Kenny Smith | blog


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Tuesday, August 31, 2004

For the first time in about a week I sat down to watch TV. Still nothing good on it.
More work on the page today. I think the template is mostly done, save one or two tweaks. Right now I'm just adding the text that passes for content.

Monday, August 30, 2004

Two hours of Communication Effects discussion tonight. Dr. Amsbary talked about one of our assigned papers, finally at the end of the evening he illustrated how these questions of casuality jump from the academic's page into our real world. We also discussed determinism, logical positivists, nature and humanity, probability, the perception of nature, social justice and the symmetry of chaos. He was, in his own words, "riffing" for most of the night just giving us places to chime in.

I took just over one page of notes. The most important: Enjoy this philosophical debate. This is why you came back to school, for this conversation.
With all due respect to the philosophers in the world -- and those that would assign them as reading -- I struggle to see how pondering causality (in statements such as "Don does not die because he does not fall" and "Italy has no king") relates to my stated goals and objectives.

I plod on, but I am bemused.
A cheesy airplane scribble ...

At the intersection of country and jangle-pop lies a dusty old house. The upper-midwestern architecture is out of place with the scraggly ground surrounding it. Paint is peeling and flecking from the white porch railing. The planks of that porch are old and should be aged, but they've been worn smooth by bad-assed boots. There's a swing, but it rarely swings; a ceiling fan that never turns.

When it rains -- if it rains -- the precious fluid falls in big dollops onto dust so dry it long ago gave up. The roof on that porch is tin -- what else could it be? -- the shutters could use some work and the whole structure got on its knees for paint three or four seasons ago. It has had lots of residents, that dusty old house at the intersection of country and jangle-pop. Its foundation is sturdy, its lines clean, its soul still dreaming.

The music coming from inside: The Jayhawks.

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Dr. Self, a week after assuring the class that we didn't want him to lecture each week, held forth for his first of only two promised lectures. He did so without chalk, which would have helped to explain a few models, but those are the breaks.

I took seven pages of notes on our reading of Kuhn's essay, which wasn't bad considering the length of the class. However somewhere about midway down page three my hand really started hurting. Yeah, I'm a wimp.

A wimp who hardly ever writes anything anymore. Unless I'm on a plane. For some reason I always end up writing something marginally interesting in the air. But trust me when I say my typing is more legible than my scrawl.
Safely home in Birmingham. Now just waiting on this evening's class to start.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

"Your eyes are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."
"No, your eyes are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

OK, the dialogue is contrived, but friends, this picture is NOT.
I don't know why this family sees the need to fit six birthdays in three months, but that's a mystery that must remain unsolved this weekend as we've stopped celebrating Rick's 50th to enjoy
Michelle's 13th birthday.

Now there's a lot of fun in those six images. Michelle decided that we'd go to Joe's Crab Shack for her dinner. Somewhere along the way they conspired with the staff to single her out for the usual birthday embarrassment, but it backfired. Since it was Michelle's birthday, she got to choose who to embarrass. Saying "This is the coolest waiter ever," she picked her father. So he had to dress up like a Viking and run through the entire restaurant shouting "It's Michelle's birthday!" He made two laps.

I know, I was there, I chased him for pictures. The things I do for you people ...

By the time Rick got back the waiter had found out that he, too, had just had a birthday. So now Michelle was told to run through the restaurant dressed in a sombrero and riding a stick pony. But now saying, "This is the worst waiter ever," she wouldn't play along. Sadly I have no pictures because, you see, Michelle is now 13 and some "hot boy" from school might be in the restaurant and we couldn't have that.

So now Matt tells the waiter that it will next week be his girlfriend's 16th birthday. They had to put on wigs and use hula hoops as the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday. The moral to the story is: if you want to embarrass someone, eat at Joe's.

After dinner Michelle had a way cooler surprise. She got a carriage ride. Dan (and Tim the horse) took us around downtown Louisville explaining the area's rich history, our hand-made Amish carriage and his own life (four kids, dental school, loans, Utah, Hawaii and donkeys). Then it was home for more cake and presents. Michelle had a nice haul, most of which made the final picture.

Friday, August 27, 2004

I left Rick's party long enough to go see Matt do his thing. He's the field instructor field instructor for his marching band this year. This was his first game of the season and probably the only time I'll get to catch the act.

I took Grandmother Dortha to see him too, and she was worried that he wouldn't see us because we didn't sit in the seats normally reserved for Rick and Mom. We waved, though we decided that seemed silly because, what was he going to do, wave back? Instead he waved at his band. And at the end of his show I yelled at him, "Way to go Hypotenuse!" using a family nickname that no one outside of the house had likely ever heard. As he ran off his podium he doubled over in laughter. He knew we were there.

The pictures were bad, as I couldn't get close enough for my flash to work well, so my apologies.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy 50th birthday dear Rick
Happy birthday to you.


Just seven pictures there. I couldn't do most of the proper introductions since there were about 42 friends, co-workers and church members at the house.

In one of those pictures you see Rick and his mother looking at a picture of him as a baby. She entered him into Dallas' cutest baby contest, and Rick won. The people you may not be familiar with are friends from Birmingham. Don and Cheryl Hardy made the trip up as they celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They're the nicest people, who seriously got into singing along with Sitting on the Dock of the Bay. Finally, Rick presented his mother with a yellow rose, and got a dance as Yellow Rose of Texas played in the background. It was a Texas themed party, hence the hats.

The decorations were great, the whole house was covered in bunting and banners and balloons and 50s. Mom, who organized the festivus, threw a great party.
We're putting the finishing touches on the house for Rick's birthday bash tonight. Cleaning and ballooning and streamering and every other thing you could imagine. Think I'll just make a slideshow out of whatever pictures I get. But first, does anyone know what this is?

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Rain chased us out of Birmingham. The weather was much better landing in Louisville. Already I'm tired and I've done nothing. Well, except move one piece of furniture.

"Welcome back Kenny, put your luggage down in there and come move the grand piano."

Goodnight.
Gone to get a Smoothie -- I'm jonesing, leave me alone -- and then head to the airport. Fly out of BHM at 7 something this evening and arrive at SDF tonight just in time for blessed sleep.

Who am I kidding?

