I took up golf exactly 2 years ago after years of fighting it off. This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to play where the PGA holds their tour Championship, East Lake in Atlanta. Um, that course is Fu*&ing hard as hell!

I have never claimed to be good at golf and every round I play I keep an exact score. I should also point out that I play very fast and never make someone wait behind me. I think that is important to point out as you might be thinking I’m holding up folks behind me with my method of counting every stroke. I don’t care about a Handicap right now, I just want my pure score so I can see when I improve. I’m still waiting for that to happen.

My first round 2 years ago was at Eagle’s Landing (another tough course) and I shot a 150 that day, exactly twice what my friend, Michael Tolcher, shot. This East Lake round was a 149 (go ahead and laugh out loud now) and I am not kidding. Hey, at least, there’s some improvement! I tried, really I did, but it didn’t matter. Usually, I play Chastain, Bobby Jones, or some other local muni course. My best score to date was a 108 (Bobby Jones) but I am usually between 110-125. The rough at East Lake was like hitting out of quicksand. When your ball lands it the rough, it literally disappears. On hole #1 I hit 2 trees trying to come out of the rough and had to dodge from getting hit with my own ball. Within hours of playing, my hamstring, back, feet, and every other muscle in my body was aching for Advil with a Grey Goose chaser. That doesn’t usually happen after a normal round of golf.

Playing East Lake makes you appreciate what these pros can do. At East Lake, you have to walk the course with a caddie. I HATED that part of it because a 149 golfer is about 15 miles of hiking. I’m more of a cart guy…kind of set up the mobile office and enjoy the day with food, drink, iPhone, etc. I know that walking is the way golf was intended to be played, blah blah blah, but walking sucked. I can definitely tell you that I have played areas of that course that Tiger has never even seen other than maybe when taking a leak.

Playing East Lake was an unreal experience and I’m sure I set a new course record and made Bobby Jones roll over a few times in his grave. You can feel the history reeking in that building and soaking that up is an experience I hope you can experience if you are a golfer. Just don’t have the tee time right after mine and you should be ok.

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Barnes has been cast in a scene opposite David Duchovny and Demi Moore in the upcoming movie, THE JONESES. The Joneses, which also stars Demi Moore, is in production now and will be released in 2009.

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Steve Barnes to produce 20 episodes of a new series called “High Rise” to be shot in Atlanta. High Rise will have the feel of ABC’s Desperate Housewives and HBO’s Entourage featuring a story about characters living in one of Atlanta’s most elite properties. Casting will begin early October in Atlanta and shooting is slated to begin soon.

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The KING of the VO, Don LaFontaine, has died from from complications from pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that causes air to build in the pleural cavity. Don was the BEST, period, at Voice Over and you can read a great story on him in SWINDLE magazine.

Don was THE busiest talent in Hollywood and one of the nicest guys I have met in the industry. Years ago a mutual friend introduced me to him when I mentioned that I would love to have Don as a guest on The Morning X. I got goose bumps when we first spoke on the phone, as you can imagine hearing that familiar “movie voice” come through the phone. If you are reading this and having a hard time placing who this is, watch this:

When he came on our show he was very understated and self deprecating and you could barely hear him on the phone. Here was this bigger than life guy, known by his voice, that barely came through the phone when it was time to focus on him in an interview. I got the feeling he hated the attention but he did the interview because it was “part of the game”.

We we spoke the first time, he asked what else I was interested in and I told him I loved movie production and was working on my first “real” short film. Without a hesitation, he gave me his fax number and asked me to send him copy so he could do our voice over for the trailer! What!! This guy gets $10,000 for 60 seconds and he’s doing our little 7 minute movie for free? It was in a Fed Ex on my doorstep the next morning and I couldn’t believe it. Wow, that was very cool of him. I just dug out the original file he sent me and you can hear it HERE. Here’s the finished product HERE. We kept in touch and he offered to do more VO for us “just for the hell of it”. I was very thankful and didn’t know how I could repay him. He didn’t care, he just liked the art and wanted to help some guys just starting out in the business. Don LaFontaine was a truly nice guy and truly a LEGEND in Hollywood that will be missed.

Don’s passing was also a weird experience for me. In my 41 years on this earth I have never had to delete someone from my phone/address book that has died. That was just a bit strange for me and a very weird feeling. You never think about that kind of stuff and it hit me when I came across his name in the “L” section of my phone on Tuesday. I just stared at it for a minute and then went to edit and delete it. I know it sounds stupid, but I have never had to do that and it was just eery. There’s my odd thought of the day.

