Valentine’s Day Massacre

Writer guy

Ah, Valentine’s day. Once a year whether we like it or not, the price of red roses skyrockets, restaurants fill to capacity and diamond jewelers rejoice. Guys worldwide pop the question to the girl of their dreams with help of two months salary now in the form of a shiny stone. New this year, guys can also pop the question to the guy of their dreams, although this varies by locale.

I’ve long had a special relationship with the occasion, because of my birthday. As the tale goes, it was down to the wire, mom was exhausted after 27 hours of labor and threatened that if I didn’t abandon ship immediately, my name was Valentino. It was a narrow escape.

Now that I’m older, I think Valentine’s Day means taking time to let that person you’re with know that – hey person – you’re the one I want to be with.

So to the wife, who can’t read this because she’s home today and I’m on the computer writing – I choose you today.

To my old friend who’s popping the question, I’m in your corner, bro. I’m in the corner of your apartment watching your TV and borrowing a few CD’s. I figured you wouldn’t mind since you’re out tonight getting engaged in a fancy restaurant. Next time leave the door unlocked…

You say it’s your birthday

Writer guy

I’m fighting the urge to wax philosophical today as it is my birthday. But no! I will instead be entertaining, or fall down trying. Warning, I’m old now (31), so I might fall down the stairs at any time.

So the wife and I went to the vet last night for the boy’s checkup and annual inoculations and it was bad juju all around.

Vet: Look sam, your cat has got to lose weight.
sam: What about the wife’s cat? Doesn’t her cat need to lose weight?
Vet: Actually, her cat needs to gain weight.
sam: Well maybe her cat shouldn’t leave her dinner bowl half full where Oedipus can get to it, hmmm?

Then the vet showed me pictures of a cat from three different angles, overhead, side and head on. Studying the massive paunch around the pictured cat’s midsection it was clear to me there was a problem.

Vet: Now having seen those pictures what do you notice about Oedipus?
sam: The cat in the picture needs to lose weight.
Vet: And don’t you think your cat looks just like the cat in the picture?
sam: Not at all. Oedipus is much better looking.

Miracle

Writer guy

Movies about hockey are very hard to make, unless they’re comedies like the Mighty Ducks ( which some might say were really tragedies ). Miracle is not a comedy, it’s not a tragedy, it’s not a dramedy. It’s the story of how an unconventional coach named Herb Brooks led the US Olympic Hockey Team to a 4-3 upset win over the Soviet team in the dark days of the Cold War and the endless nightmare that was the Carter Administration.

I’d heard of this legendary victory, even as sports novice over the years, but I never heard about the man behind the scenes, Herb Brooks. If he was anything like the movie, he was my kind of overacheiver. Someone who had strong instincts, who knew when to trust them even when; even everyone else told him otherwise. He changed the way the US played hockey and the Russians never saw it coming. Neither did the 26 hockey players who fought for 7 grueling months to prove that they should be one of the 20 going to Lake Placid in 1980.

In order to give it a more realistic feel, the movie was shot with natural lighting and they kept the pretty boys to a minimum. Another coup, instead of using lesser known actors and teaching them to play hockey, the got really good hockey players and let them roll in front of the camera. I think we’re going to see a few of them in other movies.

I’m a huge Kurt Russell fan. Ever since Escape from New York, he’s the one guy in Hollywood who deserves the insane paychecks and the attention ( and Goldie Hawn ). Yep, he’s that good but he’s even better here.

Some might charge that the movie is too long. It’s 2 hours and 15 minutes. To those that complain, I say, go to the bathroom before the movie and don’t drink the 198 ounce soda before the end of the trailers. The subject and the story deserve a slightly longer than average running time.

One down note about this project, the real Herb Brooks died in August 2003, in a car accident. He never saw a single frame of Miracle.

As the tagline says, He never saw it. He lived it.