Losing

It doesn't matter if you're talking about a major sports event, or a precious item, or a loved one: losing is terrorizing.

My most vivid experience with losing from my adolescence happened in the spring of 1996. I was a big fan of "The Shark," Greg Norman. This was just before the emergence of Tiger Woods, and Norman was the best golfer in the world. I still have a black straw Shark hat that I got back then, and I would wear it just like he did out on the golf course.

If there was a tournament that was ever tailormade for Greg Norman's game, it was "The Masters." And it had alluded him for years. But 1996 appeared to be his year. And he did not disappoint for the first 54 holes, taking a 6 stroke lead into the final 18 holes. And then he collapsed. Greg's 6-shot lead evaporated after 9 holes, and he ended up losing to Nick Faldo by 5 shots by coming in with a 78. If he had just shot PAR golf, he would have still won! Many sports writers still consider it the biggest choke job of all time.

Shell-shocked, I dutifully tagged along with Dad to church. We sat in the back row that night -- sitting alone together -- just silently waiting for worship to begin. I turned to Dad and said, "It still bothers me. It doesn't seem real." In an instructive tone, Dad told me, "It's just like losing your wallet. The feeling just doesn't go away."

It can ruin the most well-laid plans. I have a friend, Shon, whose wife took the kids & was going to be gone for the night. Shon decided to have a movie night: he was going to watch the loudest, bloodiest guy flicks he could find. And he was going to eat pizza with olives: his family hated olives. So he ordered the pizza, stopped by Blockbuster to get the movies, and got home just before the delivery guy showed up. When he came to the door, Shon reached for his check book & realized it wasn't there. Luckily he scrounged up enough cash to pay for the pizza, and he paid the pizza guy. But it mattered little now: he was gripped with fear over his lost checkbook. Shon took his house & car apart searching for that checkbook. Finally, he began to retrace his steps and headed back to his office. He took his office apart. Feeling a deep sense of failure, he trudged back out to his car when he spotted the checkbook laying in the parking lot next to where he had parked that afternoon.

The evening was shot. The pizza was cold. There was no time to watch movies. But at least he had that checkbook back.

A host of emotions & thoughts have charged through me since I started looking for my pet wolf yesterday. I feel guilt: did I neglect her? Was it me who put the chain on wrong Monday night? I feel concern: is she okay? Is she hungry/thirsty? Is she lonely? Is she scared? Is she hurt? I feel responsibility. Scenario's play in my head anywhere from someone shooting my wolf out of fear to someone adopting her for themselves.

It is a terrorizing, restless state to be in. There is no peace. There is some comfort, but it's not easy to find. I just try to hold out hope that we're gonna find her any moment now.

Andy Kaufman

One of my very favorite comedians of all-time is Andy Kaufman. I wasn't really alive or paying attention while he was alive, but I love to find YouTube clips of his material.

Jim Carrey depicted him in a film that portrayed his life on the big screen, "Man on the Moon." And I see a lot of Andy Kaufman in Jim Carrey in general. Andy was an inspiration to many modern-day comedians.

Nothing was out of bounds for him; you never knew where he was going to go next. My very favorite skit ever of his involved him lip-synching & dancing to a portion of the Mighty Mouse song on the very first ever episode of SNL.

But here are a couple other favorites of mine. Here he is banging on a Bongo...



And he did Elvis impersonations before they were unfashionable. He was darn good at it, too...

Tony Campolo Experiences a Black Funeral

This sounds like it was a moving experience. Check it out...

Tony Campolo Experiences Powerful Moment at Funeral

Re-Thinking Birthdays

I've been wondering lately: how selfish are we on our birthday's? Seriously.

I kid my sister about it, but she almost literally makes her's a month-long holiday. "I can't do my laundry... for crying out loud, it's my birthday in 12 days!" Okay, she's not that bad. But I do call her "The Birthday Diva."

There is a lot of sort of culturally-induced pressure on us to make sure we have a great day on our birthday. We're supposed to get well-wishes, phone calls, cards, gifts, etc. If we don't, our birthday's ring sort of hollow. Our birthday's are all about us.

And then I think about who did all the work on our birth dates. The wonderful women who hauled us around in their wombs for 40 weeks. And then went through that unimaginable experience of bringing us out into the open world. And then put up with all of our shenanigans, and loved us despite them, for however many years we've known them. When I consider all of that, it makes me think that we're putting the wrong person up on a pedestal on our birthday's.

