Brad Paisley H20 part 2 & Pizza Hut Park

We went to see the Brad Paisley Concert at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. It was our first big show of the year. These are not good economic times! But Hey, It was Brad! This is about the 6th time for us to see him live and I rank his show on the same level as U2, Paul McCartney shows for pure entertainment and playing at a high, high level. The opening acts were Jerrod Niemann, and Blake Shelton. I could have listened to Judge Jerrod for twice as long and Blake showed another side of his act by doing "Play That Funky Music White Boy"!

Did I say it was an outdoor concert? Did I say hot? Bottled water at $4 bucks! 100+ degrees!

Brad did about 22 songs. I have talked about him before and will just say for my OKIE friends:

He will bring this show to Tulsa in January and you WILL like it!

The other star is Frisco, Texas and Pizza Hut Park. This park is home to Dallas' Pro Soccer team and is built as a multi use stadium. It holds 20,000 for soccer and up to 30,000 for a concert. The stage is permanent and the place is easy in and out. Parking lots are on both sides. Concession/toilets are great! Shade structures on the plaza. It is next door to a large

entertainment district with plenty of restaurants. It even borders an expressway.

But it had one major flaw! I have documented that my beverage of choice is Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi------NOT Diet RC! Who knew that they even made it? So for me it was $4.00 waters and $5.00 Lemonades. By the Way, the Beer Drinkers were paying $11.00 for a beer!

Did I say it was hot? CRAP it was hot.

By the way this night there was about 25,000 present and about 8,000 of them were "Taylor Swift" wannabees.

Ode to Peeing in My Pants

Ode to Peeing in My Pants!

by Mike Martin

All us guys have two brains

I know we can document that

One is on top of our shoulders,

The other is in our pants.

The big brain is complex and skillful

A computer second to none.

The Little brain is very simple,

Its job use to be fun!

Now days they both do battle

over when I need to pee!

As the time comes, one says, "Soon"

But the other one just says, "We-e-e"

So when I get near a pit stop,

I cannot risk a chance.

If I don't go in the Men's Room,

I'll surely go in my pants!

They say this is part of old age.

Water pills, medicine and such

But the subject is a matter of timing

If I don't think about it too much!

The big brain always says, "Wait"

The little one says, "Go, Go"

If I hurry I think I can make it,

or else the stain will show!

Transformers3, redirecting real

One of my all time favorite movie scenes was in the movie, "Thank You For Smoking". The tobacco industry guy is trying to get cigarettes placed in a sci-fi movie where the heroes all smoked. The director says, "But you can't smoke in space! There's no oxygen!" The tobacco replies, "Just have one of the actors say, "I'm glad they invented xxxx so that now we can smoke."

That takes care of that.

Last night to escape the heat and nothing on TV, I went and saw "Transformers 3" again. Carol had not seen it yet and I needed popcorn.

The "smoking" scene came back to me as I watched several of that kind of scene:

1. BumbleBee, the Camaro Autobot, is always dirty and scratched when a robot, but when it becomes a car it is shiny and clean.

2. The "damsel in distress" falls off and through buildings with flying glass, and many 40 foot drops and does not get dirty or cut up (and wearing white). Her boyfriend, the star, is with her through all this and gets all messed up.

3. The movie makers go to great detail to show fabulous detail in downtown Chicago but none of the humans seem to be human. If the have speaking roles, they can't be hurt!

4. All the autobots become fully functional vehicles except the NASCAR looking robots! When they become cars, they still have gun turrets and rockets all over them, but the sound of the engine is that of a race car.

The soldiers just jump out of planes and deploy their chutes and about 15 minutes later they jump off buildings and other chutes suddenly appear. They must have said, "let's create parachutes that are 6" x 6"!

I have spoken about "the suspension of disbelief" is necessary for all movies like this but try just a little!

I have downgraded this to ** stars.

2011 movie #37

The Best Advice 2

In Katie Couric's book, Steve Martin quoted e.e.cummings from his work, "Six Nonlectures",

"who would be secure? any and every slave."


I have thought about that statement for three days.

The Best Advice

I just finished Katie Couric's new book, "The Best Advice I Ever Got". It is well worth your time. Unlike many self-help books, she asks many famous and accomplished people to write about advice they had received. You will learn much about Katie's story and at the same time hear stories from Presidents, Secretaries-of-State, actors, performers, athletes, writers, Today show sidekicks and CEOs. Stories from Jay Leno, Steve Martin, and Malcolm Gladwell were favorites. Some are complete stories and some are just statements. There are lists of things to live by. There are things to avoid. And there are just great stories.

There was even a good joke (that David Hall should use in his class!):

The couple in their 60's find a magic lamp. The genie appears and she says, "I'll grant you each a wish." The wife says, "I have always wanted to go on that long cruise that we've dreamed of."

POOF! Two tickets to an ocean cruise appeared in her hand.

The husband says, "Well that's all well and good. But I dreamed of going on that cruise with a woman 30 years younger." The genie frowned and said, "Oh, well."

POOF! He became 90 years old.

