C’mon in … the door’s open …

Well, I toldja last go’round that I’d catch up on our StreetSide segment … but forgot to tell ya how I’m handlin’ it these days.
As readers of my old column know, I usedta get out around the Pineville/Charlotte area and just listen to the things that people were talkin’ about. Then, I’d include it in the StreetSide section.
Ahhhh, but this is the age of the internet, and, now, I’ve asked folks to write in with what people are sayin’ in their neck-of-the-woods.
Soooo, that bein’ said, here’s how it’s gonna run:

STREETSIDE: From Tahoma, Washington comes word that folks are a little concerned that the vibrant, attractive Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, might make Ms. Cindi (McCain) a bit jealous … and that Johnny Mac might be a little tempted to get to know his running mate … er, “a bit better!” (get the point??)
Naaaah … for one thing, McCain just isn’t that type. He knows and appreciates the fact that Sarah’s married, and he also knows what’d happen if he ever tried somethin’ like that. No, not just the tabs digging into his political hide, but Cindi would probably beat the bejabbers outta him!!
Now, I’ll letcha know The Eagle’s votin’ for Obama, but I still respect John’s moral standing. He’s just not interested in steppin’ out on his missus …

In Natchez, Mississippi, the lion’s share of gab has to do with the hurricane that’s gonna hit the Gulf Coast shortly (hey … it’s obvious!). But these folks are talkin’ more about helpin’ their neighbors (yeah, as well as themselves) in case somethin’ happens. Seems they’re sharper about a ‘cane’s effects now that they’ve wrestled with Katrina.
Some have already loaded up on canned foods, gotten a mess of milk jugs filled with drinkable water, battery-operated radios, high-beam flashlights and boarded up some of their windows.
What’s the old saying, “Prior planning prevents poor performance”? Well, this time, they’re gonna make sure they’re ready!

A reader from Baltimore, Maryland tells me the obvious: That the whole city is still buzzin’ about their Olympian, Michael Phelps. He says: “It’s the one thing everbody (sic) can agree on. Right now, its like Michael is God or something.” Well, I wouldn’t exactly go that far, Herb, but he is phenomenal. And listen — the eight-time gold medalist has more than home turf proud of him … this humble, sensible (and fast) young’un is America’s hero now!

HEY … DO YA LIKE 50s MUSIC??

Remember the “doo-wop” years? Yeah, it was romantic, wholesome … and downright melodious! Well, the vid you’re about to see shows ya how some of the unique sounds were created … sort of! Yes, it’s funny … yes, it’s a “parody” … no, you won’t be able to hear Everyday by Buddy Holly from now on without laughing. It’s called
THE LEGENDS OF DOO-WOP

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE (although it can’t get much lighter than that “Doo-Wop” video), there’s the email I received from a reader in Saskatchewan, Canada. It’s called “Murphy’s Lesser-Known Laws”:

Light travels faster than sound. It’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don’t.

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong.

The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

When you go into court, you are putting yourself In the hands of 12 people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty.

Well, that’s it for this go’round. So, until next time (when we finally get back to mornal … normel … nurmal … ummm, regular sections), tell me: What’s on your mind?

C’mon in … the door’s open …

Man, I said I wasn’t gonna do it again, but …

Well, I’m headin’ out in about a week to do some damage … er, work … with Ohio Championship Wrestling.

But, this time, it’s gonna be just a leeeeeetle different.

I’m goin’ in as my Rock Relic character (now, this oughtta be fun!).  Hey … that’s what they want, that’s what they get!

Anyway, I’ve gotten emails from a lotta folks who (when I wrote on one of my other blogs about ‘rasslin’) really read me the riot act about how “silly” this so-called “sport”.

But lemme point out a coupla-three things, okay?

• First, professional wrestling is a physical contest; it’s just wrapped in an “entertainment” format. Whether the matches are “scripted” or not is actually a moot point; the fact is that they do work, sweat and strain to make it all look as real — and give the fans their money’s worth. It’s very physical.



• And there’s not much difference between a good “family-friendly” wrestling card (where there’s no obscene or offensive junk) and the rock concerts of the Sixties! If you want proof of that, just visit The Rock Relic’s post on rock and wrestling.
• But you’ve also gotta look at the fact that, honestly, pro wrestling mirrors reality! Uh-huh … because, y’see, we’re all wantin’ to put on the best show possible to please our particular “crowd” (remember “gets along well with others” on yer report card??). For some, it means taking on a different (though staged) personality (wait. You mean you’ve been watchin’ the political race and haven’t caught on to that??? lol).The only difference is that, in reality, life is the ring, and our opponents are whatever we’re up against on a daily basis. The hard part is that we don’t have the option of going to a room and working out who’s gonna win or lose! And our “matches” are genuine!

Still, it’s gonna be a fun gig. I know many of the wrestlers on the card (including a fantastic young superstar [and former high school English teacher!], Mason Raige [see pic at top]) … and a few of the fans.

Besides, I need a break …

Okay, listen — accordin’ to the clock-on-the-wall, it’s … broken!  Sheesh …
Anyway … I’ve got a few things to see and people to do until tonight, so, ’til I get back, think about it and tell me:
What’s on your mind?

Oh, yeah … we’ll get back to the regular format tonight, too!

