I just returned from a visitation. I have to work tomorrow, so I cannot attend the funeral, but the viewing was my chance to pay my last respects... not to an elderly aunt, who passed in the night from a long battle with cancer... not to a grandfather, who died suddenly at the ripe old age of 84 from a massive stroke... not to a close relative or friend who passed later in their years... no, I paid my last respects to a 17 year old girl.
Her name is Porcia. She's one of my kids, as I call any of the kids who come through WalkAbout Drama, the middle school ministry I helped found and led for a time. She's just a few days into her final summer of school, her senior year awaits, then college... but, that's not to be. She died a few days ago in a... well, I hate using the term "freak accident", because it puts forth this image of a bizarre circumstance that is hardly to be believed... it was an accident. No one to blame, no fingers to point, no one's fault... just a case of God saying, "This is what I'm going to do, these are My plans, and those plans involve Porcia coming home to Me."
I watched this kid grow up from afar, and admired her for her talents, her values, her quiet spirit, her sweet nature. I've also admired her mother, Ashley, and the life she's led in the years I've known her. With Porcia being 17, and Ashley being a year younger than I am, that puts her having Porcia at around 14 or 15. I'm not trying to be all gossipy or anything, I'm just doing the math... and there's a connection there for me, because my own biological mother had me when she was 15, so I can understand at least a little bit of the kind of struggle she might have had. I actually think Porcia's family tree might be as whacked out as mine is... and I mean that in love, because I kinda like my family tree. Helped make me who I am. Anyway...
Porcia loved her mom. I'd see them together, when girls at church were huddled together, doing their girls-in-a-huddly type thing, Porcia would often be seen hanging out with Ashley. And, wow this chick loved horses. And from what I understand, she was really good at riding too, an underrated talent, if you ask me. I think I'd be scared of being kicked in the head, or getting Chris Reeved by a mad palomino or something.
The visitation was peaceful, nice, beautiful. I stood next to Mrs. Paula Maddox as we waited to go into the sanctuary of Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), and we walked through the "receiving line" together--I know that's what its called in a wedding, I'm not sure what its called in this circumstance, but you know what I mean... a line of people waiting to pay their final respects to the deceased, and give condolences to the family.
Paula and I chatted briefly as we made our way around the room in the line, each of our hearts tearing a little bit more at the sobs coming from Ashley, as she hugged each person that came through the line. I asked Paula about Courtney, her daughter of the same age and same class, and what she would do in Ashley's situation. Paula just dabbed her eyes, shook her head and said, "I don't... I don't even know. I cannot even begin to understand how this feels... I mean... Courtney... I just..." she stammered for a minute and just shook her head. "I just... I don't know."
We finally arrived where Ashley stood next to Porcia, lying in her equestrian outfit. Porcia's stepfather and stepbrother stood nearby. Paula whispered, "You want me to go first, or would you like to go?" I told her I would go first, as I knew Paula would take much longer... I hugged Ashley and spoke to her for a minute, then gave the guys a big hug and handshake. I walked to a seat near the back of the chair rows, and stood watching the line as they came through. Paula grabbed Ashley and hugged her so tightly, in a way that I can only assume a mother can hug another mother when it comes to the safety and care of their daughters.
There was a ROTC group of about five guys, full uniform, none looking older than 16 or 17. I watched as they got close to Porcia, stopping and then breaking into a small march. The marched to the side where Porcia was lying, turned to face her, saluted in unison, turned back again and marched down the aisle. Three were stoic as they walked. One guy... boy... was barely keeping it together, his jaw trembling, his lip shaking, eyes squinting. The other wasn't even trying, one hand covering his mouth, the other wiping his eyes, all in perfect march. If I came close to tearing up at all tonight, it was right then and there. (oh, don't judge me for not crying... we grieve differently, back off)
I guess this begs the question... why, God? Why take Porcia, God? Is it fair that a 17 year old girl, just really beginning to live, ready to get her last year in high school behind her, get that diploma, go on to college (I suspect Auburn), join a sorority, meet some guy that is nice to her that no doubt Ashley will like but never feel is good enough for her baby, get married, make Ashley a grandmother, then grow old and die the ripe old age of 92 of heart disease, won't get to do any of this?
Is it fair that you take her from this Earth, and leave behind so many people that we know that we just feel like don't deserve to be here? What kind of God would do this to Ashley, who loves You and follows You? What kind of God would take away a loving sister to little Nicki, her sister? Its not fair, and who would want to follow a God that would treat His children so cruelly, to take away someone--one of Your followers--so loved and adored, so young and beautiful that might bring such glory to Your name? Who would want to follow this God?
Well... frankly...
I would.
Its such a conundrum that we as people put on ourselves. If you can blame God, or be furious at God (which, by the way, being angry at God and questioning His motives are not sins... its the lack of faith that follows that leads you to into murky waters) that concludes that you believe in God. And if you believe in God, then you probably believe in The Word. And through this chain of thought, if you believe in The Word, then you'd have to at least consider these three things...
1) God is love. He is truly love, He loves us more than we can possibly understand, and in that love, He does things and allows things that we may not agree with. 2) God's purpose is to glorify Himself, and everything that happens will either directly or indirectly lead to His glorification. 3) If love is wanting what's best for us, then what's best for us is to glorify Him through His plans and purposes, which means that things happen that we don't understand, that we don't like, and that we downright hate, but those things are things that are best for us in order to further glorify Him and spread His kingdom.
