Thursday, December 31, 2009

Chas Balun, RIP

Longtime Fangoria scribe.

Drinks

Maxim offers tips on handling a hangover. I read this about 10 years too late.

Radley Balko

The Reason columnist looks at the criminalization of protest.

Guns

Shooting, killing burglar lands Detroit man in jail.

Rasslin'

Steve Williams, RIP. I saw Dr. Death team with Bam Bam Gordy against the Steiners in Mobile in 1992. It was the first Bash at the Beach event and the card also featured an epic Sting versus Cactus Jack match.
This card took place days after Bill Watts took over WCW and the new "tough guy" attitude was clearly evident. (For one thing, the protective passing on the floor was removed.)
Doc and Bam Bam and the Steiners delivered a 30-minute time limit draw which had to thrill old school Watts. It was physical, "logical" and had excellent psychology.
At one point it looked to me like an amateur style shoot between Williams and the Steiners. All three had great amateur backgrounds. They went at hard in an amateur style and it didn't look like any one was playacting. It also looked like Williams kicked their asses. The Steiners were good though.
The crowd didn't know exactly how to react to what they saw. It wasn't what they had become used to in recent years but the fans were definitely into the match.
Next to Sting and Cactus, it was easily the best match on the card, primarily due to the slow psychological buildup.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Iran

Obama speaks up but the Iranians don't seem too impressed. The bloodshed will continue.

Tunes II

Rolling Stone names its best 100 albums of the decade.

Tunes

Vic Chesnutt remembered. A good piece from Rolling Stone.

Let Obama not be Obama

Victor Davis Hanson predicts a change in key strategies by the administration. Give Hanson credit for optimism, but I see no evidence of Obama 2.0.

New sports blog

Blog boss note: My new sports blog site is Sports From Dalton, which you can get to using the handy dandy link elsewhere on this page. Check it out mate.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Ron Paul's book on the Fed

Curious Capitalist Justin Fox takes a look.

On the border

The fall of Mexico. A scary story from The Atlantic.

Iran

Michael Totten says says the "supreme guide" is in a lot of trouble.

Big Chris Hitchens

In the wake of the Detroit near blowup Hitch takes note of just what a silly ass society we are at times.

Mullis sings the budget blues

State Sen. Jeff Mullis looks ahead to the 2010 session. He's talking budget cuts for education, which Democrats running for office in 2010 have to love. My story from the Summerville News.

My weekly column

Get a haircut? Nah.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Iran

The government digs in. Iranians show audacity of hope ... and more! The U.S. shouldn't be sending in the Marines, but wouldn't it be nice if the current administarion demonstrated as much interest in Iran as it did in Honduras. Where are the forceful pronouncements about democracy and the rights of the people?

Neal Boortz

Healthcare 'reform' means controlling access.

Bob Barr

Healthcare pork means fiscal indigestion.

The big mess we call government

Santa Claus thinks Fannie and Freddie were good. Very good, apparently. (This way, Barnie Frank never has to say he's sorry.)

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Vic Chesnutt, RIP

Mark Williams's elegant tribute to his friend.

Your Sunday free tune

Girl from the North Country Roseanne Cash from her new record. It's a fine, inventive song from a really fine record.

Iran

Obama showed a lot more interest in Honduras than he has in the new Iranian revolution. Brave people are being slaughtered and the U.S. president lays low. I'm not the only one complaining. Here's William A. Jacobson.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Flicks

Top 10 overrated movies of 2009. But aren't these the easiest ones to target? Where are the Hollywood heavies?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The jihad

Taliban freedom fighters blow up school for girls. That'll show those chicks!

Bad news for floocovering industry

New home market fizzles.

What's in a name

What Americans are naming their kids. I can't believe "Jordan" isn't higher on the list. Half the kids I meet are named Jordan. No, Rowan does not make the list for girls or boys. Nor does Bocephus, which some clod hopper in Dalton named his son last year.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Politics

Huntsville rep switches parties in wake of healthcare legislation. Here's one guy who heard his constituents.

Technology

Keeping you Iphone charged. Given a choice between me or her snazzy telephone, my wife would choose the phone. Apparently it has more useful "apps."

Feinstein reconsiders

Not so Green after all.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

North Georgia

Lawmakers seek movie sites From the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

The Market 2

Free the post office David Lazarus from the LA Times.

My Sunday column

Have ghosts, will travel. From the Summerville News.

The Market

When this was talked about in Georgia, the political establishment screamed bloody murder. But toll roads help traffic. From USA Today.

Your Sunday free tune

Merry Christmas from the Pogues. And my all time favorite Christmas tune by a budding superstar. And you have to love Robert Earl Keen's classic.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Words

Susan Campo's book "Warren Oates: A Wild Life" should have been named "Warren Oates: A Horny and High Life."
The portrait of Oates that emerges over 400-plus pages is a man unwilling or unable to put the brakes on his personal excesses, particularly, food, alcohol, chemical stimulants and women other than his wife (or wives). Until his shocking death at 53, Oates was habitually unable to say no to a party. Campo touches only lightly on the impact Oates' extravagances had on those around him. Maybe she doesn't want to look too deeply at the man she clearly admires. Maybe old fashioned virtues like self restraint and respect for marriage don't mean as much to the author. Ironically, Oates would probably have claimed those values as his own ... then bolted for the next party on the Sunset Strip.
Now, with that out of the way, let me add that I enjoyed the book because I find Oates a terrific actor and Campo does a first rate job of working her way through the highs, including some real hidden nuggets, and lows of the star's career.
She also casts her net wide for old interview subjects. Peter Fonda, for whom Oates did some of his best work in "The Hired Hand," is quoted extensively. Other Hollywood celebrities are there too, including the late Ben Johnson, the cowboy actor who Oates admired tremendously. But a lot of the best stuff comes from ex-wives, other relatives and the bizarre conglomeration of pals pulled into Oates's orbit.
Sam Peckinpah is there too, of course, and Campo jabs a little at the tortured yet remarkable team these two tremendous talents made on the screen. From "Major Dundee" to "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia," the Peckinpah-Oates duo dazzled filmgoers. Campo looks at the movies and the relationship, but again seems to shy away from lowering the book on anyone, including the absurdly destructive Peckinpah.
Oates was a terrific actor. Campo had no trouble finding critics who agreed with that assessment. Call him a character actor if you like, but no matter what start he worked with, Oates almost always said or did something that brought the story back to him in the best way.
Campo has written a good, if not great, book and one any serious film fan should read. One it comes to Warren Oates's type roles, they just don't act 'em like that anymore.

Twelve Warren Oates films to see

1. The Wild Bunch - "Why not?"
2. The Hired Hand
3. Two Lane Blacktop -" If I'm not grounded pretty soon, I'm gonna go into orbit."
4. Ride the High Country - The peckerwood of all time
5. The Shooting
6. In the Heat of the Night - So damn good
7. Dillinger
8. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Desolation row
9. Cockfighter - Almost no dialog
10. 92 in the Shade
11. 1941 - Piss on the critics
12. Stripes - "Lighten up, Francis!"

Here's a scene Two-Lane and a long, fine one from the Hired Hand and one more for Victor Miller.

Politics

National Review looks at Jim Webb and likes what it sees. The same for The Hill and Peter DeFazio. Pretty good stuff here.

Georgia politics

Barbara Reece D-Menlo comments on Ralston taking House Speaker post. From the Summerville News.

Super speeders beware

New state law targets lead-footed drivers. When I was in west Texas this summer, EVERYBODY drove at least 85 on the highway. From the Times Free Press.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Tunes

The Pogues are still alive and kicking. Here's a review of a recent concert.

