Fightin' the Man Smackdown: Part II

Andy, John and Tallahassee Lassie Vickie had some excellent nominees, a couple of which will definitely make the list. Before I get to theirs, though, I got another one: Paul Newman died last year. Yeah, and he's had his share of tributes. He hardly needs more, but how can you talk about fightin' the man without talking about Cool Hand Luke? Well, you can't.



Andy suggested Footloose, with the farmkids rebelling against their puritanical folks. No doubt, that is fighting the man. John provided the clip.



When you're fightin' the man, sometimes ya gotta pull out all the stops. No Marquis of Queensbury rules for these guys:



John suggested two of my favorite "fightin' the man" fighters. I'll post them tomorrow.

Fightin' the Man Smackdown: Part I

Last smackdown, Solitary Man stood alone at the top of the Neil crop. Buddy Chase regularly comments in his blog, Chase's Dirty Thoughts, about the need to "Fight the Man". As a Public Defender, I fight the man every day. Many public defenders get worn down over the years, and just sort of whimper when their clients are getting the bad end of the stick. I had a tough week, but I'm no whipped dog. No way. Gotta fight the man! Here's our first entry. I'd love your suggestions for more fightin' the man songs or movie clips.

Redrum.

Had another murder trial this week. Fourth in the last two and a half years. None of my clients at the PD office, to date, have been convicted of murder. That will certainly change eventually. My dude today was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, but not murder. The jury worked hard on the case, and it is hard to fault their verdict, given the law and facts with which they were presented. This one was really a struggle. I felt like I was fighting the world: the Solicitor's office, the judge, heck, even my own client at times. I've said it before: I don't really get excited about "victories" anymore. I just wanted to go home, get a drink and relax. No such luck. Throw-together meal of sloppy joes for me, the Lads, and the neighbor kid, then the boys start beating the stew out of each other over videogames. I'm just out of a trial where a dude is convicted of strangling to death his best friend. Geez, guys, can't you settle down just for an evening? Guess not. I snuck back up to the office for some peace. I doubt they know I left.

Justice or Just Us, Too?

Still in trial. Here's some pain:

Yoshido Brothers.

Got a trial today. This one shouldn't take long. I'll post again tomorrow. For your entertainment in the interim, I give you a video recommended to me a few months ago by Oldest.

Sewanee Football

Tampa friend of AndyMan, Lynne, was surprised that my old school (and my oldest's school), Sewanee, has a football team. Yes, they do. In fact, Sewanee was a football powerhouse in 1899, and was actually a charter member of the S.E.C. (they left in 1944, after years of fruitless play).

But before that, there was 1899. To quote the Wikipedia article:

"The 1899 Iron Men team's most notable accomplishment was a six-day period from November 9 to 14 which is arguably the greatest road trip in college football history. Manager Luke Lea put together an improbable schedule of playing five big name opponents in six days, all on the road. Sewanee played and shut out them all while travelling by train for 2500 miles. This feat, barring fundamental changes in modern-day football, can never be equaled".

Sewanee beat Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU and Ole Miss in five days on the road. For the season, Sewanee went 12-0-0, and outscored their opponents 322 to 10. The only team to score on them was Auburn, then coached by John Heisman, after whom the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best player each year in college football, is named.

Sewanee still plays football, but academics are more important (well, I'm not sure they were to me, but you get the idea).

Are you ready for some football?

This is Raymond James Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be duking it out in the Super Bowl this Sunday.
This is where the South Carolina Gamecocks play ball.
This is where I played college football. Yea, Sewanee's Right!

Got court again this week. Posting and responding could be spotty. I'll check in when I can.

Old Mother Hubbard...

Hungry, Lads? Okay, let's see... There's butter. Two half-cans of chocolate frosting. That V-8's been here awhile; don't think we'd better mess with it. Not sure what this is. No. Don't check the produce bin. You do NOT want to go there. Hmmm. Might be time for a trip to the store.

Winter Wonderland.

Tuesday we had snow in the Boro. First time it's happened in the two and a half years I've been here. Taylor took advantage of it by building a car-snowman. Neighbor John-originally from Maine so he knows from snowmen- added the arms.

The Varsity.

On the way back from Sewanee, my girl and I rode together to Atlanta, where I'd pick up the Twins and head back to the Boro via I-20; while BabyMama and her husband and step-son and Caroline would continue down I-75 to I-16 to the lower half of the Palmetto State. We had to meet somewhere to make the transfer, and venerable Atlanta burger joint, The Varsity, seemed like just the ticket. The Varsity is located just off of the Interstate right on the edge of Georgia Tech, and has apparently been in business since 1928. Travelers, college students and even presidents have dined at "The Greasy V" for generations. And like most Atlanta restaurants, they feature that Atlanta beverage: Coca-Cola. It's the Real Thing, Baby!

