SuperWonderBang

The Chris Dodd campaign offers this debate clock. Notice that Gravel again gets the shaft. Can’t we ask everyone the same number of questions? How hard is that?

I ventured out to the Rutledge last night to see Modern Skirts and Bain Mattox play. The Rutledge is said to have the best sound in the city and I don’t have any reason to disagree. Both groups sounded great.

As always the Skirts put on a great show. All four guys put a lot of energy into every song. It’s hard not to when the songs are just so damned good. I am continually impressed by their songwriting. Since I was standing so close to him last night, I have to point what I really great guitar player Phillip Brantley is. He was doing some pretty cool things during some of the solos and bridges. Nice little tempo and minor key changes. I’m impressed.

I was really happy to see Bain Mattox again as well. Amazingly, this is another solid songwriter who uses some different instrumentation (accordion, banjo, harmonica) to make his mark. The crowd was a little small and low-key. Inexplicably, the Rutledge has tables and chairs where people should be standing and dancing. But Bain put out a lot of effort to get a rise from the crowd. At one point, he was walking through the crowd with his accordion admonishing us to sing along to the chorus of a song about driving people up walls.

A great show from both groups and I really hope that Nashville starts to pay them more attention. Both are definitely on the verge of big things.

Sadly, I couldn’t stick around to listen to The Bridges from Anniston, AL. I caught the first couple of songs and the harmonies were very nice. Certainly not enough time for me to form an opinion but I’d like to check out more of their stuff.

Technorati Tags: modern skirts, bain mattox, the bridges, nashville

I’ve watched quite a few episodes of ABC’s American Inventor. There are plenty of people whose stories are touching or sad. There are plenty of weirdos as well. What’s rare on the show are the people whose story seems genuine and whose invention isn’t just some improvement on another product.

Maybe none of that applies to Bobby Grissett from Conway, SC. He invented a large cross-cut knife that is used to cut large pans of cakes, brownies, and other baked goods. His years of experience in industrial kitchens lead him to seek out something to make his job easier. The panel might have been right in pointing out the product’s lack of mass appeal, but what they seemed to miss was the real American part of Mr. Grissett.

A military veteran who now runs the cafeteria in a school district in South Carolina, Mr. Grissett really embodies both the greatness and the disparity in America. Mr. Grissett seems to be a man who might not have had all the finest things in life, nor all the greatest opportunities. Yet, he has worked hard all his life in what is surely an almost thankless job. He has provided for his family to the best of his abilities. There are a lot of people in America doing that. What makes him uniquely American is his lack of whining and his seemingly constant striving for even better.

Mr. Grissett hasn’t rested on just the hard work he has done, but he has vision and hope and desire. What’s more, he honestly believes that he can achieve all those things. That makes him one of the more compelling people I have seen on the show. It surely makes him a great symbol of an America that far too often gets hidden behind our minor differences. Mr. Grissett serves as a great reminder that we should never give up and never quit working for better for our families.

Technorati Tags: american inventor, abc, capitalism, entrepreneurship, american dream

Let the users create Citysearch

I noticed that this article on CNN had a really unfortunate ad next to it. The bad part here is that the ad by itself is pretty bad. Paired with this article, it just makes you a little nauseous.

Here’s a shot of the full ad:

Technorati Tags: cnn, oops, bad ads

I’m certain that something or someone is testing me. The last two days have had me face two very similar moral quandaries.

Yesterday, at the grocery store, the automatic self scanner machine gave me back the wrong change. It owed me $4, but instead gave me 3 ones and a 10. So, instead of $4, I had $13. I paused for a minute wondering what I was going to do. Should I give it back? Has anyone seen me? A very typical question to be asked of me. I turned to the cashier there and told her that I had been given the wrong change. She was amazed that someone would fess up to it. I traded her the ten for a one and went on my way.

Tonight, the same thing happened at the Hardees’s. Thickburgers are awesome by the way. The guy gave me too much change and I let him know.

I understand this is not earth-shattering, but it’s happened twice in less than 24 hours. That seems a little much considering it hasn’t happened in many months.

I think I passed, but I guess I won’t ever know. Maybe one of those folks I was honest with will be inspired to be the same way, on and on. Maybe they’ll call me a sucker and kick a puppy.

This is a rough draft of an idea I have had for a while. The Gomez/Gatti fight tonight finally inspired me to get it down. It needs work, but I thought I would share it. I might try to work something up to be a short story with a similar idea.

Gloves Off
July 2007

Jab. Jab. Right cross.
Gomez swings and punishes Gatti
For the glory. Ultra slow-motion
Captures brutality in crystal clarity.
A century ago, it was only blurs in an ashcan.

I’ve called my father and given him the heads-up.
I see him in that underwater squiggle
Making feints and small swings. His own
Miniature fight taking place in the
Livingroom of a house, close with the
Summer heat.

We both watch the weight of history fill
Gomez’s gloves. The mass of each blow
Shriveling the warrior, Gatti. It is a
Shared moment of violence
Crossing hundreds of miles in the time
Between the bell and the blood.

I used to hate boxing. I laughed at my
Father’s intense and rapt attention to
Foreman and Tyson crawling out of
Poverty through the ring. An alpha and omega
Of success.

Now. I am the one who makes sure to be
Around the TV. Now. I am the one who
Pesters him with the Question of the
Best “pound-for-pound.” We have found a
Commonality, or I have found it.
Moments conceived in sweat and exhaustion
Become family memories.

Could be that I am older, aware of the
Brutality of the world. Maybe now I know
How hard it has been for him. Maybe you
Have to take a punch to understand.

The bell rings and the round ends. The judges
Make their decision. My father and I stand
Together in awe as the decision comes
Down.

Technorati Tags: poetry, boxing, family

Last night, I went over to my buddy Justin’s house and we played through most of the Wii Sports games. Even my wife got into it, though she’s usually not much for video games. It probably didn’t hurt that she was striking me out right and left in Baseball and beat Justin in golf. We had a good time around the machine. It certainly made for conversation and excitement. I guess the commercials are pretty straight on.

With Guitar Hero, the Wii, and all this stuff On Demand, I seldom make time to write. I shared a story recently with a friend of mine. His response was extremely positive. That, in addition to some interesting new ideas, has really gotten my writing jones kicking up. I just need to make the time.

Speaking of time, several folks at work are instituting the GTD way of doing things. I normally poo-poo these organizational “religions,” but folks are having success with this. It might the thing that helps me set aside time to write. My goal is to have something published in the next year. Obviously, doing that with a novel is a huge challenge, but a short story is not completely out of the realm of possibility. I have one right now that I think is publish-worthy and another that needs a rewrite to get there. A few more complete stories and the odds are good that some literary journal might publish one.

Technorati Tags: writing, guitar hero, wii, gtd, time, publishing

Dave gave me an update about some things going on behind the scenes at BarCamp Nashville. It’s very exciting.

There’s lots of interest from people in interesting places in the technology nebula. He’s working on some great guest speakers and some really cool sponsors. In addition, Dean is making sure we have some rocking live music to entertain us.

Our next meetup looks to have about double the people involved and that’s just folks wanting to help organize the thing. That bodes well for actual attendance. I hope you’ll consider joining us. I’ll try to keep this blog up to date with the latest news, unless Dave tries to suppress my fourth estate freedoms

Technorati Tags: barcamp, barcamp nashville, nashville

I received my invite this morning and got all signed up on Pownce. I haven’t done anything with it yet, so my profile is pretty bare.

We’ll see if I stick to this more than I did Twitter.

Technorati Tags: pownce, twitter