90s

The Santa Clause Commission

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

still-of-tim-allen-in-the-santa-clause-1994-large-pictureWhat if I told you “The Santa Clause” was a pretty perfect metaphor for our calling as disciples of Jesus?

You remember the plot of “The Santa Clause”, the 1994 Christmas film starring Tim Allen? Old St. Nick arrives on the roof of a man named Scott Calvin’s house only to trip and fall to his death. Calvin checks on Santa, puts on his garb and finishes his route.

After the night is over Calvin visits the North Pole and finds out, due to a hidden clause,  he is actually obligated to become the new Santa. Despite his protests he actually begins transforming into Santa over the course of the year to hilarious effect.

“The Santa Clause” is arguably a Christmas classic at this point (despite the two abysmal sequels which followed it). But is there really a deeper message hidden inside the holiday fluff? Continue reading →

The Bible Is Not A Pop Song

/ Alex Doriot / 5 Comments

aHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRmRvd25sb2FkYm94LnRvJTJGdXBsb2FkcyUyRnBvc3RzJTJGMjAxNC0wOCUyRjE0MDk0MzQxODhfZmptbnltLmpwZw==Counting Crows are not the best band you’ll ever hear.

They’re not the best band of the 90s. Adam Duritz is not the best lyricist. He doesn’t have the best voice. His band is not comprised of the best musicians.

That being said, Counting Crows are the best “drive your car down the highway trying to figure out why the girl left you and what’s wrong with your life and what to do about it all” band.

Something about cruising down the freeway listening to “August And Everything After” makes pain and heartbreak a little easier to understand.

To put it simply, the music of Counting Crows has a way of making you feel a little better about the things that make you sad. Continue reading →

Kicking The Tommy Boy Mentality

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

It’s never our fault. 

From a young age we’re trained to pass the blame onto others – no matter how big the mistakes.

The natural instinct is to find someone else who can take the fault for our fumbles. From pointing fingers in grade school to passing the buck onto a coworker, the blame game is ingrained in us.

How many times have we looked like Tommy Boy, trying to fix things up and then asking others, “What’d you do?!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3xWOriHqwU Continue reading →

The Shortcut To Popularity

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

tumblr_li2ojiqJD51qgj47lI cannot stress to you enough the impact Zack Morris had on my life.

Every day before and after elementary school I watched reruns of “Saved By The Bell”. Sure, the show was funny. But really I was studying Zack Morris.

Zack Morris was the epitome of cool. The slicked back bleached blonde hair. The giant cell phone. The swagger.

(Also he could stop time. That was kind of weird. But totally awesome.) Continue reading →

The Best Christmas Movie You’ve Never Heard Of

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

tumblr_lvk7rfN2UM1qzb1qio1_500A Christmas Story. Miracle on 34th Street. A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s A Wonderful Life. 

All undeniable classics.

Let’s face it though – there’s some really strange, really bad Christmas “classics” that get trotted out every year.

Have you watched Frosty The Snowman lately? It’s just…weird. The Santa Clause is fantastic, but unfortunately The Santa Clause 2 and 3 exist. Vince Vaughn allegedly made a couple of movies called Fred Claus and Four Christmases, but I haven’t seen them and I’d like to continue pretending they’re not real thank you very much.

It makes me sad every year when crappy Christmas movies make the cut and underrated gems become further lost to time.

So I made it a point to spend one day writing about the Best Christmas Movie You’ve Never Seen – Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. Continue reading →