Burnette Insurance Blog

"Say What?" Item of the week - Paying for the HOV lane

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:06:00 GMT

So, I always thought that carpooling was something that was encouraged by the state, but now that appears to be changing. Take a look at this article from the AJC detailing how the new "toll" lane is going to work when it opens next year. Couple of items of note:

The price is going to constantly change, depending on how congested that area is.

The HOV/Toll lane will still be free for carpools of 3 +, but 2 person carpoolers will have to pay.

Everyone riding in that lane will have to register and pay for a "peach Pass" account before getting in the lane. It's a sticker you'll put on the windshield and when you get in that lane, you'll be charged for it, unless you have 3 or more folks in your car (note to self, time to have that kid). Even if you do have 3 or more in your car, you're still required to get this "peach pass." You can register for it starting next year.

This is going to be out our way, basically starting at Spaghetti Junction and coming out to the Suwanne Old Peachtree on I-85.

The AJC article has about everything in it you could think of, so click on the link and read it. Interesting stuff.

We're not sure how this is going to work out, but we are sure that if Gwinnett County is going to be the test monkeys for this, Burnette Insurance can get you insured properly so that you don't have to worry about paying a fine for lack of insurance while you pay extra to ride past those poor souls in the other lanes!

What are your thoughts on this??

Care bulletin - coping with Divorce

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:48:00 GMT

We know that divorce is not something anybody wants or desires, but unfortunately, it does happen. Our friends at TechAmerica have devised a really helpful Tip Sheet to cope with divorce. Below is taken from that tip sheet.

Divorce isn’t easy. It can take time to adjust to the changes it may bring and work through the range of emotions you may experience. This can be true even if separation is based on a mutual agreement. But, knowing what to expect can help you begin to move forward in your life. Take the positives from your experience of being married and apply them to any new relationships. Embrace your life as a single person.

The grieving process

The first step in your journey toward recovery and adjustment is to allow yourself time to fully grieve. In some

cases, this can take up to two years. Remember, each person and situation is different. There’s no right or wrong

amount of time, or right or wrong way, to adjust. And, working through this stressful time can give you the

confidence you need to create the life you want. A few of the stages people often go through during the grieving

process include:

• Shock and denial

• Anger

• Uncertainty

• Feelings of loss and fear

You may not go through these stages in any particular order. And, these feelings may come and go. Expect to

have some ups and downs as you learn to accept your losses and the changes in your life.

The recovery process

Once you’ve had time to grieve, you can begin to move on to create a new life. Following these important steps can help:

• Boost your self-esteem. Pat yourself on the back for facing each day’s challenges. Even if you don’t

always succeed, feel good about your efforts.

• Revive your social network. Find people whose company you enjoy. Meet others who like the same

activities you do. This may be the time to be open to trying something new.

• Learn to love yourself. Get to know who you are without judging yourself.

• Embrace your new identity. Learn to feel comfortable and optimistic. This will help you

make healthier, more loving choices for yourself in the future.

• Establish new habits and rituals. Whether you have a family or are a single person, it’s important

to focus on things that are meaningful.

Many people dealing with divorce experience depression. If you’re feeling depressed, you are not alone. If you feel you’re unable to cope, or your symptoms worsen, seek professional help right away.

Burnette Insurance wants to be there for you in your time of need, whether it be if you need help finding new health insurance or changing your current plans because of a divorce; or needing to update your home or auto insurance becuase of these changes, we're here to help! Please contact us for more info.

Why Does My Home Insurance go up every year?

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:34:00 GMT

One of the questions we most frequently get asked as personal insurance agents is "Why does my homeowners insurance go up every year when the market just keeps going down?"  There are a few reasons for that, and we'll get into those reasons in this blog.

One big reason for the increasing cost of home insurance is that there have been an inordinate amount of storms and hail damage in Georgia in the past three years. We had a tornado in downtown Atlanta!! (I was downtown earlier that day; got out just in time) There have been multiple storms that have caused trees to fall on homes, wind damage that has broken windows and worse, and a couple of major hailstorms that have destroyed some roofs. Because of these natural disasters, home insurance companies have had to make huge payouts on claims in short periods of time like we've never really seen in Georgia before.   Here is a link to a story on WSB tv about the increasing rates in homeowners insurance (notice how NONE of the companies we represent are listed with having the really big increases :) ) and the article has some good information in it.

