Best of the Year

On one of the blogs I read/browse almost daily, Pop Candy, USA Today's Whitney Matheson writes a post every Friday where she recaps her favorite items of popular culture from that particular week. Her favorite tv show, movie, book, song/album, etc. It's almost like a serious version of VH1's Best Week Ever (is that show still on the air?). I could probably pull off writing a similar post every Friday, but I don't think I'd be able to include the favorite book portion because sometimes it takes me over a month to read a book and sometimes I am not reading a book at all. Obviously she can, though, because it's her job. I get that.

On a related note, I don't know how many of you watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but you should. Either way, he has 4 guests on his show each week (M-Th) and more often than not they are promoting a book. I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure that he reads all of them before the authors appear on his show. I'm half baffled half amazed at how he pulls this off. Back in my hey day (2nd grade) I could read faster than just about everyone in my grade, but now I'm starting to think that I'm a slow reader.

Well if I can't pull off this post on a weekly basis I sure as hell can make it work for the year. The only difference that I foresee in utilizing this concept for the year is that Whitney gets to comment on specific tv episodes whereas I think I have to consider entire series'.

And now without further ado...

Favorite movie that I saw- Inception



Now granted I have yet to see Black Swan, The King's Speech, and The Fighter, but Inception was one of the few, if not the only, "drop what you're doing right now and head to the closest movie theater" movies of the year. Director Christopher Nolan is quickly becoming a rockstar in the movie industry because of his ability to churn out action/adventure films that have ridiculous special effects as well as highly developed characters. Now as great as the special effects in Inception were, and they were great, it was the plot that really drove the movie. The story was constantly intriguing, even months after you left the theater (did the top stop spinning? was it all just a dream?), and the storyline (excuse the pun) had so many layers. The best part about this was that even if you were confused about how some of the things in the film transpired you could still follow the general story arc. In that aspect this film was truly remarkable. It was accessible and easy to understand while at the same time multi-dimensional and unclear.

I can't believe I've gone this far and haven't mentioned the amazing cast. You all know that I have a man crush on Leonardo DiCaprio (and really, who doesn't?), but this film also showcased two up and coming stars in the film industry. Both Josh Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page have really come into their own as actors that can handle mutliple roles and this film was further evidence of that. Last, and certainly not least, Inception lived up to the hype. I didn't see it until about a month and a half after it was released and in that time I heard nothing but rave reviews. My friends told me that it was a must see, that it was Oscar worthy, etc., etc. Needless to say by the time I entered the theater I had high hopes for this film. Normally when I have these sort of lofty expectations the film in question doesn't come close to meeting them, but Inception certainly did.

I also enjoyed- The Town, The Social Network, and Hot Tub Time Machine


Favorite song that I heard- As mentioned in my previous post, I've sort of fallen out of touch with the music industry. I rarely listen to the radio (outside of sports talk), haven't been to a concert in years, and only bought 2-3 CDs in the past calendar year. Due to my sudden lack of knowledge in this area, here are two different top 10 lists of the year that will serve as my guide as I make my decision.

Billboard Top 10 of 2010

1.) Ke$ha- Tik ToK
2.) Lady Antebellum- Need You Now
3.) Train- Hey, Soul Sister
4.) Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg- California Gurls
5.) Usher featuring will.i.am- OMG
6.) B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams- Airplanes
7.) Eminem featuring Rihanna- Love The Way You Lie
8.) Lady Gaga- Bad Romance
9.) Taio Cruz- Dynamite
10.) Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris- Break Your Heart

I've actually heard all of these, which I guess means that I'm not totally out of touch. FYI- Bad Romance was released in 2009, but it remained on the Billboard charts well into 2010.

Rolling Stone's Top 10 Singles of the Year

1.) Kanye West featuring Pusha T- Runaway
2.) Cee Lo Green- Fuck You
3.) Sade- Soldier of Love
4.) Katy Perry- Teenage Dream
5.) Arcade Fire- We Used to Wait
6.) Mavis Staples- You Are Not Alone
7.) Vampire Weekend- White Sky
8.) Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi- Tightrope
9.) Broken Bells- The Ghost Inside
10.) Kanye West featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver- Monster

I've now heard all of these songs, but I had only heard four of them beforehand. This list is obviously much different than the Billboard list because the Billboard list was strictly based on popularity whereas this list had a multitude of factors.

For my song of the year I'm going to go with Arcade Fire's "We Used to Wait"
I also enjoyed- Eminem featuring Rihanna- Love The Way You Lie, Sugarland- Stuck Like Glue (my favorite country song of the year), Usher featuring Pitbull- DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love, Vampire Weekend- Giving Up The Gun, Selena Gomez and The Scene- Naturally, and not that I'm a huge fan, but I feel like it needs to be mentioned- Cali Swag District- Teach Me How to Dougie.


