Aaaaaand.... we're back. Been a somewhat relaxing weekend, taking a break from most things computer and interwebby, and though I probably could have blogged about four times, I thought I'd leave it til today... watched a ton of movies this weekend, both at the theater, on television, on DVR and on DVD/Blu-Ray, so I'll do my best to shoot through that soon enough.
What else have we got to talk about? Well, for starters, there's the remaining 40 Coolest Things of 2010, and now that it's almost August, meaning the year is about 60% over, I'm running a bit late on that. I blame Idol. Typically, the goal is to have all 100 listed in January, but with American Idol coverage, that's 2 to 3 posts per week, and its just exhausting. And if I miss one single Idol update, I automatically hear from Brad Latta, the Clouds in My Coffee Ombudsman, with great vengeance and furious anger.
And there is not only one Disney trip to deal with, from February, there is a Disneyland trip! And a billion people... okay, maybe not a billion, maybe more like six. Or eight... have asked me "which do you like better, World or Land?" and its a question that definitely deserves an answer.
Of course, Amy Winehouse died. Is it sad that... well, I don't really care that much. I guess I should--perhaps apathy is more dangerous than a hatred, but I'm just being honest. Wasn't a fan of her music, really, and its to no one's surprise that Amy was found dead. At 27. Though, and please excuse me if I cross the "too soon" line, but I'm not sure she deserves to be added to the infamous 27 Club, along side Hendrix, Joplin, Cobain, Morrison and Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones. We still remember those names decades later... in fifteen years, I doubt anyone will remember Winehouse with the same kind of reverence... perhaps she'll be listed alongside those other other names that died at 27, like Fat Pat the rapper and Kristen Pfaff from Hole.
Not to diminish Amy Winehouse's death... its a tragic thing. And I'm... well, I could say fearful, but that's not the right word... maybe more of "concerned" or "curious" that someone like Lindsay Lohan is headed down the same path.
By the way, Brian Jones died in 1969 of drowning in a swimming pool. His coroner's report literally stated, "cause of death by misadventure". I have no idea if drugs were involved for sure, though the report went on to say that his liver and heart were enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. But take the drugs and booze part out, how great would it be to live a full life, then die at 82 with your coroner's report saying, "Death by misadventure"? Awesome.
Three potentially awesome ways to die by misadventure... (1) Not securing your lap bar on a coaster, one that flies off the track when coming down the steepest hill... (2) Texting and driving around Talladega Motor Speedway at 188 miles per hour... (3) Simply participating in The Running of the Bulls.
Didn't say any of them were smart. Just misadventurous.
And as the fall goes on, I guess there will be more and more mentions of Campbell's or Lorelei's impending arrival. The Lovely Steph Leann is just over 20 weeks, and that constant state of nausea has gone away just to be replaced with a constant state of heartburn. I feel bad for her, as I sit and watch "A Fistful of Dollars" on The Movie Channel (like I'm doing now).
Randomly, we sometimes look at each other and I'll say, "Holy crap. There's going to be a person who calls you mommy and me daddy. Dear God, how frightening is that?" and she hangs her head in acknowledgement and shame. I mean, I can barely be responsible for my own self, much less some runt that is depending on me for food and shelter and clothes. But man, the tax breaks! When I suggested holding that kid in until January 1st, so I'd be able to get through the holidays without missing work, she said, "No way! We need it for the tax write off for 2011!" That's her, always thinking.
Speaking of "A Fistful of Dollars", its been on my DVR for something like, six months. Its part of the "Dollars Trilogy" from the 60s, which also contains "For A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", all starring Clint Eastwood, and all considered the most popular of the "Spaghetti Westerns"--essentially, westerns made by Italians back in the day, known for their music and style and such... check out the Wiki page on it if you want more.
Anyway, the movie isn't bad. Don't misunderstand me--its not for everyone... if you don't like westerns, and certainly if you don't like Clint, you won't like this at all.
That being said, Clint Eastwood is as cool as a cucumber, with his poncho and his low hat and his cheap rolled cigar in his mouth, as he plays "The Stranger", or "The Man With No Name"--he is actually called "Joe" late in the film, in a pay-attention-or-you-will-miss-it moment. The Stranger rides into San Miguel, this little Mexican border town, and ends up in the middle of a gang war over ownership of the town. Because he's apparently a capitalist, he actually ends up playing both sides against each other, taking money from each for various reasons and tasks. Of course, the good guy in The Stranger ends up taking over for the greedy guy in The Stranger, and a pretty intense duel happens between he and the bad guys.
What sets this movie apart from most of those 60s westerns is the music, which is full of flutes and violins and catchy riffs, the style, which is everything from the color to the scenery to the script, and the story itself... the bad guys are only bad because they don't like each other, while the good guy isn't all that great...
This isn't a film I'll watch over and over, or maybe not even again, and I don't know that I would consider this in my Top 500 films of all time--and yes, that list does exist--but I'm glad I watched it. Its enough to make me check out the next two in the trilogy.
Time for a few days break! Got some chores around the house to do, some stuff to write up and some Roller Coaster Tycoon to play... well, maybe not that last one, but I do have chores and writing. And movies to watch.
So, The Summer of Blogging is on vacay until Tuesday! And then, we finish the rest of the summer strong....
So, got a few messages on my Facebook wall that said something to the effect of, "Your blog took up my entire Wall!", followed by a text from my buddy Mikey that said, "Dude, someone hacked into your FB account."
I have my blog imported into Facebook. And the way its supposed to work is that when I post something on Clouds in My Coffee, a few days later, maybe the next day, maybe later that day, Facebook imports it over. Now, videos don't come along, and sometimes pictures are skewered, but otherwise, its not a bad system.
There are a lot of people who read this blog via Facebook, so it's a great system... until it isn't.
This has happened once before, and apparently it happened again... Facebook doesn't import them as I write them. Its like their systems wait a few weeks and then bring over a dozen or more all at once. For anyone who "likes" the site on Facebook, this is definately something that might make you "unlike" it... I know I'd be annoyed by it.
So, if this happened to you, I offer my apologies, and will tell you its not my fault... its Facebook!
Darn you, Mark Zuckerberg!
I would keep going, but not only am I sleepy, but "Road House" is on MGM HD, and my attention is now drawn elsewhere...
So, watching USA Network's latest two-word-titled original series, "Necessary Roughness"... this, of course, follows "Royal Pains", "Burn Notice", "Fairly Legal" and "Covert Affairs"... yes, "In Plain Sight" has three words, but "Psych" only has one, so it averages out.
Powell, Dr. Dani, Nico and T.K.
"Necessary Roughness" is the story of Danielle Santino, a lovely 30-something wife and mother who is a licensed therapist, helping people to quit smoking, halting their addictions and generally helping those clients stop their own self-destructive behavior.
Of course, Dani's own family is falling apart when she discovers her hubby is a total sleaze, which is partly only that has her husband got him another woman, but also that he's got several another womans, her daughter is continually busted for skipping class and her son, though seemingly sane, is following after his dad with his own array of women that he's dating.
Enter Coach Powell (Marc Blucas), an assistant coach (and possible love interest) for the pro football team The Hawks (I missed the city, I think), who has a star player, Terrance King, who is paying tens of millions of dollars but can't hold onto the ball... so Dani is brought on to be T.K.'s therapist--who, of course, doesn't want a therapist.
Now, Dr. Dani Santino is a therapist of the overpaid prima donna players of a professional football organization. And that's where we start the storyline for the entire show.
