The 100 Coolest Things of 2009... 40 thru 31

Welcome back!  We are slowly but surely making our way through the Coolest 100 Things of 2009... let's continue with #s 40 to 31...

The 40th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Sweet Thing" by Keith Urban
"When I picked you up for our first date baby, well your pretty blue eyes they were driving me crazy, and that tiny little thought they were so amazing they were looking at me.."



The above video is taken from a AOL Live Session... who even uses AOL anymore?  Anyway, its a great song... got a fever pitch, fast paced, and its the first single from Keith Urban's 5th album, "Defying Gravity".  The lyrics discuss "kissing on the porch swing" and having his woman "exit through the bedroom window while the whole world's sleeping"... of course, according to his Wiki, the lyrics were inspired by Urban's relationship with his Ford Mustang.   But hey, this is the 2000s... who are we to tell him who to love? 

The 39th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Taken"
What do you get when you put the smokin' hotness of Famke Janssen together with the good-lookedness of Maggie Grace, then pour in a heapin' helpin' of Liam Neeson as a bad mofo father who is hellbent on getting his daughter back, no matter what?

You get "Taken".  Liam Neeson plays Ben, a divorced guy who is just trying to get along with his daughter, and his ex-wife, and is forced to allow his daughter to go overseas.  When he gets a disturbing phone call from his daughter, who is then kidnapped, he becomes a Super Pimpdaddy and goes nuts on everyone to get her back.  Its one of those kind of "I hope that I would do as much for Lorelei Addison as he does for his kid" kind of films. 



"I don't know who you are.  I don't know what you want.  If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money.  But what I do have is a very particular set of skills... skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."   YEAH!!!

The 38th Coolest Thing of 2009... "John Adams"
From June 5th of last year... ...I wanted to talk about "John Adams", the HBO Mini-series that The Lovely Steph Leann and I have been watching. We finished part 2 of 7, and already, its magnificent. Its just a wonderful piece of film thusfar, with Paul Giamatti as the title character doing a great job. It might just stolen out from under him, though, with Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin, who is hilarious and perfect at the same time. The big surprise? How much I love the character of Abigail Adams. I already dig on Laura Linney anyway, one of my favorite actresses, but her take on the strained and sacrificial wife of John Adams is nearly flawless.

Anyway, to follow up, we did finish it.  And it was amazing, from start to finish.  The miniseries is in 7 parts, and it takes you through the early days of Adams' political career, through his presidency and battles with fellow patriots, and through the end of his life.  Laura Linney is amazing, Paul Giamatti is solid and even the bit players, like That Guy David Morse as General, then President, Washington, are great.

Even though it is a Hollywood production (from HBO), its pretty much unbiased in its telling of the American founding and its founders.  Its remarkable to watch a group of men so passionate about what they believe to be right, so willing to give up everything they have for a country to be free of tyranny and rule from a land far away... and its important to remember that not everyone was for succession.  Not everyone wanted to be free--many people wanted to stay right where they were, under rule, as it was comfortable and predictable. 

I'll stop before I get on a rant, but here's some recommended reading from Rush Limbaugh Jr, the father of the talk show host.  Its called "Americans Who Risked Everything."  Yes we can!

The 37th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Video for "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillet
Here's what I wrote on October 29th, in a post called "Music and Magic"... 
Here's what I love about this video... its just fun. And sweet. And nice. She's pretty, he's a nerd, yet she totally digs him. Its like The Lovely Steph Leann falling for me all over again, only without the surfing and the trailer. And the ending of the video is just precious. Yep, I said precious



My 20th favorite video of the first decade of the century, and the 37th coolest thing of all last year.

The 36th Coolest Thing of 2009... Debating Brad Latta
Everyone needs an antithesis.  I'm not sure that Brad is mine, cause I am not really sure what my antithesis would even be, but perhaps he'll fit.

I believe what I believe, and I know why I believe it, but the good (and bad) thing about my friend Brad is he asks--nay, demands--that you know why you believe it.  "Gut feeling" doesn't work with this guy... being the lawyer that he is, he asks you give the facts.  Be it sources, facts, data, stats or whatever. 

Though we are mainly on the same page about most things, we do differ in many ways, and sometimes our late night Gmail or Facebook chats/debates/wars can be heated... probably the biggest battle was recently, when our Congress passed the healthcare bill, and He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected signed off on it (not that He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected actually knew what was in the bill... nor most of our other Congressmen, one of which stated that they didn't have time to read any of it... but another discussion for another day).

But at the end of the day, I think we both have a mutual respect for each other, he for my passion on what I believe, me for his challenging me (and others) to have a reason to believe it.   He thinks he's right and I'm wrong, I know I'm right and he's wrong, and we'll continue our banter up until and past the November election.  My hats off to you, Brad. 

The 35th Coolest Thing of 2009... This Picture
Taken at our few days in Walt Disney World, here's a snapshot of Amy McL, Tommy Mac, The Good Rev'rn Ty Sharpton Coffey and Yours Truly...

This picture cracks me up every single time I look at it.

The 34th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Star Trek"
From the Clouds review on May 7th, 2009:

I loved this movie. I loved how it started, I loved the story, I loved the effects, I loved how it ended, I just thought this flick was absolutely worth the wait and just awesome. I really enjoyed how JJ Abrams didn't take the movie soooo seriously... there are a lot of Trek fans out there, so he had to walk a fine line between telling a story that people who aren't necessarily Trekkies will enjoy and want to see, and not angering or upsetting those very Trekkies who, despite the fact some of them have never kissed a girl (by the way, I looked for that Shatner SNL skit, and couldn't find it anywhere...), have basically kept the franchise alive for forty years.

Abrams does a great job at walking that line... I think anyone who isn't familiar with Star Trek will just enjoy a good science fiction story, and anyone who knows the story will recognize some of the little salutes to the original that have found its way into the film. The officer who goes with Sulu and Kirk down to the alien planet--you know he's not coming back. We know this because we've seen the show. Bones yelling, "Dammit, I'm a doctor!" and Scotty yelling, "We're giving it all she's got cap-pin!" were lines that I cracked up on, as did many other people in the theater. Even the Kobayashi Maru training scene is a throwback to the original cast, and there's a slight shout-out to the interracial barrier broken by the original series (when Kirk and Uhura kissed on television. Gasp.)

Anyway, I can highly recommend this film to anyone who's ever had a remote interest in Star Trek, be it the Original Series, or the Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine or Voyager or Enterprise or Tribbletown or Space Babylon or Battleship Starlactica or whatever they've called the 87 spin off shoes... for any die-hard Trekkies, loosen up a little. JJ Abrams made his film in love. Its great.

The 33rd Coolest Thing of 2009... PTI

Most mornings, I shower with Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornhieser.  Okay, not actually with Wilbon and TK, but I download the podcast every day, and on mornings when The Lovely Steph Leann is not around when its showertime, ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" is on my iPod.

Its an irreverent sports talk show that has two hosts--usually Wilbon and TK, but sometimes sportswriters Dan LeBatard or Bob Ryan or a few others jumps in to substitute.  Usually they go through the big sports topics of the day, including doing various segments with titles like "Oddsmakers" and "Email" and "Role Play" (which cracks me up).  Its remarkable, though... I've never actually seen a full episode of the show.  I actually try not to watch it when its on TV, because I know I'll be listening to it on the iPod the next day. 

The 32nd Coolest Thing of 2009... "Avatar"
I did my Clouds review on January 4th, 2010, but I did see the movie in 2009... and here's a summary of that review:

"Avatar" was the absolute best use of 3-D I've ever seen in my complete, whole, entire life. The spectacle, the color and the use of 3-D was marvelous, the depth of the picture was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The movie simply comes alive as the picture goes on, and while you forget you are even watching it in 3-D, somehow you know it wouldn't be the same in 2-D.

The story was average. I mean, it was a good story, it wasn't boring, a few people died that you didn't expect to die, but you kinda knew how the ending would end. The acting is average, no one really jumps out, though I will admit that both Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana do a stellar job all dressed in the blue of the Na'vi.

By and large, "Avatar" is a magnificent film, if only for what your eyes will feast upon in every second. And to see it, do it justice and see it in 3-D. Don't wait for the dollar theater or do the "I'll see it on DVD" or catch a 2D show... this is a movie you just simply need to see in 3-D to understand. And to fully appreciate.

And now that its been a few months since I've seen it, I look forward to seeing it again, to see if I still feel the same about it.  It lost the big prize at the Academy Awards to "The Hurt Locker", and I'm curious to see, after all the hype and the fact that its now the biggest movie in American film history, does it still hold up? 

The 31st Coolest Thing of 2009... Ruminations
There was an email that went around that caught everyone's attention, and made me laugh so hard, I posted it in September.  It had hilarious little bites like "I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die." and "Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the “people you may know” feature on Facebook people that I do in fact know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?"

Well, Krista, fellow coffee drinker, informed me that the site belonged to comedian Aaron Karo, and the site was called "Ruminations".  And its awesome.  Its now a site I check three or four times a week, sometimes daily, depending on how busy I am.   Saying then, "I will tell you that the site itself is not a bad site... it does have some Not Emmy Turnbow Safe language, but its very rarely anything than just worldy conversation, nothing dirty. Now, I could tell you to go on over to that site and have fun reading, and you might do that, but let's be real... I want you to stay here. Heck, I'm about half-a-thousand away from 30K, so I'd like to keep you on this very site..."  Proud to say I'm about two half-a-thousands away from 40K now, so there!

