"His Choice"

Awesome.

Flickr Finds

Glorious: Maple Bar Bacon Wrapped Hot Dog

Obama's gmail

Josh's MTV Choose or Lose video!

And here's the link to it at MTV.

Congressional Quarterly upgrades our race

From CQ Race Ratings Changes, Part Two: Democrats Gain Ground

South

• Alabama’s 3rd District (New Rating: Republican Favored. Old Rating: Safe Republican)

The DCCC on Tuesday added Josh Segall, a lawyer who is challenging three-term Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Alabama’s 3rd District, to the Red to Blue program. After watching Segall’s developing campaign from a distance, Democratic officials were impressed by a fundraising operation that produced $807,000 in receipts through Sept. 30 to $1.3 million for the incumbent.

The 3rd — a conservative-leaning eastern Alabama district that includes part of Montgomery and also takes in smaller cities such as Auburn and Anniston — would have seemed very unlikely not long ago. Rogers won with 59 percent over a little-known and underfunded Democrat in 2006; two years earlier, President Bush received 58 percent of the 3rd District vote.

But Democrats believe they have stronger potential in the district, in large part because a strongly Democratic-voting black constituency makes up nearly a third of the population. And this segment of the district’s electorate is activated as never before by Democrat Barack Obama ’s strong presidential bid that would make him the first African-American to win the White House.

“This year, you’re going to see a different voter universe in District 3, and that means that District 3 could be a sleeper,” said Artur Davis , the three-term representative of Alabama’s 7th District, who is widely regarded as a rising star among black members of Congress. “I believe that race is probably closer today than some people around the country may believe it to be.”

Despite the district’s longstanding Republican leanings, there are other pockets of Democratic support in the 3rd, including around the Auburn University campus.

Segall for Congress update

Busy busy here with only 27 days to go. The ad war continues, we had our first televised debate yesterday, and new polls show us closing on Rogers fast.

Click here for a link to the debate, and see more news, etc. at Segall2008.com.

Here's the latest ad:

A Man Had a Dream...

See also: http://www.bananaderby.com/

Seven Days

So the primary is next Tuesday. This time next week..knock on wood...Darden should be the Democratic nominee and we'll be shifting gears for the general. But first! The contribution deadline is this Thursday at midnight. If you haven't contributed a little already, or if you'd like to do more, please do now! We need it bad right now, with a few big bills left this week for our Get Out The Vote mailing and some other things. Please help Darden, and help me, have a great week and roll to victory Tuesday!

Been busy as ever lately. We have a couple of new videos up on out Media page, and more are on the way. We also are using our Facebook page as a sort of small-time version of MyBarackObama; using it to gain exposure and supporters. Check it out...coming soon is a video about the big rally we had at the beach last Saturday.

And speaking of Democratic nominees and videos, watch this new video of Josh talking about infrastructure and jobs:



Good stuff, eh?! It's going to be an awesome Sept-Oct-November.

July

What a busy July. Started with a visit by Mom and Dad, will end with Obama in a local gym in Friday (although that's really August). Raised a lot of money, spent some too. Mail, calls, events, stragegy, chaos. Candidate forums. iPhone! A nice one-night trip to DC. New Facebook (blech). No more Scrabulous. Ted Stevens indicted. Cookies, dough and otherwise!
June feels like a year ago.
27 days till the primary! Catch up with campaign news!

Josh in The Hill

Deep South Democrat Segall seeks a more traditional path to victory

Heady Days in St. Pete

I would be remiss in not mentioning my own campaign after mentioning Josh's so much. There's a lot going on with the Darden Rice Campaign! That's why y'all don't hear from me much...I'm swamped.

We've been on a roll for the last month or so, picking up good endorsements from state House reps and others, having good fundraisers and other events, and getting out there in front of voters. Just this week, vote-by-mail began and we mailed out 16,000 mail pieces about Darden to land with the ballots from the Secretary of Elections, and we're running phone banks all this week to call several thousand of the best voters in that group to ask for their vote. Hundreds of people have said they send in their ballots and voted for Darden, so that's exciting...we have our first actual votes in the bag!

We've also been getting some good press lately, with the most recent hit a few days ago about the help we're getting from Larry Biddle, the guy who ran Howard Dean's groundbreaking 2004 online fundraising operation. Larry's great and he's helping us in some neat ways that will unfold in the coming weeks (none of which are this).