The first thought I had in my head when I heard the news was a verse I used to quote frequently, but hadn't thought of in years... Psalm 115:3, which says, "Our God is in Heaven and He does what He pleases." And it's a comfort, to me at least, to know that what pleases Him is His love for us, which in turn is glory for Himself. He does what He pleases to accomplish what's best for us...
I think Porcia has probably impacted hundreds of lives in her 213 months on Earth, and possibly would have impacted hundreds more in a long life ahead. But now? Through the tragedy? She might impact thousands. Thousands of people who will hear this story, and will hear the Word of God not only spoken, but lived through Ashley and those in her family. And that is a strong statement for God's glory.
Let's be real though... this doesn't make it suck any less. Sure, its a warm fuzzy to know how God is being praised and leaned on now, but it still absolutely, positively sucks. All of it. It just plain sucks.
And life goes on, as it always has.
By the way, I had a thought... if there was a phone in Heaven, and you had Porcia's number, and you called her to say, "Hey Porcia... you leaving was not cool. There are a lot of people hurting down here, and lots of people missing you... can you come back? Would you like to come back to us?" I have a pretty definite idea that she would look at her surroundings now and say, "Nope, I'm cool. I'll just see y'all when you get here. You're going to love it."
Since last night's post was so long, which happens anytime you talk about the magic of Celine Dion as many of you well know, I decided to break up the Idol week into two parts... the performances and now, the results...
The show is getting all serious and junk now, doing this high tech, fancy schmancy opening with flashes of the judges criticism and praise, the artists singing, and whipping around and looking important. The remaining 9 stand, only 8 move forward after tonight.
THIS IS AMERICAN
IDOL RESULTS
I'm so out of touch with popular music now, I think, as I have no idea who Lady GaGa actually is... I've heard her name, seen the song sold on iTunes, but I guess I can hear her music tonight. Also, David Cook will perform, and The Goke will see how a real Idol swoon the cougars of the nation.
The judges, Randy the Dawg, Simon the Crank, Paula the Flake and Kara the New Hotness are here, the nine are here, and Seacrest is here. And Paula the Flake is talking, while Simon the Crank looks at her with a, "What the ($*% are you even saying?" Simon the Crank says that Anoop Doggy Dogg, Matty G and MJ(c) should be worried. I'm guessing MJ(c) will get booted, finally.
During the Ford Commerical, Scott the Blind Guy looks so out of place... not that he sees it. Ha! And the group song? "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. Somewhere, somehow, Paula Maddox is kicking something very, very hard. Paula being the biggest Journey fan I know.
We see a video montage on "the average week of the Idol", which is actually pretty funny. Lots of interviews, lots of photo shoots, lots of rehearsals, and ya know, MJ(c) is pretty hot. But she needs to go. We also see Matty G do an impersonation of The Goke. Then we see Gokey (which Seacrest called him just now) do Matty G, then Anoop Doggy Dog does Kris Allen, then Red Allison does a great The Goke doing "PYT" and "Jesus Take the Wheel". A funny bit.
Alrighty... let's get to some results. MJ(c) stands up. Matty G stands up. Kris Allen stands up. They all go to the other side of the stage... now The Ambigiously Gay Adam stands, along with Lil Rounds and Red Allison stand up. They travel the center of the stage. This leaves Scott the Blind Guy, Anoop Doggy Dogg and The Gokester standing.
This is the group format... my guess is one of the groups is the Bottom Three. If you are in a group with The Goke and The Ambigiously Gay Adam, you have to be thinking "YES! I'M SAFE!!!" To build the suspense, they should have put Lil Rounds, The Ambigously Gay Adam and The Widower Danny Gokey in the same group....
...unless...
...one person from each group is in the bottom three... hmm... in which case, I'm guessing MJ(c), Anoop Dogg and... maybe Allison? But The Lovely Steph Leann and I are guessing that Kris Allen, MJ(c) and Matty G is the bottom group.
The Lovely Steph Leann: That would kill me, because I love Kris Allen!
And Cook performs, and sounds pretty good. They then present him with an award that shows his debut album has gone platinum... which is kind of a big thing, cause its a million copies and now, albums/CDs are competing with digital downloads and such. Good job, Cook, good job.
Let's get back to the results... let's go to the cards... Seacrest goes to Kris Allen, who sang "Ain't No Sunshine", who is safe, heading to the Couch of Safety. Matty G is up next... Kara the New Hotness says that she doesn't want Matty G to go home... this week? Seacrest fools him, making Matty G think he's in the Bottom Three... instead, he gets to the Couch of Safety.
MJ(c) heads to the Bottom 3. We knew this. Seacrest says, "You can have a seat right over there in the Bottom 3..." and MJ(c)... cacaws... and flaps her arms like wings as she heads to the Silver Stools of Failure. The Lovely Steph Leann and I both look at each other... what was that???
Lil Rounds comes up next. She's safe. The Couch of Safety for her. Red Allison Iraheta is up now... and she's in the Bottom Three. She does a little mock-flap with her hands, heading to the Silver Stools of Failure. The Ambigously Gay Adam, in one of the least shocking events of the night, is safe.
