Well. I promised this post...and now it's here. After countless hours spent in my sweatpants and after many, many bowls of triple chocolate chunk ice cream...I am now ready to embrace my greatest fear as the reality that it has become.
24 is over.
It's done. Jack Bauer will no longer protect America on Monday nights in the way that he deems best. He will no longer be a rogue agent who gets a shot of adrenaline every time he disobeys a direct order. My Monday nights from here on out will just be another boring night.
Instead of writing about the series finale and how much I'll miss it and all that other stuff, I decided to basically give out awards for the entire series. So without any further ado, The 24 Awards According to Aaron Crawford:
Greatest Hero: Really??? You have to think about this? Next award.
Greatest Hero not named 'Jack Bauer': This is a tough one for me. There are three in the running for this award. Curtis, Chase, and Tony. Curtis will win an award later so I'm knocking him out of this conversation even though I think he was a great character. Chase is a great guy with a lot of potential that only lasted one season. Sadly, one season wasn't enough for Chase to actually shine. He's a great guy but one season isn't enough to compare to Tony's six. Yes, Tony made some mistakes, and for a while we thought he was terrorist, but seriously...he was the greatest second-place agent anyone could ask for.
Best President: This is yet another no-brainer in my opinion. David THE-FREAKING-MAN Palmer. I wasn't sure how much I was going to like David Palmer when we are first introduced to him in Season One, but he is, by far, the best President this show ever had. All the presidents after him were a bunch of weak, easily-swayed, morons. Not David Palmer. Not Mr. Allstate. No, he knew what he was doing. Was he perfect? Not by a long shot. Did he take responsibility for his actions and actually stand up for what he believed in? You better believe it. His death would forever shake the foundation of Jack's world and send him spiraling down a path of despair and pain. His assassination was one of the most unexpected deaths ever...yet it leads me to the next award.
Worst President: Charles Logan. What a rotten, weasel of a man. Seriously, this guy had his hand in just about every bad thing that happened on the show since he was introduced. He was involved in the deaths of President Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and even in the last season with President Hassan. He tried to kill Jack himself on multiple occasions. I couldn't help but wish that he would die every time he appeared on screen. I literally jumped up and down when I saw Jack with a sniper rifle trained on his head in the series finale. I thought one of my wishes was going to come true! It would have...had it not been for stupid Chloe O'Brian. I was disappointed that Logan tried to commit suicide but...what do you expect from a weasel like him? I hated that guy.
Character that the show killed off WAY too early: This was another toss up that I really had to think about. Yes, there are plenty of characters who get killed off early, but only a few make a lasting impact with us as the viewer. Two of these characters are Edgar "The Penguin with a Lisp" Stiles and Curtis "The Man" Manning. This award could go to either character but I have to make a choice. I loved Edgar. He was awesome and I was glad to see someone as smart as Chloe in the tech region. Sadly, he died from a poisonous gas being pumped into CTU. It was a sad day seeing Edgar gasp for breath as the silent clock ended the episode. Curtis on the other hand was just a beast of a field agent. Curtis was a leader and a talented shooter and fighter. He always thought through the situations and to his credit (and death) he stood up for what he believed in. He was one of the best. I was not happy when they killed him off at the hands of Jack Bauer. I felt like he got the shaft just because the writers were trying to instill some "shock factor" at the beginning of a new season. Curtis, you didn't deserve that. That's why you edge out Edgar for this award.
Character that the show took way too long to kill off: Nina Myers. Now, she did present a lot of good material for the show. However, I felt like the writers were dragging her out and allowing her to live just for the sake of drama. Sure she killed Terri at the end of Season One which is the catalyst for all of Jack's actions for the remainder of the series, but she always seemed to escape. She was a professional survivor...that is until Jack Bauer had enough.
Character I couldn't stand from minute one: If you know me personally, then this is a no-brainer as well. Chloe O'Brian. Ugh. I don't even know what to say. I can't think of very many positive things about Chloe. Yes, she stuck by Jack's side all those years and helped him out when nobody else would...but that still doesn't gain her any respect in my book. Ever since I first heard her shrill voice with her sarcastically blunt and annoying attitude, I prayed that she would die. Even though the writers teased us with this situation a few times...she never bit the bullet. You're lucky Chloe. I would have killed you off by some random freak accident in the IT room at CTU. Ugh.