I've tried to watch "Burn Notice" and "In Plain Sight", but ended up missing a few episodes here and there and just gave up, but I think the element of the unusual storyline (football therapist?) mixed with the football culture, which I enjoy, plus a strong cast (Callie Thorne is awesome)... and Nico (Scott Cohen), who's title isn't defined, but is somewhat of... security? Agent? Who knows, but Nico is pretty darn cool.
The first episode's main plot is somewhat wrapped up in the episode itself, but I'm hoping this won't be the case... I like procureal (that is, story per episode, very little bleeding over to next week) in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Law & Order", but when it comes to shows like this, I like the stories that continue... makes for interesting watching.
It's on DVR, and I didn't delete it, I'll just tell The Lovely Steph Leann to give it a shot. Otherwise, I'm in. At least til' I miss a few episodes and give up.
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Now, here's a little shameless self-promotion... so, I'm huge in Denmark. Don't ask me why.
On blogspot, you can actually check your stats and see a number of things... readers and page visits over different time periods, "most read" posts, and where your traffic is coming from. Also, you can find out what countries are visiting your page.
It would make sense, and thus comes as no surprise, that this page is mostly viewed in the United States of America... but if you look at the country with the 2nd most loads its... Denmark? Like, overseas, this page has been loaded and viewed almost 3,000 times.
Now, I'm not under any illusions that there are a hundred people in Denmark that checks this page every day, or even a dozen, but I'm assuming that my page comes up under a various assortment of search terms, due to the wide variety of subjects that I talk about on Clouds in My Coffee... but hey, Denmark! Go Danes!
Also viewed in the thousands would be the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada!
Speaking of shameless self-promotion, you can also look at traffic sources, and where people are going first to find your website... for some reason, BoldLeather.com and GenesisRealityGroup.com keeps coming up, though after visiting both sites and looking around, I can't figure out why.
But... there is some user name Wilt that I must send a big thank you too... on the website PhantasyTour.com, which I think is a site for the band Phish, they were discussing the concert dubbed "The OJ Show", a concert held on June 17th, 1994... and the message boards were tossing back and forth the thought of doing a show on that date, and how the band apparently had yelled to the crowd "Run OJ Run!"... and some user named Wilt simply posted "Crazy Day", and then gave this link:
Another source of referrals for this site is a blog called Happy Harper Stories, and this chick that goes to my church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), writes it a few times a week, and truly, its become one of those sites that I routinely check. Its a bit hypocritical to ask my own readers to check back every day, when I only check some blogs a few times per week, but I do look at that one.
I've discussed it before, and the Jamie, the author, and I don't really know each other beyond the blogosphere more than "Hello!" and "How are ya" as we pass by each other at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), but we apparently have alot of the same readers, because I get more an a little traffic from her own site.
Her sight is definately a website with a chick perspective, but encouraging nonetheless. I do think that she and I share a common bond, and that is we are known as "the blog people" at church. That's not to say there aren't other blogs at church, but there are certain other people who are known for what they do, whether professionally or as a hobby--Sarah Cook is known as The Photographer. There are other photographers, but I hear her name and see her pics on Facebook more often than not. Hope is known as the Cake Lady. Karin, and now Justin Fisher, are known as The Authors. The Lovely Steph Leann and I have a reputation for being The Disney People (though that's really only within our circle of friends and a slight outlying layer--there are others that are as big of Disney fans as we are). I'm sure there are others, but I would venture to say that Jamie's blog and my own blog are two of the most familiar to people at church.
Could be wrong. I am jealous, though, of the layout she's got... not that I want an owl family in a tree with stripes for my sight--works for hers, not mine--but I do wish I were a little more astute when it came to web design.
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Random thoughts I'm having while watching "Inception" for what feels like the 400th time--and still loving it.
Ever wonder why the world "palindrome" isn't one?
Just once, I'd like to hear the automated chick voice say, "Our options are exactly the same, so if you know what you need, just go ahead and press the appropriate button"
I feel like if milk came in a solid steel container, there would still be that random milk ring on the counter after I move the jug. How does milk seep through anything?
Sometimes, when I'm in the shower, I toss my hand up on the glass and drag it down, leaving that weird, smudgy handprint... just like Jack and Rose in the backseat of that old car in "Titanic"
If you are in the Wal-Mart checkout line, carrying an iPad, talking on your iPhone with your hand that has designer nails, while your kids are holding Blu-Ray movies while wearing their own designer clothes, only to get into anything other than a hatchback or a car thats a minimum of 5 years old, you should not be allowed to use WIC or be receving a welfare check.
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And finally... we have now begun the official process of turning The Cabana Extended Stay Suites and Resort Spa into The Cabana Playskool and Daycare. The Lovely Steph Leann and I sat down in our expensively nice futon upstairs and began to make lists for our guest room into nursery process... what to do with the hundreds of CDs we have, the hundreds of books we have, cleaning out a closet and possibly trimming down my comic book collection by maybe half, and all the other stuff.
First task? Pull out the old computer, plug it in, fire it up and start deleting stuff. This might take a while.
The Summer of Blogging is in fact time consuming... and I'll have you know that I've started about six different posts, and are all in the half-written to pre-proofread stage...
I went to a wedding earlier this evening, with a guy from our store getting married to a chick he met at our store, but ended up moving to a different store. The Lovely Steph Leann wasn't feeling good at all, so she stayed behind, leaving me to enjoy a fun evening at the wedding with Melanie, her hubs and the Z Children.
I got home around 9 and sat down to finish up the post titled "Seven Things", which was a short, somewhat comedic list of seven things I wanted my upcoming kid to know and know about. I was actually done with the intro and explanation, and am a paragraph into #2, when The Lovely Steph Leann expressed her hunger. She hasn't been feeling good all night--nay, for fourteen weeks--so I did my husbandly duty, changed out of my shirt and blazer, put on some comfy shorts and tee, then hopped in the car and headed to Target to buy her some Kraft Mac and Cheese.
Got back, cooked the Mac and Cheese and gave her a bowl ful as she sat and watched "Valentine's Day", a movie that I've somehow avoided, if not for the large reason that I think I'd actually kinda like it.
So, before I go to bed, I want to toss something up online, at least some to read on your Saturday in passing... I'm guessing I'll be back on Sunday with new stuff (I might do a "What you missed" post tomorrow, recapping the last two weeks), so have a great weekend...
And by the way, thank you guys for reading, and check the page daily, or even every few days. Means alot.
And we continue with the longest running list, not counting The Dave100, on this blog site... that being the 100 Coolest Things of 2010. I won't bother with the recap just yet, you can find it to the right under archives...
50... Harry Finds a Hallow After what I considered to be a disaster, though one I can still bear to watch, of the last movie (the post I wrote, by the way, "A Letter to Steve Kloves" is one of the most read posts on this here bloggy site), my expectations for "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I" were lower... but still slightly high, nonetheless.
Here's what I wrote on November 30th, 2010:
First and foremost, it holds a huge, huge advantage over any of the previous six films, and that is simply that this movie covers only half the book. The reason "Goblet of Fire" and "Order of the Phoenix" cut out almost half of their respective books is simply a time factor... you would have a six hour movie to cover everything ("Goblet of Fire" skipped the S.P.E.W. subplot, and was one of the few things I enjoyed about the movie versions over the books).
Essentially, the film version, at least Part I, of "The Deathly Hallows", is a little like a table of contents. You see a live action snippet of each scene that is fully fleshed out in the book itself, something is allowable because the 140 minutes of the movie covers only about 300 pages, not 500 pages.
