So, sometimes when I am looking for something blog and I know I have to not only be up in about 7 hours for work, meaning I'll need to be in bed in an hour or so... and so tonight, I found this little gem. Well, to me its a gem, to you it might just be something to skim on your daily check of Clouds in My Coffee
...which I've noticed I'm getting alot of traffic daily, probably due to The Summer of Blogging--so... thank you so much...
...anyway, its the lyrics to a version of "Everyone's Free to Wear Sunscreen", done by Baz Luhrmann from 1999.
It originated in 1997, when Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune wrote a column entitled "Advice, Like Youth, Probably Just Wasted on the Young". She described it as "a commencement speech, were I asked to give one". Over the years, it has been erroneously attributed to Kurt Vonnegat, though it became truly famous when, in 1999, Australian film director Baz Luhrmann used the entire essay in a spoken word song entitled "Wear Sunscreen".
And by 2000, this song was everywhere. So, on January 9th, 2001, I did my own version. And I thought I'd give it to you...
"HAVE A QUIET TIME (EVERYBODY'S FREE)"
Ladies and gentlemen of The Deuce... read scripture.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, a daily quiet time would be it. The long term benefits of The Word has been proven time after time by God and joy in your life that comes with Him, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice...
...now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of The Deuce.Oh, never mind, you will never understand the power and beauty of The Deuce until it has disbanded.But trust me, in twenty years, you will look back at photos of Deuce Christmas and an old DeuceFest shirt and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much fun you had and how fabulous the Deuce guys really looked.
They are not as lazy as you might think.
Don't worry about the future or worry, but know that worrying is as ineffective as McLeod trying to be entertained by watching Jason Takes Manhatten.The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that has a Mercedes blindsiding your insuranceless car at 10:30pm on a random Tuesday.
Bring one new person to Common Ground, even if it scares you.
If you are Stephanie Campbell, sing.Unless you are Rebecca Glassco.Then act.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with Delta Zetas who are reckless with yours.
Use coasters.
Don't waste your time on jealousy... if she likes you, great, if she doesn't, being jealous will only turn her off of you even further.The race is long and though you may never reach the end, enjoy the run.
Remember compliments Michael gives you, forget his insults.If you succeed in doing this, you aren't Sarah Hasha.
Keep your old movie tickets.Throw away any bills.
Slam.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 20 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 25 year olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of Hamburger Helper.
Be kind to the Nipp family... you'll miss Sunday lunch when its gone.
Maybe you'll get a date, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll go out twice, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll go stag at Deuce Date Party, maybe you'll eat cheese fries on your 2nd anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, dont berate yourself to much either.
God's will is going to happen, whether you like it or not.
Enjoy the Deuce.Visit every chance you can, don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it.It has some of the greatest fellowship you'll ever know.
Watch the History Channel at least once a week, even if there are others things on.
Don't worry about the directions, just shove them behind the DVDS.
Do not read Shawn's Better Homes and Gardens, it will only make you feel gay.
Get to know Factor 7's music.You'll never know when they'll break up for good.
Be nice to your roommates.They are the best link to paying rent on time, and the people most likely to stick with you when everyone else won't.
Understand that friends come and go, but a precious few you should hold on to. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and gender, for as the older you get, the more you'll need somewhere to go and just relax.
Visit Hunter Street once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Visit Brookhills once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Accept certain inaliable truths... Daniel will have his palm pilot,and Ty Coffey will own Samford and Mike Williams will try to date Rebecca.When you get older, you'll fantacize that when you young, Daniel used an ink pen, Mike was meeting girls at Ropers and Ty was merely a Senator.
Respect Wookiee, Sybil and Jimmy, for they are your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to pay your bills.
Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a loaded roommate, but you'll never know when either one will run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you are 40 you will look like you are a minister at Valleydale.
Be careful where you buy your used cds and movies, but be patient with those who supply them.
Know that advice is a form of nostalgia.Dispensing it is a way of sharing your opinions without seeming like you are telling the other person what to do.Usually its recycled advice spoken for more than its worth.
Just got in from recording our podcast, The Deucecast, Episode X: On Stranger Podcasts. Have you heard our show? Then let me tell you about it, so you'll know...
So not too long ago, maybe March or something like that, Mikey sends me a text that simply says, "I think we should do a podcast. Call it the deucecast. what do u think?"
Immediately, I smiled... a podcast? A real, true life, on iTunes podcast? I was down with it, completely. Mikey is one of those guys that, when he is all in, he's all in. He's totally in. He's behind it a billion percent. And this idea had been perculating around his mind for a little while, to the point where he started prepping for it before he even asked me about it. Probably because... well, he' knew I'd be in.
After doing this website for just shy of six years now, I had been thinking of the next step, the next progression. Heck, I had decided a year or so ago that a podcast would be a great idea, one of my own where I could talk about what I want, having guests of all calibers to discuss and debate--don't know if it would have been interesting, but at least I would have enjoyed it.
Problem was, I knew nothing of a podcast. Nor did I have the equipment to even start with it. But Mikey... he had the equipment, or at least some of it. He needed me to kind of put a frame work on the show, maybe segments, games and so on. What we would talk about, do a "rundown" of sorts.
But how to get the show running, the techie stuff? Enter Tommy Mac and Shawn Sharp, who both have a great idea of how this stuff works.
Though Mikey was ready to do an hour plus show the first week, I knew we'd have to build. We met on a Wednesday night about a week or so after our initial conversation, and figured we'd put down some audio, talk about whatever, and that would be that... and after 90 minutes of playing with earphones, wires, sound levels, microphones, filters and so on, Mikey and I finally began to talk with Tommy and Shawn producing.
And it was dreadful. Part of the show is unintelligible due to a bad buzzing noise, the other part was just that we had no idea what exactly we were doing. I don't remember exactly what we talked about (I've never made it entirely through that particular episode on playback), but I do remember thinking that, "Well, that sucked... but it didn't suck as bad as it could have."
The next week rolled around, and this time, I actually brought "show notes", and a written "rundown". The rundown was just the flexible schedule we were going to go by, the show notes were typed out notes for my own use to get my own thoughts out a little easier.
Mikey's brother-in-law, and hubby to Mikey's sister Snipp, Matty, began listening from the beginning. Living in Chattanooga, he would email and text us both some thoughts and suggestions on making the show better... so it didn't take long before he became a "guest contributor", and then into a full fledged co-host.
So the three of us, Matty, Mikey and myselfy have hosted The Deucecast now for what was our 10th episode last night... well, thats 10, but we also did 4 "negative" episodes... meaning we took 4 weeks and did shows as a rehearsal of sorts.
You know how a big attraction at a theme park, or even a big store location has a grand opening, but before that, they do "soft openings" to work out the kinks? This was us. We took four weeks to work out the audio problems, to get our style down, to figure out segments that did and didn't work, games that needed redefining... and by Episode -1, we got it down. In fact, that is one of my personal favorite episodes!
We even called in some "guest contributors" like Hurricane Rhett and The Good Dr. Earl to come in every few weeks and add something different to the show. Perhaps Rhett's Rhants is one of our more popular segments, I'd say. We had best selling author Justin Fisher in-studio to discuss his book as well (and if you haven't read it, shame on you.... its great... book review coming soon enough) for our first in-studio interview.
