This is Bond on steroids… plain and simple.  The best way I can describe it is to say that Bond has been given the “Jason Bourne” treatment.  There’s a scene early in the movie where Bond engages in some high flying parkour on a chase scene that’s absolutely amazing.  You NEED to see this flick even if it’s just for this scene.  With that being said, you REALLY need to suspend disbelief but it’s really breathtaking.

I’m a big poker player so I’ve had many people tell me that I need to see this flick strictly for the multiple poker scenes in here.  Honestly I’m not a real big fan of poker in the movies cause more often than not they get it wrong.  While the poker in here “looks” right it doesn’t quite “feel” right.  Not sure what it was that bugged me, but I can say that I wasn’t a big fan of seeing a full house, lose to a bigger full house, lose to a straight flush.  Can that happen?  Sure… but the odds are about a billion to one.

My other bitch about this one was that it was LONG.  It really did seem to go on forever.  Not that I was bored with it by any stretch, but I found myself wondering when it was going to be done.  Perhaps it was because the story itself (outside of poker) is a little convoluted.

All of the bad stuff behind… if you’re a Bond fan you definitely need to see this one.  Daniel Craig gives a great performance and Eva Green makes a damn fine “Bond Girl”.  I can’t say that this is near the top of my Bond list from an overall perspective, but if we’re taking pure action it’s surely at the top.

RANDOM NOTE: Every time I type “Bond” during this post it came out “Bong”.  That’s funny.

In retrospect, it actually shocks me that we were able to get away with this.  Not only were we obviously drinking on our *cough cough* dry campus, but we were obviously gambling as well.

People often point to Chris Moneymaker or the movie Rounders as the start of the poker boom… I like to think it was the fine folks at 406!

Twitter/Facebook Update
And so it begins…
9:04 AM Jun 14th from TweetDeck

And we’re off. Errands… Dad’s best friend. #fb
10:34 AM Jun 14th from TwitterBerry

I’d purposefully put off this trip till Sunday morning cause I wanted to have a little more time available to us.  We had to make a return out a Aurora Farms and they’ve got a great playground for the boys, a duck pond and a ton of “rides” that G loves.  (As I’m writing that last sentence I realize it sounds eerily similar to “Frank The Tank” in Old School).

As I said, we had a return to make and then my plan was to stick around, play on the playground and let G “drive” some of the cars, planes and trucks.  We made the return with relative ease and it was off to the playground.  The G-man is to a point in his life where he’s fearless.  He’ll climb on anything and always like to take the path of most resistance.  He’s the kid going UP the slide.  Once G’s got something in his mind it’s pretty tough to deter him.  That’s why I was treated to these views pretty much all weekend:

As you can see, G's off to the races.

I swear I was TRYING to keep up.

Our errands were done and the playground was behind us.  It was time for G to “drive” and we’d be good to go with a successful trip behind us.  NOT SO FAST Super Dad — boom.  Accident.  As I did last night at the mall, I scooped him up and we were off to the bathroom.  Luckily I’d replenished our backup underwear and shorts in the truck so we didn’t have to take a ride home with wet clothes.  For those keeping score:

Super Dad 2 – Kids 5.

Twitter/Facebook Update
Oh the stories I could tell. #fb
11:33 AM Jun 14th from TwitterBerry

It might sound like I’m doing a lot of bitching and I definitely don’t want it to come across that way.  I had an absolute blast this weekend.  Sure I had to change a ton of diapers and had to deal with quite a few potty accidents but with kids this cute who can complain?

Twitter/Facebook Update
Fries, rings and shakes. Oh my. #fb
11:48 AM Jun 14th from TwitterBerry

That’s right, I decided on the way home to really up the “dad is cool” quotient and spring for Burger King.  Definitely not something we do on a regular basis but all in all my boys were awesome for me all weekend and I wanted to treat them (not to mention that I’m a sucker for fast food).  Needless to say, they really enjoyed their burger, fries and especially their milkshake!

Super Dad 3 – Kids 5.