Favorite book that I read- The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin



I wrote about this book back in March and for the sake of being lazy and for not including a link that none of you will click on (I'm new to the smartphone game and I now totally understand why links don't get clicked on) I will just copy and paste my words right here.

From my March 29th post titled, "Enter Sandman":

"As I've mentioned time and time again on various platforms, it was the first time since August of 2000 that I had read a book written by a female author ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"). I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make it a full decade, but "The Happiness Project" was well worth the read. The novel falls into the recently dubbed genre of stunt non-fiction. Stunt non-fiction is when the author does something for an extended period of time (usually a year) with the intention of writing a book about the experience. In the case of "The Happiness Project", Rubin dedicated a year to becoming a happier person. She called it, "My year-long quest to be happier by changing my life-without changing my life."

In the book Rubin highlighted specific areas of her life that she wanted to improve. Each month she attempted a handful of stategies in the hopes of improving her happiness with regards to one of these areas (her energy, marriage, work, parenthood, friendships, etc.). Naturally some of these strategies worked and some of them completely backfired. For example, in her attempt to boost her energy she decided to go to sleep earlier, excercise better, remove the clutter from her life, write and complete an extensive to do list including all of the nagging tasks that people consistently put off, and simply to act more energetic. Overall the book provides the reader with ample suggestions on how to become a happier person even if they already consider themselves to be happy."

If you feel like you've fallen into a routine and you don't necessarily have any major problems with it, but you want to feel that renewed sense of life again, read this book.

I also enjoyed- Eating A Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman, How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer, and A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O'Reilly. Also, I feel like I need to mention The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini even though I read it in 2009 because I don't write about books too ofent. This is an amazing story about friendship, loyaltly, and redemption and just as a warning, it's a tear jerker.


My favorite tv show that I watched- I usually don't like going with the clear cut favorite, but how can I not pick Mad Men? When a show's dialogue prompts me to stop my DVR player to write down a handful of lines throughout the season you know the show is fantastic. Just like I've previously written about my favorite book I've also written about my favorite tv show.

From my October 21st post titled, "All Aboard":

"Let me be blunt. If you don't watch Mad Men, you're crazy. It's without a doubt the best drama on television (back to back Emmy wins). The Season 4 finale aired this past Sunday and although there was no "they tied up all the loose ends" closure-like feel or textbook cliffhanger going into next year's Season 5, I am more than satisfied. It was a very complete season. Perhaps the show's best since Season 1.

Here's a few reasons why you should Netflix (has Blockbuster gone bankrupt yet?) Seasons 1-3 and anxiously await Season 4's release.

1.) In case you're not aware (and it's almost impossible for you not to be), Mad Men is set in New York in the 1960's. The name of the show is a reference to the occupation of the characters. They work in the golden age of advertising on Madison avenue. Now this is all fine, but why should you care? Well, because the historical context of the show gives us twentysomethings a look at the world that our parents grew up in. The stories and situations offer a fleeting glance as to how they were raised, shaped, and molded. If you aren't at least mildly intrigued in discovering clues at to why your parents and grandparents are the way that they are then maybe Mad Men isn't for you.

2.) Men and women alike can enjoy the show because they will no doubt be able to resonate with one of the characters.

For men- Don Draper, the show's protaganist, is an alpha male. Women want him and men want to be him. He drinks all day (literally), sleeps with whoever he wants, and still crushes it in the boardroom. He is a creative genius who understands people better than they understand themselves. For his many strong, useful attributes, he is also very flawed. The drinking is just the half of it. He also has a dark past that haunts him constantly.

For women- There is a strong female character in secretary turned copywriter Peggy Olsen. She is a young, motivated woman trying to make it in a man's world. Her struggle for acceptance in the world of advertising is symbolic of the women's rights movement. You know, Rosie the Riveter, Betty Friedan, and all that mumbo jumbo.

In fact, Don and Peggy have the best male/female (platonic) relationship on television. It's part father/daughter, part creative counsel, part genuine friends, part reflection of self, and part teacher/pupil.

3.) Granted I'm probably more of a deep thinker than most, but this is the only show that has made me actually pick up a pen and paper to write down some of the dialogue (this started during Season 4). Some lines are just that well put and thought provoking.

"Is that what you want? or is that what people expect of you?"

"Since when is forgiveness a better quality than loyalty?"

"People tell you who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be."

"When a man walks into a room he brings his whole life with him."

"You always say, "If you don't like what they're saying about you change the conversation."

"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. That's the best part, right? I've got the rest of my life ahead of me. And so do you."

"There is no fresh start. Lives carry on."

I also enjoyed: Modern Family, 30 Rock, The Bachelorette, The Bachelor Pad, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, The Challenge: Cut Throat, and I'm currently loving Top Chef: All-Stars.

