Awesome Video

High School Tony Awards Honor Nation's Biggest Drama Club Nerds

Jesus Loves Jugglers

Like we ever doubted it...

There are more of these gems here.

Special thanks to Becca (my graduate counterpart). If you see TWO plays this summer, one of them should be her Brilliant Traces. (It opens tomorrow) If you see ONE play, well...

Too Awesome for Words

Thanks to The Cachinnator for finding this little gem.

It's... I think... The best thing about it... Oh, I give up! I have too much to say and nothing to say all at the same time.

DeNiro and 50 Cent on Acting

VIBE magazine featured an article and interview with Robert DeNiro and 50 Cent because they are set to appear in the film Righteous Kill (with Pacino as well). The interview amuses me for a few reasons. Primarily because DeNiro is an artist who was trained by Stella Adler and who's largely considered one of the greatest film actors of all time. And 50 Cent became famous for writing these lyrics:

We gon' party like it's yo birthday
We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday
And you know we don't give a f**k
It's not your birthday!

Vibe gives the two equal billing in the article and a few moments strike me. First, I find it amusing that DeNiro calls 50 "Curtis". I can imagine that conversation went like this:

RD: How ya doing? I'm Robert.
50: I'm 50 Cent.
RD: What's your mother call you?
50: Curtis.
RD: Right. You ready to do this, Curtis?

Here's an actual exchange from the interview:

VIBE: When you're a method actor, you pull from your own experiences, thing that have affected you -- are you pulling from those things?

Curtis jumps in first.

50: Absolutely, I mean... I've chosen roles I can actually relate to.
RD: ...People can identify with the character, [then] make it specific based on their own experience.

My favorite part:

RD: Imagine that you've not killed somebody, but you imagine the details, the specifics of that, that's what makes it special.

I love that when DeNiro is in a conversation with 50 Cent he has to draw a hypothetical picture of an actor who has not actually killed anyone. Then later:

VIBE: (to DeNiro) 50 has made clear how the hard times he's gone through have led him to be the gangster rapper he is and to play the kind of roles he plays. Your upbringing was more... artistic. I wonder - to where are you reaching?
RD: Well, I've had other experiences in my life that were... for want of a better way of putting it, street oriented.
VIBE: Wait a minute, is Robert DeNiro saying he was running the streets.
50: Orientated... he said he's street-orientated.

That's right, DeNiro uses a real word, which Curtis then repeats incorrectly, twice.

Also notable in the article are the credits:

DeNiro:Styled by Aude Bronson Howard, Groomed by Lynda Eichner
50 Cent: Styled by Mia Maddox, Groomed by Lionel "Lyte" Jones
Prop Styling by Amy Henry
Fashion Director: Memsor Kamarake'

So you apparently need six people (including one dedicated solely to finding a baseball bat for 50 to hold) to prepare two guys for four photos. And yet they look the same as they do every other time I've seen them. And really... if your job title is "Groomer" do you really need the nickname "Lyte". It's pretty much implied.

That's all I have to say about that.

While you're waiting for limerick results...

Check this out. Don't click just watch (with sound if possible).

Wow.

*

In a word...

OUCH. (This hurts my soul.)

Quick Question

Is anybody buying...

?

Is reality in your future?

Tonight, I somehow found myself watching decision Decision House. It's a reality show where a TV Judge intervenes in a couple's troubled relationship by forcing them into a home with cameras. The "guest couple" this week was a gay couple who appeared on The Amazing Race (but did not win) and has gone on to create a celebrity gossip online magazine.

They showed us an interview conducted for their magazine's website in which they interviewed another alum of The Amazing Race who went on to another reality show called "Workout" or "Fitness" or something.

When asked about her "career" she actually uttered these words: "You know, I never imagined reality in my future."

Let's add this up: a reality tv show, uses a TV judge, to help reality tv celebs with their relationship, by putting them on television, and they interview a reality tv celebrity who never imagined reality in her future.