So, you are asking, what's The Deucecast about? I'll admit, we aren't for everyone. Not that its bad language or anything, but some people (re: chicks) might find us dorky and boring... we talk about movies and music and celebrities and pop culture stuff for an hour every week. Mikey does a music segment where he brings up new music from sometimes obscure bands, and Matty and I make fun of him. Matt does a "smorgasbord" where he discusses whatever, though alot of times it revolves video gaming.
Seagal is all things to all people. And by "all people", I mean Matt Rector.
I do a bit called "Buried Treasure" and discuss movies that you may have forgotten, movies like "Boomerang" with Eddie Murphy, and wrestling film "Body Slam", and sometimes music, like Hootie's "Fairweather Johnson" CD.
There several in-studio games we rotate through from week to week, like "Name That Crap", where everyone has to name the song being played, usually something along the caliber of early Michael Bolton or Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam... we do a game called "Faux or Show", where we discuss horrible television shows from the past... and a great little movie game that keeps us laughing and bewilders us about how much random crap we know.
We also do an homage every week to actor/lawman/activist/humanitarian/musician/jack of all trades/master of all trades Steven Seagal, mostly catering to Matt's possibly unhealthy obsession to the guy.
And in our "Roundtable", we just talk about whatever. Star Wars is a popular topic, as is Charlie Sheen and I like to discuss Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with), but we cover everything from topical headlines to books to anything else. Just a random free for all, almost like we are sitting in the living room just tossing stuff out there... cause thats actually what it is.
Overall, its a fun show. I think its funny, but again, its not for everyone. However, if you haven't listened to it at all, take a listen.
You can find the website at http://www.thedeucecast.com/ and listen there, or go to iTunes and search for "The Deucecast".
So, before you write us off, give it a listen. When you find out we are actually unfunny hacks who just laugh at our own inanity for an hour a week, then you can write us off. But you have to listen to a show first. Heck, even Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) thinks we are hacks--but thanks anyway to Painted By U for being a sponsor.
Okay, well, they arent really a sponsor, and legally, our show and her business have nothing to do with each other, and anything we say and do are not representative of the views and opinions of her or her business in any way (and vice versa), but if we DID have a pottery paintin' sponsor, Painted By U would totally be it, and if Painted By U wanted to sponsor a podcast, then... The Deucecast is it! (summer of blogging, day 10)
For anyone who knew me in The Deuce days, watching "Grown Ups" this past weekend made me think of one thing... this movie is what Deuce: The Movie would be if Deuce: The Movie was in fact a movie.
However, Sandler can still be funny. And when you throw in the likes of David Spade(who, let's face it, hasn't had a truly funny movie since the Farley days), Chris Rock(hasn't truly been funny in a real movie since "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back"), Rob Schneider(aside from the random funny cameos in most Sandler movies, he was last seen being funny in... in... well, The Lovely Steph Leann liked 'The Hot Chick"--a movie that I dug not for Schneider, but for Anna Faris and Rachel McAdams) and Kevin James(who was truly charming in "Paul Blart", was the funniest part of "Chuck & Larry" and truly held his own with Will Smith in "Hitch"), you have got the potential to have a pretty funny movie. And for the most part, "Grown Ups" delivers what you would expect.
Its a movie that features a group of guys who were friends back in the day, all playing on a middle school (back then it was "junior high") basketball team that won the championship... they grow up and lose touch, but are all called back together when their coach passes away. They end up spending the 4th of July long weekend together, with Sandler playing Lenny, a successful Hollywood agent, married to Roxanne (Salma Hayek) with three completely spoiled brat kids. Kevin James is Eric, married to Sally (an incredibly good looking Maria Bello) with a couple of problem kids of their own, including a 48 month old son who still likes to nurse... from mom. Yes, that's 4 years old.
Rob Schneider is Rob, and marries a woman 30 years his elder, which makes for a running gag that eventually gets tiresome, while David Spade is Marcus, a player who never got married and still chases women. Finally, Chris Rock is Token homemaker Kurt, married to the bacon-bringer-homer and very pregnant Deanne (Maya Rudolph), with a few kids of their own.
What follows in the course of the hour and forty five is a series of vignette-like scenes that carry the group through the weekend as they catch up, learn about family and friendship and say lots of innuendos and poopy farty jokes along the way. You know, its five guys. They do run into the grown up versions of the kids they beat on the championship team back in the day, allowing for fellow SNL alums Colin Quinn and Tim Meadows to make appearances, as well as Steve Buscemi, who looks like he's playing his squirrely bug-eyed look to the hilt.
Some jokes are funny, some fall flat, but you just have to be into this kind of a buddy-reunion movie to enjoy a film like this. Having lived with three other guys who paid rent and like, seven other guys that didn't, all at the same time, I could relate to this film in terms of how people change, the direction that life takes for some... though I cannot fathom being that close to your homeboys, and then having no contact with them for 30 years. That's just... well, maybe I'm being idealistic, but that's almost unreasonable.
I almost feel like this could be Shawn, Big Tom, Mikey, myself and Tommy Mac in a few years. Or Wookiee. Or Drewski. Or, if you are thinking Chris Rock, it could be The Hall--though I would think if we reunited for a coach's death, it would be for The Hall's funeral. Then again, I don't fish... Just sayin'.
The language is fair, not too bad, and with the exception of Maria Bello's booby coming out for a nursing scene (without showing anything, by the way) there's nothing really bad in this film.
Don't expect to see "Billy Madison" all over again... if you can wait until the Ghetto Theater for a Buck, do so. If you just have to see it now, take a matinee, otherwise catch it on a rental in probably September or October.
By the way... the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic... REO Speedwagon... J Geils... Journey (something other than "Don't Stop Believin'", for once)... Jefferson Starship... The Kinks... Eddie Money's "Two Tickets to Paradise", one of my 100 favorite songs of all time... and Bob Welch's "Sentimental Lady", which Chris Rock's character declares to be, somewhat correctly, "the whitest song in history"... oh, and one more song that's in the movie, but not on the soundtrack...
That's Bob Seger's "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". Bob Seger, what the crap, yo? First, let's be honest, you rock. "Shakedown" from "Beverly Hills Cop II", rocks. "Hollywood Nights" rocks. "Still the Same", "Turn the Page", "We Got Tonight"... they all rock. And so does this awesome song called "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". And you can't find it on iTunes.
If you are Garth Brooks or The Beatles, who have catalogs that are both infamous for not being available, then I can understand. Why sell on iTunes, you got a bajillion dollars anyway. But Bob Seger? Seriously, dude. Open up that catalog. I don't want "Greatest Hits Volume 2", I want that one song.
Welcome back! We are slowly but surely making our way through the Coolest 100 Things of 2009... let's continue with #s 40 to 31...
The 40th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Sweet Thing" by Keith Urban "When I picked you up for our first date baby, well your pretty blue eyes they were driving me crazy, and that tiny little thought they were so amazing they were looking at me.."
The above video is taken from a AOL Live Session... who even uses AOL anymore? Anyway, its a great song... got a fever pitch, fast paced, and its the first single from Keith Urban's 5th album, "Defying Gravity". The lyrics discuss "kissing on the porch swing" and having his woman "exit through the bedroom window while the whole world's sleeping"... of course, according to his Wiki, the lyrics were inspired by Urban's relationship with his Ford Mustang. But hey, this is the 2000s... who are we to tell him who to love?
