Mad Man
Olympics lalapalooza
I think it's curious how every four years the world pauses for a couple of weeks to pay rapt attention to a litany of sports that most people never give a second though for 3.989 years. Then, suddenly every sport is of world wide importance, except baseball and golf. Are ...
It never makes any sense
How does someone come to a point where they are so unhappy with the world that it seems like a good idea to drop tear gas in a crowded theatre and then randomly open fire on the crowd? Obviously, this will reopen the argument for gun control as the solution. ...
Golf Gods Bring Rain, Courses Respond
Taking an early leave on Thursday afternoon to slip over and meet a friend at Southern Pines Golf Club, the venerable old Donald Ross jewel, we couldn't believe how lush the course and the greens were. The rain has really helped local golf courses. At S.P. there was only one ...
A Beginning on the Fourth of July
There's a lot of history around the 4th of July, and in all truth it only marks the beginning of a long and difficult struggle to freedom from British rule. It was a movement that half of the people at the time didn't even agree with. And declaring freedom was ...
Simpson's Surprise
Webb Simpson snuck in the back door with two strong rounds on the weekend to win the U.S. Open, staying on course while others on the leader board faltered at the end. Likeable Jim F looked like a sure bet with three holes to go. Clearly the USGA's desire to ...
Great Season for Wolfpack Baseball
Being a Demon Deacon at heart, I don't often pull for N.C. State. But when I do, it's well deserved (and I am an ACC fan, after all). That's how I feel about this year's NCSU baseball team, which was eliminated from the chance to go to the College World ...
Tiger's Win Yesterday
Tiger's been telling people in interviews he's not far off his game, but he's been inconsistent, so the doubters kept doubting. His win yesterday at Jack's place in Ohio ought to show them something. That's his second win of the year. I don't know if he'll ever dominate again they ...
The Passing of Doc
The passing of Doc Watson a few days ago is symbolic in that he's one of the last of the genuine grassroots musicians from the early days of folk and country music, at least before it got all slicked up and city-fied. He was the real thing, and represented our ...
Nanners and mossies
Never quite sure how to spell in Australian, or even pronunciate, but this tidbit just in from an Aussie friend. And he swears it's bloody well true: If you avoid eating bananas, you will be less tasty to the local mosquito population. That's right. If you avoid eating bananas, you ...
A Chance in Hell
Regardless of where you stand on America's dual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly if your support has waned somewhat in recent years, it's important to separate the actions of the 19-year olds who make up most of the soldiery there from the people who keep us there now. The ...
Albemarle is a neat little town
John Chappell's twitter feeds from the Pinelake murder trial's jury selection in Albemarle brings back memories of childhood years spent there. Albemarle for me means old Central Elementary School and the first, second and third grades. It was walking to school on crisp fall days with crunchy leaves underfoot, the ...
New life at Whisper Lake
After watching for weeks, the killdeer I wrote about in mid-June has produced two chicks so far, with two more eggs still in hatching. The first hatched last night and within minutes was scooting around the nest, his mother watching warily. On occasion, she'd peck on the eggs that were ...
Stunning beauty in the countryside
Life's more interesting if you look for the beauty in small things. You just never know when an extraordinary scene is around the curve. Driving back from a quick trip to Charlotte on Father's Day, we were traveling along NC 24-27 near Robbins. We passed a field of sunflowers in ...
A saga of life and birth
There is no telling what drove her to choose this particular site to have her offspring. Perhaps it was the near perfect camouflage for her coloring. Perhaps it was a sense of urgency, stemming from the eggs that she had inside. Whatever it was, she chose a rough, mossy patch ...
Remembering D-Day
Today is the anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Europe in World War II. Most people, less aware of history, or younger and less connected to the generation that went through it, will pass through today and not think about it, or even be aware of it. But today, I ...
Experience the joy of exceptional music
Generally speaking, it's more likely you'll find me at The Rooster's Wife on a Sunday evening, soaking in the sounds of American roots music, than at a symphony concert any day of the week. Like any music, classical has its various threads and styles, some of which are pleasing and ...
An important day in N.C.'s history
Regardless of what your feelings are about it, today marks an important date in the history of the Old North State. It was 150 years ago today that North Carolina withdrew from the United States and joined the other southern states in forming the Confederate States of America, and thus ...
Close up looks at spring
I've been shooting closeups of blooms for the past year, and find that the closer I look, the more beautiful they appear. Here is a clematis from last weekend.
United for a few minutes
If only for a brief and fleeting instant, it appeared the country came together this week with the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Even if we don't know exactly what it means in terms of bin Laden's role as a fading memory, American's seemed genuinely relieved. My neighbor, who ...
TV still a vast wasteland?
Fifty years ago a man named Newton Minow, who was the head of the Federal Communications Commission, gave a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters in which he characterized the television landscape as a "vast wasteland". This is akin to telling a room full of young mothers that, "All ...
