I got a chance to see the Expendables. With a line up like that, I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time, and I didn’t even know Charisma Carpenter was in this! Here are some thoughts:

Movie Title
This should have been titled, ‘The Incomprehensibles’. I mean seriously: Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Rourke, Schwarzenegger? I had no idea what any of those guys were saying half the time. There should have been subtitles.

Surprise of the movie?
I went to see a long list of long time favorite action heros in action, and it turns out the one guy who I’d never even heard of before, Terry Crews, stole the show.

Filmography and Action Sequences
The filmography was poor all the way around. Very muddy and hard to follow. Poor editing, poor directing. But you go to this kind of movie for the action and yet the action sequences were shot as if needing to cover a bunch of really inexperienced action actors, or really old ones. That may be true for some of them, but I find it hard to believe that Jet, Couture, and Statham are tool old to do action. I think instead it was simply a very poor filming and editing job. They should have showcased the talents of these guys we love and not buried it.

Dialogue
I know, I know. There should be no expectation of dialogue in this movie all things considered, and yet even without any expectations, it failed to meet those. My guess is there was no script. They just ad-libbed the entire movie. Couldn’t understand them half the time and the other half I wished I couldn’t. Jokes that made no sense, dialogue that was completely pointless. Really hurt what could have been a far more enjoyable film.

Where was Rocky vs Ivan Drago?
I really thought we’d see these two go toe-to-toe in a classic alternate universe rematch, with the gloves off. What a missed opportunity.

Did I Miss Something?
I’m not sure if I missed something, but from minute one it felt like the directors expected that I’d already seen Expendables 1 – 9, and this was the 25 year reunion, with #10. There was no setup and it seemed to be about a group we were supposed to have long had a history with and now were watching them deal with old age.

As good as the cast was…
Not sure why Couture was cast (he’s my favorite UFC guy). He’s not a Hall of Fame action hero, and he really stood out like a sore thumb amongst the rest. They didn’t even use any of his skills.

Where was Chuck Norris? Couldn’t he have kicked someone’s butt for two minutes at least?

Bruce Willis was wasted. If all the guy is going to do is stand there in a suit, then he’s only there to pretend he’s in the movie. He should have been involved in the action.

Summary
In all, this movie seemed to be extremely low budget, and it felt as though that once they signed this cast, they phoned in the rest. But, I will say the final 30 minutes saved it from being a completed disappointment. I enjoyed Sly and Statham and Crews. The rest I could have lived without, even though I like so many of them.

PS
Does Eric Roberts age?

PPS
Now that Schwarzenegger looks as old as my grandfather he should probably stay out of movies.

We are running a giveaway right now at peepnote.com/giveaway. One winner chosen at random will win the basket full of Spring goodies including a stuffed Peep and a bunch of Marshmallow Peeps, and a lot more. It’s worth over $129 and will be shipped at no charge to the winner’s door. It’s great for yourself or as a gift to a child for Easter.

The giveaway ends Sunday, so hurry and follow the directions to enter today.

I first published this web site five years ago. It’s gone through a few changes but for the most part it has kept the first look I designed in 2005. The old design served me well, and I’ve enjoyed writing for the blog, but it was time give the site a redesign. I hired my new friend and partner at PeepNote.com, Josh Hemsley from the Visual Click to redesign it. He was patient with my ever changing and often difficult to please creative direction, and the result is one I’m extremely pleased with. Everything Josh designs comes out looking beautiful and he did a great job helping me meet my objectives.

I plan to write a lot more in the coming year and I would be very grateful for your feedback, opinions and encouragement when I do so. Thanks to all my readers, both the silent ones and the ones who have left comments in the past.

Last year I wrote about my 13 Technologies to be thankful for, but this year, I’m opening it up and listing everything that I am so thankful for (in no particular order).

I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving and kick of the holiday trilogy in a big way. Now, what are YOU thankful for?

