Thank Goodness!

Welcome Back Top 5

Every once in a while, I get the urge to do a "Top 5" on here, but for whatever reason (read: they block blogs of any kind at my school because of...y'know, people who would waste time on them), I don't do it.

Well, I have a day off today, and thought I'd throw a few out there in honor of the Bama-UT game tomorrow.

Top 5 things I've envied about other college fan bases/ Game Day experience:

1. Basketball expertise at UK. A few weeks ago, we went to Lexington for the Bama-UK game. At 2 am on Friday night, the streets near campus were lined with tents and bundled up fans, waiting for their UK basketball tickets. I wasn't envious of that - Tide fans would obviously camp out at the base of an active volcano - it's not a matter of fan dedication. No, what I was envious of was that at 2 am, the public b'ball courts were full and I watched a pair of young UK fans execute a perfect backdoor cut and lay-in. That may happen in Tuscaloosa...but not with the frequency that it would happen up in Lexington. I'm envious of basketball country in their backyard.

2. LSU's Death Valley at night. Look, they're awful to opposing fans, they're drunk and obnoxious, they throw things on the field (a pet peeve of mine), and it smells weird there. But the fan intensity is at a level I would describe as "threatening." Bama fans get loud on every 3rd down...of a game in which they feel threatened. I'd like it if there was more standing up, more crowd noise on non-3rd down plays, and for us to have the same rowdiness that you find in Baton Rouge. Our fans have the drunken obnoxious part down, now let's get the intimidating the other team part down. Don't get me wrong, we have a home field advantage (especially at night). It's just not as significant as it should be.

3. The nickname. Bryant-Denny has no cool nickname. The Swamp, Between the Hedges, Death Valley, The Big House, etc. It's just Bryant-Denny Stadium. We're in the process of closing in the South endzone, and I think when they unveil it, they should unveil a nickname with it...searching for one right now, but I got nothing.

4. The Gator Bait Cheer. It's simple, it's short, and it gets the job done. Dahhhhh Dah Dah Da-duh-Da GATOR BAIT!

5. The Navy: Obviously, I must preface this one with how much I despise UT. They are a terrible group of fans, with a terrible stadium, in a terrible place covered with terrible and non-matching shades of orange (the most terrible color). The one thing about their gameday set-up that is pretty neat is that the stadium sits on the banks of a river (I think it's the Tennessee River), and on Saturday it is lined with boats and they can tailgate on the water. But they still suck, and I feel dirty even giving them a smidge of credit for anything...especially the day before the game against them.

Top 5 things I think are awesome about being an Alabama Fan:

1. Our coach - He's worshipped here and I'm not covering anything new here, but when you have someone who is the perfect fit for a college fan base, it is magical. Nick Saban is never satisfied, never stops working, never stops recruiting, and I don't think he'll ever stop winning until he retires. This fan base has always expected the coach and players to take the game as seriously as they do. If it is possible, I think Saban wants to win more than any of our "crazy, unrealistic" fans. He's worth every penny, and I wouldn't trade him for all the things in the first Top 5 combined. Watch the first 30 seconds of this video and prepare for the goosebumps:

2. The pre-game videos - They are a great mix of old highlights and new ones. The crowd gets really into it when they see a highlight they recognize (which is every one of them), but it's like hearing an old favorite song, or spotting an old friend. You identify it "Hey that's when Langham jumped in front of the pass in the '92 SEC championship," then you tell your personal experience, "I was freezing that night, and lost my voice for a week after, but that was a FUN night!" and then you stay glued to the screen for the next one to come up.

3. The Rammer Jammer. No it's not very nice, but it's a fun way to celebrate winning. And as Steve Spurrier once said, "If you don't like it, then do something about it." On the flip side of singing the Rammer Jammer is when one of your rivals wins and sings it at you. And yes, it is a terrible feeling.

4. Our uniforms. I'm really glad that Alabama has great colors and traditional, unchanging uniforms. I think they're sharp, recognizable, and timeless. One day I'll do a Top 5 uniforms list.

5. Eli Gold's voice as he says, "TOUCH-down ALA-BAMA" after a big play or when you can hear how excited he is about the play while trying to remain professional. He's nowhere near the Homer that most teams have calling their games, which is good and bad. He's got a great radio voice...and face.

Top 5 Alabama-UT games for me:

1. 2002. Dennis Franchione ends a 7-year losing streak to UT in Knoxville. 34-14. My first victory cigar, my friend Steven throwing up because of his first victory cigar (and thus being ragged about it mercilessly by me), Putting a beatdown on a Clausen is always fun.

