Thursday Bullets

• IHOP coffee is terrible, but i had about 8 cups of it last night.
• I am addicted to coffee in general. I used to drink it just socially with people, but now I find myself going to get coffee alone just because I want/need it. They say caffeine can cause delirium. Maybe I have a problem. 
• Speaking of coffee and cigarettes, a pair I really enjoy, there is an interesting film I saw recently called "Coffee and Cigarettes." Written and directed by Jim Jamusch (an independent movie icon), it contains a series of short vignettes filmed in black and white that depicts the characters conversing over none other than coffee and cigarettes. My favorite vignette had RZA and GZA (pronounced Rizza and Gizza) from the Wu Tang Clan (rap group) enjoying tea at a diner and being served by the one and only Bill Murray (who is evidently a waiter as a cover from adoring fans). Bill offers them coffee, which they deny (because of GZA's holistic medicine beliefs decry caffeine consumption), then sits with them as they discuss the health consequences of coffee drinking and cigarette smoking. Bill doesn't seem to care, and RZA/GZA seem to be a bit worried that their favorite Ghostbuster star is damaging himself so much. It's an entertaining sketch, to say the least, because it puts something so nominal as small talk in a diner into real focus. Something about it (it was in no way spectacularly artsy) just made me think "wow, this is really good." I recommend it, if you can find a copy.
• The segment, via YouTube.
• 2 other interesting vignettes from the movie: The first sketch is between slow-speaking comedian Steven Wright and fast talking Italian actor Roberto Benigni (from the fantastic foreign film Life is Beautiful), as they talk about how weird it is that they meet over C&C. Another sketch is between Iggy Pop and Tom Waits (famous rock legends, if you didn't know). They talk about Tom as a practicing doctor and Iggy recommends a drummer for Tom's next album (the same drummer is mentioned in two other vignettes to link all these C&C conversations together). 
• Speaking of cigarettes/smoking, I really miss cigars. I used to be exclusive to smoking only cigars. If I had to pick 3 cigars I could smoke regularly (besides Cubans), they would be: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Rubustos, Romeo Y Julieta Reserva Real Rubustos, and Ashton VSG Churchills. The best smoke I've ever had was the famed Opus X cigar at the 2007 Baylor Homecoming Bonfire after some hard to work to make all of that happen. 
• I miss the pickup football games we played at William's Stadium. They were always  full of good athletes,  funny occurrences, close/competitive games, and ultimately why I still love football over basketball. 
• Speaking of football, I hate spread offenses. This may be from a former GHS player, but passing 80% of the time is pansy ball. There's a certain toughness and strength required in running the ball 80% of the time. In my time in high school, our QBs probably threw the ball 8 times a game on average. That was still enough to get Greg Hunter to set GHS records in passing my senior year (impressive for a school with an 80+ year football history). This is why I like Baylor running the football a lot. It shows that while we may not be near the level of top competition in the Big 12, we're at least staying competitive through being the second best rushing team in the conference (behind OSU). 
• I pretend to root for the Cowboys, but my disdain for the NFL prevents me from really caring. The order of sports I care about: NCAA Football, NBA, NCAA Basketball, NFL, NHL, MLB. 
• I really wish things like Facebook didn't attempt to replace the importance of secure e-mail communication, personal web pages, and address books (so you could remember friends' birthdays and call them). 
• Waco was boring for nearly 2 years. But after living here full time for almost a year now, I've found places and things to make it bearable. It's a shame I'll be leaving it soon. 

RP