The 100 Coolest Things of 2010... #100 - 91

If you are reading this on Facebook, you may want to just click over to Clouds In My Coffee, since this post has a ton of videos and photos you might not see on FB...

It took a while to get going, but I knew I'd get there eventually... this blog started in 2005, and at the end of the year, I did The 100 Coolest Things of 2005, all in one single post.  Right after 2006 ended, I broke up the list into ten installments, then the next year, did 2007's list, onto 2008's list, then 2009's list, and now here we are, the sixth time I've looked upon the previous year and gave you what I believe to be my favorite things of 2010.

What means "cool", asks you?  Just simply, its cool.  Its fun.  Be it a song, a movie, a TV show... something I really liked.  Maybe its a place to eat, one that I visited over and over during the year.  And sometimes its a person or a couple or a group... someone who had an impact, someone that I just adore or cherish or love dearly.  And its things that I discovered in 2010... thusly, as much as we love Steven and Calah Ray, they won't make this list, because they were in the Top Ten Coolest Things of 2009... and though they continue to be cool, they make way for new things, people and stuff.  There is even a few books and movies that came out prior to 2010, but I discovered them (or in one case, "re"discovered them) and thusly, here they are.

Well, let's get going, shall we?   Without further ado, here are the 100 Coolest Things of 2010

100... Alabama Wins the National Title
Okay, okay... yes I rib the Tide Nation, because yes, they've won multiple titles, and whether they can legitimately claim 13 national titles (which I think is a stretch) or they actually won their 7th or 8th title (more likely, methinks), the fact remains, that in this modern day and age, winning a national title in college football is a huge, huge thing. 



And they did it by beating none other than the college powerhouse known as The University of Texas by a closer-than-the-score-indicates score of 37-21.  Their star QB, Colt McCoy, went down early... but I think they would have prevailed anyway.  Because the difference in a team like Texas, and Alabama, at least in the 2009 season, is that Texas has a star player--McCoy.  Alabama had Ingram... and Jones... and McElroy... and a host of others that, even in the loss of one, would keep the team going.   And lest we forget, the game was really, really good. 

99... Queen Latifah Gets Her Man
I'll be honest... like The Lovely Steph Leann, I like the movies I like.  That means simply, sometimes a stupid movie is something I find hilarious (see "Employee of the Month" or "Deuce Bigalo: Male Gigolo") and supposedly incredible films are snooze-inducing or terrible (see "The English Patient"... or better yet, don't).  And sometimes a lame movie is where I find the most enjoyment.

And that brings us to "Just Wright", starring Queen Latifah and rapper Common.  This was ridiculed in the press, its got a less than 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and let's face it, the movie was badly acted and poorly written.  And yet, I found myself enjoying the heck out of it. 

Here's part of what I wrote on June 10th, 2010:

Anyway, the final reason I liked this film is simply... its clean. Very, very little language (a few "damns" and I think one "bull****"), no violence at all, other than aggressive play on the basketball court, and as far as sexual situations, there's one single scene where you know Leslie and Scott did the deed, but its the next morning and they are lying in bed looking at each other, completely covered by sheets. I can deem this movie completely Emmy Turnbow Safe. Its a good first date movie.

By no means spend $20 on this film, unless you are in fact on a date. At best, catch a matinee, wait for the $1 theater, or get the DVD or watch it online this summer when it will probably come out. For now, The Lovely Steph Leann will be stocking up on Common CDs.

98... The Miz Claims the Title
Hey, I'm a wrasslin' fan, and I admit it.  I ain't scurred. 

And one of my favorites is The Miz.  If you can believe it, his real name is Michael Mizanin, and he was a cast member of MTV's The Real World: New York in 2001, and then the subsequent Real World/Road Rules Challenge. 

What's also interesting is watching the evolution of The Miz in the WWE... he started more of a joke, and looking like it was possible he'd never be more than a jobber or a C-lister.  But over the last year, in large part due to a huge push, but also due to his committment and ability, The Miz has hit the big time, and is one of the headliners now. 

And this year, he won the WWE Championship by cashing in his Money in the Bank Briefcase, beating a worn down and exhausted Randy Orton, right after Randy Orton has successfully defended the title against Wade Barrett of The Nexus, and after he won, he yelled out of one of my favorite catchphrases...

"I'M THE MIZ.... AAANNNDDD IIIIII'M AWESOOOOOMMMEEEE!!!!""

Hey, I'm a wrasslin' fan, and I admit it.  I ain't scurred.

97... Lotso Huggin' Bear Comes Home
The Lovely Steph Leann went out of town on business, which took her to the coast and ended up with her at a Disney Store.  And she came back with a random surprise.

How awesome is this?

96...  SMU Pays Their Players
To celebrate 30 years, ESPN has been showcasing what they call "30 for 30"... that would be 30 documentaries, each made by a different noted director, each with their own creative control, and each telling a sports story that sometimes is famous--and sometimes is not. 

To me, the "30 for 30" has been amazing over the last year, be it the controversial games from The U of Miami in the 80s or the "where were you when" aura of OJ's White Bronco... but in my mind, the best was saved for last.  "Pony Exce$$" tells the fabled story of Southern Methodist University Mustangs football which, back in the early 80s, was a national powerhouse, including posting a 45-5-1 record from 1980 to 84.

Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson and Craig James joined Charles Waggoner to form "The Pony Express", leading SMU to a share of the national title in 1981.  All was not on the up-n-up, however, in Mustang land, as it was revealed in 1986 that for a few years previous, players were being paid from an under the table slush fund, allegations that were put on SMU after they were already on probation.



The NCAA had the power to use "the death penalty", which means barring a school from fielding a football team for a determined amount of time.  They had never used it... until they used it on Southern Methodist.  It devastated the school and the community, and SMU essentially never recovered.  In fact, it took over 20 years for the school to reach a bowl game again--a win over Nevada in The Hawai'i Bowl--and it only had a single winning season in that span up until their bowl season.

Another fallout from the decision is the thought that the NCAA will likely never use "the death penalty" again on a school because of the catastrophic effects of the decision.

All of this can be learned in "Pony Exce$$", a fascinating documentary completely worth the two hours it takes to watch it.  Look it up, DVR it, and enjoy the step back into college football history.

95... Big Al Makes An Appearance
So The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at The Magic Kingdom late last year, and are enjoying the Magic Hours, that is, late night in the park.  We are walking past Liberty Square into Frontierland, and headed to Pirates over in Adventureland, so we take that little cut through to get back there, and also to use the restroom.

We go in our respective bathrooms, and being a boy, I naturally finish first--amazing how much time can be saved by standing.  Anyway, I got out first, and who did I immediately spot standing by a tree?   Big Al.

No, Roll Tiders, not that elephant from Tuscaloosa.  Its actually none other than my favorite Country Bear from the Jamboree of the same name.  And in all the trips I've ever been to Disney World, I've never, ever seen Big Al.  And in all the trips The Lovely Steph Leann has been to Disney World, which is about a half-dozen more than me, she has never seen Big Al. 

I race over and say, "Hey Big Al!"  He turns around, waves and gives me a hug.  I text The Lovely Steph Leann and say "GET OUT HERE".  I try and stall, and ask the friendly Cast Member if she will take my picture with Big Al.  Of course she agrees, so I get my picture taken.  Finally, I spot The Lovely Steph Leann emerging from The Lovely Ladies Room, and she's looking around for me.  I call out, "The Lovely Steph Leann!  Over here!"  She turns and sees me, does a "there you are" wave with her hands, and starts ambling over. 

"Hurry!" I yell at her, and she looks confused... and then she sees Big Al.  Her face brightens, she says, "Oh!  It's Big Al!"  She races over, and we both get our picture with Big Al.  He waves, we smile, the camera snaps and Big Al is on his way. 

And it left me with a memory that was one of the coolest things of the year.

94... Hurricane Rhett Falls in Love
I gotta be careful where I tread... "The Other Guys" is a funny movie.  It's not in my Top Ten of the Year, nor is it the funniest movie I saw in 2010.  Its not nearly the best movie I saw, nor is it a movie that I own.  But according to Hurricane Rhett, it doesn't get much funnier than Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg teaming up as mismatched cops (I know, new concept, right?!) trying to catch some bad guys.

Really, the plot is not all that important... what is important is that this movie has a literally a murder's row of people I love to see in a movie... The Rock, who I have a man crush on... Samuel L. Jackson... Michael Keaton... Rob Riggle... and an incredibly priceless cameo by Derek Jeter.

This was also the film that helped me figure out what it is about Will Ferrell that everyone enjoys... he makes everyone better.  He makes everyone funnier than he is.  I think back to "Anchorman", and though Ron Burghandy is funny, Brick Tamblin, Champ Kind and Brian Fantana are funnier, feeding off of Ferrell.  In "Old School", Frank the Tank is funny, but Bernard and the Frat guys are funnier.  And taking "Talladega Nights", yes, Ricky Bobby is great.  But Reese Bobby is better, Jean Girard is snarkier and Cal Naughton?  Cal is priceless.  Oh, and Assistant Susan is smokin' hot.  Just sayin.