2. 2005. Mike Shula wins the game without any real offensive plays on a last second field goal. That was the second-loudest Rammer Jammer I've ever heard. This was among the ugliest games ever (Final of 6-3), but when the winning kick went through, I teared up a little at the bottom of the dog pile of friends.

3. 2007. Sitting with my buddy Martin on the edge of the UT fan section, and waving goodbye to all the Vols fans as they filed out early from a 41-17 thrashing and the first of many they'd suffer at Nick Saban's mighty hand. Not sure if Martin regrets asking me to go that game or not - I was in rare form. As we walked out, there was a banner with Fat Phil Fulmer's face on it and under it was the slogan "The Biggest Loser on the Saban Diet," nicely done.

4. 1993. Even though it pains me to include a tie in here instead of a victory, I get a sick satisfaction out of thinking of the UT fans that had waited so long to end their losing streak to Alabama (8 years), and then had to watch us rally to tie the game in Knoxville with a WR playing quarterback.

5. 1990. UT is ranked 3rd and looking like a national powerhouse. Bama starts the year 0-3, and is only just starting to look like a team by the time the game comes around. UT lines up for a field goal with 30 seconds left, we block it. The ball bounces back 30 yards in the other direction (which is good because we couldn't move it on offense anyway). We run one play and then kick a field goal to stun the Knoxville crowd 9-6.

Roll Tide! Bama 31- UT 10, mark it an 8...as in 8-0.

I want to be on record...

As I sit here watching the Red Sox locked in a 1-1 game where Josh Beckett is dealing, I'm remembering how I thought (but didn't say) that the Sox should have started him in Game 1 of this series with the Angels of Anaheim, CA formerly the LA Angels...of Anaheim...California).

It made me think: "Hey, this is one of the biggest sports weekends I can remember this year. Since I'm so smart, maybe I should put some thoughts down on the old blog. Y'know, so I can get credit when every single one of my predictions/thoughts on the upcoming games plays out before all the eyes of our 4 readers."

(It should be noted that the Red Sox failed to score in Game 1, so Sandy Koufax could have started and it probably would have still resulted in an eventual loss to the Angels...of Anaheim.

Some monster games this weekend to watch, BUT while I'll be glued to the TV for the Florida-LSU game, it WON'T have the implications that everyone in the media is acting like it will. For instance, if Florida loses (won't happen), their season is still very much alive. If LSU loses, but then wins out (also won't happen), then their season would not be derailed tomorrow. Something you already know: if Florida somehow doesn't win, the justification will either be:

A) Tebow didn't play, how could a team lose the best player ever and then still win on the road in the toughest environment imaginable?

B) Tebow may have played, but he didn't practice for over a week. How could an offense so dependent upon timing and sharpness be asked to win on the road after not being able to have their QB in practice for that week?

This is all bull crap, you see. Regardless of your feelings about Tebow (I think he's the most effective player the SEC has seen), this is still a game that revolves around a team a lot more than the Orlando Sentinel would have you believe. Florida has the better team, the better coach, and the better QB (whichever one plays). Bottom line is that LSU is just not that good.

Florida 27 LSU 13

The Aubies have been chirping and it gets louder every week they don't lose. It will stop this week. True, Arkansas can't stop anyone. Seriously, Dana and I cold go run the option on them for 300 yards this Saturday. But, they will be at home. Auburn can't stop a real offense either. For anyone that is about to say, "Hey what about UT's offense? They stopped them..." Take a breath...remember that Jonathan Crompton is the UT quarterback and that in the time it takes you to read this, he's thrown 2 interceptions and 3 incompletions.

Arkansas will do just enough on defense and Petrino will have sniffed this out already as a game he can and should win, and will therefore pull out all the stops to do it. Look for somewhere between 5-10 trick plays.

Arkansas 44 AU 41

Georgia can't hold on to the ball. Lucky for them, Tennessee can't either. This could be the ugliest game the SEC has been subjected to since last year's MSU - Auburn game (final score 3-2). Those of you that know me, already know that there's no way that I'm going to pick Tennessee if there's a way for me not to. Refer to the previous paragraph about Jonathan Crompton and you'll see my way to pick UGA. Late pick 6, followed by the embattled quarterback being mobbed by his own angry fans after the game. Luckily, there won't be enough teeth in that crowd to inflict any real damage and he'll still be able to make his next start and continue bring smiles to faces all over Alabama.

