It’s Bigger Than NPR’s Katherine Maher
1 week ago
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Dawgs
Richt says no big changes to his coaching staff. That won't make some Georgia fans happy this year. Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez was particularly under the gun, but let's be fair. Georgia didn't have the defensive manpower this year, especially up front. The loss of Jeff Owens hurt and Ellerbee never came back to his old form after getting hurt early.
Newspaperin'
I've always enjoyed Creative Loafing and tried to pick it up any time I was in Atlanta. Sorry to see how badly things are going.
My Sunday column
They should close the local public library.
Shut it down. Sell the books on eBay. Toss the aging furniture on a junk pile and lop those salaries right off the payroll.
Truth be known, neither the city or county want to fool with it. Next to the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center — which the city and county have finally given up on — the library may be their biggest loser. Besides, they’ve got parks to build and gymnasiums to refurbish — athletic facilities designed to let our future athletic stars polish their handoffs and jump shots. What could be more important than that?
Who needs a financial money pit like a library, with those stacks of books and other learning resources?
Books? Learning?
Bah, humbug! (That’s from Charles Dickens, by the way).
One option the city and county should consider is turning the library into a gentleman’s club.
Fellow Daily Citizen columnist Charles Oliver once laughingly suggested the same thing about the trade center, but his idea was stupid. Mine is really smart.
In my plan, we would use the trade center parking lot. Lonely truck drivers could stash their rigs there and then ride the trolley to “the library,” which we would rename something clever like The Naked Truth or Dusty Books and Dirty Looks.
Revenue would pour in.
But seriously folks ...
If we are going to have a public library in this town, the city and county should do right by it.
Ante up.
We’ve heard the song and dance for years about how the two governments would love to do more for the library, but the money isn’t there. That has always been a lie. Occasionally a councilman or commissioner will champion the library’s cause for a few months. Hope will spring anew, before it is once again snuffed out by indifference. City officials say they would do more but the county has to match them and the county resists. Or is it vice versa? Lots of sympathetic talk, no action.
If you listen to some of our community leaders they’ll tell you all the wonderful things that can be accomplished when the city and county work together. But the fact is, they can’t even come up with a plan for systematically upgrading the library. The next time one of our elected “leaders” starts yakking about the community’s quality of life, ask him or her where our underfunded public library fits in that picture. Or is “quality of life” only aimed at producing linebackers and point guards?
I started this column joking about closing the library. But if the only option to quick death is slow strangulation, maybe it’s not such a joke.
----
Speaking of books, former Dalton resident Robert Whitlow’s successful “Christian novel” “The List,” has been made into a movie starring Malcolm McDowell. I got it from Netflix, but it’s also available locally at Wal-Mart and may be in local rental stores as well.
I wish the movie was a knockout and it does have some nice moments. McDowell is always fun and veteran actors Pat Hingle and Will Patton are good. The South Carolina locations are very effective and the movie is sharply photographed. The mystery plot works well too, up to a point.
But the ending will prove a big letdown for many thriller fans, though viewers more interested in the religious elements than in more standard Hollywood storytelling will probably be happier with the final act.
“The List” might make a good stocking stuffer for folks who like movies but are distrustful of the standard fare produced by Hollywood.
• Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He received numerous Gold Stars in the Summer Reading Program at the Summerville Public Library, oh so many years ago.
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Shut it down. Sell the books on eBay. Toss the aging furniture on a junk pile and lop those salaries right off the payroll.
Truth be known, neither the city or county want to fool with it. Next to the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center — which the city and county have finally given up on — the library may be their biggest loser. Besides, they’ve got parks to build and gymnasiums to refurbish — athletic facilities designed to let our future athletic stars polish their handoffs and jump shots. What could be more important than that?
Who needs a financial money pit like a library, with those stacks of books and other learning resources?
Books? Learning?
Bah, humbug! (That’s from Charles Dickens, by the way).
One option the city and county should consider is turning the library into a gentleman’s club.
Fellow Daily Citizen columnist Charles Oliver once laughingly suggested the same thing about the trade center, but his idea was stupid. Mine is really smart.
In my plan, we would use the trade center parking lot. Lonely truck drivers could stash their rigs there and then ride the trolley to “the library,” which we would rename something clever like The Naked Truth or Dusty Books and Dirty Looks.
Revenue would pour in.
But seriously folks ...
If we are going to have a public library in this town, the city and county should do right by it.
Ante up.