And in "The Other Guys", Det. Allan Gamble is funny.  But feeding off of Ferrell, Det. Hoitz (Wahlberg) is funnier, as are Danson and Highsmith and Rob Riggle's Det. Martin is absolutely hysterical, as is Damon Wayans Jr's Det. Fosse...

What was my point again?  Well, whatever.  Anyway, The Lovely Steph Leann and I saw this movie with Hurrican Rhett and his wife Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone), and THAT is the best way to see a movie... with friends that like and laugh at the same kind of movie you do.  We probably would have enjoyed it well enough, but perhaps not as much as we did with the Barnetts in tow. 

So the 94th coolest thing of 2010 is not "The Other Guys", its watching "The Other Guys" with good friends.

93... Jamie Makes a Post
"Happy Harper Stories" is a blog that I check out about once a week or so, written by a young lady who goes to Valleydale Baptist Church (an sbc fellowship, natch), and its a fun little blog about the Christ-Following life, a Christian family and so on.   But one day, she decided to write a little blog called "Biblical Submission and Worship in the Bedroom", and it was excellent. 

I've shared this on the blog already, and linked to her blog while I posted by own on a very similar subject, which you can read it--"Sex Love God and Gifts"--by clicking here and can also read the first paragraph of her post. 

Just wanted to mention it again before it gets lost in her blog and in mine, like so many excellent posts do in blogs that are updated a few times a week. 

92... Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with) Goes to Ireland
To clear up a misconception, just because a movie has Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with, in it does not make it a good movie.  Sometimes she can be in crap, just like anyone else.  I watched a movie called "The Last Run" starring Fred Savage, aka Kevin Arnold, and though it said "Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with" as one of the main credits, she was only featured minimally.  And, not that this has anything to do with her screen time or lack thereof, the movie was one of the worst films I've ever seen in my entire life.  I mean, bad.  Like, bad bad.  Not so bad its good, but so bad its bad bad.

To be real honest, "Psycho Beach Party" and "Cruel Intentions 2" weren't much better, and perhaps it was "Junebug" that gave her the chance to make better movie choices... either way, like any Hollywood star, even amongst tons of success, there are those "paycheck movies" (see, Cage, Nicolas, post-Leaving Las Vegas), and the movie at #92, "Leap Year", is probably in that catagory for Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with.

"Leap Year" simply tells the story of Anna Brady, a socialite who is itching to be hitching to her boyfriend Jeremy... when he has a "surprise for her", and it turns out to be something like earrings and not a ring-ring, Anna is sad.  When Jeremy goes to Ireland, Anna decides that she is going to find him, partaking of an old Irish tradition that states on a Leap Year day, February 29th, a woman may propose to a man.

But on her way to Dublin, she gets derailed in the Irish countryside by bad weather, she meets a guy she can't stand that agrees to take her to Dublin and... well, let's be honest, we aren't watching "Schindler's List" here, we all know where this is going... okay, to be fair, we knew where "Schindler's List" was going to, but thats not my point.  My point is, this isn't a movie you over-analyze.  I could tell you that Anna ends up dumping Jeremy for the Irish guy at the end, and I would not be spoiling this film for you, because you know this the moment the new guy takes the stage.

I must say, though, another star of this film besides Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with, and Matthew Goode is probably none other than the Irish Countryside.  The views are spectacular, the scenery is marvelous and the cameras always make sure you see a field blowing in the wind, or the cliffs with the water crashing against them, or so on and so forth.

Its a fun movie that you don't have to think about... you just let yourself have a good time with it, and if you are like me, just stare at Amy Adams when she's onscreen.  Cause she's beautiful.  And I'm in love with her.  

91... RDJ Wears the Suit (again)
There have been been few turnarounds in Hollywood that have been as huge, as monumental and as successful at the career of Robert Downey Junior.  He's gone from prison, drug use and a life spiraling into an overdose that was directing him onto a list with Heath Ledger or Brittany Murphy in the gone-too-soon department... into one amazing actor who is finally making some good choices.  Okay, okay, "The Soloist" notwithstanding... there's "Sherlock Holmes", there's "Due Date", there's "Tropic Thunder"... and of course, there's Iron Man.

And in 2010, there was Iron Man 2.  And I thought it was just splendid, if I do say so myself.   Here's what I wrote about it in June after seeing it:

...I was thrilled. The opening sequence, the introduction to The Stark Expo, Whiplash [Mickey Rourke] shows up and lashing his whips, bad accent and hair and all, Sam Rockwell being awesome like he always is, Iron Man fighting, and don't think I didn't notice the similarities between Stark's dad's plans for a futuristic community and Disney's old Epcot plan... in fact, there's a song over the ending credits called "Tomorrow Today", and it was written by the famed Sherman Brothers, the same guys who wrote "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" for the Carousel of Progress at Walt Disney World, amongest other great Disney classics.


Speaking of the ending credits, stay til the very end. Its worth it.

And there is our first ten...

Coming up... Bosses go undercover... Helen Mirren gets violent... and later, my night eating Lebenese...

Next:  The 90th to 81st Coolest Things of 2010

Milwaukee's Best Idol

Sitting with Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone), Hurricane Rhett, JustFish and his wifey wife KellFish, the reviews are in... Idol... is pretty good.  Okay, JustFish and KellFish didn't really give an opinion, but Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone) and Hurricane Rhett are digging it.  And so is The Lovely Steph Leann and so am I.

Tonight, its the third episode of Idol 2.0, with Steven Tyler, J-Lo and Randy the Dawg, and we open up with Steven and Randy doing a little freelance version of "Sweet Emotion", one of my favorite Aerosmith songs.  No joke, its a great driving song.

We're coming from Milwaukee, WI, the home of The Widower Danny Gokey... and in fact, we see The Goke himself talking to some of the crowd.

THIS IS

AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!!

Scotty from Garner, NC, is up first.  He's clean cut, he's dressed to the nines, and he's 16.  If Paula Abdul was here, her room keys would be thrown at Scotty's feet.  "Your Man" by Josh Turner is his song... and I'm glad he's singing this song, because that's one of those songs that I keep hearing, but didn't know who sang it.  I'm going to download it right now.

The Lovely Steph Leann looks up at me, and says, "He's so smooth...."

At the judges request, Scotty from Garner sings "Put Some Drive in Your Country" by Travis Tritt, which makes Steven Tyler say something about getting something, get the matches, &#*$ a duck and see what hatches.  What the?

Scotty from Garner heads to Hollywood.

The Lovely Steph Leann looks up at me from under her blanket and says, "I'd listen to him on the radio..."

I just down loaded "Your Man" by Josh Turner.

Joe Repka comes up... and sometimes you can just tell this is going to be a disaster.  He's kinda tall, he's kinda frumpy, he's got a fat head, he's got a bad 'stache, he's dressed horribly... this is going to a train wreck of heavy duty proportions.   Seacrusty just talks to him like Joe actually has a chance. 

And the judges know this is going to be bad too.  He says he is 19, but he could pass for 31.   And when he says he's going to sing "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel, both The Lovely Steph Leann and I groan.  And when he actually starts singing, she grimaces, I giggle, Steven Tyler sways and J-Lo hangs her head. 

Steven Tyler says, "Do not quit your day job.  Brutally honest."  The others agree.  And Joe jumps into the classic Idol mistake of, "They hated my first song, so I'll sing something without being prompted so they will hear me sing beautifully..." and in all my years of watching Idol, I have never seen this work.

From the previous commercial break, we see a chick saying something original like, "This is my dream", while crying.  Well, now we see her and her family in an SUV, and she tells us how she was 5 when Kelly Clarkson won the first Idol (The Lovely Steph Leann whimpers, "We are so old"), and how they came from Colorado, and drove 16 hours to Milwaukee.

Emma Henry, 15, is singing "True Colors" from Cyndi Lauper... personally its one of my least favorite songs ever, but she's not doing as badly as I thought she would.  Steven Tyler says he likes her character, J-Lo says she needs to keep working on her quality, and Randy the Dawg says he's not sure that she is ready.  J-Lo says no, and she needs to work on it. Steven Tyler says yes.

"I want this so badly, music is my life..." she starts crying, cue the sad music.  Randy the Dawg says she's going to be swallowed up in this whole process.  She whimpers, and says, "I'm going to work so hard!"  Randy the Dawg relents, and Emma Henry shouts for joy as she gets her golden ticket.

My own opinion?  She's got talent, and she's pretty good... but she needs to be trained up.  She needs more work, and I think she'll be pheeeeenomonal.  The Lovely Steph Leann agrees.