The 39th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Taken" What do you get when you put the smokin' hotness of Famke Janssen together with the good-lookedness of Maggie Grace, then pour in a heapin' helpin' of Liam Neeson as a bad mofo father who is hellbent on getting his daughter back, no matter what?
You get "Taken". Liam Neeson plays Ben, a divorced guy who is just trying to get along with his daughter, and his ex-wife, and is forced to allow his daughter to go overseas. When he gets a disturbing phone call from his daughter, who is then kidnapped, he becomes a Super Pimpdaddy and goes nuts on everyone to get her back. Its one of those kind of "I hope that I would do as much for Lorelei Addison as he does for his kid" kind of films.
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have is a very particular set of skills... skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." YEAH!!!
The 38th Coolest Thing of 2009... "John Adams" From June 5th of last year... ...I wanted to talk about "John Adams", the HBO Mini-series that The Lovely Steph Leann and I have been watching. We finished part 2 of 7, and already, its magnificent. Its just a wonderful piece of film thusfar, with Paul Giamatti as the title character doing a great job. It might just stolen out from under him, though, with Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin, who is hilarious and perfect at the same time. The big surprise? How much I love the character of Abigail Adams. I already dig on Laura Linney anyway, one of my favorite actresses, but her take on the strained and sacrificial wife of John Adams is nearly flawless.
Anyway, to follow up, we did finish it. And it was amazing, from start to finish. The miniseries is in 7 parts, and it takes you through the early days of Adams' political career, through his presidency and battles with fellow patriots, and through the end of his life. Laura Linney is amazing, Paul Giamatti is solid and even the bit players, like That Guy David Morse as General, then President, Washington, are great.
Even though it is a Hollywood production (from HBO), its pretty much unbiased in its telling of the American founding and its founders. Its remarkable to watch a group of men so passionate about what they believe to be right, so willing to give up everything they have for a country to be free of tyranny and rule from a land far away... and its important to remember that not everyone was for succession. Not everyone wanted to be free--many people wanted to stay right where they were, under rule, as it was comfortable and predictable.
I'll stop before I get on a rant, but here's some recommended reading from Rush Limbaugh Jr, the father of the talk show host. Its called "Americans Who Risked Everything." Yes we can!
The 37th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Video for "Fallin' For You" by Colbie Caillet Here's what I wrote on October 29th, in a post called "Music and Magic"... Here's what I love about this video... its just fun. And sweet. And nice. She's pretty, he's a nerd, yet she totally digs him. Its like The Lovely Steph Leann falling for me all over again, only without the surfing and the trailer. And the ending of the video is just precious. Yep, I said precious
My 20th favorite video of the first decade of the century, and the 37th coolest thing of all last year.
The 36th Coolest Thing of 2009... Debating Brad Latta Everyone needs an antithesis. I'm not sure that Brad is mine, cause I am not really sure what my antithesis would even be, but perhaps he'll fit.
I believe what I believe, and I know why I believe it, but the good (and bad) thing about my friend Brad is he asks--nay, demands--that you know why you believe it. "Gut feeling" doesn't work with this guy... being the lawyer that he is, he asks you give the facts. Be it sources, facts, data, stats or whatever.
Though we are mainly on the same page about most things, we do differ in many ways, and sometimes our late night Gmail or Facebook chats/debates/wars can be heated... probably the biggest battle was recently, when our Congress passed the healthcare bill, and He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected signed off on it (not that He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected actually knew what was in the bill... nor most of our other Congressmen, one of which stated that they didn't have time to read any of it... but another discussion for another day).
But at the end of the day, I think we both have a mutual respect for each other, he for my passion on what I believe, me for his challenging me (and others) to have a reason to believe it. He thinks he's right and I'm wrong, I know I'm right and he's wrong, and we'll continue our banter up until and past the November election. My hats off to you, Brad.
The 35th Coolest Thing of 2009... This Picture Taken at our few days in Walt Disney World, here's a snapshot of Amy McL, Tommy Mac, The Good Rev'rn Ty Sharpton Coffey and Yours Truly...
This picture cracks me up every single time I look at it.
I loved this movie. I loved how it started, I loved the story, I loved the effects, I loved how it ended, I just thought this flick was absolutely worth the wait and just awesome. I really enjoyed how JJ Abrams didn't take the movie soooo seriously... there are a lot of Trek fans out there, so he had to walk a fine line between telling a story that people who aren't necessarily Trekkies will enjoy and want to see, and not angering or upsetting those very Trekkies who, despite the fact some of them have never kissed a girl (by the way, I looked for that Shatner SNL skit, and couldn't find it anywhere...), have basically kept the franchise alive for forty years.
Abrams does a great job at walking that line... I think anyone who isn't familiar with Star Trek will just enjoy a good science fiction story, and anyone who knows the story will recognize some of the little salutes to the original that have found its way into the film. The officer who goes with Sulu and Kirk down to the alien planet--you know he's not coming back. We know this because we've seen the show. Bones yelling, "Dammit, I'm a doctor!" and Scotty yelling, "We're giving it all she's got cap-pin!" were lines that I cracked up on, as did many other people in the theater. Even the Kobayashi Maru training scene is a throwback to the original cast, and there's a slight shout-out to the interracial barrier broken by the original series (when Kirk and Uhura kissed on television. Gasp.)
Anyway, I can highly recommend this film to anyone who's ever had a remote interest in Star Trek, be it the Original Series, or the Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine or Voyager or Enterprise or Tribbletown or Space Babylon or Battleship Starlactica or whatever they've called the 87 spin off shoes... for any die-hard Trekkies, loosen up a little. JJ Abrams made his film in love. Its great.
The 33rd Coolest Thing of 2009... PTI
Most mornings, I shower with Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornhieser. Okay, not actually with Wilbon and TK, but I download the podcast every day, and on mornings when The Lovely Steph Leann is not around when its showertime, ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" is on my iPod.
Its an irreverent sports talk show that has two hosts--usually Wilbon and TK, but sometimes sportswriters Dan LeBatard or Bob Ryan or a few others jumps in to substitute. Usually they go through the big sports topics of the day, including doing various segments with titles like "Oddsmakers" and "Email" and "Role Play" (which cracks me up). Its remarkable, though... I've never actually seen a full episode of the show. I actually try not to watch it when its on TV, because I know I'll be listening to it on the iPod the next day.
The 32nd Coolest Thing of 2009... "Avatar" I did my Clouds review on January 4th, 2010, but I did see the movie in 2009... and here's a summary of that review:
"Avatar" was the absolute best use of 3-D I've ever seen in my complete, whole, entire life. The spectacle, the color and the use of 3-D was marvelous, the depth of the picture was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The movie simply comes alive as the picture goes on, and while you forget you are even watching it in 3-D, somehow you know it wouldn't be the same in 2-D.
The story was average. I mean, it was a good story, it wasn't boring, a few people died that you didn't expect to die, but you kinda knew how the ending would end. The acting is average, no one really jumps out, though I will admit that both Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana do a stellar job all dressed in the blue of the Na'vi.
By and large, "Avatar" is a magnificent film, if only for what your eyes will feast upon in every second. And to see it, do it justice and see it in 3-D. Don't wait for the dollar theater or do the "I'll see it on DVD" or catch a 2D show... this is a movie you just simply need to see in 3-D to understand. And to fully appreciate.
