Films, Tom Sawyer, Bataan, beachless and sawker

FILM

On Friday, loaded up in the MWR (Morale, wellness, recreation) minivan and drove to the movie theatre. The plan was for two of us to catch a late show of The Killers and the other three would go see Get Him to The Greek. Following, we would theatre sneak to an even later showing of Prince of Persia. This didn't happen seeing as that show began around 1 am. GHTTG was hilarious and awkward like every good comedy should be. Back at base, we called it an early night.

Last week, I got Crazy Heart via Netflix. Great film. It was the perfect thing to unwind with after a long day's work. Makes me wanna be a performer/ride around the country in a pickup.

TOM SAWYER

... would be proud of us for our Saturday night shenanigans. The plan was to take the ferry across the Mississippi to get to downtown New Orleans. Easier said than done seeing as we took the wrong ferry and ended up about 15 miles downstream from our destination. Took the ferry back across and ended up just driving downtown to deal with traffic, parking, and the like. Something tells me Mark Twain would be amazed by the fact that 100 years after his death, a group of clueless college kids could cross the Mighty Mississippi twice in under an hour via ferryboat.

Dinner was good. Parked in Harrah's Casino structure (10 stories tall and completely full) and ate at Gordon Biersch. Finally had jumbalaya. Something tells me its not authentic until you eat it at a place that's not a chain.

BATAAN

I brought this one on myself. Unimpressed with last week's mass, I intended to go to Our Lady of Perpetual Help which is just a couple miles up the road from the base. Unfortunately, it was a horrible walk. Even with short sleeves, shorts, sunglasses, water and plenty of time, the short walk felt like a trek deserving to be covered by National Geographic. The only thing preventing this from actually happening besides the lack of any NatGeo staff on hand to document it was the incredibly boring scenery. This consisted of lots of overgrowth, cracked concrete and loud chirping crickets. I didn't pass a single person on the way there. Something about this brief 40 minute walk was incredibly depressing. I think it was a combination of the heat and the loneliness of the place.

Mass was nice. I plan on going back. Fr. Billy O'Riordon could probably have matched his successes as a priest as a TV pitchman. After mass, I saw one of the kids in the Camp program. He seemed out of it. Probably because of that post-mass lobotomy feeling I remember having when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time debating whether to ask someone for a ride home or to just tough it out. I ended up not toughing it out.

BEACHLESS

Later that day, the plan was to go to the beach. We loaded up a cooler, packed towels and a squirt gun and set put. In typical fashion, I feel asleep in the backseat. When I awoke two hours later, we were in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart by our base. Apparently, all the roads to the beach were closed so we spent about an hour, many gallons of gas and all our patience driving around the shores of Lake Pontchartrain only to be utterly let down due to the lake access roads being closed. Tensions were high and I went off to replenish my groceries by myself.

On this topic, New Orleans has the worst roads I have ever seen. From what I've seen, its normally been hard to determine what was hit by the hurricane and what wasn't. The beach day wasn't the case. For the few moments I awoke to look out the window, I thought to myself that this is probably as close to the Third World as you'll see in the US. I saw a fair share of bent rebar and those roads, man... those roads are terrible.

SOCCER

After going to bed at 2 am on Friday, I woke up at 6 to watch World Cup soccer. The South Korea game was great. Levels of tiredness were not. I made a schedule of all the games I can potentially watch during the times I am not working. Also signed up for auto score updates via text on my phone. I am beginning to realize how addicted to sports I have become. Then again, World Cup is (as one of my co-workers said) "kinda my thing". I would've loved to be watching the US-England games with friends but at least I got to see it. I think I stood for the entire second half, biting my nails, praying the US didn't give up any goals. They didn't and I'm very happy. On multiple occasions, I found myself jumping up and down, fist pumping and clapping. All by myself in my room, mind you.