Music City Miracle

Kerry Meacham and I will be rooting against each other on Sunday when his Tennessee Titans visit my Pittsburgh Steelers for a game at Heinz Field. But if my boys have to lose, I’ll be glad for Kerry and his wife. He’s a great guy and the author of today’s guest post in which he recounts a rare perspective of one of the greatest plays in NFL history. You should read his blog and find him on Twitter. Okay Kerry, the field is yours!

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When Clay asked if I would write a guest post for his blog, the first thing that popped into my head was the Tennessee Titans. Just so you know, I’m a true fan, but my wife is a fanatic. One of her parameters for me accepting my current job in St. Louis was that we would still go back to Nashville for all Titans’ home games. Done.

My wife and I at this year’s first home game, where we WAXED the Baltimore Ravens 23-16 thank you very much.

Yes, you’re right. When I wear that jersey people are constantly bugging me for an autograph thinking I’m the real Chris Johnson (#28). I constantly have to remind them that he’s the one with the dreads. Sheesh, people can be so annoying when you look like a sports celebrity.

Each year when we go to the first Titans’ home game, I get a feeling of anticipation like I did that first season the Titans came to Nashville in 1999. It was an exciting time, and Nashville was all abuzz. My wife and I bought season tickets when they became available, and we ended up with seating on the second row in the south end zone. It was truly a Cinderella year where the Titans won every home game during the regular season. Momentum built each week they won.

Whose Side Are You On?

Time for a little friendly wager my lovelies. Actually, I don’t call people “my lovelies” but rather stole that turn of phrase from Miss Alberta herself, Leanne Shirtliffe. And I don’t channel her without cause. You see, Ironic Mom and I have issued stakes for this weekend’s hockey opener in which my Pittsburgh Penguins, beloved hockey team of me youth, travel to Calgary where Leanne’s Flames await their defeat.

What’s on the line you ask? Good question, lovely even.

We’ve wagered the finest chocolate from our hometowns, but here’s the extra sweet hook: YOU are the one with a chance to win our booty. Or bounty. Our bountiful booty? Hmm, this paragraph just got awkward like Flames goalie Mikka Kiprusoff who’s lost to the Pens every chance he’s had since 2005.

So here’s how this works for yous. Nevermind if you are a hockey lover or completely clueless about the sport. To get in on the fun and take a shot at winning some exotic chocolate from a faraway land, just do the following:

1. Predict the outcome/score of the game. (Hint: make up numbers and put a team name by each one)

2. Share a hockey or skating memory that you experienced or made up.

You can leave your hockey or skating memory at one of our blogs (like here in the comment section) and leave your prediction for the game’s outcome at the other blog (like IronicMom.com). Entries close before the start of the game on Saturday.

This is gonna be fun like playing Jenga with an igloo.

Of course, this is a competitive wager with tasty stakes. As such, you should feel free to layeth the smack down and talk it up. For example, we know the Penguins are superior to the Flames, but why? How many ways are there to make fun of Canada?

In the name of diplomacy I would like to point out that the letters in Calgary Flames can be rearranged to spell the following phrases:

Flyer Scam Gala

Gram Lays Fecal

Cagy Elf Alarms

Clay Frames Gal

So there you have it, a showdown for the ages, or at least all ages, is upon us. Whose booty will you back?

What’s your guess for the final score?

Be sure to check out Ironic Mom’s site and leave something north of the border.

Sucking Readers In?

Image via Wikipedia

I listen to a lot of audio books. Might as well since I easily top 20,000 miles a year in the car. A good book performer can make a decent book good and good book great, but one recent work I heard was unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. In fact, the publishing world is trying a few different things lately to grab the attention of a distraction-filled world.

The interesting book I discovered is called The Chopin Manuscript by Jeffrey Deaver. I had never read his stuff before but knew the name. He’s well known and respected enough to have been tasked with writing the newest James Bond novel, Carte Blanche, which released earlier this summer.

The interesting thing about The Chopin Manuscript is that the book was written along with 14 other noted authors. Deaver created the characters and set the plot in motion before handing off to the waiting group of collaborators, each of whom took a chapter. Eventually the book wound its way back to Deaver who finished the story off. Pretty good stuff from a group of people who recognize that novels should be, well, novel. I enjoyed the story, especially as it was read by Alfred Molina who’s a gifted actor. My only complaint is the lack of an afterword  by Deaver. If ever a book deserved some discussion regarding the creative process this was it.

Dolphin Tale: Behind the Scenes

All of you amputee dolphin insiders out there will know that today marks the release of a highly anticipated movie from Warner Brothers and the producers of The Blind Side. That’s right flipperheads it’s Dolphin Tale day. I knew this weekend was coming months ago, so I snuck onto the set of the film and shot some secret behind the scenes footage just for you.