Anyway, to end this, I'd like to give you some recent ruminations, including some I wrote (and were published):

**Only two things become important when stuck in traffic: a full tank and an empty bladder.

**Getting into a heated political debate with a casual acquaintance on Facebook is a great way to make things really awkward the next time you actually see each other

**When I drop my food, it isn't about how many seconds it was on the ground. It's about who's around me to see me pick it up and eat it.

**Hey customer service call center... at what point does your "higher call volume than normal" actually become normal enough that you will hire more people and not make me wait 40 minutes to talk to you?

**The fact that the recommendations for me in the my iTunes store include Debbie Gibson, the cast of High School Musical AND Nirvana makes me wonder who I even am anymore

**I'll go to great lengths to scavenge other devices for batteries, long before I'll even consider going out to actually buy new ones.

**How do I not know you, if we have more than 100 friends in common on facebook?

**A college diploma is just a big fancy receipt

**Maybe I need to set my alarm clock to go off before I go to bed and shut it off. This seems to be the only way I can fall fast asleep

**Some songs are impossible to describe over the Internet. Like that one that goes ooohh oh oooohhooh ooohh oh oooohhhooo ouoo

Alright... 30 to go before the Coolest Thing of 2009 is announced.  If I'm lucky, I'll get to that before I give you the 100th coolest thing of 2010....  coming up... The Tucks... MZ & Starbucks... and later, a Barnett meal that sucks.  Went with the rhyme scheme.

The 100 Coolest Things of 2009... 50 to 41

First of all, thank you to everyone who has been visiting here either daily or at least every few days... I know for those of you who could care less about Idol--and let's face it, there hasn't been a lot to care about this season--its rather boring when all you see is idle Idol chatter when you come here looking for Happy Times stories, maybe a movie review, or even a mention or two of He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected's last week or so...  so, thank you.

Secondly... why aren't you a fan on Facebook, eh?  If you are reading this on Facebook, you need to go to Clouds to see any video that might be on the site, then search "Clouds in My Coffee" on Facebook and become a fan.  Its the right thing, nay, the cool thing to do. 

Third, we still aren't done with 2009 yet!  In case you missed it (and since I haven't done one of these in a month, you might have!), here's where we've been thusfar:

The 100th to 91st Coolest Things of 2009
The 90th to 81st Coolest Things of 2009
The 80th to 71st Coolest Things of 2009
The 70th to 61st Coolest Things of 2009
The 60th to 51st Coolest Things of 2009

And here we go with the next ten...

The 50th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Right Round" by Flo Rida
Yes, yes, I know the song is a few years old, and yes, I'd heard it before... but I'd never really taken to it until this year.  This year?  It's kinda catchy.  Silly, a little corny, somewhat stupid, partly annoying and all from a guy who's name is taken from a state with a space in between (I'm guessing "Ken Tucky" and "Oak LaHoma" were on the list.  What about Gior Juh?  Ha!  I got at least 46 more of these), but its use of the term "Benja-min Frank-ah-lins" alone makes me laugh.  Its a good work out song.  Not that I work out, but if I did...

The 49th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Mother Lover"
Well, this is a family show.  I keep it Rated PG, every now and again delving into a PG-13 territory, but for the most part, I keep it clean.  So, for this spot, I won't bother linking to it, I won't put up pictures, I won't do anything but give a nod to K-Dub and then say four words:

1) Mother
2) Lover
3) Timberlake
4) Hysterical

The 48th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Rise and Fall of the WCW"

When I found out this video was coming out, I almost peed myself.  I was so friggin' excited, as I remember vividly the fabled "Monday Night Wars"--that being the battle between WWE on USA Network and World Championship Wrestling on Turner owned TBS.  I was a huge, huge WCW an, having watched it since 1986 or 87 as a kid, when it was called NWA (National Wrestling Alliance", a few years before WCW).

Anyway, I've always been fascinated by the downfall of the WCW in the late 90s, not just as a wrestling fan, but just from a business prospective.  You know how when someone gets straight zeroes in college (knew a guy) and you say, "Man, he had to work to fail that badly..."?  Well the guys running the WCW seriously had to work to fail this miserably.  This was chronicled in my pick for the 18th Coolest Thing of 2006, the book called "The Death of the WCW", and the DVD here is along the same lines.

Its a 3 Disc collection, with two discs devoted to classic WCW matches including stuff like Ric Flair vs. Magnum T.A. from 1985, the classic Flair vs Steamboat Chi-Town Rumble match from 1989, one of Sting's first matches, that being against Big Van Vader from 1992's Great American Bash, the unintentionally funny Bash at the Beach from 1998 with Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone against Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman, a huge War Games match in 1996 with Sting, Lex Luger, Flair, Arn Anderson, Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and nWo fake Sting.  Yeah, exactly.

Oh, and its got a match from 1998's Halloween Havoc between Diamond Dallas Page and one of my favorite wrestlers ever, Goldberg.  Goldberg absolutely ruled.  Page lost the match after getting hit with a spear AND a jackhammer. 


How 'bout that's Michael Buffer ("leeet's get reeeeeeady to ruuuuuuumbuuuuulllll") in the ring, and Tony Schivione on announcing duties.  Awesome.  By the way, I wanted to do that entrance at my wedding, the one where Goldberg comes out to pyro, and the smoke, and I yell, breath out the smoke, throw the punches and slap myself in the head.  The Lovely Steph Leann said no.  Party pooper.

But the real gem on this disc is the documentary that follows the origins of the WCW, from the beginning with Jim Crockett Promotions to the infamous "Black Saturday".  It took off when Hulk Hogan joined, turning heel (bad guy) for the first time in his career, and the fact that one of the chapters on the DVD menu is titled 'Mistakes Begin', followed by "Vince Russo" says it all.  If there is to be any criticism, it would be on the matches themselves... there should have been a little more surrounding each match, perhaps teh lead up to, and the aftermath, not just from bell-ring to pinfall.  And really, did we need to see a match between Lance Storm and Booker T?  To emphasize how badly things were going for the WCW, they took Booker T, a great wrestler and renamed him "GI Bro".  No kidding.

Great DVD. 

The 47th Coolest Thing of 2009... Lunch With...
It was a good year for reunions.  Lunch with Stan McDuffie in the spring of 2009 was great.  We graduated together, and hadn't seen the guy since the Samson High reunion of 2002.  We met at a BBQ joint in Homewood, and just shared life stories, our pain of what had then-recently happened in Samson and more.  It was awesome.

Not to long after that, I met up with Drew Roe, a fraternity brother of mine who also lives here in town.  That's the crazy thing about Birmingham... I share a city with so many people that I would love to see more of, but never do.  Anyway, we had some lunch, caught up, laughed, did some reminiscing, and had a good time.  Promised each other we'd do it again, and hopefully we will.

Met The Official Clouds In My Coffee High School Crush Julie Wise for dinner last April, and that was an absolute hoot.   Met up with Barrow, one of the coolest guys I've ever met, and the perfect name for one of my characters in the book I might eventually write.  Saw The Official Clouds In My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott at a Chick-fila.  Met with both Dayla Ellison and Rebecca Jourdan Samuelson (we'll get to her later) over lunch, two dear, dear friends that I was so excited to see again. 

This Spring's goal?  To have lunch or dinner with Chris McCall.  I'm planning on heading home for a day or two at the end of April, when The Happiest Place in the Mall is finally The Emptiest Place in the Mall, and I'm going to make it a point to find this guy. 

The 46th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Princess & the Frog"
There's not much more I could add to what I felt about this movie when I wrote about it in December 2009, so here's some thoughts from that post...

Plot in a nutshell, its a Disney twist on the story of The Frog Prince, the story that has a girl kissing a frog who turns into a handsome prince. In this tale, however, Naveen, the handsome prince, has been turned into a frog by the voo-doo man, Dr. Facilier, and when he convinced our heroine Tiana to kiss him, she turns into a frog herself. Hijinx, hilarity and romance ensue as they, along with Ray the Cajun Firefly and Louis the jazz playing crocodile, try to find Mama Odie to help them turn back into humans again.



The animation is stunning. The film is beautifully drawn, and to its credit, its done so much so that there's no way this film could have been a computer animated feature--it would have lost most, if not all, of its charm. Tiana is a heroine who is working hard for her dreams to happen, not waiting around for someday, her prince will come, and that is to be admired. Much has been made about Tiana being the "first black princess", and yes, that's true, but this film definately takes liberties with history--she's best friends with a rich debutante named Charlotte, which alone is an impractical thought in the time period this film is set in. I didn't get caught up in that, though, and you shouldn't either.


One thing to be aware of when watching this film... you are witnessing the birth of a classic. This is a movie that, no matter how successful it will end up--and it will end up successful--that Campbell Isaiah and Lorelei Addison will watch, and their children will watch as well in 2040 on whatever home video format we're up to then. This is a movie that will be released in Blu-Ray and DVD in April of 2010, and will disappear into The Vault in June of 2011 or so, not to be available for 7 to 10 years.


