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The Next Civil War

I’ve always snickered at folks who think the South will rise again, but after witnessing my beloved Bulldawgs suffer great indignity during the BCS Selection Show, I’m ready pick up arms and declare a secession. Hawaii?! Lewis Grizzard is rolling over in his grave! The one team that no one took seriously even though they were the lone undefeated—bull hockey! This while Illinois, with three losses, gets to have their teeth kicked in by the USC Trojans at the Rose Bowl.

Gimme Some Coin

The Mayor of Upper Cherry Street called the office with some interesting news. Seems that Mayor Ellis isn’t done yet. He’s minted some coins, no joke, of himself. You can go to the WMCC News blog and peep some pictures of these bronze babies. They announce one indisputable fact and two nice goals. Fact: “C. Jack Ellis First African American Mayor of Macon, GA.” And, wishful thinking: “Macon, Georgia… One of the Most Livable Cities in America/A City of Excellence.” (It’s true unless you’re a homeowner, a police officer, a downtown business owner, or a child trying to catch the school bus.)

It’s how you look at it, stupid

Contrary to my cynicism about Macon being one of the MOST “livable” cities in America, I do love this town. I just see it for what it is: a work in progress. So it hurts when I think it’s being maligned needlessly, just like it makes me roll my eyes when I think it’s being praised needlessly.

The Telegraph ran a big story about the city going through a projected 30% economic slowdown. However, the deal is that the percent decrease seems really contrived. Towards the end of the article, it points out that the 30% decrease is actually the projected percent change off of an earlier projection, both projections actually suggesting that the economy will still grow… even if the number went down from 2.7% to 1.9%.

When Executive Editor Sherrie Marshall states in her blog, in defense of the excessive Oprah coverage, that Telegraph readers wanted more positive stories, this is probably what they meant. Don’t spin things like this so they seem so damn dire. Just tell the story. It doesn’t have to be fluff to be positive.

Buzz for the King Bee

This time last year, a coalition starring Alan Walden and Bill Elder tried to get the Georgia Music Hall of Fame to induct “the King Bee”, Hamp Swain. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. So they’re trying it again. If you don’t know, Hamp was the first black DJ in Macon, and the first DJ of any color in America to play James Brown—in fact, he helped record Brown’s first demo in the basement of the WIBB building here. He was the first to play Otis Redding, and his “Teenage Party” was some of the first exposure Redding got outside of church. In later years, he established a record label to help get other locals a chance to be heard. It seems safe to conclude that without Hamp Swain some of those greats wouldn’t have been heard. Go to www.HampSwain.com for more details.

Try a Little Remembrance

Speaking of Otis Redding, December 10^th marks the 40^th Anniversary of his untimely passing. The aforementioned GMHF will be hosting a memorial reception. It’s free to the public from 7p-9p with their big Otis exhibit on display. There’ll be dignitaries and such present, perhaps some music too. This celebration of our famous native son extends across the country at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, the Stax Museum, and in Wisconsin where his plane crashed. As nice as those all will be, there’s no tribute as fitting as putting on a few tracks and remembering the power in that man’s voice.

The Readers Choice Awards

The 11th Hour’s big fuzzy publisher gave me the inside track on how some of the voting is going in our Readers Choice Awards. Obviously, he found this one situation rather amusing: Telegraph columnist Ed Grisamore has charged far ahead of booze columnist Chris Horne in the Best Writer category. Funnier to me is that, within a month of the other, they both profiled the same person for their respective papers: Westside student Quin Simpson. Maybe our voters saw Ed’s version and liked it better.

Oprah… again?!

As sick as I am that I’m doing this, I’m even sicker that I feel obliged to. The Telegraph ran another front-page story on Oprah. Apparently, it is NEWS to us that we were on TV. That’s what the article was about—that and how we’re still Oprah-crazy around here. On a different note, I think it’s time The 11th Hour took credit for spreading the word that Macon is the birthplace of the Kazoo. Sure, some folks knew about it, but no one was talking until the 2006 City Guide came out with that juicy tidbit in it. And of course, who put on the (failed) World Record Kazoo attempt? We did. I bring this up because Oprah passed out kazoos on her show.