And now that its been a few months since I've seen it, I look forward to seeing it again, to see if I still feel the same about it. It lost the big prize at the Academy Awards to "The Hurt Locker", and I'm curious to see, after all the hype and the fact that its now the biggest movie in American film history, does it still hold up?
The 31st Coolest Thing of 2009... Ruminations There was an email that went around that caught everyone's attention, and made me laugh so hard, I posted it in September. It had hilarious little bites like "I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die." and "Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the “people you may know” feature on Facebook people that I do in fact know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?"
Well, Krista, fellow coffee drinker, informed me that the site belonged to comedian Aaron Karo, and the site was called "Ruminations". And its awesome. Its now a site I check three or four times a week, sometimes daily, depending on how busy I am. Saying then, "I will tell you that the site itself is not a bad site... it does have some Not Emmy Turnbow Safe language, but its very rarely anything than just worldy conversation, nothing dirty. Now, I could tell you to go on over to that site and have fun reading, and you might do that, but let's be real... I want you to stay here. Heck, I'm about half-a-thousand away from 30K, so I'd like to keep you on this very site..." Proud to say I'm about two half-a-thousands away from 40K now, so there!
Anyway, to end this, I'd like to give you some recent ruminations, including some I wrote (and were published):
**Only two things become important when stuck in traffic: a full tank and an empty bladder.
**Getting into a heated political debate with a casual acquaintance on Facebook is a great way to make things really awkward the next time you actually see each other
**When I drop my food, it isn't about how many seconds it was on the ground. It's about who's around me to see me pick it up and eat it.
**Hey customer service call center... at what point does your "higher call volume than normal" actually become normal enough that you will hire more people and not make me wait 40 minutes to talk to you?
**The fact that the recommendations for me in the my iTunes store include Debbie Gibson, the cast of High School Musical AND Nirvana makes me wonder who I even am anymore
**I'll go to great lengths to scavenge other devices for batteries, long before I'll even consider going out to actually buy new ones.
**How do I not know you, if we have more than 100 friends in common on facebook?
**A college diploma is just a big fancy receipt
**Maybe I need to set my alarm clock to go off before I go to bed and shut it off. This seems to be the only way I can fall fast asleep
**Some songs are impossible to describe over the Internet. Like that one that goes ooohh oh oooohhooh ooohh oh oooohhhooo ouoo
Alright... 30 to go before the Coolest Thing of 2009 is announced. If I'm lucky, I'll get to that before I give you the 100th coolest thing of 2010.... coming up... The Tucks... MZ & Starbucks... and later, a Barnett meal that sucks. Went with the rhyme scheme.
First of all, thank you to everyone who has been visiting here either daily or at least every few days... I know for those of you who could care less about Idol--and let's face it, there hasn't been a lot to care about this season--its rather boring when all you see is idle Idol chatter when you come here looking for Happy Times stories, maybe a movie review, or even a mention or two of He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected's last week or so... so, thank you.
Secondly... why aren't you a fan on Facebook, eh? If you are reading this on Facebook, you need to go to Clouds to see any video that might be on the site, then search "Clouds in My Coffee" on Facebook and become a fan. Its the right thing, nay, the cool thing to do.
Third, we still aren't done with 2009 yet! In case you missed it (and since I haven't done one of these in a month, you might have!), here's where we've been thusfar:
The 50th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Right Round" by Flo Rida Yes, yes, I know the song is a few years old, and yes, I'd heard it before... but I'd never really taken to it until this year. This year? It's kinda catchy. Silly, a little corny, somewhat stupid, partly annoying and all from a guy who's name is taken from a state with a space in between (I'm guessing "Ken Tucky" and "Oak LaHoma" were on the list. What about Gior Juh? Ha! I got at least 46 more of these), but its use of the term "Benja-min Frank-ah-lins" alone makes me laugh. Its a good work out song. Not that I work out, but if I did...
The 49th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Mother Lover" Well, this is a family show. I keep it Rated PG, every now and again delving into a PG-13 territory, but for the most part, I keep it clean. So, for this spot, I won't bother linking to it, I won't put up pictures, I won't do anything but give a nod to K-Dub and then say four words:
When I found out this video was coming out, I almost peed myself. I was so friggin' excited, as I remember vividly the fabled "Monday Night Wars"--that being the battle between WWE on USA Network and World Championship Wrestling on Turner owned TBS. I was a huge, huge WCW an, having watched it since 1986 or 87 as a kid, when it was called NWA (National Wrestling Alliance", a few years before WCW).
Anyway, I've always been fascinated by the downfall of the WCW in the late 90s, not just as a wrestling fan, but just from a business prospective. You know how when someone gets straight zeroes in college (knew a guy) and you say, "Man, he had to work to fail that badly..."? Well the guys running the WCW seriously had to work to fail this miserably. This was chronicled in my pick for the 18th Coolest Thing of 2006, the book called "The Death of the WCW", and the DVD here is along the same lines.
Its a 3 Disc collection, with two discs devoted to classic WCW matches including stuff like Ric Flair vs. Magnum T.A. from 1985, the classic Flair vs Steamboat Chi-Town Rumble match from 1989, one of Sting's first matches, that being against Big Van Vader from 1992's Great American Bash, the unintentionally funny Bash at the Beach from 1998 with Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone against Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman, a huge War Games match in 1996 with Sting, Lex Luger, Flair, Arn Anderson, Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and nWo fake Sting. Yeah, exactly.
Oh, and its got a match from 1998's Halloween Havoc between Diamond Dallas Page and one of my favorite wrestlers ever, Goldberg. Goldberg absolutely ruled. Page lost the match after getting hit with a spear AND a jackhammer.
How 'bout that's Michael Buffer ("leeet's get reeeeeeady to ruuuuuuumbuuuuulllll") in the ring, and Tony Schivione on announcing duties. Awesome. By the way, I wanted to do that entrance at my wedding, the one where Goldberg comes out to pyro, and the smoke, and I yell, breath out the smoke, throw the punches and slap myself in the head. The Lovely Steph Leann said no. Party pooper.
But the real gem on this disc is the documentary that follows the origins of the WCW, from the beginning with Jim Crockett Promotions to the infamous "Black Saturday". It took off when Hulk Hogan joined, turning heel (bad guy) for the first time in his career, and the fact that one of the chapters on the DVD menu is titled 'Mistakes Begin', followed by "Vince Russo" says it all. If there is to be any criticism, it would be on the matches themselves... there should have been a little more surrounding each match, perhaps teh lead up to, and the aftermath, not just from bell-ring to pinfall. And really, did we need to see a match between Lance Storm and Booker T? To emphasize how badly things were going for the WCW, they took Booker T, a great wrestler and renamed him "GI Bro". No kidding.
Great DVD.
The 47th Coolest Thing of 2009... Lunch With... It was a good year for reunions. Lunch with Stan McDuffie in the spring of 2009 was great. We graduated together, and hadn't seen the guy since the Samson High reunion of 2002. We met at a BBQ joint in Homewood, and just shared life stories, our pain of what had then-recently happened in Samson and more. It was awesome.
