The Unforgiven

I am a huge Clint Eastwood fan. I think he is one of the coolest, toughest leading men of all time. So when I was flipping channels on Sunday as the rest of my family napped I had to watch a little of the Unforgiven. It is probably my favorite western of all time. I was flipping back and forth between that and football, and Braden eventually woke up so I didn't get to see much of the movie. Even though TV time was cut short I thought of my favorite line in the movie and was inspired to write today's post.

In the closing gunfight one of the bad guys played by Gene Hackman says, "...You just shot an unarmed man!"

My hero Mr. Eastwood replies, "Well he should have armed himself..."

That is one of my favorite movie lines, but Sunday it didn't remind me of manly tough guy things. It made me think of my tiny unborn twins. It made me think about their arrival this summer. They will arrive with guns blazing.

Dirty diaper! Pow!

Hungry! Bang!

Wet Diaper! Boom!

I SAID HUNGRY! Bang!

They will be packing a double barrel shotgun full of ammo for me. And they won't care if I'm armed or not. You see in this analogy the twins are Clint Eastwood, and it is up to me to arm myself.

I can either be the unarmed man that goes down in a blaze of pooping, crying, sleepless glory. Or I can do my best to be prepared. I can arm myself with knowledge, patience, understanding, self control, and of course love.

How in the world can I prepare for the birth of twins? I don't really know that exactly. I figure it is like the birth of your first child all over again. Everything is new. Everything must be learned by first hand experience. After all no one in my family has twins. They can't give me advice.

I think the best way to arm myself is through daily prayer and self reflection. I have about six more months to figure out what improvements I need to make. Although much of my life I just barrelled ahead like everything I did was right, I have developed a strong belief in self reflection. Being married to a smart and caring woman has helped me tremendously in this area.

Everyone should regularly take the time to look at their life, how they behave, and how they react to others. By doing this I can easily see that I need to work on my patience. I need to continue my effort to be more selfless. I need to keep working on the idea that I am now, above all things, a husband and father.

I think arming myself with the knowledge that my sole purpose in life will be to care for my wife and three kids is the best thing I can do. Taking the time to wean myself off other pursuits that are really a waste of time is part of that. I have to learn to be more mindful of my time. I'll pray about it, and I'll work on it every day.

In the end I'm just thankful that, unlike the bad guys on the Unforgiven, I've been given enough warning of the gunfight to come that I have time to properly arm myself.

Avatar Describes My Child

There are a few constants in my life. Greatest among them are Arica, Braden, and probably the TV. Since this is a blog about being a Dad it only makes sense that I would eventually compare Braden to TV. Well that day has come.

People never seem to understand why Arica and I have so little free time. They never understand why we say it is so tiring watching Braden. They don't understand why we need to have two parents around as often as possible. These people either raised or have only been around calm kids. They haven't been exposed to kids like Braden. That is the only answer. Because if they watched Braden for a few hours they would not only understand, but they would add us to their daily prayer list as well.

Thinking about this recently I came up with a comparison between watching different types of kids and watching TV. The first and oldest way to watch TV these days is what we now call standard definition TV. It is grainy. It's not to clear. SDTV is just there. SDTV kids are much the same. They are just there. They don't jump into your face. They aren't exceedingly vibrant or colorful. Maybe they are thinkers, and behave much like the statue of the same name. Regardless of the reason it is even possible to forget these kids are in the room at times.

The next type of TV viewing is high definition TV. This TV format has become so common that it is becoming the standard for TV watching. HDTV is made up of much more vivid colors and a clearer picture. It draws your attention and often times simply demands to be watched.  It is much harder to ignore HDTV. HDTV kids are just the same.

The newer type of TV entering the market is 3D TV. Watching TV or a movie in 3D is a much more interactive experience. The show leaps off the screen and right into your face. A 3D kid will do the same. You can't ignore them. They will just climb up in your lap and poke you in the face if you try.

Well Braden is even beyond 3D. I have decided watching him is like watching Avatar 3D in the movie theater. If you went to the theater to see James Cameron's creation then this analogy probably makes a lot more sense. I have never been more immersed in a movie before. It was colorful. It was full of action. And all of it seemed to happen right in my lap.

So there you have it. Watching Braden is like being attacked by flying multicolored dragon birds while giant blue people with magical ponytails try to pierce your heart with an arrow. Any questions?

War Movie Marathon

The long weekend has definitely had an adverse affect on my work productivity. I have already set a new personal record for stammering and saying I can't remember this morning. I didn't do anything to hasten my memory loss this weekend, but three days of low brain function is apparently detrimental to intelligence.

