For my niece and GlenR although it will make Dabney crazy.
[...]For my niece and GlenR although it will make Dabney crazy.
[...]My fascination with television from the 60s bring us this morning to Snopes, which focuses on the names of the castaways at Gilligan’s Island. I knew the Skipper’s name was Jonas Grumby, but I didn’t know about Gilligan.
Yes, I do these things to occupy my very crowded mind.
My childhood [...]
Jack Lail talks about NiT going dark.
One of the sure bets of the digital age is nothing stays the same so, like Gilbert, I don’t mourn the change. The efforts that were ignited by broadcasting consultant Terry Heaton and Mike Sechrist, then general manager of the Nashville station, [...]
Jack Lail talks about NiT going dark.
One of the sure bets of the digital age is nothing stays the same so, like Gilbert, I don’t mourn the change. The efforts that were ignited by broadcasting consultant Terry Heaton and Mike Sechrist, then general manager of the Nashville station, [...]
An excellent interview this afternoon with Brittney Gilbert at Pith in the Wind by Betsy Phillips on the demise of Nashville is Talking.
I’m just going to say it. I miss those first giddy days of blogging and what Betsy said rings true to me as well.
From my perspective, when [...]
Have you ever had one of those times in your life that basically the best that you could honestly do was only muster up the strength to put one foot in front of the other and that was it.
That’s been me for a bit. January was a sumbitch as the [...]
If you watch this and not run for a tissue, you did better than I did.
[...]For once in our fine land of Hoots Proper, we have a sports bar for one day only. (I should mention one that isn’t playing Nascar.)
I will be there. I have been told that I must support the Saints but I will also look joyfully at the Manning Boy (which [...]
If I’m going to be in Memphis more, I need to know where to go and eat.
I think I found something to guide my way through the dark tunnels of learning a new place and it’s called LunchBrag.
[...]Stewart makes a good point about blogs. I’m a blogger and I see the same thing happen a lot.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c The Blogs Must Be Crazy www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show
I don’t know why this made me spew coffee this morning, but it did.
First of all, how did the groundhog and the woman get into a fight? Did the groundhog diss the woman’s mother? Was it over the love of another groundhog in some unseemly love triangle?
And [...]
I love this post. And she’s right, sometime the myth beats out the actual facts of what really happened. But I feel this way to sometimes.
It used to be that the Butcher and I would drive around and we both had this feeling like there was something out there, [...]
Welcome to my very tired brain, which is only operating at 60 percent today.
I am tired of snow and ice. It’s gone today, but it looks like it may be returning. I say Boo. I am tired of gray skies which is making me go all S.A.D. I am tired of Mabel [...]I struggle sometimes to see the relevance of certain things and then small, significant things happen that put those very things into perspective for me.
I’m in Memphis right now. A stranger gave me a lesson on her views of the infrastructure here and why her city’s politics were fascinating. She [...]
As you can see, I changed the template. The comments to the side aren’t rendering properly which has made me stabby. So, I guess I’m stating the obvious.
So, let’s chat because we can.
I’m in Memphis staying at Vibinc’s and as I sit here, Mabel is asleep on [...]
So I took Mabel outside in Memphis and she didn’t see her shadow.
Take that Punxsutawney Phil, you bastard.
I deem this a new Midtown tradition.
[...]I’m headed back to Memphis today working on a couple of things that I think are pretty cool, going to hang out with the Delta crew and try to figure somethings out that I believe need figuring out.
I’ve been “stranded” in Hoots since a week ago Friday. I was headed [...]

This one …
From my friend Stephanie Masco, who is a fabulous photographer in Hoots. The pictures of her children are just marvelous.
That would be Anna.
[...]There are two excellent posts this morning respectfully from Katie Allison Granju with a follow-up from Aunt B. that discuss Elizabeth Edwards and the last couple of years of her life. Both women touch on how she’s being treated by MSM and Andrew Young especially.
I find it mind-boggling [...]
Vibinc writes this morning about patience, defining and recognizing the existing process of getting to a goal and that, as the Stones sang, we can’t always get what we want. But he expands on it quite effectively of trying to get what we want.
Or, if you KNOW [...]
White Out!
