The 2010 Cool Express

Okay, so its December 28th, with only half of a day today, and three full days left in the entire year of 2011.  And here I am, still 30 cool things away from listing the coolest things of the year 2010.  I could say that life, Campbell, pregnancy, American Idol, audio books, Disney trips and more got in the way of finishing, but lets be real here--I've had 361 full days to complete this list, so truly the only reason is that I'm just lazy.  I mean, I do have ambition when it comes to certain things, but in many respects, I'm as lazy and unmotivated as a Wall Street Occupier.

So rather than try to dish out another three or four posts, I am just going to shoot through this list real quick-like before the year ends, and I am starting The 100 Coolest Things of 2011.

Quick recap for you:
The 100th through 91st Coolest Things of the Year... Alabama's National Title... "Just Wright"... The Miz... Lotso Huggin' Bear... "The Pony Exce$$"... Big Al... "The Other Guys"... Jamie's Post... "Leap Year"... "Iron Man 2"
The 90th through 81s Coolest Things of the Year... "Live Like Your Dyin'"... Zoe's Kitchen.. "Red"... Daylight Donuts... "Death at a Funeral"... Sandra Bullock wins the Oscar... "Morning Glory"... "Undercover Boss"... AllState's Mayhem... "Unstoppable"
The 80th through 71st Coolest Things of the Year... "The Town"... "American Honey"... "The A-Team"... "Tron: Legacy"... Auburn's season... Glee does Queen... "The Wal-Mart Effect"... "The Wal-Mart Effect" Authors response... "Zombieland"... Middle Eastern Night
The 70th through 61st Coolest Things of the Year... Facebook DeFriended App... "Love the Way You Lie"... "Hawaii Five-O"... "Christine"... The Tipulator... "The Book of Eli"... "...featuring Norah Jones"... "Just the Way You Are"... The Candlelight Processional... "Kick-A**"
The 60th through 51st Coolest Things of the Year... Disney's Autism... SI's Playoff Push... "The Expendables"... Dixon's dinner... The New Orleans Saints... "The Fighter"... Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains... new Mickey Gloves... my favorite new hat... "Showgirls, Teen Wolves & Astro Zombies"
The 50th through 41st Coolest Things of the Year... "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I"... Via Napoli... Stuff Christians Like... Lil Sister Ashley's ring... The Rev'rn Ty Coffey's ring... "Nothin' On You"... Audible.com... "How to Train Your Dragon"... "Under the Dome"... Chris Z's burgers
The 40th through 31st Coolest Things of the Year... Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife... "Firestarter"... Disney in July... "Tangled"... "Break Even"... Sara Barellis... Trey Cartledge... The Film Vault... Pablos... The Keys to the Kingdom Tour

30... "True Grit"
The Clinton Portis novel is a quick read, its narrative is light and well written, and its a great classic, little known western.  And it was almost as good as...

29... "True Grit"
I was a little skeptical about this remake of the John Wayne classic, but just about everything about this movie works.  Jeff Bridges is wonderful as Rooster Cogburn, while Hallie Steinfeld acts well above her age.  Even Matt Damon makes a convincing cowpoke.  Great film.

28... New Wookiee Baby
Wookiee had another one!  Well, Mrs. Wookiee, anyway!  Little Abby Grace... and the only reason this isn't higher is because this is his second one.  Congrats, a year later!

27... New Mikey Baby
Mikey had a baby!  Well, his woman, Ashleia did.  Little Charlotte.  Add that to Big Tom's kid, SyJo, and we've got half a future Deucette.

26... The Weekend with DeNick and DeLisa
Anytime we can go to the beach, its a good thing.  And anytime we can go with friends, its also a good thing.  Hence, spending the weekend with DeNick and DeLisa, and little DeGeorge in October, down on the Gulf Coast.  Great food, comfy room, and just a whole lotta fun.

25... "It" by Stephen King
The books that are known as "masterworks" by King are "The Stand" and the "Dark Tower" series.  Perhaps right under that is "Salem's Lot", and maybe even "The Shining"... but an underrated classic is "IT".  Yes, its the one with the bad clown guy.  Its huge, with a cast of kid characters who grow up to be adult characters, and the story is told in back and forth parallel... one chapter its 1957 and a few pages later, its 1985.

And the story is scary... yet, its more of a character study than anything.  Bill Denborough, the future writer... Ben Hanscomb, the chunky kid turned manly man... Beverly Marsh, the abused girl turned abused woman... Ritchie Tozier, the class clown now and future... Stanley Uris, the local Jew who finds refuge in the group... Eddie Kaspbrak, the weakling both as a boy and as a man... and soon, Mike Hanlon, the black kid who makes a great addition to the group.  Each kid has his/her own issues as a child, and those issues reflect their grown-up world... and they are all thrown back together when the horrific event that unites them as children brings them back as adults--namely, Pennywise the clown, an evil entity that exists in the sewers below the town of Derry, Maine.

Besides Pennywise, the kids also have to deal with the local school bully, Henry Bowers, and his cronies who, at first, are just your beat-em-up, money stealing bullies, but evolve into something a bit more sadistic.  And you begin to see the grip that Pennywise has on the town and its citizens, as the whole town starts dying slowly... not the people, but the town itself.

Its a brilliant book, a great and meaningful story and though its big, its reads easy.

24... Pawn Stars
I will watch this show every time its on.  Rick, Hoss, The Old Man and Chumlee make the 30 minutes its on just a little bit better... and who knew that there was such a market for pirate coins, or Civil War maps or old magazines?  Addictive.

23... "Easy A"
It feels like every year there is one movie that I like a little more than I probably thought I would, and maybe than I should.  In 2010, it was "Easy A".  Emma Stone is a hoot as a high school chick named Olive (who names their kid Olive?  Olivia, sure, but Olive?) who is branded unfairly as a harlot... and decides to use it to her financial advantage.  Also starring Lisa Kudrow, Thomas Haden Church and a hilarious Amanda Bynes, who I dig, plus either Aly or AJ from the Disney duo Aly & AJ (not sure which one), and of course, Stanley Tucci.  Everyone loves The Tuch.

22... Disney in February
What a great trip.  Nine days in Disney, first with Little Sister Ashley and McQ, then on our own, then catching a ride with Snow White and her Sidekick Sarah, it was an awesome time.  I can't elaborate, though, as it was 22 months ago, and I'm having a hard time remembering the details.

21... "Forget You" by Cee-Lo
Yes, I'll admit it.  On my iPod, I've got all three versions, from "F&#( You" to "F-You" to "Forget You", and they all make me laugh.  I tend to make "Forget You" the version I sing along to.

20... Red Mango
All natural frozen yogurt, I hope this shop sticks around when the Fro-Yo craze finally dies, which I think will be soon.

Its got a stellar cast, but the reason to watch this is almost entirely
Jesse Eisenberg's performance.  He makes this movie what it is.

19... "The Social Network"
Its that Facebook movie!  Everything about this movie clicks, from the script to the killer score by Trent Reznor to locale to the cast (even Justin Timberlake!) to the direction... and Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant as Facebook co-creator Mark Zuckerberg.   Love love love this movie.

