Duck Dynasty Dazzles

Screw Morrissey. The boys knock ratings deader than Morrissey's career.

Civil War in N. Alabama

Pro-Unionists battled Rebs in war raged in the region. From the NY Times.

Duck Dynasty Dad

Phil on the football field.

Old Dawgs

Ellerbee wants to stay in Baltimore. Ravens have to replace Lewis in the middle so the situation makes sense. The former Bulldog played particularly well this year in the Ravens championship season.

My Summerville News column

Dog Days at My House.

Sharks

Filmmaker killed in New Zealand.

The Walking Dead

Andrea speaks. Laurie Holden interviewed.

Duck Dynasty

Uncle Sy too much for Morrissey? Singer cancels talk show chat because of 'serial killers.'

Rasslin: C.M. Punk

C.M. Punk when he was fun. It didn't last nearly long enough.

Tunes: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

There is a Time. It ain't the Dillards and Andy Griffith, but it is a very good version.

Dan Toler, RIP

Allman Brothers Band veteran played on some of the group's best music. From Rolling Stone.

Robots

Ten vintage clankers.

Mayor Bloomberg is a dumb ass

I hate that guy.

Outdoors: For my hiker pals

Fond of hiking in the Fontana Dam area. By Gary Petty, via the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Da'Rick Rogers comes clean

Sure he did. Jay Greeson of the Times-Free Press looks at the draft chances of three former Tennessee Vols, including pothead Rogers, whiner Tyler Bray and we-hardly-knew-you Cordarrelle Patterson.

Da Braves

Te' time Braves look to Julio Teheran for quality starts. The Colombian righty struggled last year at Gwinnett, hut he has the stuff.

The price of gas

Tax policy affects what you pay at the pump. Oil firms cut inventory to avoid bigger tax bill.

Tunes: At church

The Mississippi Mass Choir sings "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

Rasslin'

Stone Cold Steve Austin shoots on CM Punk. Austin offers tips on personal grooming. Pretty darn funny. Vary darn profane.

Travel: South Africa

My wife's homeland featured in N.Y. Times piece.

WW II: Spitfires

Searching for Spitfires in Burma. From the L.A. Times.

Rome Braves

Rome Braves info on home page. Let's get some tickets!

Chattanooga Lookouts

Chattanooga Lookouts page, including schedule. Who wants to go?

Women in horror

Tammi Sutton's career in B-movie horror includes a nice plug for Dalton's own Jeff Burr. From Fangoria.

West Memphis 3

New documentary its own rush to judgement?

Max Allen Collins' Comic Book Book

Seduction of the Innocent mixes comic book history and detective fiction.

Worst column in a long, long time

An a-hole at the Huffington Post rips "Duck Dynasty" because there are a lot of poor people in Louisiana and the show's crew is non-union. Read this. (Good God man, it's a comedy!)

Eye on Ogletree

Peter King of Sports Illustrated says Georgia linebacker will be even more closely scrutinized following drunk driving arrest.

State Gov. Oversteps Its Role

The state as venture capitalist. From the Courier Journal in Dublin. Those GOP boys in Atlanta love to spend that cash.

Two good road tunes by Cord Lund

Canadian singer Lund on Mein Deutsches Motorrad and Bible on the Dash with an assist from Hayes Carll. Heard these tunes on the road between Birmingham and Dalton with Alison. Love that Outlaw Country on satellite radio.

Charlie Pride

One of the great country songs done by one of the great country singers.

Military stuff

The Pentagon's $400 billion aircraft. From Time Magazine.

I ain't preaching but ...

A heart healthy diet according to the AHA.

Best reads of 2012 (a little late)