Anyway, its Rick's 50th (altogether now: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) tomorrow so there will be much festivaling to be had this weekend. So I'll be in Indiana through much of the weekend. This place might be a little quiet in that time, but I hope to have some compromising picture of Rick mid-party to share tomorrow night.

Talk at ya soon.
Went out to dinner with something of an acquantaince ... ummm, I mean Brandy last night. We went to the always awesome Carinos. It was so good that it rocked my Casbah as a lunch of leftovers.

Also got the birthday present for Michelle. Brandy tried to talk me into dessert. Both the sheer ecstasy of Carino's chocolate cake and the evil temptation of Cheesecake Factory. Somehow I resisted. This diet better be working. If nothing else the will power to resist tasty treats has strengthened.
Ahhh to write like James Lileks. If you haven't been introduced to him: everybody, James; James, everybody. If you're not reading him, shame on you.

Read that for a few days and then remember a mere mortal's limitations. That site isn't even his paper's web column, or his paper's column, that's just him writing about his day.

Sickening, ineptly comparing yourself to one of the finest writers in the land.
Almost $300 on the car yesterday (water pump) and $600 today as the first half of my tuition payment. Stop me before I spend again.

On the upside, my pockets won't have holes in them for awhile.

Nothing in there to burn them.
One step closer to the new page design/layout. I had some technical glitches, had a little help ironing out some of the kinks (proper credit is forthcoming) and figured the last of them out myself. Now its just a matter of choosing a few pieces of art for the design and coming up with a little flash to set it off. Hopefully in the next week or so the new look wil be unveiled!
I have two alarm clocks set to go off a minute or two apart. They are set to different radio stations -- the thinking being that the chaos will make me get up -- which often makes for great early morning listening. I wish I could remember what was on 4:30 this morning, though. It was odd. Sadly, my only recollection now was that it was bizarre.

For some reason the vague sleeping-memory I have of it reminds me of an old joke we used to do on our college radio morning show. Someone would make a joke about something and blame it on the Amish. Then someone else would feign disbelief that the Amish are the butt of a joke. The first person would then say, "What are they going to do, hear us? Check out the internet stream?"

We only had 3,000 watts of effective power -- and there were places you couldn't hear the station in sight of the transmitter (though sometimes you could hear us 40 miles away) -- but we had streaming internet back in 1996.

Of course, you could also hear the station underground, but that was a wiring issue. And the English professor who claimed she could hear us through her computer monitors, even when her machine was off ... well, her office was directly beneath the transmitter. We had a joke about her too. I hope tumor jokes don't come true.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

I know a lot of links are thrown on this site, and I don't expect that anyone reads, even a majority of the things I'm referring to. With that in mind, indulge me for two minutes and go read this story. Its about a man I knew named Cecil. He was one of the residents at St. Andrews Place, one of the non-profit organizations with which I work.

His is a fascinating tale, only hinted at in this feature. Dr. Hamilton and I concluded one day that Cecil was more than likely the only ward of the state between the opening of Partlow and its closing decades later following the Wyatt case. The staff at St. Andrews joked that he loved to tell his story, particularly to pretty ladies. When we got word he'd died, we began to regret that we never taped him sharing his remarkable adventure, now lost to the ages.
Long time readers (all two of you) might remember last fall when I wrote about Matt Caddell.

There have been two nice articles recently on the young man from McAdory (and the only reason to care about the Tide whatsoever). Here's one from last week in The Birmingham News and today's in the The Huntsville Times.

Mark my word friends, Matt could be a star. No matter what happens he'll be an outstanding young man.
An editor from the Mobile Register just called me a silver-tongued cad.

I rather like that.
Nothing quite like singing along:

Sunshine on my shoulders
Makes me happy
Sunshine almost always
Makes me high
Dave Matthews = happy moods.
So the boss and I were talking about the Kerry campaign and the Swift Boat Vets this morning. He mentioned how poorly the Dems are handling the attacks. The statement was made about how the Swifties have an almost household name recognition at this point, without the benefit of any 'elite' media coverage. The world is changing. The way we get our news is changing. "That sounds like your thesis," he says.

Whoa.

You know how sometimes reality doesn't sink in right away? Just did.

Monday, August 23, 2004

Now that we've cast the appropriate dispersions on our undergraduate degrees, let's talk about what a master's program is about. "Communal" is the word Dr. Amsbary used this evening.

In his class, Communication Effects, we'll have no exams, an hour long presentation and a final thesis prospectus. And, because its graduate school, lots of reading. Here's his reading schedule. Join us, won't you please?

Dr. Amsbary discussed causality a bit, explaining "Something causes something else; that's a very slippery issue." He also discussed the differences between signicance and meaningfulness. He had a great anecdote for this, but you just had to be there. He also said "Nothing, nothing, nothing is ever settled." And that, he says, is why we have universities. And that he said, is also why Plato was wrong; society should never be ran by its philosopher-kings, because they'll only serve to ask better questions. At least we got that out in the first meeting. I wondered if anyone in there had studied the classics and how they felt after this revelation.

Dr. Amsbary also had a few Dead Poet moments, urging us to "Transcend grades tonight" for we are all starting out with A's. Keeping them, there's the rub. He also demanded, "When in doubt, make the inference."

Maybe its not "The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse," but its a start.

So anyway, those are the two classes. Lot of work, lot of expectation and anticipation. If you uncrossed your fingers for me after I got in I hope you got the cramps massaged out. Now I'll have to ask you to cross them back again so that I might get through the first semester.
This was actually said in a budget meeting this morning:
"We have this story on Pat Sullivan ..."

"Yeah but we've done that story like three times."
And yet still Alabama feeds on this guy.

Why highlight a Heisman Trophy winning Auburn quarterback now coaching at UAB (after beating back cancer!) when you can talk about an Alabama coach dead for more than 20 years?

Sunday, August 22, 2004

My radio mentor Chadd Scott gets a story in today's Montgomery Advertiser
... Fans of (The Herd with Colin Cowherd) -- which replaced the popular Tony Kornheiser Show -- may have heard the host refer to his producer, "The Compass."

Even more astute listeners may also have heard Cowherd speak of The Compass' connection with Auburn. Turns out, The Compass (Chadd Scott) graduated from Auburn in 1997.
Nice read. If you know Chadd, or have heard me mention him much you probably know most of the story. Read this anyway.

One thing left from the story was how Chadd has (many times over) helped out a struggling radio guy that he had the great misfortune to take under his wing almost a decade ago. In a cutthroat business he has remained a loyal friend and supporter.

