Feature Photo: Mocking Dixie’s Icons?

January 7th, 2006
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Photo by Glynn Wilson
A mockingbird perches on the statue of Jefferson Davis by the historic Alabama Capitol steps in Montgomery. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. This is a great example of how a blog is different from a “family newspaper” or “family programming” on TV. The Birmingham News would never run a photo like this. Here in the blogosphere, we think it is OK to be irreverent and funny and not so serious all the time. Then again, we can flesh out issues with the help of readers in a much more interesting way than the mainstream media. For example, you too can join the discussion on Alabama politics in the comments section on the editorial column below. It does require signing up for a Moveable type password. Otherwise we get creamed with spam all the time. You think e-mail spam is bad? Start a blog. We are working on moving this Web site to a new server in Homewood, and we hope to improve the layout of the site even more and open it up more . . . once we figure out how to defeat the spammers.

Happy Holidays and the Fake War on Christmas

December 24th, 2005
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Self Portrait by Glynn Wilson, © Dec. 23, 1995
Stuck inside a bubble ball with those Holidaze blues again…

There is a holiday message being passed around the Internet via e-mail by Republicans making fun of Democrats. While it is just another example of the political right’s propaganda, what the heck. It’s worth including here on Christmas Eve just for the fun of it. It goes like this.

For Our Democratic Friends: Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee. By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

For Our Republican Friends:
Here’s wishing all of You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fearing the Skies

November 29th, 2005
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by Glynn Wilson, © Nov. 28, 2005
While the local weather news forecasters chased circulating hooks on radar all afternoon keeping everyone around here in fear for their lives - and in the end only one roof was damaged and no one was injured or died - no one got a pictue of a funnel cloud. But we captured this reflection of an image in between storms. It beats flipping channels and fearing the skies…

Sunday Feature Photo: Judy’s Garden in Fall

November 13th, 2005
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Photo by Glynn Wilson, © Sunday, Nov. 13, 2005
The search for fall color in Alabama took us to Judy’s Garden in rural St. Clair County, where a splash of beauty survives a few more days before winter sets in - after this strange November summer goes away, that is. Best to take advantage of this wacko weather while it lasts. Maybe global warming will bring Alabama’s beaches all the way north to just south of Birmingham. Care to invest in some beachfront property in Jefferson County?

The Sun Also Sets

November 6th, 2005
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by Glynn Wilson
The sun sets over Shoal Creek Valley in St. Clair County, Alabama.