It looks as if the lovely velvet white snow, savagely morphing into killer mutant black ice, is going to stick around Hoots for a few days. I didn’t get out in it yesterday in my car, but we did wander around the yard like drunk hobos [...]
Duff and Mabel are unimpressed by frozen water.
Jabba the UnGifted – A tale of snow horror
Team work in building Jabba the UnGifted
Run Away! Run Away! (in my best Monty Python voice.)
[...]
Here I am, stuck in the house.
I will take on the role of Captain Obvious and say that Hoots had one of the biggest snowstorms I can remember in a long time. We even have a good old fashioned State of Emergency.
It’s pretty [...]
Well, it makes me feel good to see bright lipstick on puppets and Craig Ferguson.
[...]
I love this so much I cannot stand myself right now.
See more of these wonderful things from Calvin and Hobbs from the Weburbanist.
[...]I watched the SOTU and then looked at it in some detail after it went live. I tried to avoid the pithy that we do in the blogosphere to really evaluate what the president had to say. I have done this before with other presidents, so I guess this is [...]
Again. I’ve written about the former coach before.I said his last race was “dumb” politics. I own it ’cause I said it.
Don McLeary of Jackson announced today that he will seek the Republican nomination in the race for state Senate District 27.
So the Jackson Sun is reporting that [...]
I’ve been told a lot about politics over the years, some of it good and some of it downright offensive, but the best thing that I ever learned that has stuck with me for roughly 20 years came from a man named Jimmy Westbrook, who is a county commissioner [...]
As yesterday just did not go the way that I wanted it to, I decided to wake up this morning with a better attitude. I even decided that I was going to try to find some positive Tennessee political news in order to be, oh I don’t know, a better [...]
“When everybody is famous for 15 minutes, it is no longer worth 15 minutes of a viewer’s time to tune in and see it.”
A compelling article from the LA times about how ad prices have gone down in late night. I think that can be considered for just about [...]
When I leave the house for a total of 15 minutes and you tear the garbage up because you are mad at me, it’s not cool.
No biscuit, kid.
I love you anyway,
‘Coma
[...]Southern Beale breaks down the freelance business …
In my 15 years as a freelancer, no outlet has ever paid me additional money for the added benefit of putting my stories online. That is expected to be part of the deal. When I sell a story, I’m selling away my [...]
Synthetic urine and fish tanks in barber shops?
Okay, where are the bills that are supposed to help with job creation and the real plights of the average citizen in the state of Tennessee?
[...]
I am not usually a praying girl, but right now I think I’ll say one for the state of mind in this country right now.
[...]We haven’t delved into the land of the AABs recently mainly because there has been a lot going on, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed and I’m going through some pretty terrifying life changes right now. I don’t think anyone really wants to read a post with the only word on [...]
Last night we watched the Hope for Haiti telethon and watched a pretty classy, yet on the verge of tears at times, Conan O’Brien say goodbye after a rather nasty shafting by NBC (in which I have more thoughts about this here).
But, campers, you may have missed the [...]
Other people are saying it more eloquently than I ever could but the bottom line of what happened yesterday regarding campaign spending just eliminated the potential for any person without excessive means to get elected, or even run for office.
So, lets get this straight shall we. I’m not saying [...]
Activism is a rough row to hoe. If there is one thing that drives me a bit batty is when people say, and I hear a lot of them say it, that they are mad as hell. I’ll ask basically what they are going to do about it.
Many times, the [...]
The past couple of days have seen the Commercial Appeal laying off more employees and the Tennessean, who have laid off employees and asked those who haven’t lost their jobs to take mandatory furloughs, making a donation for a project in Nashville. One they have had to report about, [...]
So Mabel and I are staying at Ross’ place for a couple of days. I’ve been exploring Memphis recently. I really do love finding things that were in plain sight that I’ve never noticed before. There is a bit of naughty in Memphis, which I’m rather enjoying. What I mean, [...]
I’m in Memphis right now and yesterday I went to Monumental Baptist Church to Rainbow Push’s Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. event. Not only did the service celebrate the holiday, for the first time I got to see some authentic Memphis politicking.
In a word, wow.
I have seen former Mayor [...]
That about sums it up.
