Watched Point Break again a couple nights ago (It was on USA Network). Ah, what a guilty pleasure. This is one of my all-time fave movies, for several reasons:

1) It has everything that Keanu Reeves is reviled for (yar-dude dialog and acting) yet everything he’s perfect for (playing an ex-football QB who’s now an FBI agent, with the perfect name: “Johnny Utah”?)

2) It has Patrick Swayze (RIP :(), one of those rare onscreen combinations of sensitivity, philosophy, thrillseeking, surfing and violent rubber-masked bank robbery – no WONDER they called him ‘the Boddhisatva‘

3) It has Gary Busey – sadly somewhat absent from American film these days – but in his prime, nothing could touch him for over-the-top acting coupled with ridiculous obnoxious characters and mannerisms. What’s not to love? (See also: Under Siege – where he teams up with Tommy Lee Jones and Colm Meaney to battle Steven Seagal – classic ridiculous movie to rival even Point Break!)

4) It has bank robberies committed in broad daylight by crazy guys in President masks (Nixon, LBJ, Carter and Reagan) who seemingly have been at it for four years every summer, same m.o., and never been caught – until Keanu and Busey come along? 🙂

5) It even has Anthony Kiedis(!) in a bit part as part of a surfer gang briefly trying to beat the crap out of Keanu, until PS helps Keanu turn the tables.

Silly plot and dialogue aside – the film has some great action/montage sequences – most of the surfing scenes are slowed down and very pretty to watch, and the skydiving stuff is also very cool.

And the end doesn’t disappoint, even though it’s plainly preposterous. Keanu’s ‘vaya con dios’ ending line says it all.

Like another fave – The Fifth Element – this movie is just pure entertainment – what Hollywood was invented for (although now there’s also YouTube :))

candybowl

So besides the jet boat trip in July, so far we have attended two family reunions (the first was in Medford – the jet boat trip was the first event; the second was last weekend in Manzanita– somewhat interrupted by rain, unfortunately).

After the second reunion, we drove the Syncro up the coast and camped at 3 different locations: Cape Disappointment (just north of Astoria but on WA side); Grayland (mid-coast, about 25 miles south of Aberdeen); and Heart ‘O The Hills (just below Hurricane Ridge outside Port Angeles). In the first two cases, the weather was overcast, breezy and somewhat wet – typical for this time (and nearly every other time) of year. The last site was much warmer and dryer, but also came with more bugs – doh!

We got in some good biking too. In Medford, we took a couple rides – a ~30 miler roundtrip to the outskirts of nearby Ashland; a second one about 14 miles RT (bike problems prevented more). This past week, we took a ~42mi ride around the Long Beach Peninsula; some short rides near Grayland (one with about 50lb of ice and food on my back!); and a 6 mile ride down (from the campground to Port Angeles) and then back UP (this was the bad part). But we made it, and were better for it in the end.

Sat. am the 14th we packed up and drove to Hurricane Ridge, then hiked the 1.6mi ‘hurricane hill’ hike to overlook the Strait of Juan de Fuca (between the northwest WA coast and Vancouver Island/Canada), then back to the van and blast on home. Got home around 3pm and it was HOT back here in Seattle! And now the Syncro needs a good can or two of Woolite. 🙂

candybowl