As much as to any mentor I owe him a great deal of thanks. (I had to write him a note recently thanking him for his endorsement that helped send me back to school.) Heck of a guy and he deserves all the success that will ultimately come to him.
While driving to campus (way too much more on the first class in the entry just below) I talked to my mother on the phone. Something is mentioned about classes and I asked if she'd read the entry where I shared the first two paragraphs of my two new books.

"I did read that," she said. "And I thought to myself, 'Better him than me.'"

That's not supposed to happen. Mom's are supposed to be supportive!

She is very supportive, of course, but she could be a little more sympathetic of my scholastic plight!
One class down, two years to go.

Met Dr. Self and 20 classmates tonight. Six students have other master's degrees, two are teachers, the undegraduate degrees are typical: communications, speech, journalism, advertising and so on. One student is from China, another from Brazil by way of Spain. Dr. Self has a masters, PhD and a JD. He's studied at Oxford. He's completed 180 hours of graduate work. I think he's qualified.

"Graduate study is not about the professor lectuing and spoon-feeding," Dr. Self says. Apparently we'll be arguing and debating a lot. The first three meetings will be lecture, the rest will be discussion. Here's to being able to keep up.

And remember my worries over Shannon's The Mathematical Theory of Communication? Turns out we'll only be reading the first 30 pages of it. Good thing it only cost 15 bucks. But Dr. Self, as a few other academics I've spoken with recently, raved about Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. We'll be reading all of that one. Another book is on the syllabus, but M.D. Hauser's The Evolution of Communication hasn't yet arrived at the bookstore.

Hauser is an instructor at Harvard and, I'm reading his bio for an upcoming lecture he's delivering at Hampshire College, his research sounds fascinating.

Lots of other readings will also be discussed. In the syllabus Martin Buber's Between Man and Man along with Edward T. Hall's "Silent Assumptions of Social Communication," Karl Deutsch's "On Communication Models in the Social Sciences," Introduction to Operations Research by West Churchman et al are mentioned along with Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus, Aristotle's The Rhetoric and A.J. Ayer's Logical Positivism. Fortunately I've read the classics, so it will be a good review.

In the class we have a loose group oral presentation. Mine will be late in the term and we'll discuss "Comparing and contrasting models. Toward Grounded theory in human and media communication." (Send your thoughts now.) The last two weeks we also each present our own models of communication. That should be a very interesting exercise. Fair warning, for the next four months I'm going to be using the words paradigm, models and theories a lot.

Dr. Self will have just one test midterm, it looks to be mostly objective given the number of people in the class. But if folks start dropping out we're writing essays.

It was exciting tonight though. The whole thing is still a little intimidating, just from the newness and uncertainty, but it felt like home too. I guess after 18 years of school, the classroom does seem normal, even if you've taken three or four years off.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

So ummm, yeah, Flash is hard.
Sing it John.

Friday, August 20, 2004

I drove through Friday rain-soaked rush hour traffic. Pardon me as I vent atypically. I even made a list sitting at a traffic light.

Aren't we all getting tired of the fickle, infantile performance of modern "politics"? Democrat or Republican, National Guard service in the states or four months in Vietnam, you served. At some point the party ideology gets peeled back and we all become Humanists. Recognizing that, put the armor back on and go to work. Not the marketing of soundbites and bumper stickers, but the politics of the day.

Let's talk about issues. Let's talk about national security, health care, medicine, social security, poverty, education, border control, take your pick. We're not hurting for topics that are impacting our lives. We see the problems, let's find solutions. Its not as sexy as name calling, but it might be useful.

Folks, do yourself and your nation a favor. Educate yourself honestly and openly about the things you care about. Start next week with an open mind, study the options before you and vote your conscience. I don't care which way you vote. I only care that you educate yourself -- not on soundbites -- but on the things that are important to you.

A friend is fond of paraphrasing comedian Chris Rock, "What can you do the day after an election that you couldn't do the day before if your guy didn't get voted in?" What doesn't matter the day after we find our winner? The slurs on the man that lost. Know what still does? The mind-numbing problems we'll face in the years to come. One or two of those problems, by the way, might have been fixed or significantly reduced with the money used in the pep rally political conventions that mean nothing. Politics aren't about policy anymore, soundbites make the man and journalists are largely to blame.

Ooooh a seque way.

The second item on the traffic jam list: irresponsible journalism. For the uninitiated, I have a journalism degree, a tote bag full of awards from industry peers and I continue to "dabble" in the business. So it goes that I might know what I'm talking about here.

Consider: CBS radio news today talking about Kerry and his counterpunches on the Swift Boat Vets. The anchor did two sentences on what Kerry is saying today and then the next five were on the funding of the commercials that started the whole thing. The CBS anchor also did his hard-hitting journalism by quoting directly from the New York Times (though this topic is focusing on irresponsible, not liberal media).

Journalism -- particularly in the headline news format of broadcast news (where I spealized for years) -- is 'he said, she said' work. Instead you today got, "Kerry says (his quote here) as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, funded by Republican backers in Texas with close ties to President Bush's family and buttresed by this other group doing this other thing ..." The eyes glaze over. In a screed about political leanings in newsrooms we'd discuss how the same intense six degrees of separation aren't being used for ads against the President, but I digress.

It got sloppy on the local level today too. The new rankings of universities by U.S. News & World Report are out. A local anchor got this story wrong three times in 90 minutes, patting the University of Alabama on the back (deservedly so) while offering, at best, conciliatory remarks to Auburn University. I know the guy, I've worked with the guy, I heard him do this story three times today. I wanted to call his studio to ask "What did you read in the paper today?"

Full disclosure: I'm an Auburn grad, I have a little streak of homer in me, but a wider streak of call-it-like-I-see-it criticism about my alma mater.

Understand, the story is that Alabama passed Auburn in this prominent poll for the first time in its history. The story is that both schools advanced up the poll. The story is that two major institutions in Alabama are in the top tier of scholarly recognition. Folks, "two schools" "tops" and "in Alabama." This is news. Back-handed shots at an institution of higher learning because you don't care for their football team are not worthy of air time.

Speaking of a waste of air time, the most asinine commercial ever has now made it into local radio. The company will remain anonymous to protect their idiocy, but I will quote, "If our stop-smoking program doesn't work for you, we'll give you two free cartons of your favorite brand!"

