Bo Diddley, Who Gave Rock His Beat, Dies at 79

The guy known for his square guitar is gone.  I always thought that was pretty cool. 

Bo Diddley, Who Gave Rock His Beat, Dies at 79 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

Speed Racer review

We saw the movie Speed Racer this weekend and it was actually pretty good.  It wasn't as good as the original series in the 1960's but it definitely could have been worse.  It had a relatively good story with the message that cheaters never prosper.  My children (boys 11 & 9) liked it and as I am sure, as most kids, liked the action and didn't care about the story which was kind of confusing at the beginning because they went back to the past, forward to the future, to the present, future, present, past, future, etc.  Boy it got confusing at times, probably too confusing for my 9 year old.  The racing was kind of strange to me, the cars were constantly going sideways, "drifting", and constantly spinning around bouncing and crashing into each other with little or no damage.  But that's what my kids liked.

Get your kids away form the terrible cartoons of this age and get the original version on DVD for them to watch.  The 5 seasons of the original Speed Racer TV series are available here.

     

                      

If you haven't caught the newest in the Speed Racer series, they have been showing Speed Racer - The Next Generation on TV and it is actually pretty good also.  They already have it on DVD if you want to check it out.

Iron Man Review

I saw the movie Iron Man last night with my 11 year old son and he said it was probably better than Spiderman 3. When asked, he said it was basically the effects and action parts that he liked, when I asked him what he thought about the story, he said "Boring, especially at the beginning."

My opinion of it is that I expected a little better movie. The anti-war theme is a bit tiring; can't they come up with anything new instead of the same old propaganda? They give the impression that weapons are bad in anyone's hands instead of the fact that they are bad only in bad peoples hands. They also give the false impression that all weapons contractors sell weapons to both side because they only care about the money and power. Yes, I am sure there are a few contractors that may be like this, working both sides of the fence, but if the exception is always shown as what is the norm, the normal end up getting viewed as being bad when it shouldn't be. It is definitely a great good vs evil message that needs to be heard.

It could be because I am jaded by Hollywood making the same kind of movies all the time. It's all about the money anyway.

Great May for Movies!

May is going to be a great month for movies.  The 2nd of May Iron Man opens.  May 9th Speed Racer begins.  May 16th the next in the Chronicles of Narnia series - Prince Caspian.  May 23rd is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie. 

I do hate it though that they bunch all the good movies together.  It's so much money to go to them all in one month.  After years of only one or two good movies in a whole year I guess I'll take a month of good movies.

Get Smart

I haven't seen the movie Get Smart yet but the trailer doesn't make the movie seem like it's going to be very good.  Most of the time you usually can tell from the trailer if it's going to be something worth watching.  I am sure I will see it when I can rent it on DVD or maybe I'll wait until it is on TV.

I love the original Get Smart on TV in the late 60's.  Don Adams and Barbara Feldon are definitely hard to top, they were the best.  But for some reason none of the Get Smart movies were very good.  I've heard it said that it was partly because Edward Platt, the Chief, died and there wasn't anyone as good as a straight man for the show.  That's a very good possible reason and also a show more than a half hour may just be too much.  Plus in the first movie, The Nude Bomb, 99 wasn't in it either which didn't help the chemistry. 

When I heard Steve Carell would be playing Maxwell Smart, I thought he would be great for the part.  From the trailer, he looks ok, but the content and delivery of the lines are just plain terrible.  It is sad that such a bad job was done with the great character created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.  Maybe this will be one of those times the trailer will be misleading and it actually will be a good movie.  I will let you know after I see it on DVD or TV.

Some great information is available on this Get Smart Fan Page.

Good Catholic Writers Need

Here's an interview about Rich Culture Nourishes Catholic Writers. I think Gregory Roper, author of The Writer's Workshop: Imitating Your Way to Better Writing(ISI Books), makes some great suggestions on what is needed to help our kids to learn to write well.

Music and Morals

I am a musician and this book Music and Morals by Basil Cole, OP really changed my perspective on the effect that music has on our lives. It answers or at least may prompt you ask the following questions: Does music have a subtle but definite influence over our attitudes and behavior? Is there a way of judging between “good” and “bad” music? It was a major factor in changing my life. With the state of entertainment today this book is highly recommended reading.