Grown Ups

I don’t watch movies a lot, and I visit the theatres even less frequently. However, whenever I do go, I almost always come out with something.

On Canada Day, my friends and I went to watch Adam Sandler’s new comedy, Grown Ups. Critics have not rated the movie very favourably, but I must say, on a personal level, it was a very enjoyable show.

The movie is about five former basketball players re-uniting after almost 30 years to commemorate their late coach at the lakehouse where the team celebrated a championship victory from a long time ago. All but one team member had gotten married, so along with the trip came the men’s wives and children.

Like many movies of this nature, there were a tonne of silly jokes, some crude remarks made by the characters, and some suggested scenes to give the movie a minor tint of sex appeal. I laughed at most of Sandler’s jokes, and enjoyed the give-and-take the men were giving to each other throughout the movie, but that’s not the main reason why I have enjoyed this movie so much.

Five middle-aged men gathering after thirty years brought to their gatherings many stories and many scars from their lives. Even the seemingly most successful man has his fair share of problems: a wife who is overly entrenched in her career, and two sons who know nothing but to spend their entire day glued to the screen of their electronic devices. Other men had their problems too: dis-connectedness with his young, beautiful daughters, demeaning comments and attitudes from the mother-in-law and wife, a career that has reached a dead end, and a quest for love that is never requited... the problems are so trivial and so common, it seems almost unreal that they can be turned into sources of laughter, but they were, and they brought a familiar sense of warmth to you.

It was cheesy that almost all of these problems were resolved by the end of the movie; of course, we know these problems don’t go away that easily just through a weekend get-away, but maybe we can all hope.

That said, there was still something that was real that can be taken out of the movie: the value of friendship, the value of family, and the value of cherishing our past and our memories. As we embark on our journeys in life, we gather so many layers of masks that we almost morph into a completely different person that is even unfamiliar to ourselves. If nothing else, the movie reminds us that: it was the rawest and oldest memories that are the most enjoyable. Though we cannot go back to the past; the past does not have to be amputated from our lives.

As you embark on your journeys forward, undoubtedly you will pick up a few layers of skins to wear in front of others as well… just remember your roots, and never bury those bonds that made you who you are today…

Grown Ups’ Official Trailer:

Hilarious or Worrisome?

Social networking has been extremely popular in recent years. Sites such as “Facebook” and “Twitter” have been used extensively, sometimes excessively, by people young and old. But this latest news is just over-the-top:

cnet News: Facebook break leads to burglary suspect

PC World: Burglar Checks Facebook During Raid, Gets Busted

Jonathan G. Parker, a 19-year-old from Fort Loudoun, Pa., was arrested by police for an alleged burglary. According to the charges, Parker broke into a home and stole two diamond rings that are worth $3500. The quick arrest happened, not strictly due to the police’s efficiency, but more so, because of Parker’s stupidity:

You see, when the victim of the crime came home and realized that someone had broken into her home, she also noticed that her computer was turned on, and on the browser was Parker’s Facebook page. Apparently, Parker could not stop the urge of logging onto his Facebook account during the burglary, and had to log on (but had forgotten to log off).

If you are in the middle of a burglary and you cannot resist logging onto Facebook to check if your “homie” is having lobsters that evening, or if your buddy is having a fight with his girlfriend, you have an addiction problem! Jonathan, if it is not too much to ask, next time you are breaking into someone’s home, bring your smart phone with you so you can twit about your crime, and can update your status without leaving such apparent tracks for the police. So you can update your status as “in the middle of a burglary, hope I won’t get caught…”?! Or so you can twit and say “picked up two diamond rings, score!”?!

Social networking has done wonders for many of us – how many of us have benefitted from these programs that allow us to connect with friends that you have not seen for the longest time? Having said that, it has also created a bunch of us, who seemingly can no longer survive without letting the whole world know about what we are doing. What has happened to sports, to private, quiet reading time, to family time?

As for Jonathan Parker, he may be behind bars for as many as ten years, likely without a chance to Facebook or Twit during that time.

Olympic Torch a 3-Foot Joint?

The Olympic Torch was unveiled a while ago now, but I am not sure why there is this sudden buzz of the shape of it. Below are a few articles that talk about this Toronto-designed Olympic Torch:

Jim Rome: Olympic Torch Looks Like a Joint

Seattle Times: About that Reefer-bished Vancouver Oly Torch

Now, I am not a pothead, so I don’t have first-hand knowledge of how a "fatty" should look like. Having seen people roll up a marijuana cigarette, though, I must attest, when you look at the Olympic Torch sideways (see below left), it does show a remarkable resemblance (right).

This is probably just a silly story that gets reported out-of-proportion, but how ironic is it that, the capital city of pot in the world gets a chance to host the Winter Olympics, and one of the biggest symbols of the Game shows such eerie resemblance to the item that Vancouver is so infamous for.

As sports talk radio host Jim Rome mocks, the "higher" part in the Olympic motto has just taken on a whole new meaning in Vancouver... higher... yeah right... If you ask me, I am honestly feeling ashamed of our city's infamy when it comes to marijuana.