List-o-mania

This is one of my favorite times of the year for a multitude of reasons. One of which is the abundant amount of "Best of" lists that you start to see all over the internet. Last year afforded me the opportunity to provide you all with my own "Best of the decade" lists and this year I figured that I could use the same concept and come up with any number of the "Best movies/songs/etc. of 2010." Well in the past week I stumbled across a "Best 60 Songs of the Year" list and a "Best 75 Songs of the Year" list. I figured that these two lists would be a good starting point for my own personal "Best Songs of the Year" list, but I soon realized that I had never heard of most of the songs on these lists. Honestly, I had heard of maybe 4 or 5 songs tops on each list. Clearly I'm out of touch with the music world.

Although I was derailed from my (not so) original idea I decided to give many of these songs a listen and boy am I glad that I did. In case you aren't aware, the indie rock craze is currently off the charts (or maybe the two lists I scoured were from trendy websites/publications). Either way, I've been on an indie rock binge lately like you wouldn't believe. Don't be surprised if I look like one of these guys the next time you see me.



As I've grown to appreciate the indie rock movement in the past few weeks I've taken a particular liking to five bands. Of the five two are British, one is Canadian, one is French, and one boasts members that all hail from the land of the home and the free.

So consider this quick list of my top 5 indie rock bands the consolation for my inability to provide a top 10 songs of 2010.

(in no particular order)

1.) Manic Street Preachers- This British group is a bit on the older side. They formed in 1986 and have since released 10 albums. My favorite song of theirs is their most recent single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love."




2.) Phoenix- I had actually heard of this French band before my binge began, but I'm not even sure if they qualify as an indie rock band. They won a Grammy earlier this year for Best Alternative Music Album for their most recent album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", but indie rock is Alternative, right? Either way I know they've hit it big because not only have the played on all the late night talk shows, but they were even an answer/question on a recent episode of Jeopardy. My two favorite Phoenix jams are "1901" and "Lisztomania" (which has been used in countless movie trailers, tv shows, etc.).

You've probably heard "Lisztomania" already anyway and there's no way I'm going to embed a video of just the lyrics, so click the link if you want to hear the song.


3.) Vampire Weekend- You may have heard of them. They seem to be quite popular from what I can tell. My favorite part about this band of former Columbia students is that they've been named the "whitest band" going by the guy that created the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. Also, they've appeared on The Colbert Report so they're good in my book. My favorite Vampire Weekend songs include "Giving Up the Gun", "Holiday", "Cousins", and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa".






4.) Mystery Jets- This five piece English band was formed by a father, son (who has a spinal condition that prevents him from really walking- he uses crutches), and the son's best friend. They have since added two members and have released a total of 4 albums. Their most recent, Serotonin (this is commonnly known as the "happiness" hormone), features two of my current go to tunes in Dreaming of Another World and Show Me the Light. I also particularly enjoy their song "Flash a Hungry Smile".






5.) Arcade Fire- If I had marginally heard of this Canadian band then you probably have too. They are led by a husband and wife duo, which is kind of cool, and have been nominated for a number of Grammys including 3 this year. My favorite Arcade Fire songs are "We Used to Wait" and "Intervention". Surprisingly I'm not a fan of their song "Wake Up" which has been used by the NFL in 2010 Super Bowl commercials and also by The Dan Patrick Show.

The Best _____ _______ of all time

The other day a buddy of mine mentioned (in an email chain) that the new Jake Gyllenhaal/Anne Hathaway movie Love and Other Drugs is "the best chick flick of all time," which of course got me thinking about what the best chick flicks of all time actually are. Now I have yet to see this film, although I will say that it is 1 of 4 movies that either have been recently released or will soon be released that I want to see (the others being How Do You Know (another chick flick), The Black Swan, and The King's Speech), so I can't include it on these rankings just yet, but I have a feeling it will compare very favorably to a few of the following.

As far as chick flicks go, the criteria to be considered one is pretty ambigious. I'll let Wikipedia explain, "Generally, a chick flick is a film designed to have an innate appeal to women, typically young women. Defining a film a chick flick is, as the New York Times has stated, more of a parlor game than a science. These films are generally held in popular culture as having formulaic, paint-by-numbers plot lines and characters. Some frequent elements of chick flicks include having a female protagonist, thematic use of the color pink (along with metaphorical allusions of the color), and romance and/or dating based storylines. Longtime producer Jerry Bruckheimer has remarked about the plots as "How do you cope with money and love?"

For our purposes I've decided to not include any movies that have garnered attention from the Academy Awards. Those movies (I'm looking at you Titanic) are dramas.

And now, without further ado, the top 10 chick flicks of all time that guys could easily put up with/might secretly enjoy.