Riverbend

Charlie Daniels Band and Drivin' 'N' Cryin' sign on for Riverbend 2010 in Chattanooga. From the Times Free Press.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Jihad

Jihadi jokester.
Years ago I was sitting at the bar of a local restaurant reading a magazine and partaking of a forsty beverage. The owner was a Palestinian Muslim. I had known him for years.
A swarthy young man came in and plopped down at the bar, two seats from me. He introduced himself to the owner, saying he was from ... I believe ... India.It was somewhere in Asia, not the Middle East.
He told the owner he knew he was a Palestinian and wanted him to know that he supported the cause and how Muslims from his country were behind the Palestinian people in their fight. He started yammering about jihad and bad mouthing "the Jews." This was pre 9-11 so regrettably I didn't jump from my seat and drop a dime to the FBI or punch the silly fellow in his snoot. Instead I pretended to read while the young man went on about "the jihad" and scarfed beers.
The owner was petrified and kept telling the junior jihadi to drop the subject, but the young man just kept on drinking and babbling about "the struggle."
After about 30 minutes of this he went to the bathroom.
That's when the owner asked me if I wanted another beer. I told him "only if a jihad wasn't about to break out in here."
He looked at me and said something like "Can you believe this $%^#*&@ idiot? These are the stupidest people in the world."
He then told me a story illustrating just how stupid they were.
We laughed and I had another beer.
The junior jihadi had several more and the owner eventually got him a cab and sent him back to his hotel where I am sure he dreamed of multiple virgins and retarded people blowing themselves up on school buses.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mark Steyn

Obama's Nobel claptrap.

Your Sunday free tune

Joe Ely sings Billy the Kid. Sorry I am late with this one. PLay it loudly.

Flicks

Here's Stephen King's column about "Carriers," which I saw over the weekend. King is right. It isn't a great film but it's very entertaining and well made. It looks great and the story advances with a grim, simple power. I got it from Netflix. The King piece comes from Entertainment Weekly.

Comics

Ten sexiest 4-color babes. What! No Vampirella?

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Neal Boortz

Tax junkies can't get off the stuff. From the AJC.

My Sunday column (early)

In tune with the times

Flicks II

Here is a review of The Crazies, a remake of the Romero movie which I believe was filmed in north Georgia. And here's the preview from Yahoo movies.

Flicks

I was very excited about seeing "Public Enemies," the Michael Mann-directed movie version of Bryan Burrough's excellent book about Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie and Clyde. 2009 has been a "gangster year" for me. I've ready a good deal on the Depression era bad guys and enjoyed, with my pal Jim Donovits, a visit to the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Louisiana.
Well, Bonnie and Clyde are nowhere to be found in this movie and Pretty Boy is in for about one minute, being personally shot down by Melvin Purvis while Dillinger was still at large. Wrong. Purvis didn't shoot Floyd and he died months after Dillinger was killed.
So, one minute into the picture I realized that Burrough's highly-detailed book was little more than a paperweight for the screenwriters who butcher the real history in what is at times a remarkably self-defeating way.
For instance, Purvis is served up as a cardboard G-Man when in fact the real man and his tortured relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, was much more interesting than what the writers came up with.
Depp is fine as Dillinger, if you like two hours of stoney-faced grimness. Where is the charisma? Where is the flamboyance that made Dillinger a hero to many.
The French actress who plays Billie Frechette, Dillinger's main gal, looks the part but has nothing to do. Why does Dillinger love her so much? Why does he allegedly die with her name on his lips? This movie doesn't explain.
Bale's accent is atrocious at times and his character is mostly dull. Purvis was a lot of things, but not dull.
Hoover is seldom seen or heard from, which is a mistake for the film. His lurking presence would have added a lot.
This should have been a great film. But it falls far, far short of that mark.
Mann fails to deliver a single moment that approximates Dillinger's bigger-than-life exploits.
"Public Enemies" is terrible history and even worse, a deadly dull movie.

Iran

Opposition to the entrenched theocracy in Iran is being directly challenged in the wake of the brutal repression of election protests, but our freedom and democracy loving president ignores the carnage. Don't make the despots angry seems to be the strategy. Where is the outrage? Check out these photos from the BBC.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Comics

Bruce Wayne is back! Grant Morrison talks about the return of the real Caped Crusader.

New sports blog

Blog boss note: My new sports blog site is Sports From Dalton, which you can get to using the handy dandy link elsewhere on this page. Check it out mate.

Words

Mr. Espy meet Mr. Reacher.
Apparently author Lee Child has been knocking out this fine Jack Reacher series for a long time. So, why didn't somebody tell me sooner?
I picked up "Gone Tomorrow," the 13th in the Reacher line, from the book club recently and was absorbed with the story from start to finish.
Our hero, a highly trained former military operative with a high pain threshold very independent streak, witnesses a suicide on New York subway. The horrible event turns out to be even more alarming than originally thought, as Jack Reacher is inexorably pulled deeper into a convoluted and bloodthirsty mishmash of foreign intrigue and Patriot Act-era paranoia.
The story keeps you guessing and Reacher is a highly entertaining guide through this desolate landscape of betrayals and bushwhackings.
If I had any money I'd get the other 12 books in the series ASAP. Instead I'll pick them up at a more leisurely, economical pace and enjoy them like a rare bottle of wine.

Dalton's Kyle Wingfield

More stimulus but the same lack of logic and effectiveness.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Kyle Wingfield

After Richardson. Georgia GOP looks ahead. From the AJC.

Your Sunday free tune

Kris Kristofferson does one of his best. Loving Her Was Easier.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Braves

Blog boss note: This post is also at my new sports blog site, Sports From Dalton, which you can get to using the handy dandy link elsewhere on this page. Check it out mate.
----
Signing Saito and Wagner are good moves. Now if we can just finish the time machine and go back to 2005.
Just kidding. I like each pitcher at those salaries for one year but wouldn't have signed both at the same time, not after their recent injury trouble. Healthy, they should do well. Both have excellent makeups for key bullpen roles.
Let me toss out a wild card here. If they didn't want to spend a lot on a reliever and age and arm problems were not disqualifiers, why not ink a little fellow named John Smoltz? Is that bridge burned, bagged and tossed?
Atlanta could have spent more on the position, either bringing in a free agent or resigning either Soriano or Gonzalez. Trading for a closer was possible, as the Bravos have the depth at starter to land a big gun for the bullpen. Bobby Jenks of the White Sox comes to mind.
More likely they'll use that starter chip to land offense, particularly with Adam LaRoche unlikely to return. How about a little fellow named Adam Dunn? His defense might make Bobby Cox gag but 40 homers is hard to argue with.
Nick Johnson might be a reasonable pickup at first base. He can hit but may not have enough power for the Braves' needs.
Whaddaya think?

From the Times Free Press

My first story for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. More coming soon.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Braves

Braves arbitration moves. Garrett Anderson was clearly a one-year signing and he did a solid job.
Getting back either Soriano or Gonzalez would be a plus, but as the article says neither is likely to accept a one-year deal. I am not convinced either is a real closer. Gonzalez gets hurt too much and Soriano has consistency problems, though he can look great for awhile.
Not making an offer to LaRoche puzzles me. He provides some badly needed pop and his fielding has improved a lot since his first stint with the Braves. He was the team's MVP after arriving last year.
However, LaRoche has a history of starting the season disastrously. Are the Braves wary of paying good bucks to a half-season all star? Are they thinking of moving Chipper over and finding a third basemen with more range? (Not a bad idea.) Or is the budget just too tight?
Whatever the reason, if LaRoche leaves the Braves will have to find another veteran big bat. It would be a huge mistake to count too heavily on super prospect Jason Heyward.
Remember the name Joe Crede.

Dawgs

David Paschal hustles on the Georgia beat. Here's his latest from the Times-Free Press on the suddenly relevant again Georgia Bulldogs.

The biz

Newspapers: Free too expensive?

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Friday, November 27, 2009

Mags

The new Sports Illustrated (with Alabama's Mark Ingram on the cover) has several pieces worth reading. Austiin Murphy has a good feature on the Muck Bowl, the nasty annual showdown between Belle Glade and Pahookie High. Phil Taylor has an interesting column on the absence of white running backs in college and the pros. Also, there's a great photo of Artis Gilmore when he was with the Kentucky Colonels and a short flashback article about Gilmore's emergence as an ABA star. And for those of you haven't had enough of the Michael Oher story (he has), there's more in this issue. All in all, a magazine worth reading ... even with the Tide on the cover.