UGA 16 UT 7

I said it at the beginning of the season and I'll say it again: Alabama won't lose to Ole Miss. Of course, I began this blog by citing my support of Josh Beckett because he was unhittable, and he's since given up 3 more runs. So, what do I really know? Well, I do watch a lot of Bama football games. This year's team is awesome when they decide to be awesome. Against Kentucky (who surprised them by coming right at them), I felt like both the offense and the defense had stretches where they said "Enough is enough. We're not letting them stop us here or get this first down...We will dictate the outcome of this play." And then they did. It's good and bad. I'd like for them to go ahead and put games away, but it's nice to see them respond when the other team puts them in a tough spot as Kentucky did a couple of times early.

Ole Miss is a victim of media crappiness. They've been paying for media overreaction since the end of last year, saying how they were the best in the SEC west, and now they're paying for the media's overreaction to their loss on the road at South Carolina. "Overrated! I knew it all along!" I call BS on that for two reasons:

1. They're not a bad football team, they just had a bad night. Their coach is at his best when taken lightly and at his worst when taken seriously. Ole Miss is the new version of Arkansas, and Houston Nutt is the reason why. Really, they've always been the same team in our eyes. So, they're not bad...they're just not who the media thought they were.

2. Houston Nutt is one tricky man. Just when you're ready to say it's over for his team, he pulls out some win that he had no business getting. I'm banking that Bama won't be that win, but that he'll get it somewhere else (against Les Miles?).

If Alabama comes out flat like they did against Kentucky, Ole Miss will make them pay. But Ole Miss can't close us out even if they somehow jump out to a lead. Here's why: Alabama closes out games. There was only one team that was a better finisher than us last year. It wasn't Ole Miss, and it isn't them this year either. Ole Miss jumps out to a 6 point lead. McElroy settles down and does his Joe Montana thing. Ingram and Richardson pound away. McClain makes a big play in the 4th. Alabama wins

Bama 31 Ole Miss 20

Youkilis just doubled, the team needs me. I'm on record for football. That could be a bad thing this time tomorrow night.

A Tag about Us

Thanks to my old friend Camille, I've finally been tagged! How thrilling. I like tagging mainly because it gives me something to write about without having to come up with it on my own. How pathetic is that? I guess at the end of a long work day, answering random questions just sounds more fun. Thanks Camille! Here is some interesting and not so interesting trivia about Dana and Kent!

♥ What are your middle names?
Marie and Kent...Kent's first name is actually something else.

♥How long have you been together?
since April 2006, about 3 1/2 years

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We didn't really know each other before we started dating. I thought he was cute, he asked me out, and we've been together ever since.

♥ Who asked who out?
Kent asked me out, but I may have given strong hints to friends of his that I wanted him to have my number...

♥ Who made the first move?
Kent

♥ How old are each of you?
We're both 28; we're literally a day apart in age.

♥ Did you go to the same school?
No.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
No.

♥ Who is the smartest?
Tricky...I always considered myself more grades and booksmart; but now that Kent has gone back to school, he's gaining on me. Now he's making all A's and reading new books while I continue to watch America's Next Top Model. Hmmmm

♥ Who majored in what?
Dana--English
Kent--Telecommunications and Film

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
Definitely me, but Kent has his moments. However, I'm the one who cries at the drop of a hat.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Lately it's been Sabor Latino, mexican at its finest and cheapest. Back in our Tuscaloosa days it would have been a three-way tie between Moe's, Mugshots, and The Waysider. Yum

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Vail, Colorado for a ski trip a few years back.

♥ Who has the worst temper?
I can flare up, but I'm going to say Kent.

♥ How many children do you want?
2 or 3.

♥ Who does the cooking?
I do most of the cooking unless we're grilling or it's spaghetti night. Kent makes a mean pasta sauce and is the master of the grill.

♥ Who is more social?
Kent. Kent. Kent.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Kent...although neither of us are really clean freaks, I've noticed that he pays more attention to things like that than I do.

♥ Who is the most stubborn?
Me

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Kent...he can't sleep in. It's sad.