Not to long after that, I met up with Drew Roe, a fraternity brother of mine who also lives here in town. That's the crazy thing about Birmingham... I share a city with so many people that I would love to see more of, but never do. Anyway, we had some lunch, caught up, laughed, did some reminiscing, and had a good time. Promised each other we'd do it again, and hopefully we will.
Met The Official Clouds In My Coffee High School Crush Julie Wise for dinner last April, and that was an absolute hoot. Met up with Barrow, one of the coolest guys I've ever met, and the perfect name for one of my characters in the book I might eventually write. Saw The Official Clouds In My Coffee Troy State Crush Tiffany Abbott at a Chick-fila. Met with both Dayla Ellison and Rebecca Jourdan Samuelson (we'll get to her later) over lunch, two dear, dear friends that I was so excited to see again.
This Spring's goal? To have lunch or dinner with Chris McCall. I'm planning on heading home for a day or two at the end of April, when The Happiest Place in the Mall is finally The Emptiest Place in the Mall, and I'm going to make it a point to find this guy.
The 46th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Princess & the Frog" There's not much more I could add to what I felt about this movie when I wrote about it in December 2009, so here's some thoughts from that post...
Plot in a nutshell, its a Disney twist on the story of The Frog Prince, the story that has a girl kissing a frog who turns into a handsome prince. In this tale, however, Naveen, the handsome prince, has been turned into a frog by the voo-doo man, Dr. Facilier, and when he convinced our heroine Tiana to kiss him, she turns into a frog herself. Hijinx, hilarity and romance ensue as they, along with Ray the Cajun Firefly and Louis the jazz playing crocodile, try to find Mama Odie to help them turn back into humans again.
The animation is stunning. The film is beautifully drawn, and to its credit, its done so much so that there's no way this film could have been a computer animated feature--it would have lost most, if not all, of its charm. Tiana is a heroine who is working hard for her dreams to happen, not waiting around for someday, her prince will come, and that is to be admired. Much has been made about Tiana being the "first black princess", and yes, that's true, but this film definately takes liberties with history--she's best friends with a rich debutante named Charlotte, which alone is an impractical thought in the time period this film is set in. I didn't get caught up in that, though, and you shouldn't either.
One thing to be aware of when watching this film... you are witnessing the birth of a classic. This is a movie that, no matter how successful it will end up--and it will end up successful--that Campbell Isaiah and Lorelei Addison will watch, and their children will watch as well in 2040 on whatever home video format we're up to then. This is a movie that will be released in Blu-Ray and DVD in April of 2010, and will disappear into The Vault in June of 2011 or so, not to be available for 7 to 10 years.
This is the birth of a true Disney Princess, one that we'll be seeing with the likes of Cinderella, Belle, Ariel and Aurora for a long, long time. The last time we saw a true Disney Princess emerge? Mulan. The last time we saw a true Disney classic not-named-Pixar unfold before our eyes? Yep. "The Lion King". That was the last movie heralded and beloved enough to go into The Vault (well, "Fantasia 2000" also is in The Vault, coupled with "Fantasia", but that's kinda another story)... For me, and perhaps I'm the odd case, this is exciting. I'm thrilled that Disney has finally broken through the ceiling they put on themselves with "Dinosaur" and "Brother Bear".
The 45th Coolest Thing of 2009... JT Wins Survivor
Someone sent me a message last year and said, "Hey, so there's a guy from Samson on Survivor. Do you know him?" Up until then, the only notoriety Samson had recieved was the terrible massacre from... well, I'm not going to say his name, he doesn't deserve a mention. So I did some checking up on Survivor, and what do you know, James Thomas was going to be on the show... James, the little brother of Tammy Thomas, who was a friend of mine in high school and who graduated with me, the same Tammy who scolded me for not snatching up this pretty girl named Stephanie, my friend, who I had brought with me to the 10 year reunion.
And with the country accent, the sly look and the aww-shucks personality, what the heck--JT won the whole shebang. Seriously. Like, holy crap, the kid in whatever elementary school grade when I was a senior won a million bucks on Survivor. I have his picture in my yearbooks!
Anyway, it was a fantastic season of Survivor, and I'm excited that JT is on the equally as stellar current season, the Heroes vs Villians Survivor. And if he wins, or comes close to winning, I'm already planning on going to Samson for the Survivor party this year.
The 44th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Party in the USA" Oh shut up.
The 43th Coolest Thing of 2009... "The Blind Side" Just like "The Proposal", this is a movie that the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I thought "The Blind Side" was great when I walked out of the theater, and somewhere down deep, I knew iI was going to like it more and more as time when on.
Its full of laughs and heartwarming moments, but its never preachy or manipulative. The movie's intent it never to make you feel like you have to cry, and it doesn't seem like its showing you the "Hallmark" moments just for the awwwww factor... its part of the story. In movies with this "helping each other out" theme, there's always an uncomfortable moment when the kids hate the new person, only to have this togetherness scene that brings them together--"The Blind Side" never has that. SJ and Collins are nothing but loving and supportive of Michael, and it even enhances Michael's rebuilding of his life.
The movie is excellent... its feel good, its warm, its funny, its everything a family movie should be, one that pokes at you to say "awwww" without demanding you tear up or feel sympathy and guilt. After the movie was over, I leaned over to The Lovely Steph Leann, and in my most politically incorrect tone said, "We should go to Ensley and adopt a black child." She frowned at me, then rolled her eyes and got up to leave. She's good at that.
The 42st Coolest Thing of 2009... Walt Disney World with Ty & The McLeods
Talk about a whirlwind trip... I had a few days on my own, as The Lovely Steph Leann was out of town. I thought, hey, why not go to Disney World? The Lovely Steph Leann wasn't too keen on my going all alone, so I recruited The Honorable Rev'rn Ty Sharpton and Tommy Mc and Amy McL to come with (that's us, there, after being soaked in the Backlot Tour)
We left midday, got there at something like 1am, checked in, slept for just a little while, spent the full day at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, then the next day, walked around Downtown Disney before coming back. Wow it was fast. And tons of fun, because Disney is always better with friends.
The 41nd Coolest Thing of 2009... New Shoes Shoes are those things that you use, but don't realize how good they can be until you find a pair that fits you exactly right. Thus, this:
During our trip to The Most Magical Place on Earth in June, my feet were getting blistered. The Lovely Steph Leann chalked it up to my Lugz that, while comfortable, were just not made for the walking, standing, running and walking more that we were doing for 14 hours per day, four days in a row--the Skecher tennis shoes weren't doing any better. After watching her to go New Balance and spend over a $110 on a pair of shoes (which, all these years in marriage later is almost still unfathomable), I decided it was finally time to get myself a good pair of sneakers. We discussed it, and, still coming to grips about the fact that I might have to spend that much to fit my wide feet into some comfy shoes, I went to a local shop called The Trak Shak.
The guy there wasn't old... but he knew how to size a foot. I told him what I was looking for--a pair of tennis shoes that could be used for three things--running, walking and if needed, playing tennis, if I ever decided to get my chunky tail up and do something. I told him that my problem was my feet were wide, and it was hard to find a good pair of shoes that I liked. He listened, he asked me to walk around and he told me that he could tell from my walk that I tended to walk inward, probably due to lack of good footwear. Long story short (too late?) I came out with a pair of Nikes that fit... perfectly. What size? 9 1/2. I call them my Trailer Shoes. Why? Cause they are "Double wide".