This is the birth of a true Disney Princess, one that we'll be seeing with the likes of Cinderella, Belle, Ariel and Aurora for a long, long time. The last time we saw a true Disney Princess emerge? Mulan. The last time we saw a true Disney classic not-named-Pixar unfold before our eyes? Yep. "The Lion King". That was the last movie heralded and beloved enough to go into The Vault (well, "Fantasia 2000" also is in The Vault, coupled with "Fantasia", but that's kinda another story)... For me, and perhaps I'm the odd case, this is exciting. I'm thrilled that Disney has finally broken through the ceiling they put on themselves with "Dinosaur" and "Brother Bear".

The 45th Coolest Thing of 2009... JT Wins Survivor

Someone sent me a message last year and said, "Hey, so there's a guy from Samson on Survivor.  Do you know him?"  Up until then, the only notoriety Samson had recieved was the terrible massacre from... well, I'm not going to say his name, he doesn't deserve a mention.  So I did some checking up on Survivor, and what do you know, James Thomas was going to be on the show... James, the little brother of Tammy Thomas, who was a friend of mine in high school and who graduated with me, the same Tammy who scolded me for not snatching up this pretty girl named Stephanie, my friend, who I had brought with me to the 10 year reunion. 

And with the country accent, the sly look and the aww-shucks personality, what the heck--JT won the whole shebang.  Seriously.  Like, holy crap, the kid in whatever elementary school grade when I was a senior won a million bucks on Survivor.  I have his picture in my yearbooks! 

Anyway, it was a fantastic season of Survivor, and I'm excited that JT is on the equally as stellar current season, the Heroes vs Villians Survivor.  And if he wins, or comes close to winning, I'm already planning on going to Samson for the Survivor party this year. 

The 44th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Party in the USA"
Oh shut up. 

The 43th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Blind Side"
Just like "The Proposal", this is a movie that the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.  I thought "The Blind Side" was great when I walked out of the theater, and somewhere down deep, I knew iI was going to like it more and more as time when on.

Here's what I said in December of 2009 when I reviewed it for the first time:

Its full of laughs and heartwarming moments, but its never preachy or manipulative. The movie's intent it never to make you feel like you have to cry, and it doesn't seem like its showing you the "Hallmark" moments just for the awwwww factor... its part of the story. In movies with this "helping each other out" theme, there's always an uncomfortable moment when the kids hate the new person, only to have this togetherness scene that brings them together--"The Blind Side" never has that. SJ and Collins are nothing but loving and supportive of Michael, and it even enhances Michael's rebuilding of his life.

The movie is excellent... its feel good, its warm, its funny, its everything a family movie should be, one that pokes at you to say "awwww" without demanding you tear up or feel sympathy and guilt. After the movie was over, I leaned over to The Lovely Steph Leann, and in my most politically incorrect tone said, "We should go to Ensley and adopt a black child." She frowned at me, then rolled her eyes and got up to leave. She's good at that.

The 42st Coolest Thing of 2009... Walt Disney World with Ty & The McLeods

Talk about a whirlwind trip... I had a few days on my own, as The Lovely Steph Leann was out of town.  I thought, hey, why not go to Disney World?  The Lovely Steph Leann wasn't too keen on my going all alone, so I recruited The Honorable Rev'rn Ty Sharpton and Tommy Mc and Amy McL to come with (that's us, there, after being soaked in the Backlot Tour)

We left midday, got there at something like 1am, checked in, slept for just a little while, spent the full day at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, then the next day, walked around Downtown Disney before coming back.  Wow it was fast.  And tons of fun, because Disney is always better with friends.

The 41nd Coolest Thing of 2009... New Shoes
Shoes are those things that you use, but don't realize how good they can be until you find a pair that fits you exactly right.  Thus, this:

During our trip to The Most Magical Place on Earth in June, my feet were getting blistered. The Lovely Steph Leann chalked it up to my Lugz that, while comfortable, were just not made for the walking, standing, running and walking more that we were doing for 14 hours per day, four days in a row--the Skecher tennis shoes weren't doing any better. After watching her to go New Balance and spend over a $110 on a pair of shoes (which, all these years in marriage later is almost still unfathomable), I decided it was finally time to get myself a good pair of sneakers. We discussed it, and, still coming to grips about the fact that I might have to spend that much to fit my wide feet into some comfy shoes, I went to a local shop called The Trak Shak.


The guy there wasn't old... but he knew how to size a foot. I told him what I was looking for--a pair of tennis shoes that could be used for three things--running, walking and if needed, playing tennis, if I ever decided to get my chunky tail up and do something. I told him that my problem was my feet were wide, and it was hard to find a good pair of shoes that I liked. He listened, he asked me to walk around and he told me that he could tell from my walk that I tended to walk inward, probably due to lack of good footwear. Long story short (too late?) I came out with a pair of Nikes that fit... perfectly. What size? 9 1/2. I call them my Trailer Shoes. Why? Cause they are "Double wide".


The whole story can be found here.

Up next... A "Sweet Thing"... Going where no man, save for over a dozen movies and at least three TV shows, have gone before... and later, more Disney... and even more Disney...

The Prayer of Chantal

Another entry into d$'s Random Emails of Encouragement Series...

This morning at KidStuf, my character (Marshall) was learning how to say "Merry Christmas" in different languages... this included Milad Majid (Arabic). Feliz Navidad (Argentine). God Jul (Norwegian). Bo Nada (Galician). Sretan Bozic (Croatian)... and it made me think about God's love, and how it translates to all languages... which made me think about this, written on June 11th, 2002.  Chantal is gone, I haven’t heard nary a word from her since she left for Pretoria, South Africa, a few years back. That makes me sad, because her accent… whew.

The Prayer of Chantal

It never sunk in how much I Americanized my God until last night.

Chantal Els is an au pair (fancy word for Nanny) from Pretoria, South Africa. She's been in this country since last summer, and though I haven't spent as much time with her as I would have liked to, I've gotten to talk to her a lot in the last 12 months. For that, I'm thankful. She's 20, maybe 21, short blond hair, big smile, and of course, an accent that can make you swoon. And her love of Christ and how much it’s grown in the last year is so evident... this isn't an email to glorify Chantal, though, this is an email to glorify God in what He's doing in her. Meeting her back then and talking to her now, there is a huge difference.

Many, many months ago, Chantal and I were having a conversation about prayer, and she mentioned how she really wanted to pray in her language, which is Afrikaan. I asked her why she hadn't done it, and she said she didn't know how anyone would feel about it. I told her I thought the group would be totally receptive, plus, she wasn't speaking to us anyway, so what did it matter what we thought? God would know.

So, last night at Sybil's, during prayer, I hear Amy Vos pray... and Sarah Hasha pray... and Drew Morris pray... and out of nowhere, is this accented voice in the back. And she's saying things that I would have no idea how to even repeat, much less understand. It was Chantal, praying in her native language. Apparently, she prayed for friends, because I managed to pick out "Josh", "James", "Meredith" and "Jimmy", with dialect in between. I didn't understand a word of it. But it hit me... God did. And He loved every word.

Then I began to think about how Americanized my God is to me. My God knows English. My God lives here in town. My God knows words like "y'all", "Coke", "possum", "sweet tea" and "Peachtree Street". At least He'd better know them... I've used all of these terms in conversation, sometimes in prayer. Though it seems like common sense, really, I never thought about the fact that my God also knows French. And Filipino Sign Language. And Bengali. And Sanskrit. And Portuguese. And Russian. And Zulu. And, of course, Afrikaan.

Even more than that... He SPEAKS these languages. He's not flipping through an "English to Whatever Language" dictionary to reveal Himself to people around the world... He's not speaking extra slow so that kid in Nigeria who barely knows English will understand Him. He is powerful enough to hear and speak the words of His children, from all races, from all countries. Heck, American English isn't even the original language of the Bible, and yet sometimes in my small mind, all I know is a Savior who speaks only southern dialect. Thank God He's bigger than that.

You and I hear God saying, "I love you".
The French hear God saying, "Je t'aime".
The Saudis hear God saying, “I love you”
The Icelanders hear God saying, "Eg elskta thig."
The Navaho hear God saying, "Ayor anosh'ni"
The Welsh hear God saying, "Rwy'n dy garu di."
The Malaysian hear God saying, "Saya cintamu".
And Chantal hears God saying, "Ek's lief vir jou."

Afterwards, Chantal and I sat and talked on the Common Ground couch, and she told me she'd been wanting to pray out loud like that for so long, but she never could... but finally, the words just came. Not only did God understand what she was saying, He was longing for her to say it to Him! He was urging her to speak, to call out to Him, until finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore, and not only was God pleased as His daughter spoke to Him in love, the rest of the room was totally encouraged and blessed.

Anyway, this whole email is just to remind you of how big our God is... how awesome He is... and how much He understands that we never will. Thank you God for a friend like Chantal, and using her to remind me of your wisdom over everything, every language, every voice. The next time you think God does not understand you, know that He not only understands what you are saying, He understands what everyone is saying.