On loClaytion earlier this year.

Okay, that’s pretty much a lie. I didn’t actually sneak onto the set. Turns out I missed Morgan Freeman, Harrick Connick Jr., Ashely Judd and company by a bit, but I did get some footage from the movie location.

Dolphin Tale tells the story of Winter and the people who worked together to save a life like it was a music video by The Fray. The movie was filmed at the same facility where the true life rescue took place–Clearwater Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida. My loyal readers will recognize that as the home of my sister and site of my vaClaytion from earlier this year.

I haven’t been this interested in a movie about a dolphin from Florida since Ace Ventura came out. That was back in the 90s when Ray Finkle thought he could kidnap both Snowflake and Dan Marino and get away with it. Yeah right. There’s a better chance of me wearing Isotoners during summertime. Okay, now you’ve got me thinking about O.J. Simpson *shivers* when I’m supposed to be explaining the heartwarming story of a dolphin that defied science and continues to inspire humans around the world.

Ocular Migraines: eduClaytion vs. Medical Science

Image via Wikipedia*

I got a headache in my eyes last Wednesday. Or something. Very weird. Don’t worry, I didn’t die or anything; I just couldn’t really see for half an hour.

I had settled into my new schedule of leaving Pitt to work on my University of Phoenix stuff in the office at C.C.A.C. before my night class there. I was ripping through the afternoon task sheet when the computer screen started looking strange. Then I couldn’t really see it anymore.

Something similar happened earlier this year as I sat in a church service. I didn’t feel sick. My head didn’t hurt. I wasn’t tired or in this recent case even hungry. Yet there went the strange feeling of spotty vision as if reality were destabilizing and coming back over and over. The disconnection I felt from my hands and body was also strange.

In both cases, the only 2 times this has happened that I can remember, I got up and took a walk. I could see people around me but there faces were just spotty lights. I could even pretend like I was okay. Sort of.

By George, My Childhood’s Disappearing!

I’m super excited today to introduce my first guest writer from Down Under! My Aussie pal Christian is one of the guys I’ve known longer than anyone around the blogosphere. He posts over at Adventures and Insights. Click that link and it’ll be the fastest trip to Australia you’ll ever take. You can also sometimes find him on Twitter.

We share a love of music, movies, and the TV show Chuck. Okay, okay, we may also both be completely enamored with that show’s costar Yvonne Strahovski. We are also bonded from one side of this planet to the other by a certain legend of the 80s named Indiana Jones. In general, Christian and I can talk pop culture all day, and he’s put his knowledge to good use today for a launch by an icon who’s messing with his childhood. Take it away mate.

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My friends, we are facing uncertain times. The days to come have been darkened with news which I fear is being mistaken for good. Beneath the surface reverie, however, lurks a terror which chills me to my very core. If you are by some strange coincidence unaware of what I am referring to, I shall begin with two words: George Lucas.

September 16th, 2011 has been hailed as a monumental day for Star Wars fans. On this day, the complete Star Wars Saga will be released on Blu-ray and I know that I was excited to hear this news – at first. However, I’ve since read that George Lucas has made use of modern technology to “perfect and correct” parts of the movies in his desire to evolve them into the vision he saw in his mind’s eye when initially creating these masterpieces. It’s that last sentence that has me worried.

Gamer Girls

A 14-year-old girl named Lexi Peters is tired of looking like a boy. On video games that is.

The Buffalo teenager loves hockey and plays the NHL video game put out by Electronic Arts (EA) each year. EA games have long allowed players to create their own characters that can be customized by name and appearance. The thing that bothered Lexi is that created characters are always male.

Someone else to beat the Flyers. You go girl.

With the encouragement of her father, Lexi wrote a letter to EA executives explaining that a lot of women and girl hockey players around the world would enjoy being repped by the proper gender. Lexi was soon told sorry but nothing could be done, especially with the NHL in control of licensing. But the story didn’t end there.

According to Ben Maller of The Post Game where I discovered this story, lead producer David Littman of EA heard about Lexi’s letter and took action. He received approval from the company’s legal team and the NHL. Not only will NHL 12 include a female avatar but the company is even using Lexi’s likeness as the base template.