Words

Dalton-raised writer recalls the old days in her new book. From the Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

The environment

An interesting commentary on the swirling climate change controversy. The writer leans Green but even he is aghast at the misuse of science and questionable tactics of the Al Gore Fan Club.

Back in the day ... spook shows

I just finished the non-fiction book "Ghostmasters" by Mark Walker.
It's about the old traveling "ghost" or "spook" shows that used to play in theaters across the country. Their heyday was probably the 1940-50s but many were still out on the road into the late 1970s.
I saw one of these shows in Summerville when I was a kid. I wish my memory on this night was better. There are a lot of details I've forgotten, including the name of the show.
But I do remember that the movie they featured was Roman Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Slayers."
Also, they did some skits with monsters threatening the crowd. Unlike in the old days when this kind of stuff was done during "blackout," the show I saw utilized strobe lights to give the monsters an eerie, threatening look.
The show came at the end of the spook show cycle (early-mid 70s) and I'm sure it was a low budget affair, but I remember a good, lively crowd and having a ball myself.
Anyhow, if any of y'all have a similar story to tell I'd love to hear it.
Write me.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Words

Edward (Eddie) Lee writes some of the goriest, most shocking horror lit around, particularly in his small press books and stories. His more mainstream novels, published by Leisure Books, are supposed to be the PG 13 version of the daring author's stuff.
But "Brides of the Impaler," a late 2008 Leisure release has plenty of shock value. While the gore and violence is limited -- by Lee's bloody standards -- there's enough of both to jolt most readers. There's also a ton of sex, some of it pretty rough, but it's not just gratuitous grappling. It's key to the plot, which features a modern day attempt to resurrect the most famous vampire of all, Vlad the Impaler, better known as Count Dracula.
The story is set in New York City, where a young woman has recently moved in with her boyfriend in an old church facility he slickered away from the Catholic Church and converted into a ornate home.
Everything looks great for the young couple, that is until a menacing spirit which resides in the house begins to grow stronger.
The story sharply contrasts the lavish lifestyle of New York winners like the protagonists with a band of desperate street women who offer their deadly services and their souls to a dark power.
"Brides of the Impaler" is as effective as it is lurid and if there's a sequel -- the opportunity for one is definitely there -- I'd read it.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see this one done on the big screen as well.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Flicks

I've been watching a lot of westerns lately. Maybe the recurring theme of winning justice has special appeal.
Three of them worth mentioning are Ramrod, Rough Night in Jericho and The Halliday Brand.
Ramrod is a complicated story (for a western) about a bitter, scheming daughter (Veronica Lake) battling her father and his chosen son in law with the help of the brave, but-not-so-bright Joel McCrea.
It's a rugged story with some brutal action and good performances. I was surprised at how much I liked Don DeFore (Mr. B on Hazel) as a flamboyant gunman.
No new ground is broken here, but director Andre de Toth delivers a focused, cracking picture.
The Halliday Brand is one of the uglier westerns I've seen. It looks like it was shot in a garbage dump. The lean budget is in evidence everywhere.
Also the casting has some serious weaknessess.
Joseph Cotten is too old (and too civilized) to play Ward Bond's outlaw son. It's a major flaw, as is Bill Williams' nothing performance as Cotten's brother. I'm not a Betsy Palmer fan in this one and Viveca Lindfors is terribly out of place as a half-Indian love interest.
Ward Bond is pretty good though.
That said, The Halliday Brand is worth seeing for its sharp assessment of anti-Indian racism. That theme dominates the film and the story doesn't pull many punches.
The film's central conflict -- the hard-nosed, bigoted father and the reckless, rebellious son (Cotten) -- is played out with gusto right up to the unsympathetic ending.
I expected Rough Night in Jericho to be one of those 1960s westerns with Dean Martin winking at the camera most of the time. But Dino keeps it professional, as do George Peppard, the lovely Jean Simmons and the great character actor John McIntire.
Sure enough there are some of the usual genre absurdities. I love Martin shooting the stagecoach reins out John McIntire's hands from a hundred yards away. And how about George Peppard firing his rifle into a stagecoach within inches of his lady love's face? (Apparently ricochets are of no concern.)
Goofiness aside, there a lot to like here.
Peppard and Slim Pickens, playing a villain in this one, engage in a nasty, brutal fight with Slim wielding a horsewhip.
McIntire is spot on as the aging ex-lawman and Peppard's pal and business partner. Their relationship is a highlight.
Also of interest is the byplay between Martin and Peppard. They quickly size each other up as potent threats, but also recognizing that in another day and time they might well have been friends.
---
All three of these films are worthwhile for genre fans, with The Halliday Brand being the most flawed but also the most interesting in some ways.

Your Sunday tune

Springsteen from back when we were both young.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Words

OK, it's not the NY Times Review of Books, but the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (cast members of Twilight on the cover) has a couple of groovy pieces. Check out "The B Movie King," a look at Roger Corman's fabulous career. Also, there's a swell column from Stephen King. The author offers his ultimate music tape mix and there are some beauties on his list, including a few by favorites of mine like James McMurtry, Richard Thompson and Rodney Crowell.
That stuff may be available at the mag's web site. If not, buy it.

My Sunday column

I've had much better weeks but was fortunate on Saturday morning to have a massive dose of perspective smack me right in the snoot.
My daughter's pre-school teacher encouraged Rowan to come to the annual Veterans Day parade in downtown Dalton. We staked out a good spot near the county courthouse and I was pleased to see a pretty good turnout -- though still far smaller than the event deserves.
The parade was outstanding in a Mayberrian way. The Northwest, Southeast and Dalton High bands performed (thanks guys!) and added a lot to to the show. There were pretty girls and clowns and church floats and lots of smiling kids. The Shriners, God bless 'em, were out in full force with their motorcycles, trick riding vehicles and classy classics. (Eldorado convertibles!). The Shriners made such a big impact, it was easy to forget for a moment that they are the foot soldiers in a vast international Freemason conspiracy to conquer the world.
Also on hand, probably assigned by the Vatican to keep an eye on the Freemasons, were the Knights of Columbus, who made up for their lack of numbers with sartorial splendor, including at least one stylish purple plumed hat.
And then there were the vets, both a small group of active soldiers back home after being wounded overseas. They were the stars of this show, greeted warmly at every appearance. Looking at them, knowing something about what they have sacrificed and have been through hit home.
My daughter waved her little U.S. flag and almost every veteran who saw her smiled and waved back at her. Daddy loved it even more than she did.
Our veteran veterans, soldiers who have toiled in other wars, made their appearances and once again the crowd tried to let them know how much they were appreciated.
Of course there isn't enough we can do to repay any of these warriors. But for a few sunshine-bathed minutes on perfect Saturday afternoon some good and decent people in Dalton tried to pay a little of its overdue debt.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The jihad

Brave men lop the head off a school teacher. All in the name of religion.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