Romeine 3:23... Almal het gesondig en is ver van God af kyk na uself aanmoedig,

ps... I used an English/Afrikaan translator, so there is no need to email me back and tell me how I goofed up in spelling and writing. =)

The Super Bowl XLIII Running Diary

926p... AAAAANNNNDDD that's all we're going to say about Super Bowl XLIII... thanks for joining us for the 4th Annual Super Bowl Blog. Our next running diary will definately be at Oscar Night, February 22nd. Night!

925p... Santonio Holmes won the Super Bowl MVP. He gets his hardware, The Lovely Steph Leann laments that Larry Fitzgerald should have gotten it.

922p... NFL Commish Dan Goodell is handing Steelers owner Dan Rooney the trophy. Dan Rooney is about 128 years old. We make the obligatory "oops, I crapped my pants" joke.

920p... Here's the trophy presentation, given by a very rough looking Joe Willie Namath. I hear "He's probably drunk", "Is he even sober?" and "I wanna kiss you..."

916p... Awaiting the MVP award announcement, plus the handing off of the Lombardi Super Bowl trophy.

909p... And it was a fumble. Pittsburgh Steelers 27. Arizona Cardinals 23. Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl XLIII Champions. Pittsburgh Steelers, winner of 6 Super Bowls now.

908p... Warner takes several seconds, goes to throw, loses the ball, its a fumble. Pittsburgh gets the ball back. And... it might just be over.

906p... Final timeout. Arizona is at the 50 yard line, :15 seconds left in the game.

905p... 22 seconds, Fitzgerald the Inhuman just caught a missle from Kurt Warner. Arizona timeout.

904p... 29 seconds remain. Oy.

9p... Homeslice catches the ball for the Steelers, both feet in, right at the corner of the end zone. The question is, did he catch it? And yes, he did. Pittsburgh 26, Arizona 23, extra point pending. So, now, Kurt Warner has about 35 seconds to go the length of the field.

855p... This game has become so fun that even The Lovely Steph Leann is cheering loudly, for Arizona. She never does this unless its Alabama football. Maybe its the red jerseys that are inspiring her.

853p... Another exchange:
Jill J: Three point spread!
Yours Truly: You have no idea what you're talking about
Jill J: I just repeated whatever I heard

850p... Matt Leinart gives Larry Fitz some love. I can only imagine this exchange:
Matt Leinart: Hey, we're gonna win this!
Fitzgerald: You've done nothing. Shut up.

847p... Here's our scene. Tom J, Jenn Adams, or should I say The Quiet Hotness Jenn Adams, John, Mikey, Holloway and Mr. Ken are absorbed in this game. Andy and Kristi are also watching. Lil Sister Ashley and Stephanie are talking in another room, Amy McL is doing something in the kitchen and Jill J and Jenn Powell are chatting about cross stitching.

And Kurt Warner just tossed a line drive to Fitzgerald (there is no reason this guy should ever, ever be open), who broke wide open and scored... Arizona Cardinals 23, Pittsburgh Steelers 20.

844p... HUGE PENALTY. Ben Rottenburger tossed it out, completed the pass, looked great... and a holdingin-the-end-zone penalty on the Steelers gives Arizona a safety... and the ball back.

839p... And in three plays, we just watched Kurt Warner collapse. Whether it was his fault or his O-line, it was pretty bad. Do they punt and pin them deep? They do. They punt, the ball is down at the 2 yard line, another flag is thrown, and another flag is thrown... and its another personal foul, this time on Pittsburgh, which puts the ball on like, the 4 inch line.

And suddenly, this game gets reeeeeealy interesting.

835p... Arizona is back on offense, gets the ball, throws for a gain and... flag. Seriously? Wait? Wait? Its on Pittsburgh! Seriously?

833p... "McGruber" commercial. Fresh from Saturday Night Live, its a Pepsi commercial, and actually has Richard Dean Anderson in it. Classic.

825p... Larry Fitzgerald gets a touchdown catch in the Super Bowl! We're waiting for the flag... and nothing! Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 14.

821p... Another flag on the play--but this time on Pittsburgh. We've spent the last few minutes coming up with the ridculous penalties that we feel that the refs have been calling--"Harsh language at the line on the offense!" and "Touching the quarterback" and "Intention to tackle!"

812p... Random question... "Wasn't it Lavar Burton who was the main guy in 'Roots'?" The answer? Yes. He was Kunte Kinte.

808p... Okay, so if Arizona loses this game, I'm thinking part of it will be because of the really stupid penalties they've accrued in the last few minutes. Running over the holder, personal fouls like crazy... its terrible...

802p... I'm wondering what would happen if I met Tim Tebow and then met Kurt Warner... who would change my life more, according to the announcers? If I met them both at the same time, I might just ascend into Heaven automatically. Just sayin'.

801p... Lil Sister Ashley just arrived. Yay!

8p... We just saw the new Transformers trailer. The entire room went nuts.



757p... My brilliant observation... Arizona can still win this, but they have to score more points.

754p... Penalty on Arizona on the field goal attempt... "running over the holder". And in the replay, the poor Steeler holding the football got steamrolled. And Pittsburgh is close to scoring again.

744p... They show Cuba Gooding Jr in the press box. Is it sad that for the Arizona Cardinals, the greatest football moment really was when Rod Tidwell scored the go-ahead touchdown against the Cowboys in 1996... in the movie "Jerry Maguire".

741p... Here's the preview for "Race to Witch Mountain", from Disney, but more importantly, starring THE ROCK. Caaaaaaaaan you smeeeellllllll what the Rock is cooking?

Any excuse to show a The Rock WWE clip:



737p... Denny's is giving away a Free Grand Slam breakfast on Tuesday. I miss Denny's. I used to go there all the time back in the early decade, because there use to be one across town. I miss Denny's and Steak-n-Shake, two greasy dives that I miss intensely.

Arizona turned the ball over, but it seems like a incomplete pass and not a fumble. The call is overturned, Arizona gets the ball back. Pittsburgh still leads 17-7.

733p... The Lovely Steph Leann, while discussing the "GI Joe" movie with Andy, middle school pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) says she's excited because it has Dennis Quaid in it. Then she turns around and solidly informs me, "Dennis Quaid? Totally Colin Firth Club."

727p... Its the beginning of the 2nd half and the room has cleared. Some have gone home, some are Rock Banding it upstairs... but being a trooper down here is Jenn Adams, John, Mikey, The Lovely Steph Leann, Daniel & Jenn Powell, Kristi Murry, Mr. Nipp and Yours Truly.

Of course, The Lovely Steph Leann, holding the spawn of Amy McL and Tommy Mac and feeding her Fritos, is discussing scrapbooking with Jenn Powell, who is cross stitching a pattern for their new nursery for the upcoming baby.

720p... While Bruce sings, Daniel took a room shot:


There's Mr. Nipp's legs in the front, with Jenn Powell talking to The Lovely Steph Leann on the couch, Yours Truly, Mikey on the next couch, his pop-in-law John, Jenn Adams (always forget how good lookin' she is), Shawn, Jill, and Tom J on the floor. Photo by Daniel Powell.

713p... He's singing "Born to Run", which is pretty cool. Early Bruce is great, late Bruce is too political.

And if he has a wardrobe malfunction, I might throw up in my mouth.

711p... Just had plate of queso dip and it was roody poo awesome, let me tell ya. We're now watching Bruce Springsteen perform here on the halftime show. He did a knee slide across the stage and almost took out a cameraman.

Glad that wasn't in 3D

7p... Going to eat some more. back in a few

656p... The magic of 3D brings everyone together. Halftime Pittsburgh 17, Arizona 7

652p... Turnover, Pittsburgh gets the ball, runs it back and Arizona misses about 382 tackles as the guy runs the entire length of the field, and then falls hard on his head right on the goal line.

650p... We're all downstairs now, even breaking from Rock Band, to see the new trailer for "Monsters vs Aliens", as its going to be in 3D. We've all got the glasses, we're all ready to see the aliens and monsters leap off the screen. Then a lame commercial staring the Sobe Lizards from last year, then a preview of "Chuck", in 3D--a 3D triple play.

And... its a guarantee that we'll have a bajillion people coming into The Happiest Place in the Mall asking for "Monsters vs Aliens" merchandise. Cause if they still ask for "Kung Fu Panda" stuff, I know they'll ask for this.

646p... Ah, a good night. People, friends gathered around, the game is actually really good thus far, the party is alive as everybody over here, everybody over there. The crowd is live enough as I pursue this groove, party people in the house move (next in line) groove (watch me all night... the music hits my mind...)

642p... And who shows up but Andy & Kristi Murry. Andy is the middle school pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship)

640p... Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen is performing at halftime. Personally, I think Bruce is past his best days, and is kinda overrated... but like U2, he's so universally loved, he could sing the IRS list of people who is over 180 days past the tax payment deadline, and win accolades and awards. Well, that is unless he became a Republican. Then he'd be washed up.

636p... So far, best commercial of the night... E*Trade kid is back, this time with a friend who busts out a version of "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister. Hiiiiiiiilarious.

631p... This exchange
Mikey: I don't think Matt Leinart should get a ring if Arizona wins
Me: I wondered about that. Maybe he'll do the honorable thing and give it back
Mikey: He'll probably give it to Paris Hilton
The Lovely Steph Leann: Who's that?
Mikey: Exactly.

