Refusing to Acquiesce

Willow Creek at Catalyst Conference 2008

For those of you in the leadership world, you may be interested to know that this Wednesday through Friday, I’ll be hanging out at the 2008 Catalyst conference in Atlanta, Georgia with a couple of coworkers from the Willow Creek Association. Our big event, the Leadership Summit, took place in August, and was an awesome experience for me … it was my first time attending. Catalyst is another leadership conference, and is geared for young leaders from all over the world. Apparently there will be around 12,000 people there in Atlanta. I’m looking forward to experiencing the conference, as well as hanging out at our awesome Leadership Summit booth during the session breaks.

If you’re going to the conference, be sure to come find our booth (not sure where it will be set up specifically) and talk with us about whatever is on your mind! We’ll have some sweet interactive displays, handouts from the Summit, and a don’t-even-think-about-missing-it swag item that will be raffled off every session break. There will be plenty of winners.

In the downtimes I’m hoping to blog about the event, and although there’s no WiFi (boo) at the arena, I will be able to Twitter (!) from my age-old, busted up cell phone (Pleeeeeeeease Apple - drop AT&T, or move on, or something). So, feel free to check here on the blog for updates and posts. If you’ll be at Catalyst, drop me a note or something.

New Features!

Hi everyone! I’ve just added two new features the the R2A experience: “iMixes” and “Reviews”. Each feature is dedicated to bringing you sweet, entertaining, and useful content that you can use to learn a little more about music and film. I’ll be posting many of the music/film reviews I write on the site, as well as a growing number of iTunes “iMixes,” which you can check out and download if you’re so inclined. If you like the mixes, be sure to give them a good rating!

Just wanting your experience here at R2A to be one of interest and intrigue. Tell all your friends! Cheers!

Cubs 2008: The Postseason Begins

Today the Chicago Cubs kick off another postseason run against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ryan Dempster is on the mound against Derek Lowe. We’ll see what the Cubs have in store for us this year. It will undoubtedly be a road that leads us to the World Series. Good luck guys, win one for your fans, your pride, and the history of the organization. Make it all worth the no-beer-after-the-seventh rule.

Catalyst Conference 2008

I just found out that I will be going to the Catalyst conference in a couple of weeks. I’ve never attended before, but apparently Catalyst is the biggest conference of its kind, gathering thousands of young people from all over the country for an amazing experience. I and a couple of my coworkers will be flying to Atlanta, where the conference is held, to enjoy the event and also work a Leadership Summit booth. I’m looking forward to the craziness … it should be a real hoot. The Catalyst website seems to convey that this event will be unlike anything I have ever seen before. Hopefully I’ll be able to blog and Twitter at the event … I have no idea if there will be free WiFi (I’m sure there will be). I can’t imagine they wouldn’t have it. Plus, it will make the work week so much unlike a work week! Check back in the near future to see what happens in Atlanta! If you’re planning on going to the event, let me know! Especially if you’re blogging!

I wonder what Guiness Book records they’re going to go after this year …

Paul Newman Dies at 83, Burn After Reading

When I hit the web this morning I of course saw the stories about Paul Newman’s passing. A CNN.com story said he died Friday of lung cancer. Paul’s illustrous career was surpassed only, in my opinion, by his dedication to his family and wife, as well as his charity: his Newman’s Own brand, which donated every penny of profit to children, is said to have given over $200 million away. I think that’s a pretty incredible statement, one that few in Hollywood are making.

Always the fan of film, I’ve loved a number of Paul’s movies, including The Hustler (1961), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969), and The Sting (1973). Martin Scorsese directed The Color of Money (1986) - for which Newman won his Academy Award for Best Actor. I haven’t had a chance to see that one yet, but I’d like to soon. I see all of these young stars prancing around Hollywood, thinking they’re all that, thinking nothing about integrity and reputation, and I wonder how different the movies will continue to become as the classic stars age and pass away.

While we’re on the subject of film, we went out to see the Coen brothers’ newest film, Burn After Reading, last night. Having really been wowed by No Country For Old Men, I thought it was at least worth a watch, and in a way I was not mistaken. It’s always hard to really peg a Coen movie, and there are some things you can depend on every time (language, violence, dark humor, plot). Burn was no exeption. It is NOT really a comedy, even though the trailers seem to have suggested to the contrary. It’s about a bunch of random people, all connected by a strange how-could-this-be dilemma. Most of these people find themselves up against it at some point, but the major point of the movie is that the current system of American spookdom and the political beaurocracy within it is deviously inept, and this movie uses some seriously flawed, however well-meaning individuals to make that point. The value of human life is more or less left in the movie theater parking lot, so if you’re going to see it, make sure that you bring your favorite smock. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malcovich, and Tilda Swinton all star, and it is Pitt’s flamboyant health club trainer character that delivers almost all of the movie’s hilarity. This is a Pitt we’ve rarely seen.

I admit I laughed out loud many times, and thought the acting was more or less right on: how could it not be with this cast? However, I would probably refrain from suggesting it to 90% of the people I care about, since in the end Burn After Reading commits a serious sin - its message is not worth its content.