“UP”

Brooklyn, Katie and Adrienne in their 3D glasses from “UP”

Today Brooklyn, Katie, Adrienne and I went to see the Disney Pixar animated film “Up”. WOW!!! I was really impressed by this movie. “Up” is not just another animated kid flick; Adults should see and love this film. I have a rough idea of my favorite twenty films of all-time and “Up” just bumped it’s way into that group. It was funny. It was adventurous. It was very intelligent and well written. More than any of that, though, it was incredibly touching. I think parents and older folks in general will relate well to this movie and will find themselves in this story. I must admit. I cried … three times … like a little girl with a cold next to freshly diced onions. I was so glad to have those 3D glasses on. Not a soul could see the flow of saline fluid and nasal mucus that ran down my face.  

Here is a spoiler free idea of what the movie is about (from family.go.com: “Carl Fredericksen married his childhood sweetheart Ellie, bought a house, and promised her a life of adventure. But things don’t go quite as planned, and as the years go by, Carl sequesters himself in the couple’s house until one day he decides to literally pack up the house and take flight.

What he doesn’t expect? Russell, a doughy 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer who’s as optimistic and sunny as Carl is grumpy, and who stows away on Carl’s front porch. Aloft in the house, the two head for South America and the adventure that Carl always dreamed of. But like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Carl finds that over the rainbow isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and some of the best adventures are right in your own backyard.” 

 

 

 

Guys, do yourself a favor and take your kids or your wife or your Dad or a friend or the next random stranger you run into in the lobby at Taco Bell, and go see this movie. It’s been a long time since I was so moved by a trip to the theatre.

BEATLES PICTURE (Update #3)

I recently started the portraits and have actually done most of John, half of Paul and started on Ringo. This picture was taken when I was about half way done with John’s portrait. Please excuse the shine on Paul’s pic – I shot this in my kitchen. I’m working on Ringo’s portrait next. I’m still hoping to be finished by month’s end. Anyway, there’s “Paul and half-done John”. I’ll post an updated shot in a few days.

NBA FINALS 2009

I’m in to it. Los Angeles Lakers v Orlando Magic. Bryant. Howard. It’s all good!!! Pretty good night for Kobe and the Lakers in Game One. 40 points with two minutes remaining. I think the Lakers will win the series in 6. However, I have been totally impressed with Orlando. They really put it on Cleveland. They were underdogs against Boston and Cleveland. Howard is a beast in the paint. But tonight has shown something that, even though I’m not a Kobe fan, I must confess; Kobe Bryant is one of the best ever. Tonight he is reminding me of some of the things that Michael Jordan used to do. Magic Johnson just said that Kobe is the “best player in the world,” and I must agree. So, here tonight I thought I would post some of my opinions about the NBA Finals.

Best Player in the World: 2009 Kobe Bryant. 1998 Michael Jordan. 1987 Magic Johnson. 1981 Larry Bird. 1974 Julius Erving.

Hardest working player in Finals History: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics. It’s hard enough to become an NBA Champion or MVP when you are an unbelievable athlete with God-given talent. It’s even harder when you are a slow, uncoordinated, white guy who can’t jump over a snail. Bird wasn’t an athlete but he was the hardest working over-achiever in basketball history. He was also arguably the smartest player ever.

Most Versatile Player in Finals History - Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers. In 1980, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went down with an injury, Magic played center and scored 42 points and grabbed 15 boards against Philadelphia. That was perhaps the greatest single game Finals performance ever. Johnson is the NBA’s all-time leader in assists per game with an average of 11.2, holds the Finals record for assists in a game (21), and has the most playoff assists (2,346).

Best Overall Player in Finals History - This one is easy. Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls scored nearly 6,000 playoff points, averaged 33.4 points per game in the playoffs, played in six NBA Finals in his 15-year career winning each series and his 41.0 points per game in 1993 are still an NBA record. No other player could take over a game like “MJ.” A friend recently said to me, “Jordan embodied the best of Bird and Magic … Hard worker like Bird and supreme natural talent like Johnson.” Suffice to say, he was kinda good.

 

Best Shot in Finals history - Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers 1980 v Los Angeles Lakers. Erving got the ball on the right side of the court and beat Mark Landsberger to the baseline. Cradling the ball, Doc rose towards the rim. Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar moved over to block Erving’s path. The doctor kept gliding in midair all the way to the other side of the rim to the left corner of the backboard and flipped in a reverse layup. Magic Johnson said, “I couldn’t believe my eyes, it’s still the greatest move I’ve ever seen in a basketball game … the all-time greatest.”

My NBA Finals Team –

G – Magic Johnson

G – Kobe Bryant

G – Michael Jordan

F – Larry Bird

C – Shaquille O’Neal

6th Man – Julius Erving

Bench (honorable Mention) – Tim Duncan, Dwayne Wade, Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Joe Dumars and Hakeem Olajuwon.