While I try to get on track this morning I'm also thinking about the topic of war movies. I have developed a tradition over the past several years of watching a war movie on Memorial Day. It has become as much a part of mine and Arica's tradition as the annual barbecue. Yesterday we cooked a nice dinner and sat down to watch Saving Private Ryan. This is my favorite war movie of all time. I have seen seemingly hundreds of war movies from classic to modern, but I like this Spielberg directed masterpiece best. I like the new movies which strive for as much realism as possible. I think we have watched Saving Private Ryan the past several Memorial Day's so maybe I should change it up.

I have several others on DVD to choose from. Some of my favorites are We Were Soldiers, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket. You don't even need a DVD player to enjoy war movies on this holiday weekend though. AMC plays a War Movie Marathon every Memorial Day. Yesterday the marathon was full of great classics like Tora! Tora! Tora! and Patton. I recorded the latter to watch one late night while I'm up with Braden.

I know these are just movies. They do not necessarily depict war as it occurs in real life. I know they are meant for entertainment purposes. These movies, however, cause me to ponder questions about the reality of war. They cause me to actually consider what it must have been like to charge the beaches at Normandy. They at least put into your mind that eighteen year old kids had to stare down Panzer Tanks. They had to fight in close combat for their lives. These thoughts help me always remember our veterans and what they must have endured even though I could never truly imagine what they experienced. One of my favorite war shows of all time is Band of Brothers. I usually get it out every summer to enjoy again when all my TV shows are over. The way this miniseries uses interviews with the actual soldiers portrayed in the show adds another element to the experience. It is very powerful to have actual faces that go with the events depicted on screen.

I have always loved war movies. I think my Dad has seen every war movie ever made. At least he has seen all the ones made before 1990. We shared a few of those when I was a kid. I remember watching The Dirty Dozen with him several times. I am sure there were many others that I don't remember. If there weren't it's certainly because I refused to watch preferring to play Nintendo instead.

Braden took his first turn at watching Saving Private Ryan yesterday. This will probably be his last turn for a while though. By next year he will be old enough to be scarred by the language and violence. I might need to start looking now for some GI Joe DVDs to serve as our Memorial Day cinema in the near future.

Hopefully when Braden is older he will enjoy watching war movies with his Dad. I would love to share all the movies above and many others. I would love to sit down for an entire movie marathon with Braden, several buckets of popcorn, a 12 pack of Mt. Dew, and AMC some day. This is just another one of my interests that I hope to share with my son. Surely he will love these movies just like me.

Favorite Movie Characters

I was tagged with a meme by my friend Super Mega Dad yesterday. I had never heard of a meme. As far as I knew meme was a fat lady on the Drew Carey Show or what you might hear if you ask a group of kids for volunteers. Upon further review I found that this meme is a challenge to write a post about my favorite 10 movie characters of all time. Asking a man who owns over 100 DVDs to pick his favorite 10 characters is like asking a parent to choose their favorite child. I only have one kid so it's not like that for me, but you get my point. My favorites would probably change daily but as of right now here is my list in no particular order.

Jimmy Conway - Goodfellas
My friends and I in college had many discussions about the aura of Jimmy Conway. The fact that we were usually inebriated should have no bearing on the validity of our conversation. Jimmy Conway was super cool. The minute he walked into the room every one turned their head. He commanded the room. Everyone wanted to be near him. He was the coolest guy alive.



Michael Corleone - The Godfather Part II
I love Michael. He was ruthless. He moved on Vegas and took down Moe Green. He outwitted Hyman Roth. No one could stand in his way. Not even Fredo.



Indiana Jones - Indiana Jones other than the Crystal Skull
The ending of the last movie was terrible but otherwise I am a big fan of the Indiana Jones movies. Indy took on the Nazis time and again. He battled the crazy satan worshippers in the Temple of Doom. He used a whip. How many other heroes are cool enough to use a whip? I would love to have been along on some of his adventures except for the life threatening parts of course. He did all this while being cool enough to never loose his fedora.



William Wallace - Braveheart
My old friend Shakey would say that the movie Braveheart was hard core. Those battle scenes certainly were. I am going to watch this movie a lot before I go to Scotland this summer. I am sure the locals will love to hear my William Wallace impersonation. If you don't like him then I will consume you with fire from my eyes and bolts of lightening from my arse.



R.P. McMurphy - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
McMurphy loved to party. He snuck women into the hospital and his friends out of the hospital. He loved baseball. He played basketball and poker. What a guy. All the while he refused to be controlled. He was the ultimate rebel and a crazy one at that.



