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It’s not the next Bourne Identity. It wants to be The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, but it’s just not that good. Don Cheadle should have stayed in the hotel Rwanda and waited for a better project. The subject matter could have been thought provoking. We could have been shown different perspectives of Faith and Politics, but once again the lowest common denominator wins out. That is the fear of upsetting ethnic/political groups and the assumption movie goers are stupid and afraid to see anything that may make us think. The result is a standard no surprise journey where we know the good guy is the good guy despite what everyone else says and we are supposed to sympathize with the bad guys because they have been misled by their leaders. Oh, and the CIA is doing shady things!

Score one for the trailers. I had hopes of a decent movie, but now I feel betrayed.

I like Vin Diesel. He has had some good character roles and was pretty good in XXX. I’d like to think he takes himself seriously as an actor, but this latest disaster makes me wonder. The movie is a mess from beginning to end. The story makes little sense and the dialog is laughable. Vin tries to do some Clint Eastwood one liners to no avail. The editing leaves me questioning what was left out and how bad it had to be to not make it into this film. It is clear that money was invested to make a film in order to make more money. Pay some actors and some effects people and turn out some formulaic sci-fi action movie. The first weekend sales will hopefully payoff enough before word of mouth gets out. DVD sales will bring in the rest, I guess. There are good stories and good film makers waiting for a chance to turn them into movies. That movies like this are allowed to be made is depressing and represents a cancer that infects the entire industry. I took this one for the team, so you don’t have too.

Car Sense

Dings, chirps, chimes and gongs
Greet you as the car starts.
Flit, flicker and flash
Go lights before your eyes.
Engine vibrrrato
Feeling pedal and wheel.
Senses attuned…you drive.

Death Race is a remake/homage to the fabulous Roger Corman produced B-movie Death Race 2000. Unfortunately this new Death Race is not as fun and certainly not as funny as the 1975 film in which points are scored for hit and runs. Gore and violent death are depicted with exquisite care in this movie, but it’s just not that much fun. Some will like the cars and the driving scenes which are well done and must have cost a pretty penny to produce. Maybe I’m just a cynic, but you just don’t care about any of these characters and so just don’t care who wins or dies. Jason Statham is an OK actor and we should feel bad for his situation, but I just couldn’t. What really turned me off about this movie was the disclaimer at the end admonishing us not to attempt any of the stunts depicted in the film. What lawyer convinced them they needed to have that in there? Or was it a clever Corman gimmick to make us want to do something stupid and blame the movie and create some publicity? I don’t care. If you want to have fun, find a copy of Death Race 2000. It’ll cost less than the ticket to this Death Race.

A Summer blockbuster that isn’t afraid to go there, wherever there is. Movie parodies are not new, but there hasn’t been a movie that pokes fun at a movie genre like this in my memory. This movie won’t appeal to everyone and it’s not for the youngsters. It earns its R rating with some very adult language that is pretty funny in how and when it’s delivered. Robert Downey is once again brilliant in his character. He is really hitting his stride as an actor. Ben Stiller is good as the action hero archetype. All the usual Hollywood stereotypes are presented in their stereotypical ways. The cold-blooded producer/studio mogul, sycophantic agent, crazed director and pampered actor are all played seriously and the decent dialog makes for some clever and very humorous scenes. Some folks will not recognize Tom Cruise in the film, but his voice is easily recognizable. He only has one voice and has never been able to produce any kind of believable accent. His character portrayal was arguably the best thing in the movie, but all the characters and a good script are what make this a worthwhile movie to see.

I just spent a week down in North Myrtle Beach seeing my Dad, Stepmom, and Brother. My brother has been going down for years and his in-laws for decades, so they know the area. My Dad lives in Florida and it is a not too inconvenient place for us all to get together. My brother gets a condo on the beach and we got a good deal on a place less than a mile away just behind the House of Blues. Being off the beach means lower prices and less parking hassles. The resort had a shuttle that would take you to the beach or the nearby shopping plaza, which is a nice added service.

Our condo was very nice. Well appointed with washer/dryer, dishwasher, icemaker, and all the kitchenware you needed. We had three bedrooms and each had its own bath and even its own entrance, if you wanted to use it.The resort pool was huge and was filled with salt water. Not as salty as the sea, but still salted. It must be cheaper to maintain that way. North Myrtle is family friendly and there were lots of kids and families of all sorts in the pool all day. I would go for a walk in morning up and down the marina and look at the boats and wander around the resort roads. With temperatures in the 90’s, it was easy to work up a sweat and I’d hit the pool for a bit to stretch out and cool down. A large hot tub(small hot pool really) was poolside too. Many a golf widow came out early to get some sun, or maybe just to get away from the kids. There was evidence of real money along the quay with some impressive power boats and cabin cruisers. Hummers, vette’s and a white Ferrari F430 were regular visitors to the boats. I’m not into golf anymore, so I left that up to my brother and dad. I would venture out to various pawnshops to see what I could see. Evenings we’d play poker with some of the older kids. I lost several dollars in Texas Hold’em due to knowing how to play, which is a severe disadvantage with my family.