630p... The appeal of Rock Band upstairs has caused the group to splinter. Mikey's woman Ashleia has already gone upstairs with a few people, and we figure Drewski is heading that way. Huge punt return by Shawn Breaston for Arizona.

628p... The Enchanting Nikki Brown will be proud. Somehow, Mikey and I end up singing a rousing version of "To all the girls Drew (morris) has loved before...."

621p... God loves Kurt Warner. He stumbles, fumbles, bumbles, and still gets the ball tossed up and its caught by Ben Patrick, the appropriate reciever for Arizona. Pittsburgh leads 10 to 7.

618p... Tom J recommends The Fire and Ice restaurant, as he and Jill went there for their 5th anniversary a few days ago. Also celebrating their 5th, Hannah Pruitt Cool Award Winners James & Jessica Hawbaker. Congrats!

611p... One of the first times in recent memory, EVERYONE is actually watching the game, or at least in the same room as the television. Usually, only a few of us stay the whole time in front of the tv, some come in and out, and others are around the house playing Wii, cards, games, etc.

609p... Pittsburgh into the end zone! Touchdown Steelers! Okay, so I might think of revising my pick of an Arizona win, though Denver went up 10-0 in Super Bowl 1988, and Washington won, like, 50 to 10. Here's a commercial with guys being hit in the head with various objects, and another starring wild animals, encouraging us to adopt pets.

608p... Two commercials (Doritos and GoDaddy.com) and two chicks in various states of undress. One of them was Danica Patrick. Um. Bad! Bad! Yeah, its bad!

603p... Also saw a preview for the show "Medium". Heard there will be a spin-off, shortened version called "Small". And a movie version, called "Large". Ha!

602p... Just saw a great car commercial with Potato Heads, then we see an until now unemployed Vin Diesel in the preview for "Fast and Furious".

555p... The arrival of Tom & Jill Johnson stirs the crowd, but not nearly as much as Tommy Mac and Amy McL, who trump the Johnsons by bringing in their daughter, Sophie.

552p... Score is still 3-0 Pittsburgh. We now have our 3D glasses, and we just saw the hysterical trailer for "Year One", starring Jack Black & Michael Cera.



550p... This exchange:
Jenn Powell: Mrs. Lynn, what are you doing?
Mrs. Lynn (tearing apart 3D glasses): I'm separating 3D glasses for the upcoming 3D commercials
Someone in the room: How do we know when to put them on?
The Rev'rn Ty Coffey: When the tv gets blurry.

548p... Here's the trailer for GI Joe:



544p... Who all just showed up? Daniel & Jennifer Powell are here, Sybil & Dan just came in, The Holloways have been here all day apparently.

543p... In the commercial front, "Angels & Demons" trailer just came on, with Tom Hanks weird hair making a triumphant return. Jason Statham appears in an Audi commercial... I think its always a good decision to have Jason Statham in a cool commercial.

541p... Okay, just loaded up on chicken wings, a taco, a big fat roll with slightly melted butter, sausage balls and several pigs-n-a-blanket. In the game, Pittsburgh apparently scored but Big Ben (Pittsburgh's QB) fell short of the line, via a coach's challenge. The Steelers got a field goal.

528p... Eating. Back in a few.

522p... Its the trailer for "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra," and stars Dennis Quaid. It comes out in August and the entire room went silent for it.

521p... Mikey is rooting Kurt Warner all the way, because "Ben is a professed athiest. Can't be having that."

519p... Jennifer Hudson is now singing "The Star Spangled Banner".

516p... Our picks tonight? Mikey goes all Arizona... Rev'rn Ty says, "Who's playing? Seriously..." Shawn's pick? Faith Hill, currently singing "America the Beautiful". Jennifer Adams picks? "Who's playing? Steelers? I'll go Steelers."

514p... We are here! We are blogging live from the Nipp Household, that being Ken & Lynn Nipp, parents of the infamous Mikey, good buddy from Deuce Days. Here right now is The Lovely Steph Leann, Mikey and Shawn Sharp. In the kitchen, brewing up some good eats for us all is Ken & Lynn. In comes is The Rev'rn Ty Coffey and entering the home is Jennifer Adams (I never get to see her, so I always forget how hot she is...)

318pm.... Well, it hasn't begun just yet. I am on my way to WalkAbout (middle school drama team) practice. Then back to The Cabana to pick up The Lovely Steph Leann, then off to the Super Bowl...

My early prediction? Arizona 31, Pittsburgh 26. I called it right here.

Julie Wise & the Facebook Lament

Facebook is a dangerous, dangerous thing. When I started blogging three and a half years ago, leading up to a NYC mission trip, I never imagined the outlets and resources that words typed & written could be read through.

I hopped on MySpace a few years back, mostly because I had come across Amy McL's MySpace page and wanted to make a comment. Well, to comment, I had to have a "page", so I made a page. Probably spent way more time on making the page flashy, but I had nothing else... I couldn't do a Facebook page, because Facebook was only for people who had a college email address, and then it was opened to those who had certain work or "network" email addresses.

And then, one day, the gates of Facebook opened up to one and all, much to the dismay of many who thought it should remained an exclusive club.

I've said this before--I blog to be read. Seriously, I enjoy knowing that people sometimes enjoy what I write. I don't have many talents, if any, so apparently I can do this halfway decent. If I wanted to remain private, I would just use a journal and keep it hidden under the bed. So how do you continually get read? Be entertaining in what you write (I guess this depends on who you ask), blog alot (so there is something for people to check) and advertise.

I started doing that on Facebook last year, typing the web address in my status line, along with an idea of what had just been written, be it Idol recaps, movies, music, whatever... I also had my blogs imported into Facebook, so now anyone who lists me as a "friend" can see just about anything I've written--which isn't all that impressive, because anyone with a computer and some time to kill can head to Clouds in My Coffee and see EVERYTHING I've written.

And therein lies the danger. Back when I first started, when I first began to discuss things like... Troy State... Samson High School... past experiences... former friends turned long lost acquaintances... it was not a big deal. I mean, who's going to read this? I haven't seen Tiffany Abbott in years, so if I gush about my crush on her there, she won't see it, right? Or if I discuss parties and cruises and crazy things in high school involving Jason Smith or Cristie Wright or Shannon Williamson or whoever, I haven't seen any of them in a decade, so what of it?

And what about Angiejay's dismissal of me during our Homecoming dance? Or Susan Ward's mean comment that kinda bugged me for years afterwards? See, for a long time, Tiffany and Jason and Cristie and Shannon and Angiejay and Susan... they weren't even real people. Well, I mean, they were, but not here. They are characters in the story that I happened to be telling at that time. Most of you don't know Tiffany Abbott from Tiffany the Redheaded 80s pop star (though had I dated Tiffany the Redheaded 80s pop star, I would have been 15 at the time, and you'd better believe I'd have told that story.)...

...well, most of you didn't know her. Many of you do now.

Sidenote. When I say "story", I hope you rest assured in the fact that pretty much everything I tell you about the old days is pretty much the truth, or at least the truth as best I can recall it all these years later. So when I tell you the story of The Greg to Diamonds Foundation, where in 8th grade Ryan Frary, Chad Ward, Chris McCall and myself collected money in jars for two weeks to earn enough to buy a diamond ring for Greg Avant to give to Jennifer Lambert so she'd go out with him... that's a true story. Besides, if I said stuff like, "Yeah, I dated Stephanie Phillips and I was prom king with Beverly Day and when I went to college, I went on a mission trip to Belize with The Angel and..." someone would refute that. Especially now. My point is made. And if you think this is all a ploy to invoke as many old names as I can come up with... well, you may be right.

All of this came to mind the other day when none other than Julie Wise joined Facebook. Julie Wise, the tall, frizzy headed beauty that had my glances and my heart (for whatever that was worth in high school) during my junior and senior years, Julie Wise, who've I've referred to as The Official Clouds In My Coffee Samson High School Crush... she now has become techno savvy.

A friend of mine, Staceyfran, stopped by The Happiest Place in the Mall, and we discussed blogging. Her site is here, she's just getting started, so go check it out and give her some feedback. (okay Stac... you may or may not have any traffic, who knows... but now you gotta update in case company comes callin'...) Anyway, I mentioned, in passing, that Julie Wise had now joined Facebook and that I was going to blog about her arrival, and then I stopped to say, "You know, Julie, who..." and she cut me off. "Oh, I know who she is."

And for whatever reason, it just struck me that there's alot that I've said in four years. And who knows who is reading what? I mean, I can't do anything about it now... I'm pretty sure I've made jokes here and there at others expenses, but there again, remember... its almost a comedic characterization. And yes, I can think of one catchphrase in particular that wasn't very nice... I won't even mention it here, for fear of someone on Facebook sending it out, if it hasn't happened already. And I haven't used it in a long, long time. Because up until now, when Mikey or KT or J Rob or Paulie Walnuts read something about Julie Wise, or Angiejay, or Jennifer Herndon or Chris McCall or whoever... its a funny story.

But Facebook connects the freakin' world. For better or for worse. Of course, the simple answer is, "Just remove the blogs from Facebook". Sure. But remember why I blog. To be read. And if I can get 25 page loads per day from people clicking over from Facebook (and I do sometimes, mind you), there's no way I'm taking it down. Doesn't matter now. Too many people have it bookmarked.