Another reason is that even though the selling/buying market is decreasing, the cost to rebuild your home is still increasing. You have home insurance for the cost to rebuild your home if it were completely lost in a fire or storm or some other sort of claim. That cost is certainly going to be much more than what you could sell your home for in today's market (speaking of, does anybody want to buy a nice little home in Dacula? Contact Kyle!!) where some homes are being sold for half of what they were bought and built for just three years ago! We want to make sure that your home would be rebuilt just as it is if something catastrophic happened.

Those are the two main reasons that you'll see increases in your home insurance each year. A couple of items to look at when you contact your agent (hopefully Burnette Insurance) are your deductible and ask your agent to do an updated cost-to-rebuild guide, to make sure that the coverage amount on the home is not too high, or too low.

One other thing that can help is to package your home and auto insurance together with the same company. Often there are discounts for combining insurance and even adding an umbrella policy or Life policy can create even more discounts.

Please give us a call or send an email to discuss this or any other questions you might have.  We'd love to help with your Georgia personal insurance policies!

John & Kyle Review the movies! Inception & Top 5 Mindbenders

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:40:00 GMT

This week, John & Kyle review probably the biggest surprise smash hit of the summer, the twisty, mindbending thriller Inception and then discuss the top 5 mindbenders of all time, in their opinion, which is going to be right.

(Hey! Visit our Refer A Friend and Win page for a chance to win a $50 gift card to regal Cinemas - where you can see Inception on IMAX or any of the other great films out now!!)

Just a quick reminder of our wacky ratings systems, based upon the number of seats John needed to use during the movie. 1 seat is the best, meaning he stayed upright throughout, 5 seats is the worst, meaning before the opening titles ended, John was laying down ready to nap.

Inception - Rated PG-13 (mild violence, big guns, some bad language, Michael Caine)

John's Review - 3 Seats

Hello again! I think I need to preference my review of Inception to admit that I am not some movie guru who has a great appreciation for artistic design, intricate costuming or some other Hollywood mumbo jumbo. If I like a movie, I like it. I can’t always tell you exactly why I like it. I know you are thinking I must have liked Inception but may not be able to tell you why I liked it, right? Wrong. I didn’t like it and I know exactly why.

Inception takes too much work to enjoy. From the very beginning, it was a constant struggle to keep up. Every scene had to be consumed, digested and understood before you could understand what exactly was taking place in the next one. Problem is, much like algebra, if you fall behind and you are done. Take a potty break, see ya. Pick up your coke from the drink holder, forget it. If you even think about checking your cell phone, you might as well get up and leave. Based on this, some people will immediately think Inception sounds like their kind a movie. If you think that, you are probably right. Go see it.

Inception is about a group of professionals who enter the dreams of others in order to manipulate their victims real life actions for a profit. Dream pirates, if you will. I like pirates. I like dreams. I don’t like pirates in my dreams and neither do the victims in this movie.

If you are simple like me, you don’t want to be tutored and tested while sitting in the theatre. Everyone enjoys a twist that you didn’t see that coming (Sixth Sense, Shattered (1991), Hannah Montana The Movie (ok, joking on that one)). Inception is more than a twist, it’s a complex riddle that creates so much uncertainty that simple folk like me just want to throw our hands up and walk out. Unfortunately, the mass of folks who love this movie shamed me into staying until the very end. How could I possibly survive the ridicule of walking out of “the year’s best movie?”

The movie was well done. You can’t accuse them of cutting any corners, especially on the special effects. I’ll even go as far as saying the acting was good, too. The story just became so convoluted between dream state and awakeness (is that a word?), that you never know just where the characters are. In fact, I would hazard a guess that thousands of days of productivity in the US have been wasted away at work as moviegoers have debated just when the dream began and when if ended, if in fact, it ever began or ended.

