I love eggs!  Especially on the weekends like we just had.  A good egg breakfast to me is a very comforting way to start any weekend day, let alone a cold an wintery one.  Poached is my very favorite, but a good omelette, or scrambled is fine too.

I found this great article for all of us advanced egg-mavens and maybe we can get some new ideas, or confirm that we do indeed, know what we are doing!

LET'S MAKE SOME GREAT EGGS!!

Box Office Results - Avatar   -  Still #1

M3gan – Did Very well 30 Million is debut  /  A M3gan – Sequel is already in the development stages  (Story)

New This Week - A Man Called Otto  /  Plane  / The Devil Conspiracy

Very Cool - Austin Butler won the Golden Globe for his role as Elvis   (Story) 

Lizzo – Wants to star in an Avatar movie  (Story) 

Titanic - Is celebrating its 25^th anniversary with a new 3-D version in theaters February 10  (Story) 

Finding Nemo - Turns 20 this year

Jurassic Park / The Fugitive / Sleepless in Seattle - Turn 30 this year

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane -  Lorrie Morgan  (Link) 

Check Out  -  My Top 50 Countdown From 40+ Years  (Link)

Tina and others have asked me when it would be Lorrie Morgan's turn here, and today is the day.  She of course has ties to the area spending a lot of her life in Doylestown.  Lorrie Morgan had a nice run on the country charts and was very popular in a totally different era musically.  She was a highly skilled vocalist with a very powerful voice that really cut through, and I was a fan.

I Loved This First Real Single

LM is the daughter of country singer George Morgan, and at 20 years old floated out her first few singles in 1979 to no avail.  Then in 1989 she was signed to RCA Records and things started in the right direction. Her first single there, Trainwreck Of Emotion, I loved and thought it was a great song, but it had moderate chart success. But then things turned for the way better.  Over the next 10 years or so LM ran off a real nice line of great songs, and very successful albums showing incredible versatility along the way.  There were some missteps musically, and other ways  - and a record company change or two, but she was a consistent hit maker.

GREAT Performance - Her First #1

Morgan's real calling card was her unusually powerful voice.  I always felt she would sound good singing about any song you threw at her, and she did. Her hit songs ranged from traditional country, to pop country and even true pop. She recorded with a whole lot of artists in Nashville and from way and far beyond.  She made a Christmas album that I think is simply fantastic as well, plus many other projects and speciality endevours.  She is and was an unusual talent with a huge voice that was the envy of many young singers. There was a "realness" about her music too that fans loved.  For the most part it was straight forward, to the point, and strong. And that really resonated with fans. Lorrie Morgan sounded very empowering in many of her biggest songs and that was loved as well.

Great Song #3 - Very Powerful Vocals

But LM's story in addition to her remarkable talent and success as she sold millions of albums, is her personal life.  We don't get into that much here, but with Lorrie Morgan you have to as it's part of her legacy in country music and pop culture.  Morgan has been married six times.  Her first husband was Ron Gaddis who was in George Jones' band. Then superstar Keith Whitley until his death in 1989. She then married Clint Blacks bus driver in 1991, and then later country singer Jon Randall. She married country superstar Sammy Kershaw, and then later a business man named Randy White.

Big Song

She was also romantically linked to Dallas Cowboy QB Troy Aikman, and actor and politician Fred Thompson for a while. She was even spotted and photographed in the back of Bill Clintons limo when he was president, but she dismissed that as a "fabricated" situation.  It seemed for a while that her private life was taking over her career.  But with all of the outer noise, she was still a great vocalist with a big fan base.

Her Signature Song

In the end, Morgan sold about 8 million albums, was consistently on the charts songs for a decade or more, recorded with everyone and was as popular as any in a very competitive decade of the 1990's with over 40 singles. And through it all, the ups and the downs and there were plenty of each, she is a remarkable talent.

This Song Really Spoke To Many - Not Her Biggest Song - But Much Loved By Many

The wonderfully nimble and versatile, Lorrie Morgan!