Trailer for "The Roommate" comes on.  The Lovely Steph Leann pipes up, "I've seen that movie!"  When I look at her, bewildered she's seen a movie that hasn't been released yet, she says, "Yeah, I've seen it.  Its called 'Single White Female' with Jennifer Jason Leigh!"
And we're back, with a quick montage of people who think they can sing, but cannot sing.  ATTENTION IDOLOONIES... DO NOT AUDITION WITH LADY GAGA.   DOESN'T MATTER THE SONG, DON'T AUDITION WITH LADY GAGA'S MUSIC.  BAD, BAD, BAAAAA IDEA.  Thanks.

And now, we hear about SummerFest, a huge music festival in Milwaukee, and we meet Aduba Malukaahaa, or whatever her name is, who works ground crew at SummerFest.  And Idol will change her life.  Sometimes she cries because her music means so much to her.  Her words, not mine.

So Naiuma Arkardapoo is going to sing Donnie Hathaway, and shockingly... she's not bad.  Actually, she's pretty good.  Here I was all set to make fun of Noxema Alahyoudaoo, and here she goes and does her thing right.  And she goes to Hollywood with three yes votes. 

I look forward to not being able to spell, type or pronounce Nobooboo Arachanidco's name in the future.

Back from break!   We see a somersaulting contestant somersault straight into a cameraman and it was awesome.  Here's the montage of bad songs... including a "Jenny from the Block" take.

Jerome Bell, a bar-mitzvah singer, is singing "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye.  He brings it loud, a little over the top.  I'd like to think of Song of Solomon had a soundtrack, this song would be it.  Yay God.

The judges dig Jerome's groove, and he's headed to Hollywood.

The Lovely Steph Leann:  I'd like one single year without that song being used in an audition.
Me:  I haven't heard any Mariah or Whitney so far
The Lovely Steph Leann:  I'm okay with that too.  But no more "Let's Get It On".

Seacrusty discusses the age limit being dropped to 15, partly due to the popularity of 9 year old Justin Bieber.  Thia Megea is 15, one of the many 15 year olds who have auditioned. 

"Chasing Paper" by Adele is her song.   And she's fantastic.  She sounds like she's 29 years old, and a veteran.  And she kinda sounds like a sista, too, though her look is more Hawaiia'n.... and they all say yes, so Thia is headed to Hollywood.

And every 15 year old that came in walked out with a Golden Ticket.  Steven Tyler says, "Thank God for people who can sing..."  And we see the teaser for the bad, bad singers to come.

Back from break, we see a guy named Nathaniel who is a Civil War Re-Enactor.  Was the Civil War in Wisconsin?  Was that a state in the 1860s?  No, I'm being serious.... that's a real question... Nate is in full Civil War regalia, and his dad is joining him, looking totally like a hippy.  Nate tells us, however, that dad is not a hippy.. "He's not a hippy!  Hippies have sex!"

When Nate walks in, J-Lo mutters, "oh no..."  And she was right for saying that... because "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is being slaughtered with a Civil War musket.   And the judges mock him, though Steven Tyler does it a little more discreetly.

This next guy can barely start, he's so nervous, and he ends up facing the other wall, composing himself.  He should have just walked out.  Yikes.  Neither me or the woman knows the song, but it doesn't matter, because it was gawd-awful. 

The next girl? "I am an intern at the White House and I'm in love with this president."  I now don't like this chick and will root against her completely.  She went to Harvard, so she is probably extremely book smart... but seriously?  In love with the President?   "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" is her song of choice, and she's not as bad as I want her to be.  Molly Swenson is her name, by the way.  Or I'll just call her The Idealistic Ignorant Molly.  She goes to Hollywood.

After the break, its Day Two!

Back from break, its Day Two!

The bubbly, pretty, toothy Haley Reinhart comes in, telling us this is everything she wants.  She auditioned last year, and didn't make it, so now she's back.  "Oh Darling" is her song, and I guess she got better, because she sounds great.  Steven Tyler loves her.  J-Lo loves her.  Randy the Dawg loves her.  Haley is Hollywood!

And from Chicago, its Tiwan!  He's busting out some Sam Cooke, and The Lovely Steph Leann pipes up, "I like him.  He needs braces.  But I do like him."  He sounds good.  They all like him, and Tiwan and his Elliott Yamean teeth head to Hollywood.

"It looks like his mouth needs, you know, three more teeth to fill in the spaces," The Lovely Steph Leann adds in.

Steve is a CPA, and is an auditor... "So I really don't have many friends," he says.  He adds, "I'm a wedding and funeral singer... weddings tend to be more fun."  And he has the humor of an auditor.  His voice is not great, but its not bad.   Both The Lovely Steph Leann and I are going back and forth on whether we like him or not...

Steven Tyler likes him.  Randy the Dawg says yes.  J-Lo says yes.  And Steve the auditor goes to Hollywood.

And here comes the girl from the teaser, when Seacrusty said, "And the judges have a showdown..."  Vernika is singing "Loving You" by Minnie Riperton, and "singing" is a stretch.  I just looked around and the glass on the front door of The Cabana just cracked. 

J-Lo tells her no, and how its not going to work.  Steven Tyler says she won't work for this show.  Vernika declares that "half'a dese peoples don't even sing good, I sing better than then half'a dese people.  Its cause I ain't skinny."  And she walks out, straight past Seacrest and the camera. 

We get a few crying chicks, including a few choice words by some, a mama who is protective of her kid (who she then tells to shut up), and a dude who drops his own words. 

Back from break, we get Albert Rogers III, who thinks he sounds like Usher, Ruuuuuben Studdard and Luther Vandross.  He's going to sing "Stand By Me", and J-Lo starts to giggle.  She knows what's coming.  And its a disaster.  Albert Part III is trying way, way too hard... and he gets a no from the judges.

Scott Dangerfield comes out, a 22 year old student teacher in shorts, a long sleeve button and square glasses.  He's going to sing "Dreamin'" by Amos Lee.  And right out'ta gate, Scott throws down and does it right.  J-Lo says, "You might just be my favorite so far." All the judges say YES enthusiastically.  The Lovely Steph Leann says, "I wasn't expecting that... and he kinda has a Jodie Foster look about him."

Back from Break!

And now we see one of the Green Bay Packers biggest fans ever.  Or so she says.  She loves the Green-n-Gold... her name is Megan Frasier, 20, and yells "Go Pack Go!" to the judges.  She's going to sing "Baby" by The Beebs, and its atrocious.  The judges all yell, "NO!" at the same time.

Alyson Jados is shown in tears when Steven Tyler came through the crowd early in the day.  And now, she goes to meet the judges, Steven Tyler included, who gives her a giggly-inducing hug.  She's going to sing "Come Together" and gives it that rocker edge, sort of a Allison Iraheta tone. 

She continues with "Dream On", though she admits she can't hit that last note, which Steven Tyler fills in.  He then tells her she's very pitchy, J-Lo tells her she's got a good quality, and Randy the Dawg says he doesn't think she's ready.  J-Lo says yes.  Now, its up to Steven Tyler to determine a yes or no.  Of course, he says yes. 

And now we get one last guy, which is our Sob Story (always disguised by the phrase, "his incredible journey") of the night.  Chris Medina is 26, from Chicago.  He's engaged to be married, and she works at a Starbucks!  She was recently in an accident, and she has a traumatic brain injury... and in a month or so, she woke up, with severe movement disabilities. 

"Break Even" by The Script is his song, and he slows it down to a bluesy kinda of jam.  Snapping fingers, he belts it out, and sounds great.  The judges ask to meet his girlfriend, and they wheel her in to meet the judges.  They shower her with hugs, kisses and love, and its probably one of the most sincere moments I've ever seen on Idol. 

You wouldn't see that with Simon. 

Milwaukee puts forth 53 contestants to Hollywood, out of the 1000s that showed up... and tomorrow night, its Nashville! 

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

"UPDATE"
Mom is alive.  Not well, not kicking, not healthy, but alive.  Thanks for praying and thinking of her and our family. 

"ITS ALL IN THE WRIST"
I was watching the end of the 13th ranked movie on The Dave100, and was about to watch "The Bounty Hunter" with Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston when I looked over to see The Lovely Steph Leann cuddled up in her pink Snuggie.  She's got her eyes closed, earbuds in, trying to desperately finish an audiobook that she checked out online and is due to expire at midnight tonight.

The Lovely Steph Leann, catching a few
winks in the evening

She doesn't like it when I turn on movies she hasn't seen, and wants too, so I hit the DVR button on "The Bounty Hunter" to watch it later, even though I've heard its a dreadful film.  I'm also DVR'ing "The Book of Eli", a great film I did see early this year, and am excited about seeing again later. 

So, to pass the time while I write a little on a late Saturday night, I turned it on The Speed Channel, for a classic episode of "Pimp My Ride"... and here's my thoughts for the night...

So, I've noted the fact that I seldom, if ever, actually get sick.  I wake up with a slightly sore throat or not feeling all that well, and by noon, I'm just right as rain.  Maybe I have a sniffle here and there, but overall, I'm cool.  Sometimes, however, I do pass it on to The Lovely Steph Leann--I can't be selfish and take all the infection, so I want to share.

