3 Bugeys and a Wagon

3 Bugeys and a Wagon
11/13/2010 - 5k Stomp Out Hunger: Immaculata Collge

Saturday, June 25, 2011

7k Bouncing Buns - Palmerton, PA



Well, no pics for this one.  Had 2 partners in crime join me.  As always, Chris Felix.  However, my college roommate Jared joined me as well.  This race is up in Palmerton, which is about 90 minutes away.

This was my second time doing this race.  Last year, they had 45 runners.  This year they had 107.  I actually shaved off 7 minutes from my time last year. 

Afterwards, just hung out by the pool for a few hours with Jared, Chris, and about 200 hundred other people in their birthday suits.  

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Juneathon - - - - derailed!!!

Poison Ivy has consumed most of my legs.  I got it on Saturday, and it is just healing up now.  Unfortunately, I have not run the past few days.  Oh well.  Better luck next year. 

However, I do have some good pics from Saturday evening from the Chester County Balloon Festival!!!











Saturday, June 18, 2011

Juneathon 11 - Day #17

5 mile run on Struble Trail

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Todays movie:  Chasing Amy



Holden and Banky are comic book artists. Everything's going good for them until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian

This movie came out right before Good Will Hunting, so this was how I came to know Ben Affleck.  I alwasys thought this was his best movie.


Also, the best movie for Jason Lee.  He is a real sarcastic miserable bastard in the movie, and he nails the part.




Hooper X

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Juneathon 11 - Day #16

5 mile run on Struble Trail


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Today's movie:  Stand By Me




4 young friends set out on an adventure. Geordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern go looking for the missing body of a local teenager - found by a gang of older boys. A story of boys hangin' out and growin' up



The ultimate coming of age movie.  Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldmen, and Jerry O'Connell as the four boys.  Plenty of one-liners.  Each one of these boys was fantastic.  Also starred Kiefer Sutherland (he was a real bastard), John Cusack, and narrated by Richard Dreyfeuss. 

The movie is a great story.  This will be the first rated R movie I allow my boys to see when they get to about 12 or so.  Lots of bad language, but thats what boys this age do when they hang out together.

Seeing the careers of Leonardo Dicaprio and Johnny Depp become what they have, it is sad because there is no doubt River Phoenix would have been just as big.  That kid had it all.  Its also fun to watch Corey Feldman be Corey Feldman.  That was a kid I wish just never grew up.  Kiefer is a real son-of-a-bitch in this movie.  He is so good at playing a villan that you can hate. 

OK, now one of these kids is now married to a super model

Can you guess which one......yep, its Vern (the fat kid on the right).  Here he is now with his lovely wife.  This proves anything is possible.



Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Juneathon 11 - Day #15

Just a 1/2 mile run in Barker Park.  Still feel weak from the Warrior Dash.  I think I will be back in the swing of things tomorrow.

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today's movie:  Boogie Nights


The movie itself is fun drama to watch.  What makes it so great now is all the actors who were in it.  The only established actor at the time was Burt Reynolds (who was nominated for this).  The only other celebrity was a rapper/underwear model known as Marky Mark!  If you look at the below pic,  you should see some familiar faces that have since become big actors.



This is the movie that put Mark Wahlberg on the map as a serious actor.  In the movie, he plays a teenage kid, who happens to be hung like a horse.  When a film director (Burt Reynolds) hears about him, he invites him into the world of adult movies.  Wahlberg changes his name to Dirk Diggler (great name) and rises to the top quickly.  Of course his ego gets the best of him, and he falls apart. 

"What can you expect when you're on top? You know? It's like Napoleon. When he was the king, you know, people were just constantly trying to conquer him, you know, in the Roman Empire. So, it's history repeating itself all over again.
"



Lets start off with John C. Reilly.  He plays Reed Rothchild (great porn name).  He is a riot in this movie.  Starts off as the big porn actor, until Dirk Diggler comes along.  Once Dirk becomes established very quickly, Reed is quick to become his side kick. 

Line from Reed:
"Have you seen that Star Wars movie?  You know, people tell me I kind of look like Han Solo."
(please look at the guy on the left below, cause he looks nothing like Han Solo).


Julianne Moore as Amber Waves.  She is the queen of the 70's porn industry.  Has the older woman (MILF) look to her.  She was also nominated for this roll. 

Yes, that is 3 time Academy Award Nominee Phillip Seymore Hoffman in the background playing Scottie.  I don't want to ruin it for anybody who hasn't seen this, but a truly unforgettable character.