The little things are the big things!

Saturday the garage door broke! The torsion coil spring broke, that is, and the door would not raise. That created two problems. 1. One of our cars was still in the garage. 2. The lawn tractor was trapped and so I could not mow the yard in the 105 degree heat. Darn the luck.

We didn't need the car until Tuesday and the longer I wait the more the lawn is burning with no need for the tractor. BUT my mind started thinking about my luck. What if? What if this is a door that is no longer made and the coil spring is different? I quickly checked online and saw that a new door starts at $1,200.00 not including installation. What if they have to order the part? WE would be all messed up with one car on Tuesday. Tuesday is the tipping point.

Suddenly, my mind could not rest, because we must wait until today to get service! A little thing was becoming a BIG thing.

Monday came and it became little again. It cost us about $175.00. But we have a garage door. This is a GREAT invention and an important one. The things we take for granted call out to us on occasion!

Cartoon Fix: Warnings!

Idle thoughts about the world

I grew up at a time when it was USA vs. the Soviet Union. It was Democracy vs. Communism. It was Free Trade Capitalism vs. anything else. We as a nation was saying the world would be better if they were more like us! Guess What? We won, but are none too happy. As the world enters the market like Japan did after WW2, we realize that we didn't think it through. It's harder to be Big Dog when larger countries get in the act.

I believe that the USA is still the top and CAN stay. I just wished we would stop fighting ourselves!

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." Winston Churchill

All I know is God is in control of my world and that is an inherent blessing.

Captain America: What's RIGHT with summer movies

I did not grow up with Captain America. He was around the neighborhood, but when he became an Avenger, I had moved on from Comics. That said, I liked EVERYTHING about this movie. I went yesterday and got more than expected. "Captain America" was a good World War 2 movie. It was a good super hero movie. It was a 98 pound weakling that becomes strong movie. It was a throwback movie. "Captain America", the movie, owes much to the first "Star Wars". It has that feel! It is a great summer action popcorn movie. It is "Star Wars" more than say "Green Lantern".

I wonder if younger adults get all the World War 2 stuff, though I grew up with it.

I give this ***1/2 stars.

2011 movie #36

Sign of the Times!

The end of Harry Potter

I started the "Harry Potter" audio books back when they were only available as tapes about ten years back. I listened to every book and watched every movie, so the last one for me was a fairly, big Harry deal. There is no use writing any thing like a review or even comment much, because if you like Harry Potter, you automatically like "Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows, Part 2". For me it was one of the best. It brought the book to life in a simple straight forward way. I did avoid 3D, because I didn't want them to tell me what is cool. It is all cool.

I have heard that J.K. Rowling has not shut the door to future Potter series stories which would be fine with me. If not I am perfectly willing to wait a while and start reading again. I still say that listening to the audio with Jim Dale reading is much better than any movie or special effects.

So Mugle friends I give this one ***1/2 stars.

2011 Movie #35

FYI: If you haven't seen the movies or read the books, the poster is depicting the scene where Harry bites off the bad guy's nose in a bar fight!

Two songs you need to hear by Brad Paisley

Yeah, Yeah, so you're not a country music fan. So, what.

Go to iTunes and download two songs from Brad Paisley's new CD:

"One of those Lives" and "The Toothbrush"

One is about thinking we have it bad as others are really suffering and the other is about the how everything starts out a little thing.

There are other good songs as well, but try these.

I will comment more later

The Greater Journey- I finally get it!

I just finished reading, "The Greater Journey" and it is amazing when it takes 60 years for the light bulb to come on concerning the simple things. I like Fine Art. I like to go to Museums. I don't set a stare at a painting for hours though. I look consider and move on. The book about Americans going to Paris in the 1800's, clarified things for a simpleton like me. If you lived in 1830 and a new series of paintings by an artist was put on display, you go. You, of course, walked and waited in lines and when it came your turn, you soaked it in for a long, long time. What is your alternative to see something creative and new. No magazines, The newspapers had no photos, the critics in them reported on art and described in great detail the composition, the motive and the deeper meanings. Art, Music, Opera, Architecture and Theater were the realm of things that motivate the senses. A trip to the Louve was a trip to Disney World. I don't fully grasp Opera, but I would have then.

I am so bombarded with stuff (TV, Movies, Music, Billboards, iPods, Tablets, Computers, etc.) that I can't concentrate like my brothers of 1830. I can't appreciate what I have because it is so "5 minutes ago!" We have no come very far in our enjoyment of life.

In the Book I find that the Telegraph was created by a guy who wanted to be a painter. When you think about it the Telegraph was "the computer" of the 1800's. It was the first time on the planet that someone could send a message over a distance almost instantly (when you compare it to a horse and rider!). It was their "Internet".

The book is a history and so not always full of action. Give it a chance and it will make you appreciate what we have that we don't cherish.

FYI: In the book the French really do loose every war!

