The King's Speech

This is one of the best movie posters I've
seen in a while

In "The King's Speech", there is no sex.  In "The King's Speech", there is no violence.  In "The King's Speech", no one gets shot, nothing blows up, nobody is playing anyone, nobody is stealing, no one gets murdered and nobody has a one night stand that leads to love later. 

In fact, in "The King's Speech", there are two scenes that keep this from being a PG movie and not an R... we'll get to that.

"The King's Speech" stars the president of The Colin Firth Club, Colin Firth himself, and is the story of The Duke of York, who eventually became King George VI in England.  Bertie is his real name, and he has an extraordinary problem... a severe stammer that leaves him unable to complete many sentences, let alone give speeches to the thousands that his family reigns over in the early part of the 20th century. 

Enter Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush, who is a dynamic speech therapist, though the movie doesn't use the cliched "the doctor who has unusual methods that end up working when nothing else conventional would do the job" trick... while Logue's tricks are a little weird, there is nothing to indicate how different he is from others of the same ilk.  Rather, the movie then begins to concentrate on the relationship between Bertie, a proud man who through no fault of his own is handed the crown of England, and Logue, who reluctantly takes on Bertie as a patient, though begins to see him not as someone with a stammer, but someone who has such great potential and is letting his hindrance effect his entire life.  (run on sentence, anyone?)

About twenty minutes into the movie, I leaned over to The Lovely Steph Leann and whispered, "Colin Firth is going to win an Oscar."  Why?  Because Colin Firth is brilliant, from every single lip twitch to the emotion it takes to play this role. 

Bertie's wife, Queen Elizabeth, is portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter, in one of her most subdued performances.  I'm sure that you, fair Coffee Drinker, that when you hear the words "Helena", "Bonham" and "Carter", you think the crazy queen in "Alice in Wonderland", or evil Bellatrix in "Harry Potter" or the nutjob in "Fight Club"... but here, she's very low key, very normal... very plain, which is exactly what she needs to be, as she is not the star, but one who supported Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in making this movie what it is.

By the way, have you ever seen "Howard's End"?  Helena Bonham Carter is fantastic in this, and normal too, though if you are doing "Howard's End", I'd just go straight to "Remains of the Day"--HBC is not in it, but its a beautiful film, one that has nothing to do with "The King's Speech", other than the fact there are Brits in it.

Anyway, the movie leads up to an actual speech that Bertie, now the King of England, must give as Britain barrels towards war with Germany in the late 30s.  He and Lionel work together to try and pull off what will be the most important speech given in a generation in that country, and I don't want to ruin the climax of the movie. 

Now, the Rated R.  About halfway through the film, there's a 30 second sequence where Bertie, while struggling in therapy through reading, reels off several curse words, including the F-Bomb about 10 times in a row.  Closer to the end, when Bertie, aka King George VI is practicing the big speech, he throws in a few more F-Bombs to get through some parts... and that's it.   I wouldn't take a 7 year old Campbell Isaiah to see this film, but I would easily let a 12 year old Camp watch it. 

Well, in saying that, that's assuming that a 12 year old would want to see it... as we sat in the theater, I looked around and saw that the median age of the theater--a theater 3/4th full, by the way--was about 55.  I thought I saw a few teenagers looking bored at the beginning, but mostly it was full of PawPaw and MeMaws on a Saturday afternoon date. 

Back to the movie... you might also notice another few Harry Potter alums, one being Michael Gambon (Dumbledore... I miss Richard Harris... sigh) as King George V, and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail) as Winston Churchill, a performance I wasn't sure about when I saw it, but as the movie wore on, I got into his role.   The only casting I didn't like was having Guy Pierce play Bertie's older brother, Edward, and I just didn't buy it.  Colin Firth not only looks much older than Guy Pierce in the movie, but in real life, he's actually 7 years older than Pierce.



Right now, Christian Bale is the front runner for the
Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "The Fighter".  And
I think he should win it... but if Geoffrey Rush won it
for "The King's Speech", I would not complain one bit.



That notwithstanding, at the end of the movie, I turned to The Lovely Steph Leann and did my customary, "What did you think?"  She just sat and stared at the screen, and said aloud, "I thought... I thought that movie was fabulous."  Fabulous is a word that is reserved only for The Lovely Steph Leann's I Ching of greatness... Fabulous is only used on things that are so far and away superior, its mind blowing... O'Carr's chicken salad fruit plate is Fabulous.  Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" album is Fabulous.  Calah Ray is Fabulous.  And "The King's Speech", to The Lovely Steph Leann, is in fact, Fabulous. 

And I concur.  I posted via Facebook that the movie was "magnificent", and that's not a term you can use on "The Other Guys" (unless you are Hurricane Rhett).  The movie is paced well, its not flashy, it tells the story it wants to tell and doesn't continue on 20 minutes too long, and though the movie was made with the knowledge that it would probably win some awards, it doesn't feel pretentious or snobby. 

