"I want to know if I have to shoot you, is all."

I did it.  I switched stations.  Now the trick will be getting off where my truck is instead of where I usually do.  I also had a tweet informing me that I had won the 5 minute fiction contest this week.  I wonder what else this crazy day has in store.

We watched "Cahill: U.S. Marshal" this week.  It wasn't "True Grit" but it was pretty good.  Which is to say it was exactly what you'd expect from a film released in 1973 starring John Wayne.

At one point I started singing "Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head" -- the pop song that somehow found its way into "Butch Cassidy" -- because I could just feel a 70’s song coming.  My wife had just enough time to give me a funny look before the Cahill song began.

Don't rob banks, Daniel san.

It wasn't all `predictable though.  Despite the title, this wasn't a story about the marshal.  It was about his children.  John Wayne's character was the "trickster" -- he both aided and hindered the protagonist who was the eldest son, Daniel.  Despite not being the star, or the Cahill the film was named for, he had the deepest character arc, was at the core of the story, and was the only one who changed.

There's also the mentor -- in this case the gangster played very well by George Kennedy.  He was training our young hero up to be a proper bank robber.  Not exactly the sort of positive role model/counseling you’d expect from that character type.

The most surprising thing of all for me was that all four of my children enjoyed it.  They sat from beginning to end, calling out warnings and encouragement to the actors.  There really is something special about the Duke.