You can read the full post here, but it continues to talk about the movie, first spoiler free, and then second, spoiler filled (though there are several alerts to tell you to stop reading if you haven't seen it). I finished the post by saying, "Anyway, I really enjoyed the film, and have intentions on seeing it again. I said before my favorite movie character is Luna, but my favorite book character is Ginny Weasley... but I'm not sure I dig Bonnie Wright. I also think Fenrir Greybeck is fantastic in the book, but in the movie he's so marginalized and relegated to a second tier character. Go see the movie, irregardless of whether you've read the book."
49... Via Napoli
Don't let the angle fool you. This pizza is a monster, and this is taken after four adults had just about had their fill...
What can I tell you about Epcot's newest restaurant? Its in Italy, its authentic Italian, and its delicious. I've eaten there twice, and its got some of the best pizza I've ever had, not to mention some of the best desserts I've eaten in a while.
Their food is a little pricey, but let's face it, its Disney, and all prices are a little higher than normal. They ph-balance the water to match that of water found in Italy, as well as authenticate other ingredients to give you the freshest, purest form of Italian food... and their large pizza, $40 as it may be, will feed at least six people, if not more. Its pretty awesome.
47... Little Sister Ashley Gets a Ring What can I say... my own adopted little sister (I got the looks in the family) got a ring on her finger from her hometown sweetheart, Brandon. Apparently, he'd pined for her for years and years and years, and she gave him the cold shoulder... but one day, she woke up and said, "Whaaaa...? I... like this guy! No! I love this guy!"
At top, its Brandon and Lil Sister Ashley. The bottom pic features The Honorable Rev'rn Ty "Sharpton" Coffey and Lori Anne, bride to be.
She stopped by my store and flashed the ring, then I immediately commanded her to go to The Cabana and show The Lovely Steph Leann, which she did.
And this past May, we were able to attend the wedding, which I'm sure you'll read about in The 100 Coolest Things of 2011... at this rate, some time around September 2013.
Which leads me to...
46... Ty Gives a Ring Here's another engagement that rocks, and gets the slight edge over Little Sister Ashley's big moment if only because I was involved in the proceedings... The Honorable Rev'rn Ty Sharpton called me up and asked if I would participate in his little engagement get-together, which involved me taking the ring from him and setting it up in Samford's chapel.
It was a little intimidating, holding a ring that cost more than Toni Rocki Honda, my little car at the time. He asked me to not open it, not to look at it, he wanted Lori Anne to be the next one to see it, and I obliged. I was to place it on the podium of the chapel at a certain time, then hide when Rev'rn Ty and his bride-to-be, Lori Anne, came in.
While I was waiting for the word from Ty, people came in and out of the chapel--Samford had a football game going on in the stadium across the street at the same time--and I sat off to the side in a pew, probably looking like an old creeper. I held the ring box tightly until I got the text that said, "In chapel yard". I was nervous about letting the ring leave my sight, but I put it on the podium then slipped out a side door.
I walked around the student break area until I finally got a text that said "ITS DONE"... upon my return, there was a big smile from Revr'n Ty, and a bigger smile from little Lori Anne, and the ring almost blinded me. And I was also able to not just attend, but be a part of their wedding, which you'll probably see in The 100 Coolest Things of 2011 as well.
45... B.o.B. Professes His Love By the summer of 2010, there weren't a ton of songs that had really piqued my interest, especially in hip-hop areas... cause really, they all kind of sound alike. So, here comes "Nothin On You" by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars, with this profession of love for his boo, telling her that there are chicks all over the place, and that sure, they might be cute or he might say hello... but ain't none them ho's got nothin on you. Nothing.
"Beautiful girls, all over the world, I could be chasin', but my time would be wasting, they got nothin on you baby (nuh nuh nuh nothin on you... nuh nuh nuh nothing on you)... they might say hi, I might say hey, but you shouldn't worry about what they say cause they got nothing on you, baby (nuh nuh nuh nothing on you... nuh nuh nuh nothing on you)... nothing on you baby..."
Keep in mind, this was the summer that both B.o.B. and Bruno Mars emerged, so I don't feel bad in telling you that for the longest time, I couldn't tell who was rapping and who was singing. Perhaps I'm still not sure.
44... The Books Get Read My love of audiobooks is well documented and deep, with probably 100 or more in my collection... I keep most of them, about 110 gbs worth, on an external portable hard drive, but on my iPod that I have with me about 97% of the waking hours of my day, I have at least 30 or 40 that I take with me, just in case I might want to jump into a random book, be it Kristen Chenoweth's biography(or Andre Agassi's) or maybe some Glenn Beck, or even a chick lit novel by Emily Giffen...
And then, I finally joined Audible dot com. The way it works is, you pay one price per month and you are given "Credits". Then, you can download audiobooks for a credit, or for larger audiobooks (like the Walt Disney biography I initially got, which was 35 hours--it was two credits, but I got it free for joining). Every month, for $14.95, I get another credit...
Essentially, its buying an audiobook for $15 per month, but when you consider they are running anywhere from $25 to $50 per book, its a pretty good deal. Also, for members, you get special discounts on books, sometimes half off, sometimes huge percentages off, sometimes free... I just downloaded "Go the Heck to Sleep" children's book (warning: NOT Emmy Turnbow safe), narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, for no charge whatsoever...
Randomly, just for thought, here's my current wish list, or, books I'll end up downloading or purchasing if they go cheap--in the order I'm going to get them: "The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called Dreamworks" by Nicole LaPorte... "Decision Points" by Dubya... "Bossypants" by Tina Fey... "Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss and the Musical Rent" by Anthony Rapp... "Your Only As Good As Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films and 100 Films For Which I Should Be Shot" by Michael Medavoy
And if you think this was just a reason to go all Ron Burgundy and say, "Hey everyone! Come look at the cool stuff I've been reading!"... well, you may be right. Though if anyone has thoughts on any of these books, then I'd love to hear them--besides the predictable recoil by Brad Latta, Atty at Law, at the mention of Glenn Beck or Dubya.
43... A Dragon Gets Tamed Here's what I wrote about "How To Train Your Dragon" on June 6th, 2010...
"How to Train Your Dragon" follows the story of Hiccup, who lives in a Viking village where the life of a Viking is to hung and kill dragons of every size--and they are aplenty in this movie. Hiccup is a loser that is made fun of by most of the clan, mostly because his heart is not into hunting anything, much less dragons, but to please his father--who happens to be village chief, no less--he does what he can.
Hiccup ends up taking down a rare Night Fury dragon, but upon finding it in the woods, cannot bring himself to finish him off... and there, the adventure takes flight, pun intended.
I loved it. I loved every single second of this movie. I loved the main character, Hiccup, I loved his love interest, a spry pixie named Astrid, I loved the dragons, including the main one nicknamed Toothless, I loved the setting, I loved the creativity, I loved the story... I thought this movie was brilliant. This was the first time I'd ever seen a non-Pixar animated movie and thought, "This should have been a Pixar film."
The Lovely Steph Leann loved it too. As the credits began to roll, she piped up and said, "Wow. DreamWorks finally got it right."(full review is found here)
By the way, I watched this movie a few days ago on cable... it is just as good, great even, as the first time I watched it. And that is a true test of a good movie.
42... A Town Gets Covered Wow this is a big book. Perhaps Stephen King likes to release a 1000 page behemoth every year, or maybe I just tend to read one--in 2009, it was "It"... and in 2010, it was "Under the Dome".
In the fall of some year after 2012, Dale Barbara, known as "Barbie", is trying to leave the small town of Chester's Mill. Before he can get very far, however, something odd happens. An invisible, indestructible barrier--a dome, per se--is dropped over the town, keeping everyone who's out of town out of the town, and everyone who is in the town, in the town.