Girl gamers are a dominant force in the multi-billion (with a B) dollar industry and EA is finally catching on. According to a 2010 study by the Entertainment Software Association, women are more than casual participants in the world of gaming. Consider the following stats:

Danny Elfman: From Oingo Boingo to American Composer

I asked Susie Lindau if she would write a guest post for me after her comment on a recent post in which I asked about the impact certain musicians have on us. Until her comment I didn’t realize that Danny Elfman the movie composer was the frontman of the 80s rockin’ band Oingo Boingo. My affection for Oingo Boingo boils down to two songs–Dead Man’s Party (I used a cover version in this video) and Weird Science, the title track for one of my fave 80s movies. You’ll understand how much of Danny Elman’s work you are familiar with once you see the list of films that have been impacted by his musical genius.

Susie has put together a great post about an oft unknown celebrity who is connected to us through more entertainment than we know. I love me some Gen X eduClaytion and got a great dose right here. Turns out Susie also has a neat personal connection to Elfman’s music in more ways than one. I hope you’ll check out Susie’s blog and find her on Twitter after you read this guest offering from her.

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Danny Elfman – From Oingo Boingo to American Composer

In the spring of 1981, I sat in the kitchen of an LA stoner’s bungalow and heard Danny Elfman’s band Oingo Boingo for the first time. My friend and I had escaped from a snowy Wisconsin winter and were visiting her brother next door. I was hooked within a few pounding beats of Only a Lad. The catchy rhythm and blending of guitar with brass instruments was radically different from anything I had ever heard. Back home, I quickly memorized the lyrics of the song Nasty Habits and would break into a rousing rendition at any moment.

Little did I know when I sat in that cramped LA bungalow that Danny Elfman would have a memorable impact on my life many years later in Colorado.

Five Years Ago

It’s certainly a major anniversary weekend as we prepare to look back at the attacks of 9/11 from a decade out. For today, however, I’m remembering a man who made a major impact in my life.

He died 5 years ago today and is more responsible for me being a writer than anyone else in my life. I wish I could still pick up the phone and call him. He’d get a kick out of the good stuff happening this summer for my writing career.

Many of you have never read the tribute I wrote for him last year. I hope you’ll check out:

The Greatest Teacher I Ever Had

Attack of the Spam

Image via Wikipedia

Way back in the mid-late 90s, on the very first day I ever surfed the internet, I discovered Yahoo. Well, first I discovered cartoon monkeys that you could throw bananas at before some bank tried to sell me something. In other words, I was a clickity noob. Although I didn’t know it then, that day also began an ongoing relationship with spam, a.k.a. internet puke.

SPAM (Satan’s Plan Against Me) pops up everywhere. I mean it literally pops up which is why we have popup blockers and anti-spam software. They tried holy water a while back but mostly just shorted out a lot of circuitry. Twitter is rife with SPAM, so much so that one of the main options under each person’s name is to “report for spam.”

I started to write a clever post a while back about how spam is like zombies, but I seem to have lost it. Maybe it got eaten by spam. I remember thinking that zombies and spam share the following things in common:

1. Both are often connected to a virus that will kill whatever it comes in contact with.

2. Both are mindless and relentless and they never stop coming no matter how many you kill.

Be Blunt With Me

Kate Beckinsale. Diane Kruger. Angelina Jolie. In that order. That’s been the list of my three favorite actresses for a good while. Then I went to see a movie called The Adjustment Bureau a few months back.

Emily Blunt. That’s the new name on my short list since I discovered her this spring. I gave a couple people a lot of grief for all the swooning they were doing over Colin Firth, but I would be powerless against Blunt. It’s not even right. Just allow me to swoon in silence.

I’m sure you’re reading this thinking, “Is she the one to take over your top spot Clay?” To that I say relax. What Kate and I have is too special to just toss aside after all these years. What’s more, I’ll be absolute putty when Underworld: Awakening comes out next January and Beckinsale reprises her role as Selene. I know that she would murder all the bad guys for me. So adorable when she kills.

But this post is supposed to be about Emily Blunt. She’s married. I get it. To John Krasinski no less. That makes things even worse since he’s one of the few actors I really like in everything he does. Plus we have a similar style of humor. Hmm, I bet Emily would dig that about me.

Nevertheless I sought her out on Netflix a couple months back and ended up falling asleep very quickly during The Young Victoria, a film for which Blunt was nominated as best actress at the Golden Globes. I should’ve known better than to try watching a movie categorized by the great and mighty Netflix as “Emotional, Romantic.” Yeah, it just ain’t me without a splash of Braveheart.

I wondered how I had missed her in three other films I’d already seen (The Devil Wears Prada which I hate, Dan In Real Life which I like, Charlie Wilson’s War which I own) but then summer came and my busy schedule only drove us farther apart. Oh well, I sighed, I’d always have Kate to slay the undead with.