Stop me when I get off base here, but if I am trying to stop the last thing I want you to do is give me free smokes!

Finally, this has happened three times this week, so I'll salute such police officers everywhere. God bless you, law enforcement officers, for the work you do. Now stop blowing me (a leadfoot) off the road when you're riding with no lights on. Outside of your jurisdiction.
I know it is raining out, but UAB must think its going to flood. They're sending tuition bills two by two already. Haven't even had the first class yet!
Auburn's current tally of four pool medals would rank sixth on the list of swimming nations behind the United States (25), Australia (12), Japan (7), the Netherlands (6) and France (5).

Kirsty Coventry has dominated. She now has a gold in 200-meter backstroke, silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 200m individual medley. Meanwhile, George Bovell captured a bronze medal in the men's 200-meter individual medley. Several other Tiger swimmers have had high quality finishes as well.

The Tigers could earn two more medals in Saturday relays. And now, Auburn's track stars are getting ready to take to the international stage.
The University of Alabama finally does something right.
The University of Alabama has vaulted over Auburn to become, for the first time, the state's top-ranked public university, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings released today.

UA is a relative newcomer to the rankings. In the early 1990s, it was ranked in the fourth tier of universities. Four years ago, it entered the Top 50 and last year was ranked 48th among of public universities. This year, it jumped nine spots to No. 39.
Just like playing with a child, you have to let the other side gain the advantage occasionally, just to keep them involved. And while UAT has always thought of us as the school down the road and while AU has always had an (undeserved) inferiority complex, this speaks to its quality.

With all petty rivarlies aside and in all seriousness, here's the proper read on this. "We think it speaks well for the state of Alabama that it has two universities ranked among the Top 50 public schools in the nation," Auburn University spokesman David Granger said.

So congrats to UAT. And about time.
Who feels like a light lunch of endangered animals?
'Really lucky' customers take advantage of gas pump goof
PASCAGOULA -- If you blinked, you missed arguably the lowest gas prices offered since the advent of automobiles Wednesday night in Pascagoula.

For an hour or so, the T&S Corner Market near the intersection of Chicot Street and U.S. 90 had regular unleaded gasoline for 19 cents a gallon.

That's right. Just 19 cents a gallon.

Owners of the convenience store -- which is located near one of the busiest intersections in Pascagoula, including a major railway thoroughfare -- did not want to comment on the matter, other than to say they had made a mistake when entering the prices at the pumps, that they did not believe the prices customers were citing and that they honored the price once the mistake was discovered.
I wish.
Most mornings, getting up early has its rewards.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Car repair time. Yay. Sat at the mechanic's for about two hours this afternoon for them to tell me its not this one thing, but this other thing. That other thing was the thing we suspected in the first place. Oh well, at least I read the latest edition of Newsweek.

So anyway, Monday the car goes in the shop. My mechanic is very good about fixing the car the day I bring it to him. He appreciates that I have a weird work schedule and don't have big commuting options. But this time its going to be an overnight kind of job. Apparently Dodge put the waterpump in my car over in Nebraska somewhere. So I get a loaner for a day. Maybe if I detail it before I take it back he'll give me a discount.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Bought my two books for class today.

The good news is college is a lot like I left it at the end of undergrad at Auburn. The bookstore had UAB propaganda everywhere. There were confused kids upset over paying too much for books they won't crack. REM was playing over the loudspeakers. The more things change, the more they stay the same, the more comfortable I am because of it.

The other good news: my two books cost only 31 bucks. May the entirety of grad school be like this.

Here are the first two paragraphs from each of my new books. Enjoy.

The Mathematical Theory of Communication:
The recent development of various methods of modulation such as PCM and PPM which exchange bandwidth for signal-to-noise ratio has intensified the interest in a general theory of communication. A basis for such a theoryis contained in the important papers of Nyquist and Hartley on this subject. In the present paper we will extend the theory to include a number of new factors, in particularthe effect of noise in the channel, and the savings possible due to the statistical structure of the original message and due to the nature of the final destination of the information.

The fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point. Frequently the messages have meaning; that is they refer to or are correlated according to some system with certain physical or conceptual entities. These semantic aspects of communication are irrelevant to the engineering problem. The significant aspect is that the actual message is one selected from a set of possible messages. The system must be designed to operate for each possible selection, not just the one which will actually be chosen since this is unknown at the time of design.
And the more interesting so far, The Structure of Science Revolutions:
History, if viewed as a repository for more than anecdote or chronology, could produce a decisive transformation in the image of science by which we are now possessed. That image has previously been drawn, even by scientists themselves, mainly from the study of finished scientific achievements as these are recorded in the classics and, more recently, in the textbooks from which each new scientific generation learns to practice its trade. Inevitably, however, the aim of such books is persuasive and pedagogic; a concept of science drawn from them is no more likely to fit the enterprise that produced them than an image of a national culture drawn from a tourist brochure or a language text. This essay attempts to show that we have been misled by them in fundamental ways. Its aim is a sketch of the quite different concept of science that can emerge from the historical record of the research activity itself.

Even from history, however that new concept will not be forthcoming if historical data continue to be sought and scrutinized mainly to answer questions posed by the unhistorical stereotype drawn from science texts. Those texts have, for example, often seemed to imply that the content of science is uniquely exemplified by the observations, laws, and theories described in their pages. Almost as regularly, the same books have been read as saying that scientific methods are simply the ones illustrated by the manipulative techniques used in gathering textbook data, together with the logical operations employed when relating those data to the textbook's theoretical generalizations. The result has been a concept of science with profound implications about its nature and development.
Don't worry, this is not a new daily feature on the blog.
Something I learned today: Good, fresh okra is not as good or fresh after reheating in the microwave.

Shame really, it was so tasty before it was a leftover.


And now, the Wadsworth lake house afternoon review.

After the previously-described adventure in getting there (which also included some odd coyote-dog thing crossing right in front of the car, followed shortly thereafter by two turkeys doing the same) the fun and merriment could begin.

We swam around the pier for a while. (Note the hair.) The water was great and quiet. Later, as we tooled around in the pontoon boat we saw only three others on the water. After much joking and story telling dinner was at a place just outside of Dadeville called Oskar's. They have super nice shirts. The hamburger steak isn't bad either, but stay away from the catfish. "Breaded in dirt," Wendy said. You know those south Alabamians carry around a lot of catfish expertise, so while I didn't try it, I believe it.

