- Surprise, surprise, one of the most successful films of the fall has a definite faith-based direction to it. Fireproof stars Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains, still an awesome show) as a fireman whose marriage is in trouble and who turns to God for help. It comes courtesy of brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, who were looking for inspiration for their third feature-length film and turned to God for help. “To be honest, I prayed about it,” Alex Kendrick said. “I said, 'God, would you give me an idea that will impact all of our culture.'” He was out for a run one day when the idea for the movie came to him. The movie, with its strong faith-based message, was made with a budget of just $500,000 and a volunteer cast. Even with all of that against it, the film opened on 839 screens two weeks ago finished No. 4 at the box office. It remained in the top 10 last weekend, at No. 8, and has earned an estimated $13.6 million. Furthermore, it has spun off a best-selling book that started as a prop in the film. “The Love Dare,” written by the Kendricks, was at No. 8 on Amazon's best-seller list as of Thursday. The response from fans of the movie has also been overwhelmingly positive, with more than a thousand e-mailed stories posted on the movie's website from people who have been impacted by it. Not bad for two associate pastors at Sherwood Baptist Church in southwestern Georgia. It’s not often that you see two associate Baptist pastors and a church's senior pastor, in this case Michael Catt, create a production company. Sherwood Pictures was founded in 2002 and cobbled together $20,000 to produce their first film, "Flywheel," in 2003. They were also the production company that released "Facing the Giants" in 2006 with a budget of $100,000. That film grossed more than $10 million, allowing them more than enough money to bring “Fireproof” to life. In fact, it was Cameron who called the Kendricks to say he loved their work and would be interested in working with them. So whether the faith-based message of the movie hits home with you or not, it’s still interesting to see such an unusual production company have such success with a film that no one expected to be a big hit……
- It’s reassuring to know that it’s not just our government that has a difficult time protecting personal data and information. While the U.S. government has proven quite proficient at having computers and other resources go missing that contain valuable personnel information, their British counterparts appear to want some of that action as well. Thus, Britain's Ministry of Defence announced yesterday that a disk which carries personal details of some 100,000 serving British military personnel is missing. The military confirmed a published report in a British newspaper that contractor EDS lost track of a portable hard drive. Whoops! Speaking from personal experience, I have to say that you can’t be too hard on the contractor for losing that hard drive, what with drives of that storage capacity weighing a mere 6-7 pounds and being the size of a small textbook, anyone can misplace something like that; it could fall down behind your couch cushions and you wouldn’t realize it - oh wait, yes you would. The British military refused to comment on the claim that the lost hard drive contained names, addresses, passport numbers and driver's license information of service personnel along with data on 600,000 potential recruits. But perhaps the reason they could not confirm those details is because……they have no idea what’s on their own disk of highly sensitive information? Huh? A ministry spokesman said Friday: “We don't know what's on it, and we don't even know if there's anything on it.” Wait a second, you’re supposed to be military intelligence and you don’t know what’s on a missing hard drive? Why would you have the drive at all if there is nothing on it? How do you even know it exists? And all of these questions raise the obvious question: is your entire military a bunch of morons with a collective IQ of 18? The missing drive came to light after a government-mandated data security review was unable to account for the disk. Here’s hoping you all find whatever the disk is, whatever information is on it…..assuming it even exists at all…..
- Well, at least disgraced former Olympic track star Tim Montgomery can be the fastest guy around once again. Of course, he’ll be the fastest guy on his cell block in federal prison after being sentenced in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia to five years in prison for dealing heroin to an informant. “I was blind -- I never had a job in my life,” Montgomery told U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman. “I did the wrong thing.” But Montgomery won't be heading off to the federal pen just yet; he must first complete a 46-month prison term for an unrelated conviction in New York. Like lighting one cigarette off of another, never a good idea to “light” one prison term off another and go from one jail to another. But such is the case when you sign an agreement with the government, pleadeding guilty in July to possession and distribution of more than 100 grams of heroin. By signing, the deal, Montgomery received the minimum term under federal sentencing guidelines. Still, quite a decline for a man who won an Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter relay at the 2000 Games and a silver in the same event four years earlier. You won't find any of those performances in the record books, though; a doping scandal wiped his achievements from the books. There was no hubbub or major scene in the courtroom as Montgomery accepted his sentence. The courtroom was nearly empty and Montgomery was accompanied only by his lawyer. Prosecutors also pointed out that that Montgomery's heroin arrest came as he awaited sentencing on a check-kiting scheme that ultimately sent him to prison in New York, and that “He has chosen to ignore every benefit given to him.” The drug charges stem from four drug sales he made in 2007 and 2008 in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, with a Drug Enforcement Agency informant making buys that were either electronically videotaped, tape-recorded or witnessed by agents. Yup, that’ll do you in most times. Get used to running sprints in the prison yard and the only blocks you’ll be coming out of being cell blocks, Timmy, see you in 6-8 years…..
- How bad is the economy in these here United States at the moment? So bad that Christopher Crane, winner of a $42 million Mega Millions jackpot in Michigan, has elected to receive the money in installments rather than getting a smaller, one-time cash payment. Crane was given a ceremonial check Friday at the Michigan Lottery headquarters in Lansing, and the resident of Macomb County's Washington Township says he plans to retire from his job at Chrysler, move to Georgia and become a pecan farmer. State lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato says she can't recall a Mega Millions winner in Michigan ever picking the installment plan since the Mega Millions game was introduced back in 2002. Lottery winners typically take a lump-sum payment and then invest the money, but with the DOW plummeting daily and stocks going down faster than Paris Hilton on a…..never mind, let’s just say it’s going down quickly, having lost nearly 40 percent since closing at its all-time high a year ago. A curious choice, “retiring” and taking up a life as a farmer, one of the most rigorous, taxing professions around, but I guess when you have installment payments coming in that will total tens of millions of dollars, you don’t need to push yourself too hard to be a big-time pecan farmer…….
- I’ve been to South Bend; I’ve run marathons there and found it to be a pretty nice place, mostly peaceful, with a nice suburban feel around the Notre Dame campus. But that’s largely because I’ve never been attacked by a naked man in a park while running there. Sadly, Lisa Stacy can't say the same, because she was almost accosted by a naked man while walking her puppy at Clay Township Park Wednesday. Stacy says she started to take a trail through the park when she noticed a man in the woods without a shirt on. As most of us would when spotting a shirtless dude wandering around in the park, Stacy started to walk away when she noticed the man was following her. He then began yelling at her and to her horror, she realized that her crazy stalker didn’t have any clothes on. When Stacy turned and ran, the crazy naked man followed. Fortunately, she made her way to the playground was able to call for help. Talking about the incident afterward, Stacy said she thought her attacker was going to rape her. “No it wasn't a joke. It definitely was a threat. He didn't want me just to look at him without his clothes, he wanted more than that. I know that. He wouldn't have run after me like he was. He was running full force at me,” Stacy explained. The incident is the only one of its kind to have been reported in the area and so far, no suspects have been identified. Police are looking for a man described as very pale, in his 30's, with shoulder length brown, curly hair. So if you live in the South Bend area and have seen any pale, naked man in their 30s with long brown hair wandering around in your neighborhood, be sure to give police a call……
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