I'm A Loser, Baby

Special thanks to the 'So what have you done with your life lately?' department at si.com for this inspiring video:



My personal favorite is the bartender trick at 1:20. Also, I'm gonna go ahead and say that the cheerleader trick at 2:10 is a fake. It's not that it isn't cool, I just don't want to know what happened the first 568 times they tried before succeeding.

This Is A Free-Flowing Conversation

A few random thoughts before I finally go to bed (Thank you four hour take home test!):

• TO's gone. I've wanted this day to happen since the Philly debacle, but now that it's here I'm kinda sad.

• Lost is kicking butt and taking names. Lovin it. However, what was the deal with Sawyer's beard in "LeFleur?" One scene it's a short, three-days growth scruff, the next its a horrendous shag with equally horrendous Just For Men coloring. Bad bad oversight by the producers. Did they shoot every other scene six months apart? Did they go back and fill in parts after originally wrapping concluded? I don't get it. It's almost as weird as how Hurley's hair was puffy and fro-like the first two season, but recently is a greasy, Michael Jackson circa 1988-like jheri curl. If you think I'm making these accusations up, head over to abc.com and check out the episode(s) in question.

• I didn't watch last week's FNL until tonight, right before Lost. Once again, phenomenal episode. What really tripped me out, though, was seeing Herc in a DHARMA hatch ten seconds after seeing him get in a wheelchair fight with Street on Buddy Garrity's old patio. It took me a while to wrap my mind around what was happening there for a minute.

• As much as I don't care about Texas Tech basketball (promise, I don't. For real) I really would have liked to be at the USA tonight for the butt-whipping of the Jayhawks. Again, thank you, take home test.

• Speaking of things I don't like, I got to watch Oklahoma beat Tech last Saturday. While the game wasn't much to see, I did get to help sneak the Griffin brothers out of the arena, so they could avoid the respectable-size mob of Sooner fans gathering outside their locker room. Don't think I won't be talking people's ears off ten years from now about the 'conversation' I had with young Blake. Ed's note: Actual conversation...BG: "Are there a lot of people out there?" Twig, guarding door: "Yeah dude, there's a lot of them." HE'S TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN MY BROTHER!!!!!

• I watched HBO's "The Battle For Tobacco Road," a documentary about the Duke/UNC rivalry last week. Unbelievable. Highest of high recommendations for any college basketball fan.

It's March. Let the Madness begin.

I Hear A Knock At The Front Door, Don't Come In

I've done quite a bit of reading over the past 13+ months, and have posted a couple reviews of the books I've read. The reviews have been mostly positive, but make no mistake, dear reader, not everything I've laid my eyes on have been stellar. Far from it. Here, in no particular order, are my least favorite readings. You've been warned.

The Lemur, Benjamin Black:

A great case of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I saw the guy with the suit and tie with cigarette smoke covering the guys face, and it caught me. I was hooked. Unfortunately, the book really didn't bring anything to the table. In fact, the only positive about the book was that it was obscenely short-less than 150 pages-that I was able to blow through it pretty quickly and pretend it never happened. One word: Wasteoftime

Chosen Soldier, Dick Couch:

Coming off the heels of the incredibly incredible Lone Survivor, I was on a Special Forces kick, wanting to read as much as I could about SEALS and Green Berets. This book isn't a particularly 'bad' book per se, but it just wasn't what I expected. It follows a class that is training to become Green Berets, which, while it has to be one of the most difficult tasks on the planet, is more of a thinking man's game, as opposed to the overwhelming physicality of SEAL training. It is very in-depth and gives a good view of what it takes to become a Beret, but if you're looking for something with a bit of war-time action, this isn't what you're looking for. Again, not terrible, just not what I expected. One word: Disappointing

Elite Squad, Various Authors:

Another Special Forces book that didn't live up to expectations. This one focuses on the Special Police Operations Battalion in Rio de Janeiro. It's actually a two-part book, and the first one isn't half bad, giving first-person accounts of experiences in the BOPE, including an unnerving amount of backward dealings inside the units. However, the book takes a bad turn in the second part, which tells a confusing, twisting story that may or may not be fictional, and ends so abruptly that it makes no sense at all. One word: Underwhelming.