Big Jim Rennie, second selectman, takes over the town, appointing his corrupt friends and sick, twisted son Junior as town officials, and does his best to try and contain the opposition, which includes Barbie and newspaper editor Julia Shumway. Slowly but surely, the town's government falls apart as Big Jim's rule becomes more and more stern, and as his ego--and paranoia of losing control--spiral out of control.
Efforts to destroy the Dome fail one after the other, and everything from civility to law to just common sense begins to fall apart, piece by piece, little by little... its not a slippery slope so much as a straight up and down cliff.
While the Dome is the central key to the novel, it is what happens to the town that becomes the book's plot. The breakdown in civilization, the loss of respect and democracy... that's the book's central storyline. When Big Jim realizes that not everyone sees it his way, its then that he begins doing whatever, and I mean whatever, is necessary to ensure his own rule is followed.
King stated in an interview that he thought of Dubya when he was writing the character of Big Jim, but honestly, all I could think of was He Who Must Not Be Re-Elected... who gives a rip how it affects anyone, this is what I think is best, so this is the way we are doing it.
Anyway, its a huge book, but I'd rank it up there as one of King's modern classics, and one I'll probably read again in the next year or two (it stays on my iPod just in case...)
41... Z's Serves the Burgers Sometimes the best food you can find is in a nondescript hole in the wall place you've passed by a thousand times but never noticed its existence... and that would be Chris Z's to a tee.
Nestled on a corner near St. Vincent's hospital, sharing the same block, if not the same wall, with the empty building that used to be Golden Rule BBQ (take a left off of Red Mt Expressway/Hwy 31 as you are facing St. Vincents), it doesn't have very much parking, and in fact, the best way to get to it is to drive past it, turn left at the light and come around the entire structure.
Walking in, you can see immediately that its family owned and operated... covering the walls in almost every space are frames, frames with single pictures of family, frames with duo photos of more family, large frames with collages of a dozen or more pictures of family and friends. Being my close friend Melanie's husband, you'll see pictures of Melanie and Chris together. You'll see the Z kids, Jay Z, Special K and The Zack Attack. You'll see lots of people that sort of look like their family, and you'll see friends that you might recognize... or not.
The cafe itself is set with not more than a dozen tables, mostly because there is no room. Come at lunch time, you'll be hard pressed to find an open chair, but if you are an experienced Chris Z eater, you'll know this and will plan for it--either come earlier or later, or get it to go, or just stand and eat like many patrons do.
The menu is typed out in a familiar Comic Sans font, with some scribble with a marker and some tape over certain things, those manual corrections that the owner doesn't have time to make in the form of a new menu... no, there is too much food to make. And the food is aplenty.
Hot dogs cooked to perfection, topped with everything or nothing at all, your request. And the cheeseburgers are fantastic... my personal favorite is a Chris Z burger with mayo, mustard and ketchup, and cheese splashed all over the fries. The Chris Z burger was actually recently named by a local magazine to the be the best burger in town, and its a well deserved distinction.
And then there is dessert... a family owned recipe for cheesecake pie. That piece of pie kinda deserves its own ranking among the coolest things of the year, almost like a #40 1/2 spot... its amazing. I've had cheesecake in six different states, ranging everywhere from the Carnegie Deli in Manhattan to the Baltimore Harbor... and its the best cheesecake I've ever had.
Anyway, if you are in the St. Vincents area, and you find yourself hungry--or even if you just want to find something new, check 'em out. They also serve breakfast, which is excellent too... and that's not to mention their Middle Eastern menu they have the first Friday of every month. Its good, good stuff. (you can click here for more info)
Coming up... Hide yo' kids! Hide yo' wife! Its more of the best of 2010, now that 2011 is half over! Yeah! More Disney! A DFC Champion! And startin' fires...
Here's your chance to have some weekend reading during The Summer of Blogging...
Day Six... Its a recap of Days 1 to 5, so you can start from the beginning!
Day Seven... "A Review of Pirates and Mutants"... movie reviews on the newest Pirates film and X-Men First Class
Day Eight... "My Yard Goes Disney"... thoughts on the newest HGTV show, featuring people that have too much time on their hands
Day Nine... "Feelin' Funky"... A random email of encouragment from 2001, using Susan Ashton's "I Go Down" as a message for the power of prayer in poopy times
Day Ten... "The Best Show You've Never Heard"... Wondering what The Deucecast is? You'll find out by reading this post.
Day Eleven... B@d Movie Trio... Three terrible films that I watched so you don't have too
Next week on the Summer of Blogging... The Deuce Remembered... more of the best of 2010... and OJ Simpson...
I am saddened because the last two weeks have been so busy, that I can't blog.
I am saddened because tomorrow, I'll be out of pocket for a few days, and won't be able to blog.
I am saddened because I scrolled down the website page, and the last three or four entries are just Idol blogs.
I am saddened because there is so much to spill, mucho stuff to discuss and tell you, my dear coffee drinkers, and lists to finish (2010's Top 100, anyone?) and more lists to finish (my Dave100 has become a Dave300 but it might as well be a Dave3 because of all the work I've put into writing the darn thing) and more stories to tell (I'm only on Day Two of a ten day Disney trip, including a pin event, a trek through Africa and a visit to Harry Potter!).
I am saddened because when I do get home, sometimes I just want to watch "Erin Brockovich" and play Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, or fold laundry while I listen to The Adam Carolla Podcast or whatever.
So... here's my thinking...
A few months back, I thought about doing something every day... a blog about something, be it movies, or a slice of life, or a pic or a video or whatever, just something every day... then I read this blog advice story that said that it is bad to post something every day, because stuff gets lost and people won't read it...
However comma
Its been so scarce in the last several months, I think I'm willing to take that chance.
So... starting the Tuesday after Memorial Day, May 31 and running through late August, I'm going to do 90 Days of Coffee... a new post Monday through Friday, and one on the weekends (your weekend coffee). One after another, sometimes large, sometimes not. Sometimes it will be something from another place, sometimes just a video or whatever.
Because I just don't want to be another blogging casualty!
So, a few months ago, I did a redesign of the blog... I added an espresso bean background, made some color and layout changes, moved a few things around, added some stuff, deleted some stuff and so on. Since then, I've gotten some feedback from a few people telling me they like the way it looked, and a few more people have told me "Eh."
Since then, I've been waffling like a John Kerry speech. I like it. I don't like it. I like it. I don't like it. For me, the posts are getting better, I feel like my writing has gotten better (especially compared to my early stuff... wow...) and my content has been varied, but at the same time more focused (if you don't agree, that's fine, but my readership has grown consistantly over the last year or two since I've been writing, so I'm doing something right).
But the layout has kind of thrown me. I'm not sure I like the background. If you know me well enough, you'll know I don't even drink coffee, so the name itself, "Clouds In My Coffee" is a name I'd probably change if I could go back to the beginning (I really like "Welcome to Delaware" and "Love, Pride and Deep Fried Chicken") but five plus years later, its too late for that--heck, type in "Clouds In My Coffee" in Google or Bing and I'm on the first page!
So, you tell me. I've inserted my first ever poll on the website, which you'll find to the right. Please take a second and give me some feedback... should I leave as-is? Should I change it up? Should I kind of downgrade, so its not distracting, or should I do something else? You are the people who finds it, checks it, loads it and reads it, so YOU tell ME.
The ultimate plan is to go to a plain www site through Blogger, though finding a good, memorable domain name has been tough--most of the ones I'd take are all either in use, or at least purchased. Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) had a long talk via Facebook about this one night, where should concurred that anything involving "clouds", unless its "Clouds in My Coffee", sounded... well, gay.