Sadly they didn't have any banana pudding for the Alabama refugees; we have to see about getting a great recipe sent to Pennsylvania. So we headed back to the lake house. Easily one of the day's highlights was the Stephen-Brooke duet to some of the great hits on the Chef Aid CD. Every time I see Brooke I make sure to have this disc on hand, but now they own it as well. And the singing -- and fairly explicit lyrics -- continues.

After that it was a tour of the second wing (yes, there are two halves) to this lake house. It was then that I realized "This is the most trendy vacation-home bathroom I've ever seen." Outside in the rec room was an old clawfoot tub that had been converted into a chair. Brilliant!

Finally my friends decided to teach me some stategery in the game of Spades. Poor Brooke was consigned to deal with me as her rookie partner. As you can see, it did not turn out well.

Sadly it got late and became time to head for home. What a great day, if only to spend five hours, with some of my dearest old friends. I know they're ready to leave Pennsylvania and we're ready to have them back.

Pushed out of the back of my mind as I was saying goodbye was how long it might be until the next visit. After just an afternoon the world seemed to somehow revert to those "good old days." I might be a little more annoying than I used to be, but everything was just right. They are good, sweet people and I hope I can see them again soon.
Signs you aren't up on the lingo (Or, does anyone know what this means?):
This should save you a trip over to the Bell building on Monday.

Cm605 will meet in ob15 in rm214.
I am now sufficiently enlightened.
Discounting the rather suspect argument that table tennis -- let alone doubles -- is an Olympic sport, this guy looks more like an American Gladiator.

He doesn't really look it here, but still ...
From urbandictionary.com:
jump the shark - a term to describe a moment when something that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline in quality and popularity.

Origin of this phrase comes from a Happy Days episode where the Fonz jumped a shark on waterskis. Thus was labeled the lowest point of the show. Also: Cousin Oliver on Brady Bunch, Scrappy Doo
Is it possible to jump the shark and then jump back over in the proper direction? If so what is the new name?
5:00 a.m. -- Already a long day and I haven't made it to the shower yet.
5:20 a.m. -- OK, maybe a glass of cold chocolate milk will wake me up.
5:30 a.m. -- Alright, straight to the hard stuff; where's the Pepsi?
6:05 a.m. -- (To coworkers:) Enjoy what remains of your youth. I once slept just two hours a night for days and days and never missed a beat. Now I feel like you just pulled me out from the morgue.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

I'm in Sylacauga on my way down to Lake Martin and the light turns yellow and I'm stopping. I happen to glance into the rearview mirror to see that the SUV behind me is not. So this little college girl rear-ends me.

No one was hurt, bent her bumper in a little and scuffed mine just the slightest bit. I think the saving grace was that I managed to get off the brake as she hit me and then back onto it again before I rolled into the intersection. Scared the girl to death. She was just trying to get back to campus for the fall, bless her heart, and it was just not her day.

But that's why they call them accidents and the important thing is that no one was hurt. The gold Isuzu ran fine and the trusty old mid-sized sports car drove fine and so we went our happy way. She stayed behind me for about half an hour (I kept a closer watch after the incident).

Have a great fall semester Mallory. War Eagle. And in the future, when the light turns yellow and the car's brakelights come on, they're stopping.
There's a conversation going around about this community down the road called Indian Springs. Someone says, "We lived off Arrowhead Lane."

"How gauche," I say to the guy next to me "Arrowhead Lane in a community called Indian Springs."

He replies, "Yeah its right next to 'Wounded Knee Drive' after you cross 'White Man Took My Land Road.' If you get to 'Come Play At My Casino Street' you've gone too far."
I get to see Stephen and Brooke today! If you couldn't tell, I'm excited. Why couldn't you tell? So yeah I'm happy -- after all, it has been -- 14 months since I've seen Coach.

They're down from Pennsylvania for the week and today is the day they've graciously allowed me to visit. So we'll be at the Wadsworth's lake house this evening. I'll try to pretend that you're not jealous, I wouldn't want to be distracted while I'm on the water.
Since it seems a requirement to write about the Olympics -- and since I'm only interested in U.S. women's soccer, fencing and the Iraqi men's soccer team -- I'll just liberally rip off the Possumblog:
As for the athletes themselves, the most important thing is that TWENTY-EIGHT Auburn University students and four coaches are competing in Athens --more than any other SEC school, and part of a total of 49 athletes with some tie to the Cotton State. The article does point out that not all of the athletes are competing for the U.S.--only six of Auburn's squad are. The rest of the Tigers are playing for their home countries, and as near as I can make it, these include Australia, Bahamas, Croatia, England, Estonia, France, Hungary, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe. Quite a crew! My favorite is Jana Kolukanova, swimming the 100m freestyle for her home country of Estonia. This preference is based entirely on cuteness.
Terry Oglesby ladies and gentlemen.
I don't plan on picking this up myself, but as a service to you, my faithful reader: Here's what every sci fi geek on your Christmas list (except me, no really) wants.

Monday, August 16, 2004

I just added two new seats of pictures over on the visual page. They are of a waterfall and various water-type birds I saw recently. Sorry for the delay in putting them up, I'm sure there was a reason, but now I have forgotten.

In other news: I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon. I climbed on the roof. I had a home-cooked meal. The food was my highlight of the day, you'll have to settle for pictures.
Put the top back and pull the clouds down close the ground. Turn up the jangle pop on the radio, and drive so fast you leave some tunes behind.

I want to take a convertible vacation.

Saturday, August 14, 2004

"I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror that reaches out to other nations and brings them to our side and lives up to American values in history." -- Senator John Kerry

"Senator Kerry has also said that if he were in charge he would fight a 'more sensitive' war on terror. (Laughter.) America has been in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was ever won by being 'sensitive.' (Applause.)

"President Abraham Lincoln and General Grant did not wage sensitive wars. President Roosevelt and Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur did not wage a sensitive war. A 'sensitive war' will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000 Americans on the morning of 9/11, and who now seek chemical, nuclear and biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands more. The men who beheaded Daniel Pearl and Paul Johnson will not be impressed by our sensitivity. (Applause.)