1.) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)- An intriguing plot where a magazine columnist (Kate Hudson) dates a guy and does everything imaginable to get dumped in 10 days, but little does she know that the guy (Matthew McConaughey) made a bet that he could get her to fall in love with him in 10 days.

Also, not for nothing, Kate Hudson looks phenomenal in that yellow dress. As I've previously written, normally guys aren't overly impressed with a dress because if a girl is good looking she's going to look good in just about any dress, but this yellow dress was perfect for Kate Hudson.

2.) Definitely, Maybe (2008)- A soon to be divorced father (Ryan Reynolds) tells his daughter about three of his past relationships, including the one with her mother, and soon after the story is over the plot shifts to the present (a la Forrest Gump) as his unresolved feelings for a woman from his past come to the forefront.

I think what makes this chick flick so entertaining is that the protaganist is a male. The plot involves plenty of female emotions, but you see them from a male perspective.

3.) (500) Days of Summer (2009)- To be honest, I'm not even sure if this one counts. I've seen it referred to as a "male chick flick", so we'll go with that. Either way the plot centers around a male 20 something (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who tries to figure out where things went wrong with a girl (Zooey Deschanel) that he dated.

As I've repeatedly stated over the past few months, Zooey Deschanel is my current #1 celebrity crush and I can almost guarantee that she will be yours as well once you're done watching this movie (and Yes, Man).

4.) Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)- This is a bit of a throwback and it did garner an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, so I'm breaking my own rules, but I feel like it's a movie that not too many people have heard of. Maybe because it's British. Anyway, as the title indicates this movie tells the story of two people (Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell- a something about her/sneaky hot type of girl) that fall in love over the course of four weddings and a funeral.

5.) Love Actually (2003)- This is almost like the British version of Crash (2004), but it's set around Christmas time. There are 5 or 6 storylines that seem to weave together. It's basically like a bazooka to the face of Christmas spirit. Incredibly heartfelt and hard not to like. I know at least 3 girls who say that this is their favorite movie of all time.

6.) When Harry Met Sally (1989)- It's been called the ultimate date movie and I threw it on here mainly because of that. Not to mention that there aren't too many chick flicks that I've seen and enjoyed (surprising, I know). The movie is about a guy and a girl (Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) who drive to New York together from Chicago and seemingly can't stand each other, but they become friends as they keep running into each other over the years in NYC and eventually fall in love.

7.) Raising Helen (2004)- A young, career-first socialite (Kate Hudson) is tasked with raising her sister's 3 kids (the oldest played by a young Hayden Panittiere) after she and her husband die in a car accident. As the title infers, Kate Hudson's character Helen matures through this experience of raising her sister's children.

I know it sounds like a brutally painful movie to watch, but it's actually heartwarming and borderline enjoyable.

8.) The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)- I thought this movie was semi-worthwhile mainly because I didn't fully grasp the rules to this time travel. Basically Eric Bana jumps through time and pops up at different stages of his life. Whenever he goes to another point in time he always shows up without any clothes. If you think that's bizarre, it's get crazier. He starts showing up at different points of this girl's childhood (Rachel McAdams) and eventually they "fall in love" and get married (as if she had a choice- this guy kept showing up and practically told her that they were destined to get married), but he keeps disappearing for stretches and she is forced to deal with the reality that her husband will never fully be there for her.

Maybe I enjoyed this film (sort of) because I'm a big Rachel McAdams guy, but I will say that girls ate this movie/book up big time.

9.) Serendipity (2001)- Hopefully you know what you're getting into when you see Cusack and Kate Beckinsale on the cover. This film reinforces the largely female notions of "everything happens for a reason" and "if it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

10.) The Proposal (2009)- The plot is a bit ridiculous, but the movie isn't horrible. A female CEO type (Sandra Bullock) is getting deported (she's Canadian), so she forces her male assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her so that she can stay in the country. They go away to his hometown for a long weekend and, you guessed it, fall in love.

Wordsmith in Training

Along with being awkward, adept at social situations, and an awesome blogger I'm also kind of a nerd. For example, I record Jeopardy every night and have an excel document where I input the number of questions/answers that I get right. Along the same lines, the book I'm currently reading is titled, "The Big Book of Words You Should Know." It basically reads like a dictionary, so it's taken me a while to trudge through it, but it's been incredibly insightful. I'm not even half way through it and I can already tell that my vocabulary is improving. Here a few examples of what I've learned.

You know the phrase, "wet your appetite"? Well, it's actually whet your appetite.

whet (v.)- to stimulate; also to sharpen a knife of similar object by honing on a stone.

I always thought that people with hidden reasons for things had "alterior" motives, but low and behold the actual word is ulterior.

Similarly I always thought the word was "anti-climatic", but it's actually anti-climactic. That extra "c" will get you.

anti-climactic (adj.)- a disappointing decline in contrast to a previous rise; an average ending to a series of important events.