18... Sirius XM
When I got my new car, Red Robin, I was given a trial subscription to satellite radio.  And I can only describe it by saying it revolutionized my radio experience in the same way that my iPod revolutionized my music listening habits, or DVR revolutionized my TV watching.  I found it difficult to pick only 18 channels to program into the car, out of the 180+ or so... but ended up choosing gems like The Blend, which is pop and rock... and The Bridge, which is classic rock... and 20 on 20, which is modern hits... Coffeehouse, which is acoustic... and of course, the 60s channel, the 70s channel, the 80s channel, and the crown jewel of the radio, the 90s on 9.  When you are traveling to work at 420 in the morning, and "Baby Got Back' comes on 90s on 9, its worth it.

17... Darius Rucker
Hootie!  Hootie!  Hootie!  While I'm sure he's not ashamed of Hootie and the Blowfish, he probably does enjoy being known for more than just Hootie... so I'll give him the props he deserves.  I've always enjoyed him and his talents, but his latest solo CD, "Charleston SC 1966" is rockin' awesome.  He's countrified in every way, starting with the lead off single "The Come Back Song" to his ode to a sparky night with his woman, "Lucky".  Great stuff.

16... "Waking Sleeping Beauty"
Telling the story of Disney's animation renaissance from 1984 to 1994--years that brought "The Little Mermaid" and "Lion King" and more--this documentary is pieced together from archival footage, personal video footage and old interviews.  Don Hahn, a Disney producer, narrates,and if you are a Disney enthusiast and history buff like myself, this film is essential.

15... "Game Change"
Written by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the book tells the story of the 2008 presidential election and more importantly the primaries.  It opens up on Hillary Clinton, who was the heir apparent to the White House--she believed it so deeply that even before the primaries were run, she had secretly gotten her White House Transition Team ready to go.  And then, this little Senator from Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama shows up... and not only steals the thunder, but takes the nom from Clinton and John Edwards, who's own issues are highlighted.

More than half of the book is dedicated to the Democratic race, but there is juice in the Republican side too, as it goes through the candidates and their failures to succeed, like Guiliani and Thompson, then it dives into the McCain and Palin race, plus the animosity that builds between them.  Then it takes on the actual presidential race with juicy tidbits and stories, and does so with very little political slant.  Great read.

I love the yellow speedy guy... I can deal with the triplets... the black
bird is the bomb... however, I do hate that boomerangy one.

14... Angry Birds
I won't bother explaining this, because if you know, you know, if you don't you don't.  But the amount of hours spent on this game number in the hundreds, easily.

13... "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum
Great song.  Who doesn't love this song, even though its really about a drunk booty call.

12... The LOST Finale
It took six years to get here, and by this time, I just wanted a good ending.  I wasn't even concerned with tying up all the loose ends (good thing too, because they weren't concerned about that either), I just wanted the story to wrap up nicely and with some point of satisfaction.  Now, you could argue that it didn't come close, and it left too many things unanswered, and thats all valid thoughts... but I liked it.  The second time I watched it, I loved it.

11... Starbucks ASM
After The Happiest Place in the Mall shut down and became Jihad Toys and IEDs, I had to find somewhere to go.  I stayed at Starbucks part time, and was able to come on for what was essentially full time as an hourly barista, but some time around May, I was able to step up to management again.  I became Melanie's assistant manager, and let me just brag and tell you, our store rules.  Man, it feels good to be a gangsta.

So, that's 90 down... how about 10 more to go.  Never fear.  Its already written, I'll just need to tweak a few links and add a few pics.  Another song, a few more movies, some Magic, a hot chick and more... just in time to get ready for The Coolest Things of 2011!

Birthday Paintings (and other thoughts)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The rest of the day was just smashing, however.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Namaste

108 Thoughts on LOST as the series finale nears...

(1) I was talking to Cindy Jo earlier after a group dinner, and I made a revelation that I don't think I had admitted before.  LOST is quite simply my favorite show.  Of all time. 

Of.  All.  Time.

I don't say that lightly.  I don't use the words "of all time" just, well, all the time.  Thus my reluctance to discuss my favorite movie of all time, listed on The Dave100, without a proper buildup.  Thus my favorite song of all time being a song from the mid-90s, not some cool song I heard a year ago.  Oh, I might say, "That's one of my favorites of all time", with the phrase "one of my favorites" encompassing anything from a few to a dozen of whatever we are talking about. 

But to point out a single something as my favorite of all time?  That's big.



Yet, I can say that comfortably about LOST.  For years, for almost two decades even, my favorite show of all time was "The Wonder Years", discussing this in a post from almost five years ago, during the first year of Clouds in My Coffee.  

(2) The Lovely Steph Leann and I spend the better part of the last 5 or 6 months going through the episodes of LOST on DVD.   Though I pride myself on being there at the beginning (when NO ONE was discussing this show), I can ashamedly admit that I lost it somewhere around Season 3 (the reasons are here).  I even tried to start again last year, but was unable to do so, until The Lovely Steph Leann and I just made it a commitment.  Last week, we caught up, and watched the latest episode of LOST this week the actual night it came on, for the first time in years.  And it was awesome.  And when Jack drank from Jacob's cup of life, and the revelation was made that the island must be saved and Fake Locke must be destroyed, when it ended, The Lovely Steph Leann and I looked at each other with a "NOOOO!!!!!" look on our face... this was a cliffhanger.

We had not experienced a LOST cliffhanger in a long, long time, because we just had Seasons 1-5 on DVD, and all episodes of Season 6 on our DVR.  Now... we had to wait for the Series Finale on Sunday night.

(3) And I will mourn the loss of LOST, but I'm glad its ending.  I am relieved that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the producers/creators, were given an end date a few years back, and were able to wrap up their story in a finite amount of time.  I am mad at Fake Locke, I am happy the Desmond is back, and I am sadden by the loss of Jin and Sun, and Sayid Jarrah.

(4)

SlideshowLost: 100 Funniest Sawyer Nicknames

(5) I've heard it said that there will never be another show like LOST.  I'm not sure I fully agree with that... in the mid-80s, it was said that "The sitcom was dead".  Not long after, we were treated to "The Cosby Show", the prime years of "Cheers", "Seinfeld" and eventually "Friends".  The procureal drama was also dead by the early 2000s, which gave us "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "The West Wing", "Alias" and stellar years of "Law and Order"... and of course, LOST. 

So to say that there will never be another show like LOST is misleading.  After LOST premiered, what happened was what usually happens when a hit show premieres--numerous similar shows will pop up around it.  Anyone remember "Coupling" and "Boston Common" during the run of "Friends"?  Or how about "Threat Matrix" when "CSI" came on?  Yeah, me neither.

And with LOST, you had "Surface", "Threshold", "Invasion" and others that wanted the same type audience and showed the same type story, one that you had to watch every week to keep up with.  All fizzled before the season was up.  People had their LOST, and one show to watch, absorb and remember was enough.   Perhaps their will be another show like LOST, one that relies on its audiences keeping up with the story.  With the advent of TV-on-DVD, NetFlix, iTunes, Hulu, the interweb's technology and instant viewing, there's no reason someone can't catch up and keep up with a show... its all about the commitment.