"As our opponents see it, the problem isn't the thugs and the murderers we face, but it is somehow our attitude. Well, the American people know better. They know that we are in a fight to preserve our freedom and our way of life, and that we are on the side of right and justice in this battle. Those who threaten us and kill innocents around the world do not need to be treated more sensitively. They need to be destroyed. (Applause.)" -- Vice President Richard Cheney.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Just got St. Andrew's Place online. You might recall that this is a non-profit I've been working with over the past year. I'd tell you more about them, but linking is so much more fun.

The HTML is the work of one of their staffers. All I did was fix the problems keeping them from being online.
State schools fall short of federal standards

The state Board of Education said they needed a miracle worker in their new superintendent. Now, as educators seem to be getting serious about what tests show, is the time for Dr. Joseph Morton to pull out his magic wand.

And he's willingly shouldering some of the blame in this. Nine hundred of Alabama's 1,500 schools "need improvement," according to the state. Twenty-three percent failed to meet all goals.

Some 600 schools (this can't be emphasized enough, SIX HUNDRED SCHOOLS) didn't have 95 percent participation.

Principals are no better at reading directions than children. They didn't realize the kids had to be there to take the test.

Dr. Morton said system superintendents were told that 95 percent of students had to take part, but apparently they didn't fully understand the directions. You know, the part that would flunk you on a test.

Mountain Brook Superintendent Charles Mason -- who's schools were among the highest scoring in the state -- said he did not realize students had to be present both days of testing. Only 94 percent of the Brookies turned out, just short of the goal. Mason said other superintendents made the same mistake.

However, students who are absent on test day could have made up the test within 10 days.

Nice job administrators.

True congratulations are deserved; across the state 319 schools - 23 percent - met all the goals.

The positive spin is "we're upbeat" along with "we now have a baseline" and "next year you'll see that we're heading in the right direction." Dr. Morton is also right to point out that some of those schools -- like the Mountain Brooks -- will never be on the list again.

Curious? Look up your school.

Also posted at Fear, Folly, Politics.
Happy Friday the 13th!
I love the Sound Off section in the newspaper. Any Sound Off, any newspaper. What a great insight into how people think:
My sister just told me about the six people and a dog that got killed in Florida this weekend because four guys broke in and stole an XBox. If people are that addicted to the XBox that they will commit murder to get one, we need to outlaw all these games. It teaches people to fight. What is it doing to our kids' games?
Clearly that whole ugly story is more involved than just an XBox, but as to the question broached by this person's comment: How about, "What are we doing with our kids?" How about, "Maybe I should look into what I've spent all of my child's life throwing 30-bucks-a-pop at so they'll leave me alone this weekend."

By the way, a probation officer and three others have been fired because of the slayings. The story about the 9-1-1 tapes helps tell why.
Now I ask you: What's wrong with the following headline?

'Back 2 Skool Bash' features pop stars J-Kwon, Monica

The dumbing down continues.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

So my modest little site and its modest (but beautiful, talented and intelligent) audience have enjoyed success today. This modest little site has broken its own modest little hit count today. On a day when I wrote two things, each of no importance. Perhaps that's the secret. What is it that keeps you people coming in? How can I do it more? And thanks for being here.

Maybe next week we can conspire and break the new record. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
Just got off the phone with Greg Helle with the Post Traumatic Sress Disorder Alliance. Very nice man. His group is asking me to do a little media/PR sidework for them. Sounds like a great opportunity to once again add to the resume.

I've been doing this sort of thing for a few small groups for about a year now. Next is to find a way to put some of these efforts into both good use in the community and towards the new degree. Its all interrelated, I know it. I just have to figure out how.
All the bad links are fixed. It has been done in a backwards way that I couldn't explain even if you cared. Thankfully you don't. So now it is time to redesign the site. Don't expect to see that happen right away; the next several days are going to be busy.
Justin writes sports blogs for al.com. The Alabama homer (but not really) even has the nerve to write an Auburn blog. Today, among other things, he talks about Aubie. Yeah yeah, when the voting time comes go vote.

There is some controversy in the world of al.com sports, so just to clear the air about Justin: he's a Vandy mark who graduated from UAH. He says he doesn't really prefer Alabama, though this shirt would make you think otherwise. Maybe his favorite team is Free Clothes.
Yesterday I mentioned never taking the elevator and told my humorous story about going up and down floors trying to track down a piece of paperwork. Today kharma is paying me back; I've stumbled on three different sets of stairs already this morning.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004



We parodied Skynyrd and Don Siegelman this morning. The former Governor, embroiled in legal troubles, is now singing his own version of Sweet Home Alabama. Writing the song was a collaborative effort and a lot of fun. Reading a parody isn't the same as hearing it, but check it out over on Fear, Folly, Politics.
They were together in the house. Just the two of them. It was a cold, dark, stormy night. The storm had come quickly and each time the thunder boomed he watched her jump.

She looked across the room and admired his strong appearance...and wished that he would take her in his arms, comfort her and protect her from the storm. She wanted that...more than anything.

Suddenly, with a pop, the power went out as she screamed. He raced to the sofa where she was cowering, pulling her into his arms.

He knew this was a forbidden union and expected her to pull back, but she didn't resist. She clung to him.

The storm raged on like their growing passions until there came a moment when each knew that they had to be together. They knew it was wrong, they knew their families would never understand. So consumed were they in their passion that they heard no opening of doors...just the faint click of a camera.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

My advisor just called. Nice guy. He's having to hand hold me through a lot of this stuff but, and let's be honest here, the informational packet that UAB sent out is somewhat lacking. Dr. Amsbary suggested I take two classes, saying that would be enough per term plus the job. They'll meet one night a week each.

And the way he's talking I've went from excited to intimidated very quickly. Fetal position anyone? Everything will be fine, but it is a bit overwhelming at first blush.
I was reminded this morning by an Auburn friend of how taken-for-granted and looked down upon you are as an 18-22 year old in a college town. I was reminded this afternoon about how disorganized Universities can be.

So I go register.

First thing I do, get my Student ID made. Relatively painless. Digital picture and they print and laminate it right there for you. The day went down hill from there.

So from the second floor I run up the stairs to the fifth floor to drop off my immunization documents. They ask about an insurance waiver form, but they don't mail these out any more, so I didn't have it. I have to go back down to the second floor to the Registrar's office for this, my schedule and my bill. No problem.