The Widower Danny Gokey is coming back another week. Scott the Blind Guy and Anoop Dogg are all that remains... one of them is safe... Randy the Dawg predicts it would be Anoop, and... Seacrest pulls Scott the Blind Guy over to the Couch of Safety, while Anoop Doggy Dogg goes to the Silver Stools of Failure.
And now... Lady GaGa. This is the first time both The Lovely Steph Leann and I have heard the song "Poker Face", or have heard the song "Poker Face". I ask The Lovely Steph Leann what she thinks, and she looks at me with an odd expression.
Says her: "Am I old now because I find this to be very bizarre?"
Then we both notice the fact she has an opened zipper on her eye. I liked Lady GaGa better when she was 1971 Elton John. I tell this to The Lovely Steph Leann, and she says, "Yeah, or Freddie Mercury... I mean, Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the weirdest songs ever, but that had to come pretty close..."
Seacrest sends Allison Iraheta back to the Couch of Safety, leaving MJ(c) and Anoop Doggity Doggity left... MJ(c) is going home. She's really odd, making some strange faces... is she the new Paula? She says, "Its okay, I don't care!" and Simon the Crank says, "MJ(c), based on the fact you don't care, we aren't even going to pretend to contemplate saving you, so this is your swan song. Have fun, its over for you."
So long, MJ(c) and your funky weird voice and your Carly Smithson wanna be tats. Next week, songs from the year you were born... which means 1993 or 94 for Allison Iraheta! Good times!
The Super Bowl was awesome this year... scroll down or click here to read the annual running diary...
One more note... if you are on Facebook, the numerous videos are not going to show up. Click on over to Clouds in My Coffee, then bookmark the page. Then check it daily. You never know what might pop up.
20. Rhett Barnette He's this guy I know in KidStuf, the children's theater program at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). He's married to Amarylis, he's got a daughter named Catalina, and Rhett, without going on and on, gets the title for Funniest. Guy. Of the Year.
He's dry, he's a hick kinda guy, he's just hilarious in a room. He's the kind of guy that, when watching The Jesus Painter, stood and made quiet jokes about the program while many were in deep worship. Seriously, funniest guy of the year.
And somehow, this picture fits him perfectly
19. ESPN's Pardon the Interruption Podcast Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon... Tony... the Celtics just won the world champion over the Lakers! How hard did party and who did you party with?
Oh, I partied alone... unless you count that tryist with Bea Arthur!
So begins an episode of ESPN's PTI, via podcast. Typically, the hosts--Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser--start off bantering back and forth on the hot topics of the day, mostly sports but sometimes will dive off into other topics of the day. They will spend about 1:30 on each one, but may go over or under. The topics are listed on a scroll on the side of the screen.
Mike and Tony, discussing the woman who tried to use a fake One Million Dollar Bill at Wal-Mart
Next, they'll usually do "Five Good Minutes" with a guest, or they'll just keep talking sports, but in the middle of the show is my favorite. They'll do various bits weekly, sometimes Over/Under (they predict the over/under of a certain number like "Over/Under on the number of home runs Pujols will hit this season") or they'll do Oddsmakers (guessing the percentages of a certain event happening, like "chances that Roger Federer will win two or more Grand Slams before he retires") or my personal favorite, Role Play... they'll play a few beats of what can only be described as "porn music" and one will assume the role of a sports figure--Mike will "be Aaron Rodgers" and Tony will say, "Aaron, how mad are you that you were booed off the field this week at Lambeau?"
I downloaded it every day, missing very few episodes, and would sometimes go back and listen to a day or so old episode in case I missed something. You can get it on iTunes via a podcast... in fact, I very seldom every actually watch the show. Its always on iTunes.
18. "The Dark Knight" Much to the dismay of my friend Lori Land, there are a couple of films I hold in higher regard than this one, but finishing the 18th coolest thing of 2008 is not too bad.
This was an amazing movie. You've heard the hype, you've heard about Heath Ledger's performance, and you've probably heard the mystique surrounding the film. And I am here to say... its all true and its all deserved.
"Batman Begins" was a re-start of the Batman franchise that succeeded on so many levels, and so the anticipation for "The Dark Knight" was only building to crazy heights. When Heath Ledger died in January of 2008, it only further fueled the anticipation for the movie. And the entire time, I was enthralled by what I was watching.
Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is absolutely brilliant. No attempt is made to really discover where he came from, he's just The Joker, a super villain to Batman. If I had any complaints about the movie at all, it is first that I think the Harvey Dent-into-Two-Face story was rushed... I think he would have been a great villain alone, but he did compliment The Joker well. Secondly, that Rachel Dawes met the fate she met. I mean, its Maggie Gyllenhaal... she's awesome!
Maggie rocks
Did you know that Katie Holmes was set to reprise the role of Rachel, a role she did well in in "Batman Begins"... but she dropped out to make... "Mad Money" with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. Yes, Katie, how'd that work out for ya?
Anyway, I'm going on the assumption that just about everyone reading this has seen the movie, so I don't much to add to it, other than it was a slambang awesome film, and Ledger is an incredible Joker.
17. FaceBook Connections I wrote about this not too long ago.. well, it was July of last year... and I said simply, "So, on Facebook, somehow I've managed to find almost everyone that I ever met. Well, actually, I've met a ton of people, so the 508 people whom I call friend on Facebook probably doesn't come close to the amount of people I've met in real life."
