The 10th thru 6th Coolest Things of 2008

I knew that if I put all my effort into it, I would finish this list before the end of February! Don't forget, Facebookians, the numerous videos are not going to show up. Click on over to Clouds in My Coffee, then bookmark the page. Then check it daily. You never know what might pop up. Also, be a follower. I only have 7. I'm hypercompetitive. I want more.

The Introduction and Recap
The 100th thru 91st Coolest Things of 2008
The 90th thru 81st Coolest Things of 2008
The 80th thru 71st Coolest Things of 2008
The 70th thru 61st Coolest Things of 2008
The 60th thru 51st Coolest Things of 2008
The 50th thru 41st Coolest Things of 2008
The 40th thru 31st Coolest Things of 2008
The 30th thru 21st Coolest Things of 2008
The 20th thru 11st Coolest Things of 2008

The 10th Coolest Thing of 2008... Mom Votes
It just doesn't get any cooler than your mother voting for the first time in her life, and that's exactly what happened this past election.

Apparently, she was at the IGA (for you non-southern folk, the IGA is a local supermarket chain. Hometown proud, American IGA) with my sister, getting some groceries. Somehow, the topic of politics came up while she was in the grocery line, and someone asked my mother who she was thinking of voting for. When my mom informed them that in all of her then 75 years, she'd never voted, the good people at the IGA decided to fix that.

Barbara, who's been a cashier there for at least 20 years (in small towns like Samson, people stay in jobs such as this for decades, becoming town fixtures), went and got all the necessary paperwork and an absentee ballot, then visited my dear mom at home. Mother got signed up to vote, and then voted for the very first time. I'm proud to say she voted for John McCain, though I have to chuckle when she said, "Well, really, I didn't like either one of them, they were both terrible. But McCain was less terrible than Obama."

The 9th Coolest Thing of 2008... "Wall*E"
I cannot tell you how incredibly wonderful this movie is. From start to finish, its truly a masterpiece of animation... though I've discovered two camps when it comes to "Wall*E". You either really, really like it... or you really, really don't. There aren't a whole lot of in betweens.

We did a presale for this movie at The Happiest Place in the Mall this past October and November, and people who ordered it loved it. Really, really loved it. But many people who didn't order it didn't just say, "No thanks", they continued with "I was bored during that movie" or "I fell asleep" or "I thought that movie was ridiculous."

Poo on them, I say. In my book, Pixar can do no wrong, a lesson I learned after "Ratatouille", and here they hit a thousand home runs. There's no dialogue other than beeping and bleeping for 40 minutes, yet I was drawn in and enthralled the entire time, watching Wall*E's affection for Eve look and be more genuine than just about any other onscreen performance this past year. In the second act of the movie, granted, I think it does slip a little, but a slip from this movie still proves to be better than most.





How great is it that the best love story of all of 2008, besides Yours Truly and The Lovely Steph Leann, was between two robots?

And for the record, its "EVE" not "EVA". It drives me nuts to hear parents come in with their spawn at The Happiest Place in the Mall, pass by the Wall*E section, and say, "Look, Junior, its Eva!" No, stupid. It's EVE. Not Eva. Wall*E calls her Eva because he's a robot. You aren't a robot. It's EVE.

The 8th Coolest Thing of 2009... KT & J ROB
Our friends Katie Roberts and her boo Jason are awesome. We met her and her husband J Rob maybe a year and a half ago, in Jason and Emmy Turnbow's "Young Married" class, and instantly bonded with them. They are much like us, friendly, fun, goofy and social.

KT and I bonded too, becoming fast friends because we share alot of the same interests and commonalities--and because we think alike too. She is like me, saying whatever is on her mind (and also like me in sometimes not thinking about it before saying it). You know those friends that you can make uncomfortable observations to? Yeah, that's KT.  Jason is on the same wavelength... he says things that I only think, and make me go, "Yeah!  I believe that too!"  And perhaps thats why KT and J Rob match up so well...


One of my favorite pics of The Lovely Steph Leann and KT... this was the infamous BBQ Sauce incident.

For the longest time, they lived right across Highway 280, but she and J Rob finally bought a house, moving down Highway 280 a bit... when I say "a bit", I mean about 9 or 10 miles, which makes it harder to visit. KT and I don't get to chat as much as we did, and J Rob and I don't get to goof nearly as much, and I truly miss that, but they are both forever my buddies. And she reads the blog, becoming a regular before many others were.

KT... You Rock.  J Rob... You Rule. 

