BoongaBlogger

Apollo 1

2012-01-27T06:21:00.001-05:00

A cabin fire on a test pad on January 27, 1967, killed all three members of the Apollo 1 crew, pictured here. They were Virgil "Gus" Grissom, the commander of the mission, Edwin White and Roger Chafee. NASA has more here.

Eggs Benedict

2012-01-26T06:36:00.005-05:00

I like Eggs Benedict, though I've never tried to make it at home. I sometimes get it at The Donut Hole in Santa Rosa Beach when we're vacationing at Seagrove Beach, Florida. They have a version that includes crab meat, and it is delightful. Eating Well has a recipe for Eggs Benedict that involves artichokes, which I find interesting. Perhaps I will work up my nerve and try to make it at home one day.

Mike Cross

2012-01-25T16:42:00.004-05:00

I've been a fan of Mike Cross since the early '80's, when I discovered his music in North Carolina. I have his CD Carolina Sky in the disk player in my car, and listened to the second song on the disk, "Green of His Eyes," on the way home from work. It is a song about Cross's deceased father, and since my own father died at age 54 in 1993, it makes me think of my dad. These lyrics in the last verse always get to me:

And some folks are listening
Like they understand
As a teardrop hangs over a smile
Well all I can say is that if your daddy's alive
You ought to go talk for a while

When I got home I found Cross's website and learned he was born here in Maryville. They should book him to play the Foothills Fall Festival.

Silence Returns

2012-01-24T16:37:00.002-05:00

I was pleased to learn today that Michael Silence, formerly of the Knoxville News Sentinel, has returned to the Tennessee blogosphere. His old blog was a daily read for me, and was usually my portal to the Sentinel, which has a link to his new home on his last post over there. I saw mention of the news on several Tennessee blogs today.

Molly And an Angry Bird

2012-01-24T07:01:00.000-05:00

Sarah received this plush Angry Bird for Christmas. Molly the cat doesn't trust it a bit.

Fragment of Asteroid

2012-01-23T03:45:00.001-05:00

This is a very small meteorite from an asteroid that fell to Earth and landed in the desert in Sudan. According to NASA, it was the first time a meterorite has been recovered from a known asteriod, and it is about 4 centimeters in diameter.

Colorized Vintage Photographs

2012-01-22T11:21:00.001-05:00

My sister Laura sent me this link to a bunch of colorized vintage photographs from Reddit, where people are colorizing old black and white photographs all the time. I found these images of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt to be striking. I like Lincoln's red tie and the warm look Roosevelt gives the baby in his arms. It really makes the photos come to life.

This Weekend

2012-01-22T06:58:00.003-05:00

Aside from making our weekly grocery run, I have been rather lazy this weekend, although I have at least one task to perform today. A vandal killed our mailbox with a baseball bat last weekend while we were in Nashville, and our letter carrier gave us notice Friday that our new mailbox must be more securely attached to our mail post than it is now, with bungee cords. It will give me the chance to try out the new drill Mom gave me for Christmas.

Sherry rearranged the furniture in our bedroom and Sarah's bedroom, so our downstairs area has a new look. Sarah was invited to a classmate's birthday party, and Sherry took her to the party and then to a friend's house afterward. I did nothing of any consequence, which made for a restful Saturday afternoon.

Restaurant Review -- Bread of Heaven, Alcoa, Tennessee

2012-01-21T11:50:00.001-05:00

It was a gloomy Friday here in Maryville, as it was in much of East Tennessee, and it is not much better today. When the weather is dreary, nothing brightens one's mood quite like comfort food. Accordingly, my former law partner and I dined yesterday at Bread of Heaven in Alcoa, and we did not leave hungry. I became aware of the restaurant and catering business when a fire temporarily put them out of business, and I finally got around to visiting the establishment when they reopened after the fire.

The restaurant is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and the buffet yesterday featured pulled pork barbecue, two different batches of chicken, chopped steak and gravy, baked beans, sweet potato casserole, fries, macaroni and cheese, greens, corn and, of course, banana pudding for dessert. I warned Mr. Colquitt, the proprietor, that I would soon return with my teenage stepsons.

Kitty Leater

2012-01-21T06:29:00.001-05:00

I recently looked through drafts of posts that I never published. Back in 2009, I took these photographs of Sarah's favorite and most beloved stuffed animal, Kitty Leater. The intervening years have not been kind to Kitty Leater, but Sarah still loves her the best of all of her toys.

Salsa Verde

2012-01-20T03:29:00.000-05:00

Sherry likes salsa verde. I see canned versions in the grocery store, but would like to try making it from scratch.

