The Rob BlogIt's Better Over Here.

When Shackstravaganza comes to town, it’s important to have the right tunes. You can NEVER go wrong with Sinatra. EVER.

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2010, You sneaky little Ninja.

To The Faithful Underground…

Tonight is the last night of 2009. We’re going to celebrate “Shack Style” of course. In fact, Shackstravaganza is the only official coed gathering on the shack schedule, not that the sexes don’t intermingle accidentally at other times during the year.

I’ve been thinking about tonight all week and it’s funny, but my view of how I want Shackstravaganza to be tonight completely mirrors the way I want 2010 to be.

Fun but not crazy.

Yeah, you heard me right. I don’t want nor do I need a particularly exciting 2010. Trust me when I say that the past 5 years of my life have held more than enough drama and excitement. Nope, give me a nice quiet fellowship with my real friends this year.

In fact, 2009 was so tense that I’m still a little shocked that 2010 is upon us. Beware 2010, cuz it’s obviously a sneaky ninja. I never saw it coming.

Now, as far as things I’d like to accomplish in 2010, it’s a short but important top-ten list for me.

1.    Finally publish the book that Bob Waycott and I worked on. It still has some technical things that need finishing.
2.    Be a good professor, co-worker, boss and underling. Since I’m all of those things, it would be nice to excel at them.
3.    Record an EP solely on my terms. I have over 16 albums that I’ve done with various people over the years, but I’ve never done one where I just relaxed and let it happen. I’m going to invite all my friends to contribute. No deadline.
4.    Finish my novel. It’s in the Horror genre. Yep. It’s true.
5.    Spend more quality time with my wife. It’s amazing how much that helps.
6.    Fly Fish
7.    Reconnect with God. This isn’t as easy as you might think. My relationship with God has been pretty rough over the past several years. I think I’m going to relax a bit more and try to simply spend time with God. No agenda, just time.
8.    Blog more and launch our movie review site. I’ve missed you fine folks.
9.    Mentor my oldest son. There is a big difference between parenting and mentoring.
10.    Relax. 2009 was a good year, but it was tough. We faced a lot of challenges in the health care industry this year, so work kept me hopping. In addition to this, there were many personal family challenges we went through. It is my sincere desire to relax more in 2010. Chill. Write. Sip a fine bourbon and smoke a good cigar. Yes.

What are your plans for 2010? Got anything good up your sleeve?

OK…first things first. Welcome to the new RobAlderman.Net. …Super glad to have you here.

Now, on to more important things, like Avatar . Wow.

To say that this film is EPIC, would be an understatement in the truest sense. In fact, I struggle to even find a way to review the film, so in the end, I’ll probably just let the Slinky do it. Still, I feel like I should say something, so here goes.

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way…

Yes, the movie steals it’s plot from Ferngully , though much of Ferngully has better dialogue. Let that sink in and just accept it. ready to move on? Good.

Now on to the good stuff.

You have NEVER, ever…like, EVER IN YOUR LIFE seen a movie like this. Now, my good pal and old professor Matthew Melton went and saw this movie in regular 2D format, and he still loved it. I’m not really sure how this is possible.

The fact is that this movie is an absolute gamechanger. I think that beyond anything, it was the fact that I never had a “Wow, this is 3DDDDD!!!!!” moment that really showed how brilliant this film really is. The tech is so amazing that you just buy into it from the opening scene. My eyes never needed adjusting, nothing weird…just simple transportation into an alien world that seems just as real as the person sitting next to you.

Now, there is something else worth mentioning. The acting is actually really solid, and doesn’t seem to hurt from the cliche dialogue. what’s more is that you really truly feel for the characters. Their pain and happiness affect you deeply, which is a real triumph in this day and age.

As for the message, it isn’t anything you haven’t heard before, but that doesn’t make it any less important. i love movies that tap into the basic human needs. Love. Hate. Waste. Forgivness. Grace. Ect…

When you look at this film through a theological framework it becomes even more intense. There were moments during the film that I felt I was communing with The Almighty, and that doesn’t happen much. When a film takes me to a place where I feel the need to pray,(and I don’t mean in that “Dear God, this movie is so horrible. Please get me out of here.” sort of way) I am forced to take notice.

As you know, I really REALLY enjoyed Sherlock Holmes, and I think you should go see it. I’ll stand in line for the sequel and I’ll go to bat for the film against any of it’s detractors for no other reason that America needs to learn to enjoy a fun movie when they get one. But here’s the thing. For as good as Sherlock Holmes is, it isn’t even in the same league as Avatar. You can’t compare the two, so don’t try. While Sherlock Holmes is a fun ride, Avatar succedes at being something much deeper and meaningful…and I, for one, am grateful.

Yes, folks. This is the mighty force that is McGrathery. Fear him. Fear his awesome powers.

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The ladies from Life Care Corporate PR- Rocking The Double Windsor!!!!

Glorious.

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Well, after a bit of thought, I have decided to move the majority of my blogging over to Wordpress. I’m directing the Posterous to send to here, and though I’m not killing any of my other sites, like the tumblr and Bloger just yet, I am directing the domain name here and will eventually kill the others so that I have fewer to keep up with. (not that I’m keeping up with any right now)

So, within a few minutes, this site should be www.robalderman.net …let’s hope it works.

REVIEW OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, aka LETHAL WEAPON

I’ve been greatly enjoying the reviews by some of my friends of the new Guy Ritchie film, Sherlock Holmes.

