Finkel's Fast Five - Issue #7

March 16th, 2018

This exact week, 26 years ago in 1992, My Cousin Vinnie hit movie theaters and we all learned about positraction, the proper cooking time for southern grits and what a "yout" is. While that may have been the end of the road for Vincent Gambini for you and I, it wasn't for author Lawrence Kelter, who wrote a sequel book to Vinnie titled Back to Brooklyn last year and has another coming out this May. I stumbled upon this book trying to see if Amazon Prime had Vinnie and I bought it on a whim on Kindle. I've been reading it on my phone in short bursts and Kelter nailed the Vinnie/Lisa chemistry. So far, so good.

In another bit of writing nerdery, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has been writing the Black Panther comics for Marvel the last two years, is set to take over a second storied character: Captain America. Whether you're into comics or not, this short essay he wrote for The Atlantic about his feelings/hesitations/excitement about taking the mantle of such a legendary super hero is cool. We all have these feelings when taking on a giant new challenge and his thoughts on confronting his own fears ring true.  What's more meatheady than a kettlebell? How about a kettle bell molded to look like an angry, snarling gorilla? Every 3 or 4 months I try to add something awesome to my garage gym and this week I finally took the plunge and bought this primate kettle bell from Onnit. It's only been a few days, but I love this thing, as you can see from this picture.

This clip of a 10-year-old kid fighting through tears to tell his hockey teammates that he loves them after their last game is like the end of a great sports movie. You can't look away. Also, shout out to whoever's little brother is sitting next to him, nonchalantly sucking on a Blow Pop as this kid pours his heart out. Classic little brother move. A nod to @spittinchiclets for the post.  March Madness is here and the first round always makes me think of one person: Harold "The Show" Arceneaux and the 36 points he dropped in round one of the '99 tournament to lead 14th ranked Weber State to a MASSIVE upset over #3 UNC. I was looking for clips from this game and I found this incredible two minute, amateur highlight video of the win gloriously put to Green Day's classic Good Riddance, 'Time of Your Life' song. Watch it.  Have a great weekend and take the photographs and still-frames in your mind, hang them on a shelf in good health and good time.  You can read previous FF5 Issues HERE  - Jon