Call Me Matty Chapstick!

Work outside last night was fun. By the time I headed home this morning the thermometer temperature had risen to minus six degrees Fahrenheit. I would say "cold as balls" but I have never understood that saying. One of my co-workers got frostbite last night - allegedly! I say allegedly because I do not know the details and just know that this person went home early and the scuttlebutt is that it was frostbite. The first day back from a two-week break and one person supposedly called-in sick and another one gets supposed frostbite a couple of hours into shift. Maybe me deciding to work the entire two week break may have made it easier for me to stay strong with the elements or, maybe I am just not a... I stopped myself there. I have so many adjectives and nouns that are going through my fingers but, I have learned how to make them stop before they get to the tips and push the keys.

I am watching the film The World's End from my fine friends at Redbox. It is so cool to work on Dirty Laundry Podcast. The podcast and the blog allow me to see all of these movies for only $1.20 each. Oh, the perks of being a world-wide celebrity in my mind. I love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's films. There was a preview before the film started for Machete Kills. Those films have not really been my Cup-O-Soup (ka-ching). The preview showed one of the stars of the film and said, "...introducing Carlos Estevez..." Boy, he sure looked a lot like Charlie Sheen. Hey, isn't Charlie Sheen's brother Emilio Estevez? And Charlie Sheen's dad is Martin Sheen whose real name is Ramon Antonio Gerard Estevez? So, Charlie Sheen is trying to resurrect his career by no longer being Charlie Sheen? He decided to use his real name - Carlos Irwin Estevez. (smart to leave out the Irwin). It would be smarter to take some acting lessons. Robert Downey Jr. just manned-up after all of his craziness and just kept pushing-forward as RDJ. Now he's Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.  Hey, Martin Freeman is in this film too. He is Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit and Tim from The Office. (Yes, I wrote Tim, not Jim). I like him a great deal too.

"Not one of their best films," Matt In The Middle

Yesterday the podcast had 89 downloads, 36 plays, 23 embeds and 142 visits. I am pretty happy with these numbers. We are growing and many of you have been in since the beginning and I truly appreciate you. A lot of the recent growth of the show, I think, has to do with our interview of Holocaust survivor Magda Brown (load #137). The biggest recent growth has been in: Germany, France, Israel, Poland, Hungary and The Netherlands (makes sense given the topic I suppose). The US and A always is and will be our biggest source of love though I think. It amazes me that we were heard in 58 countries in 2013. There are 196 countries in the world so, we still have lots of room for growth. I smell a Top Ten List coming on next week's show! Of course, I just stopped writing and I now have that list prepared because if I don't do it now I will forget to do it because I am another year older - thanks a lot 2014 and Obama!

I was listening to a weather reporter on the radio (incidentally, I still love AM radio for many reasons) on January 1st a bit after midnight and the dude said, "this is our first big snow storm of the year." The year was about two hours old. I am really glad that it wasn't the third biggest snow storm we had in the last two hours. He went on to say that there were a lot of people "tail-fishing." How can a guy reporting winter weather for WGN Radio in the Windy City on the lake that is known for terrtible winters not know that fish-tailing is not called tail-fishing? I think tail-fishing is what horny dudes do in bars isn't it? That will catch on - just mention the blog now and again when you use it please.

The winter already has reminded me about lip balm and hand lotion. While I was applying the clear lip stick to my supple lips the other night I thought, "self, why do our lips chap and our skin dry out? Is it for a reason? Are we ruining something our bodies do by artificially hydrating it? Maybe we are simply supposed to just drink more water or eat more snow (this is one place where I feel it is safe to say "white only" - snow)." Even my inner voice doesn't know when to shut-up.

Time to quit. I try to keep this short but, unlike genetics, this needs to be a choice. So, I choose to quit for now. I will probably blog again tomorrow. Thanks a lot for spending a portion of your new year with me. I wish you a great 2014! TTTT....MITM (chapped out) TA!

P. B. (post blog) - The World's End is not one of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's best films. I'd say "wait 'til it's on video: but, this was the video. Double TA!