:: eric michael bryant ::

I cannot wait to see The Dark Knight on the IMAX screen on Tuesday night (first available showing that wasn’t in the middle of the night). In the meantime, Debbie and I went to see Wanted on our last date. That was a horrible mistake!

I can see why some people may like this film. I enjoyed some of the more dramatic moments, but it is a terrible date movie, especially when your date is extremely squeamish. She cannot even take the violence on TV shows like 24!

The movie ends with the main character (a weakling accountant-turned assassin) telling the audience: “I used to live a pathetic life like you.”

I was looking around the audience wondering, “Is he talking to me?” Now I didn’t like the movie!

The last line of the movie is the main character harrassing the audience again by saying he has taken control of his life and asking “What the f*#* have you been doing?!”

My response: “Wasting 2 hours and $20 watching you transform from a loser into a psychopath!”

I don’t like being taunted by characters on the screen. We would have been better off seeing Kung Fu Panda again!

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Last night was a bad night.

Debbie and the kids came to watch my softball team and I play at the Field of Dreams. We were playing in a replica of Yankees Stadium. After hitting a home run in my last game and watching Josh Hamilton hit a barrage of deep home runs in the home run derby the night before, I was excited to show off to my wife and kids.

Unfortunately, it was our worst game ever. We did fine defensively (I had 3 catches in the outfield), but we only scored 6 runs in 7 innings which is not good in softball. I was a black hole of talent. I got one hit in four at-bats. I had two dribblers to the infield and was thrown out. When I got my one hit, Carl came running home from second only to be thrown out at the plate. I was also the last out of the game.

The worst moment came during my second at-bat. I hit the ball slowly to the 3rd basemen. It was practically a bunt it was such a poor hit. I ran as fast as I could hoping to beat out the throw. Out of nowhere the first basemen appeared standing on the base. I ran right into him and bounced back hard onto the ground. I don’t know if I was running with my head down or the glare of the sun over first base kept me from seeing him or perhaps the throw moved him into my path. Either way, I was laid out flat on my back.  It would have been a great America’s Funniest Home Video moment, but no one was recording it (although I did hear some people in the crowd laughing).

Trevi said I looked like a doll running into a brick wall. The guy apologized to me later a couple of times, but he didn’t help me up after laying me out. I had a few cuts from where my sunglasses dug into my face. Rather than hurt, I was embarrassed. We went on to lose 10-6.

NOTICE THE CUTS AROUND MY EYE

Back at home, while I was taking a shower, I heard Caleb scream one of the loudest screams I have ever heard him scream. He had stepped with his bare feet on dog poop left on the floor by our puppy Emma. Debbie did most of the clean up, but it was hard for him to recover after such a disgusting experience.

Two of our friends from Mosaic (Gabriel and Kat) were on Wipeout last night, and we missed watching it! I hope to watch it (episode #4) online later here. I caught the end of the show, but by then they had been eliminated.

Finally, the National League lost in the All-Star Game ruining the chances for the Dodgers to be able to have home field advantage in the World Series.

Here’s hoping and praying today will be a better day!

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My kids always love to choose the music on the iPod while we are driving. If Trevi gets to choose on the way to wherever we are going, Caleb gets to choose on the way back (and vice versa). Of course, I only download the clean versions of these artists.

Here are there top picks:

TREVI

Hillsong Kids

Hillsong United

Gwen Stefani (especially “Wind It Up”)

anything with Joby Harris (Mosaic (sold out) or Crash Rickshaw)

CALEB

Dropkick Murphys (”I’m Shipping Up to Boston”)

Kanye West (especially “Jesus Walks”)

DC Talk

anything with Joby

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Debbie, the kids, and I got to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D on Wednesday at a screening.  I have to admit, I didn’t have very high hopes.  I don’t know if it was the marketing or thinking I already knew the story or what, but in the end, it was a really, really fun movie!

The 3D effects were fun!  Watching the kids jump and scream and smile and get sucked into the possibility of an undiscovered world in the center of the earth was a blast.  It made me want to read the original book and even hope for a sequel with Brenden Fraser and his nephew.  Their relationship was a sweet story to watch as well.  I would add this movie to the top 3 of my summer movie list!

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As a movie connoisseur and someone who likes to see a movie each week on opening weekend, here is my order of the movies I have seen (so far):

Kung Fu Panda - a really fun and hilarious movie with a great story and great message

Prince Caspian (a very close second)

Iron Man - a really, really good movie (thanks to Joel for reminding me to add this to my list). it seems like so long ago that I saw it, yet it is definitely one of the top three movies of the summer so far.

Wall-E - a slow-moving but meaningful movie. a bit preachy at the end but includes some fun moments.