From now on, I'm resolved to treat my birthday as I would Mother's Day. I'll accept the well-wishes & kindness when it comes. But, from now on, I'm going to focus my mind & energies on spending each October 23rd celebrating my Mom's goodness in giving me the gift of life. She's not with me anymore, but I'm going to devote that day to her: whether that's remembering her, donating some service or money to a charity she loved, or whatever.

I kinda wish I had a couple do-over's so I could have practiced this in her presence. Put her up on a pedestal instead of letting culture dictate to me that that day is all about my personal happiness.

From now on my birthday will be "Thank Mom Day." Just thought I'd share that out loud...

Super Bowl Commercial Prequel

I just caught this in between playoff games today. Remember that horrible ad last year with Eli & Peyton Manning in some kind of Oreo Sports League? If you don't, it's not worth remembering.

Anyway, they've redeemed themselves with this little jewel...

Best Movie Characters of the Decade

I re-watched "The Dark Knight" a few times over the last couple of weeks. I'm probably going to watch a couple more before I send it back to Netflix. I'm just so dazzled with everything about this movie: the appeal to the senses & the appeal to the cognitive, the cinematography & the score, the writing & the acting, etc. etc. etc. It's just SO good. The more I see it & think about it, I think it may be one of the top 3 films I've ever seen. And Ledger's Joker -- well, he's just pitch perfect.

Which got me to thinking... What are the best movie characters that have been introduced to the public consciousness this decade? You know, the ones that you just can't get enough of. Here's my stab at ranking the best of them. I came up with thirteen from this decade so far...


13.) Juno MacGuff
Ellen Page
Juno (2007)

She's so darn spunky & unique. She's just likable.

12.) Mater
Larry the Cable Guy
Cars (2006)

He's so funny.

11.) Jim Braddock
Russell Crowe
Cinderella Man (2005)

You can't help but love & root for this guy.

10.) Bruce Wayne / Batman
Christian Bale
Batman Begins (2005)

By far the best Batman so far. Christian Bale has entered an elite group of superstar young actors that make compelling characters.

9.) Daniel Plainview
Daniel Day-Lewis
There Will Be Blood (2007)

Plays the slimy confidence man with great poise.

8.) Buddy the Elf
Will Ferrell
Elf (2003)

Cockeyed optimism meets cold, hard reality. And he plays it with supreme humor. I think it's Ferrell's best character: even better than Ron Burgundy & Ricky Bobby.

7.) Jason Bourne
Matt Damon
The Bourne Identity (2002)

The best of the super spies with the initials J.B. (e.g. James Bond, Jack Bauer). Watching those films, you just can't wait until he gets cornered and is forced to unleash his lethal skills.

6.) Tony Stark
Iron Man (2008)

His arrogance is intoxicating. You just want more! And we'll have plenty once they're done with his films...

5.) Maximus
Russell Crowe
Gladiator (2000)

Crowe is the only actor to make my list twice. With this character, he made the William Wallace of this decade.

4.) Alonzo
Denzel Washington
Training Day (2001)

The best twist of any film this decade is when you figure out that Alonzo is really a bad guy. His character was just so compelling.

3.) Ruby Thewes
Renee Zellweger
Cold Mountain (2003)

The best of the two female characters on the list. She steals the show. If you've seen the movie, you understand.

2.) Captain Jack Sparrow
Johnny Depp
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

I thought he was the best character created for a movie since Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday in "Tombstone." In fact, they're quite similar in nature. I somewhat wonder whether Depp (or the POTC writers, or both) copied elements of Doc Holliday when they were piecing this character together.

1.) The Joker
Heath Ledger
The Dark Knight (2008)

Simply the best.

Restaurant Name Fail

What better way to ring in the new year than with a laugh.

People should know a language before they try to market a business or product in said language...



Can you imagine if this restaurant caught on fire & someone had to call 911? What would that call sound like?

Operator: "9-1-1 -- State the nature of your emergency..."
Caller: "The Fu King Restaurant is on fire!"
Operator: "I'm sorry, come again..."
Caller: "The FU KING Restaurant is ON FIRE!!"
Operator: "Sir, you're going to have to calm down. Please calmly state the name of the restaurant..."
Caller: "THE FU KING RESTAURANT!!!"
Operator: "Okay, I'm going to have to ask you to stop swearing, sir..."