Anyway, help a brotha' out and tell me what you think.
So, Sunday is July 4th, and its also the 5th birthday of Clouds in My Coffee. Now, I know this sounds like I'm tootin' my own horn, and in some ways, I am tootin' away, but seriously... five years is pretty good. Especially when I can count in what seems like five hands the number of people that have started blogs along the way, and can count on only about one hand the number of those blogs that lasted more than a few weeks, or a few posts. Heck, some blogs I read for what seems like years haven't posted in months, maybe a year or more. So, even if you think everything I've written is total crap, you gotta give it to me for consistancy...
Its not easy. Not only do you have to have something to say, you have to make it interesting enough for people to read it, or want to read it. I've learned you cannot just write any ol' thing and then say you don't care if anyone reads it--if you didn't care, you'd have a written diary, not an online blog.
You have to have built an audience along the way that when you post something on Facebook that simply says, "Hey, I just wrote about ----, so go check it out", your audience will say, "Well, I wonder what this is about?" and go check it out. And that audience takes time, time for them to find your blog, time for them to figure out if they like it, and time for them to keep coming back.
You have to be willing to take a beating. You have to be willing to cultivate your thoughts in a way makes sense and be ready with a response when your opinions and thoughts, factual or not, are challenged. You have to be willing to have your closest friends ask you about stuff that you know they'd know if they read the blog (meaning... they don't read it...). You have to have thick enough skin to have people say to you, "Yeah, I scanned it" or "Yeah, its just too long" or "Nah, I stopped reading a while ago", and have them never realize that this is your project, your baby, your online diary of sorts. They don't mean it personal, but you take it as such.
On the other hand...
...its such a glorious feeling when random people come up to you and say, "Hey, I read the blog" or "That was a great post" or "You were so funny when you wrote ---", when your response, at least mentally, is "you... read the blog?" There's a counter on the page for a reason--for me to know if its being read. And its averaging about 50 to 60 hits a day, so someone is reading it.
Blogging is a form of expression. Sometimes, like lately, its just a way to share the latest movie I saw. Or the latest book I read. Other times its a way to tell the story of what happened to me at the post office or at the mall or traveling. And sometimes, its a way for people to find out some history of my life, or a glimpse into the relationship between me and The Lovely Steph Leann (who, by the way, has her own following. I've spoken to a dozen or more people on Facebook who ask about, calling her exactly this, The Lovely Steph Leann. That's how she's known.)
And then, sometimes... its a way to celebrate. Or mourn. Its a way for me to share with you the happy news of a new job, or a new house, or a vacation... and a way for me to find comfort in tragedy, or in death. This is why I blog.
I'm using July to do some things with the blog, give it an overhaul, get some feedback on the good and bad. I'm working hard on The Dave100, a project that has taken me three years and four versions to get right. I want to do something with the header, and perhaps do something with the plain background (just for you, Hannah Armstrong, who hates the black background!) and clean up the links a bit.
So anyway, I gotta to say a big ol thanks to everyone who has bookmarked this page, who joined liked on Facebook (for whatever that is worth), who has emailed me or left comments, even those who's general tone is 'dude, your an idiot' (I still dont know who those Speed Racer defenders are), and thanks to everyone who reads this page and checks it every day. And thanks to those people who follow this blog and I don't even know you!
Keep checking... change is a com'n... thanks for five years, Coffee Drinker. Monday, July 5th, starts the second five years.
One step closer to revealing what is the absolute, bar none, most awesome, Coolest Thing of 2009... but first, we have nineteen more things to discuss. And here's ten more, starting with...
The 20th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Where We Eatin', Y'all?" On my blogroll on the right, there are over 20 blogs listed. My rule usually is that if you don't update your blog in two months or so, I take it off the blogroll... of course, I'm still expecting to be on theirs, so its a hard double standard line to toe.
There are several who do update on a regular, or semi-regular basis, which include:
Happy Harper Stories... Married mom of two, Jaime, shares stories of family and kids, but mostly I like to wander aimlessly around her blog--her set up is much better than mine. B&W Daily Photos... Former Deucemate and Pimpalicious Shawn Sharp simply takes a photo each day. Sounds simple enough, and it is, but its a fun little site showcasing some great talent. Life's Random Happenings... One of my kids, Betsy, has this fun little random site she writes on, and I'm actually enjoying her list of things to accomplish before she dies.
And then there's this little beauty... its got this ridiculously clunky title, almost too long to remember, but long enough that you'll remember enough of it, called, "Where To Go Eat Or Not Go Eat... And Why", and its not so much about restaurant reviews as it is about the legendary Barnett Curse.
When its $10, $20, maybe $30 bucks for Amarilys By Morning (up from san antone), her husband Hurricane Rhett and their daughter Raspberry Vinaigrette to eat, they do okay. Mostly. The Lovely Steph Leann and I had dinner with them the other night, things went swimmingly.
When they fork over the $100 for dinner at the fancy schmancy places, they do okay, like you usually do when you are paying that much for dinner.
But when it gets between $30 and say, $70... all bets are off. Everything from waiters making racial jokes to time lapses of more than a few hours from arrival to departure. They wreak havoc on restaurants when they show up, not on purpose... but the Bad Service Fairy hovers over the place from the time the Barnetts walk in to the time they leave. And it makes for a great blog.
The 19th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Sunshine Cleaning" From April 2009 (written a year ago today, which tells you how far behind I am on getting this Top 100 finished)...
A couple of days ago we saw "Sunshine Cleaning". This was one I had been waiting on, as the previews looked wonderful and it helps that I'm in love with Amy Adams. Amy plays Rose Lorkowski, a 30 something woman who's life hasn't turned out like she hoped. Rose is not making much money, her son is a problem child, and she's having an affair with a guy that she knows down deep will never leave his wife. She's a maid for a maid service, and realizes that her life has really hit a wall when she ends up cleaning a house for someone she went to high school with.
I loved this movie in every possible way. It was charming, it was fun and there aren't a thousand subplots to try and tie up at the end. Some of the cliched stuff that you think would happen in a movie like this never does, which was refreshing, and Rose is such a lovable character that you root for her the entire time--and its heartbreaking when the major "event" happens that seems to ruin everything late in the movie. You even end up really liking Norah, despite some of the stupid things she does. What I also loved about this movie is it doesn't' feel the need to resolve every little issue with a Hollywood happy ending. Some things are... well, just done when they are done. Rated R for language and some Amy Adams underwear shots.
The 18th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Adam Carolla Podcast In the years leading up to 2009, namely 2005, 2006 and 2007, I knew only of Adam Carolla from "The Man Show"--no, I never watched it, I just know it was on Comedy Central and Spike TV for a while--and as a co-host of MTV's "Loveline", another show that I never watched, but knew about.
In 2008, Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons started having Adam come on his own podcast from time to time, and they were always podcasts I thoroughly enjoyed. Adam would usually pitch a "movie idea", and it was always something to laugh at... my favorite is the idea for a movie called "Long Snapper", about a disgraced NFL longsnapper named Rush Blitzer... and in it, he'd throw every cliche that movies present, from the cutaways to birds leaving the trees when something traumatic is going on to that weird double take look when someone sees something that surprised them.