Well, since that time, 508 has turned into 774 friends, and just when I think that there can't be many more, another one sends me a friend request. I have now decided that I just don't send friend requests anymore, they can find me...
Over the year, as mentioned in the note from July, I've managed to find The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, The Angel (click to read The Angel Mud Boxer Story), Blair Andress, Dixon Brock, Dayla Ellison, Spring Tolson (also click to read The Spring Tolson Moment) and even more, and though the bigger "friend" news lately is the addition of The Official Clouds in My Coffee Samson High School Crush Julie Wise, that didn't happen until about a week or so ago, so it will be mentioned on The Coolest Things of 2009.
But there's more than that. This seemed to be the year Facebook just exploded, at least to me, from my perspective. More local friends joined--Cindy Warner, Melissa Clark, Emmy & Jason Turnbow--and more Troy friends joined--Amanda Hawkins Casey for one--and more Samson Friends joined--Claudia Sorrells, Jennifer Lambert... Jennifer Herdon--and then there was the Great Rejection of 2008, that being Angiejay, who told me after knowing me for 20 years, "I can't accept your friend request, because I don't know you very well". But I'm not bitter.
However, therein lies the danger, as mentioned last week... I will have to make some slight changes to some previous posts, as now I'm aware of who's on the site.
Also have to say a big hello to Mindy D'A, this incredibly cute and at the time unapproachable Alpha Delta Pi at Troy State, who I had spoken about two words to ever... and now she's a Coffee Drinker. Who knew?
17A. The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott McCauley She rocks. Through Facebook, not only have I been able to chat with The Official Clouds in My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, we were able to have lunch a couple of times as she came through town. She's just as short as I remember, just as cute as I remember, and just another reminder of Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers" song. Anyway, she was worth mentioning. Hope to see you again soon, one day to meet The Lovely Steph Leann.
Found this adorable pic of The Official Clouds In My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, though it was before I really knew her.
16. ESPN's College Football Podcast Like the PTI podcast mentioned at #19, this was also one I listened to daily. A 30 minute show hosted by Andy Gresh, it gave a rundown of the college football headlines and news to know after a weekend's worth of games, and leading up to more games the next weekend.
The show would start with "The Playbook", which was a report from different ESPN bloggers, each giving news of the six major BCS conferences--SEC, Big XII, Big 10, Pac 10, Big East and ACC--and one blogger, Graham Watson, talking about The Independents & More, which mostly, at least this season, gave news on the sorry state of Notre Dame football and the rise of the Mountain West's Utah, BYU and TCU's programs.
Andy Gresh would have different guests on certain days, like Bruce Feldman on Mondays, Ivan Maisel on Tuesdays, Todd McShay on Thursdays and Mel Kiper Jr on Fridays. On Wednesdays, the show would be hosted by Ivan Maisel and would feature the Dean of College Football, Beano Cook. Personally, though I enjoy Ivan and Beano's take on the games and appreciate their love of the history of the games, I liked Andy hosting much better.
It makes me sad, though, that Andy Gresh left the podcast after this past season and will join Sirius Radio's NFL channel for a new show. You will be missed.
The podcast continues even in the off season--it is available for download every other Wednesday all the way through the spring and summer, to pick back up for daily podcasts in August--presumably with a new host. I'm rooting for Todd McShay.
15. Rush Limbaugh Ya know, I'm not going to do into detail on this one. I don't feel like defending him. I know he's right, and I agree with about 98% of what he says. He's critical of just as many Republicans as he is Democrats. He plays the audio of who you need to hear, he gives you the resources to listen to the entire bite, and honestly, listening to three minutes of his show isn't enough. You've got to listen to it regularly. Only then will you get the humor, only then will you understand what conservatism is, only then will you figure out that really, liberalism fails.
And then you'll be free. You won't be a mind numbed, believe everything the media tells you, if its written in the NYTime or if Keith Olbermann says it it must be true, robot. You'll get it. And we need as many people to "get it" as possible.
14. WalkAbout Dinner Theater During the 2006-2007 season, I was highly disappointed that the dinner theater we had planned for that June. I was losing talent like Courtney Maddox and Jess Heckman, and I felt not only defeated, but like a failure.
By that time, I had been doing middle school drama for about 8 years, and we had pulled off 5 dinner theater performances. The reason we didn't do the other 3 years is because either I couldn't, or was not doing drama that summer. Some of the kids grumbled, some of the kids understood, but either way, I had no confidence in our team. We cancelled it because really, many of the kids didn't learn their lines on time.
So, when the new team came around, my "seniors" this time were Hannah Robillard, J Pinky, Grace Mintz, Erin Taliaferro, Davis Reynolds, Grant Adams and Emily Griner... one of the strongest line ups we've had since the murderer's row of Scotty Latta, Jana Blackwell, Laura Posey and the like.
We had a great year, and planned for our dinner theater, entitled "By Faith", in July. And it was masterful. It was a one-night-only affair, done in our middle school area known as "the Big Room", and we had a completely sold out audience. Some of our drama moms, including WalkAbout Mom of the Year Melissa Robillard, helped put dinner together, while the WalkAbout Asst Director and Mom of the Year in 2007, Paula Maddox, helped get the show done.