Cartoon Fix

One of my all time favorite FAR SIDE Cartoons

Horrible Bosses-A moral dilemma

I was confronted with a moral dilemma: Since I first saw the preview for the movie, "Horrible Bosses", I knew that I would like this movie. 1. I liked the subject. 2. Three of my favorite actors, Jason Bateman, Jamie Foxx and Kevin Spacey were in it. 3. It looked very funny. The dilemma was that I said to myself, "This is going to be a brutally profane movie" and embarrassing as well.

But I just finished a brutal week on the road and I needed escape. I instituted the 50 Mile Rule so that no one I know would be setting in the same theater.

The movie began and to be honest the profanity and sex reference talk was severe for the first 15 minutes. I have walked of movies like this before. I do believe that I am getting lax since I stayed this time, because their was very good acting present. If you can get through the opening set up scenes that are designed to convince you that these are HORRIBLE BOSSES, then the comedy takes over. The movie kept getting funnier as it progressed. It is a HOOT the watch Colin Farrell (with comb-over) being a sleese ball, Kevin Spacey being an evil boss that he did so well in "Swimming With Sharks" and other movies, and Jennifer Aniston saying things that would shock a Marine. The three guys who play the employees, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day, are great together.

It is not a movie to see with family and friends. The fewer people you know the better. Note: The dialogue is like a Chris Rock stand-up act,

There is no scenes that you can say, "I've scene it before." You have not.

For easily offended people I say, "See Larry Crowne." You you can make it through the opening

it is *** star.

2011 Movie #34

Transformers3, Toys, Eye Candy & NASCAR

I am at an out-of -town conference and like any "wild and crazy guy", I went to the movies! AND it was a no-brainer. No really, this movies takes NO brains. The first 2/3 of the show was fun with comedy, eye candy and special effects. This series still has the dumb parents, good looking people, and things that happen that make no sense. BUT if you can accept cars that become fighting robots, a simple thing like humans that are not cut by flying glass or a fall from a twenty story building without a scratch is not such a stretch.

Of course the big change is Megan Fox is gone and replaced a Victoria's Secret model and for the gals they have Patrick Dempsey. Other actors include Josh Duhamel, John Tuturro, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and the Chinese guy from the "Hangover".

OH YES! They have new Transformers (Just in time for WalMart). Three New Nascar Autobots: The 48, Jimmy Johnson; the 42, Montoya, and TA DA: the 88 of Dale Jr.

This movie like the current X Men movie does a rewrite of much History. The Apollo Moon Landing and the Russian Melt Down were because of aliens. To prove it they had one of the actual astronauts to play himself! YIKES!

I like everything but the Grand Finally where they destroy Chicago for 20+ minutes.

I give it **1/2 stars. *** stars with no sound.

2011 Movie #33

Larry Crowne, PG40

After reading all the bad reviews about "Larry Crowne", the new Tom Hanks movie, I was beginning to think I was going to be disappointed, and I was! WITH THE REVIEWERS! Now I know why they gave it bad reviews. They haven't lived enough REAL life to understand the story.

This is a PG40 movie. You need experiences to get it. Anyone can do "Transformers". Who knows if it is right or wrong! It's made up!. We all know good car chases from bad ones; good sex scenes; funny slapstick fart jokes; and Good looking people. We are experts.

But when it comes to middle aged people having to start life again after loosing their jobs. When it comes to Older people trying to navigate a young person's world. When it comes to facing a strange new future, it is by necessity an acquired taste. You almost have to be over 40 to get it.

"Larry Crowne" isn't a downer movie even though it is about the above. It is a fun, satisfying, slice of life. In its way it is an up-lifting movie. Yes, it is a "talkie" (More dialogue, less action) and it is "mature" (no sex, drugs, fights, chases, or profanity needed to advance the story).

Since it is PG13 for ratings, Julia Roberts says the F-word once to prove the point and then I don't think any profanity happens again.

This is the story of a great employee who loses his job, because the big company needed to trim. He is someone who has just gone through divorce. He is about to go into foreclosure, etc. etc. BUT he is someone who has control of himself and DOES NOT QUIT.

I know too many people in this boat. I have been close to this for a while. This is a SHOT IN THE ARM!

While it is not a great movie, I give it ***1/2 stars. It is a needed story.

There is not work life, family life, church life, activity life. There is just LIFE.

2011 Movie #32

Happy Independence Day

Still good reading after all these years!

All This and CARS 2 or It Just doesn't Mater!

We took the grandsons to see "Car2" today. I liked the first "Cars" movie. It had class; it relived Route 66; it gave some nods to NASCAR and its beginnings and it had Paul Newman. This new edition is not about the lead character, Lightning McQueen but is about MATER (Larry the Cable Guy). It is not often that a movie about secret agents, Grand Prix, and Travel in Europe would star a Red Neck, but it's Disney.

The kids liked it, but for me it was a bad animated story that would have stared Jerry Lewis as the lovable screw-up about 40 years ago. I could say more but less is adequate.

I liked the "Cars" concept but I am fearful of "Cars3".

I give it **stars and that is a stretch. Kids seem to like it though.

2011 Movie # 31

Happy Fourth

Fourth of July (Palin Edition)