That being said, there will never be another LOST.  Survivor meets Cast Away meets The Real World meets The X-Files makes for an incredible adventure, one that we are in love with, one that we follow to the very end, one that we get angry with (didja really have to kill Libby, just when Hurley was happy?), one that we almost gave up on (Seriously?  Did we care how Jack got his tattoos via Bai Ling?) but one that we kept coming back to for good reason ("Penny?"  "Desmond?"  "I love you!").

It's with this thought in mind that I tip my hat to the writers of LOST, for giving me six wonderful, frustrating, glorious, maddening, amazing, confusing, patience testing, inventive, creative, aimless, purposeful years of television. 

My Favorite LOST Characters, in No Particular Order:
(6) Sayid Jarrah... a torturer by trade, yet you could tell that the time on the island helped him forgive himself for all the things he'd done
(7) Daniel Faraday... twitchy as Elmo Blatch, he was the one who told all of us how this time travel stuff worked.  He seemed to answer (some) of the questions we were all trying to figure out the moment everything flash-forwarded
(8) Hugo "Hurley" Reyes... Everyone loves Hugo
(9) Jin Kwon... All he ever wanted was to love and protect his wife.  Sometimes he took the wrong way around (see Season One), but in the end, at the very end, he was there for her. 
(10) Juliet Burke... really only because I thought she was the hottest thing on the entire show's run
(11) Desmond Hume... another transformation within the show, he went from confused, almost mental guy who's lot in life is to push a button and miss his woman to Brothah.

(12) The Lovely Steph Leann says some of her favorites are, "Hurley... Sawyer... Jack and Kate (better that Sawyer and Kate)... Desmond."  She goes on to say that she likes how Jack is always trying to fix things, and she wonders how Sawyer would have been different if his parents hadn't died like they did.

Some of My Favorite LOST Moments
(13) From the Very Beginning... The moment Jack opens his eyes and sits up, looks around and sees Vincent running by him.  He stands, walks out of the woods and the camera pans, sound growing louder to suddenly see a wrecked airplane sitting on the shore, people screaming all around, things blowing up everywhere, metal and shrapnel flying through the air, and that guy who gets sucked into the engine making the whole thing explode.  It's on.

(14) Grieving for Jin & Sun... When I say "favorite", I also mean impactful.  When the sub sinks, with Jin and Sun aboard (after Lapidus and Sayid are already dead), Hurley, Jack, Kate and a unconscious Sawyer wash ashore.  Hurley asks, "Where's Jin and Sun?" and all Jack can do is shake his head, "No."  Kate begins to tear up, but Hurley's reaction is worse.  He just starts bawling.  Jack walks to the water, and begins to cry as well.  Wow.  Just wow.
(15) "The Constant"... the whole episode kinda put things in perspective. Sort of.  When Desmond finally gets through to Penny, its unbelievably awesome. 
(16) Charlie's Redemption... Another death, at the end of Season Three. Charlie Pace, another character I just loved, started as a heroin addict and ending as a heroic martyr. 
(17) Hurley Builds a Golf Course... right after Jack and Sayid torture Sawyer, Hurley goes and builds a golf course.  And it was a perfect bit of comic relief amidst all the drama and building confusion
(18) Sayid vs Keamy... Big Keamy was one of the coolest cats on the show, but when he and Sayid finally went toe to toe in a fist fight, it was darn near awesome.  The rolled, they tumbled and they kicked and punched for what seemed like five minutes before Sayid finally got the win... but it was awesome.
(19) Charlie and Claire Share Peanut Butter... Well, it was invisible, but still... Charlie, still getting close to Claire, knows she wants some PB more than anything.  So after a fruitless search, he gets an empty jar, scoops his fingers inside, and licks off invisible peanut butter off of his fingers.  Then he offers it to Claire, who hesitates at first... but then gives in, hungry and charmed at the same time.
(20) Hurley Takes Down Sawyer... After so many "fat jokes" at Hurley's expense, he snaps.  He runs over and tackles Sawyer through his tent, pounding him in the sand until he's pulled off.   He also gets the better of Sawyer in later seasons, when he hustles him in a game of ping pong for medical supplies and the agreement to not use any nicknames for a week
(21) Miles and Hurley Discuss Time Travel... One of the reasons The Lovely Steph Leann likes Hurley so much is "He's us".  And this was never more true than the conversation between Miles and Hurley, as Miles tried in vain to explain what was going on with the time shifting, the time travel and the rules that can and cannot be broken.  Hurley asked the questions we were asking, as we kept wanting Miles to dumb it down for all of us.

(22) Hurley hurls the Hot Pocket... Ben shows up, Hurley whips around in surprise and chunks the Hot Pocket in Ben's direction.  Hilarious.
(23) Sawyer Talks to Jack's Dad... After the entire first season puts Jack and Sawyer at odds, Sawyer is set to leave with Michael, Walt and Jin on the boat to find rescue.  They say a quick goodbye, but Sawyer turns to Jack and tells him of a conversation he'd had in Australia.  With man who Jack knew... because it was Jack's father.
(24) The Writing on the Wall... The wall comes down on Locke, trapping him under the door.  Locke screams for help, and then... the lights go out.  When the emergency lights come on. there's a huge map on the wall, a Dharma map with notes and stations and other fun things.  If we didn't know there was secrets on the island by then, we certainly did now.
(25) Mr. Eko Stares Down Smokey... When Smokey zips through the jungle and runs across John Locke, Locke stands motionless, but is petrified, later describing it as "I've looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful."  When Smokey runs into Eko, the fake priest seeking repentance stands strong, looking more bewildered and amazed than anything else.  That is what you call a bad-a**.

(26)

Slideshow108 Things I Love About 'Lost'

Things I'll Remember About LOST:
(27-39) Oceanic Flight 815... Ajira Flight 316... "DUDE!"... "You got some Arzt on you"... The jar of invisible peanut butter... "Freckles"... The numbers... Dharma... Hanso Foundation... The caves... flashbacks... flash-forwards... flash... sideways??...

(40) KATE: Are you serious?

SAWYER: Baby, I am tied to a tree in the jungle of mystery. I just got tortured by a damn spinal surgeon and a genuine Iraqi. Of course I’m serious.

(41-52)The Flame Station... the Swan Station... the Hydra Station... the Temptest Station... the Lamppost Station... the Orchid Station... Penny... "Not Penny's Boat"... the hatch... Mr. Cluck's Chicken... Smokey... the sound Smokey makes before he arrives...

(53) "A 12 year old Ben Linus just brought me a chicken salad sandwich.  How do you think I'm doing?"

(54-73) Henry Gale... Cassidy... Clementine... Turnip Head... Ethan Rom... Santa Rosa Mental Institution... that glowing cave... that big foot statue... Dogen & Lennon... The Others... The Tailies... The Freighter... enter the numbers...  Expose!, starring Billy Dee Williams... Richard Alpert's agelessness... Richard Alpert's guyliner... Some Like it Hoth... press the button... DriveShaft... "You All Everybody"...

