Scott Freeman

Bravo just did their list of the 100 funniest movies of all time.  Their list was much better than the one AFI did a while back.  I mean, can someone explain the appeal to me of Some LIke It Hot?

They listed Animal House as #1.  A great choice.  Here, however, is my top 10.  Of course this might be different tomorrow.  I’ll spare you my in-depth commentary and reasoning for these selections.  I am on vacation after all.
10. Battlefield Earth–That is a comedy, right? No way those actors are serious.

9. Princess Bride–So utterly quotable.  To me, a mark of a great movie.

8. Naked Gun–Frank Drebin is, hands down, the greatest detective ever.

7. Airplane–Barbara Billingsley talking jive.  Lloyd Bridges sniffin’ glue.  Classic.

6. Caddyshack–I’ve never looked at a Baby Ruth the same way since.

5. Waiting for Guffman/Best in Show–This is the greatest back to back directorial feat in history.  If you haven’t watched the greatness of Christopher Guest, stop what you are doing and rent these now.

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail–Lookin’ for just a little peril.

3. Napoleon Dynamite–The funniest movie so far this millennium.

2. Stripes–The funniest line in movie history that starts “My name is” comes from this movie not from #9.

1. This is Spinal Tap–Christopher Guest is Nigel Tufnel.  One of the greatest films ever.  It’s where I learned that you can’t dust for vomit.

Thoughts? Inclusions? Places I’ve lost my mind?

We decided to go to Antioch Community Church yesterday.  This is the place that was the home church for Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry back in the day.

The sermon was great, but long.  The preacher was beginning a series on all the different generations in their community.  Looked promising.

Worship was good, with only a couple of tunes featuring insipid lyrics.

The kids programs were top-notch, although there was no lesson of any type for them.

The service was long, like 2 hours.  I guess you can do that when you don’t have Sunday School.

All in all, I enjoyed it.  As if that is the reason for going.

Let’s see.  What else did we do?

McDonalds for lunch, Ninfa’s for dinner.  Guilt for spending too much on food and at Target.

Tracy finally watched Napoleon Dynamite.

We’ve been battling massive allergies around her, so it’s been kinda lazy.

I have to drive about 45 miles down the road tomorrow to do a couple of mystery shops.  One company is paying me 80 bucks to do a shop.  I’m getting 40 for another. I did one sandwich shop today.
That goes straight into the IPOD fund.  I really want an IPOD.

There are far too many people who have given their lives nobly on a day such as this.

Today, I will choose to remember these people:

Jesus

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gandhi

Tom Fox

Steven Biko

Dorothy Day

Rosa Parks

Mother Teresa

John Howard Yoder

Oscar Romero

Their contributions will not be forgotten.

“Only love can make the lion lay down with the lamb.”

I’ve got a week off before I begin the summer series.  We are trying to figure out where to go to church tomorrow.

I keep telling Tracy we’re going to the Unitarian Universalist church.  They have a special service tomorrow where the minister sits in a rocking chair and people in the crowd ask him questions.  If he isn’t able to answer he’ll pass it on to somebody else.  That could be a lot of fun.
Tracy’s not game for it, however.  Although she says some of those Dulce de leche ladies she knows goes there. (or whatever you call that breastfeeding group.)

I know hardly nobody reads this on Saturday night, but if you do and have a suggestion for Sunday services in the Waco area, let me know.  I like to visit churches in the area to get an idea.  Been to some that are so not friendly.

Fortunately, our congregation is as friendly as they come.

With a measure of sadness that the TV season is over and a full awareness of how pathetic I truly am, I will now weigh in on the rest of the finales:

24–Nobody does action like 24. There is a reason that I anticipate it more than any other show on the schedule and that is its ability to continually create new plot elements and angles every few episodes. What would have been a season finale on any other show, the disarming of a nuclear submarine, is dispatched at the beginning of the episode. Incredulous? Absolutely. But it is the most riveting show on TV. It now sets the standard for all shows that want to grab the viewers in a serialized form. And who doesn’t want to know what will happen to Jack after that ending? Grade: A

House–Where 24 is most riveting show, House is the best character today. I love the fact that the writers avoid the need to make him likeable. He is who he is. The finale tried for trickery, but fell a tad short in pulling it off. But a lackluster House, is still the best medical show on the networks. Grade: B+