Roadtrip: Sewanee, Part II

Sewanee is funded, in part, by various Southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church; although church attendance wasn't even required when I went many moons ago, the Episcopal Church is an important part of the Sewanee experience. All Saint's Chapel sits in the center of the school. It was at a convocation at All Saint's Chapel where four people received honorary degrees, and where eighty-nine young men and women, including oldest son, Davis, were inducted into the Order of Gownsmen.The Order of the Gownsmen is "the body responsible for maintaining the spirit, traditions and ideals of the University of the South". The methods of selecting students for the Order have varied over the years, but currently they are selected by grade point average. Davis is a bright kid, and passed his comprehensive English exams "with distinction"; however, his grades are average, so he was selected to the Order in his senior year. My grades at Sewanee were pretty bad, and, had I remained at Sewanee, it is likely I would have received my gown just prior to my graduation. To the left are a couple of Gownsmen about campus.

Convocations are filled with pomp and circumstance. The different hoods representing different university affiliations mixed with the Church robes, music and ceremony. I tried to film a bit of it, but didn't do a great job:

The procession begins outside...
and continues inside.

Robes are frequently passed down from one student to another. Davis got his gown from his fraternity big brother.

Davis with the Lads and Caroline.

Roadtrip: Sewanee, Part I

From the Boro to Sewanee: about seven and a half hours. The stone gates mark the entrance to the domain of the University of the South: Sewanee. One Sewanee tradition is that whenever a Sewanee student, alumnus or friend of the school enters or leaves the domain, he touches the roof of his (or her) car. The tradition has it that we all have Sewanee angels to protect us. When we enter the domain, we touch the roof to let them go home to rest; when we leave, we take our angels with us. Tyler in front of my old fraternity house, Beta Theta Pi (when I later transferred to FSU, I hung with the Fijis. I try to claim dual citizenship). Davis is a Lambda Chi Alpha. Sunday was glorious. I'm basking in the sun outside of the dining hall, McClurg, which did not exist back in the day. We ate in Gailor Hall, which is now an art gallery, I think. The food's better now. This is Courts dormatory, one of the places I lived when I was a student at Sewanee. It is a pretty typical Sewanee dorm. This is Davis' dormatory, McCready House. It is NOT a typical Sewanee dormatory.His actual room, however, is.
Sewanee is beautiful. It sits on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau in central Tennessee. Caving, rock climbing, hiking and even hang-gliding are all possible in and around Sewanee. Here are my three sons horsing around on one of the hiking paths on the domain:


I'm out of time, so I'll finish tomorrow.

Give it Up for Fred and George.

Taylor and Tyler at Sewanee.
Fred and George Weasley at Hogwarts.

I've never seen them in a room together...

I've not yet been able to figure out whether Harry and the Potters are serious. Either way, give it up for Fred and George:

Off to Sewanee.

Off to Sewanee to see my oldest inducted into the Order of the Gownsmen at Convocation. I'll report about it when I return.

Conan, the Librarian.

When I saw this "Pearls before Swine" yesterday, I chuckled. The juxtaposition of the generally held perception of librarians as orderly, quiet and meek with physical violence is funny stuff. My mom was a librarian, before she became a nun. Talk about Life in the Fastlane! Conan, the Barbarian, was a comic book hero of mine before Ah-nold portrayed him in the Hollywood version. Barbarians mean dis-order, boldness and a general disregard for civilization: the opposite of librarians. Anyway, for years, the verbal juxtaposition of those contrary concepts has been swimming around in my head as "Conan, the Librarian". Evidently, I'm not the first to have this thought:

News from the World.

After a really tedious Monday, Tuesday wasn't so bad. I got a few pleas done, and there were even a few light moments. One of my favorite client's cases was reached yesterday. The guy weighs maybe 350 pounds, has an afro fashioned like a mad scientist's and a big broad smile accented with grillz. Mr. Johnson (not his real name) has been my client for two years. He had a drug charge- possession of Ecstasy- which was winnable at little risk, and another more problematic charge that had a huge downside. Ultimately, he was offered a plea with a recommendation of probation from the State, which he took. We were before our resident Circuit Court Judge. The prosecutor had explained the charges to the Judge, and I'd offered information in mitigation, when the Judge asked me why my client had Ecstasy. As I struggled between the equally bad impulses to say "I'm not sure the drugs were his, Judge. He's just pleading to this one to get a good deal on the other charge" and "Probably to get high, Your Honor", the Court stopped me and said to my client, "It looks like your attorney is having a difficult time answering my question, Mr. Johnson". To which Mr. Johnson replied loudly with that goofy smile and perfect timing, "I can SEE that, Your Honor. Tighten up, Mathews". The courtroom roared with laughter, including, fortunately, the Judge.

