Ronin

Last night wifey and I rewatched this old video that I've had wrapped in it's original packaging since 1999.

"Ronin" is the story of some free agent crooks who are called in to help co-ordinate the theft of a briefcase. They group contains a mix of guys from other countries with different specialties. The team is headed by Robert DeNiro as Sam and Jean Reno as Vincent. A well planned job soon becomes unstuck when one of the crew is revealed as a fake and another a betrayer. Soon the job gets massively complicated and those left must decide if it's worth going ahead.

I remember really enjoying it at the cinema, but rewatching 10 years later, it's not so good. Since this films like "The Italian Job" and the "Bourne" trilogy have come out which are done much better with better effects and dialogue. Put it this way- without DeNiro it would have been a train wreck. The similarities particularly with "The Italian Job" are creepy. I laughed quite a few times at the extras who were shot or ran for their lives during the car chases and shootouts, as well as DeNiro's face while driving. Still watchable, but it doesn't hold up when compared to similar movies of the last 5-7 years. It can though probably lay claim to being the inspiration for such films (except "The Italian Job", which was a remake, or the "Bourne" trilogy, which was based upon a book written, like, years ago).

Burn After Reading

Friday night made the big mistake of hiring "Burn After Reading". For some reason I thought it would be more enjoyable than the other awful Coen brothers movies i'd seen (The Ladykillers, O Brother Where Art Though etc) with it's great cast and wacky storyline. Bad move. As always, the old "stick with what you know" motto I've lived my life by would have served me well if I stayed disciplined.

The film is about some dimwitted fitness instructors (played by McDormand and Pitt) who stumble across a seemingly top secret disc with government files. Linda (McDormand) sees a great opportunity for blackmail and therefore the chance to fund her required plastic surgery while Chad (Pitt) just sees the chance to score some free money. Soon they become embroiled in a serious situation and it's no longer a chance for easy money. Will they pull it off? See it to find out.

**Spoiler alert**. The story was going ok but had several irrelevant storylines that weakly ended up intertwining with the main story (Malkovich, Clooney etc). The ending was a massive letdown to say the least. Besides Brad Pitt's performance there wasn't much to salvage. I know some people will say "you just don't get the genius of the Coen brothers", but personally i think they are knobheads.

What a week

Last weekend was dedicated to moving house. It was a killer. A big shout out to all who helped (Al, Andrew, Matty, Dean, Cam and Carl). Thanks also to Mini-Movers, especially for managing to load the paino while me and the boys loaded everything else. So the entire weekend was dedicated to setting up the new house and cleaning up the old one.

MONDAY
More cleaning of the old house, including a late night one (more on that soon). Had a going away dinner for one of my work colleagues at night in Carlton which was good. It was a set menu and i came up well with calamari for entree, chicken for main and mudcake for dessert. There were allegations i got offered steak while on the phone and one of the guys swapped their chicken for it but nothing was proven. On the way home decided i should do a bit more cleaning at the old house. Sadly didn't read the instructions on one of the cleaning bottles that stated i had to wait 30mins before working on the area I'd sprayed. That's annoying at 11 at night.

TUESDAY
Tough day. Went to work expecting to here about some changes, we had this but also lost 2 great workmates who got retrenched. Was a very depressing day, only brightened by the morning tea provided which I think they hoped would make us go "it sucks so-and-so got fired, but these donuts are delicious!" Went from here to a final inspection of our old place, which went pretty well.

WEDNESDAY
Normal day pretty much, at night went to AIHE meeting (gathering of heads of engineering at the major motels, plus a few oddball people like me). Good chance to see a spectacular view of the city (from the 35st floor of the Sofitel), have some free nibbles and drinks and mingle with people in the industry. Not as fun was the 50min presentation on power saving ideas for motels.

THURSDAY
Another standard day pretty much. At night had home group at our place for the first time, with Dean & Ali running it. Was a top night.

FRIDAY
Worked, then came home for some take away (awful fish and chips from around the corner) and a movie ( the awful "Burn After Reading", from a bit further away). Moving house means a new video store. Long term we'll probably go for Video Ezy, but for the short-term signed up at an old favourite- "Video Busters", about 10mins away.