Getting hurt, however, is another story.  Back in May of 2009, I told the story of the infected finger and the attack that my eyes waged on my body, then earlier this year, my left eye attacked me, and who can forget the coffee inferno that erupted on my foot? 

Now?  I'm in a splint.

About a week or so ago, I was working on our order that had just come into the store.  It had been piled up quite high, but several of us were working hard on getting it organized, dispersed and off of the cafe floor--I had only a few boxes left, and was trying to help Melanie Z from dealing with it later. 

I lifted a box of coffee, a box of oatmeal and some frap roast mix, and as I turned around to my left to take a step, I didn't see the two boxes of apple juice that lay motionless on the floor.  My shins hit the boxes, and I lost complete control.  The coffee, the oatmeal and the frap roast mix flew through the air, landed on the tile with a skid and slid across the floor.  I followed very closely behind, hitting the ground hard, landing on my left knee and my left hand/wrist.

A few customers came over and helped me up, made sure I was okay, I told them I was.  I shook it off, laughed a little, thanked them for their help.  I made my way to the back room, where as soon as I turned the corner out of sight, I slumped to the floor, holding my knee close to my chest, fighting a scream of pain.  A single tear trickled down my cheek.

One of my co-workers, Vee, walked back and saw me, and simply said, "Wow.  You're not alright."  I laughed through the tear, saying, "I'm sure I'll be fine.  Just give me a minute."  My knee hurt so, so bad.  So, for the next several days, I walked with a slight limp as my knee, bruised and and battered, began to heal itself.  Stairs were horrible, but over the last week, I think its going away.

However comma

...I did notice that my left wrist was not feeling as great.  In fact, it kinda had a little pain to it, depending on which way I turned it.  By mid-week, my wrist and hand just hurt when I worked, and by Friday morning, turning a door knob, pushing down the white mocha pump or picking up a gallon of milk with that hand made it hurt like crazy.   Off to see Dr. Vance on Friday afternoon, and he poked and prodded a little, got an X-ray and made sure it wasn't gangrenous, or riddled with AIDS or anything of that sort.  Nope, just a sprain on the wrist, one that will...

...one that will...

...one... will.... that.... wi...

...

...so, as I typed those previous words, I fell asleep.  Like, zonked out.  It was only for a brief few seconds, but it was long enough for my hand on my mouse to slip, the mouse to crash onto the keyboard, and The Lovely Steph Leann to wake up and stare at me.  I decided it was time for bed, so between the words "one that will" and right now, I've slept 8 hours, I've gone to church, I've had lunch with Hurricane Rhett, Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone), JustFish and his wife Kelly Kelly at Ruby Tuesdays, I've gone by the cigar shop to buy a gift card for my brother-in-law for Christmas, I've watched The Lovely Steph Leann pass out on the couch again, I've talked to Melanie Z on the phone about tomorrow at work, and I've listened to half of Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" album. 

Where was I?

Oh yeah, my wrist.  It'll heal.  In about a week or so. 

The whole point of that entire story was that now I have a splint on my left wrist.  I told Melanie Z a few minutes ago, "Ya know, I don't get sick.  I just get hurt."  And get old. 

"NEED YOU NOW"
Speaking of Lady Antebellum, is there a better country song out right now than "Need You Now"?  I mean, this song has everything--being drunk, being desperate, being broken hearted and hurt, and a hot chick singing half the song.  I'll be honest with ya, for the first few times I heard it, the opening keys on the piano makes it sound a little like "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe, but there are few songs that are farther apart in subject than "I Can Only Imagine" and "Need You Now". 

Was watching some video clip show on CMT, and this song came up, and Darius Rucker put it perfectly... "The song is beautiful... but when you listen to it, it's about nothing more than a booty call.  A late, desperate, drunk booty call.  But they sing it beautifully."

"MORNING GLORY"
I feel so behind when it comes to movies... I did a count today at church, while a slow song was being sung during the choir concert, and I and/or we have seen about 33 movies at the theater this year, and another three that were 2010 movies I and/or we have seen on DVR, premium cable, NetFlix or OnDemand pay-per-view. 

And I'm so, so behind on movie reviews... but here's one for ya.  

"Morning Glory" tells the tale of Becky Fuller, played by the getting-better-and-hotter-as-time-goes-on Rachel McAdams... she's no Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with, but she's still great.  Anyway, Becky is a ambitious news producer that, due to layoffs, is forced to take a job with a very low key, struggling network, and is hired to take over their terrible morning show.  Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton) is the longtime co-anchor, and is aghast when to complete the morning show team, Becky coerces/forces an old curmudgeon of a newsman, Mike Pomeroy, played by Harrison Ford--we'll get to him in a minute.



Obligatory picture of my Hollywood
girlfriend



Of course, nothing works out perfectly, so we watch Mike Pomeroy and Colleen Peck not get along, Becky have a meltdown over nothing working, and her love interest, played by Patrick Wilson, try to pursue a woman who is giving 110% to her career and nothing to her own life.

This movie works on two levels... first, Rachel McAdams wins in just about anything she is in.  To me, you recast "Mean Girls" with someone besides Lindsay Lohan, and it still works.  But take out Rachel McAdams' Rachel, and it loses something.  She wins in "Wedding Crashers", she shines in "The Notebook" and even makes "Red Eye" bearable, so when Rachel McAdams is in something, it automatically makes me thing that this might be a pretty good movie. 

Secondly, I don't know what happened to Harrison Ford, but he looks like he's been chewing on an onion for ten years now.  The man IS Indiana Jones and IS Han Solo, two of the most awesome icons in movie history, not to mention he was in four non-Star Wars or Indy related films, in The Dave100, that being "Air Force One" (46th), "Witness" (34th), "The Fugitive" (25th) and "American Graffiti" (15th). 

Harrison.  Smile once in a while.  Seriously. 

Anyway, back to "Morning Glory", this role is perfect for him.  Mike Pomeroy is bitter, is angry, feels like his lot in life sucks, and even though he was very successful back in the day, he fees like this new spot for him on the morning show is beneath him.  Ford trudges through the film with grunts and growls and scowls, and if you didn't know any better, he might have just as much contempt for being in this movie as his character does for being on the show in question.

"Morning Glory" is fun and simple, it doesn't try to hard, and you genuninely like and root for Becky Fuller, and can even empathize with her when she and Mike do the inevitable sit down, where they have the "don't work so hard or you will end up like me" conversation.  The movie is practically out of theaters at this point, so catch it as a rental. 

"UNSTOPPABLE"
Another movie we saw recently was "Unstoppable", starring Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Denzel Washington, and its premise is simple... they work on a train line.  They go out on what is supposed to be an easy, somewhat boring train transfer, moving a train and its cars from one town to the next in rural, blue collar Pittsburgh.

In another part of the state, two bumbling engineers accidentally let a train get away from them.  Just so happens this train is pretty huge.  Just so happens that its carrying toxic chemicals.  Just so happens that there is a train full of school kids on a field trip not too far up the track.  Just so happens that there is a dangerous part of the track up the road.  Just so happens this runaway train is, well, unstoppable.  Just so happens that... Denzel and Chris Pine are on the other train and are going to save the day.

Just so happens... I loved the heck out of this movie.  You know, sometimes you just want to be entertained, you don't want to think too much, you don't want to be taught anything or preached to or leave the theater dwelling on the film's message and so on... with "Unstoppable", none of that happens.  Its not a dumb movie, it just doesn't pretend to be anything that its not... its simply an action film with two likable leads on one train, trying to stop another train from going really, really fast.

This is one of those films that I liked watching now, and when it comes on Starz around May or so, it will be fun to leave on in the background while I'm doing other things around the house. 

"NO TREE"
If you come to The Cabana, you won't see a Christmas tree in our living room.  You won't see stockings on the mantle, you won't find lights hung around the railing out on the porch, or a giant Mickey in a Santa suit sitting in the corner. 

The reason why?  We didn't put a tree up this year.  See, I've always poked fun at those people who had their tree up in November, before Thanksgiving... in my mind, Christmas doesn't start until Thanksgiving is over, regardless of Wal-Mart having their trimmings up in September.

But, I kinda understand why people put it up before Thanksgiving.  See, our tree is huge.  Its a decent tree, its 7.5 feet, and its big.  Its one of those older trees where there are branches to install in the tree, first the bottom row, then the next, then the next, then a few more, until you get 2/3rds the way up the tree, then you stick on the top part.  The branches are supposedly color coded, but the white and the yellow look awfully alike, and the yellow has two levels and its just a nightmare. 

I've got to drag this thing out, put all the branches on, then we have to deal with gaps.  Then we have to deal with lights... though I'm thinking  that, starting next year, I'm going to toss every single strand of lights we have here out into the garbage... lights are now about $1 or $2 a box, so I can spend $10 a year to have fresh lights that I don't have to worry about.  The Lovely Steph Leann is all about colored lights, so they are even cheaper. 

