The Dukes Create a Flag

Most of you probably assume that the Dukes have been around for years if not decades but strangely enough that is not the case (shocking I know). May 22, 2012 will mark the three year anniversary of our coming together (mark that in your calendars folks because one day it will be bigger than Halloween not Christmas though because I don't want to go to Hell). Through countless hours of movies and television and random vacations we created an indelible bond. A bond that I felt needed a symbol and Ricky thought could use a slogan (in Latin of course). I took upon myself this challenge of symbol creating since I don't do much at work and anything is better than homework (or crawling for that matter(and yes that was a very obscure movie reference from a movie the Dukes love)).

While I set about working on this visual masterpiece, Ricky was busily engaged in finding us a slogan that fit us well. He came up with quite the list of possible phrases each was as entertaining as the last but we needed one that worked for us and fit well in the confines of our flag. I decided to include a few of them in this post for your pleasure.

faciam ut mei memineris- I'll make you remember me

flectere si nequeo superos, achaeronta movebo- If I cannot move heaven I will raise Hell

hic sunt dracones-here there are dragons

carpe noctem- seize the night

mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundant-my hovercraft is full of eels

mulier est hominis confusion- woman is man's ruin

oleum camino-(pour) oil on the fire

omnibus locis fit caedes- let there be slaughter everywhere

and finally here is the one we chose to make our own

oderint dum metuant-let them hate so long as they fear


Now isn't that just classy? We like to pretend we are tough even though our total fighting experience adds up to slightly less than a minute (sibling and school scuffles do not count) and that is just because Ricky made a girl cry by biting her. It sounds shocking but believe me she deserved it.

Since we now had a phrase we needed an image to match. I started compiling a list of this I thought would be entertaining like swords and crowns and honey badgers (because honey badgers don't care). So after I had a list I just tried to throw them all together in that terrible program known as Paint. The result may be a little rough but then again so are we.

Perfection in flag form

The Dukes See a Movie: Man on a Ledge

I will be honest with you I was not expecting much at all out of this movie. If I had been asked if I would rather stare at a wall for a few hours or see Man on a Ledge it would have been a toss-up. "Why did you see this movie in that case?" Is a question you might be asking yourselves and a good one it is. The truth is one of our friends had a hankering for theater popcorn and a night with friends and so we really didn't have much of a choice.

It was a joyous affair but it was also tinged with sadness since one of the Dukes was not to be present. Ricky was otherwise burdened with a family party so he was unable to attend but he, like me was not super thrilled about this movie prospect. I have included a snippet of our conversation for your pleasure.

Me: "It sucks you can't come but at least it is only Man on a Ledge."

Ricky: "There is that. I really couldn't care less about this movie. If I were there I would probably root for the ledge."

Me: "Agreed. I will probably just yell "throw a banana peel or a bucket of oil or something!""

That is a glimpse inside our everyday lives. Glorious isn't it?

With the appropriate back story given I will actually talk about the movie. The movie starts out with our protagonist (Sam Worthington) being beaten in a prison yard. We come to find out that he is an ex cop who has been in prison for two years for supposedly stealing a 40 million dollar diamond and his last hope of a retrial has just been shot down. His outlook goes from bad to worse when we find out that his father has just passed away and his brother hates him for it.

Later we see him at the graveyard while his father is being interred. His brother confronts him and they scuffle. During the scuffle his guards come to break it up and he steals a gun, takes them down and steals his brothers car. He avoids the quick recapture and he goes to a hotel under a false name. After eating a great meal he climbs out onto a ledge (you had to know that this was coming). He is up there in an attempt to clear his name and prove that the diamond owner (Ed Harris) had framed him.

I don't want to go too much farther because some air of mystery needs to remain. The movie was well acted although Sam Worthington has the hardest time keeping his American accent throughout the movie. I guess that is just always the case (see: Avatar, Clash of the Titans, anything else he has ever been in). Ed Harris is a great bad guy and Jamie Bell does well as a nervous sidekick. The relative newcomer Genesis Rodriguez wasn't great but she obviously wasn't hired for her acting skills (hint: they wanted some eye candy to bring in more viewers).

All in all I don't think it was a cinematic masterpiece but at the same time it succeeded in keeping me entertained.

Rating 3 stars