Bob Newhart Must Die

Does anybody know where I can get a time machine? I need to find one so that I can travel back to the early-mid 80′s. Why you ask? So I can strangle Bob Newhart and the writers of his stupid TV show from that time period. (Apparently he’s had several Bob Newhart shows over the years.) If I have to endure another person (usually somebody I’m meeting for the first time) say “Where’s your other brother Daryl? And your other brother Daryl?” (Yuck, Yuck, hahaha!!!!) I think my head is going to explode. Apparently people loved that sorry excuse for a show and that love endures forever. That joke was old the moment it was scripted. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. This is a problem that fellow Daryl’s (I grudgingly include people with blasphemous variants of the correct spelling of the name. It’s not their fault their parents didn’t know how spell the name properly. It’s D-A-R-Y-L. Let’s continue) have endured for as long as I have. I love it when people usually older ones say, “You’re probably too young to remember that show”. Unfortunately I’m not though I wish I were. How could people actually like that poor excuse for TV programming. Admittedly my view of the show probably stems from the mental anguish certain characters on said show have caused me over the years but come on people. Why was that show so popular? Anyhow, as a note to all the people I will meet in the future, please refrain from using this statement as an instrument of greeting or an icebreaker. Instead of “breaking the ice” as it were you will in fact piss me off and receive an icy stare in return. This all assumes that I don’t succeed in my quest to travel back in time and erase the phrase from the face of the earth. If that happens, you can ignore this post and move onto the next because it will no longer be relevant. Carry on.

P.S. Why do I consider Daryl the only TRUE spelling of my name? Well first off it JUST IS. That should be enough but for those who need further proof, Hollywood validated the correct spelling of the name with the 1985 release of D.A.R.Y.L. For those not in the know that stood for (D)ata (A)nalyzing (R)obot (Y)outh (L)ifeform. Come on folks. It doesn’t get anymore official than that. When your name is turned into a major Hollywood Motion Picture, that’s the pinnacle. Y’all better recognize!!!

I Must Be Getting Old

Well I’m out of my Jim Rome/Sports talk radio phase. Make that burned out. It’s curious how that burnout coincided with the conclusion of the NFL regular season and the College football season. The end of January marks the beginning of what I call the sports doldrums. It’s the time right after the Super Bowl when nothing exciting really happens in sports. Regular season NBA is a bore. Then of course you’ve got hockey ACK … enough said. The NBA All-Star game is a minor blip on the radar. Winter X-Games is a minor distraction in Mid-February though not really a sporting event in the truest sense. The only bright spot is March Madness, which is way up there on my list of super sports phenomena along with the Superbowl and the NBA Finals. That of course excludes semi-annual events that I love such as the World Cup and the Winter/Summer Olympics. After March you have to endure the month of April and the first week in May in order to get into the NBA playoffs. The playoffs don’t really start heating up until the 3rd round or so so that means another 2 ½ weeks of doldrums. After the Finals are over another mini-doldrum kicks in. Summer baseball kicks in. Yippy!!!! Watching paint dry is more exciting but the anticipation of college and NFL football in late August/early September helps abate that somewhat. So it stands to reason that I would put my sports talk radio phase on the shelf during this time of year. Frankly it was just starting to get on my nerves. All ego and bravado and blah, blah, blah. No genuine discussion of the sports at hand. Same stuff different day. It was getting old.

I must be getting old though because I’ve replaced that phase with my NPR phase. Yep, National Public Radio. I can’t get enough of it. If I’m in my car and there isn’t a really tight song on one of the music stations (which happens a lot) I switch over to one of the 4 NPR stations in the area. I’m almost to the point of granting one of the stations a coveted pre-programmed button of it’s own on my crappy, stock Toyota AM/FM radio/Tape Deck for quick access. I may even have to set aside two buttons because certain stations come in clearer depending on what side of town I’m on. That would mean two of the music stations would have to hit the road. They are surely quaking in their boots at the mere thought of this possibility.

I feel more plugged in on the news front listening to NPR now. Since college I’ve had this massive information disconnect as far as world news is concerned. I’ve slowly been losing touch with the world outside US borders and indeed outside the Memphis/Shelby County city limits. NPR is helping me reconnect. I’ve also developed an appreciation for the cool music they play between programs and during station breaks. It’s always fresh, different and innovative. They’ve released a series of CDs consisting of music heard on NPR that I may have to pick up in the near future. Come to think of it, they’d make a great gift for a certain Blog writer whose birthday is coming up in the month of February around the 26th or so. (Hint, Hint, Hint family and friends)

I don’t see myself burning out on the NPR phase anytime soon. The shows are all so interesting and the topics are always current and relevant. Does this officially make me old? I don’t think so. I’m only 25 after all. It just means that you’ll be less like to see me sitting at a traffic light bobbing my head to the music or pumping my fist in response to a comment about my favorite sports team. You’re more likely to see me with a contemplative, scholarly look on my face having listened to yet another interesting, thought provoking story courtesy of NPR.

