LA Lakers & Counselling Center Tips -- Day Seven

Knock knock
Who's there?
Wilt's 1000
Wilt's 1000 who?
Wilts 1000 dollars really help your long-term savings at this point? I'd advise investing it into a long-term mutual fund.

Never Let Him Go

-Sunday...the beginning of a new week or the end of the current week - all depending on how you read your calendar.

Good morning. It is 5:01 a.m., and I just got up...It is looking like it is going to be a great day. Currently the temperature is 43 and the sun is going to shine today...our forecast is calling for high of 63 today with partly cloudy skies all day. Sounds great.

-Yesterday, Steve and I got out for a 1.4 mile hike...which was good. Temperatures were half way decent all day until the middle of the afternoon. It was 59 degrees and the next thing we knew the temperature had dropped to 40. Burrrrrrrrrrr it was cold.

First thing we did was head up to Sam's Club and get some gasoline for $2.689 a gallon, which was a pretty good deal considering it was $2.77 by our house.

After we filled up the Focus, we headed into Sam's Club where we got some laundry soap and had a few free snacks. I love Sam's Club on a Saturday around noon time - snacks are usually pretty good.

After we got done there, which was about 12:15 p.m. we headed up the Miller Trunk to the CEC - Lakes 10 Theater. But the movies were all ones we had seen - so we immediately turned around and headed down the hill.

We stopped briefly at the Miller Hill Mall, and the J C Pennys' Store - so I could buy a shirt.

After that it was down to the CEC - Duluth 10 theater at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

When we got inside, we decided to see the movie "RV".

An overworked Bob Munro, his wife Jaime, their 15-year-old daughter Cassie and 12-year-old son Carl are in desperate need of some quality time together. After promising to take them on a family vacation in Hawaii, Bob abruptly changes plans without telling them. Instead of a week in a tropical paradise, they're going on a road trip to Colorado in a recreational vehicle.

Dragging his wife and kids kicking and screaming into the RV, Bob's togetherness plan (which is partly a ruse to keep him from losing his job) almost immediately hits a major speed bump. Everything that can go wrong, does. Bob's lame attempts to navigate the unwieldy, oversized vehicle are met with silence and scorn from his resentful family. The RV life is a far cry from their comfortable life in Los Angeles, and every attempt Bob makes to get them into the spirit of the vacation threatens to tear them further apart.

At an RV camp, the Munro family is befriended by the Gornicke family--an irritatingly endearing happy-go-lucky clan of full-time RVers. The more they try to elude the Gornickes, the more their paths seem destined to cross. But adversity has a way of uniting even the most dysfunctional family members and each setback the Munros experience inadvertently helps them become a true family again.

Here again, I think Steve and I would rate this movie at a B+...I know for myself - I just laughed and laughed so many different times. The movie was just plain funny and entertaining.

-After the movie we headed over to Superior and the Wal-Mart Store, where we bought groceries. The groceries are so much cheaper (with quantity) than they are at the local grocery store by our home. So, I guess it is good for us to be good stewards of our money.

-From Superior, we headed back to downtown Duluth - and Pizza Luce. Steve and I had a small garlic cheese bread for starters and then came our pizza.

We had ordered the medium sized Maximus Pizza with homemade Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black and green olives and extra cheese.

Only bad thing is we didn't read carefully - and ended up with a ton of "green olives" on it - so we had to pick those darn things off. All in all the pizza was great, except for the "green olives". They sucked, big time.

We had this big African American gal as our waitress - and she apparently wouldn't say "crap" if she had a mouthful. She was the most unfriendly person I think we have ever had for a waitress.

She didn't ask if we wanted refills on our pop, she never came back to see if there was anything else that we needed, she barely brought the bill at the end of our time there. Tip? No way - only tip I would have had for that gal was - get a life and then get a real personality.

She was a horrible waitress!!!

-We got back home around 5:00 p.m. or so, after our day in the big city - it was good to just relax and spend a fun day together - as we do every Saturday. Some how movies are just a way for both of us to relax. I never was a big movie fan until I met Steve. Over these nearly 7 years, we have gone to a movie just about every Saturday afternoon - and I have to say - it's opened up a whole new world for me - a world of enjoyment, as together we step into the silver screen.

-Things We've Read:
Nearly 10% of American households dress their pets in Halloween costumes. 2,500 newborn babies will be dropped in the next month. There are no penguins in the North Pole. -Never Let Him Go

It's good to have a someone
on whom you can depend

A kind and tender sweetheart
a true and loving friend

A someone you can turn to
when skies above are gray

Who is the magic formula
to smile the clouds away

Someone to share your sorrow
as well as happiness

Who lives for you and you alone
and yearns for your caress

Its wonderful to plan the years
and travel hand in hand

With someone who will always try
their best to understand

Some people are not that lucky
they never seem to find

A someone they can cling to
for hope and peace of mind

So if you find this someone
who puts your heart aglow

Hold fast to them
with all your might

And never let them go!

-In NBA playoffs - Good News - Phoenix beat the L. A. Lakers 121 to 90...the Lakers are out of it. Yes, Yes, Yes!!!

Goodbye Kobe.