♥ Where was your first date?
Richard Coogan's house for a cookout.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
I used to think it was mine, but the longer we're together, the more family members I meet. So now, I think it's a draw.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
On special occasions

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
We spend one holiday with my family and one holiday with his. Then, we rotate the next year, and so on. We're currently on the same rotation as my brother, my cousin, and the Alabama/Auburn game, so the system works.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Me! But really, there's never a reason.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
I would say about 3 months...the most serious was when I moved to Tuscaloosa, but I think we always knew that we were in this for good.

♥ Who eats more?
Depends on the food...

♥ What do you do for a living?
I'm a writer for a healthcare company; Kent works at a high school as their PR guy and is currently pursuing his education degree to teach high school English :)

♥ Who does the laundry?
Me

♥ Who’s better with the computer?

Kent

♥ Who drives when you are together?
Usually Kent...he claims I'm not a good driver. I'm a great driver, except when he's in the car. He's distracting :)

♥ What is "your" song?
I don't think we've ever officially decided this, but all signs are pointing to "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison. I don't know if this is a weird choice or not, but we both love it, it comes on at random times when we're together, and it was our last dance song at our wedding.

That was fun! I'm tagging Ashley, Lynn, Marj, and Ellen.

...with a bullet!

Thought I'd update everyone (4 people) on my thoughts with a series of bullet points.

• A lot of Bama fans are gaining a lot of confidence that it is "our year" this time and that we're a better team than Florida. So far, it looks like they are right, but there are two things that are going against us right now: 1) I hear that this team has a tendency to "lose its focus" sometimes which could result in an upset loss, and 2) it looks like we just lost a who plays our most crucial defensive position for the year in LB Dont'a Hightower. On the other hand, Florida ain't exactly looking invincible and the teams that were supposed to give us trouble aren't looking that good either. Bottom line: we still don't know, but it's nice to be considered a contender for the national championship and not be frightened by that expectation.
• Some may say in my previous post I was a little harsh with my take on the AU football team. Not so. They will open 4-0, yes. But their toughest game was against either Mississippi St who will be known as "mid-90s Vandy" by me for the next 2 years, or West Virginia who has been paying for the worst and laziest coaching hire in college football since...Gene Chizik. I won't back down from my estimation that Auburn will have a terrible year. Although...
• LSU, Ole Miss, and Arkansas are worse than expected. LSU, not surprisingly is doing "Les" with more, Ole Miss is right on the H.D. Nutt schedule for crushing preseason expectation (in a negative way), and Arkansas received more hype for losing a game - against UGA - than Notre Dame did for losing to USC a few years back. If Alabama loses to any of those teams it will be a stunning disappointment (especially considering we've already beaten one of them).
• I hope that UK does not injure our QB the way they did Tebow. It was a clean play, but if someone hit the wispy-by-comparison McElroy that way, he may cease breathing.
• We're ranked 3rd nationally and our fans feel like the team is underrated. The feeling of mediocrity from a few years back is not so far away that I don't appreciate where we are as a program. And yet, I agree that we have looked the best of any team in the country so far. The lesson as always: rankings are meaningless until your team gets screwed by them at the end of the year (insert your own dig at 2004 Auburn here).

Enough bullets, we'll switch gears from college football to things that should be mentioned.

You should watch the show Glee. The cheerleading coach carries the show.

When Kanye grabbed the microphone, Dana went all mother hen and got so mad that I had to excuse her from the room to calm down. She later cried when Beyonce called Taylor back on the stage to give her speech.

Jon Hamm (Don Draper) hangs out with Bill Simmons on Sundays and watches pro football at Jimmy Kimmel's house...I continually wonder what it would be like to get to sit in with them one Sunday.

I watched all of the Monday Night Football game and they were referring to Peyton Manning as "The Sherriff." Never has a nickname seemed so forced since a guy from my high school who played quarterback began telling people to call him "Heisman."

...But I think the most under used sports nickname is "The Professor." You could call any player who succeeds on his smarts rather than athletic ability this. Example: Greg McElroy. Or you could sarcastically call a stupid player "The Professor." Example: Shaq. I'm sure there are better examples, so you should leave them in the comments.

Dana's birthday is this week...she turns twenty-AACCHHKKKKKKKKAAKAKKKK....sorry Dana choked me with one of my sweat socks.

We'll see some of you soon.

The Jacksons are Back!

After a LONG layoff, The Jackson's are back. What has been going on with us? Well, we closed on a house (along with all the horror stories of real estate dealings that you have heard from others, so I will bore you with other details). It's a great home already, and that's before we have done any real decorating.

This is a pic of the fridge that almost broke the deal for us. The seller didn't want to part with it. We've found out why - there's an ice and water dispenser!