Kyle's Review - 1 Seat

Inception was my most highly anticipated movie of the summer, well, aside from next week’s “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.” I can’t wait to see how Chris O’Donnell interacts with those crazy talking dogs and cats!! So, talking animals aside, I had been waiting months and months to see Inception. The reasons it was so high on my list are three fold: 1) The previews looked super cool. People fighting in mid-air, defying gravity? Buildings folding on top of one another? Awesome. 2) The director: Chris Nolan has made some of the best movies of the last 10 years, starting with the excellent mindbender Memento 10 years ago up to the Dark Knight from 2008. This guy knows how to make great movies. 3) Leo. Duh.

I must say that I was not disappointed at all in this film. It lived up to my hype and the hype of the buzz surrounding it. Not a lot of movies are worth watching more than once, but this will be one. In fact, I’ve seen it twice already, and want to see it again! Like John wrote, this isn’t a movie you can fall asleep in or not pay attention to; you need to get there before it starts and pay close attention to it the entire film. So, yes, it does take some work, but by the end, I feel it’s entirely rewarding. And puzzling. And beautiful.

I don’t want to give too much away about the movie, because the enjoyment is really going in not knowing what is going to happen and watching it unfold (or fold up) as it goes. There are some really awesome set pieces (the Paris scene with Leo & Ellen Page ((who will be heretofore referred to as Juno)), the awesome hotel fight scene) and great acting all throughout. I would be very surprised if this film isn’t one of the 10 films nominated for best picture when those come out next January.

Every scene, every shot in this movie is telling you something about what is going on; even the names of the characters are clues into their backgrounds or basis in reality. This movie demands you pay attention, but it also is not so confusing that you are completely lost in the end. At two points in the film, Leo basically holds your hand as a viewer and explains everything, and it’s made much more complete if you are aware of all that has happened before (one scene with Juno just before they get on the airplane and the other scene near the end with Juno and Mal in the crumbling city) I guess, if you are like my counterpart and don’t like movies that make you think while you are watching them, then Inception isn’t for you; for the rest of us, you will enjoy!

This is my second review of 1 Seat. The other was Toy Story 3. I may or may not have cried at the end of these movies!

Special Section – Kyle & John’s top 5 Mindbenders!

In honor of the awesomeness that is Inception, we decided to skip the min-reviews this week and just give our top 5 mindbenders. These are movies that really make you go hmmmm… Go rent them from your local blockbuster before your local blockbuster goes the way of the wind.

Kyle’s Top 5 Mindbenders: (most of these you should watch the TV version to be safe for families)

1. The Matrix (1999): This was the true definition of a mindbender when it first came out and set the precedent for about 50 bad films in the 90’s and 2000’s that tried to duplicate it. Going in, I thought this was a movie about a former surfer dude learning karate. I left thinking it was one of the best science fiction movies ever…too bad the awful sequels kind of ruined the splendor of the original!

2. Memento (2000): From Chris Nolan, director of Inception. Wait, the whole movie was told backwards? Awesome.

3. The Game (1997): One of only two movies I can remember watching where when I left the theater, my legs were weak from the intensity of the movie before it. The other film? My Best Friend’s Wedding – Was Julia going to be able to steal her best friend away from Cameron??? (I kid – it was Jurassic Park)

4. 12 Monkeys (1995)– Crazy Brad Pitt, maybe crazy Bruce Willis? Monkeys? Can it get any better? I submit that it cannot.

5. The Rubix Cube: Seriously, I cannot figure this thing out.

John’s Top 5 Mindbenders (John’s were more movies with a twist because he doesn’t like science fiction. What a geek)

1 – North by Northwest (19before I was born) – classic movie with classic star (Cary Grant) being framed and his search to find who framed him. Hitchcock!

2- Planet of the Apes (1968) – classic ending with Charlton Heston on the beach. Repeat, not the Marky Mark version which was just kind of weird.

3- Sixth Sense (1998) – never saw that ending coming. Immediately had to watch it again and wondered how I could have missed it.

4 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1997)– can’t trust the government.

5 – Mission Impossible (1996) – killing, stunts, and faked killing. Best of the three MI movies.

That’s all for this week. Let us know what you think about our reviews or the movies themselves in our comments below; and please, let us know if we can help with any of your insurance needs!! That is what we are best at!

