One of Many Reasons I Love "The Princess Bride"

The Princess Bride is one of my all-time favorite movies. Probably a Top 5 All-Time movie for me, if not Top 3. Which is funny, because I spent about two years as a kid telling my mom I'd "never want to watch a stupid movie about princesses" before she finally thought to explain to me that André the Giant was in it. At that point, I figured it had to be at least kind of awesome.

Anyway, I could write an entire blog post (and maybe someday will) about how much I love The Princess Bride. The older I've gotten, the more I've grown to appreciate every single line of witty and humorous dialogue and every single facet of its timelessness and beauty. And that's me trying to sum up my love for it succinctly.

Anyway, Entertainment Weekly did some "reunion photo," which sparked an outpouring of Princess Bride fans asking for more than just a photo. So they released this "Oral History" where they talked with the film's director, the writer of the original novel, and most of the cast involved in the film. It's definitely worth the read, but I wanted to highlight one of my favorite things from the story/article/whatever it is.

It comes from Mandy Patinkin, who played Inigo Montoya, the man who spoke the now semi-famous line, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." This excerpt from the EW story gives a good look at why the cast members from The Princess Bride were able to make such a magical film.

PATINKIN: Not a day goes by where somebody doesn’t come up and ask, “Can you say the line?” And I say it with the greatest joy in the world. I’ll often whisper it into a little kid’s ear so he’s not looking at my face, so he just hears my voice, because I don’t want to mess up the magic.

Isn't that fantastic? I've read so many stories and Wikipedia entries about actors who hate when people constantly bring up a single line or single scene from their careers, and here's Mandy Patinkin, grateful that people are so enamored with that character and that film. AND he goes out of his way to make it a magical experience for Princess Bride fans of all ages. Just fantastic.

Anyway, I love The Princess Bride. If you haven't seen it before, I'm not sure there's a single movie I'd more strongly recommend that you watch.

-Mike

Photo comes from the official Princess Bride website.

The Power of Passing

Larry Bird was an incredible basketball player. There's not really any other way to say it.

Rather than ramble on about his various accolades and skills, I'm just going to focus on one thing for now: as good as Larry Bird was at scoring LOTS of points, he was also an unbelievably skilled passer.

Proof:

Watching this video led me to the realization that, sometimes, being the guy who makes the perfect pass at the right time can be just as effective as being the guy who scores the points.

I'm not sure exactly what that means in the business sense, but I do know there are lots of people in this world who are phenomenal passers but don't see how much value they bring to the table on a daily basis. I guess this is my way of saying that, if you're the kind of person who thrives on making the pass that leads to the big play, do that and do it as best as you can. And enjoy it.

Every big-time scorer needs someone to get him/her the ball. There's nothing wrong with being the person who sets people up for success. Especially when you end up on the winning team.

There's my cheesy inspiration for the day. Happy Friday.