The lighter side of the Blagojevich trial

The corruption charges against disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich couldn't be more serious, but that doesn't mean there haven't been some lighter moments in the two-month trial.

Jurors ended three days of deliberations Friday and will resume Monday. Experts and trial participants expect them to take several more days of work before determining verdicts on several charges brought against Blagojevich and his brother Robert.

In the meantime, here are some quotes, images and scenes that cut the tension inside and outside Judge James Zagel's courtroom over the course of seven weeks of testimony.

"Don't Be Cruel." - A poster carried by a Blagojevich well-wisher on the first day of jury selection.

"It's like the first day of Taste of Chicago - or school." - A TV reporter on the opening day of jury selection.

"Is there anything you wouldn't say to get out of jury service?" - Zagel to a 22-year-old man with plans to attend investment-banker training over the summer who claimed a "bad temper" as a medical condition. Zagel went on to call him "disgraceful."

"Did you find it odd that yesterday you had car trouble?" - Zagel to a worker in an auto-parts store who claimed car problems kept him from the first day of jury selection.

"He's not going to let some chubby, four-eyed lawyer do his talking for him." - Sam Adam Jr., insisting in his opening statement that Blagojevich would testify.

"Why Did This Happen to Me?" - Book given to Blagojevich by prison minister Dan Leary.

"He can't walk down the street without talking to somebody." - A Blagojevich aide.

"Today's been worse than watching a World Cup soccer match." - Fox WFLD Channel 32 reporter Larry Yellen on a particularly dull day of testimony.

"If you don't think the jury understands the point you're trying to make - that the governor never said, 'Give me money and I'll give you a job' - then you should just give up all hope." - Zagel to Adam Jr. after a particularly repetitive bit of cross-examination.

"I know you look shocked, but I don't think you are shocked. The objection is sustained." - Zagel to Adam Jr. later in the same cross.

"Billy is kind of an ornery SOB." - Racetrack owner John Johnston on his father.

"Some of us have been called worse than that by our sons." - Sam Adam Sr., cross-examining Johnston.

"How are the running routes around there?" - Blagojevich on the possibility of serving as ambassador to India.

"Congested, I'm sure." - Patti Blagojevich on the same wiretapped phone call.

"He's said it so often, it's probably lost its impact." - Zagel on Blagojevich's continued claims of innocence in the media.

"I would shy away from lawyers rating lawyers. They're notoriously unreliable." - Zagel to Adam Sr. on a line of questioning.

"Would you spare us the campaign speech?" - Zagel to Blagojevich defense attorney Aaron Goldstein on a question that also flaunted the ex-governor's record on health care.

"I hate her. I hate her." - Blagojevich on tape on TV reporter and newspaper columnist Carol Marin.

"I hope they play the tape where I say I have a crush on you. ... This is proof I didn't know I was being recorded." - Blagojevich speaking directly to Marin in a press area immediately after the tapes were played in court.

"How's the suit?" - Blagojevich to the media the morning after it had been revealed he'd spent $400,000 on clothes as governor.

"Mostly you'll rely on a smart attorney. You'll understand." - Real-estate developer Sean Conlon to Adam Jr. on his working methods.

"If you're walking down the street and somebody says, 'Hey, judge,' this is not necessarily a good thing." - Zagel on the public scrutiny the trial has attracted.

"All politicians think that the more they talk, the more persuasive they are." - DePaul University law professor Leonard Cavise.

"Good morning. Something going on today?" - Blagojevich greeting the media on the morning he was expected to testify.

"I wish that would've happened." - Robert Blagojevich on the possibility of a John McCain victory in 2008, which would have removed the need for his brother to make a U.S. Senate appointment.

"I'm not trying to belittle this - much. These are the feds, and this is what they bring you?" - Adam Jr. in his closing argument.

"Kickbacks for work is called a job, man, a job." - Adam Jr. on ghost-payrolling charges against Patti Blagojevich.

"No contempt?" - Adam Jr. to Zagel after his close, in which he had been threatened with contempt of court if he brought up missing witnesses.

"I thought your argument entirely free of contemptuous content." - Zagel's reply.