much anymore, because we're 20-25 minutes from town. We spend a lot of time just hanging around and reading, playing with the kids and dogs, and just enjoying the quiet. We have a satellite dish (mainly to get the local channels) but we spend surprisingly little amount of time watching t.v. We just simply enjoy our house and certainly much more family time.

Anna and Cameron haven't even mentioned once about going back to our old house. They love it here too. Dorene and I drove by our old house last night and didn't feel one iota of regret for not being there anymore. We are both so glad we made the move.

Anna Rides a Bike

Some kids have fears . . .and other kids have FEARS! For Anna, learning to ride a bike was just one of those things she could not get in her head to do. She was still riding her bike with training wheels. It didn't really seem to bug her that other kids a couple years younger were already riding around the neighborhood. Well, it didn't use to at least.

Finally, Sunday afternoon, she seemed ready to conquer this fear. Needless to say, it took a while. Many false starts, many times Anna throwing the bike down and saying "Dumb bike, I hate this bike." But she stuck with it, which she doesn't always do. Finally, she began to get it. She'd ride a little bit on her own (not always realizing it, she thought I was still holding on). Then, we all took a break. I whispered to Anna, "Let's sneak out and surprise mommy." This did it. She hopped on, I pushed, let go, and off she went. I had let Dorene know what we were up to so she didn't miss out.

Anna had kept bugging us about a new bike. We told her absolutely no way until she learned to ride her current bike, which indeed was too small. We kept our promise, and shortly after learning to ride, we headed off to Meijer and got her new bike. I told her I'd be ticked off if on Father's Day I had to go spend money on a bike (hey, sometimes the reverse psychology thing does indeed work).

Yeah, this dad was jumping up and down over this little daddy/daughter moment.

Father's Day

This past Sunday was nothing too eventful for Father's Day at our church. We had our District Superintendent as our special speaker. All the dads in attendance got a pie (I secured my favorite, which is apple).

I think back to Father's day services in California growing up. My dad was not all touchy-feely when it came to sermons on this day. I recall this was the day when he really gave forceful sermons on what it meant to be a father and to raise your kids in the Lord. He would say that it didn't matter anything else you did, you were a failure if your kids were brought up not knowing the Lord. To the Christian fathers, he particularly didn't let off the hook, basically telling them to get off their (booty) and be the leaders they are supposed to be.

I bet you that very, very few sermons this past Sunday were that forceful. I just don't think that's the way it's probably done anymore. Can't get too forceful, because you may have visitors and you don't want to offend anyone. I'm sure most services had their cutesy father moments and that was that (hey, it's basically what we did).

Spurs Win (yeah, whatever)

So the Spurs are champs again of the NBA. There's really nothing to dislike about the Spurs, so more power to 'em. But this year will forever be a "What if?" year for Phoenix Suns fans like myself. Those suspensions of Stoudamire and Biaw prior to Game 5 were devastating. I know the NBA has to remain tough on players that leave the bench, but I guess it didn't seem like what they did was all that bad, especially when they are not known at all for being aggressive. I'm not one to say a team lost because of the refs, but this year, the Suns may have indeed lost because of it.

Once again, it's wait until next year for the Suns. Meanwhile, in a few months I'll be awaiting the start of another promising Arizona Cardinals season that will begin with a thud and go downhill from there.

Farewell to the House on MacDougall

Last Wednesday, I walked out of our old house in South Bend for the last time. The new owner arrived in town and I stopped by to pick up the last of our stuff.

Strangely enough, absolutely no emotion from leaving a house which was the first house we bought after being married, where our kids spent several years. We so love our new house that we just don't think about the old one. The kids haven't asked once about going back. Of course, neither Dorene or I are terribly sentimental about these things either. Hey we moved, we're in a new place, and that's that.

In fact, I can't ever remember regretting a move. When we moved from Pennsylvania, I was too young to really remember much. When we moved from Lake Havasu City, I don't remember wishing I was back in Arizona. This even after moving from a resort city in the desert to the bustling metropolis of Pixley, California.

Leaving Pixley was no big deal because it was off to college. After that, moves were from my parents house to apartments and back again. After getting married, we were in an apartment, a rental house, then the house on MacDougall.

Lots of memories there, but I've been used to moving a lot, so it was no big deal. Anna's only regret? There's no ice cream truck where we're at now.

It's Our Anniversary . . and My Wife Left Me and Went to Georgia

No, that's not the name of a new country music tune, just what happened yesterday. We celebrated our 12th anniversary, apart from each other. But don't call up the counselors just yet.
Dorene left with with 11 others from our church on a work crew to Hephzibah Children's Home in Macon, Georgia. The home is run by the Wesleyan Church. She will be there all week and retun late on Saturday. Anna thought it was very funny and kept telling me, "Yeah, dad. Mom is going to Georgia on your anniversary!"

So, I have the kids all by myself this week. Haven't gone it solo that long before, but no problem. We'll have lots of fun. Dorene's parents will watch them through Wednesday, then I have Thursday and Friday off. Who knows what we'll do, but it's always nice to know that your kids look forward to "daddy time."