My Sunday column

I graduated from Chattooga High School in 1980. It was a good school and to this day several of my closest friends are my former classmates.
That’s why the story I read this week had me shaking my head.
It seems the new principal, an ex-military, by-the-book type engineered one of the lamer stunts I’ve seen in recent years.
The principal, with the support of his superintendent, personally lopped four pages out of the schools yearbook because of pictures he found offensive.
So what were the students doing in those controversial photos? Drinking brown liquor? Bagging dope? Robbing a Kangaroo?
Hardly.
Mostly they were just acting like doofus teenage boys — playing basketball, mugging for the camera.
Maybe it was the fact that many of the boys were shirtless in the pictures that drove the powers-that-be into a scissors-slashing frenzy, but I’ve got news for them. That’s what boys do when they play ball.
Were they really good pictures?
Not really.
Were they artsy and classy?
Not so much.
Were they enough to justify an overly sensitive bureaucrat taking a blade to a $50 yearbook that was already paid for?
Evidently.
The publication’s contents had been OK’d by the yearbook adviser, since retired, who had been overseeing the yearbook for the better part of three decades.
He was OK with the photos and is angry that the book he and his students worked long and hard on was defaced by the current group of educational apparatchiks running the gulag school system.
(Note: For the record, the yearbook adviser is a former teacher and an old friend of mine. I have not talked to him about this story.)
This story reminds me of a few of my own scrapes in the halls of ol’ CHS.
We had a librarian who would take a pair of scissors to the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She chopped out the offending bodies of all the young ladies who dared to bare on the creamy white pages of America’s most popular sports weekly.
The weird thing is she wouldn’t just remove the entire pages or just pull the issue entirely, she would painstakingly cut out the offending photos, leaving us to grandly imagine what tawdry images they must have been.
This is the same librarian who later accused me of running a bookie service out of the library. I got sent to the office on that one, but assistant principal Fred Toney — yes, that Fred Toney, the former Southeast basketball coach and Phoenix High principal — laughed off the accusation.
Coach Toney wasn’t so jovial my senior year when I violated a rule that apparently the bosses took a lot more seriously than I realized.
Only a few weeks from graduation — after an embarrassingly incident-free four years of education — I was caught by “Coach” in the hallways ... AFTER THE BELL!!!
Apparently this was considered an act of anarchy by the higher-ups. Later, in the office, I was told to assume the position.
Now don’t get me wrong. I really liked and respected Fred Toney but something about that situation didn’t sit right.
OK, I was in the hall AFTER THE BELL!!!!! by about five minutes and for this — at age 17 — I was supposed to let a grown man whack me in the posterior with a wooden board.
Nope.
Not gonna happen.
After I declined to bend and grin, I was told that I would submit to the punishment or I would be going home on suspension.
“OK, I’ll go home.”
Coach Toney was not happy and loudly made it clear to me how unhappy he was. I still declined to be paddled.
That’s when the coach did a very smart thing. He sat me down and gave me a speech — emphasizing how personally disappointed he was in my behavior. It was brutal.
That speech was a heck of a lot worse punishment than a paddling would have been, and I left the office a chastened young man. (I also had to pick up trash after school for the next three days.)
It’s amazing the results that reason and respect — two-way respect — can have on a young person.
Better even than a pair of scissors.

Jimmy Espy is executive editor of North Georgia Newspaper Group. Also, you can visit him at Espysoutpost.blogspot.com
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MMA

The Big Russki delivers.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Buffett

Warren B. adds trains to his toy chest.

Beer

Is the good stuff getting even better? Stronger beer OK'd in more states.

Honduras

He ain't happy, he's your Big Brother.

NFL

Blast a receiver, go to the Pro Bowl, blast a defensive back and you are the dirtiest player in the NFL. Just ask Hines Ward.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Dope

Brit official fired over cannabis comments.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

NBA

A good article previewing the NBA season in Sports Illustrated this week. It talks about the return to the "super team" NBA of the 1970-80s. Certainly a half-down teams have really loaded up this year.
I'm taking the Lakers to repeat, betting that Artest's desire to win a title will outstrip his general thuggery ... for one season.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sunday, October 25, 2009

My Sunday column: Down goes Espy, down goes Espy

There was a lot of hard hitting in the Dalton Catamounts-Rome Wolves game on Thursday.
Trust me, I know.
A few plays into the third quarter, I got all the evidence I would need. It came in the form of two — I am told by witnesses — players crashing into your favorite editor on the sideline.
I am convinced that one of them had to be behemoth Dalton tackle Watts Dantzler or SEC-bound defensive end Jalen Fields. At least I hope so. It would be awfully embarrassing if I took a lick like that from some 155-pound scatback nicknamed “Skeeter.”
I played some football back in the day, and was on the receiving end of a few nasty shocks.
In midget ball I was kicked in the head by the league’s biggest player. Note that I did not say he ran over me or tackled with me with gusto. No, this prize piece of humanity kicked me in the head while I was on the ground.
Thirty-five or so years later I remember the onrush of symptoms we now know as a concussion. Back then, the coaches called it “getting your bell rung” and treated it by giving you a drink of water and a pat on the backside.
In high school we had a fullback named Terry Farmer. His nickname was “Rock.” I had the audacity to tackle Rock one warm spring afternoon, sliding inside from my defensive tackle position to fill the 2 hole.
It was there — in the 2 hole — that Rock and I bumped heads. Kaboom. He went down. I went down. He got up. I did not.
Instead, I tried to take a quick power nap, right there in the middle of practice.
Head coach Ron Williams did not think this was a good idea and had me carted away. I am sure they gave me water as well.
A few days later, I once again dared to attempt a tackle in the backfield. I blew past the offensive lineman only to realize (at the last second) that the offense was running a trap play and I was the big dummy being trapped.
That epiphany occurred a nanosecond before our superb right guard Wendell Black knocked me out of my shoes. Every molecule in my body hurt for two days.
Thursday’s night’s “de-cleater” felt more like the Wendell Black hit. It was more jarring than anything.
One second I was standing there watching the game. Then I was on my back with at least one sweaty young man on top of me. I assure you that doesn’t happen often, so I knew something was amiss.
I remember hearing the Dalton student section let out a collective moan and then some wisenheimer punk said, “Did you see that old guy get hit?”
Of course being called the “that old guy” was the most painful part of the whole episode. But not by much.
I lay there for a moment, making sure that my cardiovascular system was still functioning. Being “that old guy” I knew not to try and bounce up immediately. People who do that almost always fall over again, often in a comical manner that lands them on “SportsCenter” or “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
I testily declined assistance and just stayed down, checking my personal biological systems like Mr. Scott going over a checklist in the engine room of the Starship Enterprise.
Once I confirmed that my dilithium crystals were indeed working, I rose and watched the rest of the game, shaky, achy and embarrassed.
I am a 30-plus year sideline veteran and should know better than to let my mind wander during game action, particularly on a sideline as tight as at Harmon Field.
The worst part of the night?
At home, after telling my wife what had happened and showing her the bloody place on my left arm, that lovely woman with whom I consented to make a child suggested I hang up my sport writer gear and start covering ... theater.
Ouch.
The best thing about the incident:
It gave me a column idea.

Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He can still take a hit.

Your free Sunday tune

A budding superstar offers two seasonal classics.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The zeitgeist

Should tubbies pay a "lard tax?" I say no ... then again I weigh 250.

Guns

Locked and Loaded on Showtime. Shootists will be intrigued, or not.

Jack Nelson, RIP

I met Nelson years ago at an Atlanta Press Club meeting at Manuel's Tavern. Nelson was their flogging his new book on the civil rights movement. Later in the program the Georgia flag was to be debated. Nelson took the opportunity to say the "Stars and Bars" needed to be removed, which set the SCV members into a tizzy. One bearded old rebel charged the lectern where Nelson looked horrified.
I met him later and he was very gracious, particularly after he learned I had lived in the Klan hotbed of Laurel, Miss. for awhile. Here's the LA Times story about his death.

Econ 101

The Dems and their phony jobs multiplier. Lies, lies and more lies on job creation.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Corruption busters

Rangel support declines, even at home.

Ayn Rand

She's a hit in India. I always did like India.

EuroHealth

British "health elite" opt for private care, at taxpayer expense of course.

Guns

The well-armed Jew. From Big Hollywood.

Dope

He needs to do even more, but give Obama credit for moving in the right direction on medical marijuana. Now listen to those freedom loving GOPers' howl.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Movies

Just in time for Christmas. The William Castle collection. Netflix has it too.

Heath

America's biggest fool, Bill Maher takes a well-earned beating here over his dangerous comments about vaccinations, particularly for swine flu. A disgraceful man.

Honduras

Obama Administration once again bamboozled by the reality of the real world. Support for Zelaya may be waning.

