Not Fayed Away

Dude, how can a storm junkie like you not talk about Fay? Damn good question.

Fay is currently a tropical storm and seems intent on wandering all over Florida. When I left the sunshine state a few days ago, preparations were already under way. One of the last things I heard my brother say was "we can run an extension cord from the generator to run the fridge". Strange weather makes strange conversations seem normal.

Like most things that troll around the back roads of the south, tropical weather is usually chaotic, at times weirdly beneficial or psychotically evil - sometimes all three at once. You just never know whether your going to get the psychotic, gap toothed serial killer or the clumsy handy man who fixes your well after backing over your chickens.

The same stew that boils up the horror of Katrina, Hugo, Andrew and Alberto also produces three-day drought killing rain storms we so desperately need.

So let's hope our new friend Fay is the the hapless helper and not the creeping killer. Still better hide the chickens though.

Express Lane To Denver

The thought of a road trip, even in these days of gas costing more than cigarettes (oh the price of sin), gets the blood boiling. It makes even the most road weary, drug addled blogger wish he could stow away on a bus full of Clinton democrats and later emerge from hiding somewhere around Tulsa.

Unfortunately, I missed my chance to secretly record the meanderings of the Unity Express.

But that doesn't mean we can't all virtually follow along.

They'se blogging.

They'se twittering.

They'se picture taking.

They'se flicker filming.

They'se generally having a good time. Drive safe guys and gals. And watch out for the bats.

For The Tweets

Proper twitter etiquette.

If it could get you fired, be used against you in court, or impede your ability to get laid, be-still your typing thumbs.

Truer words...

Georgia Politics Podcast Episode 18

Jen, Decaturguy, Catherine and Joseph discuss three-ways and other political numerology in the latest Georgia Politics Podcast.

Listen here.

Dear Bossman

In the olden days, the fading of summer was seen as coincidental with the fading of life. The ultimate passage seems to be a common theme lately.

I always enjoyed the glares, the incredulous stares of the neighbors, of the cops, the whispers of “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” or “scavengers,” as the reporting pack circled a family of five charred bodies on a smoky deck, a little boy’s tarp covered body by his crumpled bike, the corpse of a wrong-way driver still dangling from his safety belt. I almost enjoyed those glares and stares as much, the vacant eyes of the lifeless asking, “why?” as we smoked and joked about somebody giving somebody a blow job at a party.

As we watch the "bleeds it leads" grim faces of our 6:00 bobble heads, we rarely think of their graveyard humor - a reflex mechanization, evolutionarily specialized to such occupations as doctors, firemen, the po-lice and ambulance drivers. For those who wade into the grim on a daily basis, it serves to detach the humanity. Most of the times it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

Days

Read, learn, sing, dance, laugh, love, live.

And....

We're back

Fishin'

Time to stop wishin'

Time to go fishin'

My Morning Wooten - Monday Addition

A few days late and just a few plums to pick.

A high school in Gonzales, Texas, requires inappropriately dressed students to don navy blue coveralls — prison jumpsuits of a sort. Some parents object. What’s wrong with public education? These three things, among others: 1) parents who object to efforts to maintain discipline; 2) students who disregard simple instructions; 3) parents who don’t parent before the child hits school.

No swipe at unions? Shocking.

When Gwinnett’s minorities become the majority — minorities had reached 48.3 percent a year ago — can the world stop ascribing all the convenient “suburban” stereotypes to the place, specifically related to MARTA blah blah blah surburban whine blah blah blah.

No, not everyone is the same. But apparently Jim missed the comments on his own website where alledged citizens of Gwinnett moaned about MARTA bringing crime to their fair county (by the way, it's already there) and not wanting to pay taxes for other people's transportation (how many lanes does I-85 have at Pleasant Hill Rd?) - the same arguments I heard ten years ago when I was employed in Lawrenceville. Maybe if you surbanites would expend some energy changing troglodyte attitudes instead of wasting away with the whines, we intown folks might ease up on the judging.

Sure as shootin’ when state revenues dip, the casino-gambling/ horse-racing crowd emerges to push their agenda. The president of the Georgia-South Carolina Horse Racing Committee wants you to know he is very distressed about education funding in Georgia and the tax burden on old folks. Just guessing, but might he have a solution to propose? Coincidentally, yes. But no thanks. We’ll get by without giving poor people even more ways to lose the butter and egg money

Conservatives: We're against the nanny state - except when we're not.

See, these folks being held at Guantanamo are enemy combatants captured on the battlefield. They didn’t shop-lift at Wal-Mart.

Except we don't really know that do we? Since the government stubbornly refuses to reveal any evidence in these matters (only recently being dragged kicking and screaming to even present evidence to the accused), the only reason we have to believe these people were actually captured on a battlefield is because the government says so.

Conservatives: We don't trust the government - except when we do.

Selah.

New Blogs

New blogs added.

One on the left.

One on the right.

They'll be added to the headline thingie when I get back to civilization.

Goin' South

Don't break anything.

My Morning Wooten

Keeping it simple today.

Are you suffering Obama Fatigue?

I've heard this subject raised twice in the past 24 hours. The first time was on the Sean Hannity radio program. Enough said.

Songs In My Head

AJC Twitters

A typically bitchy"tweet" from Rusty Tanton about the AJC leads to an interview with Director of Online Development Chris Heisel and External Communications Manager Jennifer Morrow.

Bottom line: AJC is in your twitter scanning your complaints.

Pretty forward thinking from the dead tree folks. Even though I spend a lot of time slagging the local fish wrapper, I have met some of the online folks and despite the lofty pronouncements of some of the higher-ups, they understand the need for positive relationships with the online communities.

Martin And Jones On What Is Goin' On?

Primary day tomorrow.

Still haven't made up your mind? Maybe Wilson can help.

Listen to his interview with Vernon Jones here.

Money quotes: "Jim Martin is too liberal for Georgia. Even Saxby Chambliss is too liberal for Georgia".

"Fish don't go to work. People do".

And then check out Jim Martin here.

Powell Hearing Postponed

The Powell residency hearing has been postponed due to the judge recusing himself. Now what the hell am I going to do with myself today? Any porn kings being arrested?

A Legend Passes

Skip Caray, 1939-2008

"A woman walks into a bar, sidles up to a sportscaster and says "For $100, I'll do anything you want". The sportscaster slaps a hundred dollar bill on the bartop and says "Do the pre-game show tomorrow". ~joke told by Caray just a few weeks before his death

Saturday Stupids

Moving day!

My Morning.....Er Nevermind

Wooten gets a pass today. Frankly, after the fire and lightning of the past two days, it seems a little dull. And its mostly economic which always boring and Jim and I even tend to agree on those sorts of things. And that just isn't any fun.

Have a good weekend, Jim.

The Rhetorical Bermuda Triangle

This is some damned good advice.

h/t: Thomas