So, fellow bloggers, just remember the old creed used by Ferb of "Phineaus & Ferb" fame.... "But the internet is forever."

Oh, for those of you wondering, here's a then (top) and now (bottom) picture of none other than The Official Clouds In My Coffee Samson High School Crush Julie Wise (yes, yes, its "Edberg" now, but it will always be "Wise" to me)


She's gonna go nuts when she sees this...

But believe me when I say this... as Athena-esque as she was then, and as pretty as I still think she is now...

...She's not The Lovely Steph Leann. So I personally think I got the better end of the deal. I wouldn't trade her for all the Julies and Tiffanys and Goddesses and Kate Winslets in all the world, cause she's just that fantastically awesomely lovely. Just sayin'.

Besides, both Julie Wise and I had (I still do, actually) large heads. She sent me a note a few days ago that said: "You know it is good we didn't have those NBA sized head babies..."

Welcome to Facebook... and to Clouds in My Coffee, Julie Wise. I hope you enjoy it.

The 100 Coolest Things of 2008... 60 thru 51

NOTE: If you are reading this on facebook, click here to see the videos (they will not appear in facebook notes)

Are you new to the blog? Click here to find out what the heck this is all about.

And we'll continue our annual list of the Top 100 Coolest Things of 2008...
The Introduction and Recap
The 100th thru 91st Coolest Things of 2008
The 90th thru 81st Coolest Things of 2008
The 80th thru 71st Coolest Things of 2008
The 70th thru 61st Coolest Things of 2008

WARNING... There are three videos that I would rate as PG-13 on today's blog. You can probably find uncensored versions of them on YouTube, but the ones you'll see here aired on network tv at one time or another--including the "F" word being bleeped about, oh, four dozen times. So, Emmy Turnbow, it might be good to not click on the videos involving Matt Damon & Ben Affleck...

60. Melissa Robillard
She's the WalkAbout mom of the year (last year's honor went to Paula Maddox, one of The Coolest Things of 2007). Anyway, she rocks. I (heart) this chick.

59. "Carrie" by Stephen King
Having been an avid reader of Stephen King since I was in junior high school, I've read just about all of his early works--"Firestarter", "Pet Semetary", "Christine", "Night Shift" and more--but somehow "Carrie" evaded me. Strange, because its one of his thinnest novels, and really, took about two days, mostly because I read 30 minutes here, 20 minutes there and so on.

Carrie is a strange little book. Its almost pieced together like a scrapbook, and were it made into a movie other than the John Travolta/Sissy Spacek classic, it might have been a docu/mockumentary of some sort. Filled with fictional documents, it uses "interviews", "book excerpts", "transcripts" and "newspaper clippings" that give the background of the "tragic events of Chamberlain, Maine", all to tell the story of Carrie White, a lonely 17 year old girl who has special telekentic powers that she is only beginning to understand.

She's tormented by her classmates and even worse, tortured by her crazy mother. Anyway, it progresses on and on, until a prank goes awry and gets carried away at prom, and Carrie decides "enough is enough".

I also said this on November 19th... I dare say despite all of King's bad guys in all of his books, Chris Hargensen may be the most rotten villian overall... she's not possessed, she's not risen from a grave, she's not a zombie... she's just really, really mean.

If you like horror novels, give it a read.

58. Investigation Discovery
The Discovery Channel has lots and lots of offshoot channels on expanded cable, like Discovery Health, Discovery Science, Discovery Kids, Discovery Food, Discovery Global Warming, Discovery Britney Spears and more... but my favorite? Investigation Discovery.

Anyone who has read this blog for very long will know my love for forensic shows and crime documentary stuff... this channel is chock full of them. Twenty four hours a day of shows like "Solved", "Most Evil", "Justice Files", "The New Detectives" and even better, repeats of "48 Hours" (they have relabeled them "48 Hours: Hard Evidence) and of course "Dateline NBC".

The Lovely Steph Leann and I have about 877 channels on DirecTV right now, and a year later, I have yet to learn most of the numbers. I know ESPN is 206. I know USA is 242. I know The Travel Channel is 277. I know the movie channels start with HBO on 501. And I know that Investigation Discovery is on 285. I know this because I watch it often.

57. "The Green Mile" by Stephen King
I know, I know, we've already had a King novel on this same post, and yes, I'll admit, I have read this before (this issue will pop up again later), but here's what I wrote on November 19th:

After I finished "Carrie", for some reason, I immediately went to "The Green Mile". This was a novel that came out in the mid-90s, in a style that was a throwback to the way many books were published... a few chapters at a time.

The first book, "Two Dead Girls", was only about 100 pages and I remember buying it in Troy's Wal-Mart in March of 1996. I was intrigued because it was so small, and figured I could read it pretty quickly--which I did. The next book, "The Mouse on the Mile" came out at the end of April, and so on monthly, until the final volume, Part 6, "Coffey on the Mile" was released in August of 96.

I remember liking the story a whole lot back then, and was excited to pick it up again. And it was amazing. Seriously... I don't remember much of what I re-read, perhaps having seen the movie so many times. By the way, the movie is just incredible too, a Dave100 pick, so I highly recommend it.

But the novel goes into so much more detail, as novels tend to do as they've got a length advantage over movies. You get more backstory, you care more about the characters, and though I still could see Tom Hanks and David Morse in the part of Edgecombe and Brutal, the best... worst... part was Percy Whitmore. He perhaps rivals Chris Hargensen as the meanest King villian, even worse that Wild Bill in the story.

56. Leading FPU Again
I love Financial Peace University. In 2008, The Lovely Steph Leann and I became debt free, and part of it was due to what we had learned from Dave Ramsey's ministry, including what we went through in Financial Peace University, ie, FPU.

Over several years now, we've been able to not only put people through it, but help to lead it in small group settings as well. It seems like each week gets better than the previous, each year gets better than the last. And this year, I was lucky/blessed enough to not only share my testimony, but help guide my friends Croyle & Britlicious. KT and J Rob, Paulie Walnuts & Sammi, but I also got to lead a group that include more friends, including Little Sister Ashley.

The bonus was the new people I met, including sister of Amy Mac, that being Jenn Smith, and her husband Michael. I was able to get Jenn a job later at The Happiest Place in the Mall a few months later, and a friendship was cemented.

Wanna know how the Financial Peace Plan works? Ask. I'd love to see you be debt free too.

55. "Grey's Anatomy"
The Lovely Steph Leann and I have a DVD tradition with a few shows, as in, we don't watch them on network tv, we wait until the season comes in, then watch the whole season over the course of a few weeks, as in the case of CSI... or in a few days, as in the case of "Grey's Anatomy".

Patrick Dempsey, a charter member of The Colin Firth Club, keeps The Lovely Steph Leann paying attention, while I can never decide between Christina, Meredith or Izzie... actually, I don't know who is hotter, or if any one of them are even attractive--its The McGriddle Effect in full effect, really...

The McGriddle Effect garners its name from my first time eating a McDonald's McGriddle breakfast sandwich. Its the weirdest thing, because you can taste the syrup filled pancake that makes the sandwich, and you can taste the sausage, and you can even taste the egg, and seemingly all at the same time. And I can't decide if its absolutely amazingly good... or one of the worst things I've ever eaten. There is no in between. Its not "eh" or "alright" or "so-so"... its either delicious or disgusting, and I am just not sure which one it is.

Such it is with Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo. Personally, Kate Walsh, a one time Ashley Judd Club finalist, beats them all, but she was siphoned off to another show, "Private Practice" that I have tried to watch, but just don't care enough about.


Its the ending to Season 4, which we watched in pretty quick time

54. I'm... Matt Damon/I'm... Ben Affleck
So, in 2007, comedianne Sarah Silverman came on the Jimmy Kimmel Live late night show... she and Kimmel were dating at the time (I think they broke up) and she reveals that she... well, she and Matt Damon were together at one time. And another. And another.

Anyway, the language--lots of it--is bleeped out, which is why I'm okay posting it here... and maybe its bad that I think its hysterical (most things are, really), but wow, its hysterical.

So then, Jimmy Kimmel fires back. And he fires back bigtime... with Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz and an entire group that resembles USA for Africa during "We Are the World"... and Ben Affleck.

wondering where it is? well, when i post a video, i always make sure i check the quality of the clip on the site before i finish... and so i watched both videos, laughed again, and then noticed after the videos, the description of the video was right there, complete with the F-bomb and everything. i just felt funny leaving that there, so i pulled the videos down... however, if you go to YouTube and search "matt damon sarah silverman" and "jimmy kimmel ben affleck", you'll find it. just remember it is NOT SAFE FOR WORK or Emily Turnbow.

53. "Quantum of Solace"
For the record, I've never been a huge James Bond fan. I guess the early movies with Connery and Roger Moore were decent enough, but I thought Timothy Dalton was a terrible choice. Pierce Brosnan was pretty good, I guess, but it took Daniel Craig to actually turn me into a Bond fan.

"Casino Royale" was excellent. And "Quantum" was just as good, possibly better. Lots of action, very little of the silliness that makes Bond movies sometimes, like the goofy gadgets, the improbable cars and such... and perhaps the hottest Bond girl ever, Strawberry Fields.

