Sometimes you just have to see a movie that makes you fall in love with the idea of falling in love.  We all do it differently.  That’s why I say take a leap of faith and jump into Leap Year.

Here’s the plot, Amy Adams stars as the main character who is convinced she’s about to be proposed to by her longtime boyfriend, played by Adam Scott.  He takes her out to an exquisite dinner and presents her with a small box.  She opens it fully believing it’s a ring.  It’s earrings instead.  Ugh!

Matthew Goode & Amy Adams, courtesy: Universal

He’s off to Ireland for a conference, and she follows with a plan to propose to him on leap day, something that’s psuedo okay by Irish tradition.  But upon arrival in Erin she gets side tracked and falls in love with someone else–Matthew Goode.  Take out the Ireland and calendar events of a leap year, this is not unusual.  Who doesn’t know a love story with cool detours?  Add Ireland into the mix and it’s twice as cool. 

Jean & Kevin Walsh

It’s been a while since I’ve taken my wife on a date to the movies.  We’re going to see Leap Year.  She loves chick flicks.  I’ll let you know how we like the movie.

Talk about coming full circle.  I used to deliver The Times Chronicle in my Meadowbrook, PA neighborhood.  I think I got like 30-cents a delivery back then.  Today a feature story about the boy who never missed your driveway–ok well maybe a couple of times.

It’s been a bountiful catch in The Marrow in Me’ s promotional department today. Did a newspaper interview over the phone with The Times Chronicle, my hometown newspaper growing up in Meadowbrook, PA, Abington Township. My interviewer Mike Morsch was most kind. He wanted to know the Abington and Times Chronicle connection because readers would want that he said. “I was born in Holy Redeemer Hospital, graduated from Abington High School as Student Council President and I delivered The Times Chronicle as a boy,” I told him.

“That’ll work,” he said.

Article previewing The Marrow in Me comes out around the book’s availability–November 10th. He asked when I knew I had a story that needed a book’s length to tell. The answer is after having a conversation with Sue Reilly, the mother of my great golfing friends and PGA Professionals Will, Hugh and Mike Reilly.
Posted by Broadcaster and Bone Marrow Blogger at 1:07 PM 0 comments
With a few alterations and substitution for the short cast of characters, let’s see if we make a case for an analogy between a Patriots pick-up and a literary classic you read in 10th grade. Remember The Old Man and the Sea? Even if you stooged out and just read the Cliff’s Notes you’ll get the premise.

Characters: Santiago, Hemingway and the prized catch the old man hauled in with his bare hands–a large marlin.

Bill Belichick is the old man, not Santiago-old but he’s older than the rest of the characters. I am Hemingway. Don’t write as well, but I admire the guy. And retired, unretired, retired, unretired Patriots Lineback Junior Seau is the prized catch.
Some of the comparisons aren’t perfect, but we follow the old axiom of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. So Belichick is Santiago, but Belichick didn’t go trolling around the sea for the big marlin like Santiago did. He landed the big fish on a land line. With his bare hands he picked up the phone, called Junior, and talked him into coming back to the dock.

The lesson of Santiago’s landing the big one can be applied here too. When the wise man fishes he doesn’t just throw a line in the water, or cast his net toward the sun. He knows where to fish and what to fish for. Belichick went fishing in Junior’s bucket. And in landing the big one, Belichick shows once again he is the master fisherman.
Here’s the difference. Landing the big one didn’t suck the life out of the fisherman or the fish. Both have renewed energy. This could make for a really good story if you’re a Pats fan, or a sob story for other teams that couldn’t land Junior. Actually those teams couldn’t have had him anyway. He would bite for only one team and one fisherman.