Do Churches Have a Liability Exposure from Social Networking?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:17:00 GMT

It is not uncommon for a church to want to separate itself from the business world. “We’re not a business” or “the church is immune to many of the exposures that affect the business world” or similar comments are heard often when discussing exposures that a ministry may face. Internet liability is an issue that should be on the agenda in every church board meeting.

Social networking is taking the world by storm. Facebook is the second most visited site in the world. “Tweeting” has become an everyday word.

So how does social networking exposue a church and its ministry to loss? Preachers are responding to questions tweeted during their sermon. Bible classes are setting up their own page on Facebook complete with a prayer list. Church controversy is hashed out in blogs. The exposure is there whether we choose to ignore it or not.

Privacy is the issue. Don’t wait until it is too late to develop a social networking policy for your church. We have the experience you need to assist you with setting up a policy for your congregation and we have the insurance products that will protect you if your policy is violated.

Visit our website at www.burnetteinsurance.com . We specialize in protecting religious institutions in Suwanee, Gwinnett County and all of Georgia! By the way, visit our Burnette Insurance page on facebook and become a fan!!

John & Kyle Review the Movies! Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:35:00 GMT

We decided to forgo the mini-review this week and just focus on the most anticipated film of this summer - Marmaduke!! Just kidding, we tackle Twilight: Eclipse. But beware, you might not like what you read!!!

The Twilight Saga – Eclipse. Rated PG-13 for mild language, vampire decapitations, teenage brooding. Appropriate for all audiences, except those who like quality acting from their male leads.

John’s Take – 3 Seats

First of all, let me start by saying that I voluntarily turned in my Man Card after reading the Twilight book series. Don’t bother trying to take it away, its gone. That being said, I actually chose to see Eclipse for my 20^th anniversary even though the good wife had already seen it.

The Eclipse book installment was my favorite of the series. I guess it was because it had some serious violence included. I was disappointed. Way too much Jacob chest action. Movies where infidelity takes place and it is not punished really bother me. Bella playing “the bachelorette” and lip locking both Edward and Jacob was to much for me. I’m sure that’s where the PG-13 rating was earned. Nobody likes indecisive, easy girls like Bella, do they? Well, I guess Jacob and Edward do. I know the rating didn’t come from the blood because there wasn’t any to speak of. Those vampires just don’t bleed when their heads and limbs get ripped off.

Should I say something positive? Edward stayed fully clothed throughout. That was a good thing.

The movie left me with more questions than answers. For instance, why doesn’t Edward always sparkle with the sun is shining? I think the producers just missed that. Also, how long do you have before you must actually burn the vampire pieces to keep them from reassembling. The only drama was me worrying those bad vampires just might regenerate before Edward finally got around to lighting the match (by the way, vampires have nothing on Matchlight charcoal when it comes to flammability). Finally, I think Bella needs to be recast. It is obvious she had no fund doing these movies. Go ahead and recast Edward, too. Both seem to be very unhappy in their roles. Maybe it’s not too late to save the series.

Hey, what do I know? If you loved the books, you’ll like the movie. If you tolerated the books, you’ll likely tolerate the movie or even be disappointed like I was.

I give Eclipse 3 seats. Though I remained awake throughout, I wouldn’t have minded a little shut eye.

Kyle’s Take: 3 Seats

Like John, I too had my “manly man” card revoked about a year and a half ago, when I not only read all of the Twilight books (over a 6 month period, mind you) but also thoroughly enjoyed the first film. Yep, you read that correctly. I liked the first movie. It had this wild sort of kinetic energy to it; the camera was always moving, and the emotions felt real to me. It was kind of like an independent film that somehow became a huge blockbuster. I guess the main fault with the first film is the shoddy effects (sparkly Edward, crazy spider monkey) and that goofy baseball scene, followed by the goofier gnarling and gnashing of teeth between the vampire clans; yet I digress. I found the first film to be refreshing and not too brooding or whiny, which was my problem with the first book, and my problem with these last two movies. Plus, the first film had the guts to (GASP) not follow the book to a T and actually cut some fat from the book and streamline the story a bit. (I had written this long diatribe about why it’s better for the movies to change the books a little, and why the Harry Potter series starting with part 3 is leaps and bounds better than Twilight, but it was too nerdy so I took it out. Just know Harry Potter = film awesomeness)

These last two movies are just carbon copies of the book. There are whole scenes of dialogue in “new Moon” and “Eclipse” that are taken directly from the page of the book. I’ve already read that book, and imagined it in my head; I don’t want to see it done on screen by two not very good actors (I’m looking at you Rob and Taylor). Change things up a bit!