I think metaphysics just exploded.

The Grinch in my son's eyes

My 6-y-old: Mommy & Daddy! His heart is so big now!
Mommy: What do you think that means?

My 6 y-old: Um...

Daddy: Does it mean that he loves strong?

Mommy: And that he will be nice to the Whos?

My 6-y-old: Yeah, and he can pick up sleds!

The Church You Know

The awesome thing about having awesome professors is how awesome they are. Check out these awesome videos my awesome professor just showed me.

Check out these and more at TheChurchYouKnow.com.

Executive Jesus

So, my wife forced me to go into a Christian bookstore today. This particular store is also one of the best places to get educational supplies for her classroom, so we had to go.

And well... I found this:


Sorry the quality is so low but I had to use my camera phone. I really don't have any commentary except that which seems painfully honest, so I'll just leave it at... "Oh, dear."

The crocodile hunter - A tribute from Tyler K. (5th grade)

The following is an essay submitted to my wife by one of her fifth-grade students.

The crocodile hunter

By Tyler K

The crocodile hunt was a friend to the families, he would make many day. He died for a reason for doing what he loved. Taming the animals he loves. He left two kids and a wife, but he left his fans. As Mrs. Bailey said you can stop the people you love from leaving you. He died because a sting ray it hit him in the heart. He has not left me because he was in my heart. He was in my favorite show the crocodile files. His shows were good for me because I could stay up five more min. When I go to gator land he will be there. Here is a poem From Australia to the sea; he had to go for you and me. PS friend. Love Tyler K. :(

BEWARE: Killer Gopher Tortoises

It is certainly not my intent to reduce this blog to a "Strange Signs and Flyers" Website (some of you may think that'd be an improvement) but this caught my eye when my school went to a local park to do a service project. The sign is funny for a couple reasons:
1. I didn't know there was such a thing as a gopher tortoise.
2. Apparently, when people capture these creatures their first instinct must be to come to this park and release them, since they had to make a sign about it.
3. The diagram.

Another Buck Bud
On an unrelated note, my friend, Chris Hansen, a screenwriter and professor at Baylor University, he has entered the blogopshere. Check him out if you get the chance. He is neither a gopher tortoise, nor a danger to other species (as far as I know).

Karate for America w/ a Side of Demon Possession

I found this on the ground near the school where I work. There's nothing particularly wrong with teaching children karate, or feeding those children pizza, but I just love their slogan. It reads:

"Making America stronger one black belt at a time."

Beautiful!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

I wanted to like this film. There were things about it that were quite good. Most of all, Tom Wilkinson. However, there were two problems with the film that I had trouble getting past.

Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD

1. Too sudden a change in the main character: The locket scene drove me nuts. The main character, played by Laura Linney was an agnostic, strong on the ag. (I want that to mean very cynical, even if it doesn't) One minute she's smirking at the Father's warnings about the spiritual realm, and the next she's revealing that she's found a locket with her initials on it and she believes it means she's on the right path??? And the flashback of finding the locket was bizarre too. She is all in white, there is snow everywhere... just strange, it felt like a scene from another movie. It was so out of place for her character, I actually thought she was lying to the priest just to show empathy or something. We see the locket later, flipped over without the initials. Why? God knows.

2. The jury. The sentencing occurs right after the verdict. But I was a little thrown off that the judge was about to give her sentence when all the sudden, she's interrupted by the chairman of the jury, with a recommendation for sentencing. When did they come to concensus about THIS? Or is she just psychic? Does she know the rest of the jury would be okay with this decision? Why would they have talked about this before now? Strange, and forced. It's the judicial version of the "good guy doesn't kill the bad guy, but the bad guy then tries to kill the good guy when his back is turned, and some third party kills the bad guy" cliche'. I hate when films want to make a point or have a "hard to watch" moment, but cop out of it. This film does that big time. There's a host (excuse the pun) of other cliches in Emily Rose, but this one got to me more than others.