When learning how to play defense in basketball and lacrosse I was always taught to "sluff off" when playing in a zone. Well guess what? The actual word is slough.

slough (v.)- to become shed or cast off, like the slough- or outer skin layer- of a snake.

I always thought that Bob Barker's sign off phrase was "spade and neutered", but I guess I had just never seen it spelled out. The proper spelling is spayed.

spay (v.)- to render an animal infertile by removing the ovaries.

Another word that I had never seen written was brouhaha. Honestly I was surprised to see that it was actually a word.

brouhaha (n.)- an event that involves or invokes excitement, turmoil, or conflict.

Speaking of which, fracas is also a word.

Another word that I had heard of, but wasn't entirely sure that it was an actual word was snafu.

snafu (n.)- an eggregious, but common error.

Much like Sarah Palin I've always thought that "gambit" meant the same thing as gamut (FYI- Palin thought "refudiate" meant the same as "repudiate"; however "refudiate" isn't a word....until now).

Now, of course, my confusion was related to the X-Men character named Gambit (who I just learned was played by Tim Riggins/Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), but I digress.



gamut (n.)- the full range or extent.

As many of you know there are sophisticated terms for some wild things. For example, the proper terms for oral sex are fellatio and cunnilingus. Also, the proper term for a wet dream is nocturnal emission. I bring this up because in reading this book I came across the proper term for a burp, belch, etc.

eructation (n.)- a fancy word word for belch.

Now that's an easy transition to the first of two words that I've always spelled improperly.

flaccid (adj.)- lacking firmness, stiffness, vigor.

I never knew there was a second "c".

gist (n.)- the main point; the essential meaning, the core or heart of the message.

I always thought it was "jist".

The word I think I was happiest to stumble across was crag.

crag (n.)- a steep rock formation rising higher than its surrounding rocks.

Obviously this tidbit of info was music to my ears because I now know half of the derivation of "The Aggro Crag" from Nickelodeon's Global Guts.



You know the "dobber" that your grandmother uses while playing BINGO? Well it's actually daubber and comes from the word daub.

daub (v.)- to smear with a sticky substance; to paint a surface in a hurried fashion.

I've always equated the term "double entendre" with sexual innuendo and I've now learned that I was only partially correct.

double entendre (n.)- a statement in which one or many of the words may be interprated in several ways, resulting in ambiguity; an expression that can be taken two ways, one of which often has sexual or threatening undertones.

While we're at it? What's the difference between overtones and undertones?

Well, I just looked up their definitions and I'm pretty sure that they're interchangeable.

This book of mine also has a cool section on popular foreign idioms. Now I'll assume that most of you know what these ones mean- a cappella, ad lib, ad nauseum, au contraire, au revoir, carpe diem, deja vu, faux pas, quid pro quo, status quo- but here are 10 more that you should familiarize yourself with.

1.) ad hoc (adj.)- for a specific purpose or end; formed for immediate or present need. The Latin phrase literally translates to "for this purpose".

ex: an ad hoc committee

2.) avant-garde (adj.)- relating to the latest trends, especially in the world of art; of a new or experimental nature. The term is French for "fore guard", or furthest from the line of battle.

3.) bon mot (n.)- a clever or witty comment.

4.) carte blanche (n.)- unrestricted power, access, or privilege; permission to act entirely as one wishes. Carte blance is French for "blank document".

ex: having little to no regard for consequences is to act in a carte blanche manner.

5.) coup de grace (n.)- a decisive act or event that brings a situation to a close; the finishing blow.

6.) fait accompli (n.)- something undertaken and already concluded. Fait compli is French for "accomplished fact".

ex: a done deal

7.) je ne sais quoi (n.)- a special, intangible quality. The term is French for "I don't know what.

ex: When someone has a je ne sais quoi about them they have what we Americans like to call the "it" factor.

8.) mea culpa (n.)- an acknowledgement, usually in public, of a blunder or mistake. The term is Latin for "I am to blame."

ex: Tiger Woods' February press conference, the one where he fielded no questions, was a mea culpa.

9.) non sequitur (n. adj.)- something that does not follow logically. A statement that has no basis in what has gone before.

ex: The term is usually used to refer to comedic one liners that are seemingly absurd.

10.) tete-a-tete (n.)- a meeting in which two people meet face to face. The term is French for "head to head".

Proper Protocal

Although I recently referred to myself as the most awkward human being on the planet, I'm also quite adept when it comes to common social situations in which the proper protocal is unclear. My friend "Downtown" Jeff Brown and I routinely seek each other's counsel when in situations where the most appropriate etiquite escapes us, or just to affirm our instincts when we encounter someone that may have corrupted the social order. If you are ever in a situation and you aren't sure how to act accordingly feel free to consult with me if you have the time to do so, or confer with me afterwards to see if you handled the situation properly. If you aren't sure what kind of situations I'm referring to, here are a few examples.

