Fours

Okay, I'm stealing this blog post from Brandy. Be aware that at any given time I could steal any one of any of your ideas. And when I say "your" I mean the world. This thing where I pledged to post something every single day is a little daunting at times. It really can be difficult to come up with something worth writing about on a daily basis. It would be one thing if I was telling an involved work of fiction that required several days to tell. But for now, I'm posting this, whether you like it or not...

Four Jobs I've Had: Let's work backwards... Bank Teller, Qwik Pack & Ship Clerk, Day Treatment Counselor, Night-time Residential Counselor...

Four Places I Have Lived: Wake Forest, NC... Bluefield, VA... Roanoke, VA... Salem, VA...

Four Movies I Watch Over And Over: The Wizard of Oz... Back to the Future... That Thing You Do... Superman Returns...

Four Favorite Foods: Pizza... Chicken Alfredo... Bacon Cheeseburger... Frosted Flakes...

Four Favorite TV Shows: Lost... Heroes... 24... How I Met Your Mother...

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now: Smith Mountain Lake... some beach... Nashville... pretty much anywhere with friends...

That's it. That's all you're getting today. If you want something more interesting come back tomorrow, I might have something. However, if I have a boring day tomorrow, you may get something like this. Possibly something stolen from a MySpace bulletin board. You have been warned.

Question of the Week: Time Machine

If time travel were possible, what time period would you like to visit? If you went to the past, would you attempt to change anything?

As fascinated as I am by history, there are so many time periods I'd be interested in visiting. How cool would it be to witness Moses bringing the ten commandments off Mt. Sinai? Or to be there for Washington's inaugural address? Or see a live taping of Friends? Or possibly go ahead two years and find out what the heck that friggin' smoke monster is on Lost... And no, I wouldn't try to change anything in the past. I'm reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where Homer played around with a toaster/time machine. He accidentally killed a prehistoric bug and it altered his present. Little changes can have big consequences. But I guess that's getting into a Chaos Theory/Butterfly Effect thing. Really I don't think the past can be changed. The past is written. I think if you tried to change something, you may find that you're may be the very catalyst that caused the original event to occur.

That was a lot deeper than I thought it would be. So to lighten things up a bit before I leave for the day, here's a clip from that very special episode of The Simpsons

Smallville

I've watched this show since it first premiered seven seasons ago. Recently, the announcement was made that Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor) would be leaving the show after this season. In related news, Kristen Kreuk (Lana Lang) will only appear in a limited number of episodes in the eighth season.

Smallville has been an interesting show. It began as a pretty neat concept, exploring Superman before he became Superman. What was life like for Clark Kent back in his hometown? What was it like for a Superman to grow up as a farm boy? But as much as the show has been about Clark's journey to become Superman, it's also been about Lex Luthor's journey into villainy.

And really, Lex's journey has been much more interesting to watch. By this point, Lex has pretty much turned to the dark side full-time. But it's going to be hard to imagine what this show will be like without him around. Rosenbaum is undoubtedly the best actor on the series. His Lex Luthor has been spot on in my opinion. I heard he's already started letting his hair grow back. I bet that's gonna look weird.

Will I miss Lana? She's been absent from the last few episodes due to an "illness" caused by Brainiac. I think it's been an improvement. She whines a lot. We all know that Clark and Lois end up together anyway. Might as well get the ball rolling on that. I mean, they are in their early 20s by now.

Oh, and Clark still isn't wearing his glasses. So, are you really telling me that when this "Superman" guy debuts in a few theoretical years, no one will recognize him as that Clark Kent kid from Smallville? Lex was his best friend for awhile and will be his arch-nemesis for the rest of his life. You don't think Lex will know that Clark is Superman? What about Lois and Jimmy? How are you gonna fix that problem Smallville writers?

American Idol: Three Left

Maroon 5 and Bo Bice will be performing tonight. I will not critique them. Since the judges wuss out on that scene, so will I. Plus I don't care. All I care about is who's going home. My money's on Jason. But I'm wrong a lot this season. I've really been off my game. I just can't call these things like I used to.

David Archuleta is out first. He says he feels nervous. Why? If he knows anything about where America votes at all, he should know he's in the finale. The faux shyness and modesty is getting really obnoxious. Really. He's safe.

David Cook is next. Pretty sure he's finale material too. Pretty sure. And I'm right. Well, at least 'til next week. So it's down to Syesha and Jason who both meet Ryan on the stage. But of course we won't find out which of them goes home yet. It's not even 9:30. There are still two performances to get through. And possibly those stupid phone-in questions.

Finally we get back to the results... half an hour later. Felt like half a decade. And Jason is going home. I can't believe I got one right. Wow. Okay, all of them are actually going home, but the other three will be coming back next week to sing again. I think they each have three songs. They don't even need to sing next week. I can already tell you the Davids will be in the finale. No question.

American Idol: Four

Ryan Seacrest opened the show by telling me that I had to vote tonight. I don't like being told what to do. So I'm specifically not going to vote tonight. You know what, my vote doesn't really matter at this point. The same 45 million people who voted last week and the week before will vote again this week for the same people. Those 45 million have picked their favorites, and that's all there is to it.

It's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week. Like last week, two songs per contestant.

David C - Hungry Like the Wolf; Baba O'Reilly
I'm not sure what to think about his first song. All I hear is him singing. It actually sounds like the band and the back-up singers are only being picked up by David's mic. That being the case, it's hard to critique the first performance. The live audience heard it all better than we at home did, I'm sure. No one made mention of the lack of accompaniment. Second song is exponentially better than the first. Overall score from me is 4.