[...]John Carney has been on fire this week over at Lake Neuron regarding the late night fiasco that NBC has created. I’m honestly more intrigued with the Leno/O’Brien wars more than I probably should, and following Carney’s analysis has been an ongoing history of television.
Or, this could be called how to piss off a room of journalists.
This video, linked by Michael Silence yesterday, explains a lot of things on different levels about how both print and broadcast journalists in Knoxville had to deal with Lane Kiffin earlier this week. It’s long, but watch [...]
There are blogs out there that make me happy. When I went through the archives at Divers and Sundry, I realized I had a kindred spirit in blogtopia.
Look at the The Film Archives. You will lost yourself over there, I assure you.
Smoking.
[...]I’m always pleased to see new bloggers stepping into the political arena and grabbing the bull by the horns. This morning, I direct you to Your Liberal Friends.
I think they are ready to kick some butt and take some names.
Welcome them.
[...]As the Tennessee progressive blogosphere continues to look at Harold Ford Jr. with a bit of disdain and incredulous wonder, Aunt. B. over at Pith points out some of the reasons why everyone is looking at New York going “Really?”
She writes:
But this attitude of having to run on “God, [...]
From the onset of her illness to the time of her burial on Saturday, Hesse was attended by her loving family, by stout-hearted friends, and by a host of well wishers from the political world — mostly Democrats but including some independents and Republicans as well. It was [...]
If there was a job in this state that’s requirements were just to follow Rep. Mike Turner around and watch him do his thing, I would apply.
The hope would be that he would let me blog about him nonstop.
I can dream, can’t I?
Yeah, best job ever.
[...]I have been more intrigued by the very public media drama on NBC but I probably should admit that I’ve never watched Jay Leno and only watched some Conan several years ago. Yeah, I own it. I guess I’m TeamCraigFerguson because I watch him every single day.
I’ve never liked Leno. [...]
Mark McGwire was my baseball player back in that wonderful summer in the 90s when Sammy Sosa and he battled it out for the home run record.
I was given a picture for Christmas that was a panoramic view of him circling the bases when he hit #70. I am a [...]
You’d think that Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey would break through the walls of politics and give voters the confidence that they are asking for. Many voters right now don’t trust government on both sides of the political aisle. I’m utterly and completely amazed by what goes on in our [...]
I’m noticing a lot of shuffling and information going statewide regarding the race in District 8. That’s all fine and good. We have John Farmer seeking the seat again, and being that he really had no money in the last race, he didn’t do too shabby. There is [...]
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
As many of you know, the southwest corner of Tennessee has been our home this week. Squirrelly and I would like to thank the Memphis crowd for being our family during this time. Thanks for the friendship, the [...]
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
~Funeral Blues W.H. Auden
Today, my friends, is the funeral for Lauren. It should be a [...]
Glen and Dabney showed me this last night after I showed them The Annoying Orange. Let’s review before we get this going. The accordion player hacks something up, the singers are singing about smoking marijuana (see the pretty butterfly), and Lawrence Welk called this juicy work a spiritual.
I have [...]
Things that happen during a crisis, and I believe that we have seen the mother-load in Big Memphis this week, can sometimes have a bit of whimsy. I know that’s not something that most folks talk about but it is there. Meeting new people under duress. Giggling because it fights [...]
I am sure that most of you have been to Left Wing Cracker’s house, but I just wanted to remind you about the arrangements for Lauren Hesse.
He has them here.
Tomorrow is visitation and Saturday, she will be memorialized at Saint Anne’s in Memphis.
On a side note, Steve has been [...]
Lauren Hesse was one of those women that was direct, passionate and kind. I liked that she was her own person, that she didn’t need for anyone to tell her who she was. She was a role model for the sheer fact that was just herself. There are lessons there, [...]
Saturday morning, our friend Lauren had a heart attack. She and Steve Steffens have been together for 20 years. It was bad, my friends. Very bad.
She is currently in ICU at St. Francis in Memphis.
There really are no words when you see people you love and care about go through [...]
In Hoots, you know when folks like someone because they will say “he’s a good ol’ boy.” I find this to be extremely charming. I find that men say this more than women do. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman say it.