Up next... A "Sweet Thing"... Going where no man, save for over a dozen movies and at least three TV shows, have gone before... and later, more Disney... and even more Disney...
Just some randomocity while leaning back, enjoying the first hours of two days off. Just got home from Starbucks, making lattes and servin' up the caffeine magic. My friend MZ just took over the managerial position there, so I'm pretty excited for her and pretty excited to be good friends with someone in such a powerful position. Perhaps I can get the shifts I want...
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Worked at The Happiest Place in the Mall, and of course, first thing this morning, had a little boy and a little girl weave a path of destruction and disaster through the store. The little boy just liked pulling things off of the shelf and racks, and tossing them onto the floor. It got so bad that I just stayed about ten feet behind him, and when he looked the other way, I put the stuff he had just thrown down back up again. The worst was when he grabbed the Cars baseball set, complete with a big foam bat in the plastic casing, and starting swinging it around. Hitting things. Knocking things off. I was truly coming up with ways, in my mind anyway, to kick the kid in the back. Actually, I take that back... I wanted to kick the mom in the back. As I stood there in front of her, picking up after her child, she just smiled and gave a "aw, he's so cute" face.
The little girl was another story. In The Happiest Place in the Mall we have two register areas. We call 'em Box Offices. The one in the front is the primary register area, but the one in the back is accessable and we use it daily around Christmas time. Currently, though, the entrance has a rope over it to keep people out (which only works sometimes) and behind it, are stacks of snowglobles, among other things. There are some shelves there as well, displaying open demos of the snowglobes, and when a guest wants to look at one, I will pull it down, maybe wind it up, or turn it on, or show off the features.
I looked up this morning, however, and there is a little girl holding an Ariel "mini" or small snowglobe, one thats only about four inches high, if that. She's walking out from behind the back box office. Its only $14.50, but its not the price I'm worried about. I walk over to her, hurridly, and kneel down and say, "Hey princess... can I see your snowglobe there? Let me hold it for you, because its very breakable." She hands it over to me, giggles and runs to her mom, WHO IS STANDING NEARBY. Let me say that again. The girl is in an area that she isn't supposed to be in, and her guardian and safekeeper is standing feet away either not caring, or not watching or both.
Oh, it gets worse. The little girl is maybe 3 or 4 years old. Certainly not tall enough to reach the snowglobes on her own tippy toes. So what did she do? She used the boxed, new snowglobes that were under the shelf to climb up and get the one she wanted. When I walk back behind the Box Office, I see that several of the snowglobe boxes were disheveled and moved around. I close my eyes, breath a sigh of relief and straighten up, because let me say this very clearly... had she knocked this shelf off onto her head, this shelf that contained about four mini-snowglobes, two or three medium sized and one really heavy one, plus the fact that the shelf itself is made of glass, that little girl is in the hospital right now. With serious injuries to her head and face. And guess who's fault it is? Yep. Ours. I was working with Snow White, and told her that I should call DHR on her mom for being a biscuit head. But I digress.
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As I type, I sit back and watch WWE: Raw. Its exciting, because tonight's "guest host" is Ted DiBiase, the Million Dollar Man, who comes out with his familiar theme song (Money money money... ) and he's holding his diamond studded Million Dollar belt. Myself, Tommy Mac and Mikey met him once a few years ago, as DiBiase, a solid Christ Follower, was speaking at a Christian conference of some sort. He told me that he wasn't sure about Hulk Hogan's salvation (keep in mind, this was like, 2000, before "Hogan Knows Best") but he knew that Sting and Chris Jericho were Believers, and then he demostrated the Million Dollar Hold on me. Tommy Mac got a pic of it, but I think he lost it. Shame. I would still be flaunting that pic if I could.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but this looks like Ravishing Rick Rude that DiBiase is hoisting...
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Speaking of WWE: Raw and 'rasslin... just found a Best Buy gift card I recieved for Christmas a few years ago... okay, The Lovely Steph Leann found it (formalities)... anyway, let me tell you, on August 25th, I'm taking it and heading to Best Buy to get this video right here. And I'm stoked, if only to hear The WolfPac theme song in its proper context. The Wolfpac is back causin' mass destruction, can't you see the bad boys o'wrestlin... don't turn your back on The Wolfpac, or you might end up in a bodybag....
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Favorite song of the year thusfar, and will possibly rank in the top ten coolest things of the year as my favorite song of the year tends to do... "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. Runner up, thusfar? "You Belong to Me" by Taylor Swift, which might have my favorite video of the year... truly, the song is precious and the video is super sweet.
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities say two professional wrestlers found dead in a low-rent hotel in the capital may have been drugged to death by female robbers.
Autopsies are being performed on the two midget wrestlers, one of whom went by the name "La Parkita" — or "Little Death" — and wore a skeleton costume in the ring. The other was known as "Espectrito Jr."
Authorities say two women were seen leaving the men's hotel room before the bodies were discovered.
Prosecutor Miguel Angel Mancera said Wednesday that gangs of female robbers are experienced at using drugs to knock men out and rob them, but they may have used too strong a dose. That may have been because of the wrestlers' small stature, although larger men have also died in similar crimes.
The other story I almost posted was "Teacher Sends Feces Home in Student's Backpack, School Not Amused" but I figured I would cut through the crap and give you the real news. (what, you thought I was kidding? Oh nay nay)
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Did this whole section on John Grisham, and how disappointed I've been in several of his books this year, but decided to delete it, figuring that could be its own post. For whatever reason, I've managed to read four of his books this year, and have got a bookmark in one (and will probably finish it later, though you'll read later why its not now), and am working on "The Innocent Man", which is completely fascinating. No, Wookiee, it's not the movie starring Tom Selleck and that guy from "Sledge Hammer!".
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There are 3 books/series that have intimidated me for a long time. The first is The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and actually, you'd probably need to toss in "The Hobbit" as well. I'm sure they are fantastic, I've heard as much, but really, they are just so long and involved and it would take sooooo much concentration.
Finally, "The Stand" by Stephen King, another book that is just huge. Well, while at Barnes & Noble I decided it was time. So I picked it up... and I'm 32 pages in thusfar. Only about 1100 pages to go. So far, the 32 pages are great.
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Its no secret that "Campbell Isaiah" and "Lorelei Addison" have been names that The Lovely Steph Leann and I have bandied about and discussed and high probabilities for our children's names... here's another that I like, with the first name being my choice and the middle being one that The Lovely Steph Leann has said she really has come to like... "Naomi McKenna". Sounds very preppy and BMW drivery... but it might work. I have really taken a liking to Naomi. I guess its at least 10 months down the road, though. If not much more.
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And finally... here's a story from the interweb. Its about Kendra Wilkinson, her recent marriage and her pregnancy... for those of you under a rock, or named Emmy Turnbow, Kendra was on a show on E! called "The Girls Next Door" about three... well, birthday suit models that lived with Hugh Hefner, and appeared in this magazine that sounds like "Play" and "boy". No, I never watched the show. I only mention her at all because I thought the following story was a hoot... oh, and I don't recommend Googling her images unless you have the SafeSearch button on. Just sayin'.
Now that Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett are officially husband and wife the reality show duo is focusing on the next important phase - parenthood.