The 7th Coolest Thing of 2008... DVR
Digital Video Recording has changed my life. Right now, as I sit and type this out, I am watching WWE: Raw, specifically Shawn Michaels, "The Heartbreak Kid" take on JBL, with the winner going up against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 in April. Earlier tonight, I watched "The Amazing Race" and "Solitary". While I watch WWE: Raw, there's a little orange light on, telling me that I'm recording a movie called "Taking Chance", starring Kevin Bacon.

Other selections? "Fool's Gold" and "Being Erica", a movie and a show that The Lovely Steph Leann recorded. Seven episodes of "Samantha Brown: Passport to Great Weekends". "Pan's Labyrinth", "Meet the Robinsons", "Elizabeth I", "Sweeney Todd", "The Good German", "Blood Diamond", "Becoming Jane", some Hallmark movie that The Lovely Steph Leann may or may not get to, some show called "Lost in Austen" that she already watched, an episode of ABC 33/40 midday news show that I and Ryan Sherman both were featured on... in our list of "to be recorded", you'll find Samantha Brown, "Survivor", "Solitary 3.0", "The Amazing Race", WWE: Raw, "American Idol" and that Erica show that The Lovely Steph Leann wanted.

In much the way the iPod has changed the way I listen to music, the DVR has changed the way I approach television. No more needing to be in front of the tv at a certain time, no more setting our VCRs, hoping that not only did it set right, but that the tapes were still okay to record on, no more mixing tapes up and accidentally recording over an Idol episode that The Lovely Steph Leann didn't get to see... nay nay... its all on digital. Its all on our DVR.

It's a beautiful, wonderful thing. For the record, HBK just gave the Sweet Chin Music kick to JBL, knocking him out. I'm thinking of getting WrestleMania 25 on pay-per-view. And recording it on my DVR.

The 6th Coolest Thing of 2008... The Stamford, CT, Mission Trip
It's not a secret that I love New York City, and have relished in the fact that I've been there four times for missions. My fifth time in New York City came this past March, though it wasn't exactly a NYC trip... it was to Stamford, CT, where we'd work with Encounter Church, pastored by Landon Reesor.


One of my favorite shots of the trip, here's The Lovely Steph Leann freezing in a parking lot.
Not only was I able to go with team leaders Philip and Jill Waters, but also able to get to meet Taylor and Cindy Smith, and their kids, and KT and J Rob. What was also wonderful about the trip was my first chance to do missions with The Lovely Steph Leann--doing missions with your wife is amazing.

For those who want to read up on the trip, here's the blog I kept:

Part One: Gettin' There is Half the Fun?
Part Two: A Parade of Prayers
Part Three: Adventures at the Mall
Part Four: Walking on Egg Shells
Part Five: It's Not Sexy, But It's Got Teeth
Part Six: The Deterioration of the Response to Fight or Flight
Part Seven: The Manhattan Finale

In particular, I'll point you to my favorite entry (and the one that most people told me that liked the best) which is Part Five: It's Not Sexy, But It's Got Teeth, featuring one of my favorite all time moments with KT.

Great trip.

Coming... The Five Coolest Things of 2008

NYC Entry #3: The Journey

Three states in three days. Bring it, baby, bring it.

My day started early today (4am) after ending last night at 1am. I got up, grabbed my luggage, kissed my wife goodbye...

Steph--I miss you tons... you have no idea how much I would love to have you here...

... and went and had a quick breakfast at Waffle House. I was at the church by 530a, and met up with everyone, loaded into a van and got on a plane at 810am. It was a Delta small plane, 52 seats, and it flew a 1:52 nonstop flight to NYC's La Guardia airport. EVERYONE had luggage with handles on it that rolled, except guess who? My suitcase has wheels on it, but the strap is missing, so I have to pick it up.

And pick it up I did, onto a bus that took us through Harlem to our hotel. Interesting what you see as you ride... we saw Blockbusters, McD's, all sorts of hair places, a woman riding a horse down the sidewalk, you know, the usual.

We arrived at hour stop, but had to walk a couple of blocks to get to the West Side Inn... everyone pulled their stuff along, I carried mine. Rough mission work, I tell ya.

So, from what I understand, the West Side Inn doesnt look as good in person as it does on the 'net, so sayeth Josh & Staci. They didnt have all of our rooms ready yet, so they got us one. In a very tiny elevator, we pushed luggage into it, then ran 5 floors up to get it. We put it all in one room, then headed back out for lunch. There was this KFC/Pizza Hut combo joint that everyone wanted to go to, but Natalie, Geryl & I went down the block to a little place called Carne's. We had real burgers and real fries, and it rocked. We alos met Leslie, the bartnder, who told us she had just moved to Harlem after years in the Village. She was very sleepy, because gunfire in her neighborhood had kept her awake all night. Love it.