Anyway, after the lights finally go up, we've got the ornaments.  I came into this marriage with about a dozen or so ornaments, whileshe came in with about 779 ornaments.  And she wants every.  single.  one of them.  on the tree. 

When Thanksgiving is over, we just get busy.  Really, really busy.  We had a weekend away that resulted in us spending a few days in Disney World, meeting up with some very dear friends while we were there.  We figured when we got back, we'd get the tree up.  When we got back, we were tired, we were lazy, we figured we'd get the tree up in a few days.

A few more days go by, and I finally ask The Lovely Steph Leann, "What if... what if we didn't put a tree up?"  She pauses, reflects for a minute, and said, "Well, I hope that this doesn't start a tradition of not putting a tree up..."  I told her that we would put it up, just maybe not this year.

Mid-December comes around, and no tree still.  The Lovely Steph Leann informs me that we aren't putting up a tree until we clean the floor.  My argument was simply, why clean the floor when we are putting a tree down, with a tree skirt over it covering the area.  Why not clean it after the tree is put away in January?  No dice, says the wife.  No floor, no tree.  I said I wasn't cleaning that part of the floor, and its a stalemate.

Then, a few days ago, The Lovely Steph Leann says, "Well, I'm in agreement... we don't have to put a tree up this year.  Just so long as we don't make this a permanent thing."  I shake my head, thinking that oh, we'll get it up at some point soon.

And here we are, the weekend before Christmas, no tree. And there won't be a tree this year at The Cabana.  Next year, I'm going to become one of those people that I made fun of... our tree is going up in mid-November, BEFORE Thanksgiving.    So when Thanksgiving rolls around, our tree is up, and we don't have to worry about it. 

And it will be a new tree.  Not the beastly monster that we have now, but something a little easier, maybe not smaller, but easier to put up.  Its gotta hold 779 ornaments, after all.

Birthday Paintings (and other thoughts)

Everyone had their favorite cereals growing up.  I loved several, though, including Cookie Crisp, Count Chocula and Frankenberry, Pebbles of all types, be it Fruity or Cocoa, and Lucky Charms.  When I ate Lucky Charms, I always at all the pieces that were not marshmallows, then at the end, had like, one or two huge scoopfuls of nothing but 'mallow.  It was awesome.

My cereal tastes really haven't gotten all that refined as an adult, though I steer more towards the less sugary, less cartoony kind.  Don't get me wrong, I still like a bowl full of Fruity Pebbles, but I do enjoy Corn Chex (or Kellogg's Crispex, which is essentially the same thing) or some Rice Krispies.

But two I usually have, or at least rotate through are Frosted Mini Wheats and Kellogg's Raisin Bran.  I have the latter in my house at this moment, though I do dig on the former a little more.  Problem is, its so cotton' pickin' expensive.  A good box of Frosted Mini-Wheats will cost you upwards of 4, maybe even 5 dollars. 

Sure, I could go to Wal-Mart, where many times items are a bit cheaper... however, Wal-Mart doesn't carry the Mini-Wheats I want.  I want the Mini-Wheats in the red box.  I want the Mini-Wheats that are frosted, they are about two inches long per... well, the box says "biscuit", but I'd just call it a "mini-wheat"... anyway, I want the regular Frosted Mini-Wheats.

Worked at Starbucks tonight, and after work, I stopped by Wal-Mart to get some milk...

...is there anything worse than having like, a half-inch of milk when you really want some cereal?  Like, just enough milk to wet whatever you pour in a bowl, but if you pour more than a half-inch of cereal, you have dry cereal... its dreadful... where was I?

...and some cereal.  Checked out the cereal aisle, and studied the mini-wheat selection.  I'd been here in this very aisle before, with the same results.  There are Frosted Mini-Wheat Little Bites, Chocolate Mini-Wheat Little Bites, Cinnamon Streusel Bite Size, Cinnamon Streusel Regular, Blueberry Muffin Bite Size, Strawberry Delight Bite Size, Maple and Brown Sugar Bite Size and Maple and Brown Sugar Regular Mini-Wheats.

But no Regular Sized Frosted Mini-Wheats.  Can't a guy get some Frosted, regular size Mini-Wheats?  I don't ask for much, really.  I did end up buying some Eggo Waffle Cereal, because it was only $2.00 and it looked like it might be good and not good for me.  Always a plus. 

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This past Saturday was The Lovely Steph Leann's birthday celebration.  Her birthday is actually next Saturday, but she'll be out of town, so we celebrated a little early.  I had to work Saturday morning, but still had our friend Cah-Lah Rah pick her up at 11a, take her to lunch to meet her (our) friends DeLisa, The Dainty Steph Halpert and Emmy Turnbow, then off to Painted By U, owned and operated by Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone) to meet up Mama Ruthless and The Lovely Steph Leann's sister and kids for a big pottery paintin' party.




Here's Cahlah Rah, The Lovely Steph Leann, DeLisa and The Dainty Steph Halpert

 Had to do a bit of rushing around after I got off work, though.  Had to pick up dessert (chocolate covered strawberries), had to run into Wal-Mart (somehow I always do), and I had to go into The Dollar Tree for a couple of gift bags.

While I was in Wal-Mart, I picked up a few things needed for The Lovely Steph Leann's big day, and also a bottle of water, because I was thirsty as all get out.  So, when I walked into The Dollar Tree, I didn't think anything about taking my water with me, sipping/gulping as I did my quick shopping.  I ended up with two gift bags and, did you know they do Mylar Balloons there?  I got two of those.

I bought these at Edible Arrangements.  They are very
pricey, but extremely tasty.

The girl ringing me up just did not enjoy her job.  Don't know if it was that she was in her mid-30s, maybe 40s, and was working retail at The Dollar Tree, don't know if she had a personal issue in her life that was just keeping her from enjoying her day, but she didn't want to be there.  I was bothering her with my gift bag and my balloons and my smile and my "how are you today?" and my easy-to-please purchases. 

"That's $4.38" she says.
"Alrighty," I replied cheerfully, running my card through the swiper.  She put my bags into a plastic bag, then glanced down at my half-full bottle of water.

"Did you get that here?" she said suspiciously.
"Nope, bought it at Wal-Mart a few minutes ago.  Didn't even know you sold Dasani water."
"We do," she said, smirking at me, glancing at my water, and back up at me again.

"I got it at Wal-Mart," I said again.  I paused, and then added, "I have the receipt in my car.  I'll be happy to get it for you."

She smirked again, not believing anything  a word I said.

The rest of the day was just smashing, however.

You can contact Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) at Painted By U by calling 205-988-8933, visiting their website at www.paintedbyu.com, or find them on Twitter and Facebook by looking for "Painted By U"

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So, as I said before, I worked Starbucks tonight, which means after the visit to Wal-Mart, I got home around 11p.  And I fired up the DVR and watched this week's episode of WWE: Raw, and when it was over, I scrolled to Hawaii Five-O.  Watching it now, and it's awesome.

Though it is a little weird to have Jin from LOST speak English.

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Two restaurants I've visited recently... one is Flip Burger.  Located at The Summit, its the "burger boutique", two words that may or may not ever belong together.  The atmosphere is modern, a little quirky and kind of fun.  The booth I sat in, as are all the booths, have backs that go all the way to the ceiling, almost like you are sitting in this little alcove in the wall, with a window.

The food is a bit pricey.  I ordered the burger combo with the fries and a milkshake ($12), and they delivered it fairly soon.  The burger reminded me of the overpriced sized burger you'd find at Hamburger Heaven or The Varsity in Atlanta, but was pretty good.  The fries were tasty, but the real treat was the milkshake. 

They serve some of the milkshakes with nitrogen on the top, so they are still smoking when they bring it to you, cold as they can possibly get without freezing.  I had the famous "Krispy Kreme Milkshake" and while it was good, and MZ, who I had met for lunch (I love Starbucks meetings on my day off... at least I got lunch) had the "Creme Brulee Milkshake", and that one was exceptional.  As always, I want the thing I didn't order.

Overall, it was a good dining experience, but my bill, with tip, came out to be about $16.  Considering I can get a huge meal at Milo's for about $6, and if I'm really wanting a milkshake bad enough, I can go over to Zaxbys and get a fantastic shake for $3, I'd probably do that.  Meaning I probably won't go to Flip again unless I'm with a group I want to be with and they all go, or someone else is buying, though I'd take The Lovely Steph Leann if she wanted to go.

Also recently, on a whim because I was hungry, I visited Chuy's (pronounced "Chewie's), again at The Summit.  The atmosphere was cool, with Mexican license plates all over the walls, a south of the border motif, and even stuff hanging from the ceiling everywhere.