It Would Appear I’m Not Alone

It would appear that I’m not alone in my appreciation of Antwone Fisher. I did a Google search looking for excerpts from the script and came across this site. Apparently this guy DeadPool (nice name huh?) has read the script and came to the same conclusion I did. It brought him to tears. I’m sure the script is even more powerful than the film due to the inevitable watering down of the subject matter when it’s translated from the paper to the screen. The site Mr. DeadPool works for, TNMC, looks like it might be a keeper. Perfect site for movie buffs and wannabe screenwriters (in my wildest dreams) like me.

In other related film news, according to another film site I frequent, The Numbers, Drumline has pulled in close to $40 million bucks in 22 days of release. Not too shabby. They usually post the budget for the films but don’t have budget numbers on this one yet. I’m sure that film couldn’t have cost more than $25 million tops so Drumline is officially a hit. Back to Antwone Fisher. It’s box office numbers after 11 days of release are a mere $3 million dollars but that is because it’s in limited release at the moment. It opened in 15 theaters on the 19th and is currently in 151 theaters. I’m sure that box office total is going to skyrocket once it opens nation wide. Check out The Numbers to see how your favorite current movie is doing or even to look at the box office numbers for old movies that are no longer in rotation. They’ve got numbers on every movie I’ve ever wanted to find information on. Great site.

Going to Hobby Lobby Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Last week a storm basically traveled up the Mississippi River before proceeding to pound the Midwest and Northeast with tons of snow. While it was in this part of the country (Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi) it was just a bad rainstorm but it did some major damage especially in Arkansas. They showed one town that had been hit by a tornado produced by the storm. It was big news because December tornadoes are rare. Well wouldn’t you know the first moving image they show on the news is the town’s local Hobby Lobby with it’s roof caved in. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Rachel this should serve as proof that you need to seek help for your Hobby Lobby addiction. It’s obvious that tornadoes and other natural phenomenon are drawn to Hobby Lobby locations. Therefore they should be avoided or attended at your own risk. I’ve tried to worn you Rachel. So if you get sucked up in a tornado ala Dorothy in Wizard of Oz while at a Hobby Lobby don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Not So Fast. I Think I Misspoke.

Drumline was not life changing. It was very good and a must-see in my opinion but it was not life changing. That being said, the movie I just saw, Antwone Fisher may very well be life changing. It’s incredible. Denzel Washington does a wonderful job in his directorial debut. Instead of writing a semi-review (which would be hard since I saw it 6 days ago) I thought I’d simply share the journal entry (pen and paper journal that is) I wrote a few minutes after seeing it. I hadn’t written in my journal in many months but felt compelled to do so that day in an effort to get the emotions I was feeling down on paper. So here goes….

I saw Antwone Fisher today. I cried. I haven’t cried during a movie in a long time. I haven’t cried period in a while. The movie was very touching. Antwone’s script was extremely honest, heartfelt and sincere. Denzel did a wonderful job bringing those aspects/characteristics of the script to the screen in his role as director. I mentioned that I cried during the movie. Not only did I cry during the movie, I was still choked up after the movie. Driving home, I almost started crying again. This movie really affected me. The words and images reached out from the screen and touched me. It made a connection with me. In my mind, that’s what films are supposed to do. Unfortunately that’s not the case with most films these days. I’ve seen a lot of movies this year but this is the only one that has truly affected me. Driving home, while trying to fight back the tears, I tried to think about why this movie was causing me to react this way. Perhaps it was the fact that I had just come back form visiting my extended family for Christmas. Antwone is a movie about family. Antwone Fisher never had a family growing up. Thanks to the brilliant filmmaking, it was very easy for me to put myself in his place. I became Antwone Fisher. As did every other person in the theater. So the outpouring of tears at the climax of the film seemed perfectly normal. I heard other people crying. The tears we were crying were somber tears of joy. The joy came from the successful completion of Antwone’s (and our) quest, the quest to find his family. The somberness came from the terribly gut-wrenching journey of experience he had to endure to find them. The joy also came from seeing him come out a stronger, better man because of those experiences. I think that give me hope that if I can endure the tough times that life throws me perhaps I can be a stronger man. Thank you Antwone Fisher. Thank you for sharing your story with me. For a couple hours you experiences became a part of mine.

I think I’ll leave it at that. Go see this movie. You will not be sorry.