Movies - Death Race

I expected to hate the new "Death Race" but didn't.
Certainly it lacks the grindhouse charm of the original -- which starred David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone -- but as a simplistic actioneer that doesn't wpretend to be more than it is AND smashes up a lot of vehicles it's an OK way to spend 90 minutes.
Action man Jason Staham does his thing, never changing expressions, which is enough in this stripped down story.
Heavyweight actress Joan Allen, slumming, plays the baddie with the necessary icy reserve and Ian McShane adds some badly needed humor as Coach, the ace car builder.
That said, the real stars of this film are the stunt men and effects team who make the slam bang race action entertaining.
It's what passes for a popcorn action movie these days, too grim for its own good and lacking charm, but it's still digestible popcorn.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Your free Sunday tune

Sweet Melissa by the Allmans. Great vocals and this fine old tune is as sharp and smooth as it was 40 years ago.

Friday, October 16, 2009

On the border

Bob Barr on the fence fiasco.

Dope

Oakland is the place to be for potheads. According to Newsweek, the staff of which has been high since Obama got in the race.

Wheels

I should be driving one of these.

Cullen Bryant, RIP

One of my favorite "Old Rams." He never developed into a star but played for more than 10 years. He's the man who finished off the Rozelle Rule, when he didn't want to go to Detroit.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The border

Working together? Will US and Mexico pool resources?

The jihad

My guess is these fine fellows are not Roman Catholics.

Politics

So this is how you get a Nobel Prize. Five heavily political Norwegians make the call.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

On the road

The LA Times offers this terrific list of underappreciated national parks.

Honduras

Jim De Mint visits Honduras. Guess what? Folks down there seemed pretty happy with their new prez.

Blogging

Instapundit links to the best 100 best blogging professors.

Chavez

The kleptocracy adds a hotel to its assets.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Sunday editorial

Time for a decision.

My Sunday column

President Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize on Friday, shocking many astute political observers, some of whom were still struggling to learn how to spell his name.
It was a day of triumph for Obama, who also received the Vezina Trophy for being professional hockey’s most outstanding goalie.
Presidential adviser David Axelrod acknowledged the president was stunned by the news. When told of his good fortune, the president responded, “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
Later, after having time to let the news soak in, the president said, “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
Worldwide, the acclaim for Obama’s feat drew much praise.
North Korea, Iran and the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas all sent their congratulations.
North Korean President Kim Jong Il issued a statement praising Obama.
“The People’s Exalted Leader Kim Jong Il is proud to share this year’s Nobel Peace Prize with President Barack Obama.”
When asked if Kim was a co-winner, Ole Olsen, head of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee, chuckled and said, “Of course not. We tell him he is every year. Otherwise he calls us three times a day to complain.”
Obama DOES share a proud Nobel history with such stalwarts for peace as the late Yasir Arafat, who you remember, had his Nobel trophy wired to a bomb and tossed on a bus full of Israeli schoolchildren.
Olsen, who headed a prize committee made up of 11 other people named Ole Olsen, said Obama won the award because of his decisive efforts to bring about world peace, which might come as a surprise to the 60,000 American troops sitting in idling planes on a tarmac at Fort Bragg waiting on the president to decide what he’s going to do in Afghanistan.
Which brings up the question of how do you give a peace prize to a world leader who is simultaneously prosecuting two major wars, ordering deadly drone missile strikes into a country we have no troops in and who only hours earlier presided over the bombing of the moon by NASA?
When asked this question, Ole Olsen said “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
Obama’s victory in Oslo didn’t please everyone.
America’s Vast Right Wing Conspiracy — you know, half the country —reacted with something less than joy.
Rush Limbaugh swallowed his cigar. Michelle Malkin punched an illegal alien. Ann Coulter ate a full meal.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney called for the immediate invasion of Norway.
Told at this ranch in Texas, President Bush stopped chopping wood long enough to say “&^%$*@)%&! me? &^%$*@)%&! them!”
In Plains, former President Jimmy Carter wished Obama well and then launched into a 30-minute speech about what the new president is doing wrong.
The news reverberated through the halls of Congress, where Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid immediately called a joint-news conference and once again pretended not to despise each other for a grueling five minutes.
The president is already hard at work on his acceptance speech, said Axelrod.
“For instance, he has Sasha’s big globe out and is trying to find Norway,” Axelrod said.
“The president wants to make sure he thanks everyone who contributed to his receiving the Nobel — Chairman Mao, Alec Baldwin, Karl Marx, Madonna, Che Guevara, DJ Jazzy Jeff, the prize committee full of drunken Norwegians and most of all, the good folks at ACORN who counted the votes.”

Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He blogs at Espysoutpost.blogpsot.com The moon bomb joke came from Jamie Jones.

Guns

Polls: Gun control support withers.

The environment

The BBC isn't exactly a right wing hotbed which makes this story on global warming even harder to ignore. Al Gore and Co. will though. Strangely, Europe's political classes may be pulling agead of the U.S. in terms of a rethinking on environmental realities.

Newspaperin'

AJC to stop endorsements. But will they tailor news coverage to make the same points at election time.

Moonshine

Popskull nabbed by feds.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Politics

Who's to blame? When does the new Prez accept the heat? Salon dares to ask.

The News biz

Tim Russert's shrine. Russert seemed like a good enough guy but I never got the hero worship that accompanied his unfortunate passing. Turns out I am not alone. And while we are at it, isn't Newseum a pretty stupid name. Sheesh!

Corruption busters

Pressure mounts on Rangel. But corruption bustin' Pelosi ducks the issue.

Wheels

Vintage Hondas.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Guns

The Supreme Court looks at firearms again. From Reason.

My Sunday column

We made it.
My old high school pal Jim Donovits and I loaded the Explorer down last week and drove a thousand miles to Archer City, home to the All Booked Up bookstore, the brainchild of my favorite author, the great Larry McMurtry.
If you’re a movie fan you may know Archer City. It’s the setting for “The Last Picture Show,” a classic 1971 film that made a star out of Cybill Shepherd and won an Oscar for the superb old movie cowboy Ben Johnson.
Following the dictates of Hollywood logic, in the movie Archer City is called Anarene, even though in McMurtry’s novel the town is called Thalia. There’s a semi-reasonable explanation for all this, but it’s easier to just file the episode in the Ain’t Hollywood Weird file.
When the movie was made in 1971, Archer City was a weather-worn Texas hamlet nursing at the teat of the oil industry.
Almost 40 years later, it’s much the same.
I say this with no malice. A small-town boy myself, I appreciate a plucky little burg where people find a way to live happily without the accoutrements of more prosperous regions.
Archer City sits at the junction of state highways 79 and 25, on the vast plain west of Dallas-Fort Worth.
The landscape is beautiful, though rugged.
Grass is sparse and cactus common. Rocky redondos thrust upward across the countryside, which is also marked by jagged arroyos. The land goes a long way towards explaining the people who live on it.
Then there’s the sky. Oh that sky!
How something so enormous can sneak up on you is amazing.
But somewhere north and west of Fort Worth I was shocked to realize we had been enveloped by a sky so big it snatched at your breath. It was comforting blue with white clouds slowly, but steadily, working their way across the vastness.
I’ll remember that sky for some time.
People raise cattle out there. Larry McMurtry’s daddy did for many years. But it isn’t any easy place to make the land pay off. Unless you have oil on your property that is ... and many folks do.
Oil wells pierce the dusty ground — pump, pump, pumping that Texas crude.
Many west Texans make their living from the oil industry, but they rarely have stories written about them. No, that honor falls to the cowboys. While the days of the thousand-mile cattle drives are long gone, there are still double-tough young men making their living working cattle.
We saw six of them wolfing down lunch at the Archer City Dairy Queen, that same DQ made famous by McMurtry’s writings.
They wore spurs on their boots and talked quietly as they chewed, except for one loquacious drover who rubbed his near knee-high, powder blue boots while regaling a local woman with the day’s adventures.
She seemed to have heard the story, or one just like it, a dozen times before, but that did not dim the enthusiasm of the rawhide lothario.
Our food came and I made mention to Jim that the smell in the place was a wee bit stouter than I would have preferred.
Yeah, what is that, he asked.
I grinned and pointed from the cowboys’ filthy boots to the doorway, their trail marked clearly by pieces of cow chip.
It was a lot of chip and a lot of smell, but if anyone else noticed or was offended they kept it to themselves.
After the cowboys departed a behind-the-counter worker came out and wiped down the table tops. She did nothing about the cow poop.
We laughed and Jim noted there wasn’t even a mat to wipe your feet off on.
Apparently in Archer City people look at cow leavings differently than we do here. That’s fine by me. I appreciate diversity of opinion on all things.
Oh, yeah, I met Larry McMurtry.
We returned to All Booked Up after the DQ lunch and the great man was standing in the outer office, next to a desk piled high with books he was preparing to autograph.
I introduced myself and thanked him for his writing. When I told him I was from “Dalton, in Northwest Georgia,” he asked about “all that rain” we got the week before.
That big West Texas sky may be gorgeous to look at, but it’s a notorious skinflint when it comes to precipitation and an abundance of rain — anywhere — is news.
We talked briefly about his most recent novel and I asked an overly nosy question about his health, which he parried with humor.
He then hinted about that stack of books to be autographed. I took the cue, wished him well and skedaddled back to the book shelves.
There’s a lot more I’d like to discuss with him. Maybe he’ll surprise me by driving to Georgia next summer and showing up at my office.
I’ll take him by our Dairy Queen.

