Okay so I was messaging with a Xanga chick tonight and some interesting things came to light. First off, she fell in love with me (poor thing), I'm pretty sure.

Naturally I felt sorry for her, because she can't have me...although I am tempted to give her a number so she can wait her turn.

Anyway, turns out she has family from a town I know pretty well. I went to hockey camp there, and it isn't far from my cottage. Small world eh?  Aaah the wonders of Xanga.

So, after soothing this chick (poor thing) and assuring her that I wasn't trying to break up her marriage, I got to thinking back to my hockey camp days.

Back then every legitimate hockey camp had to have a pro player there. The one I went to had Paul Henderson and Dan Maloney. Paul Henderson played for the Leafs,  went on to be the hero in the Canada-Russia Summit series....only the most exciting sports event EVER.
Dan Maloney went on to play for the Leafs, and coach the Leafs. He was one tough irishman, let me tell you.The Leafs had a tough guy named Tiger Williams, who I believe said after fighting Maloney..."he hit me so hard my teeth hurt for a year".

I had a great time at camp, but I was terribly homesick the first year. I was 10. I'll never forget, the pickup time at the end of the session was 12 noon. My parents were at my cottage, a scant 30 minutes away. Noon came and went and so did all of my buddies. I waited, and worried.
There was a big rock at the tip of the camp driveway and I parked myself on that and waited. And waited.

Until I cried...sure that something had happened to my parents, a traffic accident, drowned at the cottage, something horrible...
They showed up at 5;00 pm. Feigning ignorance of the pickup time.I was 10, I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

The next year, I had a great time at camp and I made damned sure my parents knew the pick up time was 12 noon. I was 11. I watched my friends leave. I watched the new campers arrive on the bus.... I sat on the big rock at the tip of the driveway...and after awhile I cried again, harder this time because I had made SURE my folks knew the pickup time.
This time there had to have been an accident. I was damned near hysterical, crying my eyes out. I was 11.

This time they showed up at 6pm. Once again feigning ignorance over the pickup time.

No no no...not this time. They wanted to make me suffer, and they wanted to extend their time without me.I knew all their excuses were horseshit.

I started to smarten up after that. I didn't give my parents the benefit of the doubt anymore. My third year at camp I got a ride home with someone else.

I never went back after that.No great loss really, since I wasn't a really good player, but I could plant a damned good body check on open ice.

In later years I met Paul Henderson, and Dan Maloney, and they both remembered me from hockey camp, or said they did. I'm sure Henderson did since he relayed a story that involved me. But they were both fine gentlemen who shook my hand eagerly like I was part of a brotherhood. And in a way I guess I was.

But no one else in the brotherhood had parents who put them through the agony mine did.

Aaaah yes, the age old question. What exactly is right and wrong, and who decides? A jury of my peers? Hardly likely. I don't think there is such a thing.

I find myself in unfamiliar territory these days. I have been accused of something I'm not. I'm not a deadbeat Dad. I am a Dad, not just a father. Any irresponsible twit can be a father, not everyone can be a Dad.

I'm a Dad, and I'm proud of it. I think I'm a great dad, in as much as I've been allowed to be. But I'll tell you, in my experience....It doesn't matter how great you are, legally you are FUCKED. All it takes is an accusation from someone with a vagina between their legs and you're toast.

Congratulations ladies, way to go feminists, you've managed to tar us all with the same brush.

Okay, so that is now my problem. Doesn't apparently matter what I've done for my girls when I was ABLE to, and it doesn't matter what I've done over and aboveboard what I was supposed to do.

No, legally... I'm just as riddled with scum as a dick who cut and run. It apparently doesn't matter what I have paid out, financially and time wise. All those trips I took my girls to the dentist...Ha! Worth nothing apparently.

Now because I'm a nice guy, and a good Dad, I happily drove my girls, and happily paid for their treatment.I happily turned over the receipts to my ex so she would know I had paid and she had no worries.

But I have proof I paid.

She then turned them in to her company and their insurance company and was reimbursed for money I paid, not her.She didn't even give me back half, and she was supposed to pay for half. I paid for it all , and she got reimbursed fraudulently from her jobs insurance company.

Now she is going after me for money I couldn't pay after I got hurt. I couldn't walk, couldn't work, was in excrutiating pain , had no money coming in.