At this point, this starts reminding me of Auburn: "No, that's in Cater Hall," which is inevitably followed by "You need the Bursar's office for that" and then "Try the Registrar's office in Mary Martin." The administrative runaround, a favorite Auburn tradition, but I digress.

So back down to the second floor for the Registrar. The nice lady there knows nothing of this insurance waiver, "But try Student Health in 322." So now up a floor (have I mentioned I don't take elevators?) to 322, which looks suspiciously like the Student Accounting Services.

There a woman says, "That should be in the Graduate School." I promise its not. "Then let me call Student Health." My famous impatience is threatening to show when she can't get anyone to answer the phone. "I tell you what, call this number and maybe they can fax it to you." By this point, I'm ready to conduct the entirety of my business with UAB -- forever -- by fax.

I now make the biggest mistake of the day as I ask her, "Do you know where the so-and-so building is?"

"No" she says, "but if you get a schedule book there's a map in the back."

So I borrow a schedule book to find my two classes. One down, no problem. The second building is not so easy. I ask another person, "Do you know where the such-and-such building is?"

"No but let me see if I can find it on your map."

She has to ask two other office ladies before calling someone in an office elsewhere, only to hear "No" again. Five people (in a row) who work at this University don't know where a building is?

Turns out it was improperly labeled in the map's key.

Don't get me wrong: I'm excited about going back to school. This is more of a funny-sad story than an annoyance story, but a little organization please, that's all I'm asking.
Registering for these classes is an almost impossible task. In my last year or so of undergrad we had online registration and its not like I don't work with web pages for a living (though granted you wouldn't know it by this site) but I am having the worst time figuring this --

Oh.

Problem solved. I have two classes. Models of Communication and Communication Effects. Sunday and Monday evening classes.

Monday, August 9, 2004

I like these unintentionally bad comedies. Movies that were supposed to be uproarious but just don't make it there. If you like these, go rent Shoot or Be Shot. This movie is awesome for one reason: William Shatner.

Bill, as TJ Hooker and James T Kirk before that, you remain my hero.

Also the latino guy who's supposed to be the hero of the movie within the movie has some great lines.

Sunday, August 8, 2004

So my academic advisor is either out of the office or not calling me. Never mind that classes start in just over a week. I'm sure it will all work out in time, but the stress of it is a little unnecessary. Having been out of school for four years is stressful enough. Hopefully tomorrow. I'm going to bed now.
I now have all of the files transferred from the old site to the new digs. Now just to manually hardcode all of the old HREF links to reflect the new site. How tedious. Sigh.

Been having problems with the blog, the fixes to that sound tedious too.

It seems that the redesign of the site will have to wait another few days, first things first and all.

Saturday, August 7, 2004

I felt like I had reason to celebrate this evening. So, with nothing else going on, I picked up two more parts to The Jayhawks catalog. And, with nothing else going on, I took a trip to the movies to see Collateral. Good movie, Jamie Foxx is about to go from comedian to major drama star. The best part was at the end:

... SPOILER ALERT BELOW ...

The black kid in front of me celebrates, "Yes! The black man lived! We're moving up in the world!"
Staring out the window as the mail arrives. She's here early today. Flip flops on and out I go.
The envelope arrived today. Please Lord, please Lord. If you've been reading my blog for the last six months (and bless your heart you poor glutton for punishment) you'd know I've been working on this since around New Year's. They took their time getting back to me ...
But the news is great! Thank you! Thank you!

Classes start in 12 days. Now to get registered and take care of all of the other errands.

Thursday, August 5, 2004

If you liked yesterday's piece on Iraqis in Memphis, here's a little more on-the-ground information.
So, even though we're getting pasted by the nation as racist yokels, it's a more benign and more commonplace story than that. Grandstanding, posturing politicians; too many overlapping political activities (John Edwards spoke here today) not well coordinated; and a not-surprising Memphis crime event were the basics of the story. Had the delegation not been Iraqi goodwill ambassadors learning about democracy, it wouldn't have rated much of a mention, if at all. We'd still look like idiots,
just not to the nation.
This is what happens when you're walking in Memphis.
Don't ever use Jiminy Cricket in an anecdotal metaphor. People come up with smart answers for your moralistic Everyman play. So I'm talking randomly about your conscience and I get the response: Alcohol kills crickets.
Sort of took the wind out of my argument.
Swift. Boat. Veterans.

Those should be household words by the first of next week. Because of that, I'll spare you any limited explanations or links. If you don't know what this is going to be about google yourself happy.

But I am going to rip off Dr. Steven Taylor who did the legwork over at his vastly superior Poliblog.

MEET THE PRESS -- Senator John Kerry and Tim Russert:
MR. RUSSERT: You used the word "war criminals." (referencing Kerry's admission to Congress in 1971 as a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War.)

SEN. KERRY: It was, I think, a reflection of the kind of times we found ourselves in and I don't like it when I hear it today.
Because later this year I'll run for President as a veteran ... Did you know I was in Vietnam? Skip that testifying before Congress part, I was in Vietnam!
... But the words were honest but on the other hand, they were a little bit over the top. And I think that there were breaches of the Geneva Conventions. There were policies in place that were not acceptable according to the laws of warfare, and everybody knows that. I mean, books have chronicled that, so I'm not going to walk away from that. But I wish I had found a way to say it in a less abrasive way.
Because the inconsistencies of my life are really going to backlash on me in October with this as the fulcrum. Crummy Republicans, why do they have to have tape of this!?
MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, when you testified before the Senate, you talked about some of the hearings you had observed at the winter soldiers meeting and you said that people had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and on and on. A lot of those stories have been discredited, and in hindsight was your testimony...

SEN. KERRY: Actually, a lot of them have been documented.
And I'm a war criminal. But not.
MR. RUSSERT: So you stand by that?

