RETURN OF THE KING

I feel sorry for every epic film that will attempt to be made in the next 10 years or so...they will all seem like Gigli compared to this flick. From the kick-ass Legolas oliphant take-down, to the triumphant resolution to the Aragorn/Arwyn romance, I fell in instant love with this movie. I wish I was kidding, but I blubbered like a fool for the last solid hour of the movie. It was all too much...the end of the journey, the destruction of evil, the destinies fulfilled...brilliant. As the riders from Rohan lined-up at the apex of the battle to charge in without fear, where death was almost certain but hope was shining bright, the lump formed in my throat and didn't leave until Frodo sailed from the shores of middle-earth, finally at peace. I am aware that my thoughts are probably not making sense, but it makes sense to me in a stream of consciousness sort of way. I could write pages and paes expressing my love, but lets just suffice it t say...wunderbar, excellement, brilliant, majestic, life-changing, bar-raising joy.

WONDERFUL QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I don't know much about Outcast, but I know they can make you shake it like a polaroid picture."

-Gen. Wesley Clark

YOU'VE BEEN PUNK'D

So imagine this...I call Brooks up and tell him I need his help to pull a prank on my friend/manager. It's a SLLLLOOWWW Sunday, and needless to say, I am looking for ways to speed the time along. Enter, Brooks. I get Brooks to call my restraunt as a disgruntled customer looking to get retribution for the "racial jokes" he overheard a waitress making as he "dined" last night. The look on Matt (friend/manager)'s face was absolutely priceless, with his head in his hands, trying to smooth over the "situation". Brooks let him stew in his anxiety for a little bit, playing his part wonderfully, and then, like a true thespian, he spilled the beans and bolted, told Matt he'd been punk'd, and that Meghan said "gotcha!". I had been watching this all from the other side of the bar, waiting for the big reveal, and when it came and Matt found my eyes to express his hatred from across the room, it was then I knew...it was a great Sunday. Good times, man...good times.

HERO OF THE DAY

Brooks Ayola

TURKEY...GOBBLE GOBBLE

Ah, the joys of the holidays. I just returned from Nor Dakoda...Oh Yah. I think I'm gonna barf. Anywho...it was lovely. Spent some relaxing quality time with the folks and the rest of the fam. It is so nice to not have to worry about who has to leave to go to the other dinner or who has to stress about which parent they are going to upset by not staying. Everyone in one spot for a week or so, spending time and hanging out. There could be no better way to spend a holiday. Okay, maybe it would be better in Hawaii...hint hint...but not by much. And as much as I make fun of it, Grand Forks is a really nice, quiet town. I couldn't live there, mind you, but it's a very Norman Rockwell type of town, with all the snow and the old houses. The people you meet are very "what you see is what you get" and you get the feeling the words "shmoozing" and "networking" just don't come in to play with them. Good times, people, good times.

SONG LYRIC OF THE DAY

I got my head checked by a jumbo jet, it wasn't easy...but nothing is. WOO-HOO!!

BLUR