SATURDAY
Awesome day, containing many of my favourite things. Had pancakes and coffee for breakfast, then sat for ages reading the paper. After this went for a walk with the family by the creek, then came home and had a delicious sandwich. In the arvo watched a heap of basketball, most notably the Suns v Raptors. Shaq scored 45 and was simply awesome. After this had a sleep, then did a little work around the place. At night had some of Tara's delightful carbonara outside and now will settle in for a movie and chocolate. Way better way to spend a saturday than what I did with the last one.

Good news

For those of you who used to watch Jerry Springer and thought "that Steve guy is being wasted", here's some good news. Here's a clip.

24: Redemption

"24:Redemption" is a movie version of the much loved tv series. It picks up the story with Jack in Africa, hiding from the Government who wants to bring him in and charge him with his use of torture on suspects. While in Africa Jacks hooks up (not in that way) with an old colleague (played by Robert Carlyle from that movie about the guys who become strippers) who is running a shelter to help young men and protect them from rebels who want to recruit them for their armies.

As normally happens, trouble finds Jack and soon the lives of his friend and the boys are under threat. Once again, Jack can't turn his back on baddies and helping vitims, so he gets involved. Will he be redeemed? Will he risk all to save the innocent? See it to find out.

Not bad, but any "24" missing Chloe, Tony and Edgar is going to be up against it. Don't think the format really worked for the show, as it obviously all happened a bit quick. Keifer really seemed to mail it in too. It's a bridge to the next series, which will see Jack on trial. I caught the preview on the special features and it looks ok, will probably give it a go.

The Explorer

Recently my mum handed over a stack of my old childrens books that we thought would be nice to now read to my kids.

I came across one which i remember liking, mostly due to the novelty cover. It's called "The Explorer" and is about a boy who pretends to be an explorer and gets into all sorts of adventures. It's not so light-hearted though and seems to set out to bring down kids who let their imagination get the better of them. Take this extract for example....

After a few days in bed, the doctor advised him: "Listen to me well, Peter. We should let imagination be a friend but reality our guide. Because when fantasy prevails over reason, it can be the beginning of mental sickmess...."

Yep, that book just got tossed in the bin. Don't want to have to explain mental health issues to a 3yr old.

Things to do in Melbourne when you're hot

Yesterday morning marked the day of our Garage Sale. Shame it was on the hottest day ever in Melbourne. Wifey sat outside for most of it while me and the boys cooled down inside (no I didn't make her, she said something about being happy outside in the peace and quiet). We had a fair amount of people come through but only made $25, better than nothing though and we got rid of some of the larger stuff which was good.

After the garage sale we headed to Ringwood Aquatic Centre. Was good up until a huge windstorm came and my left eye filled with dust. After an hour it wasn't annoying me so that was good. Michael and I then hung in the big pool watching people do bombs off the 10m board. There's not much in life more enjoyable than sitting in a pool watching blokes over 100kg doing bombs.

Don't try this at home

It's better than shooting t-shirts into the crowd, or kiddies dribbling around an obstacle course, but this coulda been ugly. Not for the queasy.

http://deadspin.com/5145244/on+court-drowning-nearly-the-most-exciting-highlight-of-okc-thunder-season

Life On Mars

For the first time in maybe a few years, I'm trying a new tv show- the US version of the UK hit "Life on Mars". What got me in? Harvey Keitel, a storyline involving time travel and mysteries.

It's about a cop who gets in a car accident and gets sent back to 1973. After the first episode we're not really sure why (or how it's possible) but he believes there's a reason. His boss is a hard nose old school type (Keitel, in his dream role) who does things that would get him suspended in 2008. Sam (Jason O'Mara) has to adapt to being bereft of technology and dealing in things the old fashioned way. The first episode gave enough to make me want to become a regular, which will join "24" as my "must-see" shows for 2009.