For whatever reason I have no interest in reading when I am in the hospital and since I spent about half of 2012 at St. Joseph's or UAB my reading was curtailed quite a bit. Still, I knocked out 30 or more titles. Here are the better ones: Kearny's March by Winston Groom. A wide-ranging look at the politics, personalities and military strategy that led to the United States' four-pronged war against Mexico. Groom does a terrific job of sorting out the various storylines without shorting any of them. Fascinating history. Excellent writing. My favorite read in 2012. Fears Unlimited by Tim Lebbon. Four fine novellas by the British writer. Very sharp. If you've never read his work, this is an excellent introduction. 1781: The Decisive Year of the American Revolution by Robert Tonsetic. A quality look at the decisive year of the American Revolution with much of the action taking place in the South. Tonsetic writes well and offers some interesting views. Moon of the Wolf by Leslie Whitten. I loved the old David Janssen-TV movie based on this story and Joe Lansdale's rave assessment of Whiten led me to read the book. Thanks Joe. Whitten's briskly-told werewolf tale still pack an impact. Gun Work by David Schow appeared as part of the Hard Case Crime series. You have to love a south-of-the-border crime story with lots of tough guys shooting at each other, a sexy, nefarious babe and a wrestling ring full of pissed off Luchadores. Fun stuff. Nocturnas by Shawn Ryan. Nasty vampires who are not looking for love. What a relief! It's a little too comic booky at times but Nocturnas moves with considerable energy and some terrific action scenes. This would make a fun movie. The Best Western Stories of Loren Estleman. I love Estleman's Page Murdock series and this slim collection of some of his other western stories also work very well. Lean and mean without being vicious, Estleman creates flavorful stories that stick with you. Grouch Marx, King of the Jungle by Ron Goulart. Goulart has churned out a lot of slim books built on even slimmer premises, not that they aren't fun. He's best known for his sci-fi, but the Groucho Marx series is aimed at lovers of detective fiction (as well as the great comedian himself.) In this one Groucho and his pal Denby mix it up with an Edgar Rice Burroughs-like character. Like I said, it was a thinner year than usual for me, but that's going to change this year. Looking forward to turning a lot of pages this year.

Biker gangs busted

Two new books on the infiltration of California biker clubs A review from the LA Times.

Water war boiling?

Georgia lawmakers eye border change, access to Tennessee River.

Freeney to the Falcons?

The Grits Blitz says it's an option worth looking into.

Rolling beauty

Braves: Whatever happened to ...

Here are some updates on former Braves. Jair Jurrjens and Yunel Escobar and Mark DeRosa and Michael Bourn

The Bounty

The sinking of the Bounty. From CNN. Includes rescue footage.

Rasslin 2

Abdullah versus Bruiser Brody. The LEAST scientific match of all time.

World War II

Family finally receives long missing medals.

Rasslin

Jim Cornette shreds ECW. Good shoot interview. Lots of profanity, though.

One more great tune for y'all

James McMurtry sings Levelland. Great song. Fine video. Yup, that's Larry's boy.

A great dope song

A Man Named Truth by the Monsters of Folk. Saw this eccentric band on Austin City Limits and they blew the place away.

Bulldogs: Ogletree arrested

This kid could be a quality NFL player and is a likely first round pick, but he makes me very uneasy. On the field he misses tackles and looks out of place too often. Off the field, crap like this keeps happening. If I was an NFL team, I'd be very wary. Remember Odell Thurman?

Braves: Uptons get serious

Brothers, Heyward could spark rise of the Braves in NL East. Story by Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com

Jack Benny goes hillbilly

Classic Benny skit with an appearance by the late, great Robert Easton (with gun, on the left). Benny's "wife" a hoot.

Espy: My column

Goodbye to friends old and new From The Summerville News.

Braves: Aaron talks 2013

Baseball legend looks at the Atlanta outfield; laments loss of Prado.

This isn't looking good.

A Charles Russell favorite.

Dalton's Mitchell Boggs

Cardinals pitcher joins staff for U.S. in World Baseball Classic.

A great train song

The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me by the Monsters of Folk. Smoothest tune you will hear today.

Da Braves

Starter Tim Hudson wants to keep pitching in Atlanta. He is in the last year of his contract but management may move slowly to resign him because of his age and the cost. A two-year deal makes good sense if he pitches well this year.

In defense of LaPierre

Fiery NRA leader the target of many critics. But he's usually right.

NFL's top player under 25

From Elliott Harrison at NFL.com Falcons' Julio Jones beaten out by Dez Bryant. Three former Bulldogs (Geno Atkins, AJ Green and Reshad Jones) make the squad.

Falcons Assess Roster for 2013

Atlanta may look to get younger and cheaper at running back. Could be the end of the road for Michael Turner.

Sharks

If they ever team with the robots we are doomed. From the Chicago Tribune and Reuters Shark attacks surge.

Food: Trade Joe's Secret

Huffington Post article explains how Trader Joe's deal with the big boys works and why it can save you money.