While Hugh Hefner’s 23-year-old former flame has led a pretty wild life (besides being Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, the number of times she's revealed her assets in public is well into the double digits), and said earlier this year that Baskett was helping her find God for the first time, she is determined to be a strict religious mama.
"Our child will definitely be Christian," Wilkinson told Tarts last week, with Basket adding that they are going to be "very strict" yet still "spoil" their young ones at appropriate times. "But they are going to have to earn it, we're not just going to hand it to them. Most importantly, they have to keep good grades because school comes first and then everything else after that," he explained. "Being a father is something I've always wanted and something Kendra and I have talked about from the time we met, we're just truly excited and truly blessed to be becoming parents very soon. We pretty much fell in love right away and when you ask someone to marry you that means you really want them to be the woman in charge of your family, the person to be your teammate in raising the child."
Although the expecting parents won’t find out until a few weeks what their first born’s gender is, they already have names prepared.
"If it’s a boy Hank the 4th and if it’s a girl Arianna, we love Arianna," Wilkinson enthused. "I’m feeling so good, I’m in my 2nd trimester now at 14 weeks and I’m feeling like a whole new person, I feel great."
926p... AAAAANNNNDDD that's all we're going to say about Super Bowl XLIII... thanks for joining us for the 4th Annual Super Bowl Blog. Our next running diary will definately be at Oscar Night, February 22nd. Night!
925p... Santonio Holmes won the Super Bowl MVP. He gets his hardware, The Lovely Steph Leann laments that Larry Fitzgerald should have gotten it.
922p... NFL Commish Dan Goodell is handing Steelers owner Dan Rooney the trophy. Dan Rooney is about 128 years old. We make the obligatory "oops, I crapped my pants" joke.
920p... Here's the trophy presentation, given by a very rough looking Joe Willie Namath. I hear "He's probably drunk", "Is he even sober?" and "I wanna kiss you..."
916p... Awaiting the MVP award announcement, plus the handing off of the Lombardi Super Bowl trophy.
909p... And it was a fumble. Pittsburgh Steelers 27. Arizona Cardinals 23. Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl XLIII Champions. Pittsburgh Steelers, winner of 6 Super Bowls now.
908p... Warner takes several seconds, goes to throw, loses the ball, its a fumble. Pittsburgh gets the ball back. And... it might just be over.
906p... Final timeout. Arizona is at the 50 yard line, :15 seconds left in the game.
905p... 22 seconds, Fitzgerald the Inhuman just caught a missle from Kurt Warner. Arizona timeout.
904p... 29 seconds remain. Oy.
9p... Homeslice catches the ball for the Steelers, both feet in, right at the corner of the end zone. The question is, did he catch it? And yes, he did. Pittsburgh 26, Arizona 23, extra point pending. So, now, Kurt Warner has about 35 seconds to go the length of the field.
855p... This game has become so fun that even The Lovely Steph Leann is cheering loudly, for Arizona. She never does this unless its Alabama football. Maybe its the red jerseys that are inspiring her.
853p... Another exchange: Jill J: Three point spread! Yours Truly: You have no idea what you're talking about Jill J: I just repeated whatever I heard
850p... Matt Leinart gives Larry Fitz some love. I can only imagine this exchange: Matt Leinart: Hey, we're gonna win this! Fitzgerald: You've done nothing. Shut up.
847p... Here's our scene. Tom J, Jenn Adams, or should I say The Quiet Hotness Jenn Adams, John, Mikey, Holloway and Mr. Ken are absorbed in this game. Andy and Kristi are also watching. Lil Sister Ashley and Stephanie are talking in another room, Amy McL is doing something in the kitchen and Jill J and Jenn Powell are chatting about cross stitching.
And Kurt Warner just tossed a line drive to Fitzgerald (there is no reason this guy should ever, ever be open), who broke wide open and scored... Arizona Cardinals 23, Pittsburgh Steelers 20.
844p... HUGE PENALTY. Ben Rottenburger tossed it out, completed the pass, looked great... and a holdingin-the-end-zone penalty on the Steelers gives Arizona a safety... and the ball back.
839p... And in three plays, we just watched Kurt Warner collapse. Whether it was his fault or his O-line, it was pretty bad. Do they punt and pin them deep? They do. They punt, the ball is down at the 2 yard line, another flag is thrown, and another flag is thrown... and its another personal foul, this time on Pittsburgh, which puts the ball on like, the 4 inch line.
And suddenly, this game gets reeeeeealy interesting.
835p... Arizona is back on offense, gets the ball, throws for a gain and... flag. Seriously? Wait? Wait? Its on Pittsburgh! Seriously?
833p... "McGruber" commercial. Fresh from Saturday Night Live, its a Pepsi commercial, and actually has Richard Dean Anderson in it. Classic.
825p... Larry Fitzgerald gets a touchdown catch in the Super Bowl! We're waiting for the flag... and nothing! Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 14.
821p... Another flag on the play--but this time on Pittsburgh. We've spent the last few minutes coming up with the ridculous penalties that we feel that the refs have been calling--"Harsh language at the line on the offense!" and "Touching the quarterback" and "Intention to tackle!"
812p... Random question... "Wasn't it Lavar Burton who was the main guy in 'Roots'?" The answer? Yes. He was Kunte Kinte.
808p... Okay, so if Arizona loses this game, I'm thinking part of it will be because of the really stupid penalties they've accrued in the last few minutes. Running over the holder, personal fouls like crazy... its terrible...
802p... I'm wondering what would happen if I met Tim Tebow and then met Kurt Warner... who would change my life more, according to the announcers? If I met them both at the same time, I might just ascend into Heaven automatically. Just sayin'.
801p... Lil Sister Ashley just arrived. Yay!
8p... We just saw the new Transformers trailer. The entire room went nuts.
757p... My brilliant observation... Arizona can still win this, but they have to score more points.
754p... Penalty on Arizona on the field goal attempt... "running over the holder". And in the replay, the poor Steeler holding the football got steamrolled. And Pittsburgh is close to scoring again.
744p... They show Cuba Gooding Jr in the press box. Is it sad that for the Arizona Cardinals, the greatest football moment really was when Rod Tidwell scored the go-ahead touchdown against the Cowboys in 1996... in the movie "Jerry Maguire".
741p... Here's the preview for "Race to Witch Mountain", from Disney, but more importantly, starring THE ROCK. Caaaaaaaaan you smeeeellllllll what the Rock is cooking?
Any excuse to show a The Rock WWE clip:
737p... Denny's is giving away a Free Grand Slam breakfast on Tuesday. I miss Denny's. I used to go there all the time back in the early decade, because there use to be one across town. I miss Denny's and Steak-n-Shake, two greasy dives that I miss intensely.
Arizona turned the ball over, but it seems like a incomplete pass and not a fumble. The call is overturned, Arizona gets the ball back. Pittsburgh still leads 17-7.
733p... The Lovely Steph Leann, while discussing the "GI Joe" movie with Andy, middle school pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) says she's excited because it has Dennis Quaid in it. Then she turns around and solidly informs me, "Dennis Quaid? Totally Colin Firth Club."
727p... Its the beginning of the 2nd half and the room has cleared. Some have gone home, some are Rock Banding it upstairs... but being a trooper down here is Jenn Adams, John, Mikey, The Lovely Steph Leann, Daniel & Jenn Powell, Kristi Murry, Mr. Nipp and Yours Truly.