I went around 11am, and a good thing too, because by 1130, people were starting to line up in the front to get in.  The menu is quite extensive, as you'd expect.  I ended up with the Baja Tacos, with no jalapeno sauce and light cilantro (its funny, because I asked for light cilantro and they put one small, single leaf on each of the two tacos I got.)

The plates were huge, and my tacos were essentially two pieces of fried shrimp wrapped in a tortilla... and surprisingly, it was great.  What wasn't all that great was the cheese dip.  Its slightly spicy, and for anyone who knows me, you know I'm not digging on spice, but even then, it was a little too thin and not nearly as good as you'd get from Pablo's around the corner.

The chips were excellent, though.  When the basket was emptied, the waitress came around with a huge scoop, and poured new chips into the basket--and they were warm, almost like she dipped them straight out of the fryer, shook off the grease and came to my table.

I feel like I paid about the same for my lunch as I did at Flip Burger, but Chuy's was a better value for the amount of food I recieved.    I'd go to Chuy's again, but like Flip, I'd probably go with people or if someone else was buying (hello business lunch!)... or, of course, if The Lovely Steph Leann wanted to go.

Make sure you visit Chuy's at off-hours though, like before or an hour or two after lunch, or before and after the dinner time hours.  Friday and Saturday evenings are probably impossible.  I've heard horror stories about the wait time there.

The Blog? Change It? Leave It? Help Me Out!

So, a few months ago, I did a redesign of the blog... I added an espresso bean background, made some color and layout changes, moved a few things around, added some stuff, deleted some stuff and so on.  Since then, I've gotten some feedback from a few people telling me they like the way it looked, and a few more people have told me "Eh."

Since then, I've been waffling like a John Kerry speech.  I like it.  I don't like it.  I like it.  I don't like it.  For me, the posts are getting better, I feel like my writing has gotten better (especially compared to my early stuff... wow...) and my content has been varied, but at the same time more focused (if you don't agree, that's fine, but my readership has grown consistantly over the last year or two since I've been writing, so I'm doing something right).

But the layout has kind of thrown me.  I'm not sure I like the background.  If you know me well enough, you'll know I don't even drink coffee, so the name itself, "Clouds In My Coffee" is a name I'd probably change if I could go back to the beginning (I really like "Welcome to Delaware" and "Love, Pride and Deep Fried Chicken") but five plus years later, its too late for that--heck, type in "Clouds In My Coffee" in Google or Bing and I'm on the first page!

So, you tell me.  I've inserted my first ever poll on the website, which you'll find to the right.  Please take a second and give me some feedback... should I leave as-is?  Should I change it up?  Should I kind of downgrade, so its not distracting, or should I do something else?  You are the people who finds it, checks it, loads it and reads it, so YOU tell ME. 

The ultimate plan is to go to a plain www site through Blogger, though finding a good, memorable domain name has been tough--most of the ones I'd take are all either in use, or at least purchased.  Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) had a long talk via Facebook about this one night, where should concurred that anything involving "clouds", unless its "Clouds in My Coffee", sounded... well, gay.

Anyway, help a brotha' out and tell me what you think. 

Pic in a Poo

This entire blog really leads to one punchline using the word "poo" that really only I will think is funny, cause really, many things I think are funny aren't really funny to anyone else... along the way, I figured I'd toss in my growing dislike for large crowds, those great "where we going to eat?" conversations and a trip to The Summit. 

Why this?  Well, I had to have something to talk about while sitting in the living room with The Lovely Steph Leann, who is actually (re)watching "A Cinderella Story" starring Hillary Duff.  Wish I were kidding.

By the way, Rupert Grint was supposed to be the Chad Michael Murray/Prince Charming role, but had to drop the role to make Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban.  Just a random thought.

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I used to love crowds.  Seriously, I would totally dig parking, walking and enjoying huge concerts, or festivals or large gatherings.  I don't mean fraternity parties, or church functions where you'd see 50 or 100 people or something, I mean those huge gatherings where 500, 1000, 5000 people are all gathered together.

Now?  Not so much.

This marks the first time in recent memory there was no City Stages here in Birmingham.  City Stages was this large music festival typically held in an early June weekend, featuring hip hop acts, country stars, pop and rock stars, folk and indie acts and even more.  The last time I went, I was able to see Martina McBride, though I vaguely remember it, and I think I also saw Three Doors Down, though it could have been Nickelback--they really are the same band, I think.

I say "the last time I went", though I did go just a few years ago, but only because I was working for a TV station, was there during the early part of the morning and was out after lunch.  Why?  Cause I wanted to avoid the crowds.

Maybe its my old age, or maybe its not wanting to find places to park at large gatherings, or maybe its a huge aversion to two hundred cars all trying to leave at the same time from the same place... I dunno.  I even heard Hootie & the Blowfish was supposed to perform at a local Spring music festival here, and I had a chance to go on the cheap... and I declined.  Too many people, all in a field, everyone standing in a puddle of beer, sweat, urine and Hootie.  Just not my cup of tea.  I think I tossed in "Cracked Rear View" in Tony Rocki Honda's CD player and jammed out to "Hannah Jane" while enjoying the quiet solitude of The Cabana.

College football?  That's an entirely other matter.  I'm there. 

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Speaking of avoiding crowds, The Lovely Steph Leann and I went to The Summit today.

We have a small spectrum of restaurants that we frequent, including Baha Burger, Chipotle's Mexican Grill, Dale's Southern Grill, Jason's Deli, Surin 280, Mellow Mushroom and Purple Onion.  Oh, we visit other places too, but chances are if we've gone out to eat, we've visited one of the aforementioned eateries.  We're actually afraid to eat at one of these places with Hurricane Rhett or Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) because of the fabled Barnett Curse that ruins experiences. 

Now, when deciding what to eat, here's a typical conversation... stop me if you've ever had this...

Me:  What about Baha?
Her:  No... I had a cheeseburger yesterday, and I want something a little healthier this time.  What about Jason's?
Me:  I really don't want Jason's tonight.  Chipotle?
Her:  Well, we're meeting MZ and her reality show at Pablo's on Thursday night, so I don't want Mexican now.
Me (starting to get a little desperate):  Oooh... what about Surin 280?
Her: Too expensive. Mellow Mushroom?
Me: If we can't do Surin, we can't do Mushroom either.  The Purp?
Her (rubbing her tummy): Oh, I don't know if I can handle Purple Onion tonight.
Me: Dale's Southern Grill?
Her: I had that with my parents a few days ago.  Don't want that again, I don't want to get burned out on it.
Me: Yeah, but I had to work, and I haven't had Dale's in like, two weeks.
Her: I know, I know, but I don't want Dale's
Me (getting irritated):  What about Arby's?  Taco Bell?  Zaxby's?  Waffle House?
Her (getting irritated back):  Now see, you are just bringing up places that you know I don't want.
Me: So, where do we go?

About this time, The Lovely Steph Leann does one of two things... she relents, and says something like "I don't know, I can't decide."  She'll sigh deeply, and say, "Wherever you want to go, that's fine", which puts me in a bad position because no matter where we go, she won't really enjoy it as much as I'd like her too, though this might be a mental thing for me.  I'll ask her later if she enjoyed dinner and she'll say, "Yeah, I was alright."  Then I'll feel slightly bad for taking her to somewhere she didn't really want to go...

OR

She'll pop up with something like "Um... what about Bella's?  Or Zoes?  Or O'Carrs?"  These are three restaurants that aren't in my wheelhouse, and that I don't really enjoy all that much (that being said, O'Carrs has the most incredible cheesecake EVER).  So when she pops up with these, I know she wants to go to one of those.  Much of the time, I shoot 'em down quickly... because whereas she might not want to go to Chipotle, she will still at least partly enjoy her meal.  However, if I go to Bella's, Zoes or O'Carrs, unless I get the hot chocolate cheesecake with the warm whipped cream oozing down the side, I don't know that I'm finding anything I will enjoy. 

But this weekend, I wanted to just make The Lovely Steph Leann happy.  I went and got her a chicken salad fruit plate from O'Carrs yesterday for lunch, and today for lunch (I had to work, so we didn't get to go to lunch until 1) and relented quickly, and agreed to take her to Zoes Kitchen. 

Zoes Kitchen is a little restaurant that specializes in veggie-filled, pita covered, rolly uppy kinda dishes.  But, off we went... to...

The Summit.

Its huge, its expansive, its filled with lots and lots of cars and lots and lots of people and lots and lots of stores and mommies with strollers.  Weekends at The Summit are things I tried to avoid.  And Zoes was usually a place I tried to avoid...

Have to admit, though, I kinda enjoyed lunch.  They have new steak roll-ups, which I ordered, and found myself thinking that lunch was tasty, and as long as this was on the menu, Zoes was a place that I might be able to withstand in the near future. 