Garth Brooks -  Friends In Low Places   -   1990

You may be surprised this is #50, but it's a great place to start. Garth was a new artist at the time and this was such gigantic hit, everyone knew every word to this incredible song!  Funny part is he was not the first to record it. In fact, he was the third. It was recorded by a singer named David Wayne Chamberlain in 1989, and Mark Chesnutt that same year.  This song solidified Garth as the clear number one act in Country Music, as it spent 4 weeks number one and won the CMA and ACM Single Of The Year.  Along with The Dance, I feel this song made Garth the superstar he still is.  I still love playing this song, as it makes me feel like we are making listeners happy at that very moment!  This song came out when I was doing the #1 morning show at KLIK in Jefferson City, Missouri  (The Big 950)

Other Related Articles I've Written Featuring Garth

More On Garth - The Influencers

More On Garth - 1989

The Browns season is over and the final record is 7-10.  Disappointing yes, but I thought in August they would win 8 games, and I was overly optimistic as were many others.  I love the Browns and I want them to win as much as you do.  As the writer of this weekly piece, I try to watch them with my head and not my heart, and I encourage you to try to do the same.  We all want them to be good, but they're just not. In fact, there is very little to take away from this season that is positive.  And additionally they did the unthinkable, in many ways they became hard to like.

This season the Browns to me, really played about 2 very good games start to finish against good teams at full strength. The first Bengal game on national TV was the best.  At home, beating a very good team soundly.  The Ravens home game too was pretty good, as we won a tough one, although the Ravens were without their MVP QB, so you better win that game at home again on national TV.  But the rest of the wins, Panthers, Bucs, Texans, Steelers (week 3) and Washington are all pretty lousy teams or in the Steelers case were at the time. The Bucs although in the playoffs, finished 8-9. 

Who we lost to and how we lost is another story.  Jets, (blew a 13 point lead in last 2:00).  The Falcons, (were physically beaten down). The Chargers (same), Patriots (same by 23), Bills (same), Ravens (by 3), Dolphins (by 22), Bengals (soundly), Saints (in -10 weather at home), Steelers (by 14). And some of these games were really noncompetitive. I don't like it either, but it's true. 

The Browns fired Joe Woods yesterday, but I'm not sure that will make any real difference but someone has to pay. On defense, the Browns idea is very wrong, I'm not sure it can be fixed in a year. They are too small, too weak, have a bunch of overrated players with no high draft picks to help get it right.  The problem on D is this.  The organization thinks small and fast is the way to go and they are wrong, dead wrong. This is the NFL!  They need a large D overhaul and new thinking.

Next up some honest figures. Kevin Stefanski has three years in now, his record is 28-24, and some are thrilled, I'm not. I understand it's better than the 1-31 years, but this is a team that wants a Superbowl.  Jacoby Brissett was brought in to keep the season afloat, and he played quite well. But his career record is win 1 and lose 2, and that's what he did going 4-7.  Then Deshaun Watson was given 240 million guaranteed dollars, and his career record is .500, and that's what he did going 3-3.  All above is mediocre.

If the goal is to win and win big and soon, I don't today see a clear path with their stubbornness with analytics, unrest in the coaching staff, rumored immaturity in the locker room, a lack of accountability, and the absolute resistance to playing smart Sunday football.  Analytics HATES running the football, and our best player, Nick Chubb is the NFL's best running back we have invested in heavily.  Make any sense?  Outside of Chubb our offensive play makers seldom make great plays and we stopped scoring real points once Watson became the QB and Brissett was sent to the bench, as is Chubb routinely when the game matters.  These are real issues.

But we want them to win so badly, we think that mediocre is better than 1-31, and that's true. But if the Superbowl is really the goal, then we need to demand more from the front office, the coaches and the players, ALL who are under performing and have been for two years now.  Don't be fooled, the Browns are a last place team right now, and are falling even further behind in their own division. We finished below the Steelers who many were laughing at how bad they might be this year, but who's laughing now?

The Browns played 3-3 in the division and that's "fine."   It's also literally mediocre again as .500 is the very definition of it.  The were SWEPT by the AFC East, and played .500 against the NFC South 2-2, by far the WORST division in the NFL, and were a miracle kick away in week one from being 1-3. When you look at it honestly, it's not pretty at all.