Dirk and Reed come up with a kind of secret agent story line for a movie franchise.  Dirk plays Brock Landers, and Reed plays his sidekick Chest Rockwell.  More awesome names.

Alfred Molina.  Where to start with this role.  A lot of this movie is based on 70's porn star John Holmes.  Holmes was involved in the Wonderland murders (its up for debate on whether he was truly responsible for them or not) but this scene with Alfred Molina kind of ties into it.

At one point, Reed and Dirk decide to try to cut an album.  Pure comedy. 


Some others that I could not find pics of

Don Cheadle - playing Buck Swope.  A black porn star who is into country music.  He is always trying to find a new look.  He starts off with the Cowboy look.  He also wants to open his own stereo store.  When trying to sell a sterieo, he uses the following line:

"See this system here? This is Hi-Fi... high fidelity. What that means is that it's the highest quality fidelity."

Love it!


William H. Macy - Little Bill.  He works on the set as a cameraman.  He is married to a porn star who is constantly screwing other men.  Finally drives him crazy. 

Thomas Jane - Todd.  Thomas Jane is currently on the show "Hung."  He is a coke head who gets caught up with Reed and Dirk.  Trouble ensues.

Heather Graham - Rollergirl.  A porn star who always wears Roller Skates.  Nuff said!

Luis Guzman - Maurice.  He owns a night club where all these people hang out.  He wants to be in a movie real badly.

This movie is a very quotable movie (like Caddyshack and Animal House.)  Its a drama, but not very serious.  2 thumbs up in my book.



useless trivia:
Gwyneth Paltrow was originally offered the role of Rollergirl but turned it down.

Leonardo DiCaprio was originally offered the role of Dirk Diggler. He liked the screenplay but turned it down because he had already signed on to do Titanic (1997). However, it was DiCaprio who suggested Mark Wahlberg for the role.

After seeing a rough cut of the film, Burt Reynolds regretted making it and fired his agent for recommending the role to him. Reynolds ended up winning a Golden Globe and being nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.

Marisa Tomei was offered the role of Amber Waves.

Paul Thomas Anderson used Exhausted: John C. Holmes, the Real Story (1981), a documentary about John Holmes, as a reference for some of the scenes in this film. Many interview scenes, including one where a strung-out Dirk tells the interviewer about how Jack allows him to block and edit his own sex scenes, are exactly identical to the interviews in "Exhausted", especially one where the strung-out John Holmes, for no clear reason, lies about how Bob Chinn allows him to block his own sex scenes.

 

 



Juneathon 11 - Day #14

Juneathon 11 - Day #14

5 miles on Struble Trail

The one great thing about Struble Trail in the summer time....lots of shade.  I have probably run somwhere around 150 miles on Struble this year.  My goal this year is to run a thousand miles.  40% of that will probably be on Struble.  Anyways, listened to a good podcast with Bill Simmons about the NBA finals.  It was dated about a week ago (so it was an NBA finals preview....when in reality, the series was already over.)  All the experts had picked the Miami Heat.  Too funny.

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Today's movie recommendation:   American History X



Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did. 


This is a crazy movie.  It features and Academy Award Nomination for Edward Norton playing a skinhead.  He really pumped up for this movie, and is very scary looking. 



Possibly the most gut-wrenching scene ever captured on camera.  Picture The Dark Knight, when The Joker makes the pencil disappear.  This was worse!



Also, good performance by Avery Brooks.  Haven't seen much of him since this flick.


The group of skin heads are basically like a cult.  You have a ring leader who just gets a bunch of kids who want to be a part of something.  There are people in life who just look for other reasons why there life isn't what they think it should be.  There are a percentage of all kinds of people in the world who feel this way.  There are many that are minorities, and they use being a minority as a crutch to what is wrong with their life.  Obviously, being a white male, one can not play the minority card....so this movie goes to the other side of the fence and feeds into pissed off white kids just looking for something to be pissed off about.  Its fascinating.






This was by far Ed Norton's best movie.  Nothing else comes even close.  

Monday, June 13, 2011

Juneathon 11 - Day #13

Juneathon 11 - Day #13

1 mile run at East Goshen Park






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Todays movie recommendation:

The Departed



This movie fascinates me for several reasons.  The actors of course are the best part.  Dicaprio, Damon, Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, and Mark Wahlberg (who was nominated for this).  Bascially, the movie rests on Dicaprio, Damon, and Nicholson.  Going into the movie, I was sure Damon would be sold, and Jack would be great, cause he is Jack, but Dicaprio was the big question mark.  Leo is a great actor, but never bought him as a tough guy before.  I had my doubts as this movie started.