"The King's Speech" is one of those rare movies that entertains you, makes you feel great at the end, and leaves you with a feeling that you didn't just watch a movie, you experienced a movie.  Its almost a perfect movie, which is even more rare.

In a word, its Fabulous.

Celebrating National Un-Friend Day

There is someone on Facebook--I wont say who--who, every time she updates her status, she capitalizes each word. So, rather than saying:

I took my son to the doctor today, but he's alright! Looks like God is watching out for us, and Junior just has one of those kid things that he'll get over...

...which is a fine status, right? Tells us what's going on, the kid okay, propz to Big Papa up there, I can dig it. However, Offending Facebook Chick would instead say it this way:

I Took My Son To The Doctor Today, But He's Alright! Looks Like God Is Watching Out For Us, And Junior Just Has One Of Those Kid Things That He'll Get Over.

Can I just say... this drives me nuts? I mean, it shouldn't, but it does. Drives me up the wall Every Time I See A Facebook Status Written Like This. Oh, I know what you are going to say--why not just de-friend her?

(opening new browser page... logging onto Facebook... finding offending status-leaver...)

Yeah, good idea. Solved that problem.

Speaking of un-friending...

I remember when I was a small child, living in Austin, TX, apartment 320 of The Villa Rio Apartments on Airport Boulevard. I was maybe 5 or so, and there were two chicks in the complex that I talked to. One was named Janet, a year older than me, and I was jealous because she got to go to kindergarten and I stayed at home. The other was Danielle, a tall girl, also a year older than me, who had a slight limp. One of her feet was turned inward for some reason--not that this mattered, I mean, I was 5 and was friends with anyone and everyone (except for that creepy guy in the white car who stopped and offered me candy to get in while I was walking back from the 7-11 with the latest issue of Mad Magazine--I didn't like that guy).

Well, Danielle and Janet and I were friends and we played as 5 and 6 year olds do, but every now and then, one of them would make the other mad and then that one would come to me and tell me not to be friends with other one. "Don't be her friend anymore! She did this to me... " and then they would lay out the crime that had been committed upon their youth. And for a day or so, I'd try not to be their friend, but I'd end up being their friend anyway... and of course, I'm sure Janet would tell Danielle not to be d$'s friend (actually, my last name then was Creech. No, I'm being dead serious. Did I ever tell you guys I was adopted?) and that would explain one of them, or both of them, not talking to me for a whole day.

That was real un-friending? Now... its a low tactic of secret disassociation. Admit it... sometimes it at least makes you wonder, if not drives you nuts to see your friend total end on the number "8" one day, and "7" the next... its not a big deal, that's fine if you don't want to be my friend, but at least tell me why, right?

So, yesterday, November 17th, was in fact "National Un-Friend Day", according to talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. There is a fascinating opinion piece on HuffPo about this (I know, I know, most of HuffPo's political opinions are worth about as much as used paper following a big plate of Nachos Bell Grande at the Bell, but sometimes they do have good stuff to say on things that aren't political), where the author jokingly suggests that Facebook give you a template to make the unfriending of someone a bit easier...

Jason Kitchens writes:  Dear Timmy: you've been unfriended by Billy due to the fact that, despite only meeting on one occasion during the Carter Administration, you insist on sending those insufferable invitations to assist you in building a make-believe pigpen for your virtual farm. You do so incessantly and without regard for societal norms that exist in real life (a world you might consider visiting from time-to-time). Therefore, you are officially no longer deemed "friends" with Billy. Grievance counseling is available for those with health insurance via the following link..."

And in the spirit of the Kimmel-created day, I did my own scanning down the list of friends. Understand, I have a lot of friends in the real world, many of which do not have FB accounts, or check them much if they do. And I have a lot of "friends" on Facebook as well... some of which... well, I don't really know how they have access to my page. I'm one of those, close up the page, hide the pics unless you are my friend kind of guys, so for those of you who are on my "friend" list, you have a smorgasbord of information, pictures and other meaningless propaganda that the other 5,999,999,050 people do not have. Consider it an honor.

"Remember how, five years ago, when no one was on Facebook and you didn't know what the guy you took high school biology with was having for lunch?  Remember how that was... fine?"

But in scanning, how do decide to who chunk, and who to keep? Surely, I don't talk to 975 people on weekly, even monthly basis. The list of people that I talk to daily runs about two deep. I live with and am married to one--The Lovely Steph Leann--and see the other six, if not seven days a week, am close to and work with, that being Melanie Z. Doesn't hurt that both are highly, highly attractive people.