Earlier today, I was coming downstairs to DVR the Baltimore/Pittsburgh game only to find The Lovely Steph Leann already setting up the DVR to record some show on Ovation called "Lost in Austen". I thought of Austin, TX, at first, though it didn't look right... then it hit me... Jane Austen. She said it looked like a good show. Imagine my surprise tonight when, while retrieving links for this blog post, I found that Strawberry Fields herself was Elisabeth Bennet in two episodes of "Lost In Austen". Perhaps this is a show we'll watch together.

52. "Bedtime Stories"
I was actually looking forward to this flick, and when it was released on Christmas Day, we made it one of our two part movie double feature (the other was Benjamin Button). I knew it would be silly, and I knew with the premise of the movie--Adam Sandler tells bedtime stories, and they come to life--the plot would be silly, borderline stupid.

You know what? I was pretty much right. And it was a great flick anyway. Its a fun film to watch while shoving popcorn in your mouth, slurping down overpriced Coke and munching on Twizzlers, my candy of choice at the movies.

Its clean, too. No bad situations, no bad language, heck, even Felicity manages to look cute, something she has a hard time doing in my opinion.

51. Ambre Lake on Rock of Love 2
So, I'm surfing through MySpace, and I hit upon the page of my friend Wendi Deckermiller, and her blog is discussing Ambre Lake, my friend from college and according to Wendi, new reality star.


I know what you are thinking... and no, I didn't "indirectly" kiss Bret Michaels. Or did I? Ha!

I flip to her website, and yes, its true... Ambre Lake is going to try and win the heart of Bret Michaels from Poison. Watching the episodes, I came away with three things...
1) I am not sure she initially wanted to win. Perhaps that changed later, but I think she just wanted some exposure.
2) She was actually respectable. That's a big difference from all the other girls on the show, who mostly acted like ho'bags and tramp vamps. Even my friends, the ones who knew and the ones who didn't, liked her the best.
3) Define surreal: Watching someone who you danced with to "You Were Meant For Me" at a fraternity formal over 10 years ago appear on a Vh1 reality show she's trying to win the affections of a rock star that was famous 20 years ago. That's surreal.

And she won.

Coming soon... Doctor Earl becomes an Angel, My favorite song of the year, and someone else gets a Pruitt Award.

Clumsy

This is what I studied tonight in my quiet time. Normally, I would leave it over in Delaware but tonight I just felt like there was a Coffee Drinker out there who might be a little encouraged that no, they are not alone in the sometimes troubling pursuit of Christ.

It brings to mind Amy McL... I've said this before, but its so relatable, I'll repeat it... we were discussing sin and the mire it causes, and she said (paraphrasing), "Sometimes I feel like I'm just so terrible, I want to sit in my sin and pout. All the while, God is saying, 'You are forgiven. Keep moving' and I say, 'Don't you understand what I've done?! How can you tell me to keep going when you know who I am?!' and God replies, 'I know who you are. I know what you've done. I know what my Son did for you. Now get your happy tail up and keep moving."

So, here's my thoughts on the whole matter...

Paul gets it. I would say "Paul got it", but I think while at Home, he gets it. Romans is great evidence of that.

To suggest I am anything like Paul would be a farce... his faith and obedience stood more on a random Tuesday than perhaps I've done in my entire life up until this very minute. But one of my favorite passages is in Romans 7... its like, a Well Intentioned Christ Followers Lament...

Paul writes:
Yes, I'm full of myself. I've spent alot of time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So, if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something MORE! For if I know the law, but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin in me within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes, I can will it, but I can't DO it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly, its predictable. The moment I decide to do good (like quiet times every night) sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but its pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps, I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contridiction where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. (The Message)

Story of my life, really. This is who I have been and I'm guessing that many of you can relate to just such a thing. But there is hope. It's actually the passage I'm going to (re)read and (re)study tomorrow night--but for now, take heed in The Wonderful Cross, which bids you to come and die so that you can truly live.

The perfect song for this particular night, and passage, is from Chris Rice, one of his greatest and earliest hits... "Clumsy".

Think I'd have it down by now. Been practicing for 33 years.
Should have walked a thousand miles, so what am I still doing here?
Reaching out for that same old piece of forbidden fruit,I slip and fall and I knock my halo loose
Somebody tell me what's a boy supposed to do?

I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I get so stupid that I feel so useless
But Your saying You love me, and You still gonna hold me
That You want to be near me, cause You're making me holy
Still making me holy, yeah

Gonna get it right this time, I'll be strong and make You proud
I've prayed that prayer a thousand times, but the rooster crows and my tears roll down (again)
You remind me that You made me from the dust,
and I can never, no, never be good enough, but that You're not going to let that come between us

Cause I get so clumsy, I get so foolish, I can get so stupid that I feel so useless
But Your saying You love me, and You're still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me, cause You're making me holy
Still making me holy

From where I stand, Your holiness is up so high, I can never reach it.
My only hope is to follow Jesus

Cause I get so clumsy, and I get so foolish
I can get so stupid sometimes, and I feel so useless
But You're saying You love me
And Your still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me
Cause Your making me holy
Still making me holy
Keep making me holy, yeah

You guys feel me on this one?

All Things New II: Welcome to Delaware

A few days ago, I wrote "All Things New", a sort of different blog for Clouds in My Coffee. While I am a Christ Follower, and have never backed down from what I believe, at the same time, direct ministry has never been the aim of Clouds in My Coffee.

Having said that, I do want to make it clear that as Christ Followers, I think everything we do is a form of ministry, because with our salvation secure and our hearts a home for the Holy Spirit, we are, for lack of a better phrase, Christ Ambassadors... but here, its not just Biblical scripture, prayers, Jesus, The Messiah (no, not Obama, I mean the real one), God and so on... I've read sites like that. While inspiring, it can get a little tedious. I enjoy what I write here, and enjoy the comments I get on all sorts of things.

Now... having said THAT... I wanted you to know about a "sister" site I have created. Its called "Welcome to Delaware"... while I would love to drive as many people to Clouds as possible--and would love for you to do the same--I'll only mention Delaware in this post, and it will be listed among the Recommended Blogs in the links to the right.



I'm sure you have two questions... the first being, why did you create another site? What is it even about, and why should I care? (that's three questions, but I kinda condensed them into one inquisitive string). The second being, what is with that name??? Who gives a rip about Delaware?? (again, more than one, but you get the gist.)

I created another site because while I love to journal--hence, Clouds in My Coffee--I tire quickly of writing on paper. My brain works too fast, though I'm sure The Lovely Steph Leann might disagree, for me to write down what I want in a legible manner, and it ends up scribbled... however, I type pretty doggone fast. In Mrs. Rials typing class in 11th grade at Samson High School (go Tigers!) I was top in the class, reaching 75 perfect words per minute

So, if I'm going to continue on my journey that I call "30 Days of Him"...

(I got that catchy little name from the movie "30 Days of Night", though thats where the similarilies end, I think--never pictured God as a vampire zombie. Randomly, vampires have been prevelant around my life lately... not that I know any, but I just finished reading "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King, an excellent vamp novel, I talked to Amy McL today about reading vampire novels, and I somehow ended up watching "Twilight" this afternoon... bored to tears. Seriously. There is about 10 minutes of that movie that I thought was enjoyable and... where was I?)

...I figured it would be better to type it out than write it. Plus, it would give me an outlet to start reprinting some of the "Random Emails of Encouragment" I used to write, long long ago. And Delaware will be simply that. God stuff. That's why I wanted to keep it separate from Clouds...

Don't fret, though, Coffee Drinkers. This will be my main site.

Now, why should you care? You don't have to, actually. You can visit every day, you might never go there. Its okay. I might mention it from time to time, but over all, its not a big deal.

Now... the name...

You've probably heard me mention "Welcome to Delaware" as a song, or that it is the title of the d$ Life Soundtrack, the double disc edition... well, I guess I should explain. McQ asked me tonight the perfect question... what does it mean to you?

"Welcome to Delaware" is a song from the former Christian duo WaterMark. I say "former", though Nathan and Christy Nockel are still together. They performed for years as WaterMark, now do separate projects, he as a worship leader for Passion, a writer and producer, and she as a worship leader for Passion and a solo artist.

The song is the 7th track off their 1998 self titled debut (you'll see from the link its now out of print), and its one of those hidden gems that few people even know about. It just stuck with me. When I was working at WTBF in Troy (Go Trojans!) I interviewed Christy for Sunday Night Power, my Christian Music show on Sunday nights, and I asked her the meaning behind the title...

She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "We had a concert in Delaware upcoming at the time, and neither of us had ever been there. We were nervous about it, about the area, it was winter, it was cold, it was unfamiliar... and it just kind of became a prayer. Its about God taking us to places we have never seen, cold places, unfamiliar places. Places we are not comfortable with."

Such is my life. I moved to Birmingham in August of 1998... I didn't know a soul, Amy Wible had abandoned me, I had an apartment I couldn't afford, my job I moved for was kaput after a week... and God was saying, "All you really have here now... is Me".

Well, its bitter cold December, and the leaves are falling true, and I do believe I'm still in love with You. Yeah, my scenery keeps changing, and sometimes its hard to view, but You've let me see so much since I've known You. But I headed to what seemed like nowhere (Birmingham?) but You told me to come, You told me You'd meet me here.