I found out in early 2009 that Carolla was getting his own podcast, so I checked it out... and I've been listening ever since. Now, Adam Carolla is not Emmy Turnbow safe by any means--he uses foul langauge, he discusses topics that are not necessarily meant to be discussed at the dinner table, and he is seldom politcally correct... but he's hysterical. And practical. He doesn't pull any punches, he says it like it is, and he makes fun of himself to the extreme sometimes. Its randy but never disgusting, its Rated R but not NC-17... he also has guests in the studio (which in the early shows constituted his couch in his home, and now is a couch in a warehouse) and its fun to watch them let loose and discuss.
He's anchored by his friend Donnie, who he's dubbed "The Weaz", who helps produce the show, and will also feature his friends Bald Bryan and Teresa Strasser, who used to co-host "What Not to Wear" (and has her own funny blog) and many times, depending on the guest, its the first show out of the gate I listen to when I'm scrolling through my podcasts, even beating out Rush. (don't worry--I am now and forever will be a Rush fan until someone can not only convince me he's wrong, but prove it... hasn't happened yet...)
The 17th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Relator" The movie theater isn't the most likely place to discover music you like... but The Lovely Steph Leann and I were sitting, chitchatting away in the dim light, awaiting whatever movie to start to... well, start. The familiar voice of That Guy who does that Movie Tunes broadcast says something like, "Here's the new one from Ingrid Michelson!" and Ingrid Michelson starts out her song "Everyone". You know, "everyone, everyone wants to love, everyone everyone wants to be loved, oh whoa whoa... oh whoa whoa..."
I thought it was cool. I got out my phone and texted "Ingrid M Everyone" to myself. Wanted to do that so I would remember to listen to it, and possibly download later.
And then, after "Everyone" had finished, the same guy rambled on about something or another, possibly telling me I should go get a refreshing Coke for like, $8.75, at the refreshment stand. Then he says something strange--"Here's a new tune from Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson".
Exsqueeze me? Bakin' powder? When did ScarJo become a singer? What did I miss?
And here comes this raspy voice, a voice that I struggled to place with ScarJo... "When I met you... I didn't know what to do... I was hungry, I was tired, I fight..."
And once again, I grabbed my phone, texting "ScarJo P Yorn Relate" to myself. All I've got is this tune in my head, "you don't... relate... to me... no no..." and when I finally get home, I Google the lyrics and it comes up with "Relator", by Scarlet Johansson and Pete Yorn, from their duet (!) album "Break Up". I've listened to most of the tunes on the whole album, and they are alright enough, but "Relator" is the gem. Its a great, great driving song.
Anyone who knows me knows I have an affinity for The Sports Guy. He's a columnist on ESPN.com, a former writer for ESPN The Magazine, and the author of the book that was the 6th Coolest Thing of 2006. His latest book is a must-read for anyone who has ever enjoyed anything about the NBA... its almost NBA overload.
In this 700+ page behemoth of a book, The Sports Guy tackles the Top Ten Greatest Seasons of All Time... He looks back and retroactively awards MVP titles to those who should have gotten them, as opposed to who did get them (many times not the same thing) and his love of the Boston Celtics and the National Basketball Association shines through when he devotes hundreds of pages to the best players of all time, ranked from great to greatest in his attempt to revamp the Basketball Hall of Fame.
There are tons of statistics and names dropped, a few shots taken at players like Vince Carter, Kareem and Kobe, and lots of basketball history--the man did his homework--but what sets him apart from other columnists I enjoy is his pop culture knowledge. Being a pop culture afficinado myself, I not only appreciate, but revel in the jabs and jokes that come along, sometimes making me feel a little special because I know some of his references are harder to identify, and only a few of us can do so. Cause we rock.
Because of time contraints, it took me a solid two months to plow through this book (and I'm actually going back and re-reading my favorite chapters because the start time to finish time was so lengthy), and after his baseball book, and now The Book of Basketball, it makes me wonder if a football opus is around the corner at some point.
The 15th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Rather Unimpressive Illegitimate Children" From a post written on August 23rd, 2009... You know, I take pride in the fact that I'm pretty good with films. I've seen thousands of movies over the years, and many of them are the same, or at least the same type, and you can kind of predict patterns, kind of see where a movie will go, sometimes have a good clue as to "whodunit" before the blood dries on the ground...
however comma
I have to be honest in saying that this film went in a COMPLETELY different direction than what I was thinking it would. The trailer, which was very cleverly uninforming by Tarantino, tells you nothing of what this movie holds and where its going to go.
The Basterds, as they are called, is a group led by Lt. Aldo Raines, played by Brad Pitt, and he wants to kill Nah-zees.
Aldo Raines recruits a group of soldiers to do just that very thing, but along the way, we also see the story (and backstory) of Shoshanna (a wonderful--and gorgeous--Melanie Laurent), who's entire Jewish family is butchered by infamous Jew Hunter, Col. Hans Landa. Landa is played by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, (who ended up winning an Oscar in March of 2010--d$) and the character is played to unsympathetic perfection. You want to absolutely hate Landa for who he is and what he does, but you almost find yourself liking him just because he is so "I'm just doing the job they asked me to do, and I'm going to do it well" blaise about it. Only the job isn't tiling a bathroom or fixing a transmission, its hunting and killing Jews in France.
Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit. On QT's movie rankings, I'd still ranking Dogs as my favorite, followed closely by "Pulp Fiction"... and then this one. I look forward to watching it again, enjoying all of Tarantino's eccentricities that he dashes throughout his films
The 14th Coolest Thing of 2009... MZ Gets a Starbucks Its always good when your friends succeed.
When I went to The Happiest Place in the Mall in July of 2008, I stepped down as a manager at Starbucks, and went just part time at a store in Homewood, AL. It was a store that had scheduled to close, and at that time I was almost at 6 years with the company, and I was asked to help the store close down. When it finally did, I was transferred over to the Starbucks on 280, right next to Hwy 119.
Working there? My friend MZ that I had known when she was a customer ordering her Grande Raspberry Mocha on a daily basis. She became a barista, then a shift... and when the long term manager left for another career, she was promoted, much to the chagrin of some who thought she was "too new" and they were next in line.
She was very "new", but she was experience enough to know what she was doing, and humble enough to know she was in over her head. When I found The Happiest Place would become The Emptiest Place in the Mall, I asked her if I could come on full time... and though we were friends, she took a professional stance and actually thought about it and about what would be best for the business. She agreed, and when my job ends, I'll once again be doing Starbucks 40 hours per week.
Its been about a year or so now, and she's learned alot... and I've learned alot from her. I'm excited about working for, and with, MZ, because I've watched her already. People respond to her leadership, which is built on relationships and a fever to help each person do their best in whatever they are doing--that in turn will be best for the business. Maybe she's "new", but she's already miles ahead of many managers who had been doing this for a long, long time.
The 13th Coolest Thing of 2009... Inside the Magic I love audiobooks (I'm right in the middle of a 30 disc narration of "Under the Dome" by Stephen King... which I'll talk about when I finish, because its marvelous) but when I listen to an audiobook (like said 30 disc novel), I always have to play catch up on my podcasts... such as the 1:45 it takes to listen to a complete, commercial free Rush Limbaugh show. Or the 45 minutes to an hour it takes me to listen to either Carolla's podcast or The BS Report with The Sports Guy. Or the 30 minute weekly show called ESPNU College Football, which comes on every other week in the offseason.
And last January or so, I decided I wanted to jump into a few Disney podcasts... I listened to a few, and found some to be either long winded or too random, but one stuck. I listened to "Inside the Magic" again the following week... and the following week.. and the following week... and sometime would go online to watch the videos that host Ricky Brigante would post, various openings of stores, or coverage of a press event or so on.