Lost–I’ve been critical of Lost this year. I believe that it lost some of the momentum that it amassed last year, a fact born out by its dipping ratings. You cannot maintain the intensity and mystery of a show of this caliber if you constantly interrupt it with repeats. Luckily, ABC will fix this problem next year. Another problem I have is, with the exception of Sawyer and Hurley, there are no characters I absolutely love. With that said, this finale was classic Lost. It answered enough questions to satisfy the viewer while maintaining enough mystery to bring us back in the fall. Grade–A-

American Idol–Okay, I don’t watch this show. It comes on opposite Gilmore Girls. But at least it’s over. I like Simon and that’s about it. I don’t like that now this music will be thrust on us through record contracts for the contestants. As my friend Matt Elliott says, “In my humble opinion, American Idol is to music what pasteurized process cheese food is to actual cheese. It’s not actual cheese; it’s merely cheesy.” Winner–Taylor Hicks. Loser–the American People.

Ok, what do I watch now?

• So, Jeb is asked about running the NFL. While he is at it maybe he could tear a page from his brother’s book and force regime change in Detroit. I’m not a huge Lions fan, but Millen must be stopped.
• Rather than investing needed time and money into producing fuel efficient vehicles, GM will cap gas prices if you buy a Hummer or other SUV in California. “I only get 3 miles to a gallon but I’m saving a buck a gallon on gasoline.” Great move, GM. I may need to rethink that whole boycott thing. If you see my Lumina on the side of the road, you’ll know why.

• Playing the sax on Arsenio was the trick for Bill. Maybe a hilarious opening on SNL is just what Al Gore needed. Here’s an article about a hypothetical Gore-Feingold v. McCain-Rice showdown. I still think Gore is a bad move for the Dems, however.

• Am I the only person in America not watching American Idol? Am I the only one who feels we need to stop encouraging people to record cheesy music.

• By the way, I’m all for that border fence–we’ve got to keep those Canadians out of here.

Wouldn’t it be easier to keep the boycotts straight if the new Dixie Chicks album was actually the soundtrack to The Da Vinci Code?

This would sure streamline the organizational aspect of the boycott, lower prices on picket signs and solidify the voices against these insidious threats to national security.

Seriously, country music stations, get over it. I don’t like the theology of “Not Ready to Make Nice” either, but the album is another great offering from the Chicks.

You don’t have to be Republican to make great Country Music. See: Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell, Nancy Griffith, Emmylou Harris and John Prine.

Not only are the Dixie Chicks phenomenal musicians but they possess the right to an opinion that might differ from the industry mainstream. We’ve listened to Toby Keith get angry and Darryl Worley call us to remember.

Now, how about sharing the playlist?
I don’t buy CDs anymore, but I might have to purchase this one.

Ok, I love TV. It used to be movies, but with 3 kids I don’t have the time nor the motivation to burn 320 bucks at the local Googleplex. And with the excellence of today’s TV shows, I think it’s better than what you can find at the cinema.

Here’s my thoughts on the season finales so far:

Gilmore Girls–Last summer, Tracy and I watched the first five seasons of this show. We fell in love with the girls and the consistently tight script, the wonderful cast, and the sheer joy it brought. Nobody outside of Aaron Sorkin does dialogue like the Palladino’s. But, sadly, season 6 went off the rails badly. Insipid story lines ran rampant. And now, with the Palladino’s exit from the show, I wonder if they were trying to sabatoge it. The bright spot of this season and the finale? Lauren Graham. She is one of the finest actresses on TV and single-handedly kept this season afloat. But that horrible ending was a hard pill for us fans to swallow. The troubadors were great, however. Grade: C- (Next year will be better, right?)