The list of people I talk to weekly runs, I dunno, forty, fifty, if I had to throw out a ballpark number... people like JustFish, Emmy Turnbow, C'ray and S'ray, J Taylor, etc, but if I don't go to church that week, that number drops dramatically.

But that still leaves a number of people who don't fall into either category... so how to decide who to keep and who to punt?

Well.. here's who stays:

• People I know well... heck, this would encompass the above two categories for the most part.
• People I used to know well, and still like to keep up with. My friend Michelle Carr, who spends her life doing missions, is one example. Spivey, who used to be a close buddy of mine, is another.
• People I used to know well, don't keep up with very well, but still like knowing I can say "hey" when I want to: This would include most fraternity brothers, most BCM Members at Troy and much of Samson High School... say what you want, but if you are from a small town like Samson, then everyone who is from that town thinks they should be friends with everyone else from that town. Not true, and I've proven that by the number of requests I've ignored because... well, frankly, I have no idea who you are, despite the fact you lived two blocks over from my house and knew my mom.
• People I don't know very well, but have communicated with in the past and want to keep that line open. Stephen Crews comes to mind, as does Brock Parker. Never met either one of them personally, but have had good conversations with them online and look forward to more.
• People with whom I want to keep a connection with, if only for selfish reasons. Ambre Lake, Brooke from The Bachelor, several radio personalities that I know. Who knows when I'll need a favor from them?
• People I've tagged in pictures: I hate not having pictures tagged, especially if I have a lot of certain people. People like Pam Yau, Wendy Alexander, Michael Knowles--I mean, I cannot remember the last conversation I had with them, don't know when I'll talk to them again, but darn it, I've got pics of them online.
• People who I know, and think, read my website. Looking at my stats, I know about 30% of referrals come from the link I post on Facebook... so if you've commented on a post, or on the site, or whatever, then I know you read it--or if you "like" Clouds in My Coffee on Facebook, chances are, I'm keeping you around for a while longer, anyway.

I'll be completely honest--were it not for my desire for readership on what I write, I'd probably whittle my entire list down to about 400 people or less.  But, as it stands, I know that link in my status is worth something to my page loads.  So there it is--I'm a narcissist.

I would say most of my "friends" on Facebook fall into those above listings. However, about 50 people did not. And... well, they got booted on National Un-Friend Day.  This is going to sound so, so mean, but let's be honest with ourselves--I am sure that when I am unfriended, its much of the same thought processes...

Just about anyone that, if I saw in the supermarket, I might walk an extra aisle over to avoid--not that I don't like them or anything, its just the whole "hey how are you, I'm good, how is life, yadda yadda" that we'll forget the next day.  People who I don't know well, or used to know well and aren't really all that concerned with keeping up with, or will serve me no purpose in the future, or I have no pics of, or I am pretty sure don't ever look at Clouds.  Oh, and if you don't even smile or wave at me when I see you in church or around town, you are outta there.  And, if I see you on FB chat and it takes me longer than ten seconds to figure out who you are?  Gone. 

There is a safe list, of course... people who I'd never dream of dropping on FB.  And some of you, I'm sure, want to be on that list, some of you probably don't care either way--but to be on it, then make sure you are my real friend, not just my virtual friend.  Otherwise, come November 17th, 2011, I might trim more FB Fat. 

Oh, And It Doesn't Help If Your Status Reads Like This.

The Fans of FAN Day

Sometimes our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), has some bad ideas.  Sometimes they throw some things out there, and we all sit back and say, "Wow.  That didn't work, did it?"

And then again, sometimes our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), has some great ideas.  Some ideas, that when put forth are just knocked out of the ballpark.  And FAN Day was one of them...

FAN stands for "Friends And Neighbors" Day, where we could invite... well, our friends and neighbors... to come out to our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), get to know us, get to know our pastor, and see what we have to offer... namely, Jesus, but there's more too.

Siran Stacy spoke at our church.  He's a former star for the University of Alabama--incidentally, they have 13 national championships, just in case you didn't know--in the years '89 to '91, and hails from Geneva, Alabama, which is 8 miles from my own home in Samson, Alabama.

In late 2007, he was driving a van with his wife and kids, and was struck by a drunk driver.  The drunk driver was killed, as was Stacy's wife, and four of his five children.   Stacy and his daughter Shelley survived, after both spent time in a coma.

When Siran Stacy hit that stage, you knew Jesus was up in this hizzy.  I mean, Siran brought it.  Let's be clear, I like Calvin Kelly... he's been my pastor for 12 years, really the only true pastor I've ever known--mine own church history is another blog for another day--but every now and then, a little color on our stage is great.  Maybe once a month or two, toss up some Antjuan Marsh, or let's catch Voddie Bochum as he's coming through town...

Anyway, Siran was a dynamic speaker, preaching on how God dealt with Ezekiel in the Old Testament, and relating it to how he dealt with his own losses.