(74) Jeff Fahey has a career again!  No more "Lawnmower Man" sequels for you... at least, not yet...

(75) RIP Juliet... Charlie... Shannon, Boone, Danielle, Alex, Karl, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Widmore, Frogert, Ana Lucia, Eko, Libby, Lapidus, Charlotte, Daniel, Michael, Nikki, Paolo, The Real Locke...

(76)

(77-87) The Oceanic 6... "Bad Twin"... "Watership Down"... Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite being Ben's dad!... I Heart My Shih-Tzu... "if anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant"... Dharma ranch dressing... "You and me ain't done, Zeke"... bear cages... getting it on in those bear cages... Fish Biscuits..

(88) "Face it dude... Ewoks suck"

(89-106) Greg Grunberg getting snatched out of the cockpit in a tree... Geronimo Jackson... The Man in Black... Mr. Eko's Jesus stick... Bernard to Eko:  "I think I liked you better when you were just hitting people with your stick"... Jughead... Fake Locke...  white rock... black rock... Black Rock... polar bears... backgammon... Locke's orange-eating smile... "Good Vibrations" in the Looking Glass... Vincent the Eternally Surviving Lab... the Lighthouse... Locke's knives... Finding out Bernard was white!

and, of course...

(107) SHANNON: I’m alone now. On the island alone. Please, someone come. The others, they’re … they’re dead. It killed them. It killed them all.

BOONE: That was good.
SAYID: Sixteen years.
SAWYER: What?
SAYID: Sixteen years. And five months. That’s the count.
BOONE: What the hell are you talking about?
SAYID: The iterations. It’s a distress call. A plea for help. A mayday. If the count is right … It’s been playing over … and over … for sixteen years.
BOONE: Someone else? Was stranded here?
KATE: Maybe they came for them.
SAWYER: If someone came, why is it still playing?
CHARLIE: Guys…where are we?

Oh yeah... what better way to end this post than to shout:

(108) BAD ROBOT!!

LOST Ramblings

Here are some random thoughts while (re)watching the Season 1 finale of LOST on dvd...

This show is so amazing. Seriously.

The Lovely Steph Leann and I are working our way through it, and are finishing the first season. We'll work on the 2nd season in a few days, perhaps get through it in a week or two, then go to the 3rd, then the 4th. We'll wait for the 5th on DVD, probably in December or so, and then be ready for a week by week take on LOST, the final season.

I might even blog it episode by episode, to coincide with American Idol. I will say, though, there has never been a more impressive, more amazing series first episode than LOST.

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

I was surfing the interweb this afternoon, a relaxing Sunday afternoon, while The Lovely Steph Leann worked on computer. While we were doing our tasks separately, yet still in the same room, the Enzyte commercial came on. You know, the "once a day pill for male enhancement" commercial? Bob is all smiles because... well, he takes Enzyte, and Enzyte... well, it... um... it makes... makes men happier, which in turn, judging from the look on Mrs. Bob's face, makes the wife happier. Do we really need to explain this?

Anyway, I was curious about Smilin' Bob. Hold your imaginations until I get this paragraph finish, okay? I did a Google search on Smilin' Bob and in the process, I found out that not only is the actor named John Larson, which apparently is the name of a congressman (D-CT) as well. The company that owns the brand Enzyte, a place called Berkeley Premium, had thousands of complaints against it to the Better Business Bureau because... well, it didn't work. Plus there was everything from credit card fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy against at least five of their CEOs.

Says Wikipedia: On February 22, 2008, Steven Warshak was found guilty of 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. On August 27, 2008 he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arthur Spiegel to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $93,000 in fines. His company, Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, along with other defendants, was ordered to forfeit $500 million. His 75-year-old mother, Harriet Warshak, was sentenced to two years in prison.

They have changed the company name to Vianda.

You think thats weird? In my searching, I also discovered that apparently, John Larson (the actor, not the congressman) was in a boating accident off the coast of Martinique, and has been missing since May. Apparently, around June 12th, he's been presumed dead.

How 'bout that for random, huh?

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Watching Vh1 Classic this afternoon, they had a Michael Jackson retrospective with a ton of videos. We watched a few, like "Billie Jean", complete with this cool, balance on your toes while posing dance move. I tried it many, many, many times over as a child. Didn't work.

Another video we watched? "We Are the World". Its a total list of 80s Former Mega Stars... Huey Lewis. Cyndi Lauper. Lionel Richie. Diana Ross. Peabo Bryson & James Ingram (I actually am not sure which is which, but I'm pretty convinced they are the same person). Daryll Hall AND John Oates. And Dan Aykroyd, who somehow made into this group of superstar singers.

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At church today, that being Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship), we had a presidential impersonator. His name is John Morgan, and he came out and deadpanned former President Dubya. The laugh was the same, the mannerisms were the same, the voice was the same... it was pretty close to being spot on.

And he was really, really funny. The great thing was, though, he didn't stay in character the whole time. He came out character about 3/4s of the way through, enough to introduce himself and share the gospel.



On his own website, georgebushimpersonator.com, you'll see video of him with Tony Danza, doing his own music (as Dubya) and more. Its a hoot. If you have a chance to see him, go.

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AND FINALLY... I WANTED TO GIVE A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO BILLY MAYS, WHO DIED TODAY. I CAME HOME FROM VALLEYDALE CHURCH (AN SBC FELLOWSHIP) AND AS WE SAT DOWN TO RELAX, I HEARD THE LOVELY STEPH LEANN SAY, "WHAT HAPPENED TO BILLY MAYS?"

"I DUNNO," I SAID, BUT AS I SURFED THE INTERWEB A LITTLE MORE, I DISCOVERED THAT YES, HE IS DEAD AT AGE 50. DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, BUT I COULDN'T THINK OF A MORE RANDOM PERSON TO HAVE DIED... WELL, RANDOMLY.



WHEN WE USE OXICLEAN HERE AT THE CABANA EXTENDED STAY SUITES AND RESORT SPA, I'LL MAKE SURE I POUR SOME IN THE WASHER FOR ME, SOME ONTO THE GROUND FOR MY HOMIES. OR FOR BILLY.

WHY AM I TALKING IN ALL CAPS? CAUSE THIS IS A WRITER'S WAY OF YELLING. AND BILLY WOULD HAVE WANTED IT THAT WAY.

Go Speed Racer Go... and Keep Going

Some movies rely soley on effects, with a story tossed in there… this was a problem that plagued the last three Star Wars films, and, coincidentally, the 2nd and 3rd Matrix films, directed by The Wachowski Brothers.

This is the problem that prevents “Speed Racer” from being a pretty good movie. First, and hear me on this, the visuals in this movie are spectacular. Perhaps overly so. In fact, its one of the few movies I can honestly say I’m glad I didn’t see in the theater and not because I didn’t want to pay the 8 or 9 bucks for the ticket.