Zombieland

From Fangoria, an interview with the director.

Mark Steyn

On Polanski.

Rand

A short piece from Time. Just when you get interested, it ends.

NFL

Raider rookie. If he's so smart why did he sign with Oakland?

Thursday, October 1, 2009

TV

Larry David talks about the reunion. Curb Your Enthusiasm is my favorite show. The first episodes this season were hilarious and it promises to get better as Larry hatches his scheme to use the Seinfeld cast to get his old wife back.

Movies

Zombieland. This was filmed largely in Valdosta and Atlanta. Times' Richard Corliss weighs in as well.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens on Taylor Branch on Bill Clinton. When Big Chris looks down on a man for drinking too much, he's probably drinking too much.

John Edwards

Who's creepier? Handsome Johnny or "the butt boy?" This a fascinating, like a train wreck.

Charles Oliver

It couldn't happen here.

Ron Hart's column

Moammar's visit.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Books

I just finished Richard McMurry’s “John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence.”
The book was originally published in 1982, but for many Civil War enthusiasts this look at Hood will still seem fresh and intriguing.
McMurry is no apologist for Hood. He recognizes the Kentuckian’s many faults and discusses them in detail. But he also takes issue with many of the common, though unfounded, perceptions of Hood held by many.
For instance, McMurry points out the series of crucial mistakes made by Hood on his campaign in Tennessee, but also examines more closely, and more reasonably, Hood’s reasons for striking north.
McMurry finds plenty of fault with both Hood and Gen. Joseph Johnston, who Hood replaced at the gates of Atlanta.
McMurry does a very good job describing the “dance of death” through North Georgia between Johnston and Sherman. Strangely, for a book about Hood, the author isn’t nearly as good describing the chess match between Hood and Sherman in the days right after the fall of Atlanta. Sherman disappears from the story for too long as Hood wavers on what curse to pursue with his beaten but still dangerous army.
The battles of Franklin and Nashville are dispensed with quickly, as if the author was uncomfortable recounting the destruction of the Army of Tennessee. I also wish McMurry had written more on the performance of the Texas Brigade during and after Hood’s wounding at Gettysburg.
Complaints logged, I strongly recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in the Georgia-Tennessee theater of operations. To understand the calamity that befell the Confederacy’s second largest army, you have to understand John Bell Hood. McMurry’s book is a huge help in that regard.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Politics

Mark Steyn on The Long Retreat. From National Review.

MMA

Christian grappler drops Rich Franklin. Read Dave Meltzer.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Books

Looking back at J.G. Ballard.

Hitchens

Why we fight.

Big Gummint 2

Phil Bredesen points out major healthcare funding problem for state governments. But does anyone in Washington care?

Big Gummint

Are you telling me a large federal agency is spending money in a fiscally unsound manner? Homeland Security in the crosshairs.

A great tune

REM and Eddie Vedder

Politics

I a not a supporter of the U.S. getting more deeply tangled in European politics, but it would have been nice of Obama had got something in return for his sell out of Eastern Europe. Instead he (and the US) just looks weak. Putin has to be howling. It won't be long before New Europe dislikes us as much as Old Europe.
Obama didn't just blink. He ran away crying.
Dismay in Europe according to the London Times.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The border

Newsweek editor Jon Meacham has the troops working overtime to help his man-crush Obama get a healthcare package passed. Here's a fresh salvo. Insure illegals!

Henry Gibson, RIP

A funny man. A terrific character actor. Remember him as the head Nazi in The Blues Brothers?

Mary Travers, RIP

A fine singer. Here she is a in Japan in 1990 And here, from back in the day.

Politics

Jimmy Carter is an old fool and I'm not the only one who knows it. From Politico.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Books

A really interesting list of the 100 sci fi and fantasy novels you must read. I'll argue for and against this list -- no J.G. Ballard? Bradbury? -- but lots of good stuff mentioned. From The Guardian.

My Sunday column: Go West middle aged man!

In the near future I am going on a vacation with an old high school buddy. My wife, the angelic Alison, has given me the OK for this “man trip,” because she is a wonderful woman — that, and she went to Cape Cod without me last summer.
I wanted to go to Cape Cod. Alison and my daughter met up with a bunch of my wife’s old college friends
They spent several days in a lovely house, comparing workout routines, eating really healthy foods and talking about recycling and how wonderful it would be when a Democrat regained the White House.
OK, maybe it was best I didn’t make that trip.
This excursion with my buddy Jim is a different creature altogether.
It is officially known as the Great Texas Adventure of 2009.
We are going to leave Dalton bright and early one morning and drive to Shreveport, La., where we will seek out a locally owned restaurant that does NOT feature nutria on the menu. The next morning we plan to visit the Bonnie and Clyde Museum in beautiful Gibsland, La. Among the museum’s many delights are weapons seized from the duo’s “death car,” old film footage of the ambush scene and the “authentic” fake movie car used in the Warren Beatty movie, “Bonnie and Clyde.
After that wallow in our nation’s history, we will then strike out for the Lone Star State. Our target is the west Texas burg of Archer City, home to Booked Up, a Texas-sized bookstore owned by my favorite author, Larry McMurtry.
McMurtry has written 40 or so books, of which I have read about 35. He’s best known for his Pulitzer Prize winner, “Lonesome Dove,” which every American should be required to read, or have read to them by someone paid with federal stimulus money.
While in Archer City we plan on taking in all the sights, or in this case, the site. That would be the legendary Dairy Queen, where over the years McMurtry has done some of his better thinking, if not dining
I would love to meet Larry McMurtry. I can see us hitting it off big, him inviting us over to stay at his house, sitting up all night talking about writing and then the next morning him offering me a multi-million dollar deal to help him pen a novel about Bonnie and Clyde.
More likely, he won’t be in town at all.
Jim and I also plan on seeing a a high school football game on that Friday night. We would love to check out the Itasca Wampus Cats. Heck, who wouldn’t? But time and distance may limit us more to the immediate Archer City area. The home team Wildcats will be on the road that week so we may have to hit the backroads to find a game. But that kind of uncertainty is just part of the Great Texas Adventure of 2009.
Our tentative game plan also calls for a jaunt down to Arlington to see the Texas Rangers — the baseball team, not the lawmen. They have a kid playing center field named Borbon I need to scout for my fantasy team next season.
Also while in that general vicinity I hope to meet up with my old pal Robert Bohler, one of two Valdostans I know of who left South Georgia for the Wild West, the other being notorious gambler-gunman-wiseguy John Henry Holliday. (You know him better as Doc.)
Planning for this trip is mostly non-existent. Not doing too much planning is part of the plan. In fact, it’s the Master Non-Plan. Of course the Chaos Theory could kick in and everything unravel. A busted axle in Throckmorton or a slung piston in Buffalo Gap would certainly muck up our Master Non-Plan.
But that’s the price you pay to be a free-ranging man’s man wandering the Wild West looking for adventures.
Well that and the long-distance charges for calling home every night to check in with the wife

Jimmy “You can call me Tex” Espy is executive editor of North Georgia Newspaper Group. Also, you can visit him at Espysoutpost.blog spot.com

TV

Two great TV shows coming up son. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Dexter.

