An Action Icon Falls: Remembering Patrick Swayze:

Patrick Swayze died yesterday at the age of 57. While I know many of the ladies out there remember him dancing dirty and taking care of business with clay, I will remember his an action hero. When thinking of dope 80's actions movies, it's easy to only recall Arnold, Sly, and if you're feeling generous, maybe even Van Damme. Yet while that trio made wildly uneven films, Mr. Swayze brought the thunder, the lightning, and the torrential rain with a trinity of action movies: "Red Dawn," "Road House," and "Point Break."

 I can see that each of these movies defined some parts of my life. The first, "Red Dawn" occupied my 5th-6th grade, NAVY SEALS are the greatest breathing thing on the planet phase, a.k.a., I kind of wish my home town would get invaded, so I could go into the woods with my buddies and fight phase. Of course now that I'm older and I realize guerrilla warfare on our soil would probably not be fun, yet thanks to Swayze's work as the Wolverine leader Jed in "Red Dawn" it looked pretty damn appealing.

Now I'm not a really physically intimidating dude, I once ate 15 pudding cups at lunch in seventh grade in a spectacle of raw power, but that doesn't measure up  in the throat ripping badass spectrum. Yet somehow I managed to spend my summer of 2007 working as a doorman at a busy Cambridge bar. It was there that the wise older doorman taught me the ways of being a bouncer, and his first lesson to me was this: watch "Road House." So I did, and now thanks to Mr Swayze I was, am, and will be a better bouncer and person.

Which brings me to "Point Break." I'll be honest and say I was late to this party, I didn't see it until 2006, but since then I've probably seen it 10 times. This is a movie that introduced me to thislalife, a land where surfer bros named Bodhi could very well be Buddha, bank robbing presidents roam the streets, and the meatballs subs are so good you need to get two of them. Swayze's work in this film is amazing, everything from his introduction as some type of wave born surf god to his amazingly absurd philosophical quotes that he drops everywhere. And so Mr. Swayze, let me use one of your quotes to send you off.

" If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love. "

RIP, MY THOUGHTS ARE PRAYERS ARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

Waiting for the Red Dawn

"I looked into Mr. Putin’s eyes and I saw three things — a K and a G and a B."
-John McCain, October 2008

If you don't know of it's existence, "Red Dawn" is 1984 action film that is one of the wildest ever made. The plot is simple, Communists (or is the current buzz word socialists) attack the United States. Luckily for us, eight kids retreat into the mountains in Arizona, and thanks to great leadership by 80's superstars Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, they lead the resistance and go by the name "Wolverines."

If you haven't seen this movie, I would recommend watching it. It is a fascinating piece of 1980s cold war paranoia. And since John McCain and Sarah Palin keep talking about the Russians, a film where they are the blood thirsty invaders must be in heavy rotation at the campaign Head Quarters. The movie is full of red state policies, for example, if you don't support the "Wolverines", they will kill you regardless of if you are pro-America. See the scene where they execute a fellow "wolverine" who switches sides on them. Why? "CAUSE WE LIVE HERE!"

But enough politics, let's talk about why this movie is so damn ill. Check out this clip

1. 80's Swayze
2. In Red Dawn, all American youth have amazing throwing arms and accuracy for tossing grenades. Thank you little league.
3. The battle cry is awesome. I will now do it every time I do something that requires effort.

So next time I do the dishes, I'll look into their food encrusted eyes and yell "WOLVERINES!"

After discussing "Red Dawn" with friends for about a month now, let this post be the moment I work to stop talking about the film. wait, something that requires effort: WOLVERINES!