We’ve heard the song and dance for years about how the two governments would love to do more for the library, but the money isn’t there. That has always been a lie. Occasionally a councilman or commissioner will champion the library’s cause for a few months. Hope will spring anew, before it is once again snuffed out by indifference. City officials say they would do more but the county has to match them and the county resists. Or is it vice versa? Lots of sympathetic talk, no action.
If you listen to some of our community leaders they’ll tell you all the wonderful things that can be accomplished when the city and county work together. But the fact is, they can’t even come up with a plan for systematically upgrading the library. The next time one of our elected “leaders” starts yakking about the community’s quality of life, ask him or her where our underfunded public library fits in that picture. Or is “quality of life” only aimed at producing linebackers and point guards?
I started this column joking about closing the library. But if the only option to quick death is slow strangulation, maybe it’s not such a joke.
----
Speaking of books, former Dalton resident Robert Whitlow’s successful “Christian novel” “The List,” has been made into a movie starring Malcolm McDowell. I got it from Netflix, but it’s also available locally at Wal-Mart and may be in local rental stores as well.
I wish the movie was a knockout and it does have some nice moments. McDowell is always fun and veteran actors Pat Hingle and Will Patton are good. The South Carolina locations are very effective and the movie is sharply photographed. The mystery plot works well too, up to a point.
But the ending will prove a big letdown for many thriller fans, though viewers more interested in the religious elements than in more standard Hollywood storytelling will probably be happier with the final act.
“The List” might make a good stocking stuffer for folks who like movies but are distrustful of the standard fare produced by Hollywood.
• Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He received numerous Gold Stars in the Summer Reading Program at the Summerville Public Library, oh so many years ago.
print this story email this story comment on this story
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Your Sunday free tune
Townes Van Zandt remembered by the Cowboy Junkies. To learn more about Townes, check out the Wikipedia site.
Reading
Daily Citizen staffer Charles Oliver spent several years in California working for Reason Magazine,the granddaddy of libertarian publications. Reason is celebrating its 40th year in its current issue and Charles is quoted several times. It's an interesting read.
Books
Joe Lansdale is an eclectic writer and I am an eclectic reader. Our paths keep crossing.
I finished “Leather Maidens,” Lansdale’s latest novel, this week. It’s a gritty, nasty crime story populated by some of the creepiest villains you’re likely to run across.
Cason Statler is a Gulf War veteran and a newspaper reporter. He takes a job in his home town, a Texas college town that also happens to be Cason’s home town. Cason returns home in large part hoping to hook up with an ex girlfriend, but doesn’t get much of a chance to pitch woo as he is quickly caught up in a murder mystery that entangles him and his family.
Cason teams up with his army buddy Booger, who may be just as crazy and vicious as the story’s rabid dog villains. It’s an uneasy alliance – Booger scares Cason too – but the duo bring out the heavy weaponry – their guile and their firepower – to counter the forces of evil.
It’s an entertaining story, effectively and efficiently told. Lansdale knows his way around a conventional thriller and small town Texas always gives the author a distinct homefield advantage.
I smell a sequel to this one. Lansdale may have sought to create a team to follow in the footsteps of his terrific Hap Collins-Leonard Pine novels.
Unfortunately, Cason and Booger don’t measure up to Hap and Leonard. Not as funny. Not as intricately detailed.
From a lot of authors I’d consider “Leather Maidens” more of a success. It’s only middlin’ Lansdale. But hell, maybe I’ve been spoiled.
----
For more on Lansdale, check out this site.
I finished “Leather Maidens,” Lansdale’s latest novel, this week. It’s a gritty, nasty crime story populated by some of the creepiest villains you’re likely to run across.
Cason Statler is a Gulf War veteran and a newspaper reporter. He takes a job in his home town, a Texas college town that also happens to be Cason’s home town. Cason returns home in large part hoping to hook up with an ex girlfriend, but doesn’t get much of a chance to pitch woo as he is quickly caught up in a murder mystery that entangles him and his family.
Cason teams up with his army buddy Booger, who may be just as crazy and vicious as the story’s rabid dog villains. It’s an uneasy alliance – Booger scares Cason too – but the duo bring out the heavy weaponry – their guile and their firepower – to counter the forces of evil.
It’s an entertaining story, effectively and efficiently told. Lansdale knows his way around a conventional thriller and small town Texas always gives the author a distinct homefield advantage.
I smell a sequel to this one. Lansdale may have sought to create a team to follow in the footsteps of his terrific Hap Collins-Leonard Pine novels.
