This is our first shoot the shit topic in three weeks but what a three weeks it has been! There are millions of people suffering in the States of Texas and Florida; you can expand that to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Three massive hurricanes, none of which had anything to do with global warming, pounded two of our great states and U.S. Territories. Hurricane Harvey in Texas; Irma in Florida, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and U.S. Virgin Islands. Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and to a lesser extent Hurricane Jose. The icing on the cake came with the massive earthquake that struck Mexico City delivering tragic loss of life.To the Mexican people we say hermanos nosotros sufrimos juntos. Yet in the face of adversity, humanity stands strong, indomitable and determined.The challenges we face are many but our energy and talent is boundless.
In the face of great adversity, we saw, and continue to see, extraordinary leadership surfacing, and we extend our thanks and appreciation to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton , Florida Governor Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Your tireless proactive work saved lives and there is no greater measure of achievement. You deserve special recognition, but no leader stands alone and our thanks extends to members of your disaster recovery teams and office staff. To all of you we say Thank You!
We are also extremely proud of our President, Donald J. Trump. His speech, delivered at the U.N., was frank, direct and long overdue. He called out perpetrators of tyranny, terrorism and oppression, and he encouraged the world’s states to respect and enforce their borders, govern in the interest of their people and work in harmony with all countries to improve all of our lives. It was a great moment in our country’s history, so it’s tragic to see miscreants like Stephen Colbert, who represent the very bowels of the entertainment community, mock the President and his family. Candidly, he aught to be able to find someone from that very group to ridicule not the President of the United States or his family.
On a lighter side and consistent with the tone of our usual shoot the shit topics, have you guys seen American Assassin? If you are a Chinese closet commando you will love this movie!
In this “counter terror” production, actor Dylan O’Brien plays Mitch Rapp – on camera Dylan O’Brien looks like he weighs all of 90 lbs. and it’s quite likely that, in real life, the only fight he’s been in was at a tofu bar in Santa Monica.
The movie opens with Mitch Rapp and his girlfriend vacationing in the tropics. While basking in the ocean waters, he proposes to his girl; giving her his mom’s engagement ring. He then leaves the water to fetch a couple of drinks. Arriving at the bar, he asks the bartender for two strong drinks, which is probably the only way he could get into her swimsuit, but while fetching those drinks, jihadists open fire blazing away with AK-47s killing everyone including his, now, fiancé , Katrina played by Charlotte Vega.
While aimlessly running around on the beach, Mitch Rapp takes a double tap from an AK-47 casually falling to the ground. He survives , but the event shapes the rest of his life and in a matter of minutes transforms into an MMA martial artist, expert shot, knife thrower and linguist who gets recruited by the CIA. They send him to the farm where he meets Stan Hurly, an X-Navy Seal and Cold War CIA Operative, played by Michael Keaton.
The technical aspects of the movie were fairly good, especially the detonation of a nuclear bomb under water. There are a number of maritime weapon systems that can drop a nuclear warhead into the ocean. They have an effective radius of 25+ miles. These warheads work by creating a massive pressure wave that crushes any submerged hull; on the surface, the concussion produces upward water pressure that lifts a surface ship breaking its keel. They can take out an entire carrier group.
If you can deal with some of the movie’s exaggerations, American Assassin is worth the price of admission.
I want to close by saying that we made it through some extraordinary times. It is natural to feel stressed and depressed but nothing is worth you giving up the ship. Rely on your support systems, family, friends, clergy. Be safe, and spend some quality time with your buds and family.
FOG HORN 