Prison Break–OK, there is not a shred of believability to this show, but it is pure popcorn fun. Although it never regained the traction it had before its winter hiatus, it was still the perfect counterpart to 24 on Monday nights. The finale was tense although it overdid the whole “what else can go wrong?” angle. However, I’ll look forward to seeing the escapees next season as they try to elude authorities and clear Lincoln’s name. And bonus points, season 2 will be filmed in Dallas. Grade: B

My Name is Earl–I agree with Bono: grace is much better than karma. But karma does make for great comedy. The finale presented us with the possibility that Earl might lose the money. Jason Lee and an impeccable cast combined for a satisfying coda to a remarkable first season. Grade: B+

The Office–As this season progressed, the gang at Dunder-Mifflin aspired for Seinfeld-ian levels of comedy. And toward the end, I believe they achieved it. There is no better comedy on TV today and no more impeccable cast. And that ending: Pam and Jim, Michael’s love triangle. One of the most satisfying finales yet. Grade: A+

ER–To be honest, I almost gave up on ER this year.  Our DVR failed on 2 episodes and I felt little motivation to continue.  I miss Carter and there is no male lead that has made the show his own.  Clemente was appealing but his run was temporary. The female cast is strong and worth tuning in for, however.  I kept at it and was rewarded with a riveting finale.  When ER is allowed to run uninterrupted, it can still bring the goods.  Will Jerry make it? What about Abby’s baby? Can Luka be more stiff than he has been the previous 6 seasons?  Tune in next year.  Grade: A-

What About Brian?–Me and the three other people who watch this show are glad it’s coming back next season.  There is great promise here. I’m anxious to see how it develops some story lines that haven’t been dealt with much on TV.  Grade: B

Desperate Housewives–As an introduction I will repeat what I said about this show last year,

“for all the publicity this show has received, I view it as a highly adept morality play. These women and the men in their lives (who, annoyingly, all look alike) are deeply flawed individuals. Their desperate search for meaning and purpose deftly illustrate the need each of us have for a sense of hope in this world, for belonging. Ultimately, none of these individuals, will find what they are looking for divorced from the offerings of God. Their ill-fated attempts for happiness are proof-positive that we are our own worst enemies.”

This year, the show lost it’s way as it spun away from the housewives and their relationship with one another.  I believe the finale sought to both streamline the cast (larger than Lost), tie up some fruitless storylines (the Applewhite’s) and prompt excitement for next year (I look forward to more with Orson and Nora).  The flashbacks were a great touch.  Grade: B+

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What are your thoughts on these shows?  Any great shows I’m missing?
Check back on Thursday when I weigh in on the finales of 24, House and Lost.

This is the final sermon in my Scarlet Thread series.  I try to maintain the same level of warning that Malachi used regarding the twin sins of the Israelite people: idolatry and injustice.  Sins that are all too prevalent among us Christians today.

From a year of studying the Old Testament:

1. We often view God as Creator in the past tense.  I’m afraid that we approach those initial 6 days as the totality of His creating.  But there is so much that He is still doing.
2. I’m struck by the cyclization of the Israelite people: from Exile to Exodus to Establishing to Establishment/Evil back to Exile.  I don’t have this fleshed out completely, but I believe there is much warning for us in that.
3. You can preach Jesus from every single book of the OT, a worthwhile study of the enormity of “The Word.”
4. God and the Israelites were not on the same page when it came to the temple.
5. God and the Israelites were not on the same page when it came to the nation.
6. God and the Israelites were usually not on the same page.
7. I wonder how often we are on the same page with God.
8. The Prophets may well be the most misinterpreted segment of Scripture.  Over and over, preparing my sermons, I saw other preachers drawing parallels between Israel and the United States.  This is a flawed, and ultimately, unhealthy exegesis.  The modern day parallel is between Israel and the church.
9. All institutions will fall.  All that remains will be those faithful to Him.
10. God loves the poor and the forgotten.  He really loves them.
11. God is angered when we ignore the poor and forgotten.
12. God is angered when we give our allegiance to anything over and above Him.
13. He is so incredibly patient.
14. Don’t be on the wrong side when His patience abates, however.  The “Day of the Lord” is a frightful thing for the idolatrous and oppressive.
15. God is as graceful in the Old Testament as He is in the New.
16. Jesus was, and is, the ultimate in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.
17. Jesus would ultimately turn upside down the Israelite notions of Kingdom, Nation, Rule, Law, Politics, Temple, Sabbath and Community.
18. I believe He often does the same thing with our 21st Century Western notions of those things as well.
19. While He was, and is, King, in the minds of many He was the anti-King.
20. Reading the Old Testament with Messianic expectancy is a beautiful under-taking.
21. Our stubborn refusal to regularly take spiritual inventory of our own lives should slow us from being too condescending to the immorality of the Jewish people.
22. He is God.

I have so many more thoughts, but that’s enough for now.  What thoughts do you have?