The Galloping Horse

2012-01-19T04:45:00.001-05:00

Edvard Munch, 1910-12

Jerome "Curly" Howard

2012-01-18T23:29:00.001-05:00

Jerome "Curly" Howard of The Three Stooges died on January 18, 1952, at age 48 (my age), after many years of poor health following strokes. Mental Floss has an article about his life after the Stooges.

Beanie Wienies

2012-01-18T05:54:00.002-05:00

The Homesick Texan blog has a recipe for Beanie Wienies for grown-ups. I like the idea. Basic Beanie Wienies is classic camping and kid food, and is easy to make if you don't just buy the canned version. I have enjoyed the simple dish since I was a Boy Scout heating it up and eating it around the campfire. By switching up the beans and using various sausages in lieu of hot dogs you could easily concoct many variations of this childhood classic.

Battle of Cowpens

2012-01-17T06:17:00.003-05:00

In the Battle of Cowpens, which took place in South Carolina on January 17, 1781, American forces commanded by General Daniel Morgan defeated British forces commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarelton. The American forces included some of the overmountain men who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Jupiter From Cassini

2012-01-16T05:10:00.000-05:00

This is an image of Jupiter's northern hemisphere is a mosaic of images taken from the Cassini spacecraft (via NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day).

Out On the Town

2012-01-15T12:56:00.012-05:00

We visited Nashville this weekend, and we stayed at the Nashville Downtown Doubletree Hotel, which was quite nice. Above is a photograph of the view out of the window of our hotel room at dusk.

In 2002 I had an office in a building on Printers Alley. It is quiet during the day, but lively at night. Let us say it is not kid-friendly.

This is Nashville's Bat Tower. Batman was not in on this particular evening.

We had supper last night at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Nashville and encountered this marlin as we entered.

We were expecting a long wait, and were camped out in the gift shop until we started to see Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers fans filing out the door to get to last night's hockey game. (The Preds won 4-2.) There was live music and a stilt walker making balloon sculptures and hats on the first floor.

Here we are in our balloon hats. Sarah made friends with the upstairs stilt walker, and he made her a flower and a parrot in addition to our hats. (You can't see it in this picture, but mine was a shark fin.)

Sarah poses with the upstairs stilt walker. He was quite entertaining.

The Doubletree is just a short walk from Margaritaville, so we hoofed it rather than wait for the hotel shuttle. I'm glad we did. It was fun to stroll around my old stomping grounds for a bit.

What Happens When You Give Thousands of Kids Thousands of Stickers?

2012-01-14T06:57:00.000-05:00

This is what happens. I wonder how they got stickers on the ceiling.

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T05:56:00.002-05:00

Today is Friday the 13th, a day that we do not consider unlucky in our family inasmuch as Jake and Joey were born on a Friday the 13th. According to an article in the UK's Independent, the origin of the superstition may come from there being thirteen people at the Last Supper and from Christ's Crucifixion being on a Friday.

Interestingly, a Google image search brought up nothing except images from the movie franchise. I saw the first couple of movies in the '80's, but have not seen any of the more recent flicks. I don't really enjoy horror movies like I did when I was younger.

Aletsch Glacier

2012-01-12T05:04:00.000-05:00

This is the Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland, via Earth Science Picture of the Day.

Earhart Flies Honolulu to California

2012-01-11T05:25:00.001-05:00

On this date in 1935 Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly from Honolulu to California. She landed in Oakland.

The Wampus Cat

2012-01-10T05:13:00.003-05:00

I grew up in East Tennessee, and heard many stories around campfires as a Boy Scout. I was unfamiliar, until recently, with the legend of the Wampus Cat. According to various accounts it resembles a cat walking upright like a human and roams our mountains in the night. I will add the legend to my fireside storytelling repertoire.

Gilligan's Birthday

2012-01-09T04:45:00.001-05:00

Bob Denver, who played Gilligan on Gilligan's Island, was born on January 9, 1935. I remember the show from when it was in syndication, and like many people my age I still know the lyrics to the theme song by heart. The show used to run in the afternoons after I got home from school as a child.

Jellyfish Don't Pay Rent

2012-01-08T11:14:00.002-05:00

Jimmy Buffett has a song, "Mental Floss," in which he sings, "I'd like to be a jellyfish, 'cause jellyfish don't pay rent." Fittingly, this nice shot of a colorful jellyfish can be found this morning on the Mental Floss magazine blog, along with a link to some more photographs of the creatures.

Our Week

2012-01-07T07:06:00.004-05:00

We had a short work week this week because both our offices were closed Monday for the New Year holiday. Sarah started her winter session Wednesday, so by the end of the week we were back into our normal routine. I love the holidays, but I also like getting back to work once they are over.