And afterwards, we all went out to our tailgate parties.  Each Sunday School Life Connection had a little parcel of the parking lot, and each was responsible for grilling and serving up their own food, putting out their own chairs and tables, and making it as tailgatey as possible. 

I told one of the higher ups in our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), that next year we need to present a trophy to the best tailgate presentation, maybe keep that trophy in the church with class names engraved on it year after year.  And of course, I only say that because of what we had....

We had Justin Fisher, about seven grills, a bunch of experienced grillers grilling on those grills, banana pudding, some little chocolate brownie balls that I had about fourteen of, all 9 of Chad & Amanda Campbell's kids, a tent, cornhole, Willis in a green The U shirt, an RV and Heather Whitley.  We win.

Here are some pictures from FAN Day.




Here is Mr. Steven Ray's Day and Mrs. Steven Ray's Mom, helping set up the big, fat buffet of cholesterol, sugar and high fructose corn syrup, along with the ribs and lettuce.  We rule.




Sitting and waiting to eat, The Freckled (re)Becca.  Her beau, Bobowen, is around here somewhere.



Jonathan Taylor, preparing the roast beast, the roast beast for the Valleydale Church
(an sbc fellowship) Tailgate feast.



The Lovely Steph Leann and our friend Heather, who's husband is away this weekend on drill and keeping our
country safe.  U-S-A!  U-S-A!



Tootie Watkins, with his gloves on, cooking up some burgers, while others, including
Steven Ray, gnaws on some ribs



I'm sure that the pastors and leaders of the church stopped by several booths, but we had a ton of people who
aren't in our own Life Connection class stop by ours.   Again, this lends to the assumption that we, in fact, had
the best set up.  I will say there was a circus tent that had a "JESUS FOR HEISMAN" sign, but in order to one-up
them, we went out and got Alissa Thornell.  We win again.



When Justin Fisher rolls down the halls of Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), little Will Fisher will run
out to meet him, and he will yell, and I quote, "Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!"  I can only
hope that Campbell Isaiah will dig his dad as much as Will Fisher digs his old man.  Little Will puts his hand
on Daddy JustFish's chair, and this is how they roll.



Calah Ray, correctly pronounced Cah-lah Rah, shows the excitement, yet exhaustion of the day



Jon Taylor and Heather Whitley view the food options, while again, Steven Ray looks on in the background.  I
think he was searching out the camera.

 


Emmy Turnbow, making a Not Emmy Turnbow Safe Face of Disapproval at her maler half, Jason


If you are on Facebook, you can search me up and look at all the pictures from FAN Day... I'm keeping them available for "Everyone" to see for a few days, then I'll take 'em down to "Friends Only" viewing.  Then you'll have to be my friend to see them... Membership has its privileges.

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. 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

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.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

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 100 Coolest Things of 2009... #10 thru 6

We inch closer to telling you the things of all of 2009...

The 10th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Bombs Over Baghdad" by OutKast
Sometimes I come a little late to the party when it comes to pop culture--especially music... in fact, I heard my first Lady GaGa song the other night.  "Alejandro"... it was so-so.  I think I fast forwarded through the last half of it.

So, since 2009 was the end of the decade, we had loads of "End of..." and "Best of the 2000s" lists, much of which included music.  I'm goofing around on Google, and I ran across Pitchfork Media online, which had a list of the Top 100 Songs of the Decade.  #2 was "Hey Ya" by OutKast... and #1 was "B.O.B. (bombs over baghdad)" by OutKast, as featured on the 2000 album "Stankonia".  I was like, "What the hey is B.O.B.?", so I went onto YouTube and found the video and watched it.  And was hooked instantly.


This is a PG-13 rated video... there are wiggly booties and an N-word in here somewhere, just so you know.  Beware.

You know those songs that, no matter how loud the radio or your iPod is turned up, you need to edge up the volume just a little more when they come on?  "La Grange" by ZZ Top, "Loungin" by LL Cool J, "Crazy on You" by Heart and "Everything Zen" by Bush are songs like that.   And just with one single "don't need to bang less you plan to hit something..." this song was added to the rotation.

Here's what Pitchfork Media had to say about it:  I'm not even covering all of its turf when I list that it contains: the reverbed drums of first-wave hip-hop (played at the tempo of booty hip-hop), organs suggesting "The House of the Rising Sun", futro blips, George Clinton freakouts, choral gospel, rave-up drum-n-bass, Prince funk-metal, speed-scratching, and an extended roller-rink outro. I tell curious people who have never heard it to imagine that Public Enemy handed Side 2 of Fear of a Black Planet over to Southerners.

And yes, Andre 3000 and Big Boi... I do believe a pimp can rock a microphone.