You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far. And its a lot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be, all you really have here now... is Me. All you really have here now is Me.

(by the way, the next verse is one of the most beautiful, deepest, sweetest verses to me in all of Christian music... I'm not kidding... as I sit here and think about how it applies to my life, I just wiped a tear away... man, its dusty in here...)

So I settled here, and that is that. For You to show me who I am, You had to take me to a place I've never been. And all the things I've dreaded most about the things unseen have now become the sweetest part of me...

Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew you would come, I knew You would meet me here.

You were here to say, "Welcome to Delaware, I know you've traveled far, and its alot colder here than what you're used to. And I know that in the wintertime, things aren't what they used to be. All you really have here now is Me."

Though I headed to what seemed like nowhere, I knew You would come, I knew You would meet me here. You were here to say "Welcome to Delaware... All you really have here now... is Me."

That song changed my life. No kidding.

That's why the site is called "Welcome to Delaware". Of course, it helps that its just offbeat enough to be memorable and quirky.

By the way, the line you see on the bottom of the title, "Thoughts of a Grace Abuser" comes from another song that changed my life. The song is called "Disappear", which was actually a consideration for the title of the site, from the band Out of the Grey, which was Christine and Scott Dente, another husband & wife duo.

The second verse--something about second verses and souls being stirred--says, "Given, I've been given so much freedom, Grace abounds and I'm the chief abuser..." That about sums it up.

Matter of fact, random Dave Trivia, years ago when I was about to leave AOL for good to get a Gmail email address, I was talking to Jessica Rogers about what my new screenname/email should be... GraceAbuser came up in the conversation, and she said, "That sounds cool, if you know what it means, but if you don't, it sounds like you are beating some girl named Grace." Touche. SuperDave it is.

Anyway, you can check the site out, or not, up to you. Bookmark it, or never look at it, its fine. I just did want to share, and let you know it was there.

But I'll expect you back here at least every few days.

The Super Bowl XLII Running Diary (ie, the boring blog)

As we were riding home tonight, I told my dear Steph Leann that I was considering not posting the running diary from tonight's Super Bowl party at The Nipps house. However, since its tradition... (I had to write it on Word then post it later, as there was no network connection)...

Here we are, blogging live from the upstairs loft of the Nipps home for our annual Super Bowl Running Diary. So far, we got the Mackey Clan, Big Wookiee, Little Wookette, The Lovely Steph Leann, The Honorable Revr’n Ty, Tommy Mc, Amy Mac, and Eli has the Giants on the board with 3-0.

542p… Bud Light has a great commercial featuring fire breathing efforts.

545p… Anytime you can get “What is Love” involved in a commercial, plus LL Cool J, its comedy gold.

549p… The price of a commercial this year? Around 2.7 million. The cost of a Super Bowl ticket? Up to $5,000 or more. Hanging out with Wook Fu, Mikey and Tommy with a chance of the Patriots to go undefeated in an NFL season? Priceless.

555p… New England is driving. Honestly, though, there is no reason that New York should been in this game. Amy is putting her baby down. Don’t ask.

556p… The Good Doctor Earl and Army John just came in to a shower of “Ey!s” and “Yo!s”

558p… I think the over/under of “Don’t throw it to Stonehands” being thrown out there is around 33. Its up to 4 already.

6pm… Ah, Barack Obama! He’s suave… he’s charming… he’s a good speaker… he’s eloquent. So’s the antichrist.

601p… The Pats Score!!

606p… A commercial with a talking stain. Classic. Various shots of Gisele (Tom Brady’s chick), Pam Anderson (to which Wook-Fu says “I’m thinking of a garden tool now) and a hot, hot, hot Jenny McCarthy. One of my favorite bad girls.

610p… Nothing clears a room like the words “Spinach Artichoke Dip”

611p… Peyton in the stands looking like Venus, watching Serena in the Wimbledon finals. Bitter. Very bitter.

612p… This exchange:
Mikey: Why’s he taking so long to snap the stupid ball?
Me: He’s Eli Manning. You can give reasons, but really it boils down to the fact that its Eli Manning.
Wookiee: That’s what Mannings do
Me: Of course, you know Manning hasn’t had an interception in what, three games?
(Manning throws an interception…)
Wookiee: Dave!!! (smacks me on the leg)

618p… This exchange:
Lynn Nipp: Is Tom coming?
Mikey: Probably not. I hadn’t heard from him
(phone rings)
Ken Nipp: Hello? (pause) Hi Tom

624p… Lifewater commercial: Lizards dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Good stuff.

627p… Wow… Tom Brady gets sacked like, twice in a row—this is no way to win a Super Bowl… You know, its always a party when Amy Mac brings up STDs

630p… Though I should know this, clapping at your wife and saying “Hey woman, go get me some food… NOW!” never works.

633p… Daniel & Jennifer walk in, wearing Patriots shirts.
Wookiee (pointing at me): Hey, join the bandwagon here
Me: Hey… I’ve been rooting for the Pats since they were what, 15-0?

640p… I’ve been sampling the goodies downstairs… Jenn Powell made a great chocolate cheesecake dip, and someone had chilled shrimp, and I’m sitting with a big bottle o’Ginger Ale. And we were able to see the Justin Timberlake commercial, though I missed the first few seconds. We also got to see Harry Potter & the Prince of Caspian… or Narnia 2, as we call it.

650p… Random quote from Michael: “Someone get me some E-Z-Cheez!”

654p… At halftime, we’re 7 to 3. It’s a pretty terrible game at this point.

725p… So, Steph had the computer to show the house off to everyone, via pictures. Big Tom just came in, as did Jill and her friend Shannon. Jill makes the 4th person in two days to cross my path that I haven’t seen in like, five years. Yesterday, Chad from my 2002 Shades Mountain New York Trip came in, then a while later, Diane Vogel from my old job in Parisian came into Starbucks. Who knew.

727p… Tommy Mac has picked up the first quarter prize that the Nipps always offer, while The Good Doctor Earl got the second quarter prize. I’m hoping for a lot of New England scores to get me up to speed for the next prize.

729p… And… New England is finally making some plays

730p… Random lines tossed out during the Tom Petty halftime extravaganza:
“Hi I’m Tom Petty… when did New England get a team?”
(Some colorful images on the screen) “Look! That’s what Tom Petty’s fans see!”
“This is like, Tom Petty’s Greatest Hits!”

731p… Salesgenie.com has now paid almost five million dollars to show two commercials, advertising a website no one has ever heard of. And next is Shaq as a jockey, which is hysterical. Earlier, there was a chick with a uni-brow who attracted men by rubbing Planters peanuts all over herself. At the end, she picked a wedge. That might be the best two seconds, yet the most disturbing two seconds, of the entire night.

743p… 4th and 13, the Patriots go for it. And they miss it. Could the Patriots undefeated season really go down on an insufficient game such as this.

745p… Johnny 5 is alive… as in, Wall*E, the new Pixar movie coming up. Steph Leann loves it, and chuckles and laughs loudly at the funner movie coming out.

746p… Jenn Powell says “I’d much rather talk house than football!”

757p… Posts are fewer and more far between because really… this game is kinda boring. I mean, its 7 to 3, almost 4th quarter. We’re all yawning.

759p… This game might be Gisele Bundchuck’s fault. This is what happened to Romo when Jessica Simpson showed up… I think they should just start showing more Jenny McCarthy.

804p… The Mackey domination continues. Paula Mackey wins a prize for the second year in a row, this time for the third quarter.

805p… Stewie vs. Underdog for a bottle of Coke. And who gets it? Charlie Brown! That commercial was excellent!

810p… The New York Giants has just scored a touchdown… they’re up 9 to 7, with the extra point pending. Kick is good, and 10 to 7.

816p… The Good Doctor Earl just made a Lou Ferrigno reference. This is the kind of night its been.

823p… If the New York Giants win this, the 2008 NYGiants will be the Mira Sorvino of the Super Bowl lore… winning a big prize they really shouldn’t have been in the running for, they shouldn’t have won and beating a much bigger opponent that should have taken it in a runaway.

835p… Well, 3 minutes left, 10-7 NYGiants. Its down to the wire. We’ve actually spent time discussing Ambre Lake on Rock of Love 2.

839p…. TOUCHDOWN TO NEW ENGLAND!!! I want to see Randy Moss get a ring. He’s had such a hard life.

842p… I’m currently depending on Manning to choke. Just cause it happens.

850p… “Don’t throw it to Stone Hands!” jus tossed out. Manning almost down, tossed the ball, caught downfield. The room erupts.

856p… New York just takes the lead. After this entire game sucked, the last four minutes have actually been pretty doggone good… of course, you want to see New England go 19-0, but still… its pretty great.

859p… Stephen Gostowski. No one knows who the kicker is, until you need him. Twenty five seconds left, down 3, New England is looking at failure. Had they lost a few times in the season, it wouldn’t be as big a deal, finishing 14-2, then losing in the Super Bowl… but 18-1? Its unacceptable.

902p… Somewhere, the 72 Dolphins has a big bottle of champagne, waiting to pop.

903p… The New York Giants have just beaten the New England Patriots. How ridiculous. And another Mackey wins. And I’m done.