Your free Sunday tune

Dwight Yoakam on Leno.

Norman Borlaug, RIP

A hero.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Eats

French fries done right. Via Instapundit.

Dope

Business up? Bad economy leads to more pot growing.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The border

From National Review Work stopping, agents pulled back?

Ron Hart

Declare victory and come on home.

Tunes

This is too good to wait until Sunday. The Stylistics. Hug yo' girl.

Robert Samuelson

Bright Bob does the numbers on Obama's healthcare ideas. Guess what? Those savings will be hard to come by.

Local music

Bluegrass for a good cause.

Georgia Bulldogs

My column on the Georgia-OSU game.

Charles Oliver

It couldn't happen here.

The corruption busters II

It ain't just Murtha. That this crap goes on and to this degree is no surprise but where is the outrage we saw when it was GOP scum buckets ladling the pork. The MSM largely ignores Charlie Rangel's skullduggery and the disgusting Murtha has fallen off the radar screen with most big media organizations.

The corruption busters

Rangel must go. From US News and World Report.

Monday, September 7, 2009

The Jihad

Brits convict 3. Cheerio.

Economy

Gary Becker says the economy will be fine, particularly if the government stays out of the way. But will it? Hell no!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The corruption busters

From Politico. Pelosi doesn't want to deal with Rangel. Who would replace him? Who would calm the Black Caucus? The merits of his staying on be damned.

Michael Yon

A new report from Afghanistan.

Your free Sunday tune

From Soul Train. Al Green sings Take Me to the River And here's a bonus track from the great Delbert McClinton. He's good and the band is smoking.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Movies

The trailer for Jennifer's Body.

Food

South African wine. Look for the good stuff.

MMA

Matt Hughes is coming back to fight.

Movies

John Scalzi's notes on sci fi's cinematic summer.

Corruption busters

The Washington Post, that conservative bastion, calls on Rangel to step down. Again! Meanwhile the corruption busting Democratic leadership remains silent.

WW 2

Was it worth it? Victor Davis Hanson looks back.

WW 2

Last of the "bunker gang" tells his story.

Hitchens

Big Chris on Ted Kennedy and the Camelot myth.

Michael Yon

The reporter answers George Will and says he still doesn't know why the Brits ended his embed.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

EuroHealth

Knocking off the codgers? Could be.

Down South

Waterfalls. From the AJC.

Europe

Heavily socialist city in Scotland elects libertarianish codger who is backing up his talk. Via Instapundit.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Why I love Europe (sometimes)

The Greatest visits his cousins in the Ol Sod.

Why I hate Europe (sometimes)

Turning off the lights.

George Will

I backed Bush on the Iraq invasion.
Primarily, I believed the WMD argument, but also shared the administration's vision of a vibrant, individual rights-based democracy in the Middle East. Such a country would devastate the Jihadis and help bring light to a dark corner of the world.
Afghanistan, after the destruction of the Taliban, has always seemed like much more of a reach. I don't quiver in fear at the "graveyard of empires"
crap about the region, but I am left to wonder: What's the gain?
George Will wants the U.S. to pull troops out. It's a column worth reading.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Braves

Remember last year when some Big Brains were telling us that the Cubs' Geovany Soto was the best catcher in the National League? Well, a year later he's hitting .212 and headed to the bench. Meanwhile Brian McCann, the best catcher in the NL (at least), is hitting, hitting for power and driving in runs.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Aches and pains

I have what my rehab expert (Gay Rice of Dalton) calls a "frozen shoulder." That means it doesn't work.
Actually it's OK for most basic movements but anything requiring me to reach behind my back or pick up any weight to the side is either very painful, or the shoulder just won't do it. Also, I no longer have the blazing fastball I have been blessed with all these years. I can barely lift my right arm over my head and can hardly cock it back at all.
I throw -- as my rehab expert, a female I might add, -- "like a girl."
A few cortisone shots provided by Dr. Conrad Easley helped alleviate the pain I was suffering (from inflammation of the ACL joint)but didn't fix the basic problem. Ex-rays and other tests did not reveal any structural damage so rehab became my best option.
I've had two "workouts" and the shoulder is definitely better.
The point of all this whining is a plea for any suggestions from folks who may have had the same problem. Any tips, experiences or suggestions that might help.
And I've already tried large doses of bourbon, so don't bother with that one.

Ron Hart's column

Get it here.

Charles Oliver's It couldn't happen here

Get it here.

Movies-The Klansman

I haven't been doing many of my mini-reviews lately but sometimes a film comes along that is either so good or so bad that it's my duty to mention it.
The Klansman (1974) is one of the latter.
I don't know what the worst things about ths picture is. The acting is bad and it's not just by the performers (Linda Evans, Lola Falana, Cameron Mitchell) you would expect to be shaky. In fact, the work turned in by Lee Marvin and Richard Burton(!) make OJ Simpson's turn as Defiant Young Black Man look like Oscar material. And can anyone tell me why they cast Luciana Paluzzi as a southern woman and then dubbed her voice with Dixie Carter (I think).
This is basically an overblown exploitation film. The script is so stunningly one-track and bereft of subtlety that you have to laugh. Even a veteran director like Terence Young seems overwhelmed by the sheer stupidity of this thing.
One of my favorite bits is the fight between Richard Burton and Cameron Mitchell in a bus station. One-armed Richard uses absurdly inept little judo chops to wallop hulking Cam, who at a key point takes a totally illogical sideways tumble over some luggage and onto a stuntman's air mattress that no one bothered too conceal.
Did anybody here have any pride at all or was everyone just looking for a big payday to cover their coke habits.
As a southerner I could be very offended by this film.
As a human being I could be very offended by this film.
Instead, as a southern, human being who loves movies, I choose to marvel at its ineptitude.
They don't make them quite like this anymore! At least I hope not.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Economy

From Time. Cash for Clunkers a clunker.

Comics

Jack Kirby celebrated. This fine collection of his work comes from Reason Magazine (via Charles Oliver.)

Your free Sunday tune

Leon Russell sings My Cricket with a little help from Willie. It's nice and sweet as Leon can be when he chooses.

Friday, August 28, 2009

College football

Terry Bowden takes charge at N. Alabama and signs up every big school reject/malcontent he can get his hands on.

The Jihad

Islamic thugs lay down the law to school girls. Black shoes ladies, black shoes.

Iran

The U.S. remains silent as Iranian show trials crush dissent. Where is Obama and Hillary as this tragedy (and crime) unfolds? There's more here. Meanwhile Obama is troubled by the Afghan election.

The corruption busters

Charlie Rangel's blues. From the NY Post.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

Down South

Georgia covered bridges. Some nice shots from the AJC but they should have done a little more legwork and got more pix.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Drink

The Russkies crack down on their boozing citizenry ... again.