Awesome. Grace Mintz did this monologue called "Unafraid", and brought the audience to tears, but strangely, I think the skit of the show was a little ditty called "Debbie Gibson & the Foolish Chick", based on the parable of building your house on rock and sand. Starring Kimmy Hasha, Hannah, Emily and a special appearance by Matt McG and Algore, it brought the house down.
14A. Paula Maddox She's was given the 20th Coolest of 2007 rank last year, and I went back and forth as to whether have her appear on this list or not... after all, she did get a rank last year. She was on the list of possible nominees for a Hannah Pruitt Cool Award as well, but I went differently with that.
Here's Paula, singing with a very waxy Celine
Anyway, she's awesome. She was totally my lean-on during the WalkAbout season, and my venting post as well (as she vented to me her own thoughts). I'm proud to call Paula my friend and if WalkAbout opens up to high school as well, as we are discussing, I am excited that she'll be back to help out. Well, she and Melissa Robillard.
13. "American Girl" by Estelle, feat. Kanye West Take me on a trip I'd like to go someday... take me to New York I'd love to see LA... I really want to come kick it with you, you'll be my American Boy, American Boy.
I really don't care for Kanye West all that much... and whoever Estelle is, I'm not really sure I'll dig on her music all the much either. But this song? Love it? Got played a ton on my iPod this year, and its just cool. Here's the Wiki on it.
12. "Ironman" Yes, yes, I thought "The Dark Knight" was great. But I am a Marvel fan through and through, so when I found out that Tony Stark would be played by Robert Downey Jr, I was sold. I was eagerly anticipating the film, and was not disappointed at all.
Its got a perfect mix of humor and action, with a great story and effects, and never gets dark and brooding like "The Dark Knight" was. As a matter of fact, I think I liked just about everything about this movie.
In case you didn't stick around after the credits, here's what you missed. Any comic book fan will be elated at this 35 second scene.
Haven't seen the movie? Here's the rundown... Tony Stark gambles at a Las Vegas casino, leaving his deceased father's friend and business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) to accept a prestigious award for him. As Stark leaves the casino with his entourage, he is approached by reporter Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb), whom he charms into a one-night stand at his Malibu house. When she awakens the next morning, she is asked to leave by Pepper Potts(Gwyneth Paltrow), Stark's personal assistant.
Waking up hours later in an Afghan cave, he discovers an electromagnet embedded in his chest, placed there by fellow captive Dr. Yinsen(Shaun Toub). It is powered by a car battery and keeps shrapnel from working its way to his heart and killing him. Stark has been captured by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings, whose leader orders him to build a Jericho missile for him.
Instead, during the three months of his captivity, he and Yinsen begin secretly building a crude suit of power armor, powered by a miniature "arc reactor" invented by Tony's father, Howard. Finally, the terrorists grow impatient and give Stark 24 hours to finish. Unfortunately, the armor isn't quite activated when the deadline expires, so Yinsen makes a suicidal attack in a desperate bid to buy time. Once the armor is ready, Stark charges through the caves. Near the entrance, he comes across a dying Yinsen, who tells him not to waste his life. Forever grateful to Yinsen, Stark burns all the munitions the terrorists have accumulated and then flies away, only to crash in the desert. Stark survives, but his suit is in pieces. After being rescued by Rhodes, Stark declares at a press conference that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. Stane tells him shortly thereafter that his decision is being blocked by the board of directors of Stark Industries.
Stark focuses his energies on building an improved version of his power suit, while making an improved arc reactor for his chest. Potts gives Stark a gift: his first miniature reactor encased in glass and bearing the inscription, "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart". (courtesy of the interweb)
See this movie!
11. Joining the VCM Way back in the day, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) had an awesome college ministry. It was called Common Ground, and there were, on any given Sunday morning or a typical Monday Bible study night, anywhere from 25 to 40, maybe more, college and career minded folks. This is the place where I met some of my best friends and most cherish people, like McQ, Valdmanis, Shawn Sharp, Jenn Adams, The Good Doctor Earl, Amy McL and so on...
But over time, and a few various events, things happened here, things happened there, and Common Ground was no more. The subsequent attempt at the college ministry following Common Ground wasn't successful, and for years, our church languished without it. You could go all the way through preschool, grade, middle and high school and have a ton of groups and activities to be involved in. When you are in your 20s and single, or "young married" or beyond, you have tons of things to do. But the gap between high school graduation and your single mid-20s, nothing.
So it was exciting when Philip and Jill Waters, Jillip, was going to re-start the college ministry. The Lovely Steph Leann and I had been reading in our church bulletin that it might be starting up, so in service, I looked over and asked her, "Do you want to help? Should we get involved?"
Sometimes, The Lovely Steph Leann gets excited, sometimes she doesn't, but usually when she is excited, it usually involves choir or singing. Imagine my surprise when she says, "Yes. I think we should go!"
We walked down to the new college ministry room, and were excited a few of the kids there already, along with Jillip, who expressed excitement that we were there.
The Lovely Steph Leann and I talked with the group, and just told how much the ministry had impacted our lives--heck, we met there--and how we wanted it to impact their lives too. Over Christmas, we saw attendence leap up to over 20 per Sunday, and the word was spreading of the fact that Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) had invested in the college groups.