We had kinfolk in town from the Washington, DC, area this week, and we entertained at our place Wednesday evening, which was fun. We put a sirloin roast in the crock pot Wednesday morning and let it cook all day, which always gives you a delightful welcome when you come home from work in the afternoon and smell the roast cooking. We've cooked two of those roasts in the crock pot recently, and I believe I have decided I like beef roast better cooked in the Dutch oven as Daube of Beef Provençal. It requires more work, but the roast is much more tender and flavorful. Importantly, it also makes for better leftovers.

Sherry and Sarah had a girls' night out last night, with the women gathering at Naples Italian Restaurant in West Knoxville. They are still asleep, and I may slip out and do our grocery shopping once the sun comes up.

Charles Addams

2012-01-07T06:58:00.003-05:00

Today is the 100th birthday of Charles Addams, creator of the Addams Family, and Google has honored him by featuring his characters in today's Google doodle. The Addams Family musical winds up its Nashville stint at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center this weekend.

Chicken alla Cacciatora

2012-01-06T05:55:00.000-05:00

Visit Almost Italian to learn how to make Chicken alla Cacciatora.

Death Of Edward the Confessor

2012-01-05T07:15:00.001-05:00

Edward the Confessor died sometime during the night of January 4-5, 1066. He is notable for the establishment of Westminster Abbey during his reign. He is entombed there.

Street At Biskra

2012-01-04T06:33:00.003-05:00

Henri Matisse, 1906

If you are interested in visiting Biskra to perhaps see this street, you can check out their website. It is an oasis in Algeria, and the denizens boast of having 150,000 date trees.

Going To Buy Me a Mercury

2012-01-03T06:42:00.000-05:00

This is a 1964 Mercury Montclair Marauder from Hemmings Motor News. If you want to hear Steve Miller's "Mercury Blues" click here.

Almost Like Home

2012-01-02T06:25:00.000-05:00

This is NGC 6744, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way, via the Anglo-Australian Observatory.

Washington's Crossing: McKonkey's Ferry, December 26, 1776

2012-01-02T06:04:00.001-05:00

By Mort Kuntsler, 2011

On the Slopes

2012-01-01T06:49:00.001-05:00

Here is a photograph of Laura and Grace on the slopes in Canada.

Tournament Of Roses Parade

2012-01-01T06:16:00.001-05:00

The first Tournament of Roses Parade, a New Years Day tradition in the United States, took place on January 1, 1890, in Pasadena, California. The official Tournament of Roses website is here.

Restaurant Review -- Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, Tennessee

2011-12-31T07:02:00.004-05:00

Our friends Mike and Julie invited us to dine with them at Dancing Bear Lodge, 137 Apple Valley Way, Townsend, Tennessee, for Mike's birthday. We met them there Wednesday night, and had a wonderful time. The lodge is up a hill and in the woods and is very bright and welcoming when you drive up there after dark as we did. Because it caters to tourists, it is a good place to have a fancy meal without the formality of many fine dining establishments. The entrees were in the $20.00 to $30.00 range, so a couple can have a very nice meal there for under $100.00, which is well worth it for the high level of food and service.

New Years Eve 2012

2011-12-31T06:11:00.000-05:00

According to this website, Nashville is one of the top ten places to be for New Years Eve this year.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

2011-12-30T16:45:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid I was very interested in ghost stories, and in vampires in particular. I read Stoker's Dracula at a young age, and borrowed the Lugosi movies from the local library. They even had Nosferatu, with Max Schreck as a creepy Dracula knock-off, Count Orlok. If a vampire were to have appeared in our neighborhood, like in the movie Fright Night, I was the kid on the block who knew how to lay one to rest. I identified with Van Helsing.

I've been a bit perplexed by the Twilight vampire phenomenon. Who knew sparkling vampires would draw such a following, and what is to be done? Enter Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

A Visit to Oak Ridge

2011-12-30T06:40:00.006-05:00

My friend, Johnny, and his kids, Natalie and Teddy, were in town this week to visit family for the holidays, and while they were here we took the kids to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. Sarah and I visited the museum the first time in fall of 2010, and we liked it. Also, a trip to Oak Ridge for me means an inevitable stop at Big Ed's Pizza. Though Big Ed has passed, his pizza lives on.

When Sarah was two or three, she had a velveteen dress she called "Party Day." (She wore it to a party, and it was festive to her thereafter.) Sherry bought her this similar dress as a Christmas present, and Sarah is quite pleased with it. She also got the boots for Christmas.

This photograph shows the children in the upstairs part of a kid-sized doll house within the museum. In the same area is a display of toys from the 1900's to the present and a doll-sized doll house.

