The Chronic(als) of Narnia rap. Yo!

The other day I went with my family to see The Chronicles of Narnia. Have you seen it? I read the C.S. Lewis books as a kid. They were pretty true to the book. A few months ago, there seemed to be some controversy over the film because of its Christian themes. When I read the the books in middle school, I didn't even notice the gospel echoing throughout the stories.

When I went to see the movie earlier this week, I totally saw the parallels between the tales of Narnia and the story of salvation. So what? I don't understand why that is such a big deal or created such a stir.


Anyway...a couple of weeks ago, there was a really funny SNL short that parodied rap videos. It was about a couple of white guys going to see the Chronicles of Narnia. It is the Chronic(als) of Narnia Rap. It is called "Lazy Sunday", and it is HILARIOUS. You can watch it here.

Da Bears!

I don't watch football on television. But I recently watched football on television two days in a row. I'm hundreds of miles away from the Pioneer Valley, visiting my parents who live deep in Chicago Bears territory. Sunday afternoon, I watched the Bears play the Packers for the division championship with my father. The Bears won. They are on their way to the playoffs, and if the wishes and hopes of Chicagoans count for anything, another superbowl is in their future.

Last night we watched part of Monday Night Football. The New England Patriots are now the 2005 AFC East Champions. They are on their way to the playoffs, too.

I was feeling very nostalgic last night. You may be wondering to yourself "if you never watches football on television, then why would you be feeling nostagic?" Ok. so maybe you aren't asking yourself this... But I'm going to explain anyway.

Two reasons: Monday Night Football. The Chicago Bears.

Last night was the last Monday Night Football on ABC. There was an interesting article about the history of Monday Night Football in the Washington Post yesterday. Next year, football will be broadcast on ESPN on monday nights. The big network football games will be televised on sunday afternoons on NBC. Even though I never watched Monday Night Football, it felt like the end of an era.

But the thing on my mind more than Monday Night Football, was the Chicago Bears, who may be on the way to their first Superbowl since 1986. Twenty years. Wow.

I'm not a football fan, but I can still name players from that 1985 Chicago Bears season even though I was a kid then: running back Walter "Sweetness" Payton, William "the Refrigerator" Perry, Jim McMahon (the "Punky QB"), and linebacker "Samurai" Mike Singletary, Superbowl XX MVP Richard Dent, and receiver Willie Gault. And of course, their unforgettable coach, Mike Ditka. The superbowl game itself was kind of boring (as sometimes superbowls are) because there was no suspense. The Bears trounced the New England Patriots (sorry to bring up bad memories, New England fans) 46 - 10, setting a record for the most points ever scored in in a superbowl game.

Better than the superbowl, was the excitement leading up to the championship. We L-O-V-E-D our team. Walter Payton was the smooth one. Singletary was the cuddly teddybear off-field who was ferocious on the field. Jim McMahon looked like a "blues brother" with his signature black rayban sunglasses (that we learned he wore because he took a fork in the eye as a kid). And "The Fridge" was the huge (ok, fat) defensive lineman who actually scored a touchdown during the superbowl even though he couldn't run any faster than me. I remember a radio promotion in which the winner of a Bears trivia game won a new refridgerator stocked full of food.


The thing I remember the most about the holiday season leading up to Superbowl XX was the sound of The Superbowl Shuffle. It was a song recorded by the team to benefit needy Chicago families. I heard it on the radio. It played nonstop in department stores where the 12" album was being sold. The video played on television. It was everywhere. To this day, I can sing entire portions of the song.

We're the Bears Shufflin' Crew.
Shufflin' on down, doin' it for you.
We're so bad we know we're good.
Blowin' your mind like we knew we would.
You know we're just struttin' for fun
Struttin' our stuff for everyone.
We're not here to start no trouble.
We're just here to do the Super Bowl Shuffle.

If you are interested in hearing the entire track, go here and scroll down towards the bottom of the page. Turns out there is a radio show called "Crap from the Past" that aires on WFAI FM 90.3 in Minneapolis on Friday nights from 10:30 - Midnight. You can learn more about it, by going to their website, which is where I found the recording of "the shuffle." They have an RSS feed for podcasts.

So, with the Chicago Bears in the NFC and the Patriots in the AFC, it is possible that they could face off in the Superbowl this year. For those of you who are cheering for the Patriots, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I will be rooting for my childhood team...da Bears.