We weren't at The Summit just for lunch, though... The Lovely Steph Leann actually did have some things she wanted to purchase, namely at a store named Chico's, which meant I had to drive, which meant I had to deal with the traffic. Randomly, we were turning into the lower part of The Summit where Chico's was located, and on the sign that tells you the stores in that section, there was some small writing in-between Saks Fifth Avenue and Panera Bread that caught my eye.  Sitting in the turn lane, I squinted and said, "What does that say?"

The Lovely Steph Leann said, "What?"  I pointed at the sign and as I turned, I said, "Oooh... it says Peas in a Pod..."  She looked confused, saying, "Yeah, Peas in a Pod."

I replied, "All I know is, a store called 'Peas in a Pod' is something I care nothing about.  I thought it said, 'Pic in a Poo', and I was about to tell you we are going there, like, right now."

I then proceeded to laugh my fool head off, because seriously, any store that is named Pic in a Poo is a store worth a visit.  Just sayin'.

The 100 Coolest Things of 2009... #20 to 11

One step closer to revealing what is the absolute, bar none, most awesome, Coolest Thing of 2009... but first, we have nineteen more things to discuss.  And here's ten more, starting with...

The 20th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Where We Eatin', Y'all?"
On my blogroll on the right, there are over 20 blogs listed.  My rule usually is that if you don't update your blog in two months or so, I take it off the blogroll... of course, I'm still expecting to be on theirs, so its a hard double standard line to toe.

There are several who do update on a regular, or semi-regular basis, which include:

Happy Harper Stories... Married mom of two, Jaime, shares stories of family and kids, but mostly I like to wander aimlessly around her blog--her set up is much better than mine.
B&W Daily Photos... Former Deucemate and Pimpalicious Shawn Sharp simply takes a photo each day.  Sounds simple enough, and it is, but its a fun little site showcasing some great talent.
Life's Random Happenings... One of my kids, Betsy, has this fun little random site she writes on, and I'm actually enjoying her list of things to accomplish before she dies. 

And then there's this little beauty... its got this ridiculously clunky title, almost too long to remember, but long enough that you'll remember enough of it, called, "Where To Go Eat Or Not Go Eat... And Why", and its not so much about restaurant reviews as it is about the legendary Barnett Curse.

When its $10, $20, maybe $30 bucks for Amarilys By Morning (up from san antone), her husband Hurricane Rhett and their daughter Raspberry Vinaigrette to eat, they do okay.  Mostly.  The Lovely Steph Leann and I had dinner with them the other night, things went swimmingly.

When they fork over the $100 for dinner at the fancy schmancy places, they do okay, like you usually do when you are paying that much for dinner.

But when it gets between $30 and say, $70... all bets are off.  Everything from waiters making racial jokes to time lapses of more than a few hours from arrival to departure.   They wreak havoc on restaurants when they show up, not on purpose... but the Bad Service Fairy hovers over the place from the time the Barnetts walk in to the time they leave.  And it makes for a great blog.

And the restaurants they've cursed include... The Egg and I... Wendy's... Red Lobster... and my favorite still, where The Barnett Curse perhaps began... The Cheesecake Factory.

The 19th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Sunshine Cleaning"
From April 2009 (written a year ago today, which tells you how far behind I am on getting this Top 100 finished)...

A couple of days ago we saw "Sunshine Cleaning". This was one I had been waiting on, as the previews looked wonderful and it helps that I'm in love with Amy Adams. Amy plays Rose Lorkowski, a 30 something woman who's life hasn't turned out like she hoped. Rose is not making much money, her son is a problem child, and she's having an affair with a guy that she knows down deep will never leave his wife. She's a maid for a maid service, and realizes that her life has really hit a wall when she ends up cleaning a house for someone she went to high school with.

I loved this movie in every possible way. It was charming, it was fun and there aren't a thousand subplots to try and tie up at the end. Some of the cliched stuff that you think would happen in a movie like this never does, which was refreshing, and Rose is such a lovable character that you root for her the entire time--and its heartbreaking when the major "event" happens that seems to ruin everything late in the movie. You even end up really liking Norah, despite some of the stupid things she does. What I also loved about this movie is it doesn't' feel the need to resolve every little issue with a Hollywood happy ending. Some things are... well, just done when they are done. Rated R for language and some Amy Adams underwear shots.

The 18th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Adam Carolla Podcast
In the years leading up to 2009, namely 2005, 2006 and 2007, I knew only of Adam Carolla from "The Man Show"--no, I never watched it, I just know it was on Comedy Central and Spike TV for a while--and as a co-host of MTV's "Loveline", another show that I never watched, but knew about.

In 2008, Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons started having Adam come on his own podcast from time to time, and they were always podcasts I thoroughly enjoyed.  Adam would usually pitch a "movie idea", and it was always something to laugh at... my favorite is the idea for a movie called "Long Snapper", about a disgraced NFL longsnapper named Rush Blitzer... and in it, he'd throw every cliche that movies present, from the cutaways to birds leaving the trees when something traumatic is going on to that weird double take look when someone sees something that surprised them.

I found out in early 2009 that Carolla was getting his own podcast, so I checked it out... and I've been listening ever since.  Now, Adam Carolla is not Emmy Turnbow safe by any means--he uses foul langauge, he discusses topics that are not necessarily meant to be discussed at the dinner table, and he is seldom politcally correct... but he's hysterical.  And practical.  He doesn't pull any punches, he says it like it is, and he makes fun of himself to the extreme sometimes.  Its randy but never disgusting, its Rated R but not NC-17... he also has guests in the studio (which in the early shows constituted his couch in his home, and now is a couch in a warehouse) and its fun to watch them let loose and discuss.

He's anchored by his friend Donnie, who he's dubbed "The Weaz", who helps produce the show, and will also feature his friends Bald Bryan and Teresa Strasser, who used to co-host "What Not to Wear" (and has her own funny blog) and many times, depending on the guest, its the first show out of the gate I listen to when I'm scrolling through my podcasts, even beating out Rush.  (don't worry--I am now and forever will be a Rush fan until someone can not only convince me he's wrong, but prove it... hasn't happened yet...)

The 17th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Relator"
The movie theater isn't the most likely place to discover music you like... but The Lovely Steph Leann and I were sitting, chitchatting away in the dim light, awaiting whatever movie to start to... well, start.  The familiar voice of That Guy who does that Movie Tunes broadcast says something like, "Here's the new one from Ingrid Michelson!" and Ingrid Michelson starts out her song "Everyone".  You know, "everyone, everyone wants to love, everyone everyone wants to be loved, oh whoa whoa... oh whoa whoa..."

I thought it was cool.  I got out my phone and texted "Ingrid M Everyone" to myself.  Wanted to do that so I would remember to listen to it, and possibly download later.

And then, after "Everyone" had finished, the same guy rambled on about something or another, possibly telling me I should go get a refreshing Coke for like, $8.75, at the refreshment stand.  Then he says something strange--"Here's a new tune from Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson".

Exsqueeze me?  Bakin' powder?  When did ScarJo become a singer?  What did I miss?

And here comes this raspy voice, a voice that I struggled to place with ScarJo... "When I met you... I didn't know what to do... I was hungry, I was tired, I fight..."

And once again, I grabbed my phone, texting "ScarJo P Yorn Relate" to myself.  All I've got is this tune in my head, "you don't... relate... to me... no no..." and when I finally get home, I Google the lyrics and it comes up with "Relator", by Scarlet Johansson and Pete Yorn, from their duet (!) album "Break Up".  I've listened to most of the tunes on the whole album, and they are alright enough, but "Relator" is the gem.  Its a great, great driving song.

 

The 16th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Book of Basketball"

Anyone who knows me knows I have an affinity for The Sports Guy.  He's a columnist on ESPN.com, a former writer for ESPN The Magazine, and the author of the book that was the 6th Coolest Thing of 2006.  His latest book is a must-read for anyone who has ever enjoyed anything about the NBA... its almost NBA overload. 

In this 700+ page behemoth of a book, The Sports Guy tackles the Top Ten Greatest Seasons of All Time... He looks back and retroactively awards MVP titles to those who should have gotten them, as opposed to who did get them (many times not the same thing) and his love of the Boston Celtics and the National Basketball Association shines through when he devotes hundreds of pages to the best players of all time, ranked from great to greatest in his attempt to revamp the Basketball Hall of Fame.

There are tons of statistics and names dropped, a few shots taken at players like Vince Carter, Kareem and Kobe, and lots of basketball history--the man did his homework--but what sets him apart from other columnists I enjoy is his pop culture knowledge.  Being a pop culture afficinado myself, I not only appreciate, but revel in the jabs and jokes that come along, sometimes making me feel a little special because I know some of his references are harder to identify, and only a few of us can do so.  Cause we rock.

Because of time contraints, it took me a solid two months to plow through this book (and I'm actually going back and re-reading my favorite chapters because the start time to finish time was so lengthy), and after his baseball book, and now The Book of Basketball, it makes me wonder if a football opus is around the corner at some point.