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Tropic Thunder is a spoof movie with some big names and even bigger cameos. It has its moments but they could have cut all the funniest parts in a 2 minute trailer and I would have been fine with watching that, instead. The movie got huge hype and I’m falling short of digesting it all. This is a Ben Stiller vehicle which could already grind on some quite hard. Add Jack Black to the mix and you are getting border line toxic for me. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked Jack Black in this, and I have never liked a thing he did on the screen. He was on my short list of “I won’t see that because they are in it” actors. Julia Roberts still tops that list.

How many times can you see Stiller do that pucker face bit? Man, I’m done with it. If you saw Zoolander (or any of his movies) you know it well. This movie felt like an idea that came up at dinner one night and got green lit the next day with a star studded cast ready to go. They looked like they had fun but I’m not sure that it all translated to the audience. By far, Robert Downey, Jr. was the best part of the movie. That guy is a true A-lister and just amazes me with his talent, time and time again. I’m glad he turned it around.

The much talked about cameos were interesting. Matthew McConaughey was cheesy and seemed to try way too hard as Stiller’s character’s agent. He needs to find Kate Hudson and get back in a chick flick where he belongs. His mugging on screen is tired. Tom Cruise, some say is almost unrecognizable as the “Studio Head”. I disagree. He looks like a hairy Tom Cruise with a bald head. His character reminded me a lot of his character in Magnolia. The audience where I was (sold out theater) was not receptive to him, at all. During the ending credits, no one was laughing in a scene that I guarantee they expected to be funny.

The best part of the movie, besides Downey, is the fake trailers at the start of the movie. That is some funny stuff and they set the bar for laughs high. The laughs were not very often from there, it was just a small shower…not Tropic Thunder.

Rated R | 107 minutes | My Rating 2.5 out of 5

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I’m that guy you saw waiting in line for this slick little piece of plastic that we know and love called the iPhone. I am a Mac addict of about 10 years. I own one of everything that have ever made and treat them all as a family member. Apple usually “gets it” and have rarely disappointed me. The iPhone is truly innovative just as you would expect a product from Apple to be, but it doesn’t come without its problems. If you are thinking about plopping down your 299.00 for a 16 gig iPhone, below find some thoughts that may help you out.

I’ll stay positive, for now, and hype you on this space aged communication device. The iPhone, and the new App Store, are freaking amazing. You can do anything you can imagine from calculating a tip to playing very cool games. There are tons of free applications and most are not over 9.99 in the App Store (which is a part of the iTunes store). You can even make a call should you have time. There’s also something very cool about having your iPod and your phone merged together. Audio and Video and flawless and renting movies in the iTunes store is easier than ever. I just rented 2 movies for a trip to LA which gave me my in flight entertainment and it looks great on the iPhone screen. It also didn’t kill my battery.

The speaker in the phone and the speakerphone are definitely an upgrade from the original model. It’s a bit thinner and well put together. People will ask you about it whenever you take it out of your pocket. It’s a great conversation starter and everyone wants to hold it. The way to tell the new 3G from its outdated brother is by the color. 3G iPhones are black or white while the original has a metal back with a bit of black on it. Apparently, the people you see with the older iPhone are married or related to someone with the iPhone 3G. I know my wife has mine. 

They have made a few minor tweaks that have made the overall performance better like the ability to mass delete mail, the “push” mail and Mobile Me functions (whenever they are working correctly). Business users are also thrilled that they can use it on the corporate servers. Overall, the phone is great but it does have issues that maybe could have been avoided with more extensive testing. 

The namesake of the iPhone, the actual 3G service is a joke. I could barely hold a call with 3G turned on and would fluctuate from 1 to 4 bars constantly. The 3G service ZAPS the battery like you wouldn’t believe. I would be at half a battery by 2 pm with moderate use. With the old iPhone I would NEVER run out of battery and, trust me, I am on it all day. 

Isn’t 3G why I bought the phone? Double the speed for half the price as Apple boldly advertised? Not quite, Mr. Jobs. AT&T is pointing the finger at Apple and says their network is fine. My Blackberry friends are not complaining about their 3G phones. The word is that Apple gave AT&T very little testing time so they could keep the phone under wraps and generate the hype. Apparently, some are pointing at some sort of hardware issue with the phone that is causing the poor reception. I can only hope that they get it worked out quickly with some sort of firmware update. For now, you can turn off the 3G in your general settings. I had to as it just won’t work well on 3G. That is a big blunder. The other big blunder is the Mobile Me service which is not ready for prime time. Big mistake to release that on the same day as the new iPhone. The “push” e mail got beaten up immediately and Apple pulled back from that term quickly now to use the term “sync”. Many people have had e mail outages (here here!) and it’s been a mess. I feel both these issues could have been hashed out with more thorough testing on the actual network the phone was going to be used on.