There was a jetski outfit on the dock that would lead you out into the Atlantic to see dolphins feeding around the shrimp boats. I had to try it and took my nephew and his fiance too. They rode together on one ski and I was on one by myself. I hadn’t been on a jetski before and the guide scared me a little saying we’d have to make 30mph along the waterway to get out to the ocean and the swells would be over 5 foot. His claim of 30mph was a bit off. Once out of the ‘no wake’ zone of the marina, I was doing 50mph trying to keep up. I learned quickly to use my legs as shock absorbers. I went over some wakes and hit hard a few times. Out in the ocean it was even more fun with the swells. I was airborne a lot going through the surf. It was so much fun I couldn’t believe it. We did see a number of dolphins, but it was difficult to take pictures. I had to try to control the jetski with the waves coming at me and then try to focus on the sea creatures who came up when I least expected them. I got a couple of shots of fins. I tell people they were sharks.
Coming back we got to just play with the jetskis. I gave my camera to my nephew to get some action shots of me, but he apparently had problems finding the power button and so there is no evidence of me flying across the waters of the Intercoastal Waterway. I got great pictures of him and his fiance, of coarse.

The week didn’t last very long at all and I had to return to my hovel here in Western PA. I look forward to my next visit and can see how it can easily become a tradition for anyone.

Saturday started out pretty dreary, but I headed down to Morgantown, WV to compete in the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) West Virginia Championship. It had stormed off and on overnight and anyone who has ever set up a match knows how the weather can really muck up the best laid plans. I pulled into the Mason-Dixon Rifle Club wondering not only if I was going to need a rain jacket, but maybe waders too. The M.D.R.C. is kind of my home club and I know what water can do to the shooting bays. Lew Soccorsi is the President of the Club and coordinates the IDPA events. He and his crew worked tirelessly preparing for this event and it was evident that Lew had all his ducks in a row. This was their second time hosting the WV State Championship in as many years and Lew doesn’t leave anything to chance. The shooting bays were in great shape and we were lucky that we only suffered some light rain off and on throughout the morning hours. The schedule said shooting would start at 0800 and you know what? I do believe I heard rounds going down range at 0759. Getting started on time has a big psychological effect on folks. It told me we were going to have another well run match. There were 10 stages of fire spread out over 9 shooting bays including an indoor stage with reduced lighting. There were 10 squads and most squads had 10-11 shooters. RO’s shot the match Friday, so I figure close to 130 people participated in this match. I met shooters from South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and even a few from West Virginia. It’s hard to find a friendlier group of people. In IDPA I’ve found there are only a few degrees of separation  between us all. You talk to a perfect stranger and within a minute or two you both were at a match with so-n-so, who everybody knows.

The stages were fairly straight forward, yet tested a number of essential gun handling skills. There were strong hand and weak hand only strings on one stage and several stages required shooting from unconventional positions such as kneeling, prone and supine. The use of cover was emphasized throughout. There were doors to open and vehicles to shoot around. Targets were standard IDPA and poppers. Many of the paper targets had hard cover areas painted black that attracted a fair number of hits in our squad. This forced me to really concentrate on that front sight.

There were some targets activated by poppers and one interesting mover set off by an electric eye. That was arguably the most challenging stage with a variety of targets and when the mover was triggered it was exposed for what seemed like only a second and a half. Even though you knew it was coming and you could be ready for it, it moved by really quick. I fired 3 rounds and got 2 hits (both down 1).

Everyone in my squad was impressed with how smooth everything went and how professional the RO’s and volunteers were. They were great! They made sure the shooters experience was the best it could be. They were fair and very helpful. Safety was stressed at all times. We only had one reshoot due to a popup target malfunction. We actually finished almost an hour before the scheduled time and no one was complaining about that. Even the lunch provided was exceptional. A nice catering job. Everyone had plenty to eat and even leftovers during the awards presentations.

The swag bag was decent. A nice T-shirt design and some vendor samples. Springfield Armory donated a couple of XD 9mm’s. One was raffled off to raise money for the club and the other was given as a door prize for the RO’s. A very considerate gesture to recognize the folks that worked their butts off before, during and after the match. Had I known I could have won an XD (even a 9mm), I might have tried to get into an RO class this year. The prize table was pretty good too. Blackwater and Storm Mountain donated certificates to attend one of their classes and Starline donated gift certificates for some brass. Glock owners were particularly happy to see the number of donated magazines. There were the usual range bags, T-shirts and various vendor items.

