--92 days.

--OK, the tuxes are out of the way now...amazing how much easier and quick it is for us guys to pick a tux (not too many options) compared to the amount of time it takes to pick a dress for the women. All I'll say is this: I'm gonna look slick...though I had reservations about looking possibly even more slick. There was this awesome, awesome ensemble there that, man, I have to say I was craving. But I was concerned that it was too traditional and too "formal" in a sense. So I chickened out on it and went a little more "normal." Gina was not involved at all, and I think I did a damned good job...though, honestly, it's not like it's a big, big departure from the norm anyway. The other option would have been a bit of a departure, but with a highly traditional look to it. So those are done...at 5pm, we have the tasting at the reception hall, which ought to be nice. Hell, free food is ALWAYS nice...and free GOOD food is even better.

--We'll see about modifying and doing a better schtick...I have to think about whether or not I'm going to be reliable with it. :) Some of the cooler matchups I was looking forward to for the previous, trashed schtick: Norman Bates vs. Erin Brockovich, Mr. Potter vs. Woodward & Bernstein, Clarice Starling vs. Martians (War of the Worlds), HAL 9000 vs. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Oskar Schindler vs. Man (Bambi), and the Wicked Witch of the West vs. General Patton. Alas...the others sucked too hard. :)

--You know, reading about Detroit and the Super Bowl kinda makes me happy I'm not there covering it, especially now with the blizzard or whatever that could hit the city. Man, if that blizzard hits, forget it...Detroit will never get a Super Bowl again, which is too bad, because my buddies at PFW report that Detroit(ians) are really nice and friendly and helpful toward everyone coming in for the game. So, that's too bad for them, I guess... :)

--93 days.

--In the immortal words of Kevin Spacey as Christopher Walken: "Wait, that sucked." Schtick is officially canceled due to lack of good heroes and villains, causing a lack of interest. Back to your regularly scheduled, boring-ass schtick that will end in 93 days.

--Actually assembled around 50 invitations--most of the way, anyway. We still need stamps and I need to put the return address on the main envelopes. But we figure if we do a little bit at a time, we'll have them ready to go before we know it. So we'll see... :)

--Tomorrow, it's double-duty on the wedding-planning circuit: First, I'm going in the late morning to reserve the tuxes and get measured for mine (and whichever guys can make it will be measured too). Then, in the evening, we get to go to our tasting at the reception hall. Should be cool...curious to see how it goes. I believe it's more of an event than just showing up and trying food. But we'll see for sure.

--But, for now, I'm tired...so it's off to bed.

--94 days.

--Gordon Gekko wins another lame 1-0 battle. Dammit.

NEXT MATCHUP: Lou Gehrig (The Pride of the Yankees) vs. Phyllis Dietrichson (Double Indemnity). Yippee.

--Here's how much of a geek I am. I worked until 7:30pm today researching, downloading and formatting foodservice sales info for s a u s a g e and h o t dogs for a story we're working on. I got about 8 tables of data, broken down by the amount that each of those things appear on menus with this one company that collects the menu data from more than 1,000 restaurant chains. So I was able to find out how many menus carry those items, how many items are on the menus, etc. I can break it down by type of restaurant, year, and even type of dish (i.e., breakfast entree, center of plate item, side dish, etc.). It's pretty cool. So I spent most of the evening formatting it and getting it ready for publication. And I got a great satisfaction from that. :) Like I said, total geek.

--So then I came home and watched "Beauty and the Geek 2." So my geekiness is complete.

--Now, I feel kind of tired, of course. I do have things to do now, but, figures, no motivation. :)

--95 days.

--Well, Noah Cross wins a less-than-impressive 1-0 victory. At least it wasn't a coin flip. :) So, we've got the villains on a winning streak here. But, will it continue?

NEXT MATCHUP: George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life) vs. Gordon Gekko (Wall Street).

Vote away...

--96 days.

--Well, either my schtick sucks, or this is what I get for not regularly posting. Damn. :) Well, by coin flip...Bonnie and Clyde move on to Round Two with an upset of the No. 1 seeded Atticus Finch. A huge upset via the seedings, but the AFICS (American Film Institue Championship Series, sponsored by Toyota) system is flawed, as we know.

NEXT MATCHUP: Noah Cross, villain from "Chinatown" vs. Harry Callahan, better known as "Dirty Harry." VOTE!

--I'm sorting through all sorts of music, trying to find the "special events" songs that are necessary...special dances, entry songs, etc. It hasn't been easy, that's for sure. :) But I'll get through it, no doubt. :) We reserved a block of rooms at the nearby hotel...details, for those who are planning on coming in from out of town (and others), are available, but they will be included in your invitations as well, so no need to jump the gun yet. :)

--97 days. Yes, we're in the home stretch, ladies and gentlemen! You know what though? It's actually only 13 hours, in "24" time, away...goofy TV. :)

And I've decided what my new schtick will be! I think. Be prepared to be shocked, amazed and pleased...it will be an INTERACTIVE schtick that will require your votes! That's right, it's my own personal version of "Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves!" but with a twist. I thought about resurrect an old idea from my previous workplace with "The Hottest Woman Tournament" in honor of the waning days of bachelorhood, but Troyal has the market cornered now as far as copious amounts of hot women goes, so I can't do that. :)

Instead, I will be taking a wider-reaching topic: Movies. I'm taking the AFI's top 100 Heroes & Villains list and pitting the top 32 of each against each other in an NCAA-style tournament, voted on by YOU! Now, I know there are a bunch of movie-knowledgeable people on this list who are very "qualified" to vote. I myself haven't seen half the movies on there, but most of you have seen more than I have.

Voting will be counted only within the 24 hours after I officially submit the post. In the event of a tie, I will simply flip a coin. There will be no fancy tiebreakers or anything of that sort. Also, only one vote will be accepted per username. Unless I get lazy. I have the right to change whatever rules I want as I go along...but I probably won't. :)

Given that there will be 64 entries, there should be 63 "games" total. That gives me a little leeway in case of work travel when I don't have access to a CPU, and it also gives me leeway to give a little bit of a buffer zone between the end of the tournament and the real homestretch, the month before the wedding. You can debate, vote, talk smack, whatever. Enjoy! It's all for fun, right! And everyone can play! The matchups will begin with hero vs. villain, but the matchups will not be reseeded after the first round, meaning that a hero may battle a hero or villain vs. villain.

YOUR FIRST MATCHUP:
Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) vs. Bonnie & Clyde (Bonnie & Clyde)