Hancock-not really a very close fourth but definitely better than the last two. too many unanswered questions and a confusing story.

Zohan and Indiana Jones- I imagine these two films will stay at the bottom of this summer list even after the others I hope to see.

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We have had a blast this week with my brother Scott, his wife Natalie, and their kids Anna (7), Luke (4), and Reid (2)! We have built sand castles at Huntington Beach, challenged each other at the Nintendo Wii, toured around Hollywood, swam after Trevi’s baptism party, enjoyed spending time with neighbors and friends from Mosaic, plus eating at In-N-Out!

SMILEY REID

BRYANT COUSINS

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My cousins Mitch and Kyle encouraged me to check out the football championships going on in Europe.  I have to admit, after catching the last 10 minutes of the Croatia vs. Turkey battle, I am hooked (of course I didn’t see the 119 scoreless minutes preceding those last ten)!

After 119 minutes without any goals, Croatia scored!  Then less than a minute or so later with the final whistle about to blow any second, Turkey scored!  Then the match moved to penalty kicks.  Remarkably for the third time in a row, Turkey came from behind to win.

TURKEY’S RUSTU

Even more remarkably, they won with a back up goalkeeper who was replacing the starter who is serving a two game suspension.  Rustu won me over the way he warmly encouraged the Croatians just before the penalty kicks and just after the match ended.

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Awhile back, Debbie and I watched Super Size Me: A Film of Epic Proportions, a documentary by Morgan Spurlock.  Did you see this?  The filmmaker became a guinea pig for a most unfortunate experiment: he ate at McDonald’s three times a day for 30 days.  In the process he gained 23 lbs., his liver began to turn to jelly, his cholesterol sky-rocketed, he got depressed, and he became addicted to the sugary, salty, chemicals in the McFoods he was eating. It took 5 months for him to lose 18 lbs. and get back to a healthy place with his liver and cholesterol. It took another 9 months to lose the last 5 lbs..

Available on the DVD as a bonus feature was an interview with Eric Schlosser, the author of “Fast Food Nation.” It was fascinating and horrifying to hear the affects of the fast food industry. Obesity and the health effects are skyrocketing in our country. The preservatives and sugars and salts and trans fats are making fast foods and snack food unhealthy and addictive. (Ironically, I heard Saddam Hussein discovered Nacho Cheese Doritos from the US Army guards. He ate an entire bag every day).

My kids wake up wanting Apple Jacks, cookies, or candy for breakfast. Throughout the day, I generally snack a bit on sugary delicacies. I feel like I need to set a better example and have a harder line to keep my kids from eating so much junk. I am about 8 to 10 pounds over the weight I would like to be, a weight I have been able to get to only once in the last twelve years. (When Debbie and I got married, I gained 30 lbs. in the first year. As a poor, single, college guy I was eating cereal every meal or peanut butter and jelly on tortilla sandwiches, so I needed to gain some weight since I was so skinny but not that much).

8 to 10 pounds may not sound like much, but it’s like running around with a newborn baby strapped to my gut or my back. I truly want to stop snacking so much and start excercising more and begin eating healthier foods. Any advice on losing weight that doesn’t want to leave? What about healthy alternatives to the trans fats and the preservatives? We shop at Trader Joe’s (Jo Jo’s instead of Oreos) and have a hamburger from In-N-Out (even the author of Fast Food Nation mentioned in the interview how much better In-N-Out is compared to other hamburger chains due to its fresh ingredients) rather than Jack in the Box (notice the signs for Jack in the Box actually say “Jack in the B-Jesus Fish”).

Any other ideas for getting into good shape? After our vacation of course.

UPDATE: I just discovered a story about a man in Virginia who actually lost 80 lbs on an almost all McDonald’s diet!

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The article I wrote about my little girl’s strong leadership potential (either the next Billy Graham or a dictator of a small country) is featured at Zondervan’s website along with the cutest picture of Trevi we have ever taken. 

Take a look at it here!

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My little girl turned 6 yesterday! I cannot believe it!

We enjoyed the afternoon seeing Kung Fu Panda (a FANTASTIC movie!), eating at Noodle World (Trevi told her friend Caden: “Trust me, this place tastes like heaven.”), and having some of our friends from the neighborhood over for Debbie’s homemade Velvet Cake!

In the last few weeks, here are a couple of quotes from Trevi which made me laugh and a little bit nervous.

“When I’m President I am going to tell people when they are at baseball games not to boo the other team.”

The other day, Trevi seemed to indicate she follows Jesus now (which is better than last time in which she said: “I already told Jesus I would be His leader .”). I asked if she wanted to share this decision with her friends by being baptized. Caleb shouted out: “She already baptized herself!”

We always appreciate prayers for our daughter.

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