And so The Lovely Steph Leann and I are here now, in the VCM (Valleydale College Ministry). Its a little sad that we have left the Turnbow class on Sunday mornings, because of how many people there we just love, but we're happy to at least be helping in something that we know is going to grow and make a huge impact! Yay God!
So that leaves 10 more spots. And several events that rank among them... find out the Top 10 Coolest Things of 2008...
The final night of audition episodes... next week starts Hollywood Week, one of the most exciting weeks in television--or at least the most exciting weeks in Idol, anyway. But first... we have to get through Salt Lake City, home of Young Archuleta...
THIS IS AMERICAN.
IDOL.
I'm going to the Dollar Theater (it costs a buck to go in, not an actually theater here at The Cabana...) to see "Role Models" again with Mikey at 10pm, which means I leave here around 930, so we'll try to knock this episode out quick enough.
A bajillion people surround the arena hoping to make the Hollywood Round. No doubt many are married. Multiple times. Ha! Bigamy jokes never get old.
Once again, The Lovely Steph Leann miss Idol, as she's in Atlanta again, coming back tomorrow.
David Osmond is the son of Allen Osmond, the oldest of the Osmond Brothers group, from the old school days. And yes, Donny Osmond is in there somewhere. I think I used to have a crush on Marie Osmond for like, a day or something. Anyhow, toss an Osmond on the screen, and you have a backstory, this one being about how David has multiple sclerosis, and used to be in a wheelchair. Dad is on screen, almost in tears about how proud he is of his boy. Yikes. This is a heart breaker completely.
"Something Within Me" by Take 6 is his song. He sounds pretty good--I can't imagine him not making it, after all that kind of backstory. Paula gets onto him for not picking a song that he could sing solo, instead of the group song he picked.
Holy crap... they are actually leading us to believe he may not make it.
And he comes out with a golden ticket. Whew.
Time for the next audition, and we have Tara Mathews, who proclaims herself as Salt Lake's only goth chick. She's one of those people who should not be wearing what she's wearing. Look, some of us are blessed with figures that great clothes flatter, some of us don't. Just accept who you are. And dress like it.
She says she as ESP. She's singing "One Day I'll Fly Away" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Simon says, "Does it tell you you're going to win?" and she says, "I don't know, but I think so." And then she starts singing. Or howling. Or screeching. "One day I'll flyyyyy awaaayyy..." and Simon says, "I hope pretty soon."
All around the venue, contestants are practicing, and some sound terrible. Like the one trying to destroy "Last Night" by Carrie Underwood, or the chick yelling, "I'm gorgeous" or the welfare Kenny G singing something Motown. He's cross eyed and he licks his lips. I just threw up in my mouth.
So this guy is handing out with a friend in a pink bunny suit. A guy. In a bunny suit. The guy, Chris, comes in wearing a Simon shirt, holding a Simon sign/fan. Greg the Pink Rabbit comes in. Chris Kirkham does, "Roll to Me" by Del Amitri, and really, its not that bad. The judges stop him and make Greg the Bunny leave the stage. He starts two notes of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and the judges stop him and tell him no.
I think that it might have actually worked if not for the Greg the Bunny thing going on.
Alrighty... that last line was written at 903pm. In between then and now, which is 1214am, I ended up in a conversation with Paula Maddox, the 20th Coolest of 2007, and The Clouds in My Coffee Official Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott, then had to answer a note from The Clouds in My Coffee Official Samson High Crush Julie Wise (who just joined Facebook, by the way... I'm totally going to talk about this soon), then I realized it was 930, so I had to race out the door and down the road to the dollar theater to meet up with Mikey for the movie that I mentioned earlier... sheesh...
Well, now, I'm back. And...
THIS IS
(still)
AMERICAN IDOL!!!
I figure its a show from Salt Lake City, so why not have 2 parts to it, instead of just 1? Hah! Bigamy! Its all the rage in the comedian circles!
Here's the montage of "No" and "No way" and "terrible" for our viewers. Lots of people who graciously bow out with a "thank you", and exit. Very nice. Because its going so "nice" for people who aren't making it, Seacrest encourages the crowd to not take no for an answer. Oh, Seacrest, you pot stirrer.
Single mom Frankie who was "definitely born to do this". Aren't they all? She's been "visualizing it, and am pretty sure I'm going to go through". Of course, she's been singing all her life. There is nothing else she'd rather do. And...
...wow. Very, very good. Very sultry, very crisp. I don't know "crisp" even means, but it sounds good, just like her. I have no idea what she's singing, cause she mumbled through the song title... it might be Amy Winehouse? Yes, I just googled the lyrics, its "You Know I'm No Good" by Winehouse. Only Frankie doesn't have the disgusting beehive, eye shadow and drug issues. Frankie goes to Hollywood, relax.
Megan has a backstory, an arm full of Carly Smithson tattoos, a 2 year old named Ryder (?!) and now an ex-husband. She even gets a "World I Know" Collective Soul tune over her video. She looks like her arm fell into an ink blot. She's going to take on "Can't Help Lovin' that Man of Mine", whoever sings that.
I think I like Megan better than Frankie. Two in a row, go Idol! Randy kinda likes her, Paula likes, borderline loves her, Simon says she's original and loved her. Kara says she glows, and is all about some Megan.