I secured a low-paying job in the field of education (redundant I know), while enrolling in a night class at UAB (Blaze, Blazers!). My job is at Homewood High School as a "media specialist" which is to say I promote the school in the news outlets.

Dana now has less time in the car, and more room in the house. I don't know how we lived together before the double sink, the regular sized washer-dryer, or the two-car garage.

This is our first month here, and I must say we are really happy to live in Birmingham. There are a few things that you need to take care of to make it your "home town," and I feel like we knocked out two of them this week. First, I went and got a haircut at "Treadwell's Barber Shop," in Mtn Brook. The whole time I was thinking that it would make for a great blog entry to compare and contrast that barber shop with my home base, "The Northport Barber Shop." So that is still to come. The second that happened this week is that we took the recommendation of John and Delaune and went out for Mexican on Friday night (a given back in Tuscaloosa), and I think we've found our place: "Sabor Latino!"

Speaking of John and Delaune, they came over and John (with limited help from me) designed and built a doghouse for Pistol and Grits. It is "aesthetically pleasing" and even has their names on the front...now I just need to teach them to read.

Note the smug look on my face as though I did any REAL work aside from holding things while John cut or nailed them in. I think you can tell who played what role by "the things they carried."

As we'd hoped, Birmingham has been a good move for us. Dana gets to go to lunch and on walks with friends, I get to play pick up basketball and football with some old college friends, as well as have people over to cookout a lot. As Frank Costanza would say, "This is the PLACE to BE!" We're glad we came.

This week, my sister returned home from Oregon to visit for the week. There has been a great number of people who wanted to see her and hang out with her, including my dad, Lanna, and the Bean (aka "little Lanna" although she's growing up so we can't just call her that anymore). We cooked out steaks and talked about Jen's job at the University of Oregon (hence the hat and shirt) and laughed a lot. Dana made some killer corn and tomatoes. When we got the house, these were the days that we'd hoped to have here, entertaining family and friends.

It's been good to see Jennifer after about a ten month gap. We even performed "Midnight Train to Georgia" just like the old days at Jackie's Lounge. Although there was no emcee to call us up to a stage, "And now, Jennifer and the Pip."

And now for the serious stuff:

Football begins this week. That's right! I could not be more excited!!! Exclamations all around!!!!! Top o the Muffin TO YOU!!!!!!!

We scored two tickets to the Alabama - Va Tech game in the Georgia Dome. Somehow we have put aside our memories of the 4th quarter against Florida when Tim Tebow broke our hearts and are picking up the pieces and trying again to be national champions. So, as the season kicks off, I should make my predictions for the dozens of readers we have (probably actually 7 readers).

1. Alabama may lose in conference, but it won't be to Ole Miss. No offense to the Rebel fans, but I just don't think it will happen. There's too many people telling the Ole Miss players they are awesome, and that has a negative effect in a locker room unless the coach can effectively use that hype to keep them hungry. Houston Nutt has never done well with expectations high, and this year will be no different. I'm choosing to ignore the fact that he has actually given Saban fits throughout his SEC career.

2. I am still undecided on Florida. I have typed and deleted a sentence that said they would either win it all or not make it. On the one hand, they shouldn't lose...ever. We saw last year that when Tebow wills it, it is no dream. on the other hand, this is a team full of 19-21 year-olds dealing with unrealistic expectations (no one in the country thinks they will lose a game...in the SEC...or against Texas or whoever they'll play in the Nat'l championship), that is tough to accomplish. Let's not forget that the last team in this position was USC in 2005. Two Heismans in the backfield and a stout defense. They came up a few plays short, and almost lost to Notre Dame that year. The whole season of expectations wore on them, and they played in the freaking Pac-10. If the Gators do it, I would be fine to not only rank them alongside the greatest teams of all time, but go ahead and crown Tebow the greatest college player ever. His resume would be unbeatable. I just realized this is not really a prediction as much as it is an observation...I hope our readership doesn't dip to 5.

3. Outside the SEC, it just won't matter. I almost feel bad for fans of schools like Michigan, Florida State, Georgia Tech, etc. because not only do they not have a shot at getting to the national championship, they don't get to play anyone else that has a chance either. I mean Tennessee is going to have a bad season, but at least they get to measure themselves against Florida and Alabama. Outside the SEC, people that are making the argument that their conference will line up with or overtake us for football supremacy are sorely mistaken. But it will at least sell tickets to the Missouri-Texas Tech game.

