Accept no substitutes

Author: Paul (Page 101 of 147)

Ode to a Big Mac (Supersize that?)

E. V. reports seeing a sign announcing a “Poetry Event” on the McDonald’s in Raleigh. Could that event be related to this (from the North Carolina Writer’s Network News Letter):

Signed Books Needed for Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser

The Writers’ Network is calling on members to contribute signed copies of their books for a fundraising auction Friday, February 3, at the Washington Duke Inn to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Durham. Please send signed books to: Ms. Lisa Lambert, Special Events Director, Ronald McDonald House of Durham, 506 Alexander Ave., Durham, NC 27705. Include your name, address, value of the book, and a memo stating the auction item is from the N.C. Writers’ Network. A receipt will be forwarded for your records. To request an invitation to the wine tasting and auction, e-mail specialevents@ronaldhousedurham.org.

Or is it, as Tanya Olsen suggests, the work of Langston Fuze?

Fred in Austin-American

Fred’s Facebook research gets him sourced in an Austin-American story, “Are you on the Facebook?”

A section of the story below:

Of all the online social network services, including My-Space and Friendster, Facebook is the 800-pound gorilla, said Fred Stutzman, who is working toward a doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science.

To its users, the Facebook is just as important as cell phones and laptops, he said.

“It has been totally ingrained in the social system. For the majority of undergrads, it is part and parcel of how they exist . . . online and offline,” said Stutzman, who is conducting a study of UNC freshmen’s use of the Facebook. “It’s the sense that when they’re part of the Facebook, they’re part of the community.”

New Year’s Walk on the Eno

We may have lost someone on the annual New Year’s Hike along the Eno River.
Our friends, Lee Landers and her son Bryon, called us and encouraged us to join them on the hike on this mild winter’s day. We are glad to join them. The weather here was in the 60s and clear so when we got to the hike site there were already over 100 others ready to go. There were three walks to choose from: a children’s walk, a 1.5 mile walk to Buckquarter Creek and a longer more strenuous hike of about 4 miles up Cox Mountain. We choose the last knowing that Cox Mountain is only about 600 ft above sea level and just a couple of hundred feet up from the river. But I had forgotten just how steep that rise could be. We crossed the swinging bridge over the River and headed up. Our crowd was over 100 people. Most all of us were panting by the time we reached the top of the Mountain. Up ahead of us a group of people were cluster around a guy on the ground. His face was purple and someone was beating on his chest. We called for a medical person but no one was in the crowd. The hike leader pulled out his radio and called for help. We were urged to walk on rather than crowd around and did. About 30 minutes later the Emergency Trucks were trying to drive along the trail which goes much too close to the River and across some rocks in ways that make a good part of it unpassable. Then rescue guys on a gator came by. I think they made it to the man. As we ended our hike we saw the helicopter carrying him off. The gossip, and this is no more than gossip, is that he had to be hit with the defibrillator several times but that he did have a pulse as he left.

UPDATE: Here’s the News and Observer report on the heart attack story.

UPDATE 2: The News and Observer reports that William Jewett, 69, died as a result of the heart attack described above.

Ain’t Gonna Bump No More No Big Fat Woman on air

Lorrinda’s note reminds me that WUNC’s State of Things aired Michael Parker reading “Hidden Meanings: Treatment of Time, Supreme Irony, and Life Experiences in the Song ‘Ain’t Gonna Bump No More No Big Fat Woman’” on Thursday. Here’s how it was listed:

Dec. 29, 2005
Term Paper: Greensboro writer Michael Parker reads “Hidden Meanings, Treatment of Time, Supreme Irony, and Life Experiences in the Song, ‘Ain’t Gonna Bump No More No Big Fat Woman,'” published in “New Stories from the South” (Algonquin/2005). The short story takes the form of an increasingly personal college term paper. (30:00)

I managed to miss the show, but it should be in the Archives and/or by podcast soon. The most recent show archived today is 12/22/2005.

E and P on Privacy of Blogs

The discussion of the privacy of blogs (remember my concern was with the blogs of kids and that concern supported by Fred’s study of college students) that came up in regards to the murder in Clayton and the coverage following by the News and Observer has gotten Editor and Publisher columnist Greg Mitchell’s attention in his Pressing Issues space.
In many ways, I should feel good that this discussion is ongoing, but the topic has lost the most important element to me — the ethics of dealing with kids blogging. This wasn’t lost on Ted Vaden nor on John Robinson, but I don’t see that most important issue actually discussed in Mitchell’s column. Sure he mentions that issue by quoting Vaden, but even Matt Dees, whose article on the subject of blog privacy got me started on all of this thinking, doesn’t deal much with the age and ethics issues.