The 9th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Up"
From July 9th, 2009... If there is any issue with Pixar movies, it is this… one day, they are going to make a bad movie. One day, they are going to release flick that is just… well, not good at all. So far, we’ve been entertained by the 9th Coolest Thing of 2008, a friendship between a cowboy and a Space Ranger, a bunch of ants with four legs, some monsters in the closet, talking cars, cooking rats, a lost fish and ranking 20th on TheDave 100, a family of superheroes. So, could this be it? A movie about an old man and a Wilderness Scout who fly in a house to South America? Could this be the inevitable misstep?


No.

“Up” is magnificent in every way possible. The story is fun and sweet, and somehow, the theater gets a little dusty after the first fifteen minutes. The music is fantastic, especially in that first fifteen minutes. The characters are likable, even lovable, from a dorky Scout who is deeper than a dork, to a goofy talking dog, who doesn’t talk by normal Disney standards, but through an inventive collar. Perhaps the least likable character is the actual bad guy, who is really only unlikable because you don’t see much of who he is, other than a jerkface. The main character though, is Carl, who seems cantankerous and miserly, but you’ll discover has his reasons.
 

How can an animated film make you feel so emotional?  That's the power of this early scene right here.
 
The color is marvelous. The scene when the roof comes off and the balloons fill the sky is incredible, a feast of color and animation brilliance. My recommendation is see this movie in 2-D, not 3-D. The 3-D glasses tend to dim the color slightly, and you don’t want that diminished in any way.


Enjoy the splendor, enjoy the color, enjoy the story, grab a hanky for the first few minutes of exposition between Carl & Ellie, and start worrying that maybe the next Pixar movie—Toy Story 3 in 3-D—will be the misstep.  (ps... I heard that last week, Toy Story 3 is completely finished and in the can.  And the early buzz on it is fantastic)

The 8th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Lovely Steph Leann's Class Reunion
Excerpts from September 1st, 2009...  One of the best (or worst, depending on who you are) parts about a class reunion, be it five, ten, fifteen or beyond, is seeing people that you hadn't seen in a long, long time. Friends you had, chicks you crushed on, people you didn't care for (but can't remember quite why), people you just knew and were used to seeing every day for years and years and suddenly, strangely, they are completely out of your life in every way possible.

When it comes to my own reunion back in 2002, for my 10th year anniversary of the Class of 1993, I saw some faces I welcomed like Chris McCall, Tonya Windham, Greg Avant, Stephanie Phillips, Tammy Thomas... now, I can keep up with them via Facebook. Some people, like my 4th grade crush Misty Kimble, I haven't actually seen since we walked off the football field around 8:30pm graduation night.

I think anyone who had been to a high school reunion will relate to some of this... just like The Lovely Steph Leann and DeLisa, who were attending their 15th anniversary of the Baker High School (Mobile, AL) Class of 1994.

The reunion was held at The Blue Gill Restaurant over in nearby Spanish Fort, out on the patio. While DeLisa had scrounged around for her 1994 Senior Yearbook, "The Novis", The Lovely Steph Leann had dug in the archives to find a ton of pictures, spirit ribbons, buttons and all sorts of nostalgic memorabilia. We walked through the restaurant to find a girl named Lynn Sprouse (now Kilgore), who quickly became one of my favorites of the night. It seemed that DeLisa and Lynn were part of a larger committee to help plan this shindig, but over time, it became ONLY DeLisa and Lynn planning this shindig, so while friendly enough, Lynn was quick to point out the failings of some other people. And it made me laugh.

The full story of the weekend can be found here... first, a post where DeNick and I went treasure hunting, and a photo essay on all the great finds we came upon... and secondly, the reunion overall, including my photography impersonation of Lesley Foley of Foley Photography, serving the Florida Panhandle and Southern Alabama, contact 850-543-7407, the porn star next door and these things being spoken:

"Those aren't real."

"I checked her photo. She's pretty hot now, especially since she got her eyebrows under control."

"Time has not been good to him."

"Time has not been good to her."

"Wow... time has been that guy's friend, I think."

"Dude, time has been very, very good to her."

And my favorite exchange of the night:

DeNick: That chick's top... not many people can do a top like that, but she managed to pull it off.
Me: I'm sure a few more beers and that's exactly what she'll do
DeNick (leaning over, trying not to choke on his $3 brew)

The 7th Coolest Thing of 2009... Disney with The Rays
The 6th Coolest Thing of 2009... Steven & Calah Ray
These two can be combined into one spot... we were setting up our trip to Disney World for June 2009 early in the year, and actually had a couple that had discussed going with us.  That fell through, and The Lovely Steph Leann and I discussed the idea of inviting these two people we'd just met, that being Steven Ray and his wife Calah.

They were fairly new in our Sunday School Life Connection class at Valleydale Baptist Church (an sbc fellowship), and our brief interactions had been... well, pleasant, but brief.  We knew he was close to 30, maybe 30ish, she was around 24 or 25... 23?  Who knows.  Anyway, we had enjoyed chatting with them...