"Now men, this is the number of games we'll win this year"

4. Auburn will have a terrible year. I don't want to devote any more time to this. They stink. They're acting like they don't stink. Their coach still has a 5-19 career record, they still have no athletes, they still have no direction. All they did was give me a prediction that I can hang my hat on. If I'm wrong about everything else, at least I got this one right. Auburn stinks.

5. Alabama will go back to Atlanta this year...for a second time. I don't want to become one of those fans that never believes his team will lose. But outside of the LSU and Ole Miss games, Bama ought to be cruising through the year. Of coursse, Dana and I have accepted an invitation to Lexington which immediately puts that game in doubt. But even if UA goes 1-1 against Ole Miss and LSU, I don't think either one of those teams will be able to beat everyone else needed to go to the championship game. They don't call him "Two-loss Les" for nothing and we've covered H.D. Nutt.

Once again, it will be Alabama and Florida in Atlanta in December. I just hope this time I don't feel so bad after the game.

Glad to be back!

One Year Ago

Today, Kent and I are celebrating our first anniversary! I can't believe that our wedding was an entire year ago...time has passed SO quickly, but so much has happened since July 19, 2008 that it almost seems further away. This has been the most wonderful and perfect year in so many ways. Marriage is everything I thought it would be and more, and I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who makes my life so much fun every day. I love you Kent...thanks for the first of many great years to come! Here are some of my favorite shots of us on our wedding day.

For posting's sake

Just because the Michael Jackson tribute has been up for too long now. The reason for no updates or opinions on whatever it is that's on our minds is that Dana and I are engaged in the following exploits:

1. closing on a house (every bit as troublesome as people tell you)

2. moving/packing up our current house

3. trying to find a job (that one's just me)

4. preparing for our 1st anniversary (it's on Sunday)

So, that's what we're into right now. How bout some recommendations?

1. of the online variety:

- http://mrsec.com/

because the SEC is a big place that is hard to keep full track of without help. This guy gives you the pertinent links of the day around the league.

- http://www.last.fm/home

it is the best of the online jukebox things and you can keep up with your friends and what they're listening to without doing the whole "make me a cd of what you're into" thing. I just created an account a little while ago, and have no friends yet. So if you want to see our "music compatibility" sign up and find me.

- http://virtualnes.com/

because sometimes you have to get your old school nintendo fix. Me? I usually only go to play a game of RBI Baseball, but they seem to have almost every game ever made for NES. Go...waste some time.

TV:

- Mad Men season 1 is on demand right now and is about to be followed by season 2 on 7/20. Dana and I enjoyed the first season very much and you will too. Season 3 begins in August. So you see, this is the best time to get into the series that was being ignored for two years, and will soon be on the covers of all the entertainment mags. Don't you want to be a part of that? Plus, Don Draper is one smooth man.

Music:

Artist that you should give a try: Dan Auerbach. His first solo album "Keep it Hid" came out this year and has been a part of my day for the last month. It's good.

Songs I also have on rotation that you would like:

"Magnolia Mountain" Ryan Adams

"White Winter Hymnal" Fleet Foxes

"Halloween" Matt Pond PA

"Exit Music (for a film)" Radiohead

"Glass of Water" Coldplay

The King of Pop

Note: I'll have to put pictures with this later...

I'm writing this for me more than anything else. When I heard Michael Jackson had died yesterday, I have felt strange about it ever since. My name is Michael Jackson, and I always hated being called that because of the laughter that would follow in the classroom. His name during that time was more tied to child molestation charges than anything else. I say this just to point out that Michael Jackson has always occupied a strange place in my brain - on one hand I hated hearing his name, and on the other, I was absolutely mesmerized by him when he would perform. Whenever there is a video of his on tv, I'll stop whatever I'm doing and watch it. If they show that 30-year tribute thing on vh1, I'm hooked for the whole three hours. Even that second rate movie about the Jackson 5 will get me to watch. When it somes to music, there's three levels for me: here and now; transcending genius; and in their own category with no comparison. Michael Jackson is the third one. There is no one as good as he is at performing a song. I can't imagine anyone ever surpassing him.
Because you can read these kinds of things above elsewhere from real writers, I'll just tell some personal stories of Michael Jackson that I think illustrate what he is.