Syesha - Proud Mary; A Change is Gonna Come
I thought she was doing better with the song when she was going slow at the beginning. She kicked it into high gear with the quicker tempo and the choreography, but in doing so she sacrificed vocal stability. Not sure the risk was worth the reward. Second song isn't horrible. I mean, she starts off pretty well. But at the end when she went a capella, she lost her pitch. That made it hard for the band to come back in and compliment her. Overall, 3.

Jason - I Shot the Sheriff; Mr Tambourine Man
He's playing up the dreads on this one. Fitting for a Bob Marley song. Not impressed with this one. He's done the thing where he gets to the chorus and lets the back-ups do the work. That's just lazy to me. In his first song, he had his guitar, but it just hung down at his side. He didn't play even a chord. For the second song, he's actually playing. But he forgot a lot of the lyrics. Nice job Jason. 1.

David A - Stand By Me; Love Me Tender
I really need to try and be nice about this kid. Because it's possible he's going to win. Just because I don't like him doesn't mean he's not talented. But this is one of my favorite songs, so I'm a little weary of him. He did okay, I didn't like the arrangement, but it was okay. His second song is an Elvis song. And he admitted to not knowing it well. Really kid? It's Elvis. I know I said I'd be nice. So I refrain from comments. 3.

Jason's going home this week. No question. Find out tomorrow night.

Iron Man

Yesterday I went with the Greenes to see Iron Man. This was a movie that I went into wanting to see, but I wasn't exactly geeking out about it. I mentioned in a previous post that I've never really followed Iron Man, so I don't know much of the backstory. Not like I do Superman or Spider-Man.

So without having high expectations before seeing it, I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the movie was. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job playing Tony Stark, the billionaire weapons manufacturer that would become Iron Man. I read recently that Downey is actually a huge fan of Iron Man and would be willing to make 15 movies based on the character.

After the $100 million plus opening weekend, I'm sure Marvel Studios will be willing to back up a few sequels. Now, I won't sit here and say that I liked it better than the first two Spider-Man films, but it was very good. The actors were very good, the dialogue was well written, and the action and effects were kind of awesome.

Oh, and did anyone stay beyond the credits? We got up and left when the credits rolled, but I have a feeling we missed something. 'Cause I heard Samuel L. Jackson made an appearance as Nick Fury, but I don't remember ever seeing him show up. Was there an extra scene that I missed? Feel free to post a comment letting me know.

That's Three

Another wedding come and gone. Another garter hanging from my rear view mirror. That's three, for those of you still keeping score. You'll recall that I caught the first at Andy and Chrissy's wedding. The second was grabbed out of the air at Brandon and Kara's.

This time I really didn't try to catch it. I mean, the whole time I was thinking it would be kind of cool to go three for three. Like a wedding trifecta. Turns out I didn't have to try. The thing landed right in front of me. No one else went for it, so why not?

Besides, there were only four single guys competing for the prize. That's four, including myself. I guess as I get older, there will be fewer and fewer bachelors at these weddings I attend. I'm hoping that there will also be fewer and fewer of these weddings I attend. I figure most of my friends are already married. I can handle the two or three of us that are left.

At the same time, I feel like I'm in a race to be the last man standing. I've made it no secret that I'm in no hurry to settle down. There's a lot that I would need to go through in order for that to happen. First I'd have to meet someone who'd be willing to put up with me on a regular basis. Then I'd have to come up with a new title for this blog. I'm sure there are other things I'd have to do. I should think about it and make a list.

Then again, I don't mind settling into that role of middle-aged bachelor that my friends' kids all call "Uncle Aaron."

SMAROG

Today, my friend Cassie is getting married. In honor of her special day, I present you with a Cassie story from back in the day.

I met Cassie at Bluefield College, home of the Ramblin' Rams. At some point during one of my senior years, there was a big event leading up to a big basketball game. This was a game that everyone was excited about. Everyone was showing their school spirit. School colors were worn, posters were hung, faces were painted.

Cassie's face was one of those faces. It was quite elaborate. If I remember correctly, half of her face was painted blue, the other half white. And across her cheeks, written in red were the words "GO RAMS". At least, that's what it said when she saw herself in the mirror.

To be honest, I'm not sure at what point during the day she did this to herself. But I do know that no one pointed her mistake out until I said something before our 4 o'clock choir rehearsal. I think I said something along the lines of, "Your face looks great... But what does SMAR OG mean?" Needless to say she ran back to her dorm and had to repaint the entire thing. I still think that's pretty funny.

That mirror mode mess-up was also the inspiration for my current lisence plate. It may only make sense to people driving in front of me. Anyway, congratulations to Cassie and Chad, I wish them all the best.

Question of the Week: Crazy People

What is your opinion on the "church of Oprah?" Is Eckhart Tolle's New Earth compatible with Christianity?

First I'm going to let this video do most of the talking...


My honest opinion: Oprah is a crazy person. I originally read about and saw this video on Nicole's blog. Feel free to go and explore, she writes some pretty powerful stuff.

Same Number, New Phone

A few weeks ago I got a call from my wireless provider, letting me know that my contract with them was up. Really they were letting me know that if I renewed said contract, I was eligible for a $50 rebate on a brand new phone.

Today, I took them up on that offer. I got a new phone. To be honest, it's not that much better than my old phone. It does the same things the old phone did, and probably a few more things. This new phone, for example, is Bluetooth compatible. If only I had Bluetooth.

It also has dual speakers built into the back of it, so apparently, this means I can listen to music with it. But there is a draw back. I lost my ringtones. I had some good ones too. And now, if I want to have those same ringtones, I have to buy and download them all over again. And the pictures I had on my other phone? Nontransferable.

But hey, I did get a $200+ phone for the bargain price of $29.99. Not bad at all.