Also, I've had our Facebook page up for a couple of weeks. Check it out and become a supporter; that's going to be good way to follow us as things progress, and keep an eye on our site our site too for news, events, more videos, etc. Sign up for our weekly campaign updates!

Sorry to push all this on y'all; I'm just excited to share what I've been doing down here. One last thing: a lot of you out there have said you will contribute. Now's a good time! We have our first reporting deadline at midnight Friday....that's about 45 hours from now...and we want to have a great showing for this first and biggest report. The primary is just over a month away now, and we still have a ton to do. Please go to our contribute page and chip in to help the campaign, help Darden, help me!

Okay, thanks. Coming soon: a report on how I am now complete.

Josh in DailyKos

Good post on Josh in DailyKos tonight! "Well good thing the Josh Segall campaign is as sharp as any campaign I've seen."

Josh's First Video - Alabama Roots

Josh has a great video up on his site and YouTube channel! Check it out! (And see of you recognize the still shots by a certain photographer). See his news too; his is one of the DCCC's Emerging Races.

Explorer as Heat Lamp

I just like to state how effective a car in the sun is as a keep-food-warm device.
This morning, like most, I made two to-go mugs of coffee. Brought one into the office with me, left the other in the car. I just got it out....it's about as hot as when I made the coffee this morning!

Same goes for food. I make some microwave Boca food item in the morning, leave it in it's wrapper in the car, and when I get it in the afternoon......hot and (nearly) fresh!

Brilliant!

An amusing passage from A.O. Scott's review of The Love Guru:

No, “The Love Guru” is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again.

And this is, come to think of it, something of an achievement. What is the opposite of a belly laugh? An interesting question, in a way, and to hear lines like “I think I just made a happy wee-wee” or “I’m making diarrhea noises in my cup” or to watch apprentice gurus attack one another with urine-soaked mops is to grasp the answer. Please don’t misunderstand: I’m not opposed to infantile, regressive, scatological humor. Indeed, I consider myself something of a connoisseur. Or maybe a glutton. So it’s not that I object to the idea of, say, witnessing elephants copulate on the ice in the middle of a Stanley Cup hockey match, or seeing a dwarf sent flying over the same ice by the shock of defibrillator paddles. But it will never be enough simply to do such things. They must be done well.

Funny Chris Hayes Post...

What Kind of Guy?

Eric Moseley operates a charming inn here...

Although he spells his name differently now...

Recent Photos

Busy busy on the campaign trail. Got some St. Pete photos up on Flickr now. Not a lot from work because I'm careful about that, but there are some nice mild scenes from life here.

Cat on a Leash

in Gulfport, Florida.

Onlookers are stunned as area man wrangles his leashed cat


"Let him through!....He's a sorcerer!!!"


A moment of calm belies the wizardry at play

Progress

As usual, the West is the Best: California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

And check out Josh in The Politico! He also is continually improving his site; check it out if you haven't been in awhile (and see new photos by me).

And as to my whereabouts...probably common knowledge by now but since I haven't updated the blog on awhile: Cali was huge but it will be there in the fall; I decided to take a campaign manager job in Florida for this election cycle. Darden Rice for Pinellas County Commission! (full site up in a few days) I have a great candidate, in a really complex swing district, and I get to spend 6 months living in St. Petersburg, about 80 yards from Tampa Bay! It will be a lot of hard, fun, interesting work, and I'll learn a lot too. All of this is happening already, in fact, from the first second I arrived here a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking of which...gotta get back to work. Our campaign kick-off party is tomorrow evening. Hope to see you there! Bring a check!

Update from Santa Monica

It's been a great, interesting, and informative trip to California. Some news from the past few weeks:

Josh had a great fundraising quarter - thanks to all of you who contributed - and has a redesigned website up. He's also gotten some good coverage in various blogs lately.

Looks like the Bush Administration is up to its usual tricks...using seemingly independent "military analysts" to spread propaganda about the war for the past 6 years so. Really, why aren't disgraced or censured or arrested by now?? Maybe next year...

As for what's happening here, it's been glorious to be back in the West, back visiting one of my best past lives. I've seen a bunch of friends, had great food and great coffee, had great moments on the beach or in the hills. I've also met interesting new people and contacts and have had some good meetings & job leads. California is, as always, the land of opportunity. I'm close to taking the next step on a new job/new location; news on that later.

One specific tale from recent days: last Saturday I joined Katie and some friends to compete in the 2008 Grilled Cheese Invitational. Bread. Butter. Cheese. Victory! It was a raucous night of hot cheesy goodness up in Griffith Park. See photos on my Flickr page.