Oh, and how did I do? Well, I’m proud that I placed First as Sharpshooter in the Stock Service Revolver division. Revolvers are seriously under represented in IDPA. I shot my stock S&W 686 4″ in a Bladetech Kydex holster. I used Remington 158gr. Lead hollow point +P ammunition that factory specs says would make a 140,620 power factor. Nobody can accuse me of using wimpy loads for an advantage. The spirit of IDPA is to use real world handguns with real world loads. If I can be accused of any ‘gaming’ it might be the Safariland Comp III’s I used. They are big and bulky and I honestly haven’t carried them on the street where the Comp II’s are hard to beat.

So, it was a fun match and I did pretty good for my ego and have a piece of wood for my wall. I met some interesting people and got to shoot almost 150 rounds in a day. Some may think my expectations are low, but to me it doesn’t get much better than that.

If you carry a handgun for defense of self and/or those in your care, then competition like IDPA can only improve your skills.

Knowing me and knowing you there are more than a few closet ABBA fans who listen happily to their ipods, ready to make excuses as to how these songs got on there. Few could have turned Swedish folk music into iconic pop songs, but Benny and Bjorn did and we’ve been tapping toes and singing along since the early 70’s. Now there is a movie attempting to incorporate ABBAriginal songs into a traditional movie musical format. Mamma Mia has been a big hit on Broadway for years and the this movie adaptation only makes me want to see the Broadway show all the more. It’s not a bad movie, but it’s not very good either. The effort to film a greek island detracts from the story and the music. The shots are beautiful, but they tended to distract from the emotion and energy that the characters were projecting. This is a problem all film versions of stage shows can suffer. Live shows really are an interactive experience between the audience and performers. There is an exchange that can’t be duplicated on a big screen. Despite the awkwardness of the production, the film is fun and will draw you into it. Ok, Pierce Brosnan shouldn’t try to sing, but he is the quintessential romantic figure for many middle aged folks. You want him to get his girl. If you like the songs, you’ll like the movie. If you want to make points with your significant other, take him or her and you’ll have a good time and maybe a ‘get out of jail free’ card to use at a later date. As for me, I have a dream….to see the Broadway show at the Winter Garden Theatre before it closes.

The movie lives up to the hype. I was thoroughly entertained for two and a half hours. There was less back story and more action in this one. It is assumed you know the Batman story and they make no effort to bring newbies up to speed. Heath Ledger’s Joker carries the movie throughout. I was worried that his last role was being built up as a tribute, but he creates maybe the greatest movie villain of all time. Yes, it rivals Xavier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.This is an Oscar worthy performance. Everyone else is a supporting actor and they are pretty good. Christian Bale as Batman is arguably the weakest link. He suffers from the Batman costume curse. He spends most his screen time in the cumbersome costume and uses the annoying ‘Dark Knight’ voice (I guess to keep us from guessing he’s Bruce Wayne, who he is?). Maybe it was too long. They could have cut it down a bit, but you’d have to sacrifice some Joker moments, and that would be a waste. With the money this is going to pull in, there will be another installment in a few years. It will be very difficult to top this one.

Everyone should have a black rifle. It’s usually a version of the military service rifle and in this country that means a AR-15. There are a myriad of companies making AR-15 style weapon systems these days. The choice is personal and each manufacturer has features they claim makes theirs better. Being a poor civil servant, I couldn’t just go out and pick up the latest from Sabre Defence, Rock River, S&W, or a Semi-custom piece from Les Baer or Wilson Tactical. I’ll have to wait for lottery winnings to afford those. Luckily for me, a few years ago I stumbled upon a used AR-15 at a local gun shop. Checking it out I found it was an original Colt AR-15 Match Target Lightweight. It was used, but I couldn’t find any wear on the thing. It was like new in my opinion. It was bargain priced and all original, so I took my prancing pony home. Built during the dark Assault Weapon Ban years it had a fixed stock and was lacking the evil bayonet lug and flash suppressor. Being a Colt I can count on a magnafluxed barrel and bolt carrier. Some may not think that important, but it’s added assurance that there are no defects in those critical parts. The lightweight 16″ pencil barrel is a feature to me. I doubt I’ll be heating it up in any sustained firing (Zombie outbreaks have dropped off in recent years) and it lends to a overall balance I find comfortable. I added a collapsible stock, carbine forend with rails, and a First Samco pistol grip. I have an EOTech sight, but haven’t found a mount I like with the fixed carry handle. Again, being a Colt it has a 1:7 twist barrel. I would prefer 1:8 or 1:9 just for the wider range of bullets that can work with it. Lighter bullets (like cheaper surplus 55gr loads) may be over stabilized or even come apart in flight. The standard 62gr bullets are fine and it appears everyone likes the heavier bullets these days. I have a supply of greek surplus 55gr rounds and haven’t seen any keyholing or jackets separating, but accuracy is not the greatest. I’ve used it in rifle side matches at local USPSA events and it hasn’t embarassed me. I’ll eventually get a new flattop rifle of some type; piston operated with all the gadgets mounted and in some exotic new caliber. Until then I’ll be comfortable with my Colt. It will be more than enough for any likely doomsday scenario I’m going to face.