Wertham lied!

Professor says the man who almost killed comic books manipulated the evidence.

NFL Draft: Tide Leads SEC Draft Class

Nate Bouda's top 50 NFL draft prospects has only one QB and no RBs in the top 20. Eighteen of the top 50 played in the SEC, including six from Alabama. For my money, Eddie Lacey is again underrated.

Wrestling: Sammartino

Bruno talks about going into WWE Hall of Fame in interview at Wrestling Inc. Apparently Triple H lobbied him hard to reconsider his refusal to be associated with the organization. A WWE Hall of Fame without Bruno was always a joke. He was the ultimate champ for the WWE for that era, much as Flair was for the NWA.

Earl Williams: RIP

Former Braves rookie of the year dies.

Movies: Big Ass Spider

Fangoria touts new film from Mike Mendez. Looks like it might be fun.

I like guns

False assumptions derail anti-gun arguments.

NFL Draft

Falcons take a tight end. Chiefs take a QB at No. 1. Georgia's Jarvis Jones to the Jets. The Sporting News offers a mock draft.

Da Braves

Washington Times story looks at Braves' top competition in National League East.

Battling a hangover

A list of food and drink that will help you feel better faster after a long night out. Good stuff, but the author apparently has never sopped up a drunk with a sack of Krystals.

Cutting medical costs

The Atlantic looks at trend towards more private, at-homecare.

The new oil boom

Good news for U.S. energy production.

Latinos in comic books

Fox News Latino piece on growing role in comic books.

MMA knockout.

Spinning kick. Boom!

Books: The Bear Truth

Relax. Polar bears doing fine. New book looks at what's really going on with those beautiful critters.

Your Atlanta Braves

Baseball Banter compares the Braves outfield of 2013 with the Jones-Jones-Sheffield super trio of 2002-2003. Damn, I forgot how good Sheff was in 2003.

Guns

Granny got her gun. "I was going to shoot her in the stomach."

The Walking Dead

Huffington Post lets The Governor lays down the law. A new interview.

Coscarelli interview

Horror genre favorite talks about new and old films in interview at Fearnet.com

His kingdom for a parking lot?

The criminal king has been pounded by history, the arts. But Richard III has his defenders.

The Braves

Players heading south.

Words

French espionage writer a European favorite who knows the wilderness of mirrors.

Readers Digest: Don't eat this

Apparently salt is of the devil. Dollar Savvy article targets overpriced, salty and sweet foods. You know, the good stuff.

Tabletop Baseball

This essay by Chad Finn is a fine look back at the classic baseball board game Strat-O-Matic. The piece is funny and touching. I never played Strat, but spent many, many hours managing my APBA tabletop team. Damn that Joe Morgan was good! I stumbled on Finn's column and it brought back a lot of great memories.

Writing

Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler Chandler is the king and Mosley is brilliant.

Around Dalton

History buffs are gathering at the Northwest Georgia Trade Center again this weekend for the annual Civil War show. I went up this morning with my Uncle Gene and we both parted with a few bucks. He got a great deal on a biography of George Washington while I walked out with three "GI Joe-like" action figures. The sweet thing is they were German soldiers from World War II They were very well detailed and included lots sharp extras like canteens, weapons and other combat gear. Attendance seemed lighter than usual to me for a Saturday, but there was lots of varied items for sale. Plenty of WW II stuff, post cards, period clothing, prints, etc. The show cranks back up on Sunday and its very much worth attending. --- After that we headed to the new antique store near the Cracker Barrel. Gene scored several more very good deals on some old books. There's a lot of cool stuff in that place. I've bought some cool items there before at reasonable prices. Definitely check the store out. --- Toys in the Attic, the cool toy store down town, has closed its doors after six years. My daughter is seven and has been gong to "Toys" since she was 2. She cried when I told her it was closing. I should have. I've bought as much stuff for me there as for her. --- A few doors away The Little Dipper also has turned off the lights for good. The Dipper offered excellent soups and sandwiches as well as good, friendly service. The loss of "Toy" and the "Dipper" really diminishes downtown for my family, though we can still enjoy and patronize The Yellow Bird, The Book Nook, The Fantasy Factory, Tijuanas, The Oakwood and The Sweet Spot.

World War II

Goebbels relatives worth billions.