Monday musings (early edition)

My gut tells me that Brett Favre will be back in uniform this season ... People who love chocolate should just eat chocolate. Forget about chocolate milk, chocolate cake, chocolate pie. Just eat big hunks of chocolate. That's what I do ... Why did Keely Smith have to live and Louis Prima have to die ... Three people I'd like to meet in heaven — Jesus Christ, Sonny Bono and Cher ... This kid Tarantino knows how to make a picture, but why so much cursing ... I miss Morey Amsterdam ... They make a lot of jokes about Preparation H, but that stuff still sells like hotcakes ... Speaking of hotcakes, I miss the old Mammy jars of Aunt Jemima ... I'd love to see a TV show with Fess Parker and James Arness and a bunch of Indians ... Sexy lady of comedy, your name is Judy Tenuta! ... Whatever happened to that show with the Gotti kids? Does it sleep with the fishes? Just kidding, kids ... I just finished the latest novel by Jackie Collins and it's a real page turner ... I hope the war, the economy and health care don't knock that big smile of Michelle Obama's face ... Does it get any better than a New York City bagel made by some old Jew ... She was no Angie Dickinson, but I always thought Julia Child was a sexy dish herself ... If they ever remake "Gone With the Wind," they've got to find a part for Jeff Foxworthy ... I still get those Judds confused. Which one if the fat one ... Ted Kennedy is one of my favorite Kennedys ... You don't see enough red heads these days, at least not many attractive ones ... There used to be a lot of white guys in the NBA. What happened? ... For me, Dick York will always be THE Darren Stephens!

Selah

Elmer Kelton, RIP

A writer of fine westerns. Here's a line to his web site. "The Day the Cowboys Quit" and "The Time It Never Rained" are two of my favorite westerns. You can find a lot of his stuff in used book stores and it's worth the effort.

My Sunday column

Deficit of good sense.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Economy

They are losing control, but will not back off the grandiose plans. Obama may well become a historic president, but in a dark way, devastating to this country. It's not just him of course. The Dem-controlled Congress with its pasty faced Republicans will also bare responsibility.

NFL

I've hated the Falcons for years, but those are some good looking unis.

Food

Let's hear it for Rick Bayless, the Oklahoma raised son of a barbecue joint owner, won Top Chef Master this week. Against ferocious competition, the Master of Mexican cooking never seemed to weaken, week after week rolling out great food.
It's a fun show and Bayless (my pick to win it all by the way) made all of us barbecue babies proud.

Dope

Mexico OKs possession of "small" amounts of several drugs. This is an experiment that needs to be watched closely.

Stuff

A great collection of sea monsters. Check out the photo gallery.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

NFL

Michael Silver goes medieval on the Raiders. Apparently it's not the best work environment.

Movies

Time on Inglorious Basterds.

NFL

The HBO series hints at why the Bengals suck. Mike Brown "creates" tight ends and no one says a word. Impressive.

Books

“Vanilla Ride,” By Joe R. Lansdale: Knopf, 256 pages, $24.95.
Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are a couple of good old boys from rural Texas.
They eat a lot of unhealthy food, drive old trucks, sing along with Hank Williams’ songs and get into thrilling adventures with an array of murderous bad guys.
They do so at the bidding of novelist Joe R. Lansdale, who has just published his most recent Hap and Leonard concoction, “Vanilla Ride.”
In this one, the seventh in the series and the first since 2002’s “Captains Outrageous,” the boys are asked by an old amigo to liberate his daughter from her lowlife, dope peddling boyfriend, which they succeed in doing but not before stirring up a hornet’s nest popularly known as “the Dixie Mafia.”
Fans of the series will be pleased with “Vanilla Ride.” The story is tightly told and Leonard and Hap are at their bickering, wise cracking, karate chop-throwing best.
Hap and girlfriend Brett are doing well while Leonard and his latest boyfriend — yup, I said boyfriend — are on the outs, which adds another layer of complexity to the already complicated lives of Fictional Texas’s two most outlandish crime fighters.
Newcomers to the series, particularly if they like their derring do accompanied by a healthy portion of humor, may soon be searching for copies of the older books in the series.
Word of warning, this isn’t a Miss Marple adventure. Lansdale writes his women sexy, his sex kinky, and his violence as flamboyant as it is blood-drenched.
It’s good, rowdy fun.

Wellllll doggies!

Jed Clampett''s truck. And also I offer catching up with Jethro.

Environment

The earth is cooler. But can we all relax and get back to rebuilding our economy. Heck no! say the Global Warming Spooks.

Health care

Where will the Canadians go for health care if the U.S. system goes Canadian? From the Detroit Free Press.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Ron Hart's column

Rev. Ron goes out his way to make Democrats angry. Hey, wait a minute, that's my job.

Charles Oliver's It couldn't happen here

Check it out.

Hitchens

Big Chris drops the hammer on Yale for surrendering to the Jihad. Good column.

Movies

Halloween 2 is coming soon. Zombie seems to know he fumbled the first one and is determined to have the fans talking. The trailer hints at some real weirdness.

Movies

Thanks to Charles Oliver for this terrific article on Warren Oates. We lost a terrific actor when he died, and apparently a really decent fellow hillbilly. I will be buying the book soon.

Brett Favre

My theory ...
This has been a setup for weeks. Favre decided last month he would play for the Vikings and the deal got done. The coach and owner were in on it.
Favre despises camp and did not want to live "with the guys" even for a few weeks. I suspect that might have been a deal breaker for him, but Childress couldn't admit to such an obvious dose of star treatment.
Childress figured that even without the camp time Favre would be better than what he had on the roster.
By pretending last month that he had decided otherwise, Favre put an end to 90 percent of the media madness which gave him some quiet time in Hattiesberg before his astonishing turnaround.
Comments in recent days by some of the Viking players means that someone was leaking the word or that it was obvious internally that something was about to happen.
I don't believe for a second that Brett just suddenly decided he wanted to play.
That's manure.

The environment

Lies melt on camera. Greenpeace leader admits claims about Arctic ice may not have been factual. Why can't a U.S. reporter ask intelligent, articulate questions like this when interviewing Al Gore?

The Jihad

Model sentenced to caning. I hope it was a good beer.

Warren's World

Stimulus saved economy but may now wreck the economy. It's hard to believe these are the ravings of a serious man.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Top guitar pickers

Time's Top 10. No Stevie Ray. No Peter Green. No Son Seals. C'mon Time, show a little smarts.

Healthcare

Democratic trickification on medical co-ops? Of course and there are Republicans who will tumble right over for it.

The Canadian Way II

Surgeries cut out? Budget woes affect healthcare thinking.

Citified chickens

The same issue has come up here in Dalton.

Monday, August 17, 2009

The Canadian way

Michael Moore seems to have missed this story. Canadian healthcare needs an overhaul.

Politics

Stunned by the ferocity of the French taunting to quote Monty Python, the Democrats are retreating on healthcare. But they still win if the move back a step after taking two forward. Even if they ease back now, they are smart enough to lay the groundwork for a future takeover of healthcare. That IS the goal.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Your Sunday free tune

Natalie Merchant asks What's the Matter Here. This song could have been maudlin, instead it's deftly written and evocatively performed. Always been a favorite and ripe for a raucous, biting remake ... you hear me Lucinda Williams.

My Sunday column

A good old Espy moan about the world of politics.

Movies

The Weinsteins struggle to regain the touch.

Kyle Wingfield

How much govt. do we need in Georgia? Not this much.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Iran

President Obama remains silent as the murders continue. Shame on us. Shame on US

Food

Bacon is back. Just like Converse high top shoes, I predicted this.

NASCAR

Ed Hinton looks back at the late Tim Richmond. He accepts the "heterosexual transmission" story with no evidence, but otherwise a good, strong read.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Braves

I haven't heard a young Braves outfielder talked about like Jason Heyward since the rise of Brad Komminsk. When will he get the call up?

We don't need your stinkin' beaches

Forbes lists America's nastiest beaches, including Alligator Point.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Books

Pat Conroy has a new novel coming out. Here's a good story from USA Today.

Guns

Time looks at Mexican gun buys, allegedly from the U.S.

Newspaperin'

The Ann Arbor experiment. The no paper paper.

Robert Samuelson

More benefits, no real cuts. Reliable Robert looks at the Obama healthcare plan.

Down South

Calling Tom Horn! Cattle rustling on the rise.

The war

Michael Yon back at work.

NFL

This Detroit columnist loves Matthew Stafford and for good reason.

Bob Barr

National ID cards.