Sixers V Dragons

A few weeks back, I was going through some receipts and noticed on the back of one receipt a "Shop-A-Docket" for a free family pass to the upcoming 36ers v Dragons. Pretty decent offer. Normally it's for a free coffee or a cheaper tax return but 4 free basketball tickets is way better. So we loaded the family and headed off to "Hisense", where I hadn't been since a Boomers v Dream Team game in 2001 with Gary, to see my beloved team take on the Dragons.

South started well and keep playing that way for 48mins while the 36ers played a suckier, wussier style for the whole match. We straight out stunk. Adelaide has long struggled against Goorj's physical teams and this was one of the worst, nay the worst, I'd seen. There was no chemistry (not surprising seeing we had a new starting line-up again) and we were forced into poor shots. The only bright spot was was Winitana in the 4th, who only played 21 minutes including the whole 4th and in this style of game should have played nearer 40. We were outrebounded, outhustled, outsmarted.....awful. Let me give a run down on each player.

GRIZZARD
Looks promising, but found no groove.
Stats: 10 pts, 7 boards, 0 assists

MAHER
Restricted to just standing on the 3pt line. Looked old.
Stats: 9 pts, 1 board, 0 dimes

BRUCE
Tried hard but kept persisting trying to draw contact bringing the ball upcourt when they were never going to call it, which killed him. Tried to force too much. Looked scrappy. Must be annoyed with his continual role changes.
Stats: 4pts, 2 boards, 4 assists, 4 turnovers in 18min

WINITANA
Should have played more minutes, suited to this game. Looked good in the 4th
Stats: 14pts, 1 board, 3 dimes

HILL
Tried, but largely unsuccessful
Stats: 4,2,2

SCHENSCHER
Got butchered by their interior D, but played way too soft (weird). Frustrating.
Stats: 8 and 8 with 2 blocks (and maybe 5 against)

COOPER
No meaningful minutes, brought in at at the wrong times
Stats: 4 and 3

HOLMES
Battled hard, probably our best with Winnie. Produced my only "well done" of the night.
Stats: 10 and 11

DAVIDSON
Started (goodness knows why), battled, but a terrible match-up against the Dragons. Got caught on Burston a few times on some unsuccessul pick and rolls with expected results.
Stats: 6,2,3

BALLINGER
Like when we played them in the trial game, was the focus of their efforts. They played him hard/dirty and killed his flow.
Stats: 8,6,1

Add to that their 11 blocks to our 4 and 12 steals to 2 and you can see it was a frustrating night for me and my approx 20 fellow Sixers fans. Oh yeh, I also had wifey and my two kids with me don't forget. The boys were about 8/10 in the first half but went troppo in the 2nd half, meaning I found it hard to get into the game, which may have actually been a good thing. Isaac nsisted he loved the game though, but most of that may be related to the frosty fruit and the South mascot.

The Weekend

FRIDAY
The afternoon at work was pretty cruisy. We played some sort of team-bonding "Australian Open" table tennis tournament. I played against Anil, who is quite a player. For some reason i got into a groove and won in 3 sets.

At night came home and had a relaxing night and again slept on our mattress in the dining room with the kids (because that's where the A/C is, not because we're weirdos)

SATURDAY
Got up early and did some gardening, then wifey made pancakes. Tara then went off to a lingerie party (cool) while i took the kids to a play cafe thing with Dean. It soon was stinky hot and not very fun. laid low in the arvo, doing a few odd jobs, playing on the computer and eating. At night we watched some of "The Office", then had an early night.

SUNDAY
Church in the morning, then came home and kicked back. In the afternoon cleaned out the shed, which was very scary at times due to the bugs and spiders who frequent there. AT night watched some of the best side-by-sport ever. On 9 we had the Aussies taking on our fierce rivals New Zealand, on 7 Rafer v Fed X. Was awesome. Cricket went down to the last ball and the Mens Tennis Final was amazing. The best tennis I've evr seen, and I used to take part in lots of Hunter Tennis Family Days, so that's saying something.

MONDAY
Back to work and the finals of the Table Tennis Tournament. I won my quarter final against Chris, but lost to my namesake Paul in the semi-final. Too much power and a deadly serve. Enjoyed it so much I think I'll get a table for the family/me.