Of course, The Lovely Steph Leann, holding the spawn of Amy McL and Tommy Mac and feeding her Fritos, is discussing scrapbooking with Jenn Powell, who is cross stitching a pattern for their new nursery for the upcoming baby.
720p... While Bruce sings, Daniel took a room shot:
There's Mr. Nipp's legs in the front, with Jenn Powell talking to The Lovely Steph Leann on the couch, Yours Truly, Mikey on the next couch, his pop-in-law John, Jenn Adams (always forget how good lookin' she is), Shawn, Jill, and Tom J on the floor. Photo by Daniel Powell.
713p... He's singing "Born to Run", which is pretty cool. Early Bruce is great, late Bruce is too political.
And if he has a wardrobe malfunction, I might throw up in my mouth.
711p... Just had plate of queso dip and it was roody poo awesome, let me tell ya. We're now watching Bruce Springsteen perform here on the halftime show. He did a knee slide across the stage and almost took out a cameraman.
Glad that wasn't in 3D
7p... Going to eat some more. back in a few
656p... The magic of 3D brings everyone together. Halftime Pittsburgh 17, Arizona 7
652p... Turnover, Pittsburgh gets the ball, runs it back and Arizona misses about 382 tackles as the guy runs the entire length of the field, and then falls hard on his head right on the goal line.
650p... We're all downstairs now, even breaking from Rock Band, to see the new trailer for "Monsters vs Aliens", as its going to be in 3D. We've all got the glasses, we're all ready to see the aliens and monsters leap off the screen. Then a lame commercial staring the Sobe Lizards from last year, then a preview of "Chuck", in 3D--a 3D triple play.
And... its a guarantee that we'll have a bajillion people coming into The Happiest Place in the Mall asking for "Monsters vs Aliens" merchandise. Cause if they still ask for "Kung Fu Panda" stuff, I know they'll ask for this.
646p... Ah, a good night. People, friends gathered around, the game is actually really good thus far, the party is alive as everybody over here, everybody over there. The crowd is live enough as I pursue this groove, party people in the house move (next in line) groove (watch me all night... the music hits my mind...)
642p... And who shows up but Andy & Kristi Murry. Andy is the middle school pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship)
640p... Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen is performing at halftime. Personally, I think Bruce is past his best days, and is kinda overrated... but like U2, he's so universally loved, he could sing the IRS list of people who is over 180 days past the tax payment deadline, and win accolades and awards. Well, that is unless he became a Republican. Then he'd be washed up.
636p... So far, best commercial of the night... E*Trade kid is back, this time with a friend who busts out a version of "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister. Hiiiiiiiilarious.
631p... This exchange Mikey: I don't think Matt Leinart should get a ring if Arizona wins Me: I wondered about that. Maybe he'll do the honorable thing and give it back Mikey: He'll probably give it to Paris Hilton The Lovely Steph Leann: Who's that? Mikey: Exactly.
630p... The appeal of Rock Band upstairs has caused the group to splinter. Mikey's woman Ashleia has already gone upstairs with a few people, and we figure Drewski is heading that way. Huge punt return by Shawn Breaston for Arizona.
628p... The Enchanting Nikki Brown will be proud. Somehow, Mikey and I end up singing a rousing version of "To all the girls Drew (morris) has loved before...."
621p... God loves Kurt Warner. He stumbles, fumbles, bumbles, and still gets the ball tossed up and its caught by Ben Patrick, the appropriate reciever for Arizona. Pittsburgh leads 10 to 7.
618p... Tom J recommends The Fire and Ice restaurant, as he and Jill went there for their 5th anniversary a few days ago. Also celebrating their 5th, Hannah Pruitt Cool Award Winners James & Jessica Hawbaker. Congrats!
611p... One of the first times in recent memory, EVERYONE is actually watching the game, or at least in the same room as the television. Usually, only a few of us stay the whole time in front of the tv, some come in and out, and others are around the house playing Wii, cards, games, etc.
609p... Pittsburgh into the end zone! Touchdown Steelers! Okay, so I might think of revising my pick of an Arizona win, though Denver went up 10-0 in Super Bowl 1988, and Washington won, like, 50 to 10. Here's a commercial with guys being hit in the head with various objects, and another starring wild animals, encouraging us to adopt pets.
608p... Two commercials (Doritos and GoDaddy.com) and two chicks in various states of undress. One of them was Danica Patrick. Um. Bad! Bad! Yeah, its bad!
603p... Also saw a preview for the show "Medium". Heard there will be a spin-off, shortened version called "Small". And a movie version, called "Large". Ha!
602p... Just saw a great car commercial with Potato Heads, then we see an until now unemployed Vin Diesel in the preview for "Fast and Furious".
555p... The arrival of Tom & Jill Johnson stirs the crowd, but not nearly as much as Tommy Mac and Amy McL, who trump the Johnsons by bringing in their daughter, Sophie.
552p... Score is still 3-0 Pittsburgh. We now have our 3D glasses, and we just saw the hysterical trailer for "Year One", starring Jack Black & Michael Cera.
550p... This exchange: Jenn Powell: Mrs. Lynn, what are you doing? Mrs. Lynn (tearing apart 3D glasses): I'm separating 3D glasses for the upcoming 3D commercials Someone in the room: How do we know when to put them on? The Rev'rn Ty Coffey: When the tv gets blurry.
548p... Here's the trailer for GI Joe:
544p... Who all just showed up? Daniel & Jennifer Powell are here, Sybil & Dan just came in, The Holloways have been here all day apparently.
543p... In the commercial front, "Angels & Demons" trailer just came on, with Tom Hanks weird hair making a triumphant return. Jason Statham appears in an Audi commercial... I think its always a good decision to have Jason Statham in a cool commercial.
541p... Okay, just loaded up on chicken wings, a taco, a big fat roll with slightly melted butter, sausage balls and several pigs-n-a-blanket. In the game, Pittsburgh apparently scored but Big Ben (Pittsburgh's QB) fell short of the line, via a coach's challenge. The Steelers got a field goal.
528p... Eating. Back in a few.
522p... Its the trailer for "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra," and stars Dennis Quaid. It comes out in August and the entire room went silent for it.
521p... Mikey is rooting Kurt Warner all the way, because "Ben is a professed athiest. Can't be having that."
519p... Jennifer Hudson is now singing "The Star Spangled Banner".
516p... Our picks tonight? Mikey goes all Arizona... Rev'rn Ty says, "Who's playing? Seriously..." Shawn's pick? Faith Hill, currently singing "America the Beautiful". Jennifer Adams picks? "Who's playing? Steelers? I'll go Steelers."
514p... We are here! We are blogging live from the Nipp Household, that being Ken & Lynn Nipp, parents of the infamous Mikey, good buddy from Deuce Days. Here right now is The Lovely Steph Leann, Mikey and Shawn Sharp. In the kitchen, brewing up some good eats for us all is Ken & Lynn. In comes is The Rev'rn Ty Coffey and entering the home is Jennifer Adams (I never get to see her, so I always forget how hot she is...)
318pm.... Well, it hasn't begun just yet. I am on my way to WalkAbout (middle school drama team) practice. Then back to The Cabana to pick up The Lovely Steph Leann, then off to the Super Bowl...
My early prediction? Arizona 31, Pittsburgh 26. I called it right here.