So on a Sunday morning, I sat next to Calah and said, "Hey, you wanna go to Disney World with me and The Lovely Steph Leann?   In June.  It will be on the cheap..." and her eyes lit up and she said, "Uh... yeah... definitely.  Let me talk to Steven, but I think we can do this." 

And so we met up a few times, and each time we did we learned more and more about the Rays--and liked them more and more as well--as we planned our trip.  We stayed at All Star Music, and the Rays did the right thing... they trusted us and followed our lead in an effort to do as much as possible over the few days we were there.  It was go go go for three solid days, much of the time spent with Steven and Calah, and we had a few times apart from them so we could do our own thing.   I tell ya, if you want to get to know someone well, spend 10 hours in a Trailblazer, spend a weekend at The Most Magical Place on Earth, and spend another 10 hours in that same Trailblazer...

We got to know them well, and loved them greatly.  Steven is a former music minister, so The Lovely Steph Leann relates to him easy because she is a child of music as well... I relate to him because he's a guy my age.  Calah is a bit younger, an optometry student, but sometimes more mature that both of us guys... and since our friendship has lasted over a year now, with frequent lunches, frequent dinners and frequent game nights...

...and you know what else we love about Steven and Calah Ray?  They call us. 

See, The Lovely Steph Leann and I love socializing... we love being around people, we love dinners and having people over and such... but in our busy lives, we don't have time to call people alot.  Its nice when people call us every now and then, and to the Rays credit, they've done just that... randomly, I'll get a text that says, "BUFFALO WINGS DINNER?" or "YOU GUYS BUSY?  CARDS?" and we'll say "YEAH!" or "YEAH!"

Their marriage is sweet, you can tell just being around them that he adores her and dotes on her constantly, and you can tell that she not only loves him, but admires and respects him as well.  I hope that people see that between The Lovely Steph Leann and I when we are together.

Anyway, we loved our weekend vacation with The Rays and we love our friendship with them as well.  We think both are extremely cool.

Coming up... what IS the coolest thing of 2009?  Is it Disney again?  Is it another piece of technology?  Is it an unlikely starlet with a catchy tune?  Its all Up in the Air... this week, the Top Five Coolest Things of 2009.

Chicken and Dunkin

If you are reading this on Facebook, I'd love for you to do two things... first, search "Clouds in My Coffee" and join the fan page... secondly, click on over to Clouds In My Coffee and enjoy this page as it was intended... links, background, big, honkin' coffee cup up top... okay, on with the show...

Days off are nice.  Today was President's Day, and as a result, I have three days off from The Happiest Place in the Mall, yesterday being Day One, today being Day Two and Wednesday being Day Three (I was scheduled for work today, and being off tomorrow, but a Magical Higher Up is taking a Magic Carpet to The Happiest Place in the Mall, and I needed to be there and... well, doesn't matter...)

Days off are nice. 

This morning, I did have to spend the first five hours of my days at Starbucks, slingin' some coffee and makin' some caffeine dreams come true, but after 10am, I came home, did some stuff around The Cabana, and by 1130, I finally made my way upstairs.  My intent was to take a shower, then get dressed, maybe watch a movie.  I just purchased "Rather Unimpressive Illegitimate Children" and "The Hangover" on Blu-Ray (neither are Emmy Turnbow safe, so beware), so I could watch either of them... or I could watch the two episodes of WWE: Raw on DVR, including the one after the Royal Rumble... or I could read some of the book I'm trying to dive into, and have made it to page 11 in a week...  and what did I do?

I took a nap.  I don't think I meant to, but I laid down on my comfy bed, with absolutely nowhere to be today and closed my eyes and... when I opened them again, it was a few minutes after 2pm.  And I felt wonderful.

See, days off are nice.  But, Wednesdays aren't as nice to have off as Mondays.  On Wednesdays, even if I have off, many times I have to be at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) for KidStuf practice or for any number of things.  Sometimes I'm not working at The Happiest Place in the Mall, but have to be at Starbucks at 5p or 6p or whatever, so while its a day off, I still have somewhere to be.  Not today.

Around 2pm, I finally threw the blanket back (I don't even think I moved from the position I laid down in, but I did emit a strong stench of Caffe Verona and Zen loose leaf tea) and finally got a shower, and finally got dressed and realized... wow, I'm hungry. 

