From the mouths of actors

"Don't think; it can only hurt the ball club."
- Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), "Bull Durham" (1988)

It's funny how many things in life boil down to that one line from a movie about baseball.
We've spent the last few weeks watching the Shania Twain reality show on The Oprah's network, and it's amazing how, in the end, a lot of the problems she was facing in her journey of self-discovery were in her head.
Every roadblock she faced trying to get back into singing. Every time she balked at stepping up to a microphone to record. All in her head.
Now, I'm not going to say that all of us don't get that mental block in our head that keeps us from doing things. I have had times (and still do) where my brain gets in the way of things that should come pretty natually.
But this is not an entry about that.
It's about the quote on the top. And all the other bon mots of advice we've received and adopted from TV and the movies through the years.
And there are a few that seem more and more relevant these days.

"Fame is fleeting..."
"But the Internet is forever."
-- Phineas Flynn and step-brother Ferb Fletcher, "Phineas and Ferb" on Disney Channel (2008)

Leave it to one of my son's favorite shows to provide the lesson that Congressman Anthony Weiner has been learning the hard (*snicker*) way these last couple of weeks.
You can think that you've hidden stuff away, deleted files or erased accounts, but somewhere, squirreled away, is a copy of what you -- or others -- posted.
Trust me on this one. You wouldn't be able to guess the number of requests per month we'd have from people wanting us to take down or delete stories that they were mentioned in. Apparently that time they said something or arrested (but never charged or convicted) was showing up in Internet searches by friends, family and potential employers.
The kicker for all these people was that most of the stories weren't even accessible on our site or some of our servers to take down. They were cached versions by Google.
So, sometime down the road, don't be surprised when someone finds that picture you posted (that one you thought you set to private) and uses it against you.

 "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES!' "
-- Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), "Ghost Busters" (1984)

Now it's one thing to say you're a god. It's entirely another to think it.
And maybe I'm misconstruing LeBron James' words, but it certainly seemed like he was saying he was better than the rest of us in his comments after his Miami Heat were beaten for the NBA championship by the Dallas Mavericks. When asked whether it bothered him that so many fans seemed to be rooting against him, he said (according to Yahoo Sports):

"Absolutely not. Because at the end of the day, all the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that."

Good for you LeBron! Way to infuriate people who were on the fence about you and your ego.
You're a talented athlete being paid millions to play a game in front of the same people with personal problems you were talking about. Nothing more.
When your playing days are over, you're going to find yourself without the groupies and entourage to tell you how good you are and cater to your every whim. So I hope that your family is happy with a grump who still hasn't won a title, and is falling farther behind in his chase of names such as Jordan, Johnson and Bryant.

"I'm going to give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball."
-- Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), "Caddyshack" (1980)

"Be the ball." What person playing golf (miniature or full-sized) hasn't uttered that phrase one or a thousand times, followed by the familiar "na-na-na-nahhhhh."
It's a great Zen philosophy. But it's not so great of an idea when you're a public figure who one day may run for president.
Sarah Palin's interpretation of Paul Revere's ride may have been an off-the-cuff faux paus, as Jon Stewart rightly pointed out, but when she later defended herself on Fox News ... wow.
At a certain point, this folksy, gee whiz personality she portrays in public is going to be her undoing. When you can't get simple facts right and then talk down to the people who question you about them, well, that's not being a politician. That's being the Church Lady.
And as much as I love Dana Carvey, no one's about to elect him to an office.
Let's hope this little vacation Caribou Barbie went on with her family is the last we have to hear about her in the mainstream media for a while. And certainly not announcing a run for president.