If We Don't Take It, When Will We Make It?

Got back to the real world last night after an enjoyable weekend in the Key City. Didn't actually attend Sing Song, mainly just went to see old pals, which was overall a success, although I didn't run into a few key humans (Looking at you, Reeves, Prosso & Scott). I guess that's what I get for not going to Moody on Saturday night.

While I did miss out on a seventh GSP victory this decade, I did get to watch the UT-UTNorman game Saturday night, and obviously, I was estatic. Keep your 'but Griffin didn't play the second half' arguments to yourself: Saturday night was as much of a must-win as you can get, coming off four losses in six games, and when the #2 team in the nation who happens to be your biggest rival visits your house, it's a big win regardless of who is and isn't on the court. With Willie Warren blowing up like he did (phenomenal performance, even if he is a traitor) I'm honestly not sure what the outcome would have been if Blake had been in the game. If he were in, it's reasonable that Warren wouldn't have had to carry the load like he did, the game would have had a slower pace, and I still believe Texas could have pulled it out. Either way, watching the Warren/Abrams duel in the second half was worth missing the Men in Tights.

In FNL news, JD's dad really, really, really annoys me. The locker room scene after the Westerby win, besides being unrealistic-come on, Taylor, keep that dude out of the locker room, please-was sickening and makes me hope that somehow the Taylors can find out a way to legally adopt JD and keep him away from Marv Marinovich II. Probably the biggest thing I'm digging about this season is how they've been ending every episode with a chill-bump scene. From the Coach Taylor/Smash raquetball game, to the Coach/Smash pep talk, to this weeks Street-Sings-to-His-Baby-as-his-House-Flipping-Partners-Silently-Watch-and-Appreciate (sorry, couldn't think of an easier explination), FNL is absolutely bringing it when it comes to wrapping up the show. Love it.

Lastly, ACU alum Johnny Knox is making noise at the NFL Combine in Indy. He ran the third-fastest time in the 40, a halfway decent 4.34, so be on the lookout for him, BScott (no relation) and Billy Malone in April and beyond.

Over and out.

Disappointing Revelation

I can get pretty nostalgic when looking forward to a weekend of catching up with old friends. Since I'll be spending this weekend in Abilene (Sing Song, duh) doing just that, I've been thinking back to the good ole days at ACU and all the fun times I had there. However, last night a disturbing thought entered my mind whilst reminiscing my time in Abilene. It went something like this:

'Golly, I sure enjoyed college. Sing Song, Intramurals, Pledging, etc etc...Heck, even Welcome Week was fun. How many years has it been since I did that? Lets see, that was the fall of 2002, it's now 2009...wow. Six and a half years? Man, it's really been a while since I started college. Six and a half years...Holy crapola. ITS BEEN A QUARTER OF MY LIFETIME SINCE I STARTED COLLEGE!?!' Yikes, folks. That hit me hard. I felt like the kid from the video last week. Is this real life? Whaaattt'ss haapeningg? AAARRRRGGHHHH. Oh well, what can you do, ya know? Keep on livin...

On a lighter note, here's a great compilation/montage of 'The Office' Funny stuff, enjoy.

Pitchers And Catchers, Due To Report

Well, we've past the Valentine's Day landmark, meaning that Spring Training is about to begin! Woo-Hoo! In attempt to get all you tens of Ranger fans fired up for the 2009 season, read this article from si.com. I will now string myself upside down by my toenails.

In related Texas sporting news, Kevin Durant the absolute truth, FNL continues to impress (even though Saracen is sort of a crybaby. Man up, dude), and I hate UT's new Field Turf.

Dr. Lou

In lew (loo, lou?) of an FNL recap this week, I'll just post this, which sums up the key storyline of the episode.

On this same note, how awesome was Coach Taylor this episode? The pep talk he gave Smash at the tryout literally gave me chills, as did the nice moment on the porch with Smash before he took off. Another great episode, what else can I say?

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