When you were a kid, did you ever play with the television menu? You know, moving the little dials on contrast and tint and such, and do it so the color almost screams at you obnoxiously? I wouldn’t bet against some kid doing this to “Speed Racer” while it was in final production. The racing scenes are glorious, a sensory beatdown for your eyes that feels as if just before shipping the film to theaters, they tossed in a box of primary color Crayolas and shook the can vigorously.


This is a live action still shot. Imagine this color being blasted over a fifty foot screen.

The Wachowski Brothers are known for their movie techno prowess, being the directors who created the visuals of the character jumping in slow motion, the camera spinning wildly in a circle and then everything coming back to normal speed as the character does the punch and kick. We first saw this when Neo did it in “The Matrix”, on all accounts one of the most amazing films to ever experience for the first time, and we’ve seen it a thousand times in other films, be it a rip-off or a parody.

In saying all of this, I can totally appreciate what The Wachowski Brothers are trying to do here. They want to make a family film that can not only be enjoyed by kids and adults, but also set another bar for how g ood a film like this can be. The problem is, I can truly see how kids would be dazzled by the colors and scenes, but it moves so fast and blurry that they would be lost. I can also see how adults, unless truly focused on this film, would be lost in the storyline and not care enough to figure it out.

It boasts a decent cast, including Susan Sarandon and John Goodman as Speed’s parents and Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer. Two casting decisions left me cringing, though, one being Christina Ricci as Trixie, Speedy’s girlfriend. I’ve never been a huge fan of Christina Ricci, and here she looks… well, she just looks frail and ghastly. While that one is more a personal preference, the other cringe casting is Matthew Fox as fellow driver Racer X. At first I was thinking that it was just I could only see him as Jack from LOST and couldn’t picture him in anything else… but the more I watched it, the more I realized he just doesn’t fit. He looks out of place, he looks like he’s having a miserable time, he looks like he’s just truly mailing it in.


Poor Matthew Fox.... pretty good in "Vantage Point", pretty decent in "We Are Marshall", a square peg in a round hole in "Speed Racer"

All in all, “Speed Racer” is one of those films that if you are flipping channels and come across it, especially in HD, you should take a few minutes, soak it in, enjoy the color and sight and splendor of it all. Then go find something like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, my 29th favorite film of all time, a movie that finds its color, sight and splendor in its characters and in telling its funny, sweet story.

LOST again

LOST's fifth season started tonight. When the show was first being teased, in the Spring of 2004, I was soooo pumped. They were advertising these two new shows, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" to premiere in the fall, and both were on my list to watch. "LOST" looked very promising, and "Desperate Housewives" has Teri Hatcher, one of the goddesses of my youth.

At that point, The Lovely Steph Leann and I would flip through the television guides, sometimes the actual TV Guide--which, if you haven't heard, is on the brink of bankruptcy, mostly because... well, they completely suck.

They used to be this great, digest sized magazine that had three sections, the color pages of TV articles, the black and white TV grid, and the pay channels guide at the end. Oh, and the crossword at the end. A few years back, they went and changed it all up. The magazine went to a regular sized edition, they reduced the grids, the articles went from informative to US Weekly type glam crap, and the whole magazine just tanked. Things have gotten so bad there, the company was sold for a single dollar last year to a private company. Read last week that they ended up dropping The CW and MTV from their program listings. Heck, Mom was a subscriber for about 15 years... and she dropped them like a bad habit. No muss, no fuss.

Where was I?

Yes, The Lovely Steph Leann and I would flip through previews of the upcoming shows, and would pick out shows we wanted to see. Sometimes this worked great, like LOST and Desperate Housewives, other times it didn't work out so well. See "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Miss Match". Or heck, you might not.

So when LOST premiered on September 22nd, 2004, I was there in front of the television. And it was amazing. It was absolutely incredible, like nothing I had ever seen. Jack, Charlie, Kate, Michael, Locke, Hurley, Claire, Sun, Jin, Sayed, Sawyer, Shannon, Walt, Vincent, Boone... this was my show. This was a keeper.


...from the first five minutes, ever, of LOST...

So, as the weeks went by, I watched it more and more, week after week. In 2005, it was the 3rd Coolest Thing of 2005. As soon as the first season DVD came out, I bought it on release day. My intentions were to watch it again, to catch up on what I missed.

Well, season 2 started, and so I put season 1 on the shelf, and absorbed myself into season 2. By season 3, however, I ran into a problem. This show was becoming so complex, so involved, it was harder and harder to keep up with. I hit a wall, life was coming at me faster and faster and darn it, I missed an episode here, an episode there. No worries, right? The Lovely Steph Leann and I still had a VCR, three of 'em to be precise in Casa de Pesos, our apartment. Stacks of shows, though, were building up. "ER", "Desperate Housewives" and... "LOST".

Somewhere around February of season 3, right after Sawyer and Kate did the deed and Juliet's backstory was told, we stopped watching. I didn't want to. I really didn't. Somehow, all these people I knew were all about the show, the show that I felt like I discovered, cause darn it, I was raving about it for months when it first came on, and everyone was saying, "Haven't seen it", or "I heard about that show" or whatever.

So now, I sit on the couch in The Cabana. The first time in five season premieres that I didn't watch the season's first episode. It came on tonight, and I didn't even DVR it.

Do I want to? Absolutely.

But first, I have some catching up to do. I popped in Disc One of Season One about thirty minutes ago. I'm going to watch the show's pilot episode tonight, and do all I can to shoot through the seasons in the next few months. I'm going to see the story from the beginning.

What's funny about watching this is knowing now what I know about these characters. Its great when they show a scene of the plane and its passengers, and you can pick out just about everyone--something you couldn't do when you first watched it, because you didn't know who these guys even were.

And... the captain of the plane just got snatched up by whatever that monstery thing is on the island.

We don't do the VCR thing anymore, not with DVR. And we don't flip through TV show previews anymore to find shows we want to watch. I learned that lesson with Fox's "Drive", an excellent show that was cancelled after four episodes. I wanted to watch "Pushing Daisies", but I wanted to make sure it would last before I got involved. It reached Season 2, and I ordered it off of Netflix. I got it in the mail the day I learned that "Pushing Daisies" had been cancelled. So, without watching it, I sent it back, even though I love me some Kristen Chenoweth.

Currently, the only shows that The Lovely Steph Leann and I watch together, other than the random episode of "Clean House" on Style, is "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Grey's Anatomy". For the most part, she and I have seen just about all of those episodes together. We started watching "Heroes", and both loved the first season immensely, and bought the second season pretty quicklike. However, we've both heard the 2nd season is terrible, so that hasn't made us rush to watch it yet.

Anyway, I'm rambling, as I tend to do... bottom line is, I'm re-watching LOST and all its splendor. And I'm excited about it. I just started Pilot-Part II,with a lovely Shannon laying on the beach in a bikini, as Boone rolls his eyes.


Here's a LOST recap, everything you need to know from Season One to Season Three, all in 8 minutes and 15 seconds

Fear is sort of an odd thing... terror is just so crazy, so real. I made a choice. I'd let the fear in, let it take over, let it do its thing. But only for five seconds, that's all I would give it. So I started to count. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Then it was gone. -- Jack

The Super Bowl XL Diary

Note: Even though what you read was typed pretty much as it happened, I have gone back and added various links from this site. Nothing else has been edited.