Hey … c’mon in; the door’s open …

I was just readin’ the paper a bit — you know, about these conventions and everything.  Y’know, it’s weird how both sides say they’ll solve our country’s problems!
I mean, if that’s the truth, then why don’t they just combine forces??  Yeah … in fact, they don’t even need to have an election:  With both sides havin’ the answer, they can combine their plans and, somehow, maybe put it in a little pill form, and make it mandatory that every American take it regularly!
They could call it:  Obamacain — the wonder drug guaranteed to cure EVERY headache!  (huh?  Why not switch th’ names around?? ‘Cause if ya start it with John’s last name, it’ll sound like it came from a hamburger chain …)  Yeah, I know they could put it in a powder form like Goody’s® or somethin’, but you know how hard powders are to take and …
hmmm … powders? Political races?  “hard to take”?  Lemme get back with ya on that one.  You may be onto something  …

A SPECIAL “SHOUT-OUT”:  Okay … call me sentimental,  but I’ve gotta give a great big shout-out to my friends in Pineville, North Carolina.   If it weren’t for those folks and their warm hearts, this rascal woulda never gotten into press to begin with!  I know the town’s changin’, but I hope the wonder, humility and love of the people who make this community never changes!  I’m proud to be a Pinevillite — and will ALWAYS be one deep inside!!

NEWS YOU CAN USE  Now, everybody who knows The Eagle will tell ya that, if anything makes him bear his talons, it’s findin’ that a young’un or woman’s been beaten or abused!  But, what I don’t understand is why the courts don’t do more to stop it!  I mean, they give these creeps … this scum that beats their loved ones … a “slap on the wrist”, even if they’ve done it before! 
And, guess what??  As sure as I’m the Bald Bird, they’ll do it again and again until someone’s seriously injured, in a coma or dead! (hey … gotta call it like it is!)
Now, when I went STREETSIDE with the question: What should the courts do with abusers?, the people gave three basic answers: 

• In response to the first (and most common) one, I can only ask “Who’ll provide the rope?”
• For the second, I wonder if there really is a remote island somewhere that’d be big enough to hold ‘em.
• Now, the third one made me think a bit:  Y’all said that the courts are so busy tryin’ to judge the perps’ present crime that they don’t look at their ”rap sheet” to see if they’re habitual abusers!  If they are, then the sentence should be a lot stricter!   It’s a good idea …

Now, listen (and this is why I’m sorta pre-empting the full StreetSide segment) – this is IMPORTANT!
If you think that YOU, a DAUGHTER, COUSIN, CO-WORKER or OTHER FRIEND is being abused (and remember … it’s not always physically-noticeable!), GET HELP IMMEDIATELY!!!!! 
You might get the feelin’ that “well, they won’t like me pryin’” or “I don’t wanna lose their friendship!”  Listen … wouldja feel the same way if ya saw on the news that they’d been murdered?  And, if ya think you’ll lose their friendship, lemme ask ya:  What’s more important:  their friendship … or their lives?? 

Okay … so where do ya go to get that help?  Of course, you can go to various resources in your community (for example: abuse shelters, programs, etc.).  The best link I can find on the web to help is at http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm

Let’s give every woman … every child … a chance to grow, to love, to live freely and happily.  All it takes is to keep our eyes and ears open to watch out for our loved ones …. and our hearts open to help them …

Okay, that’s it for this edition.  So, until tomorrow, tell me: What’s on your mind?

C’mon in — the door’s always open …

Now, just find yourself a good chair and sit a spell while I show ya how this thing works (oh … just overlook the sawdust this once, okay? I’m just finishin’ up the woodwork here so we can be “open for business” before th’ next ish …):

Y’see, a long time back (I figure about twenty-two years ago), I was asked to write a little column in a paper called The Pineville Pioneer (huh?? It’s in North Carolina, just a little south o’ Charlotte …). Well, the editors liked that one so much that they asked me to do two more: one about our local school and the other about television shows.

Then the paper was sold and the new editors asked me just to cut it down to one big column for, by and about people and issues of the day. (Hmph … said they liked my style of writing! Guess they could read “chickenscratch” …)
Now, I didn’t know how well it’d do, but … well, people seemed to like it, and it was picked up by three other papers in the local area! I was bein’ called The Eagle by those students I was writin’ about earlier, so the moniker stuck.

When I left for the tall timbers of Appalachia (actually, Ashland, Kentucky), the column was continued in one of their papers on a monthly basis! Again, it seemed that everybody liked it … but, then, the paper folded (no pun intended. I suppose …). So, now, thanks to the wonderful folks here at Today.com, I’ve opened ‘er up to the internet, and … there’s gonna be a new edition every day of the week now!!

NEWS YOU CAN USE After a few words at the top of the page where we can just chill out for a minute, we’ll get to this section.

Huh? Awwww, we’ll talk about news and other stuff that folks can use in their everyday livin’! The good part is that you send the ideas in! Just email topics you wanna talk about, or leave a message in the comments section here, and we’ll cover ‘em in the next post! Just make sure someone can get some good outta your idea, okay??

STREETSIDE: Here, I usedta get out on the streets, into the coffee shops and malls, and find out what folks were jawjackin’ about. Then I’d print it in my column (providin’ it was clean). No names were ever used without permission from the folks who were doing the talkin’.
Now, if you’ve got your “ear to the ground” wherever you live, just take a few notes on what people are sayin’ and send ‘em in! I won’t use any names, natch, but it’ll be worked up and your neck-of-the-woods will get a little free publicity out of it all!

SPOTLIGHT In the original Coffee Talk, I took one specific person, place or thing that really made a difference to folks in the area. Today, I wanna do the same thing, but I’m countin’ on you to send those who you believe need a bit of recognition … and it can be from your area!

Now, if ya notice, everything’s written in a sort of “dialoguish” way.  The reason:  People talk that way!

Okay … I’ll be back tomorrow with more, but we <em>had</em> to get-on-board with this first post.

So, until then, this guy’s gonna hit the sack for about 360 minutes.  But I will be back … and that’s when we’re gonna start this thing properly!