Leonardo Dicaprio - the undercover cop who is the rat in Jack's crew.  I was blown away by how good he was in this movie.  I expected him to be the weakest link.  Instead, he was the best part of the movie.  This was his best movie (and that is saying something).  I never bought him as a tough guy, but I do now. 

Jack Nicholson - the mob boss Frank Costello.  The complete opposite of Dicaprio.  I thought he was awful.  So over the top, it wasn't even funny.  I think my problem stems from The Godfather.  The Godfather teaches us that there are Micheals and Sonnys in the world.  Michaels last, Sonnys don't.  Jack was a Sonny.  It was completely unbelievable that a guy who acted the way he did would make it to the top, and stay there.  Didn't buy it at all.  I thought it was one of Jack's worst performances.

Matt Damon - Hard to like Damon in this, because his character was a mole.  He played it well though, and you really felt sympathy for him.

Mark Wahlberg - The role itself wasn't that critical to the movie, but man did Wahlberg nail it.  He really nailed it.  He was phenominal.  Just like Dicaprio, this was his best movie.  Great career move, Mark.

What I really loved about this movie is that you really feel sympathy for both Dicarprio and Damon.  Even though they were on opposite sides, you got the feeling that they were victims and both stuck in a situation they couldn't get out of.  Great movie!






Sunday, June 12, 2011

Juneathon 11 - Day #12

night time run in Barker Park.  Just a mile  (more to follow)



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Today's movie recommendation:


Jake Shuttlesworth is in prison serving time for killing his wife in a violent family feud. He is released on parole, but with one condition - he must persuade his son, genius basketball player Jesus to sign with the governor's alma mater university, Big State. And Jake only has a week to do it.

Interesting movie starring Denzel and (at the time) a real life college basketball player named Ray Allen.  Ray had finished his college career and was about to enter the NBA draft when this movie was filmed.  He was a very successful college player, and was projected to be a very successful professional as well.  When the film was released, it was advertised that Allen was in the movie, just Denzel.  I guess the studio thought it wouldn't be taken seriously if they advertised a real life basketball player was the main charachter.  It just isn't easy to find a young 20 something year old African-American actor who can pull off that roll (cause the actor would have to be at least 6'6."

The best part of this movie is that Denzel and Ray finally square off in a game of one-on-one at the end of the movie.  Denzel (Ray's father) was very hard on him as a young boy.  Now Ray is a young man (much bigger than Denzel).  The behind the scenes story is that they show up on set to film this scene.  Denzel is stretching and stuff, getting warmed up.  Ray obviously is a pro, so doesn't need to really do this.  Spike Lee calls them over and discusses how they are going to film this.  He says "Guys, just go out and play (in character) and we'll go from there."  Now, imagine being Denzel and hearing this.  This had to be frieghtening.  Having to pretend that you are an equal on the basketball court to a guy who is about 20 years younger, 6 inches taller, and is going to be a pro.  Not fun.  Now the way it works in one-on-one basketball is that if you make your shot, you get the ball back.  Well, Denzel makes his first four shots in a row.  Of course, being in character, he was talking trash to Ray Allen.  On the inside, he must've been scared out of his mind.  Terrified.  He is showing up a kid who is a pro.  It was only a matter of time before Ray was going to get pissed off.  Sure enough, Ray picks it up, but it must've been a riot to sit there and watch this scene be filmed. 







Walter Ray Allen (born July 20, 1975) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. He has played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, and the Boston Celtics; and collegiately for the University of Connecticut Huskies. One of the most accurate 3-point and free throw shooters in NBA history,[1][2] he is a ten-time NBA All-Star and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States Men's Basketball Team. Allen has acted in two films, including a co-starring role in the 1998 Spike Lee film He Got Game. On 02011-02-10 February 10, 2011, Allen became the NBA's all-time leader in regular season three-point field goals made, surpassing Reggie Miller's mark of 2,560. On 02011-03-11 March 11, 2011, Allen surpassed Miller's career total of 6,486 three-point field goal attempts.






Saturday, June 11, 2011

Warrior Dash

Won't be able to post about this until Sunday night.


Rock Star!!!

























shirt, medal, and viking hat

back of t-shirt