Premier Summer! Part I

While spending my summer at Fort Knox, Kentucky, I had to find a way to unwind that did not include drinking alcohol, being totally lazy, or getting into any other kind of trouble after 9pm.  On the weekends I would drive up to Preston Crossings, Okolona, KY, and catch a matinee of the new movie that came out that weekend.

So - without any real (or reel) background in reviewing movies or acting (aside from a play I did in my junior year of high school) - here is a run down of the movies I saw this summer.

Avengers: Age of Ultron
What a busy, busy movie.  While I like superhero movies, Marvel has taken them to the next level because none of these movies can stand on their own and make sense.  To understand the complexities of the relationships of the seven or so main characters you would have to have watched both Captain America movies, both Thor movies, all three Iron Mans, plus the first Avengers movie.  You probably need a smattering of Agents of Shield too. 

There was so much back story I had trouble with the current story. 

So they build the "ultimate" bad ass robot and turns on them and then they have to fight not only it, Ultron, but all of the robots he creates on a city being lifted into the air on rocket boosters.  Sure.

Strap in, hang on, go pee before the movie starts.  Bring your kid to explain it to you afterwards.

B+

Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller saved money on writers for a script and dialogue and spent it on explosions, stunts, and car crashes.  Money.  Well.  Spent.   With a pretty straight forward plot that keeps you engaged, the movie is an adrenaline rush for almost the entire picture.  Creepy bad guy and minions chase our hero across the desert because he has their fertile women (who don't want to be used as brood stock).

I liked Mad Max and the Road Warrior - the anti-hero who wants to turn his back on the world but still has a thread of decency. The new Max (Tom Hardy) conveys that very well. 

Big, bad ass cars and trucks set in a future of feudal rules and borderline anarchy.  All going really, really fast.

A+  

Tomorrowland

I am saving this movie for when I get home and can take TJ.

IC

San Andreas
I love a good disaster movie.  San Andreas delivers the disaster without being a disaster. 

In less than two hours the Hoover Dam is destroyed, Los Angeles rolls like a wave and is reduced to rubble and San Fransisco is demolished and flooded.  I like that most disaster movies are rooted in some fact.  Clearly California is due for "the big one" and thanks to plate tectonics, everything west of the fault line will be under water in a million years or so.  But we don't have time to wait that long so we can do in one movie day. 

Duane Johnson does not suck as an actor.  He's not a Brando either, but he does show emotion that you can believe.  So there's that.  Both lead female characters were obviously chosen for their endownment then maximized by lowcut tops.  I saw cleavage that ran deeper than the geologic phenomenon in the title of the movie.  And when the earth quakes, they shake. 

Everything appeared as bad as I could be (memories of San Fransisco 1987) and I was doing good until they were piloting the zodiac boat through the flooded streets of SanFran.

Wait for Netflix but rent it in BluRay.

B




Just a note on the "trouble after 9pm".  It is my personal philosophy that nothing good happens when you start your evening after 9pm.  After 9pm people are looking for a good time that could include - but might not be limited to - drinking, criminal acts, debauchery, and general mayhem.  It is a personal rule that I started as I got older and one I adhered to when deployed.  There was never a good reason for me, or anyone else, to be roaming around a Forward Operating Base in the middle of Iraq at 10:30 at night unless you were on duty.  I carried that forward to Kentucky, or North Carolina, or just about anywhere.

Coming up in Part II -

Jurassic World
Inside Out
Minions

Tanks A Lot

I am finally home for the summer after eight long weeks in Ft. Knox, Kentucky, the former Home of the Armor School. As such the post has plenty of tanks on display.

The Patton Museum is on Ft. Knox too - a monument to possibly the greatest Armor Officer and certainly one of the most controversial Generals of World War II.

I even went to a display of current equipment like rocket launchers, missile systems, cannons, and engineer equipment. They even let me sit in an M1 Abrams! I only wish the boys could have been with me to see it. So - this is for you, TJ and Grant.

Ft. Knox - thanks a lot!



Patton Tank

BAG (Big Ass Gun)

 



 










Rocket Launcher

Self Propelled Howitzer

Multiple Launch Rocket System

Mine Sweeper

120mm Howitzer

M-1 Abrams Tank

Sherman Tanks

Patton Tank

The Great American Bourbon Trail

I am traveling through Kentucky.  The home of bluegrass, horse racing, and, of course, bourbon. 

There is something about bourbon that I truly enjoy.  I have tried other distilled spirits but I just don't like vodka, gin, or scotch.  Yes, tequila is enjoyable in the summer.  Bourbon, however, just has a flavor and refinement to it.  Its a man's drink - only sexier when a woman drinks it.  Bourbon is a not a fru-fru drink to be mixed at sorority houses and the most I would ever mix it with is a cola.  I like a manhattan cocktail but prefer it over ice with a little water.

Bourbon is distinctively an American spirit with 96% percent of it being made in the state of Kentucky.  In fact, in 1964, Congress declared bourbon to be a "distinctive product of the United States".  In order for it to be considered bourbon in America it needs to meet these guidelines (cut and pasted from wikipedia):

Produced in the United States

Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn

Aged in new, charred oak barrels (adds color and flavor)

Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume)

Entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof

Bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume)

It amazes me with the patience that goes into making alcohol. Once the alcohol goes into the barrels the barrels go into massive buildings that can store 40,000 barrels and then sit there for over two years. Imagine trying a new recipe and having to wait for two years before you know how to tweak it. 

I have been visiting distilleries on what is called the Great American Bourbon Trail.  Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Four Roses, Bulleit, and many others dot the state.  Each offers a tour, each with their own "flavor".  Maker's takes you through the actual production factory, Evan Williams is in downtown Louisville and is a more of a show.  Bulleit is oddly located in a warehouse district near Louisville and is only unique because the owner happens to be there on the grounds and will come out of the office to say hello.

The best part of the tours is the taste testing of course.  The distillers put out their product line for sample - full bottles in the gift shop for a competitive fee.  If you pay attention to the tour guide you can detect the different aromas and hints of flavors within the alcohol.  I paid enough attention to know that I like some more than others because the other 49% can be a variation of different ingredients and those make each bourbon unique.  I have only been to three but I hope to add two more before I come home.  Maker's Mark is still my favorite so far.



So - cheers!