1.) At the Movies- I assume everyone knows this one, but I'll explain it anyway. If two guys go to a movie they must leave a seat inbetween them unless the theater is filled to capacity. Only when the number of guys reaches 5 is it acceptable to sit in consecutive seats.

2.) All that and a bag of chips (true or false Stephen Colbert tried to trademark this phrase last week?)- A few years back Browny called me after he had the following encounter. He was on the couch eating a large bag of chips while watching a movie with 1-2 other people. He said that asked the others if they wanted any chips and they both said no. After he polished off the chips (I assume the bag was already opened before he began eating them because Browny is a skinny guy), he commented on how good the chips were as he threw out the bag. At this point, one of the other people watching the movie said something to the effect of, "Yeah, thanks for offering," in a very sarcastic tone. Now after this episode Browny was shocked at this vitriolic response and wanted to know if he had done his due diligence, so he consulted me. Quite frankly, I told him that although this person's reaction was a bit extreme, he was in fact at fault. When it comes to being offered food, most polite people initially decline even if they really want to accept. After the second offer their true intentions normally reveal themselves.

3.) Door Holders-



Browny once told me that he followed some poor girl all the way across campus one day and she held 6 different doors open for him during the trek. He told me that he said "thank you" everytime, but wanted to know what the proper protocal was. At first I told him that the obvious answer is that the first and last door necessitates a "thank you." He quickly retorted in saying that he never knew what door was going to be the last one so he just kept saying "thank you" everytime. Our final verdict was that if you say "thank you" after the first door a simple nod of the head will suffice for each corresponding door. Although, if it becomes clear that a door will be the last in a series of doors a verbal "thank you again" is not necessary, but strongly recommended.

4.) The Soda Fountain-



a.) During one of our many Spicy Chicken Wednesday meals at Wendy's I had finished my Dr. Pepper, but I was still thirsty. Normally I would have just gotten up and refilled my drink, but the soda fountain in the restaurant was behind the counter. Browny enlightened me and told me that it's more than acceptable to walk up to the counter (and cut the line even) to ask for a refill.

b.) Last week, while at the soda fountain the person behind Browny in line abruptly placed their cup directly next to his and began filling up the soda of their choice. Browny texted me shortly after to confirm what the proper procedure in an instance like this is. Of course, his instincts were correct. According to the unwritten code of social behavior this sort of behavior is generally frowned upon. Proper protocal is to wait for the person in front of you to finish filling up their cup and walk away before you approach the fountain. When time is an issue it is acceptable to simultaneously fill up your cup only if your soda of choice is on the opposite side of the ice feeder.

Now there are countless other examples (and when I say countless I mean 3-4) where Browny and I have discussed proper etiquette in everyday social situations, but my memory isn't what it once was. Bottom line, I fancy myself a highly qualified arbiter in instances such as these, so feel free to check with me if you are ever in such a situation.

Keeping Tabs

Believe or not, I'm not much of a gambler. Even when comes to sports, I rarely roll the dice.

The same can not be said for many of my friends. A handful of which (from both highschool and college) are full fledged sports gambling afficionados. They spend countless hours looking at point spreads and evaluating over/unders. In fact, one of my friends runs a sports gambling website in his spare time that I occasionally contribute to. Gambling (sports related or not) is such a part of his life that he can't go more than 10 minutes without making a bet of some sort. For example, in late August a bunch of us were in Atlantic City for a little guys weekend (golf, fantasy football draft, and a friend's birthday) and he must have made upwards of 30 bets in the course of 2 days. It got to the point where he wanted to bet someone on the amount of happy birthday Facebook wall posts our friend had received from midnight to the time of the proposed bet (3:30 am- give or take an hour).

Now I am no stranger to the world of sports betting. I briefly dabbled back in my college days. I figured that my knowledge of sports would serve me well and for a while it did. True to my nature I was a very conservative gambler. I usually only bet on 1-2 games a week and about $20 per contest. This all changed, however, when the opportunity to score big presented itself.

The day was Monday, November 28th, 2005. The Fairfield University basketball had started the year 0-2 and were poised for a miserable season. In town that night to take on the Stags were the 2-0 Providence Friars. Providence, led by Kennedy Catholic great Donnie "Be cool. You know me" McGrath, were by no means a powerhouse in the Big East, but they were much more talented than the bottom feeders of the MAAC.

My cousin who will not be named received a call from his dad in the early afternoon hours and he mentioned how Providence was only favored by 5 points. We were stunned by this information. We both agreed that Providence was more likely to win by 55 than Fairfield was to keep the score within 5. Although I had never bet on a college basketball game and I'd be breaking my own rule #1 of gambling (never bet against your own team) I was all set to place a hefty wager on the game. Minutes later that hefty wager soon turned into an all out splurge.