Word Of the Day: Mondegreen

2011-12-29T04:04:00.002-05:00

There is an automobile commercial on the air that has various misinterpretations of the lyrics of Elton John's "Rocket Man." The word for that was coined in 1954, and it is "mondegreen."

Artifact From World War Two

2011-12-28T05:28:00.002-05:00

One of my great uncles, Earl Carroll, served in Iceland during World War II as a military policeman. He returned to Tennessee to become sheriff of Coffee County. Uncle Earl was the husband of my paternal grandmother's sister, who was born Vesta Spencer. He died when I was a child, but I remember him as a great bear of a man. He could grill a mean burger, and he liked to smoke cigars.

Uncle Earl gave Aunt Vesta the letter opener pictured above. It is engraved with Aunt Vesta's first name, "Iceland" and the years 1943, '44 and '45. As you can see, the handle is a large caliber shell. I use the thing almost every day. I trust Uncle Earl would not give his wife a letter opener made out of a live shell.

OLDER POST: Vesta Rocks!

Kazakhstan's Sunsphere

2011-12-27T05:49:00.000-05:00

I recently learned that Kazakstan has a building, the Bayterek, that bears a striking resemblance to Knoxville's Sunsphere.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

2011-12-26T15:25:00.002-05:00

As I reported earlier, a secretary for one of our local law firms was kind enough to share her recipe for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies with our office. I sought her permission to further share it, and she generously agreed. These cookies rock!

WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES

½ cup softened butter
½ cup butter flavor Crisco
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 ½ cup self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together butter, Crisco, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in separate bowl, then gradually cream into wet mixture. Mix in macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by the heaping tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for ten minutes.

For chewy cookies, do not over-bake. The cookies should appear soft with a slight golden top when you take them out of the oven. Fan them for thirty seconds or so, then transfer to paper towels to rest. They will darken as they cool.

More Productive Than I Thought

2011-12-26T13:54:00.003-05:00

Sherry and Sarah indeed made it to Target, and Sarah has occupied herself since their return with a new Nintendo DS game she acquired there. As they left I started taking down our exterior Christmas lights, and after they returned Sherry and I took everything else down. I just hauled the tree up to the street for the city to pick up, and our Christmas paraphernalia is nicely packed away down in the basement. Sherry and I like to deck our halls, but once Christmas is over we like to get everything back in boxes and get the house back to normal.

X-Ray Christmas Tree

2011-12-26T08:22:00.001-05:00

By Rick Veasey (via Gizmodo)

Quiet Christmas Day

2011-12-26T07:20:00.003-05:00

We spent a quiet Christmas day at home yesterday. We had pancakes and venison sausage for breakfast and dined on our copious leftovers for lunch and supper. We all got movies for Christmas, which provided most of the day's entertainment. I was able to convince Sherry and Sarah to watch The Princess Bride with me, and they seemed to enjoy it. Much like the character Fred Savage played in the movie, Sarah started out complaining, but became interested in the story as it progressed.

I doubt today will be much more productive, though the womenfolk may go to the animal shelter to help out this morning. Sarah has Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket and a game to return, so it wouldn't surprise me if they also make their way to Target before the day is over.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T05:57:00.002-05:00

On Christmas morning I give you Sarah and Grace seated at the kids' table at Mom's on Friday, and yet another picture of Molly 'neath the Christmas tree.

Cheese Peas

2011-12-24T13:27:00.004-05:00

Peas

I was unable to find a post on this blog dedicated solely to cheese peas, a delight my sisters and I enjoyed again and again at our Grandmother and Granddaddy Ogle's holiday table, though I have mentioned the dish here before. I state as a disclaimer that my lovely wife disdains the humble pea, and would not willingly be in the same room with one except for her dedicated love to her strange husband. I like peas straight out of the can, heated with butter, salt and pepper. Alas, even Grandmother's addition of copious cheese fails to sway my beloved to give peas a chance. Our love is true, yet we remain unreconciled as to this one culinary issue. Thus with trust I do not offend my spouse, I submit Grandmother's simple recipe for this Ogle family favorite.

CHEESE PEAS

Two cans of green peas

Velveeta or American cheese slices

Pimientos

You can also add:

Sliced onion

Chopped boiled egg (one or two to preference)

Saltine crackers (for topping)

Drain about half of the water from each can of peas and convey peas to medium sauce pan. Your goal is to just cover the peas and whatever other ingredients you add with cheese sauce. I like the Velveeta method. You just add Velveeta until enough is melted to cover the peas. You can achieve the same thing with American cheese slices and milk or cream.

Sometimes Grandmother would add boiled eggs and/or cover the top with crushed saltine crackers. She almost always added the pimientos for color.