Oh, and real quick... The Sports Guy's own running Super Bowl Diary is right here. Yes, its funnier than mine, but hey, I think I have my moments. Mos Def aside, that is.

2:06pm... Just got home from lunch with The Lovely Steph Leann, plus two others in our Sunday School class, Brian & Jessica Mays. We ate at Formosa. Turned on ABC, it reminded me of the Rolling Stones performing at halftime tonight. Excuse me while I poke out my eyes with a sharp turkey baster.

5:11pm... Got here at the Nipps a little while ago... just saw the procession of Super Bowl MVPs... they were missing some.

5:12pm... Aaron Neville is singing the Star Spangled Banner. I watched "Philadelphia" yesterday. I think Aaron has Tom Hanks' leisions on his face. Now Aretha Franklin is singing. Wookiee said "It looks like someone is baking loaves of bread in her dress."

5:13pm... Aretha just ate the microphone. Mikey just said "this is the worst opening of any Super Bowl." Wookiee added "how many chincillas died to make that coat?"

5:19pm... Harrison Ford is doing "Oh the Places You Go" with a football theme. I can barely hear it over the noise in the room, yet I have the urge to set my hair on fire with a stick and some flint, a la Survivor.

5:29pm... Typing in scores that everyone is picking, so I missed not only the coin toss (why the heck was Tom Brady there??), I missed the kickoff. Most people here are rooting for Seattle, mostly because of Shaun Alexander. I hope he stays with Seattle next year, and doesnt take the paycheck.

5:33... Bud Light does another hilarious commercial--the Bud Light around the office. The Whopperettes? Not so much. That King creeps me out. And Brooke Burke is standing IN a hamburger.

5:35... Okay... Seattle punted, Pittsburgh has the ball. Ben Roethoelesothis Burger behind center. And we have our first Tautaupauapu sighting (dad Mosi). Wookiee says the best thing about Jerome Bettis--"When its 3rd and 3, he gets you 3 yards. When its 3rd and 15... he gets you 3 yards."

5:40... Magic Fridge. Magic Fridge. Good stuff.

5:40... Bruce Willis' new movie... DieHard 4: 16 Blocked Hostage, Deep Rising with the Last Boy Jackel. My Sixth Sense is telling me I've seen this before. Sean Hall just walked in with a shirt that says "Big Daddy". I think I will laugh at him now.

5:48... Josh is keeping a running tab on Bud Light's bill. At 2.4 a pop, we're up to 9 million dollars. FedEx may be my favorite so far. Only cause he kicked the dinosaur. Thats funny.

5:55... Hasselback just tossed a TD... called back. Come on Blue... let them play!! The same guy reffed the Vandy/Florida game. Seattle got a field goal. 3-0 Seattle. According to Josh, Bud Light is up to 11.5 million. Paula Mackey won the first quarter prize in our score game.

6:10... Suzy Kolber has something coming out of her head. Its weird. Joe Jurevicius is rocking tonight too. Bud Light just went up to $14.0. In a Brokeback Animals commercial, of all things.
6:17pm... When monkeys and Quiet Riot are in an ad together... comedy gold. And Cadillac has an Escalade commercial with a bunch of models in it. Mikey yelled "Blue Steel!". I replied "Magnum!". In a related story, Ben just tossed it for it all... and Seattle's Boulware caught it. Seattle is going to win this game.

6:21pm... MI-3. I am all about seeing Philip Seymour Hoffman as a bad guy. P.S.Hoff rocks. Sybil and Dan just came in. Did you know that Dove now has the Dove Self Esteem Fund? Orlando Jones Sighting!! We have just had an Orlando Jones sighting!! ABC's "The Evidence", with Orlando and the guy from Silk Stockings.

6:28pm... Antwan Randle-El just got hurt. And Berman is narrating a Shaggy Dog commercial. Do you think he likes doing that, or his bosses make him? When does he have enough clout to not do crap like this? If Berman isn't exempt, none of them have it... and Kermit is in a Ford commercial. One about global warming and hybrids. Kermit has been sucked into the liberal view. I will now play in traffic.

6:30pm... Big Ben tossed one of those "you make it, you look cool, you miss it, you look like a 'tard" passes to Hines Ward. Ken Nipp pointed out, "Where's Bettis?" Guess they don't need three yards just yet. Benny tossed another long pass, they are taking it down the field. Don't you know that he's so happy he's not with the Jets? Can you imagine the Elton John jokes he'd get, like, all the freakin' time?

6:34... Ben just had approximately 32 minutes to throw the ball--but he got the ball to the five. Mikey just predicted they'd put the Bus in for the TD... and here's a Go Daddy ad. Back to the game, the Seahawks are holding the Steelers from scoring. Who knew they could play ball? Earl asked a great question... "Do we need another "Poseidon?"

6:41pm... Got a TD in. Controversial play, but the ball did in fact break the plane. Just went downstairs and had a piece of Sybil's frozen icebox lemon pie. It rocked my face off.

6:50pm... Hass tossed a TD... but the guy was out of bounds. The refs are going to review it. Came back. Seattle is moving this ball... for Pittsburgh, defense schmefense. This game is moving fast too... Earl says "Dont they know they have Grey's Anatomy coming on? Lets go with this!"

6:53pm... Seattle's FG kicker just pulled a Scott Norwood and shanked the ball wide. Pittsburgh kneels for the second quarter's end. Tommy takes the $20 Best Buy card. They just had Cower in an interview... you know he had three daughters? Man, I hope they take after their mom, whoever she is. And Holmgren is pretty ticked off at the refs... he just gave Suzy Kolber the shaft. And here comes the Rolling Stones during halftime. Whoopee. I don't know that I could be any more excited.

Now that its halftime, let me just say this about the ads... there is an awful lot of violence in these commercials.. I've seen dinosaurs being kicked, women being tackled, punches, kicks, and just now, a cell phone tossed twice at a guys face. Very violent. Funny as crap, but violent.

Desperate Housewives commercials are all over the screen too. Oh, here's another one with some guy getting nailed by his son in a swing.

7:01pm... The Stones are setting up--Jimmy just said "I hope Mick Jaggar doesn't have a wardrobe malfunction." Michael Irvin is doing game review on halftime... which leads to a great room discussion on Irvin's drug bust and DUI a few months ago, and how ESPN suspended him for one whole week. Almost ruined his career, that did.

7:06pm... Oh, so this commercial for "Lost" just came on. When Eko and Locke started the film about Dharma, instead you see Robert Palmer singing "Addicted to Love", though they changed the "Love" part to "Lost". Naturally.

The Stones are playing now... Sybil says "I'm not so sure Jaggar doesnt look better now than he did a few years ago." He sounds awful. Jimmy says "Take all their ages, combine them... you get more than the total age of Europe". Earl just sang along... "you stop me up..." I'm not convinced Keith Richards isn't actually dead, and they are doing a Weekend at Bernies and propping him up. Earl called for Driveshaft.

