vituperation

September 30, 2003

I “finished” Ann Coulter’s latest book (Treason) last night.

I put the word in quotes because, well, frankly, I skipped about fifteen chapters in the middle. Not to put too fine a point on it (say I’m the only bee in your bonnet!), the book pretty much bites. Every time I tried to read it I practically fell asleep. That’s too bad, because her last book (Slander) was a riot. Caveat: I’m not much on reading history-type books, and since a goodly chunk of Treason is about the 50’s and Joe McCarthy, that might be why it didn’t appeal to me.

Note: The chapter near the end, about celebrities and their anti-Bush / anti-war comments, was funny as hell.

In between the very brief periods where I read sections of Treason, I read Bill O’Reilly’s newest book, Who’s Looking Out For You?

Turns out Bill O’Reilly is looking out for me. Or at least that what he tells me.

His book was pretty interesting, not a bad read at all, but I think I liked his previous two non-fiction books more. In this one, Bill sometimes tends to get a bit heavy with patting himself on the back, and it interferes with the points he’s trying to make. Still good overall, though.

Personally, though, I still think Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them was the best thing I’ve read in a while. Robyn herself even told me today she had a hard time putting it down last night.

Many thanks to the people who posted reviews of my book on Amazon. If you have the book and haven’t reviewed it yet, here’s a handy link you can use to get to it. What’cha waiting for?

Thank you in advance.

Today, boys and girls, today we learn some fun facts about the great state in which I reside.

Alabama was the 22nd state admitted to the Union, and it was admitted on December 14, 1819.

The first Alabama Constitutional Convention was held in Huntsville, and Huntsville briefly served as the capital of the state.

Before the Civil War, the Citizens Bank of Louisiana printed $10 bills. The notes bore the French word for ten, “dix”, on the back, and were called “dixies”. The name for the bills carried over to the South in general. When the southern states seceded and Montgomery was chosen to be the capital, Alabama became known as the “Heart of Dixie.” (Note: this may be an urban legend, but it appears to be the most widely accepted explanation for the title)

The first electric trolleys in the USA were in Montgomery.

Alabama is the only state with all the natural resources to make iron and steel.

In the Battle of Mobile Bay, Admiral Farragut said, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Alabama — not Louisiana — introduced the country to Mardi Gras.

Famous Alabamians: Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, Hank Williams, Bear Bryant, Forrest Gump, Lionel Richie (shut up), Hank Aaron, Nat King Cole, Willie Mays, Jesse Owens, Gomer Pyle (aka Jim Nabors), Harper Lee, Toni Tenille, Carl Lewis, Neil Bonnett (for you NASCAR fans), Emmylou Harris, Tammy W-Y-N-E-T-T-E, Courteney Cox-Arquette, Paula Poundstone, Rick Bragg, Nurse Ratched (aka Louise Fletcher), Truman Capote, Fannie Flagg, Jimmy Buffett, Sonny James, W.C. Handy, Charles Barkley, Bo Jackson, George Washington Carver (mmmm, peanut butter!), and me.

Most of all, though, Alabama is known as the cotton state.

Sunday afternoon, Robyn and I set out to take a nice, leisurely drive. From Madison, we drove through Athens to Russellville, to Courtland, to Decatur, and back to Madison, making a great big circle. We saw a great many things on this drive — the Athens town square, old country farmhouses, a huge paper mill, and the Wheeler Dam (which we drove across. Very disconcerting, that, because on one side of the road the water’s about 10 feet below the asphalt, but on the other it’s about 80 feet down).

Most of all, though, we saw cotton, which is just about ready for harvesting.

So, for those of you not fortunate enough to live in the South, I give you some Alabama snow.

Finally, I’ll leave you with an idea of where I was when I took these pictures. I stood by the road and took a 360-degree series of pictures, which I’ve stitched together into one panoramic view. Please note: This picture is BIG, and I was unable to view it inside a browser on Windows ME. It worked okay on Windows 2000. If you click the link below and get nothing or garbage, you can right-click it and pick "Save picture as…" then use something like MS Paint (or something better, if you have it) to view it. I think the picture’s worth the effort, but I’m biased.

Panorama.