Favorite Leading Lady in Jack's life: Other than Terri, there was really only one other Lady in Jack's life. Yes, he had the pleasure and company of a number of women but only one stood out among the rest. Her name is Audrey Raines. Audrey and Jack had some ups and downs. Things were going great until Jack had to make a decision to ultimately ended Audrey's ex-husband's life. Shortly after, Jack "ceased to exist" and Audrey was forced to move on. Months later, Jack returns from the dead and tries to pick things back up with Audrey. After another season of misery Jack is captured by the Chinese...only to have Audrey scour the globe searching for the man that she loves. Sadly, this ends in her torture and eventual brain-washing at the hands of said Chinese. Jack's ladies never seemed to go out on a happy note. They always ended up dead or in serious injury. But here's to you Audrey. You stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Best Terrorist: This one is tough. I loved the story behind Season Three so I'm going to choose that one as the best. Not only are you dealing with the Salazar's and their Heroine Empire with a little Nina Myers thrown in the mix but you also have ex-MI6 agent Stephen Saunders to deal with. His personal history with Jack mixed in with Jack trying to overcome a drug addiction made this a very intense season.
Best Jack Bauer kill: Man. There are so many and I can't choose...so since Jack Bauer wins the award anyway, I'm just going to list some of my favorites. "The Axe", "The Jugular Snack", "The Hang 'Em High With A Chain", "The Scissors", "The Gutting", "The One Man vs. Russian Secret Service", "The Empty An Entire Clip In A Fool Because They Deserve It" (many occasions), "Neck Snapping Goodness" (many occasions) etc. Basically all of them.
Best Jack Bauer quote: Jack has had many good quotes. Quotes that strike fear into the hearts of terrorists about to be tortured. However, the one I've never forgotten comes at a t time when Jack is at the end of his rope. Audrey is lying in her bed like a vegetable as her father yells and blames Jack for what has happened. Jack wants to take Audrey with him to provide and protect for her despite her father's arguments. After Jack is pushed away he says, "In case you've forgotten, I'm really good at disappearing. And if you try sending someone after us...I'll kill him. I'm pretty good at that too." Talk about chills running down someone's spine.
Jack, you will never be forgotten. Thank you for all that you've done for our country. I freely admit that I have had and always will have a "man-crush" on you. You da man.
Thoughts?? Comments?? What are your picks??
Friday, May 28, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Look who's back...back again
Well...it's been a while hasn't it? Missed me? Didn't think so.
This post is really just a post to fill you in on my life over this past month. Things have gotten so crazy here and I deeply apologize to my loyal 7 followers for not keeping up with this more closely. I will try harder from now on.
This month has been crazier than the last four episodes of 24 and LOST combined! (Also, as mentioned in my first ever post...expect a blog post on the end of 24 next week. I don't think I'm emotionally prepared...) At the very beginning of May, our administrative assistant, Kim, left with her husband to move down to Florida. He got a job working at Disney World and from what I remember, he basically buys the parts for all the mechanical stuff in the parks. That's a big job. So, since that time, Matt, Jamie and myself have split the job of answering phones, collecting camp money, answering phones, talking to parents, answering phones and trying to maintain our sanity while completing our daily work load and answering phones.
A few weeks ago we had our Senior Night/Banquet at the church. It was cool getting to see these seniors graduate as they prepare for the next step. We are also in full swing as we prepare for Summer Camp 2010 in Cocoa Beach. A few of our adult volunteers are basically planning out the entire week for us which is a huge relief for Matt and myself. These leaders deserve an extra crown in heaven. I found out yesterday that I'm on the GOLD TEAM at camp. I know for a fact that I own one yellow shirt (which I'm going to claim as gold from here on out...) which presents me a problem. Why couldn't I have been on the Orange team you ask? That's a great question. I would have rocked that team! Seniority over interns is what I was told :)
My Bible study/discipleship time is going great! I have about six or seven guys who regularly show up to dive into the book of Hebrews every Wednesday night after church. We have been meeting for 5 weeks now and I can see how these guys are desiring to grow in their walks with the Lord. It's very encouraging to me. I even told them this past week that I expect them to eventually start their own discipleship groups after our time is finished. We were talking about the last few verses in Hebrews 5 where the author talks about how the people are still feeding off of milk when instead they should be chewing on some meat and teaching those around them what they know. I challenged my guys to start praying about how they were going to do this. A few of my guys are actually going to be middle school sunday school teachers in the fall which is a great step. I encouraged them to take what they know, continue studying and growing and then turn around and pour into someone younger than themselves. I'm excited to see where God is going to lead them.