Gonna Be Busy.

Got Court this week. Other other attorney in the office, my boss, Harris, is supposed to be trying a murder case this week. If there is time, they may be trying one of mine: either another murder or a lewd act on a minor. Then a week of no court, then another one-week term after that. Anyway, I'll try to check in.

Fluffy to the Rescue!

When most folks think about animals as heroes, they think about dogs. Like this:



or this:



Now, a new hero for a new era. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Fluffy. A cat, not a dog, saved a family (including, in what must have been total humiliation for the family dog, the family dog) from a burning house. Surprise, surprise.

This Can't be a Mistake...

I'm willing to bet this news came as a considerable shock to Mrs. Holtz.

Remember the Alimoe

My oldest son went to the State spelling bee competition when he was in middle school. His mother and I knew each step of the way when he had an event coming up. We knew when he won his classroom competition. We knew when he won his school competition. We knew when he won the region for his school. We knew when he got to the state competition. We knew because he told us. We expected a lot from Davis, and we weren't surprised when he did well in academics. Athletics were a bonus, but academics were expected. He didn't move on from State- smallpocks took him down- but we went and we watched him. "Can I have a definition? Can you use it in a sentence?". We were there, and we had plenty of notice.

On Wednesday night, one of the twins, Taylor, told me he'd won his class competition in the spelling bee, and the school competition would be Thursday morning and could I go over some of the words with him. "It's tomorrow, son?". "Yeah, dad. Could you go over some of these words with me? I'm okay on every thing except the Latin words". Sure. We spent maybe ten minutes going through the list. He did all right.

From Taylor and Tyler I have grown to expect excellence in athletics. Any academic achievement is a bonus. I called my office and told them I might be late for my ten O'clock consult, I had to watch my boy compete for the school championship in spelling. He did great, Taylor did. He was clearly identifiable among the crowd with his Led Zeplin T-shirt and his annoyingly long hair, but he spoke loudly and clearly. A quarter of the competition went down in the first round. Taylor was still standing. The second round claimed more than half of the remainder: only about a third of the original students were still in the mix. Taylor sailed through. The third round was a massacre: everyone seemed to be going down. Taylor's up. "Alamo" the announcer demanded. Shoot, that one's the easiest yet, I thought. But wait... I knew about the Alamo because it was a big deal when I was a youth, but I don't remember even a whisper of it in the last fifteen or so years. "Alamo: a-l-i-m-o-e. Alamo". "I'm sorry. That's incorrect." Taylor sat down. He looked up at me and shrugged. I gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Shoot. He'd already won his class, and he beat two thirds of the other students out there. He didn't remember the Alamo. He asked me later what it was. I told him it was a defining battle of the Mexican-American War, and that frontiersman Davey Crockett- along with every other American in Fort Alamo- was killed in the battle, but that the battle became a rally cry which helped America crush Mexico in the war.

The next day, assistant principal Haydon saw Taylor in the halls. "I thought you were gonna win, Taylor." "Me, too, Mr. Haydon", replied Taylor. "Did you know that Davey Crockett was killed in the Alamo?"

Neil Diamond Smackdown: The Poll

Okay. Poll's posted. I didn't include either of my two favorite Neil Diamond songs, Sweet Caroline and Done Too Soon, because I wanted a sample of the various phases of Neil's long journey. Careers and lives evolve. Think about pre-military, rebel Elvis compared to Vegas Elvis. Well, 60's Neil isn't the same as 80's Neil, either. Anyway, you can vote for more than one, if you want (and if you've got access to more than one computer, you can vote more than once), but if you don't vote, I'll say mean things to cute puppies.

Neil Diamond Smackdown: Two Last Picks

Love on the Rocks. Heartlight. Forever in Blue Jeans. Longfellow Serenade. Yeah. I know 'em, but they're not making the cut. It isn't always about me; but sometimes it is. Coming to America is an anthem, which for me can be anathema; but, truth be told, I like it:



Producer Rick Ruben did a great job with Johnny Cash in Cash's last albums, using song's like Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" to highlight the Man in Black's earnest and haunting voice. Ruben has worked with Neil, too, producing songs on two new (2006 and 2008) Neil works that highlight the aspects of Neil that make him uniquely Neil. Pretty Amazing Grace is one from his newest album, Home Before Dark. I like it a lot (Betcha John will too; though probably Chase won't).