Gotta run now. I'll leave you now with a couple more photos...

Esha's dog Mabel with me at Venice Beach.

Me & Esh on Santa Monica Beach.


Eli & Cheryl with Baby the stunt-parrot.

Home.

Current Events

Yesterday I ran my first Azalea Trail Run. It was fun. My official time wasn't great, 53-something because I started kinda far back, but my net (actual) was a respectable 52:28. I wish they would post that in the results. It wasn't my record, but close enough considering I hadn't been training real hard. Only saw a few familiar faces in the crowd but one...I was running along, somewhere between two and three miles, and heard "John!" I looked over, and it was Ryan Parker! He was chugging along at a good clip, we said hi, I said if he sees my lying in the road ahead to "just go over me", then I proceeded onward apace.

Here's something else that happened yesterday: BaconFest '08. I hate that I missed it.

I have new pictures up on Flickr. Scenes from life around here a few months ago, and I'm slowly uploading the photos from my great weekend in the Bay Area a few weeks ago for Eli's wedding.

And some big picture news: I'll be leaving my job in a few days and visiting LA for a week or so to follow some leads.

That's all for now. Have a good Sunday...

Ernice Kirkland in the News

To my fellow UMS-Wright alums: our favorite chalk-jerking earth science teacher was in the paper recently! (and under different variant of his name):

Read this doc on Scribd: Kirkland!

Go Russ

Bush's delusional speech, and Feingold's take.

In the News

Good article on Josh in the Brown Daily Herald.

I'm off to SF in a few hours for Eli's wedding! And Sunday night at the Silverboard house!

Segall for Congress Picking Up Speed

Josh was in the Washington Post yesterday. Like I've been saying, with good coattails and trade winds, he has a great shot at winning this campaign. He had a great public kickoff a few weeks ago, and with things like the Post article, it's clear that people are taking notice and seeing this as a winnable race.

Check out www.joshuasegall.com for more on Josh and the race (and admire my photography), and please join me in supporting him. Even if you can't vote in AL-3, a contribution would be a huge help. It takes a lot of money to beat an incumbent and the more we contribute, the better a campaign Josh can run, bringing in more attention and money and support, and it'll just snowball all the way to victory in November. Change always comes slowly to Alabama, but it's our generation's turn to step up, get involved, and make things happen for the betterment of the state and the country. Get on board, let's make a difference!

Early March Update

Been awhile. Howya doin'?

February was a bit slow for me after Mardi Gras (exciting photos here), but things are heating up a little now. Finally making a little headway on the job search. More on that as it develops. Other items:

Josh's campaign is picking up speed and gaining national notice. More on that in another post.

Also picking up speed is life at Dog River: Mom & Dad got an iMac! After being without computer for a few years, they finally got high-speed internet, wireless, and topped it off with a stunning 20" iMac. I've been helping them learn it, and Mom has become quite the video chatter!

I'm awaiting some Apple goodness of my own right now: my Time Capsule should be here in a few days, adding a second backup solution to the LaCie drive I clone my system to every week or so. Good peace of mind.

Next weekend I'm going out to Cali for the wedding of Eli, one of my LA friends. The wedding is up in Muir Beach, where he grew up. Just so happens that there was recently a great article in the NYT about the very area where the wedding will be, and there's going to be a wedding party hike Saturday morning on probably some of the same trails in the article. Check it out!

Northrup/EADS won the contract for the next Air Force tanker, which means Mobile is gonna build giant airplanes! This is huge for the city, region, and state. The steel mill was huge too, economically, but of course there are concurrent environmental and other issues with that. The tanker is much more exciting for me, because it's right in town, at Brookley, revitalizing that great old airfield; it brings a high-tech & high-skilled industry and workforce; furthers Mobile's development and modernization (hopefully it will be done smartly); and best of all, it's giant planes! That's one thing Mobile has always lacked that many great cities have - exciting air traffic!

And speaking of exciting air traffic, there go Branson and Virgin, kicking ass again.

And did you see this? Amigos de Obama. Fantastic song & video!

Otherwise, things have been pretty ho-hum here, just working, following the presidential race, and just trying to enjoy still being home but also working on my next move. The weather's been nice. And I can happily report that I've made jambalaya twice in the last week or so. That stuff's damn good!

Later...