The Folio Society had a discount sale recently and I couldn’t resist adding a few more books to the library. The Brothers Karamazoz I had to get. A small edition of Blake’s Songs of Innocence & of Experience. It’s about 4×6 inches and has prints of Blake’s original colored plates for each poem. It is delightful. Einstein’s Relativity is a surprise, but it was inexpensive and I hope to delve into it sometime soon. The picture shows some of my Folio books. (click for a full size Hi-res image) I fear there will be more before too long.

Update (2/28/2013): Got all the Folio books in one place. Due to space and desire to keep my loving partner, I am limited to 3 and a half of these book shelves. Half-price Books probably made a tidy sum off me, but I hope my loss is someone else’s gain. I divested myself of many, many boxes of books and kept the makings of a well rounded library with the Harvard Classics, Britannica Great Book series, the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Various dictionaries/references, and the complete Aubrey & Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian.

The other bookcases hold my military history, strategy, combat psychology and weapon craft works. With limited space I have to be rather selective as to what to keep. I’m starting to use that strange and wondrous thing, the library, more. The Kindle and iPad give me some much needed flexibility too. Electronic hoarding, so far, not been made a recognized diagnosis.
(Click on thumbnails for higher res images)

Pixar knows how to make beautiful animated features. Wall-E is a technical masterpiece and is the cutting edge in digital animation. You can’t help but be astounded at all the details and depth of imagery. Disney/Pixar has made a great effort in turning a mobile trash compactor into a convincing emotive being. The story is a simple lonely boy meets girl-loses girl-rescues girl-saves mankind archetype. There is a kind of dark noir about it. Sort of a Mad Max/Bladerunner meets looney Tunes feel and look. The dreary Earth we initially see is spectacularly grim and dismal. Only an eccentric robot could find it appealing. When he follows his sweetheart to the ‘mothership’ we see a cartoon portrayal of humanity at its most sedentary. (already I’ve seen news reports of protests from calorically challenged advocacy groups) The moral of the story hits you with little subtlety. Man=Bad; Robots=Bad; Robots who somehow develop human feelings by watching old Disney musicals=Good; and without Man on the Earth, Gaia will recover…given 700 years or so. Wall-E is a movie to see and experience, don’t think too much about it.

Finally, a movie this Summer that assumes you are smart enough to get it. Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed this feature and you can tell he was making a movie he wanted to see, not what he thought the public or investors wanted in order to make money. The story was good, the dialog intelligent and darkly funny. The visuals are extraordinary as you would expect from del Toro. He takes great care in his creatures and with CGI effects he can bring to the screen his director’s vision. Perlman has a charisma that can’t be ignored. You can’t help but root for the lovable demon. I can’t watch the old Beauty & the Beast shows, but I understand why so many did. The Wu-shu acrobatic fights are de rigor these days and I’m a sucker for good sword and spear demonstrations. I even saw an actor move around without her finger on the trigger of her Glock, a nod to a semblance of proper gun handling. I don’t think Hellboy will be part of the Avenger Project, but this super hero movie is as good as the Hulk and very close to Ironman, in my opinion. I went to a matinee, but I would not have been disappointed paying full price for Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Get Smart was not very. Maybe it’s because I’m old enough to remember the TV show and how funny it was. Buck Henry was clever and edgy. Don Adams had a unique delivery and great timing. It was clear the movie was catering to a wider audience and would not dare to risk offending any recognized ‘group’. You can quip about the CIA and a psychotic VP with a pacemaker or portray the President reading a book to schoolchildren at the moment of crisis, but you are hardly pushing the envelope there. There was a wealth of talented comedic actors in this film and they were let down by a boring formulaic script that was not an homage to a groundbreaking TV comedy, but an insult to my intelligence and an embarrassment to the comedy genre. Don’t pay to see this movie. Wait for ‘on demand’ and hope for a $1.99 special. Then you won’t think you wasted much money, only time.

I received a few new Folio editions recently. The latest in the Poets series is Shelley and it is a beautiful volume. It has 64 of his more popular works and includes both short and longer pieces. The fonts are large and easy to read. The format is 7.5″ x 11.25″. The only criticism I can make is the selection of poems could be greater, but the editors have to draw the line somewhere. I also got Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. An account of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. Robinson Crusoe is another exquisite Folio book. The Folio Society has spoiled me when it comes to buying books. Once you go Folio, it’s very hard to go back to plain hardbacks with loose, ugly dust jackets. Check out their great intoductory offers: www.foliosociety.com