I was a freshman in college and my friends and I had discovered the art of cd making. I was the one in our house who was the best at it, though. I know about how the order you put your compilation in can affect the enjoyment, I have an ear for songs that I'll tire of quickly, etc. Well, we had a pretty opinionated buddy come over and was making an 80's cd. He had all the regulars on there like Bruce Springsteen, Prince, and Poison. He had put Thriller on his cd and was asking for a few more songs to round out the mix. I took a look and said, "How well do you know Michael Jackson?" And he said not really that well. I suggested he put Smooth Criminal on there. He, being opinonated told me that it would probably suck. I then downloaded it off napster and made him listen to it. If you're familiar with the song, you know that it starts strong and then just rises to a level unlike anything else in music right around the first chorus, like a shuttle into orbit, it never comes back down. So the opening beat comes on, and he's snarky and smirking and waiting for this waste of his time to end. Then that part of the song comes, "Annie are you ok? (BOOM) Will you tell us (BOOM) that you're ok?...(BOOM)" I watch his face change. He skips the "this might be alright" and goes right to "Holy Crap, this could be my favorite song of all time!" Keep in mind that this is without watching the video which would have probably left him catatonic it's so good. When the song finished, he asked me to make him a Michael Jackson only cd. And to this day, when I see him (about once a year), he brings this song up to me.

Another one of my favorite MJ stories is from when I was about 13, and the world is all about fitting in and not being discovered by the cool kids as a fraud, I spent an entire weekend in my room listening to Thriller again. I loved it when I was younger, and I just got the urge to hear it like you crave a food or something. Round about Sunday afternoon, my sister comes in my room and wants me to go play basketball with her (that is to say, she wanted someone to beat and knew that I would lose to her...and then probably burst into tears). I said no, I was good. And she said, "Are you still listening to that?" and to convince me to come play ball, she said, "I wonder what your friends at school are going to say about you spending all weekend listening to this." I was flabergasted for a moment and then said, "I don't think I can be friends with anyone who doesn't like this anyway." It's one of the few times at that age that I would've been ok with the "in crowd" being in opposition to one of my tastes. Little did I know that they were opposition with most of my tastes, but not MJ music.

It's not really a story, but my favorite memories of road trips in college with my buddies involve being about a half hour outside of wherever we're trying to get to and just blaring Man in the Mirror and loving it.

There are other stories, but those are the ones that mean something to me. Let's not forget what weird man this was. He was very bizarre. But who made him that way? His abusive father has him rehearsing 14 hours a day, and beats him when he doesn't get it right. His mother is a Jehova's Witness, and all I'm saying about that is that it creates an even wider divide between you and all the rest of the kids in the neighborhood. He was in front of a camera since the age of 5. His father constantly berated him about his nose being too big. I mean, of course he's going to turn into a freak show.
But let me say this, and everyone already kind of knows it: The man had some kind of a switch inside of him that he could flick. Watch an interview with him and you hear a quiet, mild, woman speaking. But when he would walk on a stage and the lights would go up and the beat would start, he turned into an absolute killer. He was so charismatic and dynamic that even the most masculine, hard nosed men would end up sqealing alongside the 12 year old girls.
Do yourself a favor and watch the clip of Michael Jackson walking out of the courthouse in California in 2005. He's almost hobbling to the car. He's drained and getting older. He's a shell of himself now. There's a group of fans there supporting him that start cheering for him as he limps to the car. Then someone (I guess in his entourage) turns on one of his tracks loud so everyone can hear. All of a sudden, he leaps up on top of the car and starts dancing. It was one of the weirdest things I had ever seen, and I thought it was so cool. He'd flipped that switch right before my eyes.
To be honest, I don't even want to know about the private life. He remains the #1 artist I would want to see in concert in their prime. The Beatles, Elvis, Led Z, nope.

Just give me a copy of HIStory and a pair of heaphones. Here's to the king!

Part III - Movies

We're back with the desert island category of movies.  Most everyone can figure this much out about me:  I love mob movies, I love buddy comedies, and I love great movie speeches.  So, I think what we should do here is break it down by genre and then more specific categories that I deem relevant...afterall, maybe 5 people read this thing anyway, so who am I really leaving out by tailoring it to stuff I like.  Away we go:

Westerns:  This is a good place to start because there's not much of a debate going on in my mind.  There's the pick and then everything else.  Admittedly, I am not a scholar in the old school, John Wayne westerns (I've seen maybe 3), and as much as I love Butch and Sundance, I'm going with William Munny on this one.  Eastwood just tears the cover off the ball with this movie.  It's got everything: struggle against self, great dialogue, and most importantly it's got a climactic scene where the guy walks into the bar to kill the man that shot his buddy down.  Just an awesome movie on so many levels.