The 15th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Rather Unimpressive Illegitimate Children"
From a post written on August 23rd, 2009...  You know, I take pride in the fact that I'm pretty good with films. I've seen thousands of movies over the years, and many of them are the same, or at least the same type, and you can kind of predict patterns, kind of see where a movie will go, sometimes have a good clue as to "whodunit" before the blood dries on the ground...

however comma

I have to be honest in saying that this film went in a COMPLETELY different direction than what I was thinking it would. The trailer, which was very cleverly uninforming by Tarantino, tells you nothing of what this movie holds and where its going to go.

The Basterds, as they are called, is a group led by Lt. Aldo Raines, played by Brad Pitt, and he wants to kill Nah-zees.

Aldo Raines recruits a group of soldiers to do just that very thing, but along the way, we also see the story (and backstory) of Shoshanna (a wonderful--and gorgeous--Melanie Laurent), who's entire Jewish family is butchered by infamous Jew Hunter, Col. Hans Landa. Landa is played by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz,  (who ended up winning an Oscar in March of 2010--d$) and the character is played to unsympathetic perfection. You want to absolutely hate Landa for who he is and what he does, but you almost find yourself liking him just because he is so "I'm just doing the job they asked me to do, and I'm going to do it well" blaise about it. Only the job isn't tiling a bathroom or fixing a transmission, its hunting and killing Jews in France.

Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit. On QT's movie rankings, I'd still ranking Dogs as my favorite, followed closely by "Pulp Fiction"... and then this one. I look forward to watching it again, enjoying all of Tarantino's eccentricities that he dashes throughout his films

The 14th Coolest Thing of 2009... MZ Gets a Starbucks
Its always good when your friends succeed.

When I went to The Happiest Place in the Mall in July of 2008, I stepped down as a manager at Starbucks, and went just part time at a store in Homewood, AL.  It was a store that had scheduled to close, and at that time I was almost at 6 years with the company, and I was asked to help the store close down.  When it finally did, I was transferred over to the Starbucks on 280, right next to Hwy 119.

Working there?  My friend MZ that I had known when she was a customer ordering her Grande Raspberry Mocha on a daily basis.  She became a barista, then a shift... and when the long term manager left for another career, she was promoted, much to the chagrin of some who thought she was "too new" and they were next in line. 

She was very "new", but she was experience enough to know what she was doing, and humble enough to know she was in over her head.  When I found The Happiest Place would become The Emptiest Place in the Mall, I asked her if I could come on full time... and though we were friends, she took a professional stance and actually thought about it and about what would be best for the business.  She agreed, and when my job ends, I'll once again be doing Starbucks 40 hours per week.

Its been about a year or so now, and she's learned alot... and I've learned alot from her.  I'm excited about working for, and with, MZ, because I've watched her already.  People respond to her leadership, which is built on relationships and a fever to help each person do their best in whatever they are doing--that in turn will be best for the business.  Maybe she's "new", but she's already miles ahead of many managers who had been doing this for a long, long time.

The 13th Coolest Thing of 2009... Inside the Magic
I love audiobooks (I'm right in the middle of a 30 disc narration of "Under the Dome" by Stephen King... which I'll talk about when I finish, because its marvelous) but when I listen to an audiobook (like said 30 disc novel), I always have to play catch up on my podcasts... such as the 1:45 it takes to listen to a complete, commercial free Rush Limbaugh show.  Or the 45 minutes to an hour it takes me to listen to either Carolla's podcast or The BS Report with The Sports Guy.  Or the 30 minute weekly show called ESPNU College Football, which comes on every other week in the offseason.

And last January or so, I decided I wanted to jump into a few Disney podcasts... I listened to a few, and found some to be either long winded or too random, but one stuck.  I listened to "Inside the Magic" again the following week... and the following week.. and the following week... and sometime would go online to watch the videos that host Ricky Brigante would post, various openings of stores, or coverage of a press event or so on.

Each show starts with a "Trip... around the world", with Ricky, an Orlando resident and frequent visitor of the parks, giving news from not only Walt Disney World, but also Disneyland, sometimes parks overseas if the news is big enough, various news and rumors from other Disney areas like movies and music, and even sometimes news and such from other Orlando area attractions like Sea World and Universal.

Ricky's got this odd voice that you think will grate on you, yet in a short time it becomes an easy voice to listen to even for long period of time (his Ear in Review show?  Four hours) and his wit comes through as he's not afraid to take a jab at Disney... he's a fan just as much as we are, and with that comes the good and the bad.

Says Ricky:  "In the next bit of news, I don't know why I didn't lead with this... huge news for everyone... its officlal.  Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato... are dating.  You heard it here."

The show sometimes features movie reviews, music reviews and restaurant reviews, many times has interviews with people from the Disney universe, and will often feature a segment called "Cruisin' the World", with Skipper Ben, a former Jungle Cruise skipper who lives in Dallas, TX, but has never lost the Disney bug.

The show has been a valuable source of information for me in my time at The Happiest Place in the Mall, many times hearing rumors and news, getting release dates of certain things like DVDs and such, even before the company let us at the store level know.  If you are looking for a weekly podcast, you can find Inside the Magic in the iTunes store, or on their new website, but will also add to the Disney links on the right.  Back to yooooooooooou Ricky.

The 12th Coolest Thing of 2009... Disney with The Lovely Steph Leann
Once again, for our anniversary, The Lovely Steph Leann and I headed to Orlando, FL, to spend 9 days amongst The Most Magical Place on Earth--that being Walt Disney World.

Now, you may wonder "Why is a vacation with your wife only ranking 12th?  Shouldn't that be the most important and coolest thing?  What kind of man are you?!"

To that, I answer that yes, this trip was very cool.  Any trip with The Lovely Steph Leann is a good trip.  A cool trip.  But the two reasons that this trip ranks 12th and not 1st are simply... 1) We went with my mother-in-law and aunt.  Now, this wasn't inherently a bad thing, it was enjoyable, and Mama Ruthless actually paid for several meals and took care of us through the trip.  We hung out with them some, and split up from them some... but the fact that our anniversary vacation was taken with a mother-in-law and an aunt... just sayin'.

And 2) The Lovely Steph Leann got sick.  I mean, sick.  I mean, sick sick.  It started in the middle of the trip, and perhaps began when I didn't feel good.  I went through a day or so of stomach issues, with my immune system, usually built like a tank, fighting off the stomach flu. But as the old saying goes, "That which does not kill us goes after The Lovely Steph Leann and makes her sick."  And the stomach flu did just that very thing, knocking her completely out of action for one full day and bits and pieces of days after that.  She's said it was one of the worst, darkest days of her life. 

So the stomach flu was the big hindrance to this trip being 12th and not 1st... but for a few notes from the trip, you can click to the one post I wrote concerning the trip. 

The 11th Coolest Thing of 2009... Movies With Mikey
There's a road that runs through the little town of Hoover, and on that road--Lorna, to be exact--there's a little shopping center... I say shopping center, but there really is no shopping... maybe its a business area.  There's a club there that has been through about fifteen different names, including Frogger's and Roper's, and I think its Bumper's now. 

Next to it is a small movie theater that I'm sure in its heyday, back when Ace of Base ruled the charts and perhaps the Dallas Cowboys were beginning a dynasty, was a clamour of activity and profit.  You know its an older theater when you walk in and you realize you don't have to climb any steps to get to your seat.  Nay, you have to walk down a slight incline and choose your row.

We take for granted stadium seating and you young fellas and gals probably don't remember a time when all seats were on the same level, save for a ramp that took you a little lower the closer to the screen you got.

This is why Mikey and I love this theater... and this is why Mikey and I make it a habit to get together a few times a month for a movie there.  Oh, and the fact that its a single dollar to get in.  If you've ever walked out of a theater you've paid $9.75 to get into thinking "Man, that movie was terrible... I hate that I wasted a Zaxby's meal and a Chick-fila Cookies-n-Cream milkshake worth to see that." 

That's the idea behind The d$ and Mikey Crappy Movie Series.  We go see movies that we kinda want to see but don't dare pay $10 for, because we aren't sure we'll even like it. Sometimes we make it a point to go see the worst of the worst.  Someitmes we are pleasantly surprised at how much we like a movie.  We always have a good time.

Some of the movies we have seen this past year include... "Observe and Report", one of the worst films I've ever seen... "Land of the Lost", a pretty bad Will Ferrell flick... "Men Who Stare At Goats", which I'm still trying to figure out the plotline... "I Love You Man", solidifying my love of Paul Rudd... "Year One", funny at times but only here and there... and "The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard", pushing hard to be worth the one dollar we spent...  talk about your epic, award winning films.  All were preceeded with a burger at Baha or some other find eating establishment, and all included great conversation with one of my best mates. 

Here's to another year full of crappy, terrible one dollar movies.

And finally... here comes the top ten.. two movies, eight people, two songs, a gathering, a toy and a toy ride... the Top Ten Coolest Things of 2009...