So now what?  The Browns MUST look at themselves as a total organization honestly this off season and make major changes on many levels on all sides of the ball.  They also must revisit the schemes and thought processes behind the scenes. They must admit mistakes and fault and take accountability for this debacle of a season. If not, nothing will really change, and 7-10 will be in play next year along with another last place divisional finish.  Altough at first glance the schedule next year may be much easier, but that can always change.

There is much work to do. But do they have the real desire, passion, and guts to do what needs to be done, because in the last two years and counting still, the Browns organization overall have shown us none. 

OK the holidays are over, but it seems we are NOT done eating yet!

GREAT WINTER RECIPES!

The Holidays are over for another year and that for me is a double edged sword.  They are fun, although very busy, hectic and go way too fast.  I always travel some at the holidays and I love that.  The general good feeling is a blessing and so is the time off for many of us.  BUT - sheesh the cookies.

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!  You can't get away from them.  Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but.....

I don't know about you, but cookies are my downfall.  Oh, I like a good piece of pie, or cake, ice cream too.  But cookies?  Well, they are just in a different league.  They are everywhere around the holidays, you can't escape them. You make some, you're given some, you buy some, and they are always right there!  RIGHT THERE in the kitchen, and I can hardly walk by a plate of cookies and not grab one - or a few.

They are so easy to eat, no plate, no napkin, no knife, no cutting, or opening the fridge, or putting anything back.  You don't have to wash a fork, or find a plastic one.  It's just the easiest thing on the planet.  You walk by, you grab a cookie and by the time you're done walking through the kitchen, it's gone. It's perfect.

And don't we all think that it's "just a cookie."  It's not a huge piece of pie or cake and its' way better for us, and in the long and literal run, it probably is.  But it's the half dozen part in a single day that gets you.

Christmas Cookies - THE BEST

Reality has set in for even the most die hard Browns fan as a result of Christmas Eve's cold weather fiasco at the stadium.  No playoffs for the Browns again this year.  I never expected them to come close this year and almost none of it had to do with the QB situation.  This team is not as good as the media thinks they.  The Browns right now, have the wrong idea and that needs to change.

This season didn't end last weekend in the frigid, it ended about 2:45PM on October 2nd of this year.  That was just after halftime of the Browns/Falcons game (game 4) of this season in Atlanta.  At halftime, a very mediocre Atlanta team, who we were already counting as an easy win, blew up the Browns entire season.  They decided to run the ball down the Browns throat and did exactly that with basically average running backs.  They saw the Browns have a very small, lightweight, speed defense with 215 pound linebackers and they went to work.

The blew us off the ball with 320 pound men the entire second half and won a game they themselves more than likely thought they would lose. Not only did they run it down our throats, they ran it up a few other sensitive areas too and got the win dropping us to 2-2.  BUT they gave the film to the league and the rest is 2022 history. The Browns never really recovered.  Ensuing teams just ran it right at us and we couldn't stop it. Even teams that didn't want to, ran it up against us.  Can't score if you don't have the ball, and so on.  It was embarrassing, being positively shoved around and being out manned every Sunday.  And that was after a couple of very embarrassing performances earlier in the season. Jets!~

That's just one area the Browns need to clean up.  Special teams are awful, defense is too small and really not good. I can only think of one game (Bengals game 1) the defense played really well against a GOOD team at FULL STRENGTH. They also have a ton of money invested in players that let this team down all year, especially early on.  Analytics are making in game decision making a real challenge, as we have many of the wrong personnel and no draft picks that really matter for a while. If they continue down this exact path, 2023 will be no better than this year.  They need to admit they are on the wrong path in not all, but many regards.

Next year is all being pinned on Watson and his full year availability.  Stefanski will get a full camp and year with him and that will buy the coach some time.  But it may not be enough. The division is just better than us, and next year, better still more than likely. This year we are going to finish in last place in the division and no media local or national saw that coming. And believe it or not, the Steelers are still in the playoff race, which is simply incredible.  See what a coach CAN do?  Mike Tomlin somehow has held his team together, with NOTHING to work with and they are still around.  Players will run through fire for him, I am envious.

