HAVE YOU EVER

 BROKEN A BONE? 

Yes, twenty years ago I broke my back. Specifically my fifth lumbar, more commonly known as the L5.  It essentially was the end of my amateur wrestling career.  I had been respectable up to that point. Good even.  That injury caused me to miss nearly all of my eighth grade season. There is of course more to the story, but I was never the same after that.  The rest of my wrestling career would be a struggle to stay mediocre. 

SKIPPED SCHOOL? 

Not a ton, but I did it.  A few times when I was little and less than a handful in high school. To make you laugh, I actually showed up for school on Senior skip day.  A teacher told me to go home. 

FIRED A GUN? 

Not sure what qualifies as a "gun" here.  If I'm allowed to say BB gun, I shot my first one at the age of seven.  If that doesn't count, then the first time I ever shot a gun is when my uncle Larry Garrett let me shoot his high powered rifle out at the Ikes.  I damn near hit the target right in the bull's eye.  It's funny. I've never had a desire to shoot an animal.  Hunting, while I respect it, has never been something I've wanted to do.  Yet I love guns. I have a deep respect and admiration for them.  

SKY DIVED? 

I went with my Uncle Chris, Aunt Brenda & cousin Cody Tompkins about 10 years ago or so.  It was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed it. Glad I did it, but I doubt I'll ever do it again. 

RIDDEN IN A LIMO? 

Now this is odd.  When I was a kid, there was this girl that a friend of mine and I would pick on all the time.  She'd give us shit back.  Years later, I ran into her by accident.  I think as a peace offering she invited me to a party.  Along with a shit ton of other people, we rode around in a limo all night.  Later on that year she wanted to borrow some money from me. I didn't have it to give to her.  She said some inexplicit words to me and that was the end of our acquaintanceship. 

HAD BRACES? 

Nope. I was fortunate to have fairly straight teeth, although I have a slight underbite. 

GOTTEN A MASSAGE? 

Far more than I should probably. I get probably six a year. If I'm making good money, sometimes 12.  If I'm doing really good, 24.  I hate taking medicine.  Popping pills is NOT my thing.  If I have a muscle ache, massage it is. 

TATTOO? 

None yet, although ironically I've came extremely close on three occasions. 

SWAM IN OCEAN? 

Yes.  Two different times in Florida and once in New Jersey. 

DYED HAIR? 

Went blonde multiple times in my life.  Plan on going white this summer. 

WATCHED STAR WARS? 

This will make you laugh.  The first time I watched STAR WARS was on a bus ride from Iowa City to Ann Arbor, Michigan! 

RIDDEN A HORSE? 

I've ridden a horse slowly a few times in my life.  I've always wanted to ride one fast.  Although anymore I think my fat ass on a horse's back could get me in trouble for cruelty to animals. 

GIVEN BIRTH? 

Arnold Schwartzenegger has me here. I never have. I hope I never do. 

SANG KARAOKE? 

I LOVE Karaoke.  The worse someone is, the better!  I got to a point once where I was doing karaoke damn near every weekend. 

GOTTEN A TICKET? 

Yes and this is a large reason why I've lost respect for law enforcement.  I was once late on paying my tags. I sent in the money and forgot to put a stamp on the envelop.  The next day as I was driving to go pay the bill, I was pulled over and ticketed twice.  This costs me potential jobs at TWO different locations.  It's a crime in this country to be poor.  

SCUBA DIVED? 

No, but I want to

EATEN SUSHI? 

Oh yeah, multiple times per month. I'd live off of it, if it weren't so expensive. 

RIDDEN ON A TRAIN? 

Again this is one of those, what exactly qualifies? If weren't being picky, thirty years ago I rode a train from Ottumwa to Mount Pleasant. 

ZIP LINED? 

Not yet, but one day I will 

CAMPING 

Done it a few times.  Ashley says what I do is "Glamping" as I'm in a camper but I have slept out in a tent on the ground before.  Rather not do it again. 

EATEN FOOD OFF THE FLOOR? 

Hey, you gotta build up an immunity somehow 

BEEN SKINNY DIPPING? 

