Countdown to 2010: My Movies of the Decade

I'm a fan of great cinema, and this decade (let call it the 00s) did not disappoint. The 00s provided some fantastic movies. The list may be a little chalk (a few Best Picture winners on the list), but hey, who am I to argue with Oscar?

1. Gladiator (2000) – This became my favorite movie immediately after I saw it. Back in Russell Crowe’s glory days, his performance is remarkable, as was current crazy man / wannabe rapper Joaquin Phoenix. Spaniard! Spaniard!


2. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – The most recent Best Picture, I loved the flashbacks, the music, the way the Indian Regis Philbin pronounced Millionaire (millon-AIR!), everything.

3. Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) – This trilogy was about as epic as movies can get. A little long for my taste, but as far as book adaptations go, these were superb.

I remain a Giant and you Jeremy Shockey

Here's a video from today's session. We braved the 8 fresh inches of Michigan's finest lake effect snow and hauled our butts northward to Rockford and the gym. My plan for the weekend is to commence four months of hibernation. Ready...go!

Another

Here's another one. The distance spanned in these videos is about 30 feet each, constrained by the length of the room. Monday and today, we went up and walked on the track at the gym and went for a total of about 350 feet each day. Like I said, every day feels stronger and smoother. God Bless, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Video...Finally!

The long awaited and much ballyhooed video has finally arrived. We started doing walking like this in early October, once I was able to keep my trunk up without assistance. We try to do it at least once, and when we're lucky twice, per week, and each time it feels much easier than the last.
As you can see, they're helping me pull my leg forward; I can help a little bit with that but it's more of a reflexive action by my muscles, which usually starts off strong and peters out towards the middle of the walk. The main thing I am working on doing myself are trunk control, meaning keep my trunk centered and upright (not face-planting/ass-planting!), weight shifting from side to side to aid my steps, and also locking my leg into extension, when the knee is straight and the muscles are engaged and I can put weight on them.
This is 100% weight bearing, which is very important for bone density, muscle tone etc. I'm exhausted when I'm done, but it's a great feeling!

Therapy Update

I took a small vacation to do some soul searching, I just needed some time off, but now I'm back, ready to update you guys. Well, that's not totally truthful. I ended up punching a hole in my computer screen after the debacle of a football game Saturday, and I've only now gotten it fixed. Okay, that's not true either. I was just busy and lazy, OK? Geez, get off me.
The move I'm doing above is one of my trademarks, the 'Crouching Tiger, Seated Cameron'. It's taken me months to master, but now I'm performing it at ease. We've been working a lot lately on my core strength and balance, and it's really starting to pay off. My posture is much improved and my back strength, particularly my lower back, where I don't have full sensation but increasing muscle control, has been a revelation. It's helping me in multiple aspects of my therapy, particularly in walking, of which I'll hopefully get video soon, and truly is the key to my success. Like Confucious, with his sage wisdom ('Baseball wrong. Man with four ball, cannot walk.' - Confucious), I'll try to provide you a maxim to live by: 'Man who not do daily situps get flabby man gut'. You hear that Mackenzie?

Big Game Tomorrow

We are headed en masse to Ann Arbor City tomorrow for the annual rumpus between the Wolverines and the Nittanies. Based on the Big Ten Network commercial that is on the air constantly and features JoePa imploring recruits less than 1/4 of his age to 'Come to PENN STATE!', he's completely lost his mind. On that information alone, I like our chances tomorrow.
Let's revisit my predictions from earlier this fall.
Game Prediction Actual
Western W, 31-17 W, 31-7
Notre Dame W, 31-24 W, 38-34
Eastern W, 35-10 W, 45-17
Indiana W, 37-14 W, 36-33
MSU L, 24-27 L, 20-26
Iowa L, 21-31 L, 28-30
Delaware St.W, 35-13 W, 63-6

As you can see, 100% so far, with the only glaring error being my miscalculation of the level of Delaware State's suckitude. I want to take this opportunity to revise my next prediction. Back in September, I thought Penn State would win this game, 27-14. Now, however, after not being blown away by their level of play, and pleasantly surprised by ours, I envision a closer duel on Saturday. An updated prediction - Michigan wins a wet one on the strength of their running attack, 24-20.

Can't wait to see a bunch of friends (Rodney, Kellyn da don, Evanakahustla, Nabeel, Dom, JonTBuck, Paul, the list goes on), and relish another fall day in Ann Arbor with them.


Alan Branch crushing fools in Happy Valley circa 2006. We were sitting top row, next to the gods, watching two college football heavyweights throw down for a couple hours on a crisp October night. The atmosphere at Beaver Stadium is unparalleled as well. The stands literally quake as the whited-out crowd bounces up and down. Luckily, we were able to hijack their 'We are Penn State' cheer and improve it to 'We OWN Penn State'.


Two things he and the Penn State football coach have in common?
Outfit.
Diapers.

FPotD and Tom Friedman

This was a stunt performed by Green Peace. Both clever and dangerous, I don't condone potentially life-threatening acts of (slight) civil disobedience, I wholeheartedly support this particular message. Those faces are not carved in stone because of their crafty politicking, skilled partisan manipulating, or smooth speechmaking, they are etched to honor their courage in leadership. Each of those presidents took monumental risks in pursuit of truth and justice for all Americans, and for that they will be recognized, at least until an earthquake swallows up South Dakota or something.

On a similar bent, we attended a speech at Devos Place by Thomas Friedman, the respected author and New York Times columnist. He spoke at the 60th anniversary meeting of the West Michigan World Affairs Council, with a topic of 'Hot, Flat, and Crowded:Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America'. Ostensibly to sell books (we bought one and had it signed), the talk was informative, entertaining, and very educational. Some notes are after the jump...