Michael pointed out the proverbial roof-dropping stuff when the sashes dropped from the ceiling. I never thought I'd think this, but I miss Britney and Aerosmith. Jason said he thought he just saw some woman throwing their depends on the stage.

Makes me wonder if Carly Simon and Mick Jaggar just pass their lips back and forth. Earl said that they've never been seen together. Its plausible. I think he's scanning the crowd to see how many of the audience are his own kids.

We are now all discussing the best ways to kill ourselves with a hot metal spatula.

Jimmy: Keith Richards should have died at 41.
Earl: He embalmed himself.
Michael: Is that Michael McDonald on keyboards?

Man... its over.... thank goodness thats over. The chick on the Belk commercial is pretty hot. And for some reason, I'm strangely attracted to Sandra Oh... maybe I should like Lucy Liu as my favorite Asian chick, but Sandra just has something going on. And we've just had a Sean Hall Big Daddy sighting upstairs.

7:30pm...
Michael: I think Jerome Bettis gets bigger everytime they show him.
Ken Nipp: He had lunch.

7:32pm... Willie Parker just busted WIDE open for a TD. Earl said "are they going to review this?" Someone asked if that was Bettis, to which Jason replied "He'd have an asthma attack before he got there."

7:35pm... ABC keeps showing Lost promos, which makes Earl and Jimmy wince--they have only seen Season One. And we just found out that Willie Parker made the longest running play--75 yards--in Super Bowl History.

7:37pm... Random room discussion on Mos Def, the pronunciation of his name and his recent movies.

7:38pm... This just in... Shaun Alexander IS actually in the game. Jonathan Marbutt just pointed out that the dead guy on the ice in "Fargo" is Prince. And the Seahawks just missed another field goal. Score: Pittsburgh 14, Seattle 3

7:43... Holy crap. Fabio. We just saw Fabio in a Super Bowl XL commercial. Very funny junk.

7:47pm... Michael observed the obvious. Seattle is falling apart. Pittsburgh is getting the ball down the field, with Hines Ward and now the Bus have gained some major yardage.

7:50pm... That Hummer commercial. Its good to see Aretha Franklin and the Iron Giant still have careers.

7:52pm... SEATTLE GOT THE INT!! Herndon took it down the field, but ran out of steam towards the end. The awesome block on Big Ben was the best though... classic. Now they are trying to get the ball in the end zone. And...

7:53pm... Seattle score. Wookiee just went Wookiee Berserker. Pittsburgh 14, Seattle 10. And in ads, when you add Spandau Ballet, Taco Bell and a hot chick, you get a great commercial.

8:07pm... Pittsburgh just punted the ball down to the four yard line. Seattle is going to have it work cut out for them.

8:09pm... Just observed Roethlisburger's name on the shirt. I mentioned that the chick that sewed those letters on his jersey probably got overtime. Michael replied that Hasselbeck is worth more in Scrabble, because of the C and K on the end.

8:11pm... We are watching the game on the fifty inch upstairs. Downstairs is the smaller tv, albeit in HD. In the basement is DDR--Dance Dance Revolution--for the people who don't care about the game. Out in the hall is Ashley, Amy, Jennifer and a few others playing Uno.

8:17pm... Toyota Tacoma commercial. Price is $15,445. As shown? $31K and some change. Jason says "What do you mean you want a steering wheel with your truck?"

8:20pm... Random exchange:
Jason: Does anyone watch The Shield?
Michael: They had Glenn Close, but they got rid of her. I heard Anthony Anderson was really good last year.
Me: I heard he got snubbed at the Golden Globes
Michael: He might have won if he didn't rape that girl.
Me: All he had to do was score 81 points in a NBA game and no one would remember it.

8:22pm... Hass just tossed an interception. Ty just left. He said "I have a long week." I understand. Mine is seven days long.

8:28pm... Big Ben just tossed the smack out of that ball. Antwan Randel-Els caught it. Pittsburgh 20-10. Someone mentioned Kordell Stewart. Thought he was dead.

8:29pm... Just saw Richard Dean Anderson in a classic MacGyver commercial for Mastercard. Could be my favorite commercial of the night... random thought. If I go see Brokeback Mountain, no matter how bad I have to go to the bathroom, I will NOT go after that movie with all those guys who are coming out of the theater. Standing at a urinal might never be as uncomfortable.

8:30pm... Hass just had a great run. AND THEN FUMBLED THE FLIPPIN' BALL!!!! Pittsburgh gets it. They are reviewing the play now... this is pretty big at this point.

8:35pm... Yosemite Sam in a borderline-porn commercial for a truck. Actually it was kinda funny.

8:36pm... Seattle gets the ball back, because Hasselbeck was down by contact. So the lesson here is, When you are in the Super Bowl, HOLD ONTO THE FREAKIN' BALL!!!!!!!!!!!! Class dismissed.

8:37pm... Madden is giving us math lessons. What the crap is he talking about? "Here's a guy that when is helmet is knocked off, he's bare headed."

8:39pm... Jennifer Adams just left. I forgot how borderline hot she is. Hasselbeck just got taken down, so Seattle gives the ball back. Six minutes and some change, Pittsburgh leads 21-10.

8:43pm... I think Bettis just called out for some fried chicken.

8:46pm... The ref just pulled a Brokeback on one of the players. Why cain't I quit you? Pittsburgh just got a "monster first down", according to Al Michaels.

8:47pm... Random discussion on "Havoc" and "Brokeback Mountain" parts with Anne Hathaway, who was Princess Mia in The Princess Diaries movies. She got naked in both. No comment.

8:49pm... Jerome Bettis, Motivational Speaker. They showed him, mic'ed up, giving the guys the rah-rah. Big Ben Rotheleistheilisberger got another first down. Looks like this might just be it. Sgt Slaught... er, Bill Cower is pretty excited. Seattle used their final timeout. Three and some change left, the only time the clock will stop now is the 2 minute warning.

8:53pm... Random Matthew Lillard sighting in the stands. Seattle has the ball back with 2:04 left. They are down 11 points. This could be a pretty good ending, provided that Hasselbeck doesn't goob it up.

8:55pm... 1:51, no time outs, Seattle has the ball on the 20. Matt Hass is tossing in the middle, which is bad, because the clock is running like a beast. And Joe Jurevicius just caught a massive pass, rolled over a guy and kept running. That rocked. 1 minute left.

8:57pm... Two crappy passes from Hass. Seattle has to try the FG, then hope the onside kick works later.

9pm... Three seconds. Game over. Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10. Jerome Bettis has come home to win the Super Bowl, in case you haven't heard that angle lately. Bill Cower, who has been coaching for 143 years, has won the gauntlet of the NFL and won the championship. Pittsburgh now joins Dallas and San Francisco as the only team with five Super Bowl wins in franchise history.

9:04pm... According to Josh, Bud Light spent 19 million on commercials this year. Paula Mackey, Tommy McLeod, The Lovely Steph Leann and Mikey Nipp walk away with the gift card prizes.

