White Out
Okay, not exactly, but we’ll take what we can get.… Read the rest
Category: Culture
15 Years In The Rocket City
I’ll be reflecting back on lessons learned over the past 15 years of living in Huntsville in this Sunday’s community column in The Huntsville Times.
We moved here in March 1993, and I’ll admit that it took me some time to get used to the place. We had lived in a “big city” for the previous 7 years (Birmingham and then Nashville), and I often pined for the culture, excitement and choices of a major metropolitan area. But once I settled down and became more rooted in the community, the place sort of started to grow on me. Or maybe I grew into it.… Read the rest
Playing Dead
Sometimes I feel a little dead at the end of the day, but I’ve never had the opportunity to become a middle-aged cadaver.
But my friend and outdoor adventurer Ed has.
Be sure to read his delightful story on his recent time spent “playing the stiff” for a team of training Search and Rescue Dogs (SAR K9) at the 2008 Airscent Seminar near Rogersville, Alabama.
And Ed, glad to have you back in the land of the living. Jake must give pretty good spit baths. Or was it the nose bite that did the trick?
The 12th Man
Number One Son road-tripped to Auburn this past weekend to visit with some friends and to watch the Bama v. Auburn basketball game. The visit with friends went well. The game? Not so much.
Yesterday morning, Number One was driving to church when he stopped at an intersection with a crosswalk. He looked both ways, halfway expecting a herd of cattle to come ambling by about that time. Instead a lone figure in a suit was walking down the sidewalk to his right and starting into the intersection.
Number One stayed stopped and yielded like he was supposed to. He looked down to fiddle with something in the car, and when he looked back up, the man in the suit was directly in front of him and staring straight at him.… Read the rest
Juno–A Reprise
I overlooked a very good review of the film Juno when I posted last Friday. I can usually count on Christianity Today to be a little more broad-minded when it comes to the intersection of faith and culture and less-enamored with counting “swear words” than Focus on the Family’s Plugged In Online, and that’s certainly the case here.
I especially like the “discussion starters” that follow the review. Now here’s a thought for some progressive, proactive church out there–why not take the youth gang to see it and then discuss the movie afterwards over coffee at Starbucks or some such?… Read the rest
Go To Juno
If you’ve not had a chance to see Juno yet, it’s worth a look. It’s a quirky, cute, whip-smartly written flick by screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman dealing with a tough and gritty topic–teenage pregnancy. It’s been nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and features extraordinary talent Ellen Page as the sassy and irreverent Juno MacGuff, along with several other strong supporting performances from the likes of Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janey and J.K. Simmons. Review cans be found here and here.
But please, don’t go expecting another Facing the Giants. The language and humor are a little earthy and raw and there are few explicit references to God or traditional morality.… Read the rest
The Answer Was “Two” All Along
On the heels of my smashing haiku debut, this caught my eye. I wish I had known; I’m betting that it would have paid more than 6000 pennies.
My first thought was: I spent my life examining eyes. But then another one came to me, better still:
The answer was “two” all along.
Your life story in six words. Hit me with your best shot.
A Hot Time In T-town
It looks like it’s going to be a hot time in T-town tomorrow night.
A few minutes ago, I received this email from the University of Alabama Athletic Department:
… Read the restDear Crimson Tide Fan:
As we approach the home stretch of our 2007 home football schedule, I want to thank each of you for your support throughout this season, both at Bryant-Denny and at the away venues. You have helped make a difference for Coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide football team, and all of us at the University are appreciative of your contribution each and every Saturday.
Certainly, this weekend’s game presents a challenge not only to our team and coaches but to our game management personnel as well.
Jumping on the Bandwagon
On the heels of the freewheeling discussion emanating from my recent post “McChurch?” comes this succinct critique of “Consumer Christianity” from the ubiquitous and uber reasonable Church of Christ prophet, Edward Fudge.
Talk about jumping on the bandwagon. I swear, sometimes I think that man sits around reading my blog.
McChurch?
I’m just wondering what Fusioneers think about the whole McChurch thing. You know, churches these days using the same glitz and glam that secular businesses use to market themselves as purveyors of goods and services.
Sell-out to our materialistic age, necessary accommodation to the times, or something in between? What say ye?… Read the rest
Stars Fell on Alabama
“Stars Fell on Alabama” late Saturday night under the Tuscaloosa lights. Just in case you missed it the first time, here it is again. If you’re a Razorback fan, that one may not be safe for work.
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer! And here’s a sight for sore eyes if there ever was one. Meanwhile, back at The Barn, the smell of smoke lingered in the air.
In Montgomery, the Faulkner Eagles made their home debut, and JRB was there, passing on his love of Southern Game Day Tradition to his young daughter. And by the way, congrats to the Montgomery Biscuits who came through in dramatic fashion.… Read the rest
As the Hawg Squeals
I know some of you may have been expecting Mike the Redneck to weigh in on tomorrow’s Alabama-Arkansas match-up. Sorry to disappoint, but he went to the dentist yesterday (he actually still has two teeth left) and got one of those numbing shots and just isn’t able to talk very well right now. Nevertheless, he sends his “REE-guards.”
I spent four years of my life dwelling in The Natural State and have more readers there than in any other state besides Alabama. I hold no grudge against the Hogs. In fact, I rather like the Razorback Nation.
Why, you ask? It’s really very simple.… Read the rest
The Measures of a Good Life
Barbara died a few days ago. She lived two doors down and had been sick for about a year. It wasn’t Alzheimer’s, but something similar, another heartless, wasting disease that took her away, bit by bit, to the horror and disappointment of her husband and family who could do little but simply love her and try to ease her passage to the other side. It was not an easy death.
I did not know her well, beyond an occasional casual conversation on the sidewalk or a friendly wave as she made her way out to retrieve her morning paper while I stumbled by at the conclusion of one of my morning runs.… Read the rest
The Greatest Alabama Fan in the World
She might as well have been sent straight from central casting.
She was fifty-something, a beautician or some kind of county court clerk if I had to guess, five foot two and 110 lbs if she was an ounce. Her nails were painted a glossy Crimson, her skin was leathery brown, probably from a few too many sessions in the tanning bed. Her hair was bleach-blond, her brown dirt, brunette roots proudly showing through. She wore a Bama tank top, grey sweatshorts and Roll Tide flip-flops. She was loud, salty and full of sass, in a Steel Magnolias, Ouiser Boudreaux sort of way (although I can assure you, she was no Cajun).… Read the rest
Good Fences Make Bad Neighbors
For the most part, we’ve enjoyed our neighbors over the years and had good relations with them. But there’s always the exception. Like the septuagenarian widow next door who from the moment we moved in 12 years ago has viewed us at best as a modern-day reincarnation of the Adams Family and at worst as a clan of pesky rodents dead set on ruining her pristine, picture-perfect Southern Living magazine house and showcase yard.
Over the years, she’s accused us of various neighborly transgressions including damaging her sprinkler heads while mowing the property line (she actually has one sprinkler head on our property, and it’s never been damaged), mowing too far onto her property, not caring about or keeping a showcase lawn like hers (guilty!),… Read the rest