grace

Remember The Rumble

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

santino-rumbleThis Sunday is the 30th anniversary of the Royal Rumble, the WWE’s most exciting hour of action every year.

30 Superstars compete in one match – each man drawing a random number and entering the ring in order every 2 minutes. The only way to be eliminated is to be thrown over the top rope and have BOTH feet hit the floor. The last man standing after all 30 men have entered wins a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, the grandest stage of them all.

I love the Royal Rumble because it’s always full of surprises including debuts, returns of injured wrestlers, and one-off appearances by retired hall-of-famers. There’s a great sense of unpredictability in the air. For at least 60 minutes there’s wall-to-wall action and entertainment.

I also love the Royal Rumble because at its essence it is a grace-filled affair. Continue reading →

How To Fix A First Season Failure

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

Muppets-TV-Show-2What’s wrong with The Muppets?

This question has been the topic of discussion on all sorts of major entertainment blogs and sites after the first few episodes of the new ABC mockumentary show starring pop culture’s favorite felt creatures.

The ratings have been strong for the series that reveals the behind the scenes mishaps of The Muppets putting on a new late night talk show starring Miss Piggy. But the response online has been mixed, mainly due to the show’s slightly more racy sense of humor and storylines focusing on romantic and sexual relationships.

If you’ve already chosen to give up on “The Muppets” I respect your decision. Life is too short to watch TV shows we don’t enjoy.

As for me: I’ve seen the first few episodes. I’ve heard the criticism. And as for now I’m not giving up on The Muppets. Continue reading →

What To Do When You Lose A Toe

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

FullSizeRender-7My dog is missing a toe.

His name is The Roc. He’s a tough, old miniature pinscher. He didn’t lose his toe through any fault of his own.

You see, I adopted him a few years ago. And for as long as I’ve had him one of his toes has given him problems. Eventually an infection popped up and our vet thought it would be for the best to remove the toe.

What started out as a simple surgery turned into a maelstrom of problems. Continue reading →

Grace For The Gamer

/ Alex Doriot / 3 Comments

maxresdefaultI can’t remember the last time I beat a video game. I can’t even remember the last time I won playing a round of a video game against someone else.

I was reminded of this fact last weekend as my brothers-in-law came to visit. They brought along their XBOX and we played a few rounds of Madden and Fifa. Although I put a few touchdowns and goals on the board by accident, I got schooled by my younger competitors.

You see video games have never been my thing. Continue reading →

How To Survive Being Stuck In An Elevator

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

FullSizeRenderI work on the 21st floor of my building. As such I’m very dependent on the elevator to take me where I need to go each day.

It’s a ridiculously fast elevator too. As in so fast it makes my ears pop and my stomach queasy (seriously). Sometimes I’m afraid it’s going to fly out of the roof of the building like at the end of “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory”.

Of course not every ride is so quick. If I leave right around 5 then the elevator will usually have to make a few stops on the way down to pick up other riders.

Riding this elevator everyday for the past few months I’ve observed a lot of interesting tics and habits people have on their rides. One of these in particular makes me chuckle a little every time I see it. Continue reading →

There Is Such A Thing As Free

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

photo.PNG-2Who gives away the most anticipated new album of the year to the entire world for free?

Certainly not the biggest rock band in the world, right?

That would subvert the entire process we’ve become accustomed to as consumers.

That would flip the recording industry on its head.

That would be unheard of…if it didn’t just happen.

You’ve probably seen by now that after 5 years of waiting U2 finally released their latest album “Songs Of Innocence” completely free to anyone with an iTunes account.

And they didn’t just release it – it’s already sitting in everyone’s purchased music folder, waiting to be downloaded. The album is a gift to every iTunes customer, just waiting to be received.

Who could have seen something like this coming?

Actually, it sounds kind of familiar.

Sounds kind of like a God giving away His gift of salvation completely for free. Continue reading →

What Friday Night Lights Gets Right

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

FNL_S2_DVDFriday Night Lights was a well-respected, Emmy Award Winning drama series that ran for 5 years on NBC. But you might have completely missed it.

During it’s original run it was bumped around the schedule and nearly cancelled multiple times. The show was always a critical darling, but mainstream audiences were slow to catch on.

It’s become one of those shows everyone tells you that you should go binge watch ASAP, like Breaking Bad or The Wire. And rightfully so.

Friday Night Lights is far more than a football show. It’s a realistic drama about a Texas High School coach and the down-to-earth problems his family and team face over the course of a career. It’s gritty, it’s funny, it’s relatable. It’s a pretty great show.

Except for the 2nd Season. The 2nd Season of Friday Night Lights is downright awful. 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 →

X-Men: Overcoming The Days Of Failure Past

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment
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CinemaBlend

What sets the X-Men apart from a lot of other superheroes is their origin story.

Unlike many other comic book characters, the X-Men are born with their powers.

There are no spider bites, no dramatic deaths of family members, no gamma radiation.

The X-Men are mutants. Their superpowers are part of who they are and always have been.

With that, each mutant has a choice to make when they discover their power: will they use it for good or for evil? Continue reading →

How To Turn Hate Into Love

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

What happens when the commercial you’ve produced to promote your graham cracker company ignites a firestorm over gay marriage?

You turn hate into love. 

Earlier this year Honey Maid released a commercial called “This Is Wholesome”. It depicted a number of modern families enjoying their products including an interracial family and a child with two dads.

(Click Here if you can’t see the video above)

Of course, as everything does on the internet these days, this simple commercial caused some extremists to lose their minds spouting off hateful tweets and emails about the company’s lack of morals.

It’s incredible. The things we work so hard on to share with the world can sometimes be completely rejected. What we planned to be beautiful and inspiring often becomes ugly and falls on deaf ears.

So what do you do when the gift you offer to the world gets rejected?

You do this: Continue reading →