9:07pm... my blog counter was at 74 this afternoon. Don't think I haven't noticed some of you people have been looking at my blog site. Its at 95 now. You people rock.

9:11pm... Trophy presentations now. Bart Starr is presenting the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Slaughter and the Steelers. Daniel Rooney, the really old guy, looks bored. I mean, he won five now (four in the 70s) as owner of the Steelers. He doesnt care.

9:13pm... Hines Ward wins the Super Bowl MVP now. I'm shocked they dont give it to Bettis, because he's a hometown boy, he's been playing for so long, and he's such a good guy. Mackey just said "The Bus is up there. He must be getting a Bus Trophy."

9:14pm... Jerome Bettis just retired on the podium. I wonder if they call his kid The Short Bus.

9:20pm... They are showing the Sports Illustrated special Pittsburgh Championship Pack. I'd give anything for them to accidentally show the Seattle Championship Pack commercial I know they had to make (in case Seattle won).

9:22pm... So thats Super Bowl XL. I hope you enjoyed the blog, I hope you liked the updates. We'll do this running diary gimmack for The Oscars in March. See you soon!

Top Ten Coolest Things of 2005

#10. Jamie Foxx & Kanye West at the MTV VMAs.
Before the lyrics "I ain't saying she a golddigga... but she aint messin' with no broke (broke)" became part of everyday lingo, there was the beginning. And during the 2005 Video Music Awards on MTV in late summer, out of the stage rose Jamie Foxx and Kanye West. The beat kicked in, they began to sing, and to me, it goes down as one of the coolest live performances I've ever seen. They were both perfect on beat, their moves were solid and the song was gold. Or golddiggin, I should say. Yes, yes, Kanye West is an idiot. And Jamie Foxx made "Stealth". But this night, they were perfect for about four minutes.

#9. Tyler Campbell.
He's the Sexy Beast. The inventor of the Depth Chart, the reason that Jamie is so conflicted within herself, the self proclaimed Sexy Beast... I am proud to say I'm related to him, at least through legal marriage lines anyway. Tyler... you're one of the top ten coolest things about 2005.

#8. Times Square at Night.
I've seen it twice before this year, first in 1998, then in 2002, but this year, it just seemed special. Time Square in New York City at night is one of the coolest places that exists in the world. The lights, the people, the taxi cabs, the sounds, the restaurants, the crappy pizza from Sbarros, the theater neons... its worth a trip just to see it once. I look forward to my fourth visit soon enough.

#7. Re-reading Harry Potter.
I love to read. I just dont have time to. But for three weeks this summer, I made time. I read all five of the previous Harry Potter books back to back to back to back to back, then immediately picked up the sixth one, The Half Blood Prince, and read it in two days. This in addition to all my other duties--namely two jobs, a dinner theater and a wife to tend to. Catching things I didnt remember, it was a joy to see it all over again... though the letdown after the sixth one was harsh... when suddenly I realized, there was nothing else to read. I am going to try to make this an event that happens at least every two years, if not every year.

#6. Kelly Clarkson.
I love this chick. At first, it was kind of a guilty pleasure... I mean, you aren't supposed to like her, as a guy anyway, right? And "A Moment Like This" and even "Breakaway" didn't help me like her. But "Miss Independent" from a few years ago struck a chord with me... and the trifecta of "Since U Been Gone", "Because of You" and of course, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" (ranked at #25 for the year) made me just love the original American Idol ever so much. And it helps that she's incredibly cute in a non-buleumic-pencilthin sort of way.

#5. The Sports Guy
He writes on ESPN.com, and has just released a book that I'm reading called "Now I Can Die In Peace." His name is Bill Simmons, and he's a diehard Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots fan (yes, he's from Boston) and he's hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Many sports writers are funny, but he loves to use pop culture references, including a whole obit for Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies. Simmons holds several theories (The Ewing Theory--when a team loses its star player due to trade or retirement, then goes on to win a championship, ie, the Volunteers winning a National Championship after Peyton Manning leaves) and wrote out the Vengeance Scale... Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill would have ranked higher but the rumor is that "You Oughta Know" was written about Uncle Joey from Full House. Kills me.

#4. Our Sunday School Class
Steph and I were looking for a class to go to, and in January 2005, God gave us one. We were introduced to Tebe and Tiffiany, James & Jessica, Willis & Meredith, Brett & Lindsay and even more. We were all strangers pretty much to begin with, but a year later we all have solid friendships and relationships, bible studies, accountability and of course, double date partners. Love these guys. And they are cool.

#3. Lost
Oh mercy. Ne'r more have I been so riveted by a show as I have been with Lost. Never have I laid awake at night thinking about a show after I've watched it. The premise is simple... Oceanic Flight 815 goes down over a small island. Among the many characters is Jack, a doctor; Sawyer, a tough guy; Kate, a chick running from something; Charlie, the lead singer in the band Driveshaft--and a drug addict; John Locke, a strange guy who thinks of fate and destiny; Hurley, the big dude who says "dude" alot and has just had the best--and worst thing--happen to him; Jin & Sun, the Korean couple... and more. The island isnt what it seems, however, as they learn over Season One, and especially in Season Two. If you haven't watched this show, dont try it right now. You need to rent the dvds and catch up.

#2. Star Wars Celebration
For four days in April, myself, Mikey Nipp, Steph $, Steph R, Matt R, Tommy Mc and Ken Nipp immersed ourselves in all things Star Wars. That would be the National Star Wars convention in Indianapolis, Indiana's RCA Dome. There were costume contests, there were celebrities, there was lots of stuff to buy, there were shows, there was 10 minutes of sneak peek footage... I met Ray Park (Darth Maul) and the hot chick who plays Aayla Secura, and weird guy who played Kit Fisto and even more... spent way too much money. Even played in Attacktix tourney. It rocked. It was the 2nd most Cool Thing in 2005... right behind...

#1. The Coney Island Cyclone
Let me tell you the story... when I went to New York City in 2002, we did missions on the boardwalk of Coney Island. The coaster loomed in horizon of every thing we did, pretty much. I saw it. I wanted it. I wanted to ride it. We went to Astroland, the small amusement park that is adjacent to the Cyclone, and I had every intention to riding the coaster... and I ended up giving up the chance in order to ride some rides with a teenager we had met, in order to share Christ. Yes, it was worth it, but still... the coaster haunted me.
So in 2005, when the group from Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) went, I was going to ride it. I even had secret plans to sneak away on one of our free nights and go by myself if I had too--fortunately, I didnt have to.
On the Thursday night of our trip, myself, Natalie Valentine, Paula Mackey, Josh & Brandon Blackburn and Annalynn Harrington took a trip to Coney Island, had dinner at Coney Island, walked the boardwalk and through Astroland a bit... and then we went to the coaster. And I rode it. First in the 2nd row, then in the first row, then in the back. And it was rickety... compared to this, the Georgia Cyclone is an air glider. When you ride it for $5, your second trip is $4, then your third is $2. I would have ridden it again and again... except I had loaned Natalie some money, so I was out. But it was so worth it. And that is why the Coney Island Cyclone goes down as the Coolest Thing in 2005.