Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category

Birthday Presents Rock

Posted: June 21, 2010 in Books, Culture, Family, Friends, Life, Movies, People
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I love presents. I love getting them. I love giving them.

I embrace the fact that after reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, it was obvious that my number one love language was indeed GIFT-GIVING.

In modern American culture, there are two common days for getting presents – Christmas and one’s birthday.

I want to give a very big THANK YOU to my parents for having me on June 20, 1981. Being born on June 20th is about as close as you can get to having the two major present-receiving days exactly six months apart. Every six months, I’m rolling. It is awesome. I have always felt sorry for those people who are born on December 20 and their birthday gifts get lumped into their Christmas gifts. Those people do not even know the goodness of spread out gift days.

This year was no exception.

For the first time since 1996ish, I was not at church camp on my birthday. My wife was amazing (as always) by inviting 20 of my closest friends over to the house. We had amazing food, good weather, and great conversation.

I got this book…

And five movies on blue-ray that I have not seen yet – Avatar, The Blind Side, The Book of Eli, Invictus, and Sherlock Holmes.

It was a great birthday. Thanks to all my family and friends who made it possible. I love you all!

Now it is time to own being 29.

Things That Make Me Feel Old

Posted: April 22, 2010 in Culture, Food, Funny, Life, Movies, Music, People, Random, Sports, Technology, TV
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In two months, I will be 29 years old. I do not consider that to be old. However, there are certain things in this life that I either experience or feel that help me realize that I am definitely not in the “young” category.

Check out this list of things that make me feel old. Feel free to contribute and add on to the list.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL OLD…

  • Drinking coffee.
  • Making a mortgage payment.
  • How I feel after playing back-to-back basketball games.
  • Seeing confusion on the faces of students when I make a “Wonder Years” reference.
  • Getting really excited when I hear a Guns-N-Roses come on.
  • Saying “I remember watching the original Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in the theater,” every time I see the trailer for the new Robin Hood movie. Then immediately thinking, “Man, Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a great movie.”
  • Having/thinking about retirement, stocks, and investments.
  • Ever using the word “portfolio”.
  • One word: INSURANCE (health, dental, vision, maternity, life, car, house, etc.)
  • Getting up really early.
  • Not being able to eat Taco Bell because of what it does to “my system”.
  • Exchanging business cards.
  • Getting destroyed in the newer video games because I don’t know all of the buttons.
  • Thinking everything on MTV is lame and ridiculous.
  • Having to print out all my Scripture references during a sermon because I can’t read the small font in my Bible.
  • Making a Milli Vanilli or New Kids on the Block joke and getting no response.
  • The only trophy I can ever get now is for fantasy football.
  • In two years, all the 6th graders in student ministry will have born in the 2000s.
  • The fact that I remember Michael Jackson as cool, then creepy, and then cool again.
  • Remembering Mike Tyson as an incredible boxer, not a psycho. And having an incredible video game on NES.
  • Guys & girls that were in my student ministry are now getting married.

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What are some things make you feel old?

Movie I’m Embarrassed To Say I Cried In

Posted: March 8, 2010 in Funny, Life, Movies, People
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We all have them. Those movies that you are embarrassed to admit that you cried in.

Yesterday, Heather and I finally watched the movie Marley and Me. When that movie came out, everybody told us that we would cry in this movie. Maybe it was because we are loving dog owners. Maybe it was because of Owen Wilson’s acting. Being the stunning detective that I am, my guess was that the dog would die. Heather cried. I didn’t.

Before I started to seriously question my humanity, I began thinking about the movies that I have cried in. That list is small, but there is one movie that sticks out from the rest. One movie that makes me laugh. One movie that I’m embarrassed to say I cried in.

What is that movie?

CON AIR!!!

Yep, first time I watched Con Air, I cried.