I guess I will, just to [...]
Timi aka Homer, this one is for you.
Bob Dylan and Leonard Bernstein were of my mother’s generation. They were poets.
Bruce Springsteen is ours.
Happy New Year’s.
Let us be kind to each other this year. Because, my friends, it is all we have.
I have a cold. And this has been my day.
The moon was quite beautiful this time of year after I lost gravity.
[...]This past year has taught me a few things that I guess I needed to learn. I’m seeing posts this week about next year’s elections. But the best things I’m seeing are conversations offline. Discussions between some of the younger folks in the state with some of us older [...]
As Ferris Bueller said after he played a clarinet pretty horribly, “Never had one lesson!”
That pretty much sums up how I got into blogging. I just did it for better or worse. And it’s been pretty wonderful.
Anytime there is a date or a moment that goes under the title of [...]
Today is the 4th anniversay of Newscoma. In blog years, much like dog years, this blog is most likely on Medicaid. I will be celebrating all day. If you like little old ‘Coma’s home on the web, sign up for the pesky RSS [...]
My mother who was light years in progressive thinking before most of us were born was caught in a divide of sorts in the late 50s and the early 60s. She was an independent thinker, a musician and political-minded.
And she taught us lessons from her experience. She used to drive [...]
We entered the house for our last Christmas luncheon of 2009 yesterday and was greeted with a man holding some sort of gun. I don’t know much about guns but I do know that my eyes opened ever so slightly. It was a fancy one and the first words out [...]
Call me nutty but I don’t think that’s a deal but with these cash places, anything is possible.
Truth in advertising?
[...]
Call me nutty but I don’t think that’s a deal but with these cash places, anything is possible.
Truth in advertising?
[...]The Fightin’ 8th talks about the Fightin’ 8th quite a bit here in Hoots. It’s a shame that people in Washington aren’t privy to what they are saying. It’s good stuff with a big heaping of common sense thrown in.
Just a thought.
[...]The Christmas holiday did not suck nearly as bad as I thought it might. This is, of course, of the good. We spent Christmas eve at my father’s house in Palmersville before trekking it up to another unincorporated community called Harris Station. There was no innertubes so I remained blissfully [...]
Mabel stayed under Squirrely’s mom’s Christmas tree all day.
Merry Christmas, friends.
[...]Hoots threw it down last night as I caroused about the community watching and listening. People in Christmas sweaters reveled about, one woman had some moonshine (I do not lie. And I don’t know her name. I avoided the white lightning as I’m wont to do) and Outlaw Christmas songs [...]
We are having barbecue for Christmas. As you know (or if you didn’t, you will now) I am not the biggest fan of barbecue. Especially for Christmas, but I was outvoted so democracy ruled here.
I thought about some anarchy but as it’s the baby Jesus’ birthday, I am gonna be [...]
Well, I got a smidgen of Christmas spirit yesterday. I was reading my sister’s Facebook page and she wrote that she was getting a smidgen of it too followed by these words “bow chickya bow wow” because nothing says Christmas like a vague pornographic music reference. That’s why she is [...]
Not me and Mabel, but I have been a Grooge this year.
It’s a Christmas tradition that I just started last week. Because that’s how I roll.
I saw Caprica. Monotheists and Polytheists are still going at each other in the Battlestar Galactica universe. I enjoyed it but it’s [...]I really don’t have much to say today. A friend is graduating from UT Martin with her Masters. My niece, off her fabulous win at a talent show is at this very moment competing at a Hoop Shoot competition where the results are unknown at this point and I’m hungry.
Whoa. [...]
The nieces are very active in their school. It’s pretty much like any middle-school in America where you have pre and newly adorned teens fumbling their way through adolescence. My nieces are no different, but they choose to be involved, are only emo when they are glaring at me and [...]
Jesus was cool.
Let’s get that out of the way, because the man was really cool. He helped people, he came from a loving, yet impossibly hard background where his mom had to endure a lot of things to even get him born into this world. Heck, he was born in [...]
Want to know what it’s like to have a heart attack?
No, me neither, but Jim Information goes into detail today at this blog about how events led up to him being in the hospital in blinding detail. It’s the first of a series of how he found out that [...]