No, we aren’t senior citizens yet, but Sidney and I do something that is characteristic of married couples in their seventies. We watch Jeopardy almost every week night. Although some aspects of the show bother me, we are both extreme Jeopardy fans and enjoy competing against each other.

When you watch Jeopardy with the frequency that we do, you see a lot of contestants come and go. You start to develop a criteria for what you like to see in your “model” Jeopardy player. Just like it is easy to judge an athlete while watching a game or a cast member while watching a reality TV show, it becomes easy to judge Jeopardy contestants as well.

Last week, a woman appeared on Jeopardy who probably didn’t meet my criteria for the perfect contestant. She spoke really softly. She didn’t command a presence. She seemed awkward talking to Alex. She simply looked as if she didn’t want to be there. If Vegas took odds on Jeopardy outcomes I would have bet against her because she didn’t look like a champion to me.

As if I was trying to back up my imaginary bet, I openly told Sidney heading into Final Jeopardy that I hope she didn’t win because she just didn’t seem to have enough energy.

She won.

The very next day I read something that troubled me. The soft spoken Jeopardy winner from last night had passed away eight days ago. Cindy Stowell, a content science developer from Texas, was 41. All Jeopardy shows are taped well in advance of the actual air date and the episode Sidney and I watched the previous evening was shot in August.

Alex Trebek and Cindy Stowell pose for this photo (photo courtesy of Jason Hess).

In a Jeopardy rarity, Cindy not only competed in August, she auditioned that month as well. You see, if a person is successful in the Jeopardy auditioning process, he/she usually won’t compete until many months down the road. However, Cindy didn’t have several months left. Battling Stage 4 cancer, she knew she would die soon. In a great act of humanity, the Jeopardy producers took steps to expediate the process and let her appear on the show despite a very short turnaround.

If only I had showed Cindy the same humanity that the Jeopardy producers did.

Because I immediately judged her, I didn’t see what I probably could have figured out if I had a more open mind. On the Jeopardy set during that show, Cindy was an extremely sick individual who has literally devoting every ounce of her energy to making it through the taping. She spoke softly because cancer doesn’t give you much leverage in booming out your answers. She didn’t “command the appearance” I look for because her disease had made her already small frame even more fragile. She engaged in an awkward dialogue with Alex that – on second thought – really wasn’t awkward at all. No, not awkward…courageous.

And the part I said about her not wanting to be there? I couldn’t have been more wrong. Competing on Jeopardy was a lifelong goal of Cindy’s and she was achieving it in winning fashion in front of the world.

I bring this story up to illustrate what judging can do. It made me look and feel like a heartless jerk. It is not only ignorant to try to summarize a person’s life story off of 20 minutes, it is also impossible. 

The remarkable tale of Cindy Stowell gets better. Her success didn’t end with the victory that aired last Tuesday. Rather, she continued to win and is at the very least a six-day champion. We won’t know how long her August winning streak stretched until all the tape delayed episodes play out. But we do know this: Per Cindy’s request, all of her winnings (currently at $103,803) will be donated to cancer research.

Cindy Stowell is the epitome of a champion. May she rest in peace. Don’t Blink.

I love Christmas. In fact, this year I think I might have done more “Christmasing” than ever before. Keep in mind that it is still just December 20.

However, a few relatively new Christmas trends don’t bring me too much joy. Mind you I am speaking literally because “a few” honestly means just three. I scratched my brain for Christmas-related things I am not 100% sold on and I could only come up with a short list. I thought I would share them with you…

“A Christmas Story” Marathon – People get so excited on social media about the “Christmas Story” marathon that runs on TBS. From Christmas Eve through Christmas Day, the movie is shown on repeat. That’s right, for 24 straight hours the film runs back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back…..

I love the movie “Forrest Gump.” I have no issue watching it a couple times a month. But I couldn’t watch it twice in a row, let alone nine times in a row. Sorry to the die hard fans out there, but I can’t even watch “A Christmas Story” once. I remember watching it when I was young. I disliked how Santa was portrayed, I found the dad mean, I thought the leg lamp was creepy, and I couldn’t bear to watch the tongue on the flagpole scene. All these years later and I still can’t bring myself to watch “A Christmas Story.” I think it would be better if TBS ran a marathon of the different “Miracle on 34th Street” remakes or an all-day “Home Alone” trilogy showing.