No, it had nothing to do with Nicholas Cage’s long, flowing mullet. I shed a tear near the end of the movie when Cameron Poe (the character played by a roided-out Nicholas Cage) meets his daughter for the first time. He walks up to her to embrace her for the first time, but she pulls back from him. Maybe it was the fact that he was wearing a wife beater and jeans; maybe it was because he had been shot and was bleeding; maybe it was the ridiculous accent he spoke in; maybe it was the aforementioned business up front, party in the back mullet. Regardless, she didn’t want anything to do with him. But that was not the cause of my tears.

After the momentary hesitation, she finally embraces her dad for the first time. But that did not cause the tears.

During that first embrace, the camera focuses on the little girl, and she bites her lip trying to contain the rush of emotion. That is what got me. The emotional lip bite was the cause of my tears.

In that moment I asked myself, “Seriously? Am I really crying in Con Air?”

Am I embarrassed to admit that I cried in the movie Con Air? Yeah, a little.

But it is very funny and it probably caused you to laugh today, so it was well worth it.

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What about you? What is your Con Air? What movie are embarrassed to say you cried in?

What To Do When Snowed-In

Posted: January 29, 2010 in Books, Dogs, Family, Food, Life, Movies, People, Random, Technology, TV
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A big storm has been slamming the entire state of Oklahoma since yesterday afternoon. In the past 24 hours, it has been a steady flow of freezing rain, ice, sleet, and snow. There is a good chance that Heather and I will be snowed-in our house for the next two days.

With the reality of being snowed-in for 2+ days settling in, the question becomes what to do in this situation without being bored out of my mind.

Here’s my list of things to do while snowed-in…

  • Winter house cleaning – clean the entire house
  • Brush the dogs
  • Give the dogs a bath
  • Finally play my new Xbox 360
  • Watch everything saved on the DVR
  • Read a book
  • Watch LOST season 5 to prepare for next week’s season 6 premiere
  • Cut my hair
  • Creative cooking
  • Facebook & Twitter like a mad dog
  • Take a nap
  • P90X workout

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What else should I add to my list? What else is there to do when you are snowed-in?

Top 10 Sports Movies of All-Time (in picture form)

Posted: January 25, 2010 in Life, Movies, People, Random, Sports
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READ THE FULL POST BELOW OR CLICK HERE TO READ THE REASONS WHY THIS IS MY LIST. THIS IS FOR ALL THE A.D.D. PEOPLE WHO WON’T READ THE FULL LIST.

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JUMP

Posted: January 6, 2010 in Culture, Faith, Funny, Life, Ministry, Movies, Music, People, Random, Spirituality, Sports
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REVOLUTION‘s brand new January series – JUMP – starts tonight at 7pm.

JUMP is all about growing. As we start 2010, many people around the world are making goals and resolutions with the idea of making their lives better. Whether it is loosing weight, quitting an addiction, or being more disciplined with money, the idea is that you would get better in that area – jump to another level.

I do not know about you, but I do not want to be the same physically, relationally, or spiritually at the end of 2010 as I am at the start of 2009. I want to love more. I want to serve more. I want to grow. I want to be better. I want to JUMP.

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In honor of our first week of JUMP, here is a JUMP multiple choice pop-quiz.

BEST JUMP TOY…

  • Pogo-stick
  • Trampoline
  • Jump Rope

BEST JUMP SONG…

  • “Jump” – Van Halen
  • “Jump” – Kris Kross
  • “Jump Around” – House of Pain

BEST MOVIE INVOLVING JUMPING…

COOLEST PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE JUMPING YOUTUBE VIDEO…

BEST JUMPING OLYMPIC SPORT

  • Triple Jump
  • Long Jump
  • High Jump

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Look forward to reading your answers. You can find my answers in the comments.

