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.

Beach Boy

I had Foster with me for Christmas. For 9 days! It was glorious. Here he is at Dauphin Island...



So, we had a nice Christmas, saw a handful of friends in town, spent some good time at Callaghan's, and walked and played a lot. He's back in Montgomery now and I'm back to trying to get my life moving forward...

It is 78 degrees right now

New York: 31 degrees and snowy.
Mobile: 78 degrees and sunny.

Winter here is always mild, but this is just crazy! Too bad the days are too short to get out there and enjoy it. I'd love to be in a kayak right now (or walking through Central Park with some hot chocolate; the lack of winter here has always bothered me).
Maybe I'll take some work and sit out on the sidewalk in front of the office...

Old Man River

A little fog last night down by the Ol' Mississip...

300,000

A great milestone has been reached! On Nov. 22, while driving up to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, the Explorer reached 300,000 miles! The site of this historic achievement was I-65 North, near mile marker 93; just south of Evergreen.

Fourteen years and counting; 300,000 miles and counting. The Explorer's Reign Continues!



Just over 4 years ago, on our 10th anniversary, I compiled and emailed some Explorer stats and accomplishments. I'll update that soon for a future post. Until then, keep drivin'... keep tryin' to catch the Explorer...
It won't happen.

Men on Planks

From The Guardian via Deadspin (some funny comments at this site) via Chris Hayes, your Picture of the Week:

SNL, Live

Granted, SNL hasn't been that great in recent years, but this had to have been awesome...a live club show at UCB!

Live on Stage in Chelsea, It’s Saturday Night!

And tomorrow night there's gonna be a live 30 Rock...that's gonna be great!

11.11.07

Man lifting crabtrap on the Causeway, Mobile Bay, AL

Life Here

Oh, how I miss girls. Do you know any? See any?

More Unbelievable Harm to the World

We've heard bits of this before, but this is just an incredibly upsetting tale. I am speechless. It is just incomprehensible what they have done to the country and the world. Just devastating!

The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know

Banner Night

You know how in the movies they break down doors to get in somewhere? Yeah, I just did that for the first time. Some people were over here at my house today, and it seems one of them was fiddling around the the lock in the doorknob, because when I stepped out to take the trash out a little while ago and lightly pulled the door behind me just to keep the bugs out, it closed. And it locked. So here I am after midnight on the back porch in my boxers with no key and no phone. Even if I wanted to call Mom (who has a spare key) or a blacksmith to come over and let me in, I couldn't. That's okay, though, because I wasn't in the mood to wait around. After a minute of thought, there was really only one choice. Luckily I live in an old house and the wood's not the strongest anymore, so it only took a few gradually building shoulder rams to bust in. boom, BOom, BOOM! and I'm back in. You know, I'm glad I realized how easy it was before the local burglars did. Gonna have to beef that up. Luckily the deadbolt still works, which is all I really use anyway. Just had to stuff some wood and metal back into place and I'm back in business.

Here's how it looked right after the bustup:


This, along with some other disgruntling things, made for a brilliant evening here in fantastic Mobile. The one good thing? The Red Sox won the World Series!

Now back to your regularly scheduled bullshit.

Play of the Day

This is amazing!

Trinity (TX) Laterals Their Way to Division III Win

Sox Win!

The Red Sox beat the Indians tonight in Game 7 of the ALCS. We're going back to the Series! That's what happens when you mess with Papelbon...

Don't mess with Papelbon!!!

Update to Shooting Story (previous post)

There's another story in the paper today about the old lady who shot the clothes-washing intruder. It mentions that the police had to take her gun for the time being as evidence. But fear not, good citizen, for Ethel Sanders has backup:

"In the meantime, there is a hatchet sitting next to her bed."

True dat.

There was this story was on the al.com blog today...81-year-old shoots homeless man in her laundry room...and tonight I happened to catch the same story on the tv news. They interviewed a neighbor, who had the following to say: "She's bedridden but there ain't nothin' wrong with her trigger finger."