Last week was an interesting week, in a good way. Basically the highlights include me electrocuting myself and and my family coming to visit me. I had been asked to help Matt do somethings in his apartment that he is trying to sell. One of those tasks was putting brand new smoke detectors into the ceiling. Now, for the record, I've never done this before. Basically, I got my fingers caught between a few wires as 38,947,000 volts of electricity fired through my entire body. Ok, I'm not sure how many volts it was but I guarantee that I'm low-balling that guess. As I tried to maintain my balance on top of an 8-foot tall ladder while yelling some sort of noise that was meant to be the word "ouch" but rather, came out to be "oouaweeepdsfih", I realized something...My hand was in a lot of pain. For the next few minutes, my hand wouldn't stop shaking and when it finally did, I decided to test myself and see if I had gained any super powers like super-speed (Flash anyone?). Much to my dismay, I'm still just a regular civilian.
My family came and visited me which was a breath of fresh air in my life. They got to meet and eat dinner with the family I am living with here in Georgia, as well as go shopping in Atlanta and attending a Braves baseball game. They got to visit FBCW on Sunday before heading home. This has been a crazy month, but again, I promise to try to stay more up to date with this blog.
This post is really just a post to fill you in on my life over this past month. Things have gotten so crazy here and I deeply apologize to my loyal 7 followers for not keeping up with this more closely. I will try harder from now on.
This month has been crazier than the last four episodes of 24 and LOST combined! (Also, as mentioned in my first ever post...expect a blog post on the end of 24 next week. I don't think I'm emotionally prepared...) At the very beginning of May, our administrative assistant, Kim, left with her husband to move down to Florida. He got a job working at Disney World and from what I remember, he basically buys the parts for all the mechanical stuff in the parks. That's a big job. So, since that time, Matt, Jamie and myself have split the job of answering phones, collecting camp money, answering phones, talking to parents, answering phones and trying to maintain our sanity while completing our daily work load and answering phones.
A few weeks ago we had our Senior Night/Banquet at the church. It was cool getting to see these seniors graduate as they prepare for the next step. We are also in full swing as we prepare for Summer Camp 2010 in Cocoa Beach. A few of our adult volunteers are basically planning out the entire week for us which is a huge relief for Matt and myself. These leaders deserve an extra crown in heaven. I found out yesterday that I'm on the GOLD TEAM at camp. I know for a fact that I own one yellow shirt (which I'm going to claim as gold from here on out...) which presents me a problem. Why couldn't I have been on the Orange team you ask? That's a great question. I would have rocked that team! Seniority over interns is what I was told :)
My Bible study/discipleship time is going great! I have about six or seven guys who regularly show up to dive into the book of Hebrews every Wednesday night after church. We have been meeting for 5 weeks now and I can see how these guys are desiring to grow in their walks with the Lord. It's very encouraging to me. I even told them this past week that I expect them to eventually start their own discipleship groups after our time is finished. We were talking about the last few verses in Hebrews 5 where the author talks about how the people are still feeding off of milk when instead they should be chewing on some meat and teaching those around them what they know. I challenged my guys to start praying about how they were going to do this. A few of my guys are actually going to be middle school sunday school teachers in the fall which is a great step. I encouraged them to take what they know, continue studying and growing and then turn around and pour into someone younger than themselves. I'm excited to see where God is going to lead them.
Last week was an interesting week, in a good way. Basically the highlights include me electrocuting myself and and my family coming to visit me. I had been asked to help Matt do somethings in his apartment that he is trying to sell. One of those tasks was putting brand new smoke detectors into the ceiling. Now, for the record, I've never done this before. Basically, I got my fingers caught between a few wires as 38,947,000 volts of electricity fired through my entire body. Ok, I'm not sure how many volts it was but I guarantee that I'm low-balling that guess. As I tried to maintain my balance on top of an 8-foot tall ladder while yelling some sort of noise that was meant to be the word "ouch" but rather, came out to be "oouaweeepdsfih", I realized something...My hand was in a lot of pain. For the next few minutes, my hand wouldn't stop shaking and when it finally did, I decided to test myself and see if I had gained any super powers like super-speed (Flash anyone?). Much to my dismay, I'm still just a regular civilian.
My family came and visited me which was a breath of fresh air in my life. They got to meet and eat dinner with the family I am living with here in Georgia, as well as go shopping in Atlanta and attending a Braves baseball game. They got to visit FBCW on Sunday before heading home. This has been a crazy month, but again, I promise to try to stay more up to date with this blog.
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