Each show starts with a "Trip... around the world", with Ricky, an Orlando resident and frequent visitor of the parks, giving news from not only Walt Disney World, but also Disneyland, sometimes parks overseas if the news is big enough, various news and rumors from other Disney areas like movies and music, and even sometimes news and such from other Orlando area attractions like Sea World and Universal.
Ricky's got this odd voice that you think will grate on you, yet in a short time it becomes an easy voice to listen to even for long period of time (his Ear in Review show? Four hours) and his wit comes through as he's not afraid to take a jab at Disney... he's a fan just as much as we are, and with that comes the good and the bad.
Says Ricky: "In the next bit of news, I don't know why I didn't lead with this... huge news for everyone... its officlal. Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato... are dating. You heard it here."
The show sometimes features movie reviews, music reviews and restaurant reviews, many times has interviews with people from the Disney universe, and will often feature a segment called "Cruisin' the World", with Skipper Ben, a former Jungle Cruise skipper who lives in Dallas, TX, but has never lost the Disney bug.
The show has been a valuable source of information for me in my time at The Happiest Place in the Mall, many times hearing rumors and news, getting release dates of certain things like DVDs and such, even before the company let us at the store level know. If you are looking for a weekly podcast, you can find Inside the Magic in the iTunes store, or on their new website, but will also add to the Disney links on the right. Back to yooooooooooou Ricky.
The 12th Coolest Thing of 2009... Disney with The Lovely Steph Leann Once again, for our anniversary, The Lovely Steph Leann and I headed to Orlando, FL, to spend 9 days amongst The Most Magical Place on Earth--that being Walt Disney World.
Now, you may wonder "Why is a vacation with your wife only ranking 12th? Shouldn't that be the most important and coolest thing? What kind of man are you?!"
To that, I answer that yes, this trip was very cool. Any trip with The Lovely Steph Leann is a good trip. A cool trip. But the two reasons that this trip ranks 12th and not 1st are simply... 1) We went with my mother-in-law and aunt. Now, this wasn't inherently a bad thing, it was enjoyable, and Mama Ruthless actually paid for several meals and took care of us through the trip. We hung out with them some, and split up from them some... but the fact that our anniversary vacation was taken with a mother-in-law and an aunt... just sayin'.
And 2) The Lovely Steph Leann got sick. I mean, sick. I mean, sick sick. It started in the middle of the trip, and perhaps began when I didn't feel good. I went through a day or so of stomach issues, with my immune system, usually built like a tank, fighting off the stomach flu. But as the old saying goes, "That which does not kill us goes after The Lovely Steph Leann and makes her sick." And the stomach flu did just that very thing, knocking her completely out of action for one full day and bits and pieces of days after that. She's said it was one of the worst, darkest days of her life.
So the stomach flu was the big hindrance to this trip being 12th and not 1st... but for a few notes from the trip, you can click to the one post I wrote concerning the trip.
The 11th Coolest Thing of 2009... Movies With Mikey There's a road that runs through the little town of Hoover, and on that road--Lorna, to be exact--there's a little shopping center... I say shopping center, but there really is no shopping... maybe its a business area. There's a club there that has been through about fifteen different names, including Frogger's and Roper's, and I think its Bumper's now.
Next to it is a small movie theater that I'm sure in its heyday, back when Ace of Base ruled the charts and perhaps the Dallas Cowboys were beginning a dynasty, was a clamour of activity and profit. You know its an older theater when you walk in and you realize you don't have to climb any steps to get to your seat. Nay, you have to walk down a slight incline and choose your row.
We take for granted stadium seating and you young fellas and gals probably don't remember a time when all seats were on the same level, save for a ramp that took you a little lower the closer to the screen you got.
This is why Mikey and I love this theater... and this is why Mikey and I make it a habit to get together a few times a month for a movie there. Oh, and the fact that its a single dollar to get in. If you've ever walked out of a theater you've paid $9.75 to get into thinking "Man, that movie was terrible... I hate that I wasted a Zaxby's meal and a Chick-fila Cookies-n-Cream milkshake worth to see that."
That's the idea behind The d$ and Mikey Crappy Movie Series. We go see movies that we kinda want to see but don't dare pay $10 for, because we aren't sure we'll even like it. Sometimes we make it a point to go see the worst of the worst. Someitmes we are pleasantly surprised at how much we like a movie. We always have a good time.
Some of the movies we have seen this past year include... "Observe and Report", one of the worst films I've ever seen... "Land of the Lost", a pretty bad Will Ferrell flick... "Men Who Stare At Goats", which I'm still trying to figure out the plotline... "I Love You Man", solidifying my love of Paul Rudd... "Year One", funny at times but only here and there... and "The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard", pushing hard to be worth the one dollar we spent... talk about your epic, award winning films. All were preceeded with a burger at Baha or some other find eating establishment, and all included great conversation with one of my best mates.
Here's to another year full of crappy, terrible one dollar movies.
And finally... here comes the top ten.. two movies, eight people, two songs, a gathering, a toy and a toy ride... the Top Ten Coolest Things of 2009...
So, I've gotten a lot of good feedback on "The Wal-Mart Effect", a review of the book of the same name... and if you haven't heard me talk about it, you haven't been listening, cause I've been telling anyone who will listen, I got a thumbs up from the author of the book himself.
Sometimes Blogger is funny. I typed up and worked on the posting for a few days, and for whatever reason, it kept giving me an error when I tried to add some links and pictures, which is why I couldn't add it on to the post itself, and so I figured I would add them here on this post.
Finally, here's a post from Amarylis By Morning (up from San Antone)... she runs a really funny website (if not a ridiculously long name) called "Where To Go Eat Or Not Go Eat... and Why". She posted her own little slice of the Wal-Mart life in November 2009... you can also read the original post here.
She writes:
I make midnight runs to Wal-Mart all the time. Mostly because I end up working really late and it’s a 24 hour resource for me. I go there so much and with so little care for my appearance because it’s so late, that I worry about ending up on http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.
If you would like to submit a picture then all you have to do is loiter around my local Wally World and I will surely drive up at some point within two or three days. You will know me because I will have paint and glaze all over whatever I’m wearing, all over my hands, and all over my hair. You will also recognize me by the oldest, rattiest clothes I own because I didn’t think I’d see you there. Oh, and of course, there’s my uber-comfy Crocs sandals. (FYI, the picture is from People of Wal-mart, and is not, I repeat, is NOT of Amarylis by Morning (up from San Antone)--d$)
If you submit my picture or if you come across my picture, then I beg of you to please, please, please not tell me. My very tender self-esteem could not handle the humiliation even though it would surely be all in fun.
Going to Wal-Mart after say around, oh….11pm is a challenge in customer service. There is no staffing other than for re-stocking. Making your way through the maze of boxes, palettes, hand trucks, and staff trying to re-stock for the next day is probably how the Team USA track and field athletes are currently training for the London Olympics in 2012.
On normal nights, there is only one cashier lane open for the entire Super Wal-Mart. It’s as if they’re taunting me. As if they know how annoyed and tired I am right at that very moment. …and I need what I have in hand. I can’t leave without it. I’m absolutely trapped. So, I complain to anyone who will listen to me. I’m working on that. Seeing as how I refuse to take complaints from my employees, I should maybe, probably, could possibly make a tiny, small, minute effort to be a bit, a little better about not complaining.
Unfortunately, the following story of an event at Wal-Mart happened well before making that very strong and determined resolution in the above sentence.
I was standing in line very, very late in the evening or should I say, early in the morning. I’m certain it was around the holidays which means I’m typically working until 2:00am-3:00am loading kilns, glazing pottery and generally working for Santa and his elves for about eight weeks. I will typically stop by to pick up diapers and/or snacks for my daughter….perhaps some toiletries, etc. Items that truly can’t be done without for the next day without having to get up extra early. …and getting up extra early is not typically an option at my house.