After lunch, we caught a subway ride to Grand Central Station... the place is majestic. In two trips here, I had never been there before... it was awesome. We even indulged in a little Ben & Jerry's to pass the time. We dozed on the train over to Stamford, CT, where we met up with Todd & Sharon, who are working to plant Encounter Church there in Stamford.

Facts:
--Stamford is home to several of the 1,000 biggest companies in the world, like Xerox, Clarol and Pitney Bowes, even though it is a community of only 120,000 people.
--55% of people here claim no religion whatsoever, while 94% of people say they dont attend a church service of ANY kind
--It is a mostly affluent kind of town, where a decent apartment runs you around 1200 per month or so. Todd said if you made $50K per year, you would struggle to survive.

We prayer walked with them around parts of Stamford, praying over the UBC headquarters, part of the UConn-Stamford college campus, one of the government buildings and more. We stopped and had lunch at Luckie's, which was alot like Johnny Rockets. We walked and prayed some more, then headed back to NYC, riding in the now-defuncy "bar car" of the train.

On the subway, we were treated to a semon of a Jamaican preacher, who was walking the car saying out the Truth of Jesus. It was fascinating to watch reactions of people, as some ignored him, so listened, one lady put her hands on her ears, and one drunk guy shouted "Shut up!" before stumbling off at the next stop. Rev. Jamaica kept bringing it, though.

We stopped at the drug store for some supplies, and then came back to get the rest of our rooms. Well, it turns out, there are only two bathrooms per floor. Apparently, the West Side Inn usually houses foreign soccer players, and the building is styled after European dorms. Also, some of the rooms dont have AC, which is sad, because I have dont nothing but sweat like a pig today, just walking.

So, Natalie, Staci and Paula are in one AC room, Josh, Josh, Mark & Brandon are in an AC room, while the Harringtons have a fan, Colby and Philip have a fan, and Larry Long and I have have a fan. This is good for me, though, because Steph's allergies cant take those fans... so I will have one blowing on me all night long!!!! Good times, good times.

God is already bending the man-made plans we have, and I'm eager to see what happens. Josh's internet connection isnt working right, either, so i'm using a "pay for surf" computer downstairs in the lobby... $5 for 50 minutes. So if the spelling is bad here, know that this computer is slow, the clock is running, and I cant copy and paste, so I've had to type today's events twice... once for posting on valleydale.org/nyc, and once for you fine people here.

Prayers?
--Todd & Sharon, for their continued commitment to the calling
--Leslie, for a beginning with Christ, and Rev. Jamaica, for his boldness to continue
--Continued team unity for us (this is the best team i could imagine being with)
--Safety
--High spirits when--not if --things dont go as planned

Love you guys... if you dont get a post tomorrow, its because i couldnt get to a computer!

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NYC Entry #2: The Prayers

Got an email from Philip the other day, right after I wrote my last entry. Seems changes are already afoot... Morris High, the school we were schedule to be in, is actually finished due to the hard work of other mission teams. We'll be working now in PS 63, an elementary school. I'm guessing that won't be the only thing that will be different from our plans...

Several people have asked me what they should specifically be praying for... well, here is your list.

For the team itself...
--That God would fill us with hope and love and joy and peace and mercy and kindness and understanding and forgiveness and grace and power and strength and courage every day of the trip.
--That God would continue to keep out Satan from our team. Some of us are just getting to know each other, so pray that our friendships will grow and bond quickly.
--That God would take care of our families and loved ones, providing comfort and provisions while we are away
--That God would allow all of us to be totally flexible.

For Upward Basketball...
--Kids would come. And keep coming.
--Kids would be receptive to hearing the Truth in Him

The Bronx area...
--That God will grant us many opportunities to be bold in Him, telling the others about his love
--That God would do an unbelievable work around us while we are there in the neighborhoods

Stamford, CT...
--That God would begin to open the hearts and minds of the affluent communities, helping them see that riches without Him is worthless

Encounter Church...
--That God would plant this church in just the right way, time and place to bring the most Glory to His Name

Two full days before we get on a plane. I'm getting more and more excited as the hours tick by!

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NYC Entry #1: The Cast

We're a few days away from lift-off. Sunday morning, the Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) Team of 16 heads to NYC to spend the week working Upward Basketball camps in the morning time, painting in Morris High School in the afternoons (more on that later) and doing some prayerwalking there, Manhattan and in Stamford, CT, right across the NYC border.

