In an MTV first, the last episode of “Two-a-Days” screened online Wednesday night before its Oct. 18 broadcast. And the post-post-season Hoover Bucs are looking forward to baseball and college ball.

Finally, some answers for fans’ burning questions: Who earns a football scholarship? Who ends up playing baseball? And which couples stay together? (Hint: not Alex and Goose.)

It’s zero-a-days for part two of the season finale. [recap of part one]
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The Hoover Bucs have made it to the state championship game. One more victory means a fourth consecutive title and ring.

OMG, who cares?!? What about Alex and Kristin? Are they like broken up or what? The final game, the final parting shots, the final ridiculous hairstyles, all on part one of the season finale of “Two-a-Days.” [recap of part two]

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I used to be a media whore, but now I’m a new media whore. Or a whore of new media, as it were.

Last week, I had two opportunities to talk about blogs, social networking and how they can help Birmingham’s communities and citizens. One audience was a mass media class, the other was the head of a city arts and culture center.

What I’ve learned came from hard work, trial and error and an unparalleled year toiling in new media.

The highlights of my presentation, in handy bullet-point format.

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A grueling leg proved challenging for eight teams racing in Vietnam in tonight’s episode of “The Amazing Race.” Team Birmingham, moms Karlyn Harris and Lyn Turk, struggled against gravity, wind and exhaustion in picturesque Ha Long Bay.

Paddle power would either make or break competitors as they cried, laughed, whined and imploded on their way to the mat. Would a Detour choice save Karlyn and Lyn, or set them adrift?
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Let us give thanks for friends, for family, for victory over our enemies. Let us give thanks for Hoover Bucs football, for coaches who still love their mamas and meemaws and for hot cheerleader girlfriends and their hotter squadmates.

Let us give thanks for the very special Thanksgiving edition of “Two-a-Days.” Amen.

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Vietnam was the setting for nine teams racing around the world in tonight’s installment of “The Amazing Race.” Karlyn Harris and Lyn Turk, moms and friends from Birmingham, started in last place in Mongolia.

But Team Birmingham was in the thick of it, as teams battled with no cash, no motorbikes and plenty of drama. Could they bounce back, or would they fall like dominos?
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To no one’s surprise, the defending state champs are back in the playoffs. Can the Hoover Bucs win their umpteenth 6A championship, glory and free wings?

What cheerleader can’t spell or work a dictionary? Whose dad is a miserable camera-hogging drunk? And who really really really wants it more? These questions and more, on the next “Soap,” er, “Two-a-Days.”

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This past weekend’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival was a winner. Great turnout, decent weather, fun parties and a strong slate made for an eighth outing worth remembering.

Before the final credits roll, a few more films we caught in the three-day frenzy …

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Ten teams, including moms/friends Karlyn Harris and Lyn Turk of Birmingham, dashed across Asia in Sunday’s episode of “The Amazing Race.”

The pairs drove ox carts, took down tents and shot flaming arrows during the CBS reality competition, but temperamental jeeps turned out to be the biggest challenge of all. Would Team Birmingham lose because its car wouldn’t crank?

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I lost someone near and dear to me one year ago today. She and I had a nine-year relationship, and many knew her (if only by reputation) to be at times tough, dowdy, amusing, frustrating and downright forgettable.

No one will see her memorialized in the newspaper today, nor will they stop by her grave. She died a long and painful death, and her passing reminds us not only of the fragility of life but the certainty of death. And yet the city moves on, as indifferent to her in death as it was in life.

The Birmingham Post-Herald, May 15, 1950 – Sept. 23, 2005.

R.I.P.
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Ten reasons to check out the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, which kicks off its eighth annual event tonight at the Alabama Theatre …

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Every generation has its slackers, or “Slackers,” a cinematically scruffy group of aimless youth interested in no more than casual relationships, “art” and other passing pursuits. Such is the posse of unfortunately named “LOL,” a pastiche of scenes that may very well be perfectly suited to the crowd of teens still coming of age.

Viral videos allow anyone to be director and star, auteur and writer. This reality-tinged comedy seems little more than a strung-together series of YouTube clips, and not the compelling ones of embarrassing stunts or weirdly mesmerizing moments.

The movie screens as part of this weekend’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

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It’s all about football in Hoover, from the high school varsity squad to the cheerleaders to the pee-wees. Not even Homecoming Week distractions can keep the Bucs from doing their jobs.

Um, what are their jobs again? It’s something about beating the piss outta something, or dressing up in costumes.

Anyway, “Two-a-Days.”

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Ever wonder about the kids who play Dungeons and Dragons and immerse themselves into role-playing games? Or wonder, if as adults, they ever grow out of that “phase”?

No? Fair enough. The documentary “Darkon” explores their world nonetheless, but even given its thorough investigation of why they fight, the question remains.

Why bother?

The movie is part of this weekend’s Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

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They say romance is dead. We say, it’s not dead until we pull the trigger.

Saturday, be sure to duck.

That’s when “Muckfuppet” debuts, as part of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

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