Equanimity, Part 4

I have not been able to follow up soon enough to the earlier series of posts on equanimity, but you can find them earlier this month. What it came down to was a weeklong series of events that were just crazy in the amount of hours I was working and the elation of getting to celebrate my organization's 30th anniversary and also take in other things.

On the evening of Oct. 30, CFED held its 30th anniversary gala at the National Building Museum. Gloria Steinem was our honorary host, and I'm summing all of this up too quickly but it was an amazing event and such a culmination of a lot of hard work. Kristin busted her ass and put together a wonderful video that tells three stories highlighting the kind of work we do. Take 10 minutes and check it out.


The video was a hit, Steinem made some great jokes and a wonderful set of speeches, and the night was capped off by an awards ceremony and then a moving speech by Bob Friedman, our founder. I cannot do justice to Bob in saying how motivating and caring Bob is about CFED and the people we help. He's an amazing leader, and paired with Andrea our president, they make an amazing duo of leadership that makes me proud to go to work every day.

We got to have a champagne toast at the end of the evening, and of course, you can tell by the photo at the top that my friends and I looked damn fine, if I do say so myself. I decided to go with the Johnny Cash look for the event, black suit, black shirt, black tie. I created a flash slideshow of the evening in pictures, so go check that out as well.

Friday Funnies XIII

It's Thanksgiving, so of course this edition of the Friday Funnies has to involve the holiday. And what better way than to play the hilarious faux trailer from Grindhouse. I know I've featured it on here before, but damn if it doesn't make me laugh every time. "White meat, dark meat, all will be carved." Laughing just typing it out.

My Childhood, Bastardized

One of my favorite movies of all time is Clash of the Titans. I don't think I ever missed it when it was on TV. It's a true classic, and underrated in terms of all-time fun movies to watch. Seriously, people, Harry Hamlin was bare chested throughout the whole damn thing, and he has a confused look on his face to match that tuft on his chest. Hilarious stuff. Then you throw in Burgess Meredith as a sidekick, Ursula Andress as Aprhodite and Laurence Olivier as Zeus, and you have got yourself some crazy cameos in a movie normally given short shrift.

The biggest addition to my life given to me by this movie was of course ... The Kraken. I have always loved the great line from the movie, "How can a mortal man face, and defeat, the Kraken." I've used that line a ton of times throughout my life, and Luke, Eric and others have all shared in the joy of the Kraken as well. We've even gone so far as to never order calamari from a restaurant but, in fact, order Kraken off the menu. Good times.

Well, because Hollywood would sooner burn itself to the ground before coming up with an original idea, they have remade one of my favorite movies. No doubt I will give it its due and see how it turns out, but it looks like a '300' wannabe. But it's got a helluva cast behind it, so they must be taking it seriously. Below are the two trailers. I still think the original is just pure comedy gold.

The original:

The remake:

The Muppets. Good Stuff.

I love the Muppets. I loved them growing up, and they stand the test of time. And even in my older years, they still make me laugh and bring enjoyment to my days. Really, what other entertainment act satisfies and gets people of all age groups such happiness? I want to know, because in talking to others about it, we can't come up with any the even come close. The Simpsons is not bad, but even they have not had the staying power of the Muppets. If you are one of the few who have not seen this yet, make sure you watch it. Good stuff.

Idiot of the Day IV

So when I was traveling back to DC from Miami a couple weeks' back, we arrived at Miami International Airport, also known as useless place to travel from. The airport is obviously much easier to travel from than say, Fort Lauderdale, but that is not saying much. Today's Idiot of the Day lesson is directed at not one, but actually all of these morons in the check-in line.

You see, when we showed up, there were 5 working kiosks, no one at them, and no United employees working behind the counter. So we stood at the back of the line for about two minutes and then realized, unlike the other 30 people in line, that reps from United weren't coming to the counter. Not that hour. Not that day. Probably not ever.

So instead of just waiting for the slow moment of death to arrive, I said fuck all and told the wife to walk around the group and just walk up to the kiosk and get our boarding passes. Everyone stared in awe as she did just that. And after two minutes she came back, we picked up our bags and walked away. In true classy idiot style, everyone didn't move and take our lead. They just kept on standing still. I'm glad none of those idiots was my pilot.

Giving Back. Kinda.

This is a response to my boy Kelly, who had a similar post on his blog. I can't let him go off about being all good to society without sneaking in a pat on the back for myself.

So over the weekend I played in a golf scramble with Dboy, Dr. Dan and Dave (who doesn't have a nickname yet because he's just a dork and doesn't deserve one yet). It was your typical Turkey Shoot, which just about every damn golf course in America does around Thanksgiving. We played like crap early and rebounded stronger on the back nine, but a couple of the other teams had clear ringers so it's not like we ever had a chance of winning. I mean, seriously, Dave noticed a guy on one team who is the head pro at a local course. I'm not going to judge (OK, let's judge) but who the hell bothers to bring in pros to a local golf scramble where the biggest prize is a $50 gift certificate to Modell's Sporting Goods?