Doc Holliday - Tombstone
Val Kilmer stole the whole movie with this performance. Doc was the fastest gun in the west. He was always drunk and sick but still fast enough to take down Johnny Ringo. Not only was Doc cool and deadly he was funny. His one liners are great.



Trent - Swingers
He was the ultimate party guy. Everyone wanted to hang out with Trent. He was the guy that has too much to drink and goes to waffle house in the wee hours to eat. While there he makes a scene maybe even singing the Waffle House song. I heard that people do that.



Navin Johnson - The Jerk
This movie absolutely cracks me up every time I watch it. It was made of course back when Steve Martin was still alive. The amount of his lines stored up in my brain would crash a super computer.



Carl Spackler - Caddyshack
One of the great comedic characters of all time. The scene in Carl's "home" with Chevy Chase is pure comedic gold. I can never play golf without at least once yelling "It's in the hole!"



Clark W. Griswold - Vacation and Christmas Vacation
Clark is the ultimate family man. All of us dad bloggers should strive to give the same type of attention to our families that he does. We should never strive to do it in the same manner though because it would be very dangerous. I laugh at my buddy Clark over and over. It never gets old.



The final part of this challenge is to tag 5 more freinds on which to bestow this honor. I tried to pick some guys that I have seen talk about movies. Below are my victims. Go visit their sites and pressure them to take part. Have fun if you are among the chosen.

Daddy Files
New-Dad-Blog
Mike @ Unraveling Life's Mysteries
Fatherhood: The Final Frontier
Rob @ PB and Smelly's Dad

Born to Do What

I have seen the movie Juno many times. I have to admit that my wife drug me to see it the first time. I was surprised to find that it was a funny, enjoyable movie. It is certainly not for kiddies as it covers the topic of teenage pregnancy, but that doesn't matter. This post is not about the movie. It is about a line in the movie that made me think. This is how much of my life works. A favorite line from a movie or TV show inspires my thought, or more likely a real life event inspires my recollection of a movie. I know it is a sad existence, but such is the curse of someone who can remember almost anything.

The scene in Juno is set at the future adoptive parents house. The prospective mom is talking about how she has always wanted to be a mother. She asks Juno's dad, the biological grandfather to be, if he ever felt like he was born to do something. His reply is my favorite line of the movie. He says, "Yes, heating and air conditioning." I have no idea why I think that is so funny, but it makes me laugh out loud every time. I think it is the matter of fact way he states his life's purpose to the babbling rich girl that gets me. He replies in a way that is part smart ass and part regular working man who is proud of his job. I was thinking about that exchange today. What was I born to do? Better yet what was Braden born to do?

Everyone has a certain set of skills that make them better at some things than others. While environment certainly plays a major role, I think some things are just there from birth. Michael Jordan was born with skills that would help him be the greatest basketball player of all time. Yes he worked hard, but without his god given abilities he wouldn't have been the greatest. Beethoven was born with such skills as well. Us regular people have much less obvious skill sets. It is possible that we go our whole lives without actually finding what we are born to do. I was probably not born to be an engineer. I am good at it, but that was probably not my calling. I think, if anything, I was born to be a sports fan or a beach bum. Neither of those things pay too well so here I am in the engineering field.

What could Braden's special abilities be? At this point he seems to have been born for spoiling, but someday he will move on to other things. He could be anything. He could be an engineer like me, or he could study psychology and counseling like his mother. He could have a heroic job like firefighter. He could be an athlete, doctor, business man, or anything else. As a baby there are no limits to what his future holds. It will be a while before Braden's special skills completely reveal themselves. He could be good at math, skilled with music, a fast runner, a deep thinker, or any number of other things. I only hope that as his father I can nurture his abilities and encourage him to find what he truly enjoys. Watching as Braden finds what he was born to do could eventually help me find my perfect job as well. The job of proud father.

Academy Award Winners

This Sunday marks the yearly festival where ridiculously rich Hollywood types gather together for a mutual love fest, handing out statues of a little golden man. That's right it is time for the 2009 Oscars. I have never been one to watch the award shows on TV. Like most people I have seen some bits and pieces over the years but it is certainly not must see TV.

