November « 2012 « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

November, 2012

iPhone / Monday / photo — Comments Off
5
Nov 12

What bric-a-brac says about us

Monday. Class prep. Emails. Working on websites.

Saw this in a restaurant last night. We had Italian in the middle of nowhere. The restaurant was tacked onto this building that housed knick knacks and bric-a-brac. By the restroom, which had a sketch of Bobby Jones and another of Jesus, there was a display case full of coins and Zippos and knifes and confederate money and a head shot of George Wallace. It was almost everything you might need to try to understand the culture of a middle of nowhere place.

Above it all was this picture of Barney Fife. What the case couldn’t give you in playing armchair sociologist, this photograph might. It is clearly a promotional poster. VIP Printing and Graphics is a firm in Georgia. All of this explains itself.

The lady that ran the restaurant said she was from upstate New York. She’d been in the South for a few years. I wonder if she’s been able to make sense of it all.

I’m still trying to figure out why Bobby Jones’ backswing was hanging in the restroom.

photo / weekend — Comments Off
4
Nov 12

Catching up

A few extra pictures from the week:

In flight at the raptor center:

A red shouldered hawk:

And another hawk:

Here’s a red tailed hawk:

A falcon setting off for flight:

The Harris’s hawk, the newest addition to the raptor center:

A falcon eating his treat. They spread their wings so competitors can’t see what is going on. Their plumage also serves as camouflage from birds circling above.

The in-laws are in town, and hanging out with Spirit. They also got buzzed by him as he flew just a few inches over their heads.

Autumn is here. Just ask the oaks:

A good stiff sneeze will leave this maple with nothing more than twigs:

A fan at the football game:

Auburn / football / photo / weekend — Comments Off
3
Nov 12

New Mexico State at Auburn

One of those years:

But along comes New Mexico State, to make Auburn fans feel good about their team for a day. The Aggies made more than $900,000 today. Not bad for an afternoon in the sun. I’m sure that pays a significant portion of their annual athletic budget. And even that money seemed like a bonus early. It took Auburn three drives to break into the positive yardage. And that third drive ended in an interception.

Late in the second quarter the offensive, which has been set to sputter for most of the year, finally found a little traction. Tre Mason claimed the first score of the game, capping an 89-yard drive, the Tigers longest of the year:

New Mexico State and Auburn had similiar yardage at halftime, but the Tigers found ways to expand their 7-0 lead after the homecoming festivities. All-American and fan favorite fullback Jay Prosch scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter. It was two months to the day since his mother died.

Linebacker Daren Bates picked up a fumble:

stiff armed a guy he outweighs by 20-plus pounds:

looked around:

and imitated Superman to score:

Onterio McCalebb scored twice. He finally put the kind of numbers that have eluded him all year, including a key kickoff return, to move him up the school record charts a bit:

My guess is he stays in pretty much those spots as the season wraps up, but there you have it, he’s an incredibly talented player that has often been overshadowed by others.

Junior Trovon Reed finally scored the first touchdown of his career, wearing the number 37 in honor of Ladarious Phillips, a former Auburn football player who was shot to death last summer.

Things finally went more or less right for Auburn. They improved to 2-7 with the 42-7 win.

adventures / friends / photo / video — Comments Off
2
Nov 12

Hanging with the raptors

The venerable barn owl, or ghost owl, if you will. They will spook you in a barn if you aren’t ready for it, by the way:

Here’s a good look at a long-eared owl:

A red shouldered hawk in flight:

This Harris’s hawk was completing his first public flight. They live in the western deserts and are very social, working together — sometimes hopping on one another’s backs — to capture their prey. There is a hierarchy, much like bees and ants, about how they hunt, too. And they’re good for falconry, too:

And here’s Spirit, the bald eagle:

And a little video of these birds and more:

Check out the raptor center online.

friends / Thursday / video — Comments Off
1
Nov 12

Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney, scarier than Halloween

I did not get to enjoy Halloween — I missed all of it driving. Just as well. I’m not a fan because there should be an age limit.

Too many people violate the age limit I imagine in my mind, which is difficult to gauge, I know, because I’m only sitting here thinking about. Worse still, I see it as a sliding scale.

If you are 15 and over you should get a job for pocket money and buy your own candy.

The first year you think “Nah. I’m just going to wrap this robe around me, call myself a playboy and take a bunch of candy,” you are disqualified from collecting candy.

It is also the unofficial turn of the season, Halloween, and it is over in a night. I like a good holiday that lingers for several days more so than one that commercial enterprise has built up into a months-long marketing ploy.

This, though, is the best and worst Halloween story of all time, from my friend and colleague Napo Monasterio:

Today’s random political pitch was brought to me by a 13-year-old trick-or-treater dressed up in ragged business attire: “Hi, I’m a small business owner who was run over by the bus that is big government bureaucracy. My friend right here (pointing to his ghost pal) didn’t make it. He was one of Romney’s founding business partners, too.”

Nice. (Oh, and he double-dipped in the candy bowl. Of course.)

Speaking of politics, here’s a map charting the progress of political spending, totaling more than $500 million in ad buys, so far. Makes you long for the days of the front porch campaigns, says the guy who lives in the most solidly red state in the union experiencing virtually no advertising blitzes.

This:

… which makes you wonder what her parents are saying within earshot about the election, prompted this:

I have two studies planned that center around the election. Maybe I should dream up an Abby one, too.