5 Movies, No Stairway Rule, and Riding with Karen B.

Look, I said no stairway and I meant it...

1. Big Fish- an instant classic for me. probably among my top 5 favorite movies. Seriously. I balled my eyes out. I starting crying at the end and I couldn't stop. The father-son stuff was good, but I don't think that's what got me. It was much more about the father and his philosophy of story telling. Personally, that hit some cord with me. Somewhere along the line, someone told me that life is the sum of your experiences and the stories you tell. For me, maybe one of the reasons I love my blog is that it gives me a forum to share my experiences, to tell my stories. My brother once said to me that I have a tendency to take the mundane and make an adventure out of it. That's how I want to live my life, an adventure. Damn, if the father in this movie wasn't preaching to this choir. To finish it off at the center of all the stories is the love story between this larger than life man, and a beautiful woman. Damn, I'm gonna start crying again... This movie couldn't have hit home more with me if they had single speed mountain bikers in it, wearing wool jerseys and racing 'cross in the fall. Add in Tim Burton's oddities of life, and damn, this movie really kicked ass.

2. Riding Giants- Outstanding. Look I surfed once in my life, and it wasn't pretty. And the breaks at Bethany Beach were far from Giants. But this movie is beautiful to watch, crafted very well, and frankly captivating. Laird Hamilton, who is the movies ultimate hero, was someone I thought was a tool from reading articles, seeing him with Gabby Reese. But, Damn, you see this movie and he is the freaking man. I imagine this movie hit surfers, much like Dogtown and the Z boys hit me as a skater. Stacy Peralta does a wonderful job of laying down the history, the respect for the elders that I think most mainstream sports lack now a days, and then traces a direct root to the current heroes of the sport. Timeless. Now that Stacy has covered surfing and skating I wonder what will be next, snowboarding? perhaps lawn darts ? Either way, the guy makes outstanding, compelling movies. The only way this could have been better is if Peggy Okie was in it.

3. Garden State- Very good. A little slow, but many humorous scenes. Basically the story of a young man who has been medicated his entire life and has basically become numb to the world. He stops taking his meds and begins to come to life. riveting. Natalie Portman does an incredible job. Good soundtrack, all around very tight movie.

4. Anchor Man, the real life adventures of Ron Burgundy- sucked. Really bad. I mean, totally wasted an hour and a half of my life bad. Don't waste your time, kiss your wife, play with your kids and your dogs, hell look at internet porn, you'll get more out of it.

5. Grind- another skateboarding exploitation film. However, unlike the classics "thrashin'" or "cleaming the cube" there's no underlying conspiracy, skaters take over the world, solve a crime plot. At the core of the film, this is a road trip movie. The story of 4 friends who set out on a mission, and drive across country. How can you go wrong with a road trip movie? You can't. Look this was not the deepest, or best movie I ever saw, but take road trip hijinks, stellar skating, hot chicks, and lots of cameos by Bam, how can you miss? If you loved road trips, this is worth a look.

Got to ride with Karen B again today, and damn, she still smacked me with that big ring. It was a solid hour, good lunch break, nice base miles. Feels damn good to pedal again. Only 441 hours and 30 minutes to go ...

respect
fatmarc