Transfer Jump

Tuesday brought its usual (and coveted) date night.  My wife was energized yesterday because she spent the entire day wandering central Massachusetts on several shopping errands.  Let the record reflect that the same activity would have sucked my soul out through my eyeballs. 

We went to see the movie sequel – 22 Jump Street.  This movie shouldn’t have worked because it was a tired retread of the first movie (which was hilarious).  It soars for exactly that reason.  I’ve never seen a sequel that poked so much fun at itself and at sequels in general.  The plot was tame and exactly what you would expect but the movie was aimed directly at the idiocy of most sequels – it wasn’t evenly thinly disguised.  The film revels in being a sequel that parodies sequels.  The end credits took this to another level including some very funny cameos.  Go to see this movie for the end credits if nothing else – funny beyond words.

Holt (R) Makes The Amazing Catch While Gomes (L) Admires from Left Field

Speaking of jump (notice the seamless transition there) we were treated to another amazing play by the only aspect of the Red Sox worth watching these days (but I’m not complaining) – Brock Holt.  When left fielder Gomes lost a fly ball in the twilight sky Holt came careening over from center field and made an amazing diving catch.  Oh, and this was the first time he’d ever played center field and he scored the only two runs the Sox plated in a 2-1 win.  My high school buddy and college roommate is a minor sports celebrity (his words not mine) in Pittsburgh.  When the Sox acquired Holt a couple years ago from Pittsburgh he told us we would love Holt.  I doubted his assessment as Holt languished in the minor leagues since but that calculation was fully redeemed this year.

I finished off the next in my series of Mitch Rapp thrillers, Transfer of Power, penned by the late Vince Flynn (recommended to me by yet another high school classmate).  If Flynn was still alive he probably be pissed that Hollywood stole his book to make two movies last year – White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen.  This was actually the first Rapp book that Flynn wrote but he later completed two prequel novels that described the CIA assassin’s early training. 

I already read those books so it was interesting to have Flynn introducing Rapp in this book even though I felt I already knew him well.  Terrorists seize the White House despite a last minute warning generated by Rapp.  He’s then inserted into the White House to try and foil the plot.  Flynn does a fabulous job of character development and is spot on with his descriptions of the military culture.  His obvious disdain for the political expediency rampant in Washington, D.C.  also rang true. 

I was already a huge fan of Flynn before this book which further cemented Rapp in my pantheon of literary heroes.  I’m almost reluctant to continue with the series because I know there’s a finite number remaining due to Flynn’s untimely death at an early age; but you know I’m going to.