New Year’s Eve Eve with Alan and Sylvia

Alan Garr and Sylvia Garrard write:

Alan Garr will be performing at Open Eye Cafe on Friday, December 30 at 8pm. Open Eye Cafe is located in the heart of Carrboro, NC at 101 South Greensboro Street just across from that smelly yellow eyesore, Wendy’s Restaurant; and I use the term restaurant loosely…Anyway, appearing with Alan will be Sylvia Garrard and Ryan Groulx, so come on out and celebrate New Year’s Eve EVE with us

Privacy of blogs and ethics of journalism

John Robinson of the News and Record and Ted Vaden of the News and Observer try navigating the questions I raised in my note to Matt Dees earlier this week, questions that were asked again by others in response to News and Observer Editor Melanie Sill’s blog entry on covering blogs as a part of a story. The question is of course which parts of which story? Or as JR restates the thread [taken from Ted Vaden’s NandO piece – pj]: “Can publication of online information be an invasion of privacy? What’s the age cutoff for publishing children’s blogs? How aware is the young person of the effect of publication?”
I’m beginning to see that Phil Meyer and I will disagree on much of this as my own thoughts are getting better formed. I continue to be informed by Fred Stutzman’s study of privacy expectations and of what is actually revealed on the web by students using Facebook as I think about the ethical questions surrounding journalistic uses of information found in personal blogs.

War on Christmas (Interplanetary edition)

Santa v. Martians
A major event in the war on Christmas was documented in one of my delightful gifts — Santa Claus Conquers the Martians novelization and DVD of the 1964 film which features not only Pia Zadora as a child actress but much of the same scramble footage as seen in Dr. Strangelove (which was released the same year).
Also in the movie, the original version of the traditional Christmas carol “Hooray for Santy Claus.”
Also available at archive.org.

Passing for BBQ, Passing for Beef

In this part of Deep East Texas, BBQ is used as a word for almost anything but pulled pork: chopped beef, sliced beef, beef brisket, turkey done the same ways and the mysterious Hot Links which are mild sausages. No amount of ketchup based brown sause will turn any of this into pulled pork. Not even the deceptively simple Eastern vinegar and pepper sauce could change it for the best. I can say I have had Hot Links and would just as soon have andouville
On our way down, we stopped at one of the Sonny’s chain (from Gainesville, FL) where the pork was sliced or pulled and you could have all you could eat (including beef and chicken) for under $7. There the disappointment was that only brown ketchup based sauce was on the table. As we left, I did see packets of South Carolina style mustard based sauce but that was too late.
In Mississippi, we stopped in a Chili’s where I had a buffalo burger which was passing for lean beef. The meat was good a flavorful, but the associated pepper flavored condoments were decidedly weak and mild (perhaps seasonal?).
There is no substitute for NC pulled pork be it Eastern or Lexington.

Christmas night sing along at WCOM 8:30 p.m.

Melva Flager Okum writes

I’m gathering at crowd at the WCOM (corner of Weaver St. and N Greensboro St.) studio on Christmas night at 8:30 p.m. (3:30 Hawaiian time) to sing the Hawaiian Christmas song, Melekaikimaka. The below URL will get you to the music and also below you can see the words. I encourage people to bring bells, flutes, guitars, yukuleles and whistles with them. Gina (recently returned from Hawaii) and Susan (also recently returned from Hawaii where she, Richard, and Gina walked or ran the Honolulu marathon) and I have been practicing singing the song on our morning walks – not that we are any good, but we have been practicing. And you can sing it or play it, too. We will be live on the air for the whole world to hear – for better or for worse. Feel free to tell others about it – whom you think might enjoy such a moment. Live – you’re on WCOM radio.

p.s. I’ve called my friend Angela Sy in Honolulu and she can join us by phone for the sing along. No matter what we’re on the air so don’t miss this fun moment. You can tell family and friends to listen along and sing along by going to our webstreaming option at www.communityradio.coop and in the upper right hand corner, click on the webstreaming button. She is working on gathering some friends to join her in Honolulu so this is a Carrboro to Honolulu sing along, made possible by WCOM radio.

Click on this link to get the words and hear the music!

Also, lyrics…

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawiian Christmas Day
That’s the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii’s way to say Merry Christmas to you

A Hui Ho! (Till we meet again!)

Diebold leaves NC

Rather than comply with fair elections laws, quesionable voting machine maker Diebold chooses to leave North Carolina. Considering the mess the closed machines made in the last election, I’m not sorry to see them go. Accountable machines should be required and should not be negotiable. Don’t let the screen door hit you as you leave Diebold. Play fair or leave town was the message and we see the path you took.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Real Paul Jones

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