-Seven random things:
I love broccoli and used to eat oatmeal every day. But not together. I love crackers and strawberry jelly (together). Every night we used to eat 3 or 4 of these. Guilty pleasure: American Idol and Survivor. But not together. I’m seriously considering cutting back on my daily meals to only 2. Breakfast and lunch. I wanted at one time in my life to write...guess I'm doing that now.We’ve been to a gay club/bar only a number of times in our lives. I love Steve. He has this large mushroom headed penis - it's so sweet...and suckable.

-Well guys, that is our Sunday blog. I have a few things in the kitchen to get cleaned up and done before Steve gets up.

We hope your day is a great one. We're going to just hang around home today - after a while when Steve gets up and we shower - we will go for a hike - to get our daily exercise. Nothing better than a walk for good cardio vascular exercise.

Have a great day and we will see you back here tomorrow.

Ciao~Steve and Warren

A new nickname

Since Shaquille O'Neal had the audacity to nickname Eric Dampier, it's only fair that Shaquille is given a nickname of his own. I've decided that from here on out, Shaquille O'Neal will now be referred to as ....duh donna nuh.......Shaquira!

Kobe Calls To Congratulate Farmar

By The Associated Press

When Jordan Farmar's cell phone rang Thursday morning, he wasn't surprised to discover it was another call of congratulations.

But it wasn't just any caller - it was Kobe Bryant.

"That was the best way to start my career, to get a phone call from the best player in the NBA,'' Farmar said at a news conference less than 24 hours after the Los Angeles Lakers took him in the first round of the NBA draft with the 26th overall selection.

"It wasn't long at all - about 5 minutes,'' Farmar said of his conversation with Bryant. "It was very meaningful to me. He's the best player in the NBA and we're on the same team.''

Farmar, who turns 20 in November, passed up his final two years of eligibility at UCLA to make himself available for the draft. He played at Taft High in nearby Woodland Hills, then started all 66 games in which he played over two seasons with the Bruins, who advanced to the NCAA championship game this spring before losing to Florida.

The 6-foot-2 point guard averaged 13.2 points and 5.3 assists as a freshman and 13.5 points and 5.1 assists as a sophomore, when he was a first-team All Pac-10 performer.

"Man, I'm very excited to be here,'' he said. "It's been the longest month of my life, traveling around the country to pursue my lifelong dream. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. I'm blessed to be here.''

There were some who questioned Farmar's decision to pass up his final two seasons at UCLA, but he was very impressive in pre-draft workouts in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month. He made his final decision to stay in the draft on June 18 - the deadline for withdrawing.

"It was the toughest decision of my life so far,'' he said. "I had to follow my dream. I just want to get out there and make my dream a reality.''

Farmar's family attended the news conference at the Lakers' training facility.

"He called to give me directions, and he told us about his call from Kobe,'' said Farmar's mother, Mindy Kolani. "We're all just numb - we're all so excited.''

Farmar's mother acknowledged to having doubts when Farmar made his decision to leave school.

"I'm really big on education. I wanted him to get his degree,'' she said. "Mostly, I wanted him to be happy. He said, `I just have this feeling it's going to work out.' He told us to have faith in his decision.''

And so, she said she does.

While Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak reiterated he doesn't expect Farmar to play big minutes next season, Farmar said: "If I'm going to be an asset on the court, I'm going to play.''

When asked what advice he offered to Farmar, Kupchak replied: "He can control how good he's going to be based on work, improvement. The talent is there. He's in control of his own destiny.''

The Lakers selected center Cheick Samb from Senegal in the second round with the 51st overall selection, but traded his rights to Detroit for swing man Maurice Evans, who averaged 5.0 points in 80 games for the Pistons last season.

"I think we're a better team today than we were yesterday,'' said Kupchak, pointing to the addition of Farmar and Evans. "I think Maurice Evans gives us an added dimension.''

The Lakers also sent a 2007 second-round draft pick to Dallas for the rights to guard J.R. Pinnock, who averaged 14.5 points per game for George Washington last season. The Mavericks drafted Pinnock with the 58th overall selection.

"We're not done,'' Kupchak said, making it clear there were more changes in store.

After reaching the NBA finals four times in five years and winning three championships, the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal to Miami two years ago and took a nosedive, going 34-48 and missing the playoffs.

They rebounded this season, going 45-37 before taking a 3-1 lead over Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs. But the Suns became the eighth team in NBA history to overcome such a deficit, winning the final three games including a 31-point blowout in Game 7.

(BruinBasketballReport.com)

(photo credit: AP)

LA Lakers

The team is renowned for the fanbase of celebrities, such as musicians and movie stars who attend its games. Without question, many are present only during successful times for the team. During such times, near-court seats at an important Laker game are a desirable place for entertainment figures to "be seen". Each network broadcast, and many local broadcasts, of Laker home games invariably includes a few moments taken out to show on camera the various celebrities present at that particular game, and clearly many attendees are more interested in this aspect of their attendance than in the team or the game itself.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen bought the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League for $15,000 and relocated it to Minneapolis. As the Gems had by far the worst record in the NBL, the Lakers had the first pick in the 1947 dispersal draft, which they used to select George Mikan, later to become, arguably, the greatest center of his time. With Mikan, new coach John Kundla and an infusion of former University of Minnesota players, the Lakers won the NBL championship in that 1947-48 season and joined four other NBL teams in jumping to the Basketball Association of America, where they promptly won the 1948-49 BBA championship. The NBL and BBA merged to become the NBA in 1949.