There's a hot streak now, where one contestant after another heads to Hollywood... that ends with Andrew Gibson's bad bass and terrible high note. He's got a soul vibe and a bad acne issue. It's a big no.
Austin Sisneros is the Riverton (Utah) High School senior class president. He's planning for homecoming. He's auditioning to inspire people. Aw, the problems of the young. We even see a video of him walking the halls with his four wives-to-be (its good he didn't marry them, cause they are in high school... he's just dating them) "When I Look to the Sky" by Train is his song. He does so-so, and offers up to sing Raffi's "It Takes a Village". I thought Hillary Clinton wrote that song.
Randy likes the voice, but doesn't like the song choices... but says yes. Kara says yes. Paula believes in him. Simon just says, "You're going to Hollywood with four yes'".
Seacrest is standing on a ridge, pointing out the filming site of High School Musical, full of joy and happiness... and then we see the Montage of Tears. The Montage of "I Should Be the American Idol". The Montage of "They Don't Know What They are Talking About".
Jarrett Burns takes on Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Record On", which is a billion times better than the next three or four people they quickly show.
Next we have a chick who's 5'11 flat footed, over 6 feet in heels. She's an Amazon! A Glamazon if you will... her name is Taylor, and she's from Utah, and Randy says she reminds him of Jordin Sparks. She takes on "Joyful Joyful" and hey, not too bad. Reminds me of Lauren Hill's version in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit", in one of the greatest musical scenes ever.
Great musical number...
They love her. Welcome to Hollywood. She's actually tall enough to be two wives for some Utah guy.
And the end of the show backstory (there always is one, usually a hardship story involving tears) belongs to Rose Flack, 17, from Rathdrum, Idaho. Rose is living with her friend's family, because her dad died years ago. She holds a pic of her dad up, and... tears. You knew it was coming. A few years later, Mom dies in a car wreck... holy crap, Idol, what are you doing here? Geez...
She's really pretty, in a Gwen Stefani sort of way, like funky hippychick cool. I'm hoping she's good... she, of course, says this audition is the "determination of the rest of her life". That's lots of pressure.
"I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King is her song. And she's good... thank you! She smiles like Keira Knightly, but ten times better because I don't think Keira is all that good looking--Rose is very cute.
Paula says to work on the vocals, but yes. Randy says she has a cool vibe, so yes. Simon says it wasn't the best audition, but she was memorable. Kara says yes too, so Young Rose is off to Hollywood. I hope they build you a strong ship, Young Rose.
A dozen people are headed to Hollywood from Salt Lake City, and as far as we know, none are married to each other.
Wait, what? What? Tomorrow night? New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico in another Idol show? What the...? Holy crap... I have to blog another night about Idol this week? Well, Mindy D'A demands it, so I guess that's a yes.
I love the previews for Hollywood week... its always the "most tense week ever", and "some will fight, some will fall, others will rise" and "but to survive Hollywood Week, they'll have to survive each other!"
And we end with Simon looking at some notes and simply saying, "Didn't like you then, don't like you now..."
Welcome to another late night of American Idol... I is your host, d$, here at The Clouds in My Coffee Blog, ready to give you the running tally of winners, losers and those off to Hollywood. Tonight, we broadcast from Jacksonville, Florida... do you know that per area, Jacksonville is the largest city in America? From what I've heard, its also one of the most boring, but I've never been there (seen it as I drove around it on the interstate). Anyway...
THIS IS.
AMERICAN.
IDOL.
We see a flashback to the band Journey, showing Randy Jackson onstage... Paula Maddox would be proud, Steve Perry lover that she might be. Or is. Of course, the Journey song they choose to play over the video is "Don't Stop Believin'". My personal favorite? "Separate Ways". "Some day love will find you, break those chains that bind you, one night will..."
Wait, we're starting!
Here's a guy, up first, who is proud of being compared to Justin Giarini. Guarini. Whatever, who cares. He's going to take on Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On". Joshua is the guys name, but it doesn't matter what his last name is, cause he sucks. Entirely.
Got a note from Mindy D'A who told me that some guy on this show reminds her of Kip from "Napoleon Dynamite", so I'm looking forward to that!
And... he gets a yes. What? What? He will be that guy that screws up the trio performance and blows it for two other people.
Sharon Wilber brought her Shi'Tzu dog, Sasha. Sharon is a looker... she passes off the dog to Simon, and will sing "Superstar" by The Carpenters. If The Lovely Steph Leann were here, she'd be on alert, as The Carpenters might fall into her Top Ten Of Freakin' Everything, if she had such a list.
She sounded a little like Britney Spears on that audition, Simon and Randy say yes, Paula and Kara mock kiss each other, Kara pulls up her probably-too-low-but-not-really-for-me-okay-yes-too-low dress, and Sharon goes through. Welcome to American Idol, Season VIII.
We go off to break, and we come back from break... Ryan Seacrest is touring Amelia Island, just outside of Jacksonville, in a golf cart, he says, "While I'm fighting gnats, Dana Moreno is fighting a losing battle with Chaka Khan."
Oh, how right Seacrest is... this chick just hit some notes that actually cause some of the paint in the living room of The Cabana to peel back. How will I explain this to The Lovely Steph Leann? Wow. Simon gives her some direction... out of the room.