Recently I have found some use for the Oscars. By viewing the nominations I hope to find a movie or two that I have missed out on because it flew under my radar. The awards for 2006 helped me out in that arena. I had not heard about "The Last King of Scotland" until Forrest Whitaker was nominated for best actor, which he won. I watched and loved that movie. I have seen it several times and Whitaker gave a powerful and scary performance as Idi Amin the Ugandan dictator. Another movie I found from that year's awards and enjoyed to a slightly lesser degree was "Little Miss Sunshine." It was nominated for several awards. Alan Arkin won for supporting actor. While I always enjoy him I am not sure how he won for that performance. Nonetheless, the movie had that enjoyable independent low budget feel while remaining clever and funny. It was a nice movie. Last year I watched and enjoyed "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men" in part due to their Oscar buzz.

Most of the time I don't agree with the Best Picture winners. Sometimes I disagree on merit, believing a movie just wasn't deserving or maybe another movie was more deserving. Other times I am just not interested in whatever documentary or independent type film the Hollywood elite are pushing that particular year. Once in a while they agree with me.

The new dad spin on this post is wondering which Academy Award Best Picture winners are worthy of passing down to my son. My regular readers know that I wonder what type of interest Braden and I will share quite often. I have already wondered will he fish with me? Will he watch Seinfeld with me? Will he play a musical instrument? Today I am asking myself which movies I will choose to share with him. My DVD collection is well over 100 movies so I have many favorites to choose from. I am sure the best way is to watch movies and allow him to show interest as he pleases, but for the sake of this discussion I am going to choose movies to share. I am limiting it only to the Best Picture winners in honor of the Academy handing out some new hardware this weekend.
Below is my list of worthy films compiled from the list of winners found here. There are some others that just barely missed the final cut like "No Country for Old Men." I enjoyed the old war movies "Patton" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai", but I didn't quite feel strongly enough about them to merit their inclusion. While on the subject of war movies it is inexplicable that "Saving Private Ryan" did not win even though Spielberg did win best director. Without further ado I give you my list.

• 2006: The Departed - Thank you Scorsese for going back to your gangster roots
• 2003: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - Unbelievable trilogy. I don't care if it makes me a dork or not.
• 2000: Gladiator - ....I will have my vengeance in this life or the next. (I actually tried to recite this entire quote standing in the middle of the Colosseum. That settles it. I am a dork)
• 1995: Braveheart - Epic battle scenes are awesome
• 1994: Forest Gump - Hilarious with a mix of hope, destiny, and chance floating on a breeze
• 1992: Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood. Enough said.
• 1988: Rain Man - Dustin Hoffman is unreal
• 1986: Platoon - I love war movies and they rarely make the cut for Oscar
• 1976: Rocky - Rocky is one of the greatest movie characters of all time
• 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Jack Nicholson at his best
• 1974: The Godfather Part II - I think Godfather I & II combine to form the greatest movie of all time.
• 1972: The Godfather - see above

Gran Torino and Clint Eastwood

I watched the movie Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood recently. I am a huge Eastwood fan and I loved the movie. Eastwood still has the same tough guy presence that made him famous. He delivers his curt one liners as as well as ever. It's a good movie and there are a lot of other things to praise, but this is not a movie review blog so I will let someone else handle that. I want to write about the tough guys we all loved and to wonder if any more will follow in the future.

For my money Clint Eastwood was the coolest, toughest leading man of all time. Before any John Wayne supporters attempt to bomb my house I want to throw some support his way as well. The Duke is great and I would never say anything bad about him. It just happens that I like Eastwood better. I think he is the tough guy of my generation or at least the generation closest to me while John Wayne is for the older generation. You can't lose with either one. They both carried all the pictures they were in with their presence. All guys wanted to be like them and all women wanted to be with them. Like I touched on in my Diaper Fear post, all boys want to grow up and be tough like these two heroes of the silver screen.


I hope Braden wants to grow up to be like me. I want to be his hero but it would be nice if there was an up and coming tough guy for him to enjoy at the movies. As long as AMC is around the Duke and Clint will never die, but the new generation needs their own heroes. So I wonder like George Jones once sang about the great country crooners, "Who's gonna fill their shoes?" I'm open to any suggestions because frankly I don't think it can be done. There will never be another John Wayne. There will never be another Clint Eastwood. Gone are the days when acting carried movies. When a strong male lead could guarantee a great movie. Today most movies filmed with guys in mind are special effects monsters. We are supposed to get more excited by motorcylces jumping into helicopters and other ridiculous stunts than by the actors. I hope a new hero emerges some day. The western genre that made John Wayne and Clint Eastwood famous is pretty much dead, but there are still a lot of cop movies to be made. There may not be another Dirty Harry but for Braden's sake I hope Hollywood can come up with somebody.