The Lovely Steph Leann and I had lunch yesterday (Sunday) with St'ray and C'ray after church, visiting O'Chuck's in Alabaster, and... well, we probably ate too much.  It wasn't too much at O'Chuck's, but adding on the Coldstone Creamery dessert probably did it.  As a result, by 8pm last night while The Lovely Steph Leann was mesmerized by the Olympic Icy Gay Dancing on TV, I blogged a bit, even nodding off a few times.   Admittedly, I was talking to Amarilys by Morning (up from San Antone) on Facebook, comparing "wipe out" notes on the moguls going on, but beyond that, I tuned out.  The point is, we weren't hungry.  By the time we were a little hungry, it was kinda too late to eat anything, so we both went to bed without supper.

And my whole point is that I've gone from 1pm Sunday afternoon to about Monday at 230p with no food, save for a Panera bagel that MZ brought us at Starbucks.  So, I'm hungry.  What to eat?  Well... I heard there was a brand new Bojangles Chicken Establishment in Pelham, a nearby suburb of The Ham, so I thought, "Hey, that sounds good.  I'll try it out!"  As I drove that way, I thought about the Dunkin' Donuts that I'd pass on the way, and thought on the way back, I'd stop in there as well.

By 3pm, I pulled into the mostly empty Bojangles parking lot.  Understand, I'm a big fan of Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits, not to mention Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits is a mere five miles from The Cabana, so for me to want to haul my happy tail 12 miles through Birmingham traffic, Bojangles is going to have to be some good eatin'... and I had my hopes high.  My best mate Wookiee even mentioned once that he heard they would have Cheerwine in the fountain as a drink option... life could not be better if that were in fact the case.  In fact, if this restaurant served Cheerwine out of the fountain, I might actually have come home and began open discussions with The Lovely Steph Leann about how The Cabana isn't what we want, and how we should consider making a move out to the Pelham/Alabaster area... but alas, I can already tell you that I won't be calling our real estate agent anytime soon.

I walk in, and the place looks clean... and new.  Which it is.  The drink fountain is on the far end, and there is even a red label on one of the drinks.  Cheerwine?  Maybe?  Maybe?!   They've got a food bar there at the counter, where you order and they serve your food right in front of you.  I stand back for a minute to study the menu, one I've never seen, to decide what I want to eat.  I'm hungry, but don't want to overdo it, saving room for Dunkin' later. 

The girl behind the counter is named Jamerica, she looks to be about 16 or 17, and behind her, doing the serving is another guy with dreadlocks under his Bojangles cap, sans name tag.   Here's the conversation:

Jamerica:  Can I help you?
d$:  Yes, I don't see it on the menu (I point to the big sign close to the front door) but I do want to get the combo there on the sign, the first one.  The 2pc leg & thigh meal.  I'll get macaroni and cheese as my "fixin", please.

Jamerica is at the register, but Dreads is right behind her, poking at her or something.  She turns around, pushes him away, and playfully says, "Stop it now!  I'm trying to take his order!"  She turns back to me.

Jamerica:  Yeah, I'm sorry, he won't quit messing with me!  Now, sorry, I didn't get anything you just said.  What did you want now?
d$: (I point again to the sign) I'd like to get the 2pc leg & thigh meal, with macaroni and cheese, please.
Jamerica, to Dreads: Stop it now!  (back to me) Okay, so you got the leg and thigh meal... and what you say you fixin' was?
d$: The macaroni and cheese.

Jamerica is slowly punching this in her register... it reminds me of Sinbad's old joke about how fast food employees are not the brightest cookies in the Oreo pack, and how nowadays the registers just have picture of the food on the keys, and they just push that button.  While she pushed buttons slowly, Dreads stood there, looking at her slowly punching the buttons.

Jamerica:  Ain't you gonna fix his order?
Dreads: I was waitin' for you to ask (ax?) him whether he was taking it to go or dining in!
d$, without being asked:  I'm dining in.
Dreads:  Oh, okay!

Jamerica swipes my card, which I take back as quick as possible for fear that she swipes it a few times any my $5.40 meal becomes $37.83.  Dreads, to his credit, selected two large pieces of chicken amongst some of the smaller pieces, then looked confused.  Apparently there were two receipts to be given... one to me, showing my purchase, and one to Dreads, showing the actual order.  Mind you, this was pretty simple.  He'd already put the correct pieces of chicken on the plate, so the work was 75% over at this point, he just needed the mac and cheese.

Dreads, looking back at Jamerica:  Hey, 'merica!  Where that receipt at?
Jamerica:  I gave (gay?) you that receipt!
Dreads: No you didn't!  I didn't get no receipt!
d$: Um, I can tell you what I had. 
Dreads: Okay, what you have?
d$: Mac and cheese.  Please.
Dreads:  Oh, that's right!

Dreads would never, ever, never make it at Starbucks.  The first moment that he stood there at the espresso bar, cup in hand, wondering what he was supposed to make would the be the first moment MZ would punt him out the drive thru window.  Actually, I have worked with baristas like that... they don't last long.

