My Take On The Oscars

Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz: Hands down, the best selection of the night. He was brilliant in this role.

Best Supporting Actress - Monique: Haven't seen it, but the clips make her look spectacular. She gets a little preachy in her acceptance speeches.

Best Actor - Jeff Bridges: Haven't see the movie, but I like Jeff Bridges.

Best Actress - Great movie, great performance on Sandra's part and you gotta be happy for her.

Best Director - Kathryn Bigalow: I liked the movie and I was glad to see her win over x-hubby Cameron.

Best Motion Picture - The Hurt Locker: Sorry, Aviator should have won. It kicked the doors down to the next era of film making and was a block buster that grossed over a billion dollars!

Gilligan's Island

Okay you guys know how much I love movies. I just read that Warner Brothers is planning a big screen version of Gilligan's Island (which I think is genius). So my question is: Who do you think should be cast in the roles of those eight characters we all loved so much back in the day? Here's my suggestions - I want to hear yours: We'll see what kind of casting directors we are!

Gilligan - John Krasinski

The Skipper - Bill Murray

Mr. Howell - Pierce Brosnan

Mrs. Howell - Jane Fonda

Ginger - Scarlett Johansson

The Professor - Kelsey Grammer

Mary Ann - Ann Hathaway

Romania

The team is getting ready to visit Romania once again. I won't make it this year. I'm bummed out about it and it got me thinking about this song I wrote about Romania a few years ago. Thought I'd post the lyrics.

The preacher said, “We must be doers!”
“It’s not enough just to hear the Word.”
He spoke of children living in sewers
and the message of hope that they never have heard
We arrived there in December
We came as strangers but we left as friends
The warmest welcome that I can remember
That welcome is where this whole story begins

I love you Romania
Keep coming back to you again and again
I don’t speak the language or relate to the anguish
But the song that we sang said we’d always be friends
Yes the song that we sang said we’d always be friends

Inspired by your revolution
The way you felt back in ‘89
Ten years later I jump to conclusions
about the way things were back in Communist times
Always a people of passion
My bus driver kicked a man in his head
Thanks to espresso and jetlag I’m passing
the time every night lying awake on my bed (but)

I love you Romania
Keep coming back to you again and again
I don’t speak the language or relate to the anguish
But the song that we sang said we’d always be friends
Yes the song that we sang said we’d always be friends

In the Hotel Dambavista
A gypsy wedding kept me up all night
I slept in and ordered Dracula’s Pizza
when I pulled back the shades and the sun was so bright
Wanted to send home a message
I dropped by the Internet Café
The anger that I felt that I must confess is
As I choked on the smoke it cost me 10,000 Lei! (still)

I love you Romania
Keep coming back to you again and again
I don’t speak the language or relate to the anguish
But the song that we sang said we’d always be friends
Yes the song that we sang said we’d always be friends

From Ceausescu’s Palace to the poorest man’s home
From the mountains of Sinaia to the Black Sea Coast
Been everywhere, seen all there is to see
I made my way in Romania and
Romania made it’s way in me

A Feast Fit For A Beast

About 150 men joined us last night for our Annual Beast Feast. We were treated to some of the most savory 'wild' dishes you could ask for: Deer Chili, Wild Boar Jambalaya, Deer Stew and Duck and Sausage Gumbo. After our Men's Ministry Director, Devin (T-Frog) Lantier, opened things up with a welcome, some laughs and a prayer, we all got to dig in! The food was delicious!

The girls in my office - My sister Holane and her assistant Arlene - Really had the place looking good! The decorated with duck decoys, mounted trophy bucks, lanterns on the tables as center pieces, deer feeders, duck blinds and everything you can think of to make the hunters feel at home. As the guys gathered early, they had the opportunity to test their shooting skills on the Wii with some hunting games and the ever-popular BB Gun Skeet Shooting.

After a duck calling contest and a few more jokes, Devin turned the Mic over to me and I shared a brief challenge with our guys. Then it was off to the cafe where we held table-game tournaments: Billiards, Ping Pong, Spades and Dominos. About half the guys stuck around for the tournaments and had a lot of fun!

We are blessed with some wonderful men in our church. Men who love God and love their families and want to make a difference in their world. It's so much fun getting together with them at events like this to spend some time together. I realize that many churches don't have a strong group of men like we have and I never want to take it for granted! Pictured here is one of the cooks for last night's event - My good friend Ken Lantier.