Ogle Family Christmas

2011-12-24T12:18:00.004-05:00

We had our Christmas dinner, consisting of standing rib roast, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, brocolli and cheese peas, at Mom's place in Knoxville yesterday as a late lunch. We opened gifts with Mom, La, Stewart, Andrew and Grace and Leslie, who had to come solo inasmuch as Fraz is unwell this holiday season. We missed Uncle Fuzzy, as Sarah named Fraz when she was a toddler. However, the kids had a good time opening presents, and we all enjoyed the family time together.

Santa visited our place on Everett Hill here in Maryville the morning of Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning because Jake and Joey are heading out from Nashville tomorrow morning to Destin for a Floridian Christmas with their stepmom's family. Sherry and the boys are presently en route to Cookeville to meet the boys' dad, and they will have another round or two of gift opening with his family before they all head south.

Tacky Christmas

2011-12-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

The best part about Christmas is that it is an officially sanctioned occasion on which to be tacky, something at which I excel. Behold the festive, if tacky, Christmas lights upon our shrubbery and our tacky cat beneath our tacky tree.

Adoration Of the Magi

2011-12-23T06:57:00.001-05:00

By Fillipo Lippi, 1496

Beatles Christmas

2011-12-22T05:38:00.003-05:00

I recently learned that the Beatles did a series of Christmas shows, beginning in 1963, which was my first Christmas. (I was born in August that year.) The shows included skits in which John, as the evil Sir Jasper, tied George, playing the damsel in distress, to railroad tracks. "Fearless Paul" was the good guy, and Ringo provided special effects. Mental Floss has more.

Survive An Avalanche

2011-12-21T04:45:00.000-05:00

The Art of Manliness tells us how to Survive An Avalanche.

Biography Of Santa Claus

2011-12-20T16:48:00.001-05:00

On Neatorama

Poor Yoda

2011-12-20T05:42:00.000-05:00

From Neatorama

Vesta Rocks

2011-12-19T06:43:00.000-05:00

These images, from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, are from thin slices of meteorite from the asteroid Vesta as viewed through a polarizing microscope. I had a great aunt named Vesta Spencer Carroll, so this caught my eye. I didn't know she had her own asteroid.

Eighties Cakes

2011-12-18T13:14:00.002-05:00

If you've never visited the Cake Wrecks blog, it usually features really terrible cakes. Today, however, it has '80's cakes.

Candy Kitchen

2011-12-18T11:08:00.003-05:00

Sherry and the kids are in Nashville for Christmas with Grams, and it is my understanding that they are going to make candy today. Jake has an appointment Monday morning with the doctor who operated on his eye last week, and then they will head back to Maryville. Joey and Jake will be here for the week, and then they're heading to Sandestin with their dad.

Gluten-Free Fig Recipes

2011-12-18T06:37:00.001-05:00

With the exception of Fig Newtons, I don't give a fig for figs, but my mom likes them. I found some gluten-free fig recipes for her on Foodista.

UPDATE: Mom reminded me that she recently found out she is allergic to figs.

Courthouse Christmas

2011-12-17T06:17:00.004-05:00

Here are two more photographs of Christmas in Maryville. I took the above photograph from the breezeway of the courthouse, near the county mayor's office, and I took the one below in the purchasing department.

Christmas At Everett Senior Center

2011-12-16T06:01:00.003-05:00

We recently attended a very nice breakfast at the Everett Senior Center, which is walking distance from our house. Sarah posed for this photograph with the center's Christmas tree as we were leaving that morning.

Battle Of Nashville

2011-12-15T05:56:00.001-05:00

On December 15, 1864, the Battle of Nashville began. The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lieutenant General John Bell Hood was routed by Union forces commanded by Major General George H. Thomas the next day. According to Wikipedia,

Casualties from the two-day battle were 3,061 Union (387 killed, 2,558 wounded, and 112 missing or captured) and approximately 6,000 Confederate (1,500 killed or wounded, 4,500 missing or captured). The Battle of Nashville was one of the most stunning tactical victories achieved by either side in a major engagement in the war. The formidable Army of Tennessee, the second largest Confederate force, was effectively destroyed as a fighting force. Hood's army entered Tennessee with over 30,000 men but left with 15–20,000.

Post Op

2011-12-14T06:13:00.003-05:00

Jake had corrective surgery on his eye yesterday afternoon in Nashville, and Sherry drove there Monday after work to be with him. He's fine, and they are heading to Maryville this morning so Sherry can get back to work. He had a similar surgery when he was six or seven. The muscles that move his eye are slightly out of kilter, and the surgery is to adjust them so that they work the way they are supposed to. We're all glad to have him on the other side of it. They will go back Saturday to have Christmas with Grams and for a post op appointment with Jake's doctor Monday morning, and then Sherry is bringing both Jake and Joey here to spend the rest of the week.

