By Brendan McLaughlin

-Thanks to Steve Otto for his spot on recommendation for the best cuban sandwich in The Bay Area. Faedo's on 15th Street in Ybor made me the best I've ever had. But you buried the lead, Steve. The Deviled Crab was even better- more of a round crab cake, it had an obscene amount of honest-to-God crab meat.

-Thanks to Metropolitan Ministries. I'm not thrilled about having a massive social service complex three blocks from my house and I have my suspicions  about faith-based initiatives, but I've also seen the throngs of working poor streaming through that tent to pick up some groceries and a toy for the children. They're treated with dignity by dedicated and hardworking staff and volunteers. They deserve (and desperately need) our help.

-Thanks to Judd Apatow for making some of the most sophomoric and hilarious movies in 20 years.  My expectations walking into Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, Superbad and 40 Year Old Virgin were admittedly low, but I got more funny for my money than I could have hoped. "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" promises another guilty pleasure. I did a spit-take with my cornflakes this morning just reading  Steve Persall's review of  the bio-pic parody.

There's the loss of a sibling that haunts and inspires Dewey, but rather than the usual drowning or sawmill accident, it's a machete game that ends with, as a doctor calls it, "the worst case of someone getting cut in half I've ever seen."

-Thanks to you, fair readers and viewers of Flashpoint.  You are a small but uncommonly thoughtful bunch. I appreciate your comments and feedback.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

P.S.  Flashpoint this Sunday will be a "best-of 2007" show featuring clips from my juicier interviews with Ahmed Bedier; Televangelists, Paula White and Bill Keller; former man and Largo City Manager, Susan Stanton among others.  That's Sunday Morning at 11:00 on ABC Action News.