The pick:  Unforgiven

Indie Film:  Once again, this one wins in a walk.  Garden State didn't age well in my opinion, but I will say that I like that movie a lot.  Great soundtrack, quotable, etc. Reservoir Dogs was an awesome movie, but it doesn't feel as "indie" to me because it had some established stars in it.  Plus, it seems more the rough draft for Tarantino before Pulp Fiction.  When you think about an indie film, a guy making a movie happen from scratch and bringing his friends along for the ride, launching the star into stardom (albeit years later), it's all about this pick.  Quotable, re-watchable, a few iconic moments.  Plus, when Vince Vaughn is on his game, nothing trumps it.

The pick:  Swingers 

Comedy:  Ok, now we have a debate.  I just need to make picks in subcategories first:

-Made me laugh the hardest scene: dinner scene in The Nutty Professor

-Made me laugh the hardest from start to finish the first time I saw it: Wedding Crashers

-Most quotable:  Dumb and Dumber edges Lebowski by an eyelash

-British comedy: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

-Mockumentary:  Best in Show

But the best mix of everything, the one that stays the freshest over the years, the one that immediately makes you friends with someone when you tell them you love it:

The pick: The Big Lebowski 

Sports Movie:  No debate here.  And the reason is that sports movies are all the same now.  I don't understand how there are so many smart people in the world and no one has figured out how to make a good sports movie anymore.  I think it can all be traced back to the fact that there just aren't many actors that are both athletic and good at acting too.  Kevin Costner cornered the market here for years (and that's the best we can do?!).  Note: I don't really consider Rocky a sports movie because there's only one fight and it is only 5 minutes of the movie.  Note II: I just remembered how good The Natural is, but still...

The pick:  Hoosiers

Musicals:  not really, I'm just kidding.

Action Movie:  It's all about what you like here.  Rather than list all the good and bad, I'll get right to it.  All star cast, great story, great acting, re-watchable, one of the all time great scenes near the end.  And yet some people forget about this movie:

The pick:  Heat

High School Movie:

Lots of people like lots of things.  I'll go with the one that I've seen a million times and could see a million more:

The pick:  Dazed and Confused

Courtroom Drama:

With respect to all the ones that came before and after this one, I like great performances, and Edward Norton was off the charts in

The pick:  Primal Fear  

Thriller:  A lot of good ones in this category, but for brevity's sake I'll get right to it.  This one features the most electrifying 16 minute Oscar winning performance ever.  Also, it is the last movie to win Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress.  Strong.

The pick:  The Silence of the Lambs

Drama (ok, let's call it what it is for me)

Mafia movie: This will be its own post one day, I don't feel I can devote the right amount of time to this, but here goes.

Let me say this to begin with, I know you're not a mob movie fan if you tell me that your favorite is Scarface.  That's crap.  As far as this genre goes, that one plays like a music video.  I'll tell you what it's like...it's like a Will Ferrell movie is now.  One guy carrying it as far as he can and by the end, he's given out.  You have to have a good team to make a movie and this one had a crappy job on everything except the starring role.

People forget about Donny Brasco, but it is WAY better than this movie, and it has Johnny Depp rocking the Fed role.  

Now...

As good as Goodfellas is, it suffers in these ways for me (for you): 

1.  It doesn't have Marlon Brando or Al Pacino

2. The ending seems a little abrupt to me.  In fact once he sells out, I can turn it off usually.  You shouldn't ever feel that way about a desert island pick, you should be captivated til the last second.

Goodfellas is great, just not the top spot(s).  I actually find Casino to be more re-watchable.  The Departed is not aging as well as I'd hoped, but it's still great.

So the question is, Godfather I or II.  It's tough, but it comes down to this: one has the greatest actor ever, and the other doesn't.  Marlon Brando is simply the best to ever stand in front of a camera.  Al Pacino was better in the second one, but he's still awesome in part I.  If you threw out all these subcategories and just said I could only take one movie, it would be...

the pick:  The Godfather part I

  

I'm drained I can't go any further.  I left out War movie - Saving Private Ryan, Love Story - Jerry Maguire, 80s movie - Top Gun, gotta stop, movie without a category - Fight Club, I've done too many categories...This is my albatross!