@Randem

South Carolina certainly loves Steve Spurrier!

I love it when a huge, fat chick comes into a burger joint and orders
two - count ‘em, two - double cheeseburgers, and then asks for a diet
soda. You ain’t fooling nobody!

In the times long before Christ and before Capitalism, there was a Yule festival. During the Yule festival, the men of the village would go out and cut down the biggest tree they could find and bring it to the village square, and start it burning. They did this on the Winter Solstice, and kept it going for 12 days, until the new year. During this festival, the people of the village would gather together for great feasts. They would sing, and dance, and give each other gifts. It was a celebration of spirit.

To be honest, I don’t know if that’s all true, of if I’ve just pieced together the better portions of a thousand different stories into something that sounds blissful in my mind. Maybe I remember it exactly as I’ve read it, or maybe I remember it as I want to believe it was. Either way, it sounds pretty nice to me.

I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by people — mostly family — who are not afraid to challenge conventional thinking and do things differently, and Christmas is no exception. Some of the people around me are non-religious, and non-traditional, and prefer not to participate in what they see as nothing more than a capitalism holiday. Some are traditional, and they don’t care about the history of the season, they only care about what it means to them: time spent with family. Some are very religious, and choose to focus on the story of Christ rather than on the story of Santa Claus. There are even some who have abolished the idea of Christmas altogether, professing that taking part in any way is entirely blasphemous to their faith. (Fortunately, those in the last group do not have kids!)

I don’t consider myself to be a big believer in tradition, and anyone who has read my web site knows I’m not terribly religious. But I consider it to be a benefit that I have people around me who are. I have heard numerous arguments for and against Christmas, and have been presented with many reasons and justifications and explanations and theories. If nothing else, it has given me a wealth of perspective in determining my own interpretation of the holiday.

For me, Christmas is a sentiment. It’s not a holiday, and it’s not a holy day. It’s a feeling, not a reason to shop. It’s bundling up in warm clothes, hearing happy music, seeing your breath, and thinking about others instead of myself. It’s snow, and gloves, and warm drinks, and fun gatherings, and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

I enjoy giving gifts, but I feel no obligation to do so. I give gifts to show my appreciation for the blessings I receive from those around me… not to prove my loyalty or sentiment. I put a lot of thoughts into my gifts, because I want to show that I have thought about the recipient. You can’t replace thought with dollars. No extravagance of price can make up for the lack of consideration.

I also enjoy receiving gifts, but I don’t ever expect them. Not from anyone. In the same way that I don’t give out of obligation, I don’t want to receive a gift out of perceived obligation. And your price tags won’t impress me… only the thought you put into showing me what I mean to you.

I’m not rich, but I am thankful to say that I can pretty much afford to buy whatever I want. And since I don’t have many wants, I generally do so. I like that, because it allows me to think about what really matters at the holidays. Giving, and receiving of gifts can be fun, and even sentimental, but what really matters is being with the people who really matter — and not just for one day.

After thousands of years, we still have Christmas trees and Yule logs. We still have 12 days of Christmas, leading into the new year. We still have gatherings and feasts and gifts. Sure, many of the details have changed — we now have Santa Clause, and Scrooge, and Trading Places — but the warm sentiment is still there.

I went to the midnight showing of I Am Legend on opening night and loved it. So much so, that I went and saw it again Saturday at the IMAX theater.

Will Smith has been one of the hottest actors in Hollywood lately, with everything he touches turning to gold, and there is no better actor in all of Hollywood to play the role of Robert Neville.

Will Smith is the only actor I can think of who has the ability to give heart-wrenching sincerity (Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness) while also possessing the ability to be the only actor on the screen for large portion of the film (Men In Black, I Robot).

The director deserves credit as well, for providing the angles and cuts that tell the story, but the truth is that Will Smith pulled off a last-man-on-earth portrayal that makes Tom Hanks in Castaway look like the amateur hack actor I think he is. If it weren’t for the SFX creatures in the movie, I think Smith would be a shoe in for an Oscar.

It was obvious to me that he put serious work into understanding the mind of a person who has been alone and looking over his shoulder for three years. He talks to mannequins, keeps detailed journals, and is meticulous about where every little thing belongs, even down to moving his coffee cup and glass of orange juice into their expected places.

In his most impressive scene, he gets no help from the cameramen, lighting crew, or director, and has to carry out the implicit action while selling the emotion using only his face… and he does it triumphantly. In a closeup shot with only his face, Smith manages to tell the audience every sad and painful thing he’s doing off screen, while revealing the torturous consequences it has on him.

Once you’ve seen it, you’ll know exactly what scene I’m referring to. Both times I’ve watched it, that audience let out a sigh of anguish at the end of the scene. Marvelous.

As I was cruising my Google Reader last night, I came across this interesting logic problem.

It’s purported that Einstein said 98% of the world’s population could not figure out this logic problem.

There are 5 houses each with a different color. Their owners, each with a unique heritage, drinks a certain type of beverage, smokes a certain brand of cigarette, and keep a certain variety of pet. None of the owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigarette or drink the same beverage.

Clues:

• The Brit lives in the red house.
• The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
• The Dane drinks tea.
• The green house is just to the left of the white house.
• The green house’s owner drinks coffee.
• The person who smokes Pall Malls raises birds.
• The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
• The man living in the center house drinks milk.
• The Norwegian lives in the first house.
• The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
• The man who keeps a horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
• The owner who smokes Bluemasters also drinks beer.
• The German smokes Prince.
• The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
• The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Who owns the fish?

I was able to figure this out in about 10 minutes. How well will you do?

Went to Ed Debevics for lunch on my birthday. Here we see the wait
staff dancing on the countertop.

After 1,865 kickoffs in their 31 years as a franchise, the Buccaneers finally returned one for a touchdown on the same day that they clinched first place in the NFC South, beating the Atlanta Falcons 37-3.

I wish I could’ve seen it, but at least I got to see Brett Favre set a new all-time passing record, eclipsing Dan Marino. Favre’s name is now attached to every meaningful QB record in the NFL. Way to go, Brett.

Wow, I’m noticing a follow-your-dreams theme in my writing today.

I picked up this little book last night called It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be, by Paul Arden, and read the entire thing on my train ride home.

Arden instructs readers to aim high, set lofty goals, and accept nothing less. He says to be who you want to be, instead of who you are: talk big, and make it happen. He talks about how to please your clients and earn their trust. Most importantly, he encourages you to take responsibility for yourself, and constantly push forward, rather than becoming complacent and settling for less than what you truly want.

The book is filled with zen-like truth that applies to today’s world. It’s straight to the point, and brutally honest. Some of the advice is obviously related to advertising and creative endeavors, but the wisdom in this book is universal. I’ll read this again and again.