Unfortunately, Cason and Booger don’t measure up to Hap and Leonard. Not as funny. Not as intricately detailed.
From a lot of authors I’d consider “Leather Maidens” more of a success. It’s only middlin’ Lansdale. But hell, maybe I’ve been spoiled.
----
For more on Lansdale, check out this site.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The economy
Wasn't it just the other day we were being told that these guys had this economy thing all figured out.
Politics
After months of refusing to write about American politics. I have decided to dip my intellectual toe in the glowing, radioactive sludge left by the Democratic Ascencion.
Let us discuss the Jim Martin-Saxby Chambliss brouhaha.
Mr. Martin's main claim to the office is that he is not George Bush. That fact, the success of Mr. Obama on Nov. 4 and the deliciously disruptive presence of a Libertarian in the field has put Martin in a position pull off what would be quite an upset.
Would that be a good thing?
Hardly, unless you think Congress really needs another uninspired drone following the party line.
Then again, that's pretty much what we've had the last six years with Sen. Chambliss. You think maybe Saxby wishes he had gone off the reservation at least once or twice?
Political sentiment in Georgia favors Chambliss. Obama IS a liberal and if abortion, gun control, higher taxes, etc. concern you, he's not your huckleberry. Nor is Martin.
Give the home field advantage to Chambliss, but the real battle is which side will be able to get their voters out. Will black voters who rallied to Obama's banner do the same for Martin? Democrats certainly smell blood in the water, but will that motivate enough of them to get to the polls?
"I'm not George Bush" doesn't seem to me to be enough of a drawing card.
Meanwhile the GOP Machine is stroking the abortion button, the gun rights button and other tried and true hot button issues that have worked for them in the past. Liberals whine about this and decry the "Religious Right" and the "gun nuts." but the issues are legitimate and they matter greatly to elements of the GOP's core.
And if this runoff turns into a battle of the cores, the GOP seems to have an "issues advantage."
That Chambliss doesn't have a better record to run on after six years is a sad commentary ... in a political season chock full of sad commentaries.
But I think he'll still win.
Let us discuss the Jim Martin-Saxby Chambliss brouhaha.
Mr. Martin's main claim to the office is that he is not George Bush. That fact, the success of Mr. Obama on Nov. 4 and the deliciously disruptive presence of a Libertarian in the field has put Martin in a position pull off what would be quite an upset.
Would that be a good thing?
Hardly, unless you think Congress really needs another uninspired drone following the party line.
Then again, that's pretty much what we've had the last six years with Sen. Chambliss. You think maybe Saxby wishes he had gone off the reservation at least once or twice?
Political sentiment in Georgia favors Chambliss. Obama IS a liberal and if abortion, gun control, higher taxes, etc. concern you, he's not your huckleberry. Nor is Martin.
Give the home field advantage to Chambliss, but the real battle is which side will be able to get their voters out. Will black voters who rallied to Obama's banner do the same for Martin? Democrats certainly smell blood in the water, but will that motivate enough of them to get to the polls?
"I'm not George Bush" doesn't seem to me to be enough of a drawing card.
Meanwhile the GOP Machine is stroking the abortion button, the gun rights button and other tried and true hot button issues that have worked for them in the past. Liberals whine about this and decry the "Religious Right" and the "gun nuts." but the issues are legitimate and they matter greatly to elements of the GOP's core.
And if this runoff turns into a battle of the cores, the GOP seems to have an "issues advantage."
That Chambliss doesn't have a better record to run on after six years is a sad commentary ... in a political season chock full of sad commentaries.
But I think he'll still win.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
UGA
If Georgia beats Georgia Tech, no sure thing, the Dawgs will finish the regular season 10-2, a pretty impressive season for any NCAA team. Yet even with a win over Tech, most UGA fans will be disappointed.
A season that began with a No. 1 ranking could have and should have been better. Right?
Maybe not.
Florida is better team. The game in Jacksonville probably would have been closer if Georgia hadn't lost its best offensive and defensive linemen before the season got rolling, but even if Sturdivant and Owens had been there it's hard to see them making that much difference.
The Alabama game is a different matter, but the fact is Georgia came out so ill-prepared to play that they could have had a few veteran NFLers in the lineup and they still would have lost.
This isn't a Bash Mark Richt column, but the Georgia coach deserves to be scrutinized closely after this season, particularly if the Tech game and/or the bowl game end disastrously. Why Richt?