I had a chance to once but the thought of having girls either laugh or throw up wasn't something I wanted to deal with. 

TRAVELED OUT OF COUNTRY? 

I was in Canada once for about 20 minutes.  Long story....

BEEN IN AN AMBULANCE? 

Passed out at work once about 6 or 7 years ago and was rushed to the hospital 

MET SOMEONE FAMOUS? 

A bunch of times.  

BEEN ON TV? 

If the news counts, which I don't see why it wouldn't, then once or twice. 

BEEN ON A CRUISE? 

Not yet, but Ashley assures me one day I will 

HAD ANYTHING PIERCED? 

Both ears at one time. I would like to again. 

Fixing Karate Kid III

 As a film lover, a dear favorite of mine is the classic KARATE KID. A touching and endearing story between a boy without a father and a man without a son. The bond and friendship that develops between the two plays out in a masterpiece that can be watched and rewatched countless times.  Truth to be known, I thought that KARATE KID II while not near as good as the first, was still a passable film.  I cannot say the same for the third film.  

It's not that KARATE KID III didn't have potential. The characters and the ideas were there, they just weren't used right. It had potential to be a great film and if a few things had been tweaked, it may have been.  As a writer, I am constantly hounded by the importance of revision. Why it is so important to go back over material you've written and rewritten hundreds of times, in the event that there may be something about it you can make better. To visualize what that means by example, I find no better illustration than KARATE KID III. 

First off what one has to do is identify the problems.  Once the problems are identified, then you can analyze how to go about fixing them.   Let's list the problems in bold and answer them in normal text. 


MIKE BARNES IS A SEVERELY UNDERDEVELOPED CHARACTER 

In a recent interview with Sean Kanen who played Mike Barnes, the interviewer asked him if he felt that Mike Barnes was underdeveloped. He said he felt that he was, but it wasn't completely the fault of the writers and the directors.  Part of the problem was that Sean had severely injured himself in a stunt and ended up nearly being fired as he missed a lot of the production.  There were scenes that they never got to film as a result.  Would these scenes have sufficed? I don't know.  I can't help but think I still would have been left wanting more.  

Here's what I would have done.  A picture in a Magazine, labeled "Karate's Bad Boy" wasn't enough for me. I don't think it was enough for most viewers.  The old cliché "show don't tell" comes into play here.  We needed a montage of Mike Barnes winning some major tournaments. We needed to see him winning gold medals at junior Olympics and World Games. We needed to see listings of world rankings.  We needed to see ESPN and other sports analysts talking about how good he was.  We needed solid evidence of this kid's talent and why he would pose such a threat to Daniel Larusso. 

NO EXPLANATION OR REASONING BEHIND DANIEL'S LOSS OF CONFIDENCE AND FEAR 

Daniel Larusso had recently gotten back from Japan.  In a match that could have ended in his death, he defeated one of Okinawa's greatest fighters Chosen.  There's absolutely no reason why he should be scared to death of fighting Mike Barnes in a tournament with officials and rules.  It makes absolutely no sense.  That's where we play into fixing this problem with the next problem. 

NONE OF DANIEL LARUSSO'S OFFENSE WORKS AGAINST MIKE BARNES 

Now I could buy that Mike Barnes was a better fighter than Daniel Larusso, but the fact that when they fight Daniel can't get a single move on Mike other than occasionally catching him in a flip that isn't worth any points?  I'm sorry, I don't buy it.  If Daniel can defeat Chosen, he should be able to at least give Mike Barnes a decent fight.  How could I as a writer make it to where it makes sense that Mike Barnes is able to counter every move Larusso does? 

Here's how you fix it. 

Have Terry Silver teaching Larusso techniques and then he goes to Mike Barnes showing Mike the exact techniques that Daniel is going to try on him.  It then makes sense as to why Mike is able to always be two steps ahead of Daniel.  A scene could be shown where Daniel breaks down and is frustrated wondering why none of his offense will work against Mike.  


While there are a few other things I would change, those are more so for my own preference.  The issues stated above and the solutions I have provided to them, I think are what could have made Karate Kid III a cherished film, rather than the carbon copy of the original that most dismiss it as.