Today in South Alabama

Funny: Firefighter fakes calls to ride truck

Stapleton Volunteer Firefighter Michael Salter Jr. liked to ride fire trucks so much that he called in false alarms to his own department -- twice in two days, Baldwin County authorities said today.

He's now charged with two counts of rendering a false alarm.

The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said today that Salter admitted to calling in phony emergencies from his Stapleton residence.

When investigators asked him why, he said, he "just loved" to ride on the fire truck, according to sheriff's spokesman Maj. Anthony Lowery.

iPhone vs. 18-wheeler

Phone left on trunk...lands on highway...gets run over by a semi...and starts ringing! Awesome.

In related news, modern times come to Dog River: My parents' house, sans computer for a few years now, is about to have a new iMac and high-speed internet for the first time. And wireless of course, so now, next time Dad is out mowing the front yard... I can live blog that shit.

Bacon News

Last night I stumbled upon IHeartBacon.com and found a treasure trove of interesting bacon links. My love for bacon is no secret, and I've tried plenty of different kinds and had bacon tastings at my house, but somehow I've never really combed the interwebs for all things bacon. Last night was a good start. Here are some things I found:

- First, an IHeartBacon tasting of Wild Boar Bacon!
- A great blog called Bacon Unwrapped has recipes for Bacon-wrapped Tater Tots and Bacon-wrapped Corn Dogs!
- Another site, another delicious item: Eggs baked in bacon cups.

If you're not hungry but you still want some bacon love, you can go to Archie McPhee's and get some bacon-themed items. I have the wallet, band-aids, and packing tape (thanks Josh).

These items are useful, but I'm really thinking, what with Carnival season here and the chance of going to a ball, that I would be wise to go on and get a Bacon Tuxedo. Have you ever seen better formalwear?!

While I'm at it, it might be a good time to get a Bacon Robot.

And of course, there's The Grateful Palate's bacon pages, including the Bacon of the Month Club.

Once all of this has whetted your appetite, and you've tried some creative bacon recipes, I invite you to put on your bacon tux and come on over to my house for a serious tasting, not unlike the one these chefs and writers recently had.

Who said my dream of a bacon restaurant was silly? It would work in New York. I have a whole vision...

I finally meet John Hafner!

Some of you may be aware that there has long been another fellow in town with my name, except he spells it with only one F. He is a professor at Spring Hill College, and though we know many people in common, and I've been frequently asked about him or gotten his phone calls, we had never met. But it's been an ever-present curiosity for years. I mean, just the other day I called somebody and they were bewildered that I wasn't him. So while living here this time around, I'd really been meaning to call him and finally make the connection.

Well a serendipitous moment befell me a few days ago! I walked over to Oakleigh to visit Marilyn (Culpepper, my saucy friend who runs the Historic Mobile Preservation Society and Oakleigh), and she said, lo and behold, John Hafner was upstairs in the parlor giving a reading! (He's a lit professor). So when that was over, I went right up to him and said "John Hafner?"
"Yes?"
"John Haffner!"
"Hello!"

And we had a great chat about what it's like to be us, and how we'd finally met after all these years, how he's my real dad, etc. He seems like a great guy (how could he not be? But what if he weren't; imagine meeting your namesake and he's a bum...) and we talked about meeting up again soon. I have a lot to learn from the wise professor who precedes me...

And so, at long last, John Hafner and I finally met. And it was Glorious.

Here we are on that riotous day, along with Marilyn in her Oakleigh garb...



PS... No word yet on whether he is secretly a member of Haffner Wind.

Cut Back, Be Frugal, Have Less Stuff

Good, important NYT piece:

Op-Ed Contributor: What's Your Consumption Factor?
By Jared Diamond
The world has serious consumption problems, but we can solve them if we choose to do so.

This is something everybody should be thinking about, and everybody can do their part, whether it's pushing for macro solutions by government and business, or micro solutions by individuals. We need both.

And in addition to the world, reducing consumption is good for your wallet, mind, body, etc. I've made good strides, as many of you know...eating less and better, walking more & driving less (fewer calories + more movement = more fit), spending less money, and just living simpler. It's been good for me and good for the world!

Llaima Erupts!

Exciting news from Araucania, the region in southern Chile I visited in May. A big volcano I saw when I was there, Llaima, erupted a couple of days ago! The main volcano I went to was Villarrica, but Llaima is its neighbor to the north, which I saw from the bus on way down. I wish I'd seen this! I love volcanoes! Check out some good video here.