As usual, the line was about ten people deep. Some of these people were doing their grocery shopping so while I had maybe one bag of diapers, these people had their week’s worth of food to get scanned before I could get up to the front of the line. I could see the gentleman at the front was working as hard as he could. He was as tired and as frustrated as his customers were. He was not at fault for the manager’s decision to only open one check out lane mid-December.
Meanwhile, I look over and see three young Wally World team members chatting up a storm over at the next register. What I saw next made me want to blow Wal-Mart up. Now, before anyone reports me or before that statement precludes me or my husband from ever running for office, please note that I did not literally want to go get explosives and blow up Wal-Mart. It is a figure of speech meant to indicate my incredible hostility at those young ladies. Calm down. For the love.
Anyway, what I saw next….was those three team members buying candy and checking each other out through a closed lane. Meanwhile, I’m standing behind some lady who is telling me all about where she’s going to put the new throw rug she’s got in her cart along with about 367 other items that will undoubtedly need a price check. “Price check: How much are the rubber duckie soap dispensers and the rubber duckie curtain rod rings?”.
Stop for a minute and picture me in that line looking over those young ladies and now picture me put index finger in front of me and shake it back and forth while I say “Oh, NO you didn’t!”. I was beyond livid.
I finally made it through the line and checked out with my poor check out guy. He told me they only get $1 more an hour for working nights. That they can’t find anybody to fill the shifts. I felt horrible for him and yet I was still insanely angry at what I had seen.
So when I got home, even though it was very late, I got on the Wally World website to find a place to submit a complaint. Sure enough, buried in one of there 32,898 pages was a “contact us” button. I submitted my complaint with exact details.
Would you believe that the very next day, I got a call from the manager of that store apologizing for my experience? It was shocking and very satisfying. He told me the same things the man had told me the night before. I was pleased with how he handled the situation and diffused my anger. It was a lesson in customer service. …and from Wal Mart!
So while I do have some issues with Wal Mart’s world domination, I was very impressed that they would take time out to talk to one insignificant customer.
I just pray every night that Wal-Mart doesn’t go into the pottery business or I’m in trouble.
Read more from Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone), and her husband, Hurricane Rhett by going to their website. Then click on my own link on her site and come back.
Facebook users... this post is heavy on video, which you will not see if you are viewing this in Facebook. Please click over to http://broadwaydave.blogspot.com to see the entire blogpost.
And friends of the blog and/or mine--The Official Clouds In My Coffee Ombudsman Brad Latta, Erin the Marine Wife and Kris "Buble" Dekker--gave me their thoughts and experiences on 9/11, so scroll to the next post, or click here, to read those. My intent was to inter-sparse their writings with what I was doing here on this column, but it didn't flow well, and I didn't want to edit what they had to say, so I made them their own post.
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Alright, after a week or so of trying to decide exactly what I wanted to do with today's post, because I knew I wanted to do something for today (September 11th) and the 8th anniversary of the attacks, I thought the best thing to do was just... well, go through the morning. I hate using the phrase "the best thing to do" because really, its not pleasant. Its not comfortable. It's really not fun. But its is important.
I'm steering clear of any political rhetoric (and I ask you do the same) and I'm hoping you don't find this particular blog as an exploitative veering towards such a thing--its not intended to be. Its just intending to give you--and me--a reminder of what happened that morning, as it happened.
None of the videos that have been posted are set to music, or have encouraging and faith filled songs in the background--I've disabled the music playlist (you're welcome, Lily) and only put Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" on the list itself--you'll have to scroll down and click to hear it. Why? Because I like that song, that's why.
Don't worry, I'm not becoming all serious and such--on Monday, the regular Clouds banner will return, and I'll probably have a Billy Ocean/Billie Jean/Corey Squared-less playlist to post (sorry, Lily) but for the weekend, this is my nod and paid respects to everything that happened.
Some of the video you'll see is hard to watch, so use your best judgement. Also, just a note, all times mentioned are Eastern times, and much of the text is taken from CNN's timeline.
Tuesday September 11th.
8:45am...
9:03 a.m.:
The video at the 6:29 mark is incomprehensible and will give you goosebumps. Next, at the 6:51 mark. Jean Cochran is speaking for NPR in a typical NPR monotone, unemotional voice. When the second plane hits, she screams and suddenly becomes filled with the emotional we all shared at that very second.
Also, this very moment is the moment when four words come to mind... "This is no accident"
9:17 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York area closed.
Sometime during the morning
9:30 a.m.: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."
9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.
9:43 a.m.:
9:45 a.m.: The White House evacuates.
9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.
10:05 a.m.:
Peter Jennings asks, “We now have… what do we have?” He has to ask several times about whats going on, even though the reporter is speaking very plainly... Jennings, like us, cannot even fathom the idea that the entire building... just came down.
A view from the street
10:08 a.m.: Secret Service agents armed with automatic rifles are deployed into Lafayette Park across from the White House.
10:10 a.m.:
10:10 a.m.:
10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuates, including 4,700 people from the headquarters building and 7,000 total from UNICEF and U.N. development programs.
10:22 a.m.: In Washington, the State and Justice departments are evacuated, along with the World Bank.
10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.
10:28 a.m.:
10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.
10.46 a.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America to return to the United States.
10.48 a.m.:
10:53 a.m.: New York's primary elections, scheduled for Tuesday, are postponed.
10:57 a.m.: New York Gov. George Pataki says all state government offices are closed.
11:02 a.m.: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.
11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, has crashed in Pennsylvania. The airline also says that it is "deeply concerned" about United Flight 175.
12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.
12:15 p.m: San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down. The airport was the destination of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.
1:04 p.m.: Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.
1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.
1:48 p.m.: Bush leaves Barksdale Air Force Base aboard Air Force One and flies to an Air Force base in Nebraska.
2:30 p.m.: The FAA announces there will be no U.S. commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest.
2:49 p.m.: At a news conference, Giuliani says that subway and bus service are partially restored in New York City. Asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."
4:10 p.m.: Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.
5:20 p.m.:
7:02 p.m.: CNN's Paula Zahn reports the Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse and says some New York bridges are now open to outbound traffic.
7:45 p.m.: The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers are missing. The city also says that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were killed.
8:30 p.m.: President Bush addresses the nation, saying "thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil" and asks for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday's victims. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," he says. The president says the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them. He adds that government offices in Washington are reopening for essential personnel Tuesday night and for all workers Wednesday.
9:22 p.m.: CNN's McIntyre reports the fire at the Pentagon is still burning and is considered contained but not under control.
Thank you for indulging me. And here's how I want to end:
9/17/01
And part 2
Opening photo: "End of serenity." A plume of smoke rises from the crash site of United Air Flight 93 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: Al Pacelli, presented by The September 11 Digital Archive.
That being said, Clint Eastwood is as cool as a cucumber, with his poncho and his low hat and his cheap rolled cigar in his mouth, as he plays "The Stranger", or "The Man With No Name"--he is actually called "Joe" late in the film, in a pay-attention-or-you-will-miss-it moment. The Stranger rides into San Miguel, this little Mexican border town, and ends up in the middle of a gang war over ownership of the town. Because he's apparently a capitalist, he actually ends up playing both sides against each other, taking money from each for various reasons and tasks. Of course, the good guy in The Stranger ends up taking over for the greedy guy in The Stranger, and a pretty intense duel happens between he and the bad guys. 