Dreads picked up the scooper (!) for the mac and cheese, scoops some out for my plate, then tosses the scooper down, saying, "Man!  That's so hot!  That thing is hot, man!"  I sigh, and finally get my plate of food.  I would have paid an extra $2 to come back there and serve myself, even on the understanding that I could only get the proper amount given.

I was handed my cup, and turned toward the drink fountain.  They've got the regular Pepsi products like Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper and... Cheerwine?  No.  The red label reads "Patio Red Cherry Soda".  Patio?  What the Ellen DeGeneres is a Patio Red Cherry Soda?  Seriously?  Well, what the heck, maybe I'll discover something awesome here.  I fill up my cup with Patio Red Cherry Soda and ice, and take a drink and immediately dump it out.  It was absolutely disgusting.  I look over and see the big vat of tea, that reads "BOJANGLES LEGENDARY SWEET TEA"... well, heck, if its legendary, let's try it.  I would be good to know how it stacks up against Milo's and Zaxby's, two of my favorite sweet teas in town. 

Empty.  The vat was completely empty.  Not even a droplet.  I do that thing where I rinse my cup using the water tab that is attached to the lemonade, and I just fill it up with Mountain Dew.  By the way, I just Googled "patio red cherry soda" and I got nothing.  Like, pictures of tomato cherries came up, along with a few pictures of old bottles and bottlecaps that have Patio Diet Cola and Sun Crest Cherry Soda on it. 

As for the meal, it was okay.  The chicken was pretty good, but not brilliant, and it had big clumps of spice in various places, like it was sitting on the bottom of the pan soaking up the spice powder.  Using the spork wasn't much fun either.  The mac and cheese was nothing special, it was like any other place that does semi-fast food mac & cheese, so while it wasn't great, it was decent.  I liked it better than some other places, but it didn't beat Kraft homemade by any stretch.   The biscuit was hot, but again, not great.  Just good.  Popeye's biscuits beat it hands down... and for that matter, Bojangles was on par with Popeyes, maybe a little under, and definitely not worth the long drive to get there, passing a Popeye's on the way.

I left Bojangles, headed back up Highway 31 with a semi-full stomach, turned onto Highway 119 and pulled into Dunkin' Donuts.

Let's be honest... yes, I work at Starbucks.  And despite the efforts by Dunkin' Donuts to make themselves into this coffee entity, they and Starbucks are two different products.  Don't get me wrong, I understand that many of you like Dunkin' coffee, sometimes even better than Starbucks...

Sidebar... okay, what is it about our nature that makes us want to tell people that while we enjoy the fruits of their labor, we like other fruits as well and sometimes better?  Not only that, every time anybody gets a Starbucks rumor, they like to email it to me with the note "I can't believe Starbucks would do this!" (Kathy Compton, I'm talking to you), and I've had people actually tell me, "Man, I love Starbucks, but I went to Dunkin' Donuts, and their coffee is so good!  They put the cream in it for you--you know, Starbucks doesn't do that--and they know just how to do it and..."

What would Amarilys by Morning (up from San Antone), who runs a small pottery business, think if I told her, "You know, I like your shop, Painted By U, but I went into Sips n Strokes and they have this deal that you don't have, and they know just how to kiln that pottery and..."  That would make me a dorky dorkface.   Just sayin'.

...and so in that, I like Dunkin' Donuts.  They've been known to wear shirts that say "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Starbucks", which I think is kinda unclassy... but their donuts are great.  As soon as I walked in, there was a line ahead of me.  The little cafe was full of people, many of them sitting around the tables with a box of half-dozen donuts between them.

There's a big cooler there with Coke products (which I'm in favor of at Starbucks... not fountains, but serving them in the bottles), and the place is full of color and life.  There were little stands around the cafe featuring the "Box O'Joe" coffee boxes, some featuring the bags of coffee and other treats and such.  The line moved rather quickly, and when I got to the front, I immediately chose a manager's special (a chocolate covered, vanilla cream filled donut) and then a Bavarian cream filled donut.  FYI, if you are ever wanting to get into the great graces of d$, and are choosing donuts as your weapon of choice, Bavarian cream works.  Every time.  Every.  Time.

For fun, I added four more, making it a half-dozen for $4.49... a dozen was $7.99, but that was too many.  No, silly, I didn't eat them all myself... I stopped by the office of a buddy of mine to say hello, as I was in the area, and dropped them off.   Well, truthbetold, I also had a conversation with another friend of mine about a possible job opening at said office, but that's all I will say about that...

So, to sum up, Bojangles is worth the trip if the trip means you really, really, really want fried chicken and Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits is nowhere to be found.  Dunkin' Donuts is worth the trip if you want donuts and a Krispy Kreme is nowhere to be found.  Between the two, though, its a toss-up. 

But let's be real.  Starbucks has better coffee. 

If only we had Cheerwine.  If only.