“Ugly” Christmas Sweaters – I am so over “ugly” Christmas sweaters and “ugly” Christmas sweater parties. Why? Because it is not about being “ugly” anymore. Although these Christmas sweaters are marketed with the word “ugly” in front of them, we all know people are buying them because they want to be fashionable and trendy. Manufacturers know it too. Over the past several years, companies have made “ugly” sweaters for customers to buy. However, how “ugly” can the shirt be if it is brand new and made specifically for a younger audience? Companies try to make their “ugly” Christmas sweaters “uglier” than their competitor but it just results in a product that is more expensive and more trendy.

Before the “ugly” Christmas sweater concept became so commercialized, there was a certain charm to it. Busting out grandpa’s old red and green sweater that had not been worn for 40 years was fun. However, that magic is now gone.

Artificial Trees – I know the time will come when we own an artificial tree. I know that as each year passes, fake trees become more and more popular. But I can’t get myself to embrace the artificial tree trend just yet. I need the experience of picking out a fresh tree. I need the pine smell filling up our living room. I need the warm feeling of sitting next to a living product of the forest. For those of us who go authentic, there is nothing like bringing in a unique tree each year. It seems as if each one has a distinguishing feature that separates it from the ones of the past.

The day we get our own artificial tree I am sure I will enjoy the convenience and beauty of it. But like I said, I am not ready to cross over just yet.

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Okay, I am done being Scrooge. Obviously I don’t have much against Christmas (besides a movie, ugly sweaters, and fake trees). Time now to make some hot chocolate! Don’t Blink.

I am not a negative person, but it has become mandatory that I follow my best songs of the year list with my worst songs of the year list. Limiting my choices to top 40 music released over the past 12 months, I have identified five songs I especially hated.

As I said yesterday, I am not really a big music fanatic. It is easier for a song to annoy me as opposed to inspire me. Because of this, I usually have a much bigger pool of candidates for this list as opposed to yesterday’s list. This year was no exception. I give you Brent’s Top 5 Worst Songs of 2016:

5. Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande

I won’t be as hard on this song as I will be on the others that make the list because I really like the music of Ariana Grande. However, the disappointment I had over “Dangerous Woman” was just too much for me not to include on my countdown.

Grande has made her living off of fun, energetic tracks. This song was just too slow and too sultry for me. No part of it made me want to devote three minutes to listening to it. It is one of those songs where the more I listen to it, the more I lose patience with it. Sometimes a change of style works but I think she missed the mark with “Dangerous Woman.”

4. Close – Nick Jonas featuring Tove Lo

I have never been a big fan of the collaborations between a male singer and female singer describing the hardships of a relationship. By now it is such a cliché practice and when the lyrics are sub par it just means you have the inconvenience of listening to two people sing a bad song instead of just one. I never liked “Close.”

The song is just too whiny. The build up to the chorus is almost just as brutal as when the singers croon “clooooooose” over and over again. Speaking of repetition, even the words in the verses sound like broken records (i.e. I know, I know you know you’re scared). This song was a bore.

3. Toothbrush – DNCE

The title says enough, right? If you can get past what the song is called, don’t think anything better is waiting for you once the music starts. To me, this song is plain annoying. The aggravating and slow portion of the chorus that goes at my place, at my place turns me off. The verses are slow as well and the elementary rhyming used throughout the track don’t do it any favors. I get what the song is about and I get the significance of the toothbrush, but I just don’t think it was put together well.

In all fairness, I just don’t really care for the sound of DNCE. I almost put “Cake By The Ocean” on this list as well but I thought it would be mean to include two different songs by one artist. Nothing adds more to the frustration of waiting in traffic than when a DNCE song comes on the radio.