Ok, time to actually review the movie instead of rage against the Twilight machine. In Eclipse, well,, you all know the story, but here’s a quick recap: Girl loves vampire, vampire loves girl, werewolf who works out a lot loves girl, girl loves werewolf like a friend, werewolf doesn’t like vampire, feeling is mutual, girl kinda likes werewolf but werewolf is a bit overbearing and honestly quite selfish, vampire is angry at werewolf, girl angry at both even though vampire did nothing wrong except be extremely cold blooded, everyone fights Ron Howard’s daughter, girl loves vampire most because he only cares about her needs and most likely smells better. Seriously, Team Jacob werewolf people – Jacob is a selfish jerk who can’t let Bella be in love with Edward because he’s very narcissistic and kind of creepy. Wouldn’t most women have filed a stalker suit against Jacob if this were real life and he didn’t look like Taylor Lautner? Come on people, Edward is so much better for Bella.

My likes: I like the climactic action scene and battle, especially the bad vampires walking out of the water. That was cool. And I did love the training scenes with the vampires and the wolves; and I liked a lot that the more minor characters (Rosalie and Jasper) got major screen time, because they are immensely more interesting than Edward’s vacant scares and Jacob’s longing for Bella. “Eclipse” did have a higher production value than the previous movies and the effects are beginning to look better than the SpiderOctopus from the Saturday night Sy-Fy movies.

All in all, nothing I say here is going to make you see or not see the movie. It’s already made more money than I could ever even dream of seeing. I think that had I not read the books, I might have enjoyed this one a little more; but there were no surprises in this movie for anyone who read the book. I am looking forward to “Breaking Dawn”, because Edward gets to take his shirt off in that one.

So, go ahead and take my man card. I’ll just need it back for “the Expendables” in August, please, because I don’t think old Sly Stallone will take too kindly to my Team Edward shirt during that raucous event.

2010 Could be a top hurricane year - Are you prepared & Covered?

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:41:00 GMT

It's been a couple of years since we've had some nasty hurricanes come on our shores, and we should be very thankful for that. But, according to Joe Bastardi, AccuWeather.com’s chief meteorologist and hurricane forecaster, 2010 could be a top 10 Hurricane year in the US. Click on that link to read more about his forecast and how there could be 5-7 hurricanes hit shore this year.

Are you sure that your homeowners policy will cover you in the event of a hurricane and wind damage? Burnette Insurance has policies that will protect you and your family in the event of such catastrophes! Give us a call or visit our homeowners and flood insurance page for more information. We never know when a hurricane will come, but we can help you prepare and get back whole after one happens!

Yahoo!! Flood Insurance reinstated AND voting on a Long-Term Extension

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:08:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, we posted a blog about the issues that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and how the NFIP had been allowed to lapse by senate inaction and them not voting on an extension. This was the fourth lapse in the program in less than a year!

Well, a little over a week ago, Senate finally voted on it andallowed an extension to the end of September. While this is a definite plus that it got reinstated after four weeks, it's not forever.

Good news is that the House is convening this week to discuss a long term extension to this program, so that flood insurance will hopefully not lapse again. Linked here is an article from National Underwriters magazine going into further detail on the proposed long term extension.

Did you know that your homeowners policy does not cover flood damage??

We will certainly keep you all advised on what is passed through the legislation. Flood insurance can be a very important addition to your insurance portfolio. Please contact us if you would like to discuss further! We'd be happy to help you make sure you're covered in the event of a major flood, even as unlikely as it is here in Georgia, the Great American Scream Machine knows it can happen!!

John & Kyle Review the movies! Issue 3 - Toy Story & Knight & Day

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:12:00 GMT

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks at Burnette Insurance as John's been out of the country and Kyle's been working hard - so it's a good thing! Unfortunately, we were kind of slacking on our weekly movie reviews, so, here we go with the next installment!

Remember - 1 Seat is awesome, 5 Seats not so great.