The fact is this Georgia team never developed the way it reasonably should have. Barring the win at LSU, where Georgia needed every one of its 52 points to nail it down, what Georgia performances made this team look like a top national contender?
Last week's painful tooth pull against Auburn? The nail-biters with Vandy and Kentucky? The Tennessee "classic?"
None of 'em.
Georgia was overrated when the season started. The O-line was too raw and never recovered from the loss of Sturdivant. That made things a lot tougher for Moreno and Stafford, Georgia two most gifted players. Both had good seasons, but neither had a year approaching the pre-season hype.
Defensively, the loss of Owens weakened the middle. But when was the last time a Georgia team could muster NO pass rush with its defensive ends? After 11 games coordinator Willie Martinez is still trying to figure out how to get consistent pressure on the QB.
Linebacker Rennie Curran has been outstanding and the secondary has played fairly well. But overall the defense has been too soft against good (and some not-so-good) teams.
As is the norm in college football Martinez and O-coordiantor Mike Bobo will catch most of the fan abuse. But both work for Richt and he is responsible for their performance, as well as the team's. Most disturbingly, and clearly Richt must answer for this, is Georgia's continuing identity as the dumbest, sloppiest team in the SEC.
Has any team in the country committed more asinine penalties than the Dawgs? Time and time again Georgia killed its own offensive momentum or through gas on a defensive fire by commiting stupid penalties. And I'm not talking the occasional late hit or holding. I mean those brain-jarringly stupid personal fouls and offsides and illegal procedures.
Throw in the abundance of dropped passes and you have to wonder if anyone on the team understands the concept of concentration, much less execution.
Richt mumbles his weekly apologies on the matter and vows to get to the bottom of it. But there is nothing new about this problem and yet it persists game in and game out.
Maybe the coach needs to take a look at how other teams manage to play within the rules on a more regular basis.
I didn't expect Georgia to win the national title this year. I thought winning the SEC East would have been a heck of an accomplishment. But it would have been fun to see this team -- offense, defense and special teams -- click on all cylinders more often.
It's what the great programs around the country do regularly.
Right now, we aren't in that elite and it's not because of talent.
It's because the talent fails to play up to its ablity.
The team needs to get better but it will only if the coaching staff does its job better. Scary things is, I'm not sure they realize that.
Go dawgs.
A season that began with a No. 1 ranking could have and should have been better. Right?
Maybe not.
Florida is better team. The game in Jacksonville probably would have been closer if Georgia hadn't lost its best offensive and defensive linemen before the season got rolling, but even if Sturdivant and Owens had been there it's hard to see them making that much difference.
The Alabama game is a different matter, but the fact is Georgia came out so ill-prepared to play that they could have had a few veteran NFLers in the lineup and they still would have lost.
This isn't a Bash Mark Richt column, but the Georgia coach deserves to be scrutinized closely after this season, particularly if the Tech game and/or the bowl game end disastrously. Why Richt?
The fact is this Georgia team never developed the way it reasonably should have. Barring the win at LSU, where Georgia needed every one of its 52 points to nail it down, what Georgia performances made this team look like a top national contender?
Last week's painful tooth pull against Auburn? The nail-biters with Vandy and Kentucky? The Tennessee "classic?"
None of 'em.
Georgia was overrated when the season started. The O-line was too raw and never recovered from the loss of Sturdivant. That made things a lot tougher for Moreno and Stafford, Georgia two most gifted players. Both had good seasons, but neither had a year approaching the pre-season hype.
Defensively, the loss of Owens weakened the middle. But when was the last time a Georgia team could muster NO pass rush with its defensive ends? After 11 games coordinator Willie Martinez is still trying to figure out how to get consistent pressure on the QB.
Linebacker Rennie Curran has been outstanding and the secondary has played fairly well. But overall the defense has been too soft against good (and some not-so-good) teams.
As is the norm in college football Martinez and O-coordiantor Mike Bobo will catch most of the fan abuse. But both work for Richt and he is responsible for their performance, as well as the team's. Most disturbingly, and clearly Richt must answer for this, is Georgia's continuing identity as the dumbest, sloppiest team in the SEC.
Has any team in the country committed more asinine penalties than the Dawgs? Time and time again Georgia killed its own offensive momentum or through gas on a defensive fire by commiting stupid penalties. And I'm not talking the occasional late hit or holding. I mean those brain-jarringly stupid personal fouls and offsides and illegal procedures.
Throw in the abundance of dropped passes and you have to wonder if anyone on the team understands the concept of concentration, much less execution.