My cousin had played on the Fairfield basketball the year before and was still close with many of the players. He told me that one of Fairfield's star players was walking around on crutches after suffering an injury in practice the night before. I was convinced that the spreadmakers in Vegas had no knowledge of this injury; therefore this bet was truly a sure thing. So much so that I called a few of my friends from highschool and told them to bet the farm on Providence.

To say that Providence's 35-34 halftime lead made me feel uneasy would be an understatement. Not only were my armpits in full on fire hydrant mode, but a cold sweat slowly dripped down by back as I tried to reassure myself and my friends from home (the game obviously wasn't televised) that Providence would pull away in the second half.

Providence maintained a slim lead late into the second half and although they were clearly the inferior team Fairfield just would not quit. Finally Providence extended their lead to 9 with about 3 minutes to play and I quickly updated my friends from home.

As the final minutes counted down the Stags were in desperation mode. They were running a full court press, sending Providence to the free throw line when they didn't get a steal, and jacking up 3's on offense....and for some God forsaken reason they were making them. I've never seen Fairfield get so hot from behind the 3-point line. It was ridiculous.

With 10 seconds to play Providence had pushed their lead back to 5 at 80-75 and Fairfield was down to their final gasp. All I needed to win the bet was for Fairfield to miss a three and to have the Providence rebounder make 1 free throw on the other end. In a cruel twist of fate Alvin Carter, known for his rebounding and defense (aka he wasn't an offensive threat) banked in a three-pointer to cut the Providence lead to 2. Fairfield fouled immediately. The Providence player made 1-2 from the line and Fairfield heaved up a half court shot as time expired. Final score- Providence 81, Fairfield 78.

Rule #1- Never bet against your own team.

Not that I'm still bitter about that game or anything (I am), but I'm pretty sure that Alvin Carter had never even taken a three-pointer in practice, let alone in a game. Also, to illustrate how much better of a team Providence was. They shot 64% from the floor that night whereas Fairfield shot just 43%. For those of you that also bet on the game (I'm looking at you Kyle Korver), here is the boxscore.

After the game I vowed to never gamble on sports (through a bookie, website) etc. again.

I've held true to that vow, but I haven't completely eradicated gambling from my life because 1.) it makes things a lot more exciting and 2.) it's fun to make a little wager with a friend every once in a while.

To the best of my knowledge in the past year I have made six such bets.

1.) In May I bet my cousin who will not be named $50 that Syracuse guard Andy Rautins would be drafted in the NBA draft in late June. Rautins was selected in the 2nd round (38th overall) by the New York Knicks. My cousin claims that this was the luckiest bet of my life and that the bet was only $20 (which I have yet to collect on).



I want to say that there was also a bet as to whether or not he'd be on a team's opening day roster, which he was, but I can't remember all the details.

2.) In June I bet my buddy Mark on the Celtics/Lakers NBA Finals. He, from Boston, had the Celtics and I had the Lake Show. The winner of the bet (me) won free drinks for a night (which I have yet to collect on).



That's 5 for Kobe in case you aren't keeping track at home.

3.) In July I bet my friend Jaclyn on who Ali would pick in The Bachelorette Finale. She thought that Ali would pick Chris and I thought Ali would pick Roberto. The winner of the bet (me) won a few drinks (which I have yet to collect on).



4.) During guys weekend in Atlantic City I bet my friend Alex, who runs the sports gambling site, $50 on the win total of the Tampa Bay Bucs. The line was set at 5 1/2 and I took the under. The Bucs are currently 5-2 (3-0 on the road) and would have to lose their last 9 games for me to win the bet.



5.) In an effort to make watching TV more enjoyable, Alex encouraged our friend RJ and me to partake in a fantasy draft of competitors on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. We each put $20 down and drafted 3 guys, 3 girls, and a team (the draft was done via email). The rules stipulate that whoever has the most players left at the time of the final challenge wins. In the event of a tie, the team that we drafted serves as the tiebreaker. We weren't really sure how the show worked, but it makes sense. RJ's team is still completely intact and Alex and I have each lost a player.



By the way, this is the perfect example of how gambling makes everything more exciting. There is no chance that I would ever have wasted my time watching this show, but now that I'm invested in it I can't get enough.

6.) With the NBA season starting my excitement for the new look New York Knicks has gone through the roof (maybe that's what cause debris to fall from the Garden). After noticing that I was watching a Knicks game instead of a World Series game that I was working on, my boss and I got to talking and eventually a bet was made. For some reason (I'm mildly delusional when it comes to the Knicks) I claimed that the Knicks would finish ahead of the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference. Things are looking good so far as the Knicks are off to a hot 1-2 start and the Hawks have stumbled out of the gate, going 5-0.



Thankfully there is nothing riding on this bet other than my credibility as an NBA fan around the office.

