Kurt & Me

Kurt Warner announced his retirement on Friday. His story is one that most people, even people who aren't sports fan, are familiar with. He went from playing in the Arena Football League and bagging groceries at Hy-Vee to winning MVPs, setting records & appearing in Super Bowls. He led his teams to 3 Super Bowls, winning one.

If you aren't familiar with Kurt Warner the football player you may be familiar with Kurt Warner the Christian. He is a big supporter of the Lord's work, and isn't afraid to share it with others.

When I was in college the Rams had training camp at WIU. The year after they one the Super Bowl I spent the summer in Macomb working at the Macomb Journal. I had the opportunity to cover the Rams. My job was to watch practice, interview players & write stories. Warner was never hotter than at that time so I did not have a chance to interview him one on one, but I did have a chance to watch him before, during and after practice every day. I also had a chance to cover the press conference he held after signing his first big contract.

From what I heard and observed he was someone who lived what he preached. He was very often the last player off the field because he was signing autographs for fans. The best story I heard involved a trip to a local Macomb eatery. Kurt and his family were out to dinner, his kids were being kids and disrupting the people around them so he paid the bills of everyone who was in the restaurant at the time, which is pretty cool.

These are some excerpts from the article I wrote about his press conference.

'To Warner contract is more than money'

Kurt Warner took a time out Friday afternoon to talk to the media about his seven year $46.5 million dollar contract, which included a signing bonus of $11.5 million.

Warner's focus wasn't on the dollar amount. It was on his faith, family and the St. Louis Rams.

"As always, first and foremost, I have to thank the Lord up above. I truly am blessed, and, it's a wonderful day for me and my family. I'm truly excited to know that my future is going to be with the St. Louis Rams, a great organization, a great team, and I think we have the things in pace to continue for a long time.

Knowing it was only a matter of time before the deal job done Warner signed for $358,000 to get into camp on time for more than just himself.

"A few of my teammates came up to me and told they were glad I was here. A lot of people outside the team said they appreciated what I did in the fact that I came in, but to me it's more than the football part of it. I am here for a bigger reason that that," Warner said. I felt that's what I needed to do show up to camp, be here for my teammates and coaches, and I wanted to be here to touch lives off the field."

Man of Science vs Man of Faith...

Another one from Season 4...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvLsy0tuqg

'Lost' lines of every other day...

So I guess I am out of the book club...
Ben - Season 3

'Lost' lines of the Day - Day 3...

I missed day 2...

'Everyone wants me to be the leader until I make a decision they don't agree with'...
Jack - Season 1

'Lost' lines of the day...Day 1

As the countdown to the 'Lost' premier continues I am going to post classic lines from season's past each day...

Tom Friendly - See, the thing is, we're going to have to take the boy.
Michael - What?!?!?
Tom Friendly - The boy, we're going to have to take him.
(Season 1)...

'You can be my wingman any time'...

Via Buzzfeed.com comes The 100 Cheesiest Movie Quotes of All Time

**Strong Language**

Overhead...

He spelled fiance, "pheancie." I don't think he's ready to get married...

I'm the reason for the tear drops on Taylor Swift's guitar...

That tells me there is dark and evil dwelling in your heart...

Thumbs...

I've seen a couple of movies since I last posted.

The first is 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' which could also be called Heath Ledger's last movie. I will let imdb.com give you the summary.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all"...

This isn't typically the sort of movie I would choose to see. Visually it was very cool. Lots of big, bright and bold colors. The story was difficult to follow at times. I had trouble understand some the dialogue at different points. This was partly due to the accents and partly because I am hard of hearing. The nice thing was that there were 'pauses' or parts in the movie where, as part of the story, things were recapped. This allowed me to catch up on things I might have missed. Overall I enjoyed the film. It kept my attention and I wanted to see how it ended. I say thumbs most of the way up.

The first scene with Heath Ledger was a little startling considered he passed away during filming. Johnny Depp, Jude Law & Colin Farrell played the Ledger character in scenes he was unable to film. It was a unique way to film the character, and I thought well done.

The is '500 Days of Summer.' Here is the summary, again compliments of imdb.com.

After it looks as if she's left his life for good this time, Tom Hansen reflects back on the just over one year that he knew Summer Finn. Despite being physically average in almost every respect, Summer had always attracted the attention of men, Tom included. For Tom, it was love at first sight when she walked into the greeting card company where he worked, she the new administrative assistant. Soon, Tom knew that Summer was the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Although Summer did not believe in relationships or boyfriends - in her assertion, real life will always ultimately get in the way - Tom and Summer became more than just friends. Through the trials and tribulations of Tom and Summer's so-called relationship, Tom could always count on the advice of his two best friends, McKenzie and Paul. However, it is Tom's adolescent sister, Rachel, who is his voice of reason. After all is said and done, Tom is the one who ultimately has to make the choice to listen or not.

I am not quite sure what to write about this one. I enjoyed it. I think a second viewing is needed though. I was interested in the story, I thought the supporting characters added to film & there were parts where I laughed out loud. A second viewing is required because I am not sure the movie is a love story, despite my laughter, I don't think it was really a comedy, I feel as though I need to go back and figure it out. I do give it a thumbs up.

'(He'll be) a fry cook on Venus'...

'Bittersweet Symphony' came on the radio the other night while I was driving home. I can't hear that song without thinking of the last four minutes of the movie 'Cruel Intentions.' The song accompanies the scene perfectly. I decided to put together a list of my other favorite music moments in movies. Most of these are 'performance based' rather than accompanying a scene. I know there are a lot more out there, but these are some of my favorites.

I couldn't find the English version of the 'Great Balls of Fire' scene from 'Top Gun.' This will have to do...

'Lost' is almost here...

'Avatar'

I saw 'Avatar' on Tuesday night in the full IMAX 3D experience. When watching the trailer I commented that it would either be epically good or epically bad. I did not think there would be any inbetween. After seeing it I say it was inbetween. Visually it was outstanding. It was like nothing I have seen before. I think as far as the story goes that the 'Dances with Fern Gully' references are valid. I was invested in the story though. When the tree went down I actually felt sadness. I felt it was a touch long, which is pretty standard when it comes to me and movies. I usually think most movies are a bit long. Overall I thought it was good and I am glad I saw it in IMAX 3D. It is probably the only way to see it.

Overheard

'Mom, come on, they obviously met at some sort of 'Dungeons and Dragons' event'...

'I would watch Giada pick weeds in her yard for a half hour'...

'I will not be releasing any shark sugar'...

2010 Goals ---

I have very little debt but not a ton of savings. I am going to focus on building my savings.

I would like to spend more time writing in this space. I am unable to promise anything groundbreaking, but I do want to write more.

I plan on having more Shawn Williams in my life this year. I've had years with lots of him in my life and years with little of him in my life. I prefer the lots of Shawn Williams in my life.

I'll also continuing last year's goal of 'being better at life'...