Richt mumbles his weekly apologies on the matter and vows to get to the bottom of it. But there is nothing new about this problem and yet it persists game in and game out.
Maybe the coach needs to take a look at how other teams manage to play within the rules on a more regular basis.
I didn't expect Georgia to win the national title this year. I thought winning the SEC East would have been a heck of an accomplishment. But it would have been fun to see this team -- offense, defense and special teams -- click on all cylinders more often.
It's what the great programs around the country do regularly.
Right now, we aren't in that elite and it's not because of talent.
It's because the talent fails to play up to its ablity.
The team needs to get better but it will only if the coaching staff does its job better. Scary things is, I'm not sure they realize that.
Go dawgs.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
TV
All the movies aren't winners, but Turner Classic continues to dig up some interesting/offbeat choices for its Friday night (late night) Undergound Classics. The array of movies has been wide -- crime, sci fi, Russ Meyer, Ed Wood, etc. -- and most have been worth the viewing.
A few weeks ago they ran a double feature of Tim Carey's 'World's Greatest Sinner" and Frank Zappa's "200 Motels." Strange stuff, but the kind of offbeat work you just don't see anywhere else.
Check it out.
A few weeks ago they ran a double feature of Tim Carey's 'World's Greatest Sinner" and Frank Zappa's "200 Motels." Strange stuff, but the kind of offbeat work you just don't see anywhere else.
Check it out.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
2008 reading list
Last year about this time I realized there were books I kept coming across that I had intended to read but somehow overlooked. I vowed to fix that in 2008, so I sat down and worked out a list of 50 books I wanted to read this year. That list changed during the year as I picked up some new things, but as of yesterday I finished number 50.
There were not all big thick tomes. Instead there was a mix "heavy" reading and fun, "skinny" books.
I mixed up genres and made a point of there being a diverse selection.
The worst book I read all year was "1805 Austerlitz"by Robert Goetz. Napoleon never before seemed so dull. To be fair, this book was for more of a hard core Napoleon reader, but for me the detail was deadening.
Military history also gave me my favorite read, Robert Mosier's "The Blitzkrieg Myth." It was a fascinating look at many of the fundamental myths of World War II history.
Very smart, very provocative.
I gave all 50 of my reads a letter grade and below are the A class titles.
---
The Blitzkrieg Myth by Robert Mosier
Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley
Cool It by Bjorn Lomborg
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Darkly Dreming Dexter by Jeff Lindsey
Peace Kills by PJ O'Rourke
Mucho Mojo by Joe Lansdale
Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington
Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley
Swan Lake by James Lee Burke
---
The were several B's that could have slid in as A's but these were pretty much the titles I enjoyed most. Swan Lake would probably be my second favorite read, a real return-to-form by Burke, who seemed to be wearing down. I was heavy on mysteries this year, but it paid off with some excellent stuff.
Anyhow I am readying my 2009 list. There will be fewer titles on it, maybe 35-40.
Suggestions are welcome.
---
Later, if I have some time to burn, I may post my entire list with letter grades.
There were not all big thick tomes. Instead there was a mix "heavy" reading and fun, "skinny" books.
I mixed up genres and made a point of there being a diverse selection.
The worst book I read all year was "1805 Austerlitz"by Robert Goetz. Napoleon never before seemed so dull. To be fair, this book was for more of a hard core Napoleon reader, but for me the detail was deadening.
Military history also gave me my favorite read, Robert Mosier's "The Blitzkrieg Myth." It was a fascinating look at many of the fundamental myths of World War II history.
Very smart, very provocative.
I gave all 50 of my reads a letter grade and below are the A class titles.
---
The Blitzkrieg Myth by Robert Mosier
Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley
Cool It by Bjorn Lomborg
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Darkly Dreming Dexter by Jeff Lindsey
Peace Kills by PJ O'Rourke
Mucho Mojo by Joe Lansdale
Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington
Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley
Swan Lake by James Lee Burke
---
The were several B's that could have slid in as A's but these were pretty much the titles I enjoyed most. Swan Lake would probably be my second favorite read, a real return-to-form by Burke, who seemed to be wearing down. I was heavy on mysteries this year, but it paid off with some excellent stuff.
Anyhow I am readying my 2009 list. There will be fewer titles on it, maybe 35-40.
Suggestions are welcome.
---
Later, if I have some time to burn, I may post my entire list with letter grades.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Your Sunday free tune
He ain't pretty, but the song is. The Pogues. And if you want to learn a little about the band, read this.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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