The Cheese, It Must Be Preserved

2011-12-14T05:55:00.001-05:00

Mental Floss has an interesting story about a 1,400 pound block of cheese that someone gave President Andrew Jackson. It filled the White House with stinky cheese odor, and Jackson ended up feeding it to the public so he wouldn't have to haul it home to the Hermitage in Nashville when his Presidency ended. According to Mental Floss,

The people loved Jackson. Jackson loved cheese. What better way to celebrate Jacksonian democracy than by sending Old Hickory himself an enormous wheel of cheese? Dairy farmer Colonel Thomas S. Meacham of Sandy Creek, NY, hit on this notion in 1835, and he had the know-how to craft a titanic cheddar. The fruit of Meacham’s labor was a wheel that was four feet in diameter and two feet thick, weighed nearly 1400 pounds, and was wrapped in a giant belt that bore patriotic inscriptions like, “The Union, it must be Preserved.”

More Justice Center Christmas

2011-12-13T06:12:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple more photographs of some of the Christmas decorations in the Blount County Justice Center. The Christmas tree greets visitors as they come into the main hallway after passing through security, and the wreath is on the door to the Clerk and Master's office.

Laura and Grace Perform In Nutcracker On Ice

2011-12-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

My sister, Laura, and my niece, Grace, performed in the Nutcracker On Ice at the Ice Chalet in Knoxville this weekend. Laura works full-time at the University of Tennessee, and is a very involved mother. She manages, however, to carve out some time for herself to skate, which is something she's loved since we were kids. I'm proud of her not only for carving out that time, but also for being so dedicated to the sport she loves. It is also cool that she has Gracie involved, too.

I'm especially impressed by La's contrail.

Fruit Loops Anyone?

2011-12-12T06:02:00.003-05:00

This toucan, from an 1806 publication, is from Neatorama, where there is a link to a lot more like it, but alas no Fruit Loops.

Bakers

2011-12-11T06:03:00.004-05:00

We got busy yesterday afternoon in the kitchen, and Sherry and Sarah went into baking mode. A really nice secretary at a law firm in town gave the ladies in my office a recipe for white chocolate Macadamia nut cookies, one of my favorites, and we tried out the recipe for the first time yesterday. We were not disappointed.

Mom recently bought us some homemade tamales from a lady who sells them from the side of the road near Mom's house in Knoxville. We used some of them to make a casserole for supper last night. We lined a casserole dish with tamales and covered them with picante' sauce. Then we added and layer of frijolis refritos (refried beans), covered it with shredded cheddar and served it with sour cream. It was quick, easy and good.

The Landing of the Pilgrims

2011-12-11T05:49:00.003-05:00

This lithograph depicts the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts on December 11, 1620. More here.

Bakers Creek Tree Farm, Greenback, Tennessee

2011-12-10T14:38:00.007-05:00

This morning after breakfast we drove to Greenback to buy a Christmas tree from Bakers Creek Tree Farm, located about six miles out Highway 411 South from the Maryville Wal-Mart at 409 Henry Lane. Look for a sign with a Christmas tree on it on 411, and when you take a right on Henry Lane look for their red barn with a Christmas tree painted on it.

We selected this Norway Spruce. It is a bit big at the bottom, but it is a good, straight tree. Sarah had a big time running between the trees while the fellow from the farm cut the tree for us. I came prepared to cut my own tree clothed in my Liberty overalls. I also brought my Sven backpacking saw and some twine to tie the tree to the car. The guys at the farm do all that for you, and they haul the tree to your car as well. You pay forty dollars a tree, no matter what the size. They also had some nice white pines, but we went for the spruce this year.

We decorated our tree once we got it home, and Sherry and Sarah also decorated Sarah's little tree in her room. They've been resting, but we've got some baking to do before the afternoon is over.

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-10T06:06:00.001-05:00

The first and second graders at Sarah's school performed a production called Winter Wonderland Thursday evening and Friday morning. Sarah portrayed Olive the Other Reindeer, who laughed at Rudolph.

Santa's Lawyer

2011-12-10T05:46:00.004-05:00

At eight years old, Sarah has heard vicious rumors on the playground that Santa Claus is make believe. I have known this was coming, having been through it with Jake and Joey, so for the past few years I have been trying to convince her that I know Santa personally, because I am, in fact, his lawyer.

When I picked her up yesterday from school I told her that Santa had dropped by the office that morning to sign a new collective bargaining agreement we had negotiated with his elven work force, and I further informed her that she was on the nice list this year and that Santa was especially pleased with how hard she has been working on her homework and with all the 100's she has been making on her spelling tests. He even gave me a caramel apple to give to her.