Neil Diamond is a classic American songwriter and performer. Hard to call him a classic rocker. More of a pop music artist. Still, James Taylor is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and dammit, Neil should be too! I'll post the poll tomorrow. John has weighed in with Neil and Babs, so that'll be in. The rest? I'll put something up.

Neil Diamond Smackdown: The 1960s (plus tributes!).

Neil rocked back in the 1960's, back before he got "serious". A lot of other artists covered his songs, too, some serious, some not-so-serious.

Cherry Cherry was fun stuff:



...or maybe you'd like to see Jack Black do it (not so serious):



Kentucky Woman rocked, too:



...or maybe you'd like to hear heavy metal Neil Diamond tribute band, Nine Inch Neils, do it (I'm not really sure if they're serious or not):



Deep Purple covered it. So did Waylon Jennings (serious, and pretty good):



Solitary Man was pretty good, too:



...or maybe you'd rather hear Johnny Cash do it (you gotta know he was serious):

We interupt this Smackdown to bring the following...

I went to the doctor's for a check-up today. Those bastards made me get on a scale. Now, my brother, the Amazing Ultra-marathon runner, AndyMan, recently blogged about his holiday weight gain up to 192 fairly solid pounds. Geez, what a lightweight. Like Jack Palance's character told Billy Crystal's character on City Slickers, "I crap bigger'n you". I've picked up 16 absolutely unnecessary pounds in the last three months, bringing the ungodly total to 246 freakin' pounds. This is not considered torture to the scale at the present time, but when Leon Pannetta becomes the CIA chief... well, let's just say I've got some life-style changes to make. I've already mentioned in comments in Star's blog, I've resolved to run a marathon in 2009. Reckon I'd better get to it. Like it or not, I'll bring you more Neil tomorrow. In the interim, this cartoon intro reminded me of me.

Neil Diamond Mini Smackdown: The 70's

My two favorite Neil Diamond songs- Sweet Caroline (my daughter's name is Caroline), and Done Too Soon- are from the 1960's, but the 1970's are when I discovered Neil. The following are a few from that era. Which of these should be in the poll?

Cracklin' Rosie is vintage early '70's Neil: "Gonna have me a time with a poor man's lady". Before he started singing for E.T., Neil had an edge.


Hard to believe that I was the age my twins are now when I bought "Moods", the album that contains Song Sung Blue:



Most folks remember The Hollies' version of "He Ain't Heavy; He's My Brother", but, Neil recorded it first. I loved the Hollies' version, but I always liked Neil's better.



Neil started losing me with with this one, but it idint always about me, is it? A lot of people really liked this one, and I can't deny that Neil and Barbra were in good voice and had good chemistry.

Neil Diamond Smackdown: Done Too Soon.

"The What the Kids are Listening To" generated a fair amount of controversy, but not a lot of actual votes. "Cooking by the Book" apparently tasted slightly better than... than... well, it got the most votes. Anyway, John requested a Neil Diamond Smackdown. I'll cop to being a Neil Diamond fan. He lost me in the late 70's, early 80's, and I didn't convert any of the five or six Neil Diamond albums I have to c.d.s, but I do at least have a Greatest Hits c.d. Anyway, I like a lot of Neil's stuff. I may need some help winnowing them down. Anyway, Paul Newman, Jerry Reed, George Carlin, Eartha Kitt, and my friends Commander and Robert Barrett all met their final reward in 2008. Some, at least, were done too soon. So here's to them. And to one of my favorite Neil Diamond songs:

Bowling in the New Year

The Lads and I rolled in the New Year to mid-night bowling at an alley in Charleston. Did we suck? Did we ever! I was the top gun with a 110 in the second game. I needed two strikes in the tenth frame to achieve that halcyon mark. Twin Tyler won one with a 78. 'Course, we only bowl once a year. I suppose you can't be to good at much of anything if you don't do it but once a year.
I'm reminded of an AC/DC song, here. Hmmm. It'll come to me.
For the last three years, this has been our official New Year's Eve drink. I was a little sugared out, but at least I didn't have a hang-over.

I actually didn't watch much football on NYD. My Seminoles were mediocre enough during the regular season to have already played their bowl game: The Champs Sports Bowl last weekend. At least the 'Noles pasted the Wisconsin Badgers to become the Champs' champs. What I did instead was watch Harry Potter movies, and cook. I prepared some hoppin' John (black-eyed peas, rice, ham hocks and lots of chopping things up), baked ham (hot sauce, brown sugar and coca-cola over it), hushpuppies, and collared greens. The ham, at least, was a hit with the Lads.

Anyway, in honor of our New Year's Eve tradition, I bring you Camper Van Beethoven:

It was a Very Good Year... Sort Of

I survived, anyway. Happy New Year!