2. Megan Trainor – No

I dislike this song from top to bottom. First, the track sounds awful with the word “no” used over and over again. Yes, I get the device they were trying to achieve, but Trainor took it overboard. I appreciate the effort made to give the song a few different distinct sounds but the problem is I don’t care for any of them. The I’m feeling untouchable part takes repetitive to a whole new level and to put the icing on the cake, the only other words in that verse come at the end when she sings/says nah to the ah to the no, no, no.

I actually like the message of the song and I think it is very important, I just don’t think it was performed well. To me, it was just arranged in a very jumbled way.

1. I Hate U, I Love U – Gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien

This song embodies all of the critiques I have given the other songs above. It is repetitive, annoying, whiny, and uninspiring. In short, it is unlistenable.

Nothing dooms this song more than the words of the title. Hearing both Gnash and O’Brien singing I hate you, I love you in such a nursery rhyme way over and over again is beyond bad. Aside from that, the rest of the song is just a depressing mess. There is no energy, no passion. The song manages to actually get on my nerves. Until this song hit the mainstream, I had no idea who either of the singers were. With that said, I would normally give them the benefit of the doubt but the track was just so draining that I had to name it the worst song of 2016.

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Sorry for the negativity. If you disagree with me, well, good…..I know zilch about music. Until the 2017 list a year from now, I will try to restrain the musical critic inside of me. Don’t Blink.

Good evening to you all. Two weeks ago we celebrated Thanksgiving. The significance of me bringing that up? Absolutely nothing. Let’s get started with the Thursday Countdown.

Watching Hairspray Live! – Last night, Sidney and I sat down to watch the live production of Hairspray. I had never seen any version of it before and didn’t really know if I would like it. Sidney, a Hairspray fan, was singing the songs right from the start. As I started to watch it, I found myself pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the singing and the plot. The only problem? It was just way too looooong. The whole thing lasted three hours. That is just too much to ask of a TV viewer. By the time the two hour mark rolled around, Sidney was asleep and I had enough. I turned it off.

A Movie I Highly Recommend – So while I would not recommend NBC’s production of Hairspray to someone, I would 100% recommend the movie “Hacksaw Ridge” to anybody and everybody. Sidney and I honored a Thanksgiving tradition and went to the theaters that evening. Even though the film had been out for a few weeks, we decided to see it. We were so glad we did. “Hacksaw Ridge” tells a remarkable true story about a war hero who never touched a gun. The end will have even the hardest of folks in tears. It might have been the best movie I saw all year.

Hacksaw Ridge is an excellent movie and you should see it.

Spot Brent – Last night, I wrote about the spectacular holiday video that Coastal Carolina University put out. However, I didn’t mention something in that post. Believe it or not, I am actually in the video…four different times. In case you have trouble finding me, I have given you a hint of the scenes I am in with the collage below. Click here to watch three minutes of fun and creativity that will put you in the holiday spirit.

A grainy look at each of my cameos in the holiday video.

Reaction to College Football Playoff – Since the playoff field was announced in college football this past Sunday, I have received a common question from lots of people here in South Carolina: Are you glad the University of Washington made it? The one word answer to this question is yes. However, if the person who asked the question wanted more clarification, I would tell him/her that I grew up a Washington State Cougar fan. My dad is an alum of WSU and I grew up going to the games with him. Since I was a Coug, I despised the Huskies. To this day, I have generally rooted against UW. But with such a great opportunity to represent my home state on a national level and because of the fact that my good friend and groomsman (Kenny) is the cheerleading coach of the Dawgs, I couldn’t help but pull for them. Yes, ultimately I am glad that the University of Washington is in the College Football Playoff.

Baby Update – Yesterday we hit the four month mark until our baby daughter is due. Sidney turns 23 weeks tomorrow. To celebrate, she has been working on our baby registry. Sid has a tough time getting comfortable at night but overall she is feeling well. We are doing our best to not let our excitement overwhelm us so much that we don’t take the time to enjoy the limited days we have left before our family of two becomes a family of three.

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Well, I am going to take a couple days off from blogging. I will be back on Sunday to touch base with you. Have a great weekend. Don’t Blink.