I knew the child would be skeptical, so I asked a local attorney to take a photograph of Santa and I shaking hands in the hallway of the justice center. Sarah was impressed.

I May Be Old, But I Got To See All The Cool Bands

2011-12-09T06:05:00.001-05:00

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I saw a teenager in our neighborhood wearing a T-shirt with the Rolling Stones logo on it the other day. I commented on the shirt and told him, "I may be old, but I saw all the cool bands." I saw the Stones on September 25, 1994, in Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

Murder of John Lennon

2011-12-08T06:10:00.000-05:00

Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon to death in New York on December 8, 1980. Chapman shot the former Beatle four times in the back, and Lennon died at a local hospital about fifteen minutes later.

Farewell to No Silence Here

2011-12-07T16:28:00.004-05:00

There are a couple of blogs I read almost every day, Nashville Post Politics and No Silence Here. Alas, I learned from Post Politics this morning that Michael Silence was among the 33 people laid off from the Knoxville News Sentinel this week. I do not know Mr. Silence, but he kindly linked to this humble daddy blog from time to time, particularly when bacon was on the menu. I will miss No Silence Here, and look forward to finding Mr. Silence somewhere in the blogosphere in the future. On the Nashville Scene Pith In the Wind blog, Betsy Phillips called the event "a blow to the Tennessee blogosphere." I agree.

I know a couple of reporters on the Sentinel staff, and have not heard whether they were also among the 33. Best wishes to all of those journalists in the future.

Pearl Harbor

2011-12-07T05:57:00.001-05:00

Today is the anniversary of the Japanese surpise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared "a day which will live in infamy." Almost 2, 400 Americans died as a result of the attack, which led to the United States' entry into World War II.

Quick Italian Dish

2011-12-06T05:20:00.001-05:00

This bowl of pasta and meat sauce looks yummy! The recipe for this dish, Weekend Bolognese, can be found at Ezra Pound Cake, a cool Nashville foodie blog.

The Orion Nebula

2011-12-05T05:32:00.001-05:00

Via Mental Floss

Hu-Molly-ation

2011-12-04T07:36:00.003-05:00

The cats at the animal shelter all have bandannas around their necks, so Sherry brought a pair of bandannas home for our cats. Emma, having age and treachery on her side, quickly learned how to ditch hers. Poor Molly isn't so wily. Here she is in her humiliation.

Grandmother Ogle's Dressing and Gravy

2011-12-04T05:43:00.000-05:00

My Grandmother Ogle's cornbread dressing has been a part of Thanksgiving and Christmas for me since before I can remember. Although I like to cook, I never attempted to make it until this Thanksgiving. Mom graciously agreed to guide me through the process, which includes making turkey giblet gravy.

The dressing begins with cornbread, which Mom says should be cooked in an iron skillet with its bottom filled with 1/4 inch of cooking oil. She suggests putting the skillet in the oven while it preheats to get the oil hot so that the batter sizzles when you pour it into the pan.

The ingredients for the dressing are as follows:

One corn pone
3 slices of bread
Half a bunch of chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. sage
Salt and pepper to taste
2 boxes of chicken broth
(You will use two additional boxes for gravy, so buy four.)

Crumble the cornbread and white bread into fine bits. Rubbing it together between your hands works well for this. Add in the other ingredients. Combine the juice left from cooking your turkey with chicken broth until you have about a quart and a half of liquid. Add as much liquid to the cornbread mixture as you can until it can't absorb any more. Bake at 400-450 degrees for about an hour.

For gravy, boil turkey neck and giblets in another two boxes of chicken broth for 30-45 minutes until cooked. Cool neck and giblets. Pull meat off of neck bone and chop giblets and return to broth. Cook for another 30 minutes or so, and add 1/2 cup flour to thicken.

Sunny Saturday On the Hill

2011-12-03T11:27:00.002-05:00

Sarah spent the night last night at Mom's house, and cousin Grace joined them for the sleepover. I drove to Mom's place in Knoxville to pick her up this morning, and Sarah and I had breakfast at the Papermill Drive Waffle House before I dropped Sarah off at the Blount County Animal Shelter to assist her mother with some volunteer work. It was the first time I've visited the shelter since they had their recent grand opening, and the new areas they opened really look nice. While the womenfolk helped with the critters, I did our grocery shopping, and we are all back at the house enjoying a sunny day.

I brought our Christmas decorations up from the basement thinking we might begin decorating during Thanksgiving while Jake and Joey were here. That didn't happen, but I opened the boxes this morning and am starting to deck a hall here and there. I put our wreath on the door, and with its red bow it has our front porch looking quite festive.