The first movie this week is Toy Story 3. I'm sure by this point, most of you have already seen it and agree with the consensus opinion on it, but we're giving our reviews anyway!

Toy Story 3 - (1h 55 minutes) Rated G- appropriate for all audiences.

Kyle's Grade - 1 Seat! (told you I would finally like a movie)

This was a movie that I had been looking forward to for a long time; well, since Woody and Buzz had their last adventure over 10 years ago. No need to recap what happened in the first two Toy Story movies because I am sure we all have seen those at least 10 times, or at the very least heard it playing at least 10 times while your kids or little siblings watch it on repeat. I will say before actually reviewing the movies that the Toy Story films do hold a special place in my heart. They are the films that allowed the greatest studio (Pixar) to keep making wonderful movies which have enthralled and entertained us since first meeting the gang back in 1995. So, I was kind of predetermined to like it, but also knew that this had less than a zero chance of not being good, because those guys just don't make bad films (Cars notwithstanding).

TS3 starts off 12 years after the last one ended. Young Andy is now 17 years old and getting ready to head off to college. The toys aren't played with very often anymore and have to entertain themselves as Andy has outgrown them, and younger sister Molly is way too into her IPod and being a tween than playing with toys. The movie gets started when the mother tells Andy it's time to decide what gets given to charity, what gets tucked away in the attic and what goes to college with him. This particularly felt real to me, because I remember the same conversation before I left for college. Andy is distressed by this; I wasn't. I just went ahead and took my Fozzie the Bear stuffed animal, Superman bed pillow and Empire Strikes Back sheets on to college with me. (Also worth mentioning that I did not kiss a girl during my 5 years of college)

Anyway, after a big mix-up, the whole gang is loaded into the car and dropped off at a kids daycare as charity. These first scenes in the daycare where we meet a whole new cast of characters are hilariously awesome. The seemingly gentle pink teddy bear leader, appropriately named "lotso Huggin Bear" welcomes the gang with open arms, reminds them what it's like to be played with and informs them that life will never get better than life in a daycare, because when the kids grow too old to play, new kids come in. Of course, there's more than meets the eye here, and the story really kicks off when Woody leaves the rest of the toys behind to head back to Andy because he knows Andy really wanted to keep them all. I don't want to ruin any more of the surprises of the movie, but there are a lot and the film doesn't stop from this time until the end.

All of the voice work in the movie is phenomenal. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack bring their A-games again and the introduction of Michael Keaton as Ken doll brings one of the greatest characters in the franchise. Lotso, voiced by actor of old Ned Beatty, is fantastic and at times extremely frightening. The movie basically becomes a prison break movie in the 2nd half, using all of the many tricks of old prison films in new and inventive ways. I'll say that the phone and the sad clown are great characters that will be immediately recognizable to escape movie buffs. There are frights and thrills, and moments of deep poignancy in the final 30 minutes of the movie; yes, moments that made it quite dusty in my theater and caused me to wipe some dust out of my eyes on more than one occasion.

It's probably too early to say that this is the best movie of 2010, but I'm going to say it anyway. This is the best movie of 2010; I don't see any other movie this year being any better than Toy Story 3. Oh, wait, I forgot about there being another Saw movie so I'll probably have to hold my judgment till then (KIDDING! those movies are terrible) I recommend this movie wholeheartedly to anybody - go see it NOW...unless you are at work or at the doctors office. Go see it after.

John's Review - 2 Seats

I have been geeked up for this movie since seeing the first trailer well over a year ago. The Toy Story franchise (thought I would throw some fancy Hollywood lingo in like Gibby) with its fancy techno-animation, wit and memory scratching nostalgia appeals to anyone who had a favorite toy growing up. Just about everyone can relate to one character/toy in these movie whether it is the young ones with Buzz Lightyear, the 50 somethings with talking toys like Woody, or the old folks with piggy banks and plastic army men. We love Toy Story because we all imagined, at one time or another, just what that favorite toy would say if it could talk. Toy Story brings those dreams to life.

