We Made Wikipedia!

I saw this on the front page of Wikipedia.  A proud moment for Tennessee.  My two favorite parts?
Thomas J. FitzGerald, the director of the environmental group Kentucky Resources Council and an expert on coal waste, told The New York Times that the ash should have been buried in lined landfills to prevent toxins leaching into [...]

Venus During the Day

Oooooo.  I might have to go home early.

Speaking of

Holy shit!  Did you guys know about this?

Warren et al

I’ve been trying for a long time to come up with a good post on my ever-evolving thoughts on Warren and I just can’t help but still feel that what is happening right now is exactly right.  People should be pissed off.  They should be vocally pissed off.
But I’m not convinced that that means Warren’s [...]

So Many Animals…

Rusty sent me this link.  If you need a pet, think about these guys.

What GoldenI Said

Go read.
That was my opinion, too, that both candidates left me feeling like, “Oh, okay, good.  Whoever gets this position seems to understand the magnitude of the problem and has some ideas for how to solve them.”  Mack’s right that Forrester seemed a little more platitudy than Bone, but the man was on vacation and [...]

Two Things that Delight Me, Okay, Three

1.  There’s a Jerry Orbach way in NYC!  Is it wrong that I hope his ghost slouches along Jerry Orbach Way making witty quips and pretending to solve crimes?
2.  I was in a bathroom last night that smelled just like the Hustler store.  I even tried to figure out what in the bathroom smelled like [...]

On a Side Note

The only name that could possibly be more Illinois than “Roland Burris” is “Orion Samuelson.”  (pronounced, for those of you not from Illinois as Or-eee-on, not O-rye-en.)
Edited to add: I wonder if you could make a general rule about good Midwestern names–like one part vaguely literary or historical figure, one part seed brand, and one [...]

Good Enough

So, I finally finished the Sports Illustrated story on the Vick dogs and I sobbed the whole way through it.  And I swear I’m not going to turn this blog into all anti-PETA all the time, but I’m struck by this part at the end–
Still, it’s Jasmine, lying in her kennel, who embodies the question [...]

My Only Two Questions about the Whole Saltsman Thing

1.  Was there some Tennessee Republican summit in which a list of dumbass racist things to do or say was passed out so that they could compete to see who could pull off the most outrageous?  Like I said over at Kevin’s, this is getting to be hilarious and embarrassing.
2.  Okay, so we have Peter [...]

Mrs. Wigglebottom is an Old Fart

Yes, I said it.  My dog is an old fart.  She’s having trouble seeing in dim light (thought we’re all supposed to pretend like we don’t notice) and she barks at every little noise like “Get off my lawn, you rotten kids.”
Which, you know, would be fine.  I’m all for barking dogs as a warning [...]

Some of Plimco’s Photos of Our Afternoon

I’ll say this, it’s a good friend who somehow manages to take a bunch of pictures of you, none of which show your double chin.

Repeated for Emphasis–The TVA is Lying to Us

Via the indispensable S-town Mike:
Today’s front page KNS report says the EPA has found “very high” levels of arsenic in water samples, along with other heavy metals, one week after TVA said the water samples were fine*.It says residents should avoid contact with the fly ash sludge materials and gives instructions on what to do [...]

Vows of Chastity Easily Broken

It’s been all over the media today that kids who take pledges to abstain from sex until they’re married don’t actually abstain from sex until they’re married.  They just have more unsafe sex than their more realistic friends.
To which I say, ha ha ha ha ha and duh.
I suspect, though, anyway, that abstainance pledges aren’t [...]

On that ‘Fiscal Stability’…

Roger says:
the lack of a state income tax is indeed a major reason for Tennessee’s relative economic strength. By the way, why is it that some of the most highly taxed states in the nation are the ones with their hands out? Check the lineup: New York, New Jersey, California…I don’t get it. They have [...]

Like a Kid at Christmas

The Butcher took his Christmas money and bought everyone late Christmas presents.  He bought me Civilization IV.  I’m not going to mention by name the person who stayed up all night playing it, but it wasn’t me.

The Thing About Things

The Butcher and I know jack-shit about anything and we certainly aren’t going to actually, you know, read the directions, so setting the bottle tree post in concrete was… well, it was a lot stupider than it should have been, considering we ended up doing everything wrong.  We mixed the concrete way, way too watery.  [...]

The TVA Incident

I just want to reiterate that, if you’re reading only one Nashville blog about the disaster, it should be S-Town Mike’s.  He is a one-stop shop on local, state (but not our state, of course), and national responses.
I say “but not our state” because I, like Mike, am suspicious that unless that sludge floated right [...]

Other Good You Can Do

Fund a classroom.
There are people in this state who should be embarrassed that teachers have to beg strangers on the internet for the things they need for their classes.  But those people will not be embarrassed, much to my chagrin.

The Bottle Tree Takes Shape Slowly

The Butcher and I decided that the easiest way to work this whole bottle tree thing was going to be to make like it’s our parents’ old Christmas tree, which was composed of a wooden stick with slightly angled holes into which you stuck what looked like bottle cleaners but which were actually the fake [...]

Note to Self: Think on This

This post blew my mind.  I’m sticking it in my brain and rolling it around in there to see what comes of it.

The Folks in Roane County

For those of you who’ve asked about the Roane County disaster, I asked R. Neal (who’s kind of the Go-To Guy in the state for all your questions you don’t know who else to ask, or I guess, that’s what I use him for) and he said that it appears that the TVA has responded [...]

Don’t You Want a Dog?

So, it turns out that the thing we saw in the neighbor’s yard wasn’t a coyote, but a young dog.  Said dog is fun and friendly and our other neighbors have taken him in until they can find a good home for him.
Might you be that good home?
I’ll just point out that he’s handsome.  And [...]

Holiday Trees

Our Christmas Tree

(If you get that close, you can’t tell it’s a foot-tall rosemary bush.)
Holly

And for my Wiccan readers, the holly from my side yard and the oak from my back.  Extra points to the person who can explain about the oak and holly kings.

Detroit Ham

We’re having “Detroit Ham” for Christmas, though my dad is disappointed that we couldn’t find regular Vernor’s Ginger Ale so we have to use Diet.  He’s convinced that the patrons at the Bordeaux Kroger are all also planning on “Detroit Ham” and that’s why we have to make do with Diet Vernor’s.
So, that should be [...]