Flip Flopper

Well, I held off as long as I could, but the evil empire that is Twitter finally sucked me in. As you may recall I have been staunchly anti-twitter since it's inception (not to name the best movie of the summer or anything). My take was simple. 1.) Who cares what you're doing right now? 2.) I'm not really that interested in the lives of celebrities. And 3.) Isn't this the same thing as a Facebook status update?

Now I held steadfast to this dissenting opinion until I slightly began to waver in late August. My fall from grace (sorry to steal your phrase Tiger) was the result of a two-pronged attack. First and foremost, was the persuasive efforts of the powers that be at the fine company where I am employed. In a departmental meeting in late August we were all strongly encouraged to join Twitter-mania. Management essentially told us that if we weren't on Twitter we were missing out. Once the initial shock of realizing that I would have to reconsider my position on the social media website wore off a few producers chimed in and mentioned that they get information for their shows on Twitter long before it shows up on our internal news wire. It was at this point that I knew deep down that this siege would be one that I could not endure much longer.

Secondly was the persistent peer pressure (what up alliteration) from some of my closest friends. All throughout the summer they told me that I had to join Twitter. It's awesome. I'm missing out. They would text me funny tweets by professional athletes, etc. etc. I brushed all of this aside for as long as I could, but whether you know it or not, your friends can convince you to do just about anything.

I held out from joining the site for another month purely based on principle (I said I was anti-Twitter, I can't change my mind now), but earlier this month I registered an account (@DanStanczyk if you want to follow me). Within an hour I received a text from my buddy Frank over at ThePopCultureIniative that said, "I knew you'd cave. Welcome to Twitter. It's a Brave New World."

Of course I realize that in the grand scheme of things I'm way late to the party. In fact, as far as fads go I'm almost certainly a laggard, but I'm ok with it.



Obviously I'm still new to the site and I'm still getting by bearings, but in the short time that I've been tweeting (some people just follow, but I'm way to expressive for that) I've come to notice some positives and negatives. FYI- of my roughly 60 tweets the majority have been sports related (surprise, surprise). Despite what my friends told me, Twitter, while definitely a useful tool, isn't the greatest thing in the world. So here is a quick pro's and con's list, if you will.

Pro's

- Twitter makes browsing the internet 10 times easier. Instead of wasting your time aimlessly searching for news and articles that you might find interesting Twitter puts those articles at your fingertips. Deciding who to follow is key in achieving this bonus. If you follow your favorite writers, reporters, magazines, etc. they will often include links in their tweets to articles that you will enjoy. In this respect, Twitter consolidates your web browsing and brings it right to you.

- Twitter rewards timing and ingenuity. Demonstrating creativity and humor in your musings will get the attention of your friends and others that share your interests. The key though is timing. Twitter time is very accelerated. For instance, if you're watching a sporting event and tweeting about what you see, the window for you to make an insightful tweet is very limited. In a few minutes everyone else watching that game will have moved on to the next play, the next quarter, etc.

- As shallow as it may seem, Twitter gives you a glimpse inside the mind of the very celebrities that our culture glorifies. This kind of access to our stars and starlettes is unprecedented. We get their thoughts, their opinions, and things that they find interesting instantaneously. At the very least this is both mildly intriguing and entertaining.

- This one might only apply for egomaniacs like me, but Twitter gives you a platform. Everyone wants their voice to be heard somehow and someway and Twitter allows for this to happen. Sure it's not a huge platform, but it's a start. It's a way to share your ideas and connect with others you may not otherwise have connected with.

Con's

- The immediacy of Twitter is crazy. To borrow the famous line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That pretty much sums up Twitter right there. It's hard to keep up with the tweets of everyone that you follow and it's hard to find the window to tweet effectively.

- Along the same lines, Twitter forces you to try to be creative. You feel the pressure to conjure up a witty statement about whatever is happening at that moment. Thinking is hard and nobody likes doing it and the timing issue only exacerbates the problem.

- Once you first tweet there's no going back. Almost immediately you feel as if you have to keep up with everybody else. It's such a high paced environment that right after you tweet something you are almost already thinking about what you'll tweet next. My unnamed cousin, who is not on Twitter, recently told me that he has a pet aquarium...on his iPhone. He said he routinely has to feed his virtual fish and clean his virtual aquarium. Of course I told him that that is the dumbest thing of all time, but Twitter is almost the same way. You just feel like you have to feed your fish and tweet your little heart away and that you have to clean the tank and read everyone else's tweets.

- That all said, as pathetic as it is, Twitter also reminds you how inconsequential you really are. I'm wasting all this time thinking of creative ways to express my thoughts on trivial matters and no one really cares what I have to say. Until you become famous enough that your twitter account has to be verified (my friend Frank's goal) your tweets don't really matter all that much.