She has worked hard to turn one of my daughters against me, and she may be succeeding. My daughter isn't a lost cause yet, but it is getting close.

It didn't have to be this way. Sea Hag brought this on.

I am now faced with the decision... How big a prick do I want to be? She served me with papers on Christmas EVE! She didn't even try to talk to me about money before hand. Gutless.
I could call her employer, and I can prove that she defrauded the insurance company. I can call the employers insurance company, and I can prove she defrauded them for over twelve grand that I paid.
I can prove it.

Question now is... How big a prick do I want to be? As big a prick as she was? Or more? I am no legal expert, but I think she would do time for fraud over $10,000. At the very least she would be fired from her job, and I would get custody of the kids, she would have to sell her house (which I basically paid for) to pay back what she stole from the insurance company. I might be wrong about selling her house, but she sure couldn't make the payments, and would have legal bills to boot. She would lose the house.

I'm an emotional kind of guy, and I have a temper. I do not take wrongs against me easily.I especially don't take wrongs against me when they are unjustified in my opinion.
 I really believe she has done me wrong in this situation.

So....Do I fuck up her life permanently? She has fucked up mine that way, though not as severely as I can do to hers.

What is the right, and what is the wrong?

I am so angry I may not be thinking straight.

Okay, I normally don't do this kind of thing because they usually lead to arguments. But Seedsower asked me to, and c'mon, who can refuse someone who puts Santa Caps on people at Christmas?

I want to stress that these are my favorites. I'm not saying they are the greatest of all time, nor am I saying they should be considered classics. But they are considered classics by me.

1. The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two.... Simply outstanding, and one of the very rare instances where a sequel was actually better than the original.But you must watch them both.

2. Gettysburg.... My friends all know I am a Civil War freak and this is the finest movie about the Civil War bar none. Martin Sheen gives an amazing performance as Robert E. Lee and the battle scenes will move you.More men died at Gettysburg than in the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Crimean War COMBINED.I personally feel every American should watch this, just to have a better sense of their own history.

3. True Romance....Written by Quentin Tarantino (but not directed by him), True Romance is violent, bloody, and brilliant. It really is a love story, and it boasts one of the most impressive casts ever.My all time favorite Brad Pitt performance , though he only has a small part. This movie is not well known, but it should be.

4. Grosse Point Blank.... John Cusack plays a hitman who returns to his high school for their ten year reunion. A fabulous supporting cast, Dan Aykroyd, Minnie Driver, Jeremy Piven, and Joan Cusack to name a few, help make this story a joy to behold. There is violence but nothing too graphic. It also has a kickass soundtrack. One of my all time faves.

5. The Long Riders.... I love westerns and I love history and this one covers both.It is the story of the James/Younger gang with 4 sets of real brothers playing 4 sets of real brothers. It is the most historically accurate depiction of Jesse James and the boys that I have seen. It was Hollywoodized a bit, but it is pretty true. The direction is superb, the acting is stellar and I love it.

6. Armegeddon....Sure it got panned by the critics, and it is even the brunt of jokes, but I love it. A very good cast, the right amount of drama and comedic moments...I love it. So do my girls. Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi, Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck all star, add Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan and Will Patton, and you know it can't be all bad.

7.Love Actually.... Romantic, funny, and with a cast of everyone who's anyone in the British film scene. Not just a chick flick, though all the chicks will love this one. I do too. I own it.

8.Still Crazy.....Not to be confused with Stir Crazy. Still Crazy is about a British 70's rock band that reunites several years after breaking up. Old hatreds and jealousies still abound as they take one last shot at rock and roll stardom.Mick Jones from Foreigner wrote most of the tunes. This one has it all, great songs, great acting, and many laughs. An undiscovered gem in my opinion.

9.Con Air.... John Cusack, John Malkovich, and Nicholas Cage star in this action thriller. A group of the worst cons in the prison system are being transported by plane to a new maximum security facility basically built to hold them. They take over the plane and Cusack has to get them back. This is a good one. Lots of good acting, good explosions and a great ensemble cast.

10. Sea Biscuit..... Just a great, true story. You have to be dead not to like this movie.

Honourable mentions..... The Big Leibowsky, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Notting Hill, Reservoir Dogs. I love all of these for entirely different reasons.

I could go on, but a top ten will have to do. I own all of them, you should too.