Christmas At the Justice Center

2011-12-03T10:27:00.001-05:00

Maryville celebrated Hometown Christmas Thursday evening at the courthouse, and folks have been decking the halls all over town. This is our Christmas tree in the Clerk and Master's office.

She Lost Another Tooth

2011-12-03T05:18:00.002-05:00

In this rather demonic portrait, Sarah reveals that she has lost yet another tooth from her lower jaw. It came out while she was eating breakfast Thursday morning. The tooth fairy had not yet retrieved it when Sarah woke up Friday morning, but when the child got home from school she found that the tooth under her pillow had been replaced with a dollar bill and a note from Mustardseed, our family's tooth fairy.

Leaf Pile

2011-12-02T05:59:00.001-05:00

The leaves have finally come down from all of our deciduous trees. The big oak between our house and our neighbors' house took a while to let go of his, but all the rain and wind we've had finally brought them down. Sarah and I raked some of them into a pile for her to jump in. She had a few days to play in them, but our yard crew came by last weekend and cleaned them up for us.

Silly Season Begins

2011-12-01T06:05:00.002-05:00

When I left the office yesterday evening, the sky was clear, and I could see snow on the mountains. It was gorgeous! They had snow on the Cumberland Plateau and in Asheville, and I'm sure it sent the denizens of those areas scrambling to load up on bread and milk. My former history and political science teacher, Ray Huckabee, used to call this "silly season."

Down here in the South, snow isn't an everyday part of fall and winter life as it is in more northern latitudes, and so it is something we look forward to, like a holiday, which makes sense because when we do get snow most schools and government offices, and many businesses, close. There's something about snow that makes everybody feel like a kid, and many of us spend a snowy day either outside playing in it and/or staying inside with our noses pressed against the window marveling at how pretty it is outside. As the father of an eight-year-old, a snowy day for me almost always entails building a snowman, sledding and snowball fights, but I guess that was true long before I became a dad.

Molly And Shoes

2011-12-01T05:54:00.000-05:00

We keep Sarah's shoes in this plastic box under her bed. Molly the cat has decided she likes napping with the shoes.

Birthday Girl

2011-11-30T05:49:00.000-05:00

Here is Sarah in her birthday tiara seated on her mother's lap.

Weather

2011-11-29T17:01:00.002-05:00

I went out to get our newspaper Sunday morning just as the front that brought us all the rain we've had over the past two days came in, and the sky was absolutely beautiful, though these photographs do not capture the glory. I took the photograph of the rainbow over Alcoa looking north from the top of our driveway on Everett Hill, and I took the lower photograph of clouds at sunrise from the same spot, facing south toward the mountains.

Carnitas

2011-11-29T05:00:00.004-05:00

I frequently order carnitas when I dine at a Mexican restaurant, so this recipe from Smitten Kitchen caught my eye. It sounds easy enough, and it would probably cook well in our Dutch oven. We love Mexican food, but rarely cook it at home, despite how easy it generally is to prepare, and perhaps because we are blessed by several good Mexican restaurants here in Blount County. (My favorite is Los Amigos.)

The gentle reader may also refer to the Homesick Texan for further carnitas knowledge.

Italian Grandmother's Lasagne

2011-11-28T04:45:00.004-05:00

I recently discovered a new (to me) foodie blog, Almost Italian, and I may incorporate some of the suggestions from this recipe for lasagne into my next batch. Boiled eggs in lasagne seems counter-intuitive to me, but if an Italian grandmother does it I should try it. The post at the link also explains that the proper spelling of the dish is lasagne, lasagna being singular for one of the flat noodles in the casserole.

High Resolution Global Topographic Map of the Moom

2011-11-27T04:00:00.000-05:00

According to NASA,

The science team that oversees the imaging system on board NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has released the highest resolution near-global topographic map of the moon ever created.

This new topographic map, from Arizona State University in Tempe, shows the surface shape and features over nearly the entire moon with a pixel scale close to 100 meters (328 feet). A single measure of elevation (one pixel) is about the size of two football fields placed side-by-side.

Cajun Beefaroni

2011-11-26T05:58:00.000-05:00

Inspired by our recent trip to New Orleans, I plan to try out this recipe for Beefy Cajun Mac from Smoky Mountain Cafe. It is apparently a favorite pre-game meal for the New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees. This may impress Jake and Joey, who are Saints fans.

1949 Candy Advertising

2011-11-25T04:32:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed perusing these images from a 1949 candy salesman's catalog. My Granddaddy Ogle was a salesman for a wholesale grocery outfit, Smotherman's, before he retired. This would have been right up his alley, I suspect, as he was a great lover of sweets.

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

2011-11-24T05:50:00.000-05:00

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In October 1789 George Washington signed a proclamation declaring the first Thanksgiving under