"Facing the Giants"

Sunday night, our church showed this movie (or "film" as churches typically call these things). This was a "Christian" movie, which typically means low production values, lame acting, and total cheesiness.

This movie did have some of that, but overall was actually very well done. It was about a football coach and the struggles he was going through both personal and with his team. At times, the movie was advocating a little too much of the "prosperity gospel" in that as soon as someone told God they were in control, immediate good things happened. But, for a so-called "Christian" movie, I thought they did a good job. The football scenes were especially well done for what was an extremely low budget movie.

But the making of the movie is a story in itself. It wasn't made through the studio system. It was written, funded and filmed by Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia (and you can tell it is a Baptist film). The church spent about $100,000 on the film. I'm not sure what they were expecting to happen, but they probably figured it would play the church circuit and go directly to DVD. However, Sony Pictures saw it and liked it and picked it up for national distribution. It got a fairly wide release nationally in theatres and ended up grossing over $10 million.

The actor who plays the coach also co-wrote the screenplay and directed. Pretty much every other cast member, extra and crew member came from the church. This was quite an achievement. I would have liked to have been part of that planning committee meeting when they decided, "hey, let's make a movie."

Yes, one could criticize this movie for being too schmaltzy at times and giving the impression that God has a vested interest in a football team winning the big one. But you gotta hand it to Sherwood Baptist Church for venturing out there and doing something no other church has ever done and succeeding in a big way.

Real, Not Real

I was home alone with Cameron the other night and Dorene called. When I hung up the phone, Cameron asked me who it was. I said, "It was the Pink Panther." Cameron said, "He's not real, who was it?" I said, "It was the American Dragon" (a cartoon Cameron likes). Again, Cameron said, "He's not real, who were you talking to?" I then said, "The Easter Bunny," to which Cameron replied, "He's real, but you weren't talking to him."

Meet Libby

This is Libby, the newest addition to our household. She is a golden retriever/golden lab mix. We got her as a 10-week old puppy from an Amish farm in Bremen. We've had her just over a month now, so she's a little bigger than this picture.

She is our newest "big dog" to replace Gabby, who we had to put down last May. Libby joins Daphne, a rat terrier and the world's most neurotic space-case of a dog.

NCAA Predictions

You read it here first:

The Final Four will be Butler, UCLA, Georgetown, and Ohio State. The final game will be UCLA over Ohio State for the national championship. Upset specials for Round 1: Oral Roberts over Washington State and Arkansas over USC.

Call your Las Vegas bookies now and place your bets! Remember, I correctly predicted "The Blood of Yingzhou District" would get the Oscar for best documentary short, so my credentials are solid.

Hug 'em or Whack 'em Upside the Head?

This past Friday night, both kids went back to our bedroom to go to sleep. I went back to check on them and while Anna was fast asleep, I couldn't find Cameron. I checked all his hiding spots but still couldn't find him anywhere. Dorene and I both started looking and were (loudly) calling out his name. The volume rose as it started to get a little bit uncomfortable being unable to locate him to the point we were basically screaming out his name.

He finally appeared back on the bed. He had been hiding in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, thinking he was in trouble because he had a butter knife.

In the wake of Polly Klaas, Jessica Lundsford, etc., we wanted to hug the little tyke. In the wake of making us panic because he was camped out under the sink as we screamed out his name less than 2 feet away, we wanted to whop the little @*#$! upside the head.

Needless to say, we did make it a learning experience that when mommy and daddy call out, he needs to answer.

In Search of the Flawless Candidate

The Republicans are in a bind. The front runners for the 2008 presidential nomination include John McCain with one divorce. Then there's Rudy with two divorces. Next you have Newt Gingerich, who just admitted to having an affair while he was going after Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. Then there's Mitt Romney, who has not been divorced but is a Mormon (which could bring us multiple first ladies . . .oh Rick stop it, that was uncalled for).

So, what do do? Where's the one that evangelicals can get behind? Could it be that we'd have to settle for a candidate that is flawed? Surely there is no precedent for God using people with any flaws to assume the mantle of leadership?!?

You really can't even say "evangelical support" and "Democrat" in the same sentence, so no need to even go there (although many might, or just simply sit the 2008 election out).

How Rick lost his Ping-Pong Groove

The last several weeks at the South Bend Table Tennis Club have not been good. I was at the top of my game in January, but then things started to go south and I've yet to recover.

I hit my peak one night in January. I was at the #3 table and was poised to move up to the #2 table, where I'd go up against some very top notch players. In the final match that night against a player much, much better than me, I had managed to take it to a deciding 5th game. In that final game, I was up 10-8 . . .but, I let him come back and ended up losing.

Maybe that took too much out of me, being so close to my own version of table tennis glory. But ever since then, week in and week out, I come out with maybe one win each week, if that. I lose to players that I used to routinely beat, and I lose 3 games to none.

I'm playing in a big tournament this month. I have a week to get my ping pong groove back. We'll see what happens.

Our National Nightmare is Over

Finally, Anna Nicole has been laid to rest. If aliens from another planet are monitoring us, then they would have to think she was some kind of great leader or something, judging by all the air time she got on American television. It is mind-boggling how much time was devoted to this story over the past few months.

At least now we can move on to more important stories. You know, like how Britney is doing in rehab!

Meanwhile, in Iraq . . .

Final Notes on the Oscars

The reviews have been rather mixed on the show itself. I, and everyone at the Oscar party I attended, thought it was pretty lethargic. Just wasn't a whole lot of energy to the evening, both onstage and coming from the crowd. The beginning was weak, particularly in light of Billy Crystal's masterful openings from a few years back. The backlit acrobats were okay at first, but it kind of got old after a while. The stuff going on backstage was also very inane, not sure what all that was about.

Ellen DeGeneres wasn't bad, but she wasn't all that great. Very different style of hosting. Pretty low key, didn't really draw attention to herself. Much better than Whoopie Goldberg and probably more "safe" than Chris Rock or Jon Stewart. There wasn't a single Bush joke all night and I'm wondering if Hillary Clinton appreciated the Al Gore fawning that took place. My vote is for Will Ferrell or Jerry Seinfeld to host.

The awards were pretty spread out. Lots of different movies were honored. The big surprise was Eddie Murphy losing to Alan Arkin, although that was a pleasant surprise. You have to wonder what America was thinking when they voted out Jennifer Hudson from American Idol a few years ago. She basically upstaged Beyonce during their medley, although she was teetering on the edge of a wardrobe malfunction.

With just the Best Picture category left, I was tied with one other individual for the pool we all entered. She picked "Babel" and I picked "The Departed" so I walked away with a whopping $40.00. Actually, what made it happen was that I was the only one who picked, "The Blood of Yingzhou District" for Best Documentary Short. Yeah, I know, I'm brilliant. First time in 6 years I won the pool. This will fund my upcoming table tennis tournament.