It is funny to me that such a delightfully fun romp through old England could be despised, but several of my friends and favorite critics have done exactly that. They are entitled to their opinion of course, but I thought I’d take a moment to speak up for those of us who are not so bound to cannon that we can’t have a good time when a good time is to be had.

The first bit of advice I would give someone who is headed out to the theater to enjoy Holmes is this- You are not about to watch a period piece.

It’s true. Your hopes of seeing true Victorian England are not going to materialize…at least not with this film. No my friend, you are in for a much nicer treat…The Buddy Movie.

Yep.

Nothing is quite so wonderful as a good Buddy Film, and Holmes has this in spades.

In fact, if I had to choose a single movie that Sherlock Holmes reminds me of, it would be Lethal Weapon.

Yeah. You heard me.

Lethal Freaking Weapon.

Lethal “Tough as Hell” Weapon.

Lethal “Holy Crap, Mel Gibson will kill you fool” Weapon.
So, instead of writing my own review in full, I have decided to simply take a review of lethal Weapon and post it here, altering only the sections that must be. I will mark my changes in all CAPS. The review is by the greatest film critic of all time…Mr. Roger Ebert.
Lethal Weapon (Sherlock Holmes)

BY ROGER EBERT / March 6, 1987
“SHERLOCK HOLMES” is another one of those Bruised Forearm Movies, like “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a movie where you and your date grab each other’s arm every four minutes and you walk out black and blue and grinning from ear to ear. It’s a buddy movie about two DETECTIVES who chase a gang of SECRET SOCIETY GUYS all over ENGLAND, and the plot makes an amazing amount of sense, considering that the action hardly ever stops for it.

The DETECTIVES are played by JUDE LAW, as a homebody who has just celebrated his 50th birthday, and ROBERT DOWNEY JR, as a crazed, wild-eyed rebel who has developed a suicidal streak since HE TOOK HIS LAST CASE. In the space of less than 48 hours, they become partners, share a family dinner, kill several people, survive a shootout in ENGLAND, battle with BOATS and machine guns, toss hand grenades, jump off buildings, rescue ROBERT DOWNEY JR’S kidnapped GIRLFRIEND, drive CARTS through walls, endure torture by electric shock, have a few beers and repair the engine on DOWNEY’S boat – not in that order.

The movie’s so tightly wound up, it’s like a rubber band ready to snap. GUY RITCHIE, the director, throws action scenes at us like hardballs, and we don’t know when to duck. All of the elements of this movie have been seen many times before – the chases, the explosions, the hostage negotiations – but this movie illustrates a favorite belief of mine, which is that the subject of a movie is much less important than its style. I’m a guy who is bored by shootouts and chase scenes.

I’ve seen it all. But this movie thrilled me from beginning to end.

Part of that is because I cared about the characters. LAW has had important roles for several years (in movies as different as “Places in the Heart” and “The Color Purple”), but this movie makes him a star. His job is to supply the movie’s center of gravity, while all the nuts and weirdos and victims whirl around him. He’s a family man, concerned about those gray hairs he sees in the mirror, not interested in taking unnecessary chances.

DOWNEY is the perfect counterpoint, with his wild hair, his slob clothing and his emotional misery. It’s a running gag in the movie that DOWNEY is so suicidal he doesn’t care if he lives or dies – and that gives him a definite advantage in showdown situations. That’s what happens in a scene where DOWNEY is up on a rooftop trying to FIGHT WITH A GIANT FRENCHMAN. I won’t spoil the surprise; I’ll just say the movie ends with one of the few genuinely unexpected surprises in any recent action film.

The supporting cast is strong, and has to be, to stand out in the midst of mayhem. MARK STRONG, slimmed down and bright of eye, makes an appropriately hateful killer. And RACHAEL McADAMS, as DOWNEY’S good-looking GIRLFRIEND, is cute when she gets TOUGH IN AN ALLEY. But most of the attention focuses on LAW and DOWNEY, and they work easily together, as if they were having fun, their eccentric personal rhythms supplying a counterpoint to the movie’s roar of violence.

Now about that matter of style. In a sense, a movie like “SHERLOCK HOLMES” isn’t about violence at all. It’s about movement and timing, the choreography of bodies and weapons in time and space. In lesser movies, people stand there and shoot at each other and we’re bored. In a movie with the energy of this one, we’re exhilarated by the sheer freedom of movement; the violence becomes surrealistic and less important than the movie’s underlying energy level. GUY RITCHIE has directed a lot of classy pictures. My favorites are “SNATCH,” and “LOCK STOCK”’ which is still the best. This time he tops himself.”
Thank you, Mr. Ebert…I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Well, for quite some time I have been considering moving my blog to Wordpress. There are many reasons for this, but biggest reason is for the things you (yes, I mean YOU) can’t see.

Wordpress allows me to do many things in the way of tracking my blog stats that other blog sites won’t.

But, the biggest reason has to do with the way I like to live my life…mobile.

When I purchased my iPhone, I knew I was taking a big step, but I never knew just how big it was. We’re MAC people, and iPhones just seemed like a smart purchase, but darned if I don’t do everything on the thing. That includes blogging.

So I need a blogging platform that works for my mobile lifestyle.

Tumblr seemed good. The app for iPhone is good and the blogs are slick, but forget about anything functional. Posterous is wonderful for posting blogs, but not for hosting them.

So is this move going to have any staying power? I really don’t know. For now, I think I’ll just move in a little bit and prop my feet up…maybe I’ll like it.