I recently read Derek Sivers’ post, What do you hate not doing?, and it happened to be posted right before my birthday, when I traditionally take time out to review my year’s goals and progress, and set new goals for the coming year. A lot of changes in direction have occurred at this annual meeting with myself. I review last year’s personal journal entry, and compare it to the progress I made, then grade myself, record lessons learned, and write my goals for the coming year.

So Sivers’ post was timely and I liked his idea of focusing on what you hate NOT doing, as a way to highlight your passions, so I decided to write my version of, What do you hate not doing? to help me focus on Beginning with the End in Mind for the year ahead.

What do I hate NOT doing?

I hate NOT reading
I agree with Dave Ramsey, when he said: “You’ll be the same person in 10 years except for the people you meet and the books you read“. I don’t think learning ends with reading, but it’s a great place to start. You still have to try and experience things, but, you can save a whole lot of time in your trials, by learning from others, and reading is a great way to do that. You can expand your knowledge and your imagination, and I also find it stirs my creative juices and gets them flowing. Often times, I can’t even finish a chapter in a book without stopping to brainstorm.

I read a lot online all day long, but there is something about reading a book that is much more fulfilling. A book can develop ideas in much more depth than a blog post on the Internet. I pledge to devote more time in my schedule to tackle more books.

I hate NOT working to improve and implement a web site idea
Creating web sites is my biggest passion. I love the Internet and all the possibilities this technology opens up to make our lives easier and more productive, and like reading, it can expand our minds and our knowledge, and, unlike reading, allow us to meet new people and learn from them interactively.

I love the entire process of building an interactive web site, from concept to design and implementation, delivering the product and launching it for the entertainment, educational, or productivity value it provides to the target audience. I plan in the year ahead to continue launching new sites and expanding and improving the sites I’m involved with.

I hate NOT spending time with my family
Of all the things that bring me joy, little can compare to spending time with my kids. I love to watch them have fun, to watch them learn and grow, and experience new things. It’s a joy to mentor them, by sharing my experiences, allowing them to try and fail, and being there to cheer them on regardless of the result of their efforts. Books will come and go, web sites will be launched and taken offline, but continuing the family line and passing on family values to the next generation is truly the best way to leave a legacy.

I hate NOT keeping in good physical shape
This is the area I’ve been weakest in lately, due to both lack of time and past knee injuries. But when a schedule is as packed as mine is, besides passion, the next best source of energy is being in shape. For 11 years, I worked out regularly training in the martial arts, and simply have not found a replacement that motivates me to keep in shape as much as that did. I plan to do a better job with this in my 39th year ahead.

I hate NOT traveling
The contiguous United States alone is over 3 million square miles. Add in Alaska and it grows to almost 4 million square miles. North America is 9.5 million square miles. That’s a lot to see without even having to fly very far. In fact all of that can be seen via road travel. Certainly there is far more to see outside of the U.S. and North America, and this is why I love to travel. Every state and city in the U.S. I go to presents me with a new way of life. It’s amazing how different societies can be from city to city, even within the same country. I love to see the architecture, sample the foods, see the topography, and experience the culture of each new place. It’s also a great way to learn history, and teach it to your kids at the same time. My long term goal is to have an RV and spend a good portion of each year living out of it, particularly during the hot and humid summer months of Florida.

My perfect day
In summary, my perfect day would involve waking up in some new part of the country, preferably somewhere stunningly beautiful, exercising in the morning, enjoying a breakfast with a view of the beauty, while reading one of those books I really want to get to. Then sitting down to work on one of the web sites that really excite me, with a team of equally passionate and skilled individuals, producing useable, helpful, and aesthetically pleasing sites for its users. Then after a 6 hour or so day of that, stopping to enjoy our current location with the family. Teaching the kids about the history of the area we are currently in, and meeting the locals and finding out how they live. Retiring for the evening to watch some good television or a movie, read more, smoke a cigar, and enjoy a great meal with family and friends, both new and old.

So that’s what I hate NOT doing. How about you?