Other than that, here are the other complaints:

-The ringer is not very loud and when on vibrate it is tough to feel unless right next to your body. The phone is so light that its barely there.

-You can’t copy/paste text (although some companies are releasing apps in the App Store that can remedy this).

-You can’t send a photo in a text message. You have to e mail it.

-Still no Flash media can be played on the iPhone.

-If you move around too fast on the phone, it will freeze up and need a restart.

-The GPS chip is not absolutely accurate (within 5-15 meters, so careful when you buy the golf apps promising things in the App Store).

-The camera sucks

-No streaming video (There are a few iPhone killers that have released phones with streaming television that is kick ass).

-Can’t use the charging cradle from old iPhone as new 3G does not fit.

-Phone is cheaper but the rate plans are higher (nice move Apple!).

There are a few more minor flaws I am probably forgetting but you get the idea. If you have the original iPhone, I would just do the software update and you get most of the same functionality minus the GPS chip. That is the choice for the rational iPhone owner until they get this 3G mess worked out. If you have to have the latest, be prepared for the growing pains.

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Rarely will you find me with a serious blog entry and I mean RARELY. But I’m seeing something that is troubling and it’s getting worse.

Chances are that you have a job. You might hate getting up for it. You may develop a case of “Friday-itis” often to get away from it. It’s possible that you want to quit and look for something better. Take a look at your pay stub or last direct deposit. How would you feel if it disappeared? Have you thought of what you would do? How would you handle it both emotionally and physically. How would it handle you? You better not leave that job before you have a great replacement lined up. The good jobs are few and far between. 

Shockingly, I personally know 7 adults over 30 years old, from all different industries, that are unemployed. Seven. Make that tally eight, since I don’t gather a check from a big fat company anymore as well. Fortunately, I have always been an entrepreneur and had my hands in several things. That being said, I am “unemployed” but this is not about me. I am fine with my status. This is about several friends I have that are in bad situations without a cure. These seven I write about are not high school drop outs that were delivering pizzas, these are highly educated people who were in serious positions with their companies. These people all made over 7 figures a year and worked hard. They all had jobs where they had great input and expertise. Their choice now is to take a job making about 25% of what they were making or sit and wait for the “right” opportunity to get back in the game. The game is bad right now. Get a comfortable chair. 

These 7 figure casualties are becoming more and more common. The economy is claiming victims in many ways. Could you ever imagine in your wildest dreams that we would ever have to pay 4.50 a gallon for gas? Where will that end? Will it ever go back to sanity? Where is the airline industry headed? Will the housing market regain its gusto? Will these ugly fiscal days ever turn around? Optimists think so, but it has yet to show any signs of goodness.

To be over 30 and unemployed is much different than losing your job in your 20’s. You have all that debt, maybe kids, a mortgage, and so much more. At twenty, you just go crash at a friends place until it blows over. Image having a 7 figure rug yanked out from under you. At first, you’ll feel relief as you rest up. Then it sets in when you go sign up for your health insurance family plan. Oh wait, I forgot about that. Don’t forget and get ready to plop down a grand for crappy insurance. The house payments seem to come much quicker now. It starts to take a toll.

I’ve watched several of these people try and stay above water as the character is slowly drained out of them. They lost their jobs for not a specific reason, but because they were highly compensated, highly expendable employees. More and more, you are seeing the worker bee hired in positions, a worker that shuts up and takes 30k a year. They are much less experienced than you, much less educated, and much more expendable. These companies will hire 1 executive that makes all the calls and distributes the orders to all the workers bees. Headquarters mandates a decision and the pen pushers carry it out and keep their mouths shut. Remember when people actually had power and input in companies? You actually went to a meeting and skilled people made decisions that helped the company. Those days are gone so they don’t need smart people anymore. Let’s hire a stub and they’ll do what we say or they will be gone. 

One of my unemployed friends took a bus ride the other day with his small child and had an interesting thought. This bus ride was because his kid likes to ride a bus and it happened a day after losing his job. As he watched the bus driver, he thought about how this guy comes to work every day and drives in circles probably not to be ever interrupted from his job. He’s probably been there 30 years and never been brought into to the office for any reason. He leads a simple life and is doing just fine. He never has to answer to anyone and probably wouldn’t know what to do if he had to.  He has a point. We strive to create a great life by educating ourselves and climbing up that corporate ladder only to find ourselves driving in circles…without a paycheck. Appreciate the job you have because it could happen to you. I hope not.

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