10 Movie Characters I’ve Wished I Could Be

Image via Wikipedia

Plenty of times, especially as a kid, I’ve watched a movie and thought about being a character in the film. I was reminded of some of these moments over this past weekend as I paid tribute to Donald O’Connor. You’ve probably imagined yourself as some onscreen personalities too.

I began listing some of the characters who impacted me and this list resulted. These ten picks aren’t necessarily definitive but were fun to consider. Here’s my list of 10 movie characters I’ve wished I could be even though I’m sure to leave off some major head slappers that I won’t realize until later.

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10. Mikey Walsh from The Goonies

I remember the first time I watched The Goonies, a Saturday afternoon before my paper route. Everything was so exciting that day.

Advantages: You get to go after One-Eyed Willie’s treasure and befriend Sloth.

Disadvantages: The Fratellis are after you.

Gene Kelly & Donald O’Connor: Tribute to Legends

I remember watching hockey one night years ago. Mario Lemieux was on the ice for the Pittsburgh Penguins when a girl who didn’t particularly care for the game walked into the room. She meant to flip through a magazine but couldn’t take her eyes off the screen where Super Mario (or Le Magnifique if you want to get French about it) dominated the play. As #66 soared around the ice like the opposition wasn’t even there that girl simply said, “Wow.”

What a paradigm shift looks like.

That’s how it is with greatness. You just know it when you see it.

I felt the same way one night before my 13th birthday when I plopped on the couch to check out a movie that MamaClaytion was watching. The flick was Singin’ In The Rain, and I did all the appropriate eye rolling.

Then Donald O’Connor appeared on the screen and I didn’t look at my Gameboy for the rest of the night. I always enjoyed making people laugh, and after a few minutes of O’Connor’s brilliance all I could say was, “Wow.”

In 1925, the acrobatic comedian O’Connor was born in Chicago and right into show business. Quite a contrast to Gene Kelly who was 13 years older and had to put off college for a time once the Great Depression hit. A Pittsburgh kid (thank you very much), Kelly eventually earned a degree in economics from Pitt. After making his name on Broadway, Kelly left the Big Apple for Hollywood a few months before his 30th birthday.

The rest, of course, is history. Along with a very young Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen (brilliant as Lina Lamont), these two men created a classic in 1952 with Singin’ In The Rain. Kelly famously fought through a 103 degree fever to film that iconic, title routine in the rain. Lord knows how he kept a smile on his face.

Why Men Cry

This post is a follow up to a previous look at Men That Cry.

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Why do men cry? Today we consider some findings from a year old Men’s Health study.

Rankings of what makes guys cry:

Seeing my oatmeal cookie smashed at a music festival this year almost reduced me to tears.

1. The death of a family member or close friend
2. Watching a sad movie or TV show
3. A girlfriend breaking up with them
4. The death of a pet
5. Breaking up with a girlfriend

The list goes up to #21, so I’ll just point out some highlights. First off, I feel slightly more normal by #7–Listening to an emotional song. Also, I’d be passing up a clean spike if I ignored #17–Attending a wedding. That’s one thing that makes me want to cry but probably not in the way most humans would expect ;-). Oh come on, I’m not the only one who thinks weddings are torture am I?

Guys are most likely to cry when they feel:

Sad–46.4%

Lonely–14.2%

Frustrated–9.7%

Shame is a surprisingly low factor in forcing guy tears.

Sorry for yourself–7.9%

Stressed–7.6%

Angry–6.1%

Happy–4.8%

Ashamed–3.0%

I don’t see any big surprises here except that maybe stress seems to be higher than these numbers indicate. I do loneliness pretty well. Yup, sadness is the main reason to release the waterworks for sure.

There’s too much in the survey to cover here, but I’m particularly curious in the part where they asked about how guys react to movies. First off, 25% of liars men claim they’ve never cried while watching a sad movie/TV show. Give me a 30 minute interview with those cats and I’ll prescribe the perfect movie to crush their souls.

Andrew Schwab of Project 86

We all look to certain writers and musicians as key people who impact us with their abilities and words. Some people just seem to consistently deliver messages that hit us in a personal way.

For the past 15 years, Andrew Schwab of the band Project 86 has been one of those few individuals in my life. Like any other fan, I first expressed my appreciation to him one night after a show. That was a decade ago at a now defunct venue called Club Laga in Pittsburgh that Andrew and I both miss.

WD and I had a chance to chat a bit more with the singer and author of 4 books last year after a talk he gave at the Purple Door festival. So this year, you know I took advantage of press access to sit down with the one and only Schwab to talk about music, life, slinging mud, and a surprising honeymoon encounter with one of the fiercest competitors in the NFL.

What musician or writer consistently makes an impact on you?