The Toy Story 3 story line is similar to the first two. When you think about it, what else do toys have to worry about other than being played with, being lost, and loving their owner. Still, Pixar does a great job keeping the story flowing and keeping the entertainment value high. A new villain is on the scene and he is more sinister than Emperor Zurg or that evil kid next door. The returning cast along with some new characters made the passing of Mr. Spell (played by Speak and Spell) to corroded batteries syndrome a little more bearable (ok, I made that up). Kudos to Squeeze Toy Aliens for their break-through performance!

While I’m sure the IMAX or 3D versions have their benefits, our family chose to watch the “regular” version and we didn’t feel like we missed a thing. Plenty of humor that will appeal to adults and children alike. Man Alert – this movie may cause embarrassing emotions to surface (if you can’t handle it, head to the restroom when the toys go in the dumpster and wait patiently until the movie is over). This is a crowd pleaser and well worth the cash you’ll drop at the box office.

I rate Toy Story 3 as a two seater (honesty compels me to give the movie as a 2 rather than a 1 because I did, in fact, lose consciousness for a few brief moments). Happy Summer!

Mini-Review - Knight & Day (2h10 minutes) Rated PG-13 for some harsh language, lots of stylized action violence and Cameron Diaz in a bikini. But I didn't watch that part because I couldn't take my eyes off my ravishing wife.

Kyle's Quick Take - 2.0 Seats

I saw this movie a couple weeks ago with very little expectations. Tom Cruise's time as a relevant action star kind of went away when he was jumping off Oprah's couch, and I haven't much liked Cameron Diaz in anything she's actually in, aside from voicing Princess Fiona in the Shrek series. So, my expectations were tempered and...I was pleasantly surprised. I think you have to take this film as tongue-in-cheek; you can't take it too seriously because it doesn't take itself seriously, and that's what I liked about it. It didn't have ultra dour bad guys or a super serious message; it was just having fun. Tom Cruise comes off as his most likeable since the Mission Impossible movies and you can tell he's kind of riffing on all the Super Secret Agents he used to play so seriously. This is a fun, forgettable little movie that will leave you smiling. Keep an eye out for the ingenious way that the director (the fantastic James Mangold of 3:10 to Yuma and Walk the Line) just completely skips some typical action scenes...I loved that! Anyway, this is a nice way to spend a couple of hours at the movies.

That's all for this week. John will be back next week and we'll review the latest movie of the male oriented, super action Twilight series. That was a joke, it's for the ladies. But John and I saw it for you and will let you know our thoughts! Have a great week!! And if you need any coverage for your home, auto or business insurance in Georgia, please visit our website or give us a call!!

Week in Review at Burnette Insurance!

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:50:00 GMT

Happy Friday and happy 4th of July weekend to all of our friends in the internet world! As your friendly insurance agency, we'd first like to remind you all to stay very safe this coming weekend when you're out partying with fireworks. We know from, um, personal experience that those bottle rockets shoot out faster than you could imagine. (Picture a grown man at the bottom of a steep driveway holding one in his hand and then picture his whole extended family scattering like ants when that rocket didn't go where intended; unless he intended for it to end up in the back of his white Ford F-150) Scary times! Anyway, happy fourth!

We just wanted to take this time to welcome our new customers to Burnette Insurance.

Welcome and thanks to Tammy K from Suwanee who saved over 35% on her personal insurance (Home, Auto, Umbrella ) by switching to an independent insurance agent! Needless to say, she was pleased with the results.

Walt P came to us seeking savings on his Lawrenceville Home, auto, and umbrella policies and we delivered! He saved over $635 on his home policy alone, and we were able to increase his coverage and get him better insurance. Welcome Mr. P!

Then there's Steve from Snellville, who had been with Liberty Mutual for many years. One of our many different carriers was able to save him over 25% per year on his personal insurance policies.

Just to show that we are not exclusively helping Gwinnett insurance folks, how about a hello to Ryan H from the big city of Atlanta. Ryan saved over $400 per year by switching to us on his atlanta home and auto insurance policies. Welcome Ryan and thanks! We'll have to ask you what it's like to be up after 10:00 pm sometime.

There are many other folks we could mention, but the time is running short and the weekend is coming up.

As always, thanks to our new customers and a bigger thank you to our current customers!! Y'all are the best.

Have a safe and happy 4th...and try to avoid teenage vampires and werewolves while you are out. I hear they are going to be everywhere this weekend.