Anyway, as part of the proceedings I ended up getting two free turkeys. Since we had already bought ours at the farmers market for our Turkey Day festivities, I suddenly had two 14-pound birds in need of a home. After some brief research (and the realization that these damn birds wouldn't fit in the freezer), we found a good home for them ... the DC Central Kitchen. They are a fantastic organization that not just combats hunger by feeding people, but instead tries to instill positive change and also teach job skills to its clients to help break the poverty cycle. So they got nearly 30 pounds of free turkey from me on Sunday, which was cool. I'm happy to have helped out and played a little part in the 'giving thanks' part of the holiday season.

What I've Read: The Spire

This is another of the really, really few fiction authors that I will spend my time on. The first book of his I read was Degree of Guilt. And honestly, it wasn't like it came recommended or anything. Nope ... back in the day, I was needing a book for a flight, and the cover intrigued me. Then I read the back and it had to do with a reporter and a trial, and I thought, what the hell? Little did I know that I was gleefully jumping into a whole world of intertwining characters and compelling court cases that would have me thinking about all the issues I enjoy contemplating.

What I really love about his novels is that he pairs a trial case with a particular social issue he finds worthwhile. One book is about gun control. Another is about a woman being nominated to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. Another is about abortion rights. He deftly weaves in realistic social causes with well thought-out court cases. He puts that hack John Grisham to shame, yessir.

The Spire is his latest, and it lacks some of the spirit his previous ones had. After two departures from his normal work (Eclipse and Exile), I thought maybe he was taking on more global issues with his work. He mainly partook in American political affairs, but after those two global-themed tomes he returned to quieter subject matter. The Spire is just about a lawyer who is asked to be president of his alma mater. As normal, things are not what they seem. But instead of being a shoot-em-up or some medical thriller, instead in typical Patterson fashion, he delves into the more psychological fare.

It was great to read his newest, and I wish it had been stronger. It just drug on at parts, and didn't have the depth of characters all the way around that he is used to churning out. Hopefully he won't take as long to put out a new one book and that he'll return to the form I know him well to providing. But for now, it's back to the nonfiction.

Game On: Week of Nov. 12

Here is my column from a couple weeks ago, for those who are in the know. Games I reviewed were Tekken 6, LEGO Rock Band and Mario & Sonic at the Winter Games.

What I've Read: Night of Thunder

I love vacations. It means I can, hopefully, create for myself a lot of free time to read and read and read. I love active vacations, but I need them to also include some simple chill-out time. Time to relax and get sucked into something fun. And since I have all but sworn off reading fiction, it is always helpful for a vacation to come along when I can stop everything and blow through the latest novels from the few writers I enjoy. So when I was down in Miami and Big Pine Key for a week, with Hurricane Ida kickin it off the coast, the sunshine was minimal and allowed me to relax and bust through some books.

Reading Stephen Hunter's novels are not something I came to all by myself. I must give credit to my buddy Gerry, who about 8 years ago suggested I read this book he had called The Day Before Midnight. It was bad-ass, let me tell you. I didn't have any preconceptions coming into it, and I loved every minute of reading it. I then went to the bookstore and bought up just about everything he wrote and blew through it all in a matter of weeks. Now, whenever Hunter releases a new book, it's pretty much guaranteed that I am checking it out.

Hunter is a film critic for the Washington Post. Most of the time, I hate his movie reviews. I may enjoy his novels, but he and I see film completely different on most occasions so I tend to avoid his columns at all cost. But within the novel world, he gets plenty of my attention.

Most of his novels surround an awesome character named Bob Lee Swagger. A former marine sniper, Swagger is your typical, "Don't fuck with me or my family" kind of guy. Sadly, everyone who is a bad guy tries to fuck with him and his family, so vengeance must be paid. What I have always loved about the Swagger series is how technical they are about gunnery and all matter of bullet calibers and what they do. I hate guns, and most people know this, but I do love a shooting video game and some books about guys exacting revenge. In real life, not so much, but I'll take the fiction versions just fine.

What sucks after 9 or so novels about the same man and his family is that, eventually, guys get older. Swagger is now an older fellow, but he still has the ability to whip some ass. It's just sad seeing characters age like this, because it's fiction damnit and I want what I want. Plus, Hunter has eluded to about a million other side stories and other life events that instead of writing about how Swagger's hip hurts all the time and he's not as nimble and all that jazz ... hey, how about writing a book about all those crazy missions you keep referring to? Ugh, so frustrating.

Anyway, Night of Thunder was not my favorite, if only because the main narrative centered around a NASCAR event, and if there is anything I hate more than guns, it is NASCAR, and they are not mutually exclusive. So this was not the best setting for me to enjoy a good Bob Lee Swagger tale. Luckily the book was still filled with classic Swagger moments and one-liners, enough to keep me anticipating the next book that comes down the line.

Game On: Week of Oct. 30

Here is my Halloween-themed column from a week or so back. Games reviewed were Borderlands, Saw and Ju-on: The Grudge. Thanks to TCPalm.com for publishing.