SEN. KERRY: A lot of those stories have been documented. Have some been discredited? Sure, they have, Tim. The problem is that's not where the focus should have been.
It should have been on me. Back then it should have been on me about being a war criminal who volunteered and did unsavory things for our corrupt government in a war we didn't want. Back then it should have been about my great line of "How do you ask the last man to die?" Now it should be about me and my heroic time in war. And not about the arguments from others that I unscrupulously filled out paperwork to win inappropriate medals. Medals which I threw away in disgrace and protest. But not really, because even then I knew I was a war crimin --- hero!
And, you know, when you're angry about something and you're young, you know, you're perfectly capable of not--I mean, if I had the kind of experience and time behind me that I have today, I'd have framed some of that differently.
Because now I can doublespeak at a maddening rate.
Needless to say, I'm proud that I stood up. I don't want anybody to think twice about it.
Especially that atrocities and war criminal stuff. That's so 30 years ago. Besides, 30 years ago I was a hero, remember? H-E-R-O.
I'm proud that I took the position that I took to oppose it.
Because of that name recognition I had two failed runs at Congress and -- after law school and a stint as a prosecutor -- I won the office of Lieutenant Governor of the great state of Massachusetts. Did you know that I was also a Lieutenant in Vietnam? Only back home, or as us veteran hero-types say, "Back in the world" I took orders from Governor Michael Dukakis. You remember him don't you -- no, actually you should probably not think twice about that either.
I think we saved lives, and I'm proud that I stood up at a time when it was important to stand
up
Because did you see all those cameras?!?!
but I'm not going to quibble, you know, 35 years later that I might not have phrased things more artfully at times.
Because at the time I hadn't realized that the catharsis of the nation in regard to Vietnam (where I served by the way) would have taken place enough for me to run for President as a highly decorated veteran, which I am.

Ever since running for President became more about marketing than about politicking we've come to despise and loathe the process and the people involved more and more. See any election turnout numbers lately?

We've come to calling one of the candidates "the lesser of two evils." It isn't a cliche, its a stereotype bound in truth. Perhaps this election is about "the lesser of the disingenuous."
And now for some good news ...
Two days ago 16-year-old Dwayne Crouch, a victim of muscular dystrophy, had a long list of things he wanted to do before his frail body reached the point where he could no longer participate in any activity. Dawyne's doctors have given him six to eight months to live.

Dwayne wanted to go to Disney World. He wanted to go to the races and meet Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon. He wanted to go to an Alabama football game and meet the team and he wanted to see the Atlanta Braves play and meet Chipper Jones. Dwayne also said he wanted to fly in an airplane.

...

(His mother)'s friends talked her into letting them call The Daily Home and let people know about her plight.

Tuesday's edition of the newspaper hit the streets around 5 a.m., and by 2 p.m., every wish Dwayne had was being filled ...
Calls came from seven states.
In today's New York Times (free sub req) on disrupting terrorists:
"What I don't know at this point is how the terrorist operatives, facilitators are reacting to all of this," a senior American intelligence official said. "They should be very nervous, they should be very concerned, because the information that has been put out right now is not the totality of our knowledge. There are activities going on right now in this country and overseas that are capitalizing on the information that has been uncovered."
Here's to hoping.

Wednesday, August 4, 2004

NTSB confirms what we knew that tragic day. Remember, last summer, when the old man crashed through a California market killing 10 and injuring 63? The NTSB now says he panicked and confused the gas pedal with the brake pedal.
Those who believe older drivers should have to prove their driving ability cited the Santa Monica, Calif., accident as an example of the tragedy that can result when people are too old to drive safely.
...

Days after the crash, George Weller issued a statement saying he was distraught and heartbroken, and his attorney called it an accident.
The 86-year-old could get a sentence ranging from probation to up to 18 years in prison. He's also fighting more than 10 civil suits.

If you apply the kindly-old-man stereotype in this case a prison sentence is clearly wasted. Probation and whatever the families take from the guy in court should be enough added punishment after knowing that you've caused so much harm.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear blog
Happy birthday to you


A year old today. What a long strange trip its been.
We've lost a most unique hero. Montgomery native Maj. Jesse Gregory Folmar of has been laid to rest in Foley. And, as we learn in this fascinating story in today's Montgomery Advertiser, he was the only pilot in the Korean War to shoot down a jet from a propeller-driven plane.
That, aviation experts contend, is tantamount to outrunning a sports car on a bicycle. Or subduing an armored tank with a bb gun.

...

"Dad said they really didn't have a choice, that eight MiGs attacked them," Gregory Folmar said. "They knew they were in serious trouble, so they decided to try and take some of the enemy with them."

...

"I had my eye on the flight leader," he told a Military.com interviewer. "He was coming down on me very steeply, and I was in a sharp bank, turning into him ... I rolled out inside of him, led him about 20 miles, and gave him a five-second burst with the 20-mm guns. I saw my tracers blinking along the right side of his fuselage, so I knew I was scoring hits."
Hopefully his family, and many others will share his stories with the Veterans History Project.
In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night ... you, only you, will have stars that can laugh!

And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!' ...

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Ironically safe.
Iraqis visiting on a civil rights tour were barred from city hall after the city council chairman said it was too dangerous to let them in.

The seven Iraqi civic and community leaders are in the midst of a three-week American tour, sponsored by the State Department to learn more about the process of government.
Joe Brown, the council chair, said he feared the group was dangerous. That wouldn't be racial profiling from a black man would it?
Elisabeth Silverman, the group's host and head of the Memphis Council for International Visitors, said Brown told her he would "evacuate the building and bring in the bomb squads" if the group entered.

"They are in charge of setting up processes in their country. They have to educate themselves about how it works in this country," Silverman said.
And now they know.
We're just admiring the headlines at work today:
Report: Bryant groped woman in 2002
Man flings urine at judge during hearing
Teacher who had sex with child released
Scarecrows resemble Ku Klux Klansmen
DUI defendant comes to court drunk
Pet rooster travels 45 minutes under car
So many jokes, so little time.

Tuesday, August 3, 2004

God, bless The Jayhawks too.
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. -- 1 John 2:17

Monday, August 2, 2004

Sticky hot this morning. Even the crickets were taking the night off. The birds hadn't come on the clock yet. But the moon was working overtime.

I opened the door and braced for the humidity. Looked off to the right and saw the moon shining through the trees. So bright and full of detail this morning. Of course it never translates that way on a small lens, so I thought to make you some of these instead:

The bored, smart co-workers have been at it again sending me this text message this morning:

FRM: god@heaven.org
MSG:.nairB llik tsum uoY.

That stems from this story where a priest is jailed for life for persuading his lover, via text message, to murder his wife.

A great read by the way. Meanwhile, I don't have an SMS plan on my phone, so every message has to be paid for, but this one might have been the best dime I ever spent.

And if you're still scratching your head over the message, read it backward.