Anita Baker's "Rapture", a tall order for 16 year old Kaneswa Finnie, but she's full of confidence. And from the first "bum bum", you know... its terrible. Idol was actually building her up to be pretty good... and wow. I almost grabbed the blanket and held it over my own face, in The Lovely Steph Leann's honor. That was simply terrible.
Simon calls Kaneswa's mom in, and drills her about how bad her singing is. Simon is wrong, of course. Mom says, "She's my American Idol!" And she can have her.
Julissa is Miss Florida Latina USA. I wonder if they have Latina USA contests in like, say, North Dakota, or Idaho? If I'm a 19 year old Latina hottie with aspirations of being in Miss Latina USA, I'm totally going to Montana, where there can't be that many (legal) Mexican hot chicks. The competition is probably a lot less fierce than, say, Texas or California. And yes, I just typed "If I'm a 19 year old Latina hottie..."
Anyway... Julissa is taking on Whitney's "I Have Nothing", one of those that you should never, ever, ever, never sing. And she doesn't do too bad... but her laughter? Awful. She has this gawd-awful heh-heh-heh going on. Paula gets offended at Simon and Randy, Paula walks out, Kara looks on in confusion, she comes back, Julissa reappears, Randy says yes, Paula says yes, Kara says yes, Simon reluctantly says yes. And everything that I typed just now was happening right as I was typing it. My fingers are out of breath.
Darin Darnell, a perfectly goofy stage name, is all about dancing, meeting people, bouncing around the room and is being built up to be...well as this show is progressing, who knows. When Darren's friend gets cut, he suddenly is unsure of everything. Confidence is gone.
Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" is his song... aw, its my class song. A song about death. Darin just took a song about death, and killed it. Is that even possible? If Nate, Mike, Shawn and Wanya (the members of Boyz II Men, to those of you under 25... you know, ABC, BBD, the East Coast Family... three points to whoever can tell me ABC and BBD stand for!)
Oh, they cut Darin.
Here's the montage of tears. Naomi Sykes is the final contestant of Day One. I like that name, Naomi. What about Naomi Dollar as a 2nd daughter's name? Naomi goes on and on about her best friend who wants to meet Randy, the friend comes in, and she ends up sitting on Randy's lap. Naomi is going to sing "Loving You" by Minnie Riperton, known for a high note that has, at last count, killed 32 dogs over the decades.
Seacrest is in Kara's lap, Paula is in Simon's lap and Naomi just kicked Minnie Riperton in the face. Seriously. Naomi says the immortal line, "Everyone tells me I'm great." When Simon says, "Are you serious?", she cries. She then laments, outside, that she doesn't know what she did wrong. How about muck up a song that was already bad enough?
Nine people get golden tickets on Day One.
We move to the next day, and 16 year old Jasmine comes in. She hails from Starkville, Mississippi, and is going to take on "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. Rock it baby, rock it... she did really great! Does it tell my age that when she said she was singing "Big Girls Don't Cry", I automatically thought of Frankie Valli's version in "Dirty Dancing"? Oh, Jasmine gets through.
George Ramirez is an FSU student who is studying physics. He must be smart to study physics, but he goes to Florida State, so he can't be that smart... ha! Jokes!
This might be the guy who Mindy D'A has compared to Kip. And she's totally right. He really should be singing "Yeees, I love technology... but not as much as you, you see..." George admits he has never sung in public, just around his friends. That was a strange, strange audition.
Anne Marie Boskovich flatters Kara by telling her how much she loved her singing. She sings a little bit, and they tell her to come back later and be "another person", or to be herself. They don't feel like she's a superstar just yet.
TK is back from last year's audition, ready to try again. "Imagine" is a hard to sing, but TK pulls it off. And he's putting his own spin on it, which is always good (see: Cook, David) and doing quite well with it. They tell him he was a little over the top, but they send him through by a 3 to 1 margin, with Simon dissenting.
There's a great montage of various family members, telling the cameras how great their own kids are. Michael Perrelli has a backstory, something we didn't have much of tonight! He learns that he can't play his guitar in the audition, and starts crying. Literally starts crying.
"Jumper" by Third Eye Blind is his song of choice. He doesn't do a terrible job, but not great. Simon says that Michael would struggle in the competition, and Kara nails it--she knows he needs the guitar.
Simon tries to tell him to start a band, be better, and when he starts crying, Simon says, "You're getting on my nerves". Tough times! And outside, he's still crying. Holy crap. Have a spine, suck it up.
Anne Marie comes back, has better hair, a new outfit, found a makeup artist. "Bubbly" is her song, and she does great with it. Randy says yes. Kara says yes, Paula says yes, Simon sends her to Hollywood.
Sixteen tickets came out of the Jacksonville auditions, meaning only 7 made it on Day Two. Wow, harsh judges!
Montage of everyone, good and bad, trying to sing "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina & the Waves. Even Kip, er, George, sings a little bit.
What's amazing to me is how there is an entire stadium of people try out, and SEVEN make it.
Tomorrow night, I think it might be the last of the audition episodes, this time from Mormontown USA, that being Salt Lake City! Make sure you read the blog to see who makes it, who doesn't, and if Simon or Randy pick up a few wives each!
