Believe it or not, I'm walking on air...

Does anyone remember the old tv show, "Greatest American Hero"? In it, the hero has newfound powers that he is determined to use for good. He can fly, has superhuman strength and numerous other powers, some of which seem to pop up as the series continued.

The problem was, since the powers were all quite new to him, he was terrible at using them. His flying was awkward, his landings were more like crashes. He ended up breaking things when he didn't mean to and generally bungled many of the things he tried to apply his new found skills too. But, his learning curve was steep, and, through practice, he brought multiple baddies to justice.

I think I too have discovered my "super skills", the stuff I pretty good at. But just like The Greatest American Hero, it takes a lot of practice to get those skills to be effective. And even with practice, things don't always go quite right.

Fury

I went and caught the movie "Fury" the other night with the oldest son.

So, here are some random quick thoughts on the movie:

- Those who have studied WWII a little bit know that the war was winding down by April of 1945. What we sometimes forget is that the youth and old men that defended the last vestiges of Nazi Germany were often fanatic fighters and several major battles happened during this period, that involved desperate house to house fighting and grim tank battles. These are well depicted in this movie.

- T his movie is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it showed numerous gory and brutal scenes.

-I appreciated the tactical/technical aspects it displayed. War movies often overlook that war is a game of hard work and tiring tactics. But, tried and effective tactics were used by WWII soldiers and tankers and they were effective.

- The movie worked hard to portray the 'heroes" as realistic, flawed and gritty real life people. But, I think that they went over the top with just how flawed they portrayed these men. I consider our soldiers from this era as honorable heroic men that, yes, sometimes did flawed things. This movie shows them as flawed, dirty barbarians that sometimes did heroic or honorable things.
But then, I suppose that is what art does, exaggerate things to make a point.

“Those who tell the stories rule society.”

― Plato

The Remedy, or, Dread Diseases are No Fun!

Where have I been?

Well, with all the hullabaloo about our pending plague, I have read up a little on one of our previous infectious nemesis. This dread disease, labeled with the title that conjures more romantic connotations, consumption, was an incurable scourge for centuries.



Here's a list of Famous Victms of Tuberculosis

This book had interest to me, as it traced the disease, the attempts to discover its causes and cures, and the parallel life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and how Sherlock Holmes helped lead to a more scientific approach to medicine in general and epidemiology in particular.

For a few more words about this book, head on over here.

Simplify

Simplicity

   "Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication"

Leonardo Da Vinci

Sometimes it feels like we do things for circular reasons?

 

 For instance, have you ever felt like you keep your job that you may not want so you can keep a house that you may not want so you can stay in a place you may not want to be and maintain a lifestyle that you really aren't thrilled about?

Or have you ever felt like you were just spinning your wheels and not really living the life you should be living.

We are examining some of these things in our family now and looking at what it might take to embrace some more simplicity. 

I will let you know how that goes for us.

The Identical

I recently attended a pre-screening of the new movie, The Identical. Since it is released tonight and they were kind enough to let me come out and watch it early, I wanna let you know about it.

The basic gist is that a very Elvis like character has an identical twin that grows up in the 50's not knowing who he is, but finally finding his place as a first class impersonator of his superstar twin.

It is a fun movie, with some catchy original tunes, has a great cast, including Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta in major roles and it deals with a them that many of us struggle with, the idea of "what is my purpose and calling in life".

It won't be the supersplash hit of the year, but I think you will enjoy it and maybe even be a little challenged by the message> Maybe you will even be inspired to be a rockstar!

Check out The Identical

Look it in the eye

Look It In the Eye


I am looking for a pack of warriors to run with
that are ready to swing their swords
Train hard and have fun

Those that aren't afraid to stand up to the world, look it in the eye and say
"This is not how you should be!
And I can't fix everything, but I mean to leave a mark."

I am looking for a pack of warriors to run with
and I am ready to swing my sword.