The Browns need what the Steelers have, accountability.  They really have none from the top down.  The Browns just simply meander on like all is OK, and it's not by a long shot, and the record shows it.  They have to admit many of their players are overrated. They continue to invest in players no one else wants to pay big money too, and get minimal results.  We have a lot of players with "potential" after 5 or 6 years that gets old too.  They really need to self examine and take a path not yet taken by this franchise and get it right.  But my fear is that they won't have that kind of courage

Because what they DO have is the NFL's best running back in Nick Chubb.  The best offensive guard combo in the league,  a enviable offensive line, and a couple on defense that are as good as any.  They have the QB they wanted and one of the best fan bases in the entire league.  But do they have the guts to make the changes within the organization to be better, because THIS is not better.  Do they have the courage to admit wrongdoing, and poor choices? To have a better and deeper roster with the correct kind of players that can make a difference? Time will tell.

Fair question here. In their quest to reinvent the NFL with analytics and an Ivy League mentality and such, has the league passed them by with good football sense, physicality and better decision making?  Has attempting to be the smartest people on earth, actually been a real bozo move? Today, it seems so as there are a ton of teams that are really good right now that are old school tough and play football the way it's been played for 100 years.   Fair statement here too, as smart as they are, I don't ever recall any Ivy League team being ranked in College Football - ever.  Think Harvard could beat Ohio State?  Yeah, me either.

I'm not confident this bunch running the show here will have the humility to bow at the alter of pro football's history, as they seem more intent on reinventing something that is not really "reinventable."

GO BROWNS!!

  It's Christmas week of course and we all opened our gifts and emptied our stockings.  I'm not a fan of the stocking much anymore because you have to wait for yourself, and everyone to empty theirs BEFORE you get to open gifts. Stockings are like Joe Jones And The Outhouses opening for Luke Combs.  Can we just skip this part?

Anyway, when I was kid I LOVED stockings because without fail there was a Hot Wheel or two in it.  They were my favorite toy then.  I had a bunch of them, about 60 or so, and guess what?  I STILL HAVE THEM!  I had the track, a carrying case or two, the Supercharger, the loop the loop, the high banked corners, the whole bit.  I loved playing with Hot Wheels.  We all did.

I even watched the cartoon on Saturdays!  Yes, there was a show!

(The TV show caused a lot of problems as other toy companies complained the entire show was a commercial for Mattel.  The FCC agreed - came off the air along with another carton show, Skyhawks)

Hot Wheels have stood the test of time without question. They still makes them, and people still buy them.  I will more than likely save mine my entire life, for no other reason it is a direct link to my childhood, and things still in our possession like that are darn rare.

Here is a FUN article about the Hot Wheel, its history and why you should still buy them and keep them.

Hot Wheels History

  Merry Christmas!  As you open presents this morning, it's a good time to think about your favorite things about Christmas.  I have my list, and over the years it has changed.  As you think about your list when reading mine  - we can compare notes.

Favorite Ritual  - Being up before anyone, looking at the lit tree with coffee and some old movie on

Favorite TV Event  - Christmas Story Marathon

Favorite Movie  -  (Christmas) While You Were Sleeping (And Yes, it is - LOL)

(Least) Favorite Movie - (Christmas)  Christmas With The Kranks  (Deck The Halls, ain't far behind)

Favorite Song  - (Christmas)  I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

(Least) Favorite Song  - (Christmas) Santa Baby

Favorite Weather  - Warm and sunny, I don't need snow

Favorite Presents Opening Food  -  Good sweet rolls, sausage, coffee and Mimosas

Favorite Christmas Morning Tradition  -  Going to Spudnuts and buying a dozen.  (Support them for being open)

Favorite Meal  - Steaks on the grill with sides -  and Cookies

Favorite Cookie -  Yes!  (all of them, as long as they are soft)

Favorite Tradition  - Trains - lots of trains

Favorite Feeling  - Knowing I have a golf trip lined up with great friends in Florida a few weeks after the holiday

Favorite Ornament  - This Balsa Bear I've had for about 30 years

Favorite Lights  - I do prefer the older school bigger multi-color ones

Favorite Outdoor Decor  -  Single spotlight hitting the wreathe on the front door

Favorite Tree - The one I bought about 30 years ago. I cut it down and when I got home was horribly crooked

Favorite Christmas Memory  - My dad being home - the last day he was ever home before he passed away

Merry Christmas !!