After all that I’d been through this weekend I decided to cut my losses and stay at home after naptime.  We had an absolute blast playing with the bubble grill (which G decided he’d use as a blower to go along with his power tool obsession).  C was content to sit with me for a while and try to chew on my sandal.  When he figured out that I wasn’t going to allow that he was off to the races as well and I spent the better part of the afternoon/evening chasing them around the yard.  After the weekend we had it was a great way to end.

After I’d put them to bed I did something that I’ve not done in a long time… I sat in a quiet house and read a book.  I was taping the Indians game so I could zip through it later, the NBA Finals sucked and I was exhausted.  I’ll reiterate again – not sure how Amanda does this on a regular basis.  She’s truly amazing.

Even though I lost the final tally 3-5 I felt like the King of the World.  I’d managed to get through a weekend with no broken bones, didn’t watch too much TV with the boys, managed to win a couple of bucks playing online poker and had a great time doing it all.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Amanda was here with us… come home soon babe.

PS – Don’t tell Amanda about these posts… if she thinks I can handle it on my own she’ll get some crazy ideas and be jetting off all the time * gulp *

1. People don’t recognize the importance of Memorial Day nearly often enough.  One day per year is not often enough to thank the men and women who’ve died defending this country.  Each and every time I see someone in uniform I attempt to stop and shake their hand and say “Thanks”.  My boys are being taught to do this too.  It’s very important to me.  One quote sums it up pretty well for me – “All game some, some gave all.”  Thank you.
2. Memorial Day is not political in nature.  Fuck you if that’s what you turn it into.  Regardless of your party affiliation, stance on war, love/hate relationship with the current/past president it’s a day for remembering.  Honor those people who’ve died to give you the right to your opinion.  Take one day off from shoving your agenda down my throat.
3. Summer colds suck.  I can understand a cold in the winter.  It’s almost par for the course.  But being stuffed up and coughing when it’s beautiful outside just blows.  This happens to me a couple of times a year.
4. Carnivals are awesome… you get to eat some really bad food, ride really bad rides, smell really bad smells and pay way too much for it.  Oh, and you get to meet some of the most interesting people on the planet.  If this sounds sarcastic it’s not… I really enjoy stuff like this.  We attended Blossom in Chagrin Falls this weekend.  It really pumped me up for this summer’s Solon Home Days.  The boys LOVED it.
5. The time between poker games is always way too long.  The time during poker games is always way too short.
6. Little G is obsessed with the lawn mower.  He’s equally obsessed with the blower, the edger and the chainsaw.  This isn’t something that I learned this weekend but it was really on display.  We probably made things worse when we bought him his very own Little Black & Decker blower at Wal-Mart… we’re not very smart parents.  (OK, I’m not a smart dad).
7. The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t nearly as good as they think they are.  They really better pull their collective heads out of the asses or it’s going to be a long summer. (See point #8 below)
8. The Cleveland Indians are worse than they think they are.  I don’t understand why… but they’re really bad.  I’ve been a big Wedge fan for a long time, but it’s time for him to go.

In any case, last weekend I had poker at the house for the Cleveland Poker League and collectively we drank quite a few beers and pops.  My wife is GREAT when it comes to recycling so I make it a point to make sure that none of those cans or bottles get thrown away during the game.  So, little G and I go down into the basement, gather up all of the cans and bottles and make our way upstairs to the garage where we have the “can crusher”.  FYI, to a 2 year old, this is mankind’s greatest invention.

So we’re crushing our cans (he handing them to me and me doing the crushing) and I notice that he’s completely soaked down the front of his pants.  My first inclination is to think that he’s had an accident (seeing as we’re currently potty training).  Then a terrible realization comes over me… I’ve just managed to cover him in Miller Lite.  Dammit!!!

His mother is going to KILL him and tha’ts nothing compared to what she’s going to do to me.

So… I’m either a really good guy cause I’m doing my part for the environment, or I’m a really bad dad for dousing my son in beer.  Maybe a little of both.