I was happy to see Tony Blair win a third term as UK’s Prime Minister in the recent elections.  Although I don’t always agree with Blair’s politics and apparent inability to stand up to Dubya, I think the people of the UK have spoken by voting him in for a third term.

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Blair as he has overcome serious opposition and significant internal strife in order to claim this victory.  Despite the fact that many UK citizens do not agree with some portion of his policy, the majority have obviously spoken.

Unlike many Europeans who, in response to Dubya’s second win at the polls, readily called Americans stupid for voting him in for a second term, I will not belittle our brothers across the pond by second-guessing their votes and attempting to disparage their decision by calling them stupid, uncaring, inept world citizens.  On the contrary, he is overall a good leader with good ideas and a reasonably strong moral compass regardless of the problems he faces at home with the political shake-up taking place in the UK.

Every leader makes mistakes.  Every leader must face the consequences of their actions.  Tony Blair has faced those consequences and, in the eyes of his national constituency, he has been exonerated and given a vote of confidence to continue leading.

Congratulations, Tony Blair, for a fine victory, albeit at the cost of political power within the government.  You have much work ahead of you — in the eyes of your own nation and in the eyes of the world.

As for all of the pretentious Europeans who, in response to Dubya’s victory, bashed Americans in general, I include the following thoughts for your benefit.

Whatever the outcome of the UK vote, we Americans have to accept and deal with it.  The decision has a huge impact on the rest of the world, but it is and remains a UK vote.

I say, in spite of what those of us outside of the UK may or may not think about the election and its results, let the Europeans decide what they want without interference.  It is their vote after all.

Let’s hope the potty-mouthed Europeans, mainly those who tried so diligently to make all Americans out to be idiots after Dubya won, take note on the appropriate response to the voice of a sovereign people regardless of whether we agree with it or not.

In celebration of this terribly fun holiday and in honor of my kickin’ Latino amigos — but far more importantly, in complete awe of and love with Negra Modelo…

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

The other day I went to visit xocobra and family and to see my godson play basketball (he’s only 6½ years old, so you can imagine how that played out).  I hadn’t seem them in some time as I’ve been so tied up with work.  I tried to take some time off this weekend to catch up on some things (I had to work two of the four days I was supposed to be off), and visiting xocobra and crew was high on the list of absolutes.

I got there midafternoon and visited a bit while xocobra managed the landscapers who were doing some work on both the front and back yards.  I visited with his fiancée, LD, and played with the youngest kids (Shelby, his daughter, and her older brother Dalton, my godson).

Once the landscapers were done and I had poked sufficient fun at the miraculous presence of real grass in the back yard (something that had been amiss in years past), we — xocobra, LD and I — chatted for a bit before we headed off to Dalton’s game.

We got to the basketball courts and found our spot.  Before the game started I saw another friend of mine (he runs PHP2tor) and had a great but brief visit with him.  He was there to see his son play basketball as well, albeit at a different level than the game we were about to see.

Once the game started we watched with enthralled interest as these little kids played basketball.  What a hoot that was!

xocobra’s ex showed up late and was as unpleasant as ever.  There’s something to be said about consistency, I suppose.  She had her new boy toy in tow and he spent most of the game blah-blah-blahing on his cell phone (as people are apt to do when they want to avoid having to deal with the people around them — the technological equivalent of sticking your head in the sand).

After the game we went back to xocobra’s pad and spent the rest of the evening visiting, eating, drinking and otherwise being complete bums.  It was fantastic to get away for an evening and not have to worry about anything except enjoying myself.

Our visit was wonderful as usual.  We laughed, we debated, we talked about the kids, we chatted about everything going on in our lives, we talked about xocobra and LD’s rapidly approaching wedding, and we generally enjoyed hanging out with each other.

That’s what friends are about — helping you take your mind off of your life’s woes, even if only momentarily, so you feel almost human for a while.

So I wanted to say thank you to xocobra, LD, and the rest of the crew for such a fantastic time and for being such good friends.

I originally ignored Donnie Darko when it was released to theaters in 2001 because it received such bad reviews and looked, from the previews at least, to be another teen angst drama with a psychological spin.  When I stumbled across it in Blockbuster recently and actually read what it was about, I was still undecided.  It was either going to be an interesting movie or was going to be a total waste of time — but it was impossible to tell from the reviews and the movie description itself.  I was going to spend the day doing chores anyway, so it seemed less like a waste of the $3 to rent it as long as it filled the time between loads of laundry, vacuuming, cleaning house, doing dishes and so on.

Filling time was not how it worked out.

This movie is actually quite good — dare I say excellent.  I was instantly drawn into the story and held there until it was over.

Donnie Darko is difficult to classify in any particular genre of movie because it covers so much territory and is stunningly original.  It could be a psychological thriller, science fiction, mystery, horror, teen angst, family drama, teen comedy, cultural satire… I could go on, but it’s easier to say that it obliterates the lines between those genres while remaining a wild, entertaining ride from start to finish.

Full of emotional and tonal complexity, the movie is impossible to predict — something most movies fail at miserably.  The lack of anticipatory content makes you think throughout the film and keeps you riveted in an attempt to understand what is happening, to unravel the mystery which surrounds Donnie Darko’s life (as played by Jake Gyllenhaal of October Sky fame, another most excellent film).

Is he a troubled teen?  Is he a psychopath in his early developmental years?  Is he somehow caught up in some physics experiment gone wrong?  Is he a time traveler?  a murderer?  a troubled teen?  a monster?  Therein lies the mystery of Donnie Darko — it’s impossible to know precisely what is happening.  Even at the end you are left to wonder if what you have seen is the dream of a brilliant but possibly schizophrenic young man or if, as he so desperately wishes, is real and he has, through physics, managed to reverse time.

Drew Berrymore, Noah Wyle, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Jena Mallone and a host of other stars play amazingly diverse characters in Donnie’s life, roles played with unexpected complexity.  Each participant in Donnie’s life is ultimately impacted by what is happening to him and, relative to his experiences, happening to all those around him.  The impact seems to ripple out from Jake’s character and rocks the foundation of every life involved.

Great kudos go out to Jake Gyllenhaal for giving a stunning, riveting performance as Donnie Darko.  He plays the role with such depth that even his body language seems mentally unbalanced as it demonstrates from moment to moment the troubled mental state of his character.  You can see the change in personalities, before he even speaks, through in-curving shoulders, questioning eyes, uncertain smiles — all of which reveal a vast, searching intelligence troubled by what it sees and hears and, possibly, imagines.

There is sorrow in this story.  There is comedy.  There is hope and hopelessness.  As I said before, this movie is spectacularly complex.

The acting is astounding, the story riveting, and the characters rich and multifarious.  The film effortlessly and seamlessly combines disparate and bizarre elements into a single whole, resulting in a very unusual and fantastic film.

Donnie Darko makes you think.  It makes you wonder.  It’s highly intelligent and challenging — which certainly explains why the critics and American public hated it.

I’ll be adding this movie to my collection, and I strongly recommend you see it.