The plane leaves at 825a Sunday, and we are scheduled to arrive at La Guardia around 1130a, we eat lunch, catch a train, drop our stuff off at the hostile/hotel, then head to Stamford, CT. Landon Reesor is up there, planting a church called Encounter Church. Just know that Stamford is a very affluent community with lots of people who have lots of money and live in lots of houses and drive lots of big cars. Several of the worlds wealthy companies are based there, and can be a major place of influence when its won over for the Kingdom of God.

There will be lots to tell you over the next several days, so lets keep it brief as we can right now (riiiiight...)

First, let me introduce you to the cast of characters for this trip:

New Hope New York - An organization set in NY that sees NYC as a focal point of ministry, as in "you win NY, you have a launching pad for the world"

Paint-the-Town - An organization that works in schools to help paint and repaint them, especially in tough areas of town (The Bronx for us)

Upward Basketball - A program that the fundamentals of basketball to youth that might not otherwise be able to recieve such training, but more importantly, it stresses the virtue of teamwork, built in a foundation of Christ

Landon Reesor - He got the call to take his family to Stamford, which is what he's doing now. He's planting Encounter Church. Very likeable guy, obviously strong faith.

Philip Waters - Team leader of the trip. Tall, lanky guy. Strikes me as the kind of no-nonsense guy with a very dry sense of humor. He'll need to be with some of us.

Mark Warner - Deacon at church, 9 year old Star Wars fan trapped in a 36 (will be 37 on trip) year old body. Plays Gordo at KidStuff, a children's ministry at church. Married to Cindy... knowing Cindy, I tend to think that Mark got the good end of that deal =)

Paula Mackey - I consider her my team mom. Yes, Philip's the leader, but leader or not, if I come down with spinalmeningitis or something, I'm not hollerin' for Philip, I'm calling Paula to mother me. She's the same "I'll get it" lady from WalkAbout dinner theater (previous post).

Josh Blackburn - Son of Paula. Good kid. Acted in our dinner theater this past weekend, seems full of energy, should bring alot to the trip. Wears AC/DC flip flops.

Brandon Blackburn - Younger Son o'Paula. Seems like another good kid, though in my opinion, he seems to have a young Fred Weasley aura about him. Could be wrong.

Colby Barnett - I have no clue who this guy is, met him for the first time a few weeks ago, have only seen him like, twice. Seems nice enough.

Josh Caldwell - Recreation pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). Leader of Upward Basketball, and co-leader of the trip with Philip. Very likeable easy going guy... big dude, gruff voice, hubby to Staci.

Staci Caldwell - Very small wife to Josh. She's the co-host of KidStuff, and a ball of weird energy. Likes slicky pants. And puppies.

Natalie Valentine - Single mom to Ariana. She probably thinks its weird, but I'm excited about Natalie coming on the trip, really because I look forward to getting to hang out with her. I like cool people, and Nat's just a cool chick.

Chuck McCammon - Childrens pastor at Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship). Married to Tamara, the KidStuf leader. Chuck's a real likeable guy, laid back and seemingly fun to be around.

Daniel McCammon - Young son to the aforementioned Chuck. At 4 (?) I'm guessing this might be his first mission trip, unless they have a newborns journeyman program I dont know about.

Larry Long - Pops to Megan & Anna Long, twins who were on WalkAbout last year (Theta class, I think). Good guy.

Tim, Geryl & AnnaLynn Harrington - Coming on the trip as a family, which I think is just great. I hope that Stephanie and I can take the twins, Lorelei and Daisy, on a family mission trip together one day. I dont know the Harringtons, but they seem like good folk, so I'll go with that.

The Lovely Steph Leann- My lovely wife who isnt coming on the trip... but I don't want to pass up a chance to tell her how much I love her, how much I'll miss here while I'm gone, and to say thanks for supporting me on this venture.

There you have it... those are the involved folk. Now you know the names... check back soon for the adventures.

Oh, PS...

Here's some stuff about Morris High School

Grade levels 9 - 12
Enrollment around 250
Ethnicity is 60% Hispanic, 39% black, 1% white and 1% Asian
They offer free lunch to 81.2% of their students
Overcrowding stands at 115.9%
Only 8.9% of 9th graders read at grade level
Their graduation rate is 3.09%

Apparently from what I'm reading, this school is being phased out, but a number of smaller schools are being set up in the building.

I'm pretty excited about getting into this school... you can click here to see what it looks like...

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