11/20/04--Raising kids...screwing with their minds

So last night we went to watch American Heritage play Chaminade-Madonna, mainly because the kids were in the band, but partially because it was supposed to be a good game.  And it was...for about 3 quarters of total slobberknocker football.
The game was 0-0 at the end of 3, with both teams defenses really play great football.  Then, within the space of about 5 minutes, it was 21-0--Chaminade.  I think the Heritage defense just flat got worn down.  Anyway, I had a couple of opportunities to screw with the kids...and naturally I took advantage.
So Kim goes to the restroom, and I'm standing around with Kellie....just doing some people watching.  So all of a sudden, walking towards us, is a young girl, a teenager and she is....how shall I put this....rather amply endowed in the chestal area.  Seizing my moment....the following conversation took place.
"Oh my God!" I said.
"What?" Kellie replied.
"That girl....she has...ya know....HUGE boobs!"

Dramatic pause.

"I do NOT know you."

So then, on the ride home from the game (and after a brief stop at Jaxson's ice cream shop---MMM!) I was talking to Kellie about band stuff and how she had enjoyed playing that night.  And Andy comes up with this little gem.
"Well I had fun tonight because we were playing (this is a quote) DRIVING ROCK."
"Say what?" all 3 of us replied.
"Yeah, we were playing DRIVING ROCK music."
"Uh...Andy...the only song you guys played that I recognized was 'Kokomo' by the Beach Boys...that is NOT DRIVING ROCK."
"Well we played this one song called 'Vehicle'."
"Okay...that would be a song about driving.  That does not make it a driving rock song.  A driving rock song is your Bon Jovi...your Bruce Springsteen...Rolling Stones.  'Kokomo' is not driving rock."
"Oh."

My son...the music fan.

DVD Reviews!!
Continuing my alphabetical look at my DVD collection, I realized that I had skipped one on our last look.
APOCALYSPE NOW--from 1979 comes Francis Ford Coppola's reworking of Joseph Conrad's epic "Heart of Darkness".  A stunning, visionary look at the insantity of war and stars Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall & Marlon Brando.  Sheen's
Lt. Willard is sent on a mission to find a rogue Colonel Kurtz (Brando) who has established his own private kingdom deep within the jungles of southeast Asia.
His assignment?  "Terminate with extreme prejudice".  The movieis 153 minutes long....and for about 110 minutes, its an absolute 5-star classic....maybe one of the greatest movies of alltime.  However, truthfully speaking, the last 45 minutes are an extremely weird, bizaare series of images and jumbled dialogue by Brando as the crazed jungle leader.  Still, this film is a must-see, with lots of great actors in much smaller parts than they would have later in their careers (Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, etc).  The helicopter attack on the village is a landmark in film.
****1/2

BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES....the 1946 winner for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, this is a tremendous, if slightly dated, look at soldiers returning from war and the impact it has had on them and their families and loved ones.  When watching this movie, you have to understand how incredibly daring some of the subject matter was for its time.  Frederic March's Al Stephenson is an alchoholic who has become a stranger to his family.  Dana Andrews was never better than as Fred Derry, a war hero who returns to a loveless marriage and no job skills.  And finally, Harold Russell is young sailor Homer Parrish, returning home as a physical cripple who has to learn to accept the help of his loved ones.  Think about topics like that in the context of 1946.  That was pretty heady stuff, especially when you throw in Andrews plotline of a married man drifting into an affair with March's daughter.  There's a lot going on here, and even at just under 3 hours, there's not one boring minute.  A terrific film, one of my top 20 of alltime.  ****3/4

Later,
Jeff