Top 10 Blog Posts of 2009

Posted: December 31, 2009 in Blogs, Books, Culture, Dogs, Faith, Family, Food, Friends, Funny, Inspirational, Life, Ministry, Movies, Music, People, Random, Spirituality, Sports, Technology, The Bible, Travel, TV
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Yes, I am going to attempt to start blogging. I hope to share a little of my brain with world wide web from time to time. I will try to write from time to time on a variety of subjects…life, faith, family, sports, random, etc. If you know me, then you know that my brain is always going. I think from the time I wake up till the time I go to bed. Let’s see if I can get some of those thoughts out on the world wide web so the entire global civilization with a computer can see them. What a brilliant idea!” – Brian Cromer, March 11, 2008

This is a quote from the first briancromer.com post ever. Nearly 1 year & 9 months, 470 posts, and over 130,000 visitors later, it’s time to take a look back at the year that was. This is briancromer.com’s Top 10 Blog Posts of 2009. Some of you reading this are newer to the blog and may have missed some of the earlier moments. I invite you to click on the links and enjoy some of the moments that you may have missed. Some of you have been around since day one (Heather & Mom). I invite you to take a stroll down memory lane, maybe take a look at the comments that you have posted. Without further adieu, the Top 10…

#10 OFFICIALLY ON TWITTER – August 17, 2009

“I am going on record and saying that I will not EVER use twitter. :)” That sentence was taken from my blog post on April 8, 2009. I put this post on the Top 10 list because I like to poke fun of myself and I am suffering from a bad case of foot in mouth disease. By the way, you can follow me on twitter HERE.

#9 GREATEST PITCHER OF ALL TIME – August 4, 2009

It is no secret that I am a huge New York Yankees fan. 2009 was a great year to be a Yankees fan as they won the 27th World Series in franchise history. On November 5, things were again right in the world. That day I woke up refreshed and something was different. Food tasted better. Air was fresher. Traffic seemed lighter. The sun was brighter. And then I realized that the Yankees won #27. That championship could not have been won without Mariano Rivera, who I argue in this controversial post is the greatest pitcher of all time.

*Also, check out this post explaining New York Yankees HOPE Week, which was a week full of the Yankees reaching out  and serving their community.

#8 DEEP THOUGHTS BY B.DAVID VOS – June 16, 2009

Creating and editing videos is one of my least talked about passions. I often wish I had more time to dedicate towards growing more in this creative outlet. I made quite a few videos this years. These ones from Sulphur Springs Workcamp 2009 are my favorite. Others from this year include TUESDAY MORNING, MESSY OR NOT MESSY, REVOLUTION ANNOUNCEMENTS (didn’t make this one, but hilarious), SHOOT EM UP, and GALLON CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENTS.

#7 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT CHALLENGE – February 18, 2009

This is a story where I got to brag on my incredible wife. This is just a small taste of how amazing she truly is. I seriously am a lucky man and I know it. She is amazing. She is my best friend. She makes me a better person. And she loves God more than she could ever love me.

#6 TOP 10 P90X YOGA POSES – August 13, 2009

One of my most crucial guidelines about my blog is that I never want to take myself too seriously. I know I am a dork, so I embrace that and in the process, you experience a good laugh at my expense. Over the past 5+ months, I have been doing P90X. Part of the P90X workout includes a yoga workout. I quickly learned that Brian Cromer and yoga do not go together. For your enjoyment and laughter, I decided to let Heather take pictures of me during a P90X yoga workout to help give you an idea how hilarious and ridiculous I look doing this workout.

#5 NEW HOUSE TOUR – November 13, 2009

This was the first ever video blog on briancromer.com. I am toying around of doing this more in the future. What did you think? Good stuff? Would you like to see more video blogs?

#4 COWTOWN MARATHON PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, & PART 5 – March 2-6, 2009

On Saturday, February 28, 2009, I ran the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, Texas. This was marathon #3 for me, but the first marathon since having this blog. Over these 5 posts, I gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the race and the race itself. My goal was to chronicle this out so that I could remember the marathon.

#3 CONFESSIONS OF A BLOGGER – August 24, 2009

Like I said earlier, I have been blogging since March 2008. By no means does 22 months of blogging qualify me as a blogging expert. I do not have this whole blogging thing figured out. However, in the past 22 months I have learned a thing or two about blogging and myself in the process. This post has some blogging tips and things I have learned while blogging.

#2 BIG NEWS – June 15, 2009

2009 was a big year for the Cromer family. If I had to describe this year in one word, that word would be transition. On June 14, 2009, I announced that I was stepping down as youth pastor of the Shannon Oaks Church in Sulphur Springs, Texas and moving to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to be the student pastor at NORTHchurch. It was an incredibly difficult, bittersweet, and exciting decision to make. Making a healthy transition on both ends was a big deal to Heather and I, and God answered those prayers. This post is Heather and I’s letter publicly announcing our decision.

#1 JESUS RUINED MY LIFE – January 15, 2009

No extravagant words for this one. The title speaks for itself. This one simply is my favorite blog post of 2009.

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If you want to go through 222 blog posts from 2009 and make your own top 10 list, that would be sweet. Which ones did I miss? What blog post should have been on the top 10 that wasn’t? What was your favorite blog post of 2009? GYM GUYS? STARS? SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION? PROSPERITY GOSPEL? SPONGES? I’M A LEADER? JOHN 3:16 HOTTEST GOOGLE SEARCH?

New, New, New, New, New

Posted: September 9, 2009 in Blogs, Books, Culture, Friends, Life, Movies, Music, People, Sports, TV
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davidcrowderchurchcd schrute buckJesus wants to save christians

NEW MUSIC

What’s new on my iPod? Well, to be honest I have not been listening to much new music. Over the summer, I finally broke down and bought all (yes, all) of the Coldplay albums. That was definitely money well spent. Here is a small list of other albums that I have gotten over the past few months:

  • “Dance or Die” by Family Force 5
  • “The Long Fall Back to Earth” by Jars of Clay (my 7th Jars of Clay album)
  • “Attention” by Kristian Stanfill
  • “Roadmaps and Revelations” by Parachute Band
  • “Give Yourself Away” by Robbie Seay Band
  • “Over and Underneath” by Tenth Avenue North

All these albums are good. If I had to pick one out of the bunch as “must have”, it would be “Attention” by Kristian Stanfill.

WHAT I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO – David Crowder*Band is coming out with a new album, “Church Music”, on September 22. Can’t wait!

Just a reminder: Pirating music is stealing. Support artists you enjoy by buying their music.

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NEW MOVIES

If you know me, you already know that I am a big movie theater guy. Heather and I are more movie renters. The reasons are simple: (1) I have waiting my entire life to see that movie; why not wait a few more months so I can watch it sitting on my couch? (2) I am cheap and don’t want to pay for two movie tickets when I can wait to rent the movie and only pay for one.

Also, we have not had the time to sit down and watch a ton of new movies with our recent move.

We did watch all 6 Star Wars movies recently because Heather had never seen them in their entirety. After 5+ years of marriage, you still learn new things about your spouse. After I learned that little fun fact, we changed that very quickly. I also am pseudo ashamed that I have recently watched “17 Again”.

WHAT I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO – All of the summer blockbuster movies to come out on DVD. Since I did not see them in the theaters this summer, I am looking forward to renting them when they are released.

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NEW TV SHOWS

Summer TV is terrible. Nothing is new except crappy reality tv shows. However, not having to keep up with TV shows has been a great thing with our recent move. I have watched a lot of New York Yankees baseball over the summer.

WHAT I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO – New episodes of The Office, House, Heroes, Lie To Me, Baseball playoffs (Yankees), and NFL games.

SIDE NOTE: I saw that CW is airing a Melrose Place remake. First Beverly Hills 90210, then Melrose Place? If they are going to remake old TV shows, at least remake something cool like the A-Team!

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NEW BOOKS

I am in the middle of two books right now: The Air I Breathe by Louie Giglio and Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybel.

WHAT I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO – Finally getting a chance to read Rob Bell’s new book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile. I bought this book at the beginning at the start of the summer but have not had a chance to read it yet. That will change soon.

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NEW BLOG

Jen Hartsell, one of my coworkers at NORTHchurch, is now blogging. You need to check out her writing at http://jenhartnsoul.blogspot.com. Jen is taking her title of “world’s best writer of the facebook status” to a new level by writing on a blog. As a former English teacher, her writing is a very deep, very clever, and very grammatically correct. Check out Jen’s blog.

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What about you? New music? New movies? New TV shows? New books? New blogs?

Please share. I would love to hear what you’ve recently been hearing, watching, and reading.

First Wedding

Posted: May 21, 2009 in Friends, Life, Ministry, Movies, People, Travel
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This weekend I am performing my first wedding ceremony. I will be marrying Nick Martinez and Caitlyn Shepard Saturday afternoon in San Antonio, Texas. Caitlyn has been one of my interns the past two summers, and I was honored when Nick and Caitlyn asked me to be a part of their special day.

But I’ve got to be honest, I am really nervous. I am not really sure why I am because NOBODY (even the bride and groom) ever remembers what the minister says. Maybe it is because it is the first time that I have ever done a wedding. Maybe it is because I feel like I don’t know what I am doing. Maybe it is because I feel old marrying somebody else.

Here’s my game plan:

  • Keep it short and sweet (around 15 minutes).
  • Look good in a suit.
  • Attempt to be funny.
  • Attempt to be pseudo mushy.
  • Make people laugh.
  • Make people cry. (Yes, it will be a rollercoaster of emotion.)
  • Try not to imitate the minister from The Princess Bride (no promises).
  • If I can be half the man/machine/minister as Luke Norsworthy, I’ll be happy.

Any tips on my first wedding? I’m open for suggestions.

Driven From Within

Posted: May 14, 2009 in Books, Culture, Life, Movies, People, Sports
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Over the span of a week, I got to read (and finish) two books. That is a rare thing in my life because I hardly have the time or the attention span to read a book in that time-frame, much less two that quickly.

One of the books that I got to read was Driven From Within by Michael Jordan. This has a been one of those coffee table books for me.  (Coffee table book = where you put a cool looking book on your coffee table that people with either be impressed with or it is atheistically pleasing to look at. You probably do not have high intentions of reading these coffee table books, but they look cool.) 

driven from within

Most of you know Michael Jordan in some way. You may remember him as arguably basketball’s greatest player. You may remember him from his shoes, Air Jordan. You may remember him for his brief minor league baseball career in the Chicago White Sox organization. You may remember him from being in the 1996 classic movie Space Jam. You may even remember for being the guy in all the Hanes commercials.

I am a HUGE Michael Jordan fan. I grew up and started loving basketball during those prime Jordan years where the Bulls were winning championship after championship. At first, I liked Michael Jordan simply because of his basketball talent. As I have gotten older and learned more about MJ, I have become so intriguing with his drive, his work ethic, his competitive nature, his persistence of excellence, and his hatred for loosing. I am drawn to people like that because I think I have a little of those things inside of me.

Reading words and stories about what drives successful people intrigues me. However, this book surprised me. This postmodern-looking book – with its artwork, different fonts, no page looking the same, etc – reads like two stories in one book. One story talks about what is on the inside of Michael Jordan. What drove him. What made him the man, basketball player, and business man that he is today. The other story in this book is the story, history, and evolution of Nike’s brand Air Jordan.

There are some amazing quotes from this book about leadership and drive. I will probably do a blog post soon full of all the amazing quotes that I enjoyed from this book.

I fully recommend buying and reading this book if you are someone who either enjoys sports, someone who is a fan of Michael Jordan, or someone who wants to learn from people who seem to have an unbelievable drive to succeed. Overall, Drive From Within is a quick, enjoyable read with the message that hard work pays off with the added bonus of it also being a scrapbook on Jordan’s career and life.

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1. Do you have any coffee table books? If so, what are they?

2. What are some of the books you have read lately?

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