Post number 100. And number 6, giving credit where credit is due.

Well folks this is my 100th post on the thing that may have saved my life. There was a time about 2 months and 99 blog posts ago when I hated the idea of blogging. I thought people complaining to the world and making the ignored opinions public was dumb, and I was better than that. I can put my life in order without trying to make people feel sorry for me I used to think. I was wrong, dead, flat out wrong. Do some people use blogs for bad things sure, but using media for other than honorable gains is not new, it like many things in this day and age is simply more easily reached. I truly feel that blogging has changed my life and I have had the best time I've had in years doing it. Even if no one ever read my blog or if people think my blog is BS, well that's irrelevant. Because what I have learned about blogging is this, it's not about the other people, it's about you, a keyboard and the thoughts you can't or won't say in any other manor. I truly feel that this may have saved my life, when I started this blog my life was pretty much in the worst intersection it's ever been in. My pain was at it's worst ( that hasn't changed only the way I deal with it has ) my wife and I had to be apart while I and my daughter stayed with my mom and she stayed put to keep working ( which ends this week when we move into our new place and start a new chapter in our live ) I was becoming jaded at the world and was growing darker. I couldn't seem to catch a break which really hasn't changed, really no of that has changed, but the way I deal with all my problems have. I don't have secrets with you guys for better or worst you have become my inner sanctum for my thoughts. I have shared a great my thing with you guys, and hopefully kept you entertained while making you aware of the realities of being a solider that had his entire world taken away. All my self pity, my anger, my frustration with the system have all be reworked, not fixed or solved or anything like that but when do they. Problems exist for everyone but its how we face life's challenges that defines who we are. The result or destination rarely matter in the grand scheme of things, it's the journey , the way we deal with life is how we are defined. I can't tel you how much this has helped me, my words are just not going it do it justice. But I feel like I have become more resolute in who I am and clear about who I want to become. There are a bunch of things that I have gained from this blog, but no more important than a new dare I say friend. Liz I have to say thank you, you post on my blog almost every day and you always manage to type just what I need to read, thank you, you have shown me that the world is not def to the rigors of life, just simply overloaded but the amount of them. It's the 1 to 1 connections that matter and I can't say enough about what you have given me.... and that's purpose. If nothing more than the thought of making sure I post so Liz can read and hopefully be entertained that keeps me going everyday. It has become a routine for me to do this everyday, and for a solider that had the structure of a military life for 9 years ripped away from them in an instant, there is no bigger prize than that. OK I rambled on long enough, I usually go back and make changes to my posts but even if the above is too wordy and not making the best of sense I'm not changing it one letter, I want the chaos of my mind to show through here this time, because I really need to get my thought documented so, that's done.....moving on.

Quick hit if you have not seen the show Fairly Legal, check it out cool show.

Number 6, I feel like the ball is rolling well here and the order of my list is right where I want it, I have all 6 of my list complete in my head it's the order after this one is what's giving me fits, but that's tomorrows problem. One of the first action movies after the silent area ended was Westerns, they are cheap to make since they can be shot in a multitude of ways and in almost any location, they help people see what one of the great eras in American culture was like and the fact that it wasn't all that long ago helps because their stories are still easily found. Guys like westerns period the are the apex of manhood and a symbol of a lost time that shaped are country. I feel that the western sub genre of action movies are often over looked, but some great moments in film have been captured by this medium. The list of westerns and it's stars are too great to list but this might help put in focus for you. For the first time here is a list within a sub genre within a list. I give you the Top Ten westerns and Top Ten stars that helped shape it. This is not my opinion of the greatest westerns just an overview of the genre and what made it great. The following is from Squidoo.com just using it for refference here. Great movies one and all, a golden age of cinema that still remains in the forefront of our culture.

Rio Bravo and El Dorado

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

True Grit

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Open Range

Silverado

The Outlaw, Josie Wales

Wyatt Earp

Tombstone






Here are some names to chew on as well.


John Wayne, Clint Eastwood,  Randolph Scot, Joel McCrea, Audie Murphy, Jimmy Stewart, James Arness, James Druryand Doug McClure, all great stars that helped bring to light an area of a crossroad section of our world. So I give you our Number 6 greatest action star of all time and the top 2 guys that lead to it getting here.

Side note John Wayne's real name is Marion Robert Morrison, and my Grandmother - Marion VanCura, shared that first name with him.

!0. Bruce Campbell
9. Ladies of Action - Milla Jovovich***
8. Steven Seagal
7. Mel Gibson
6. The Western - John Wayne and Clint Eastwood





Top 5 coming up eye listeners.