Pater Familias … because I'm your FATHER!

Fatherhood adds immeasurably to the hurt of U.S. Army soldiers portrayed in this Iraq War masterpiece -- N-O-T definitely not for kids -- that deserved more than the six Oscars it got. After near misses defusing insurgents' IEDs, which entertain him but scare hell out of everybody else, Staff Sgt.  William James (Jeremy Renner) rips our hearts out in a quiet scene back home, playing with his baby son. A few minutes before that (movie time) and back in Iraq, we feel the agony of a wannabe dad on James' three-man bomb squad. Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) breaks down and cries because he might not live to be a daddy. Not having his own son scares him worse than death in Iraq, always about a heartbeat away. Great big stuff, brilliantly put together, and an homage to guys not so far from you and me, who fought in hell-holes that those in the movie -- or are going to fight. Available every which way from Amazon.com:  Instant Online rental $4 or download to own $15. Buy DVD $18  or Blu-Ray $23. Check movie's killer site.

At-home Dad's self-pity sung in hilarious faux lament by NPR bard Keillor. POV is a house dad in northern Wisconsin, where he's a freak. But guys livin' the life in liblab metro areas -- like Pater -- also can relate to the challenges of making it in Mamaworld (See archived posts Brotherhood of Isolation and  The Capon Code). Hitting a nerve or two makes it funnier. Starts like so....

I'm the only living house dad in Eau Claire
Men who care for children — we are rare
It may be common in San Francisco or San Luis Obispo
But not there — in Eau Claire.

I'm the only living house dad in Eau Claire.
My wife is a dentist, I'm the au pair
I'm a swan in a herd of ducks and it's odd....

Hear it, read it, at Prairie Home Companion site.

Drop and give me a hundred! Amaze yourself and the inner drill sergeant by actually doing 100 consecutive pushups in less than two months. That's the goal of the exercise regimen developed by fitness author Steve Speirs and presented in this elegant app. Just do what it says -- sets of so many pushups, with timed rests between, in three workouts a week of about 10 minutes per. The app spoon-feeds exercises and counts down rests and gauges what you do by an initial tests and logged workout results. You can get Speirs' system in a book or e-book, $10 per, from Amazon.com or online for a donation. But the app is killer. Just put the phone on the mat and obey. Pater, just going into week two, likes to do stretches and abs during rests. Let you know if I get to a century. 

Pacifist gun game conundrum solved. Nothing but bang-bang here, but free of violence against vid humans or humanoids. In this goofy, loud video shooting gallery you blaze away nonstop at pretty much every forest creature that comes out, sparing only female deer. Hit a doe, bro, you lose points. Fail to drop a moose or bear, it'll kill you. Pater, a vid-game newbie whose child just got a Wii, bought Deer Drive bundled with a hunting orange gun-oid blaster ( $40 online from Amazon.com; $16-ish for game only). Weapon is okay but sort of toylike and small for a big guy. Other Wii shoulder arm simulators might be better. Fret, if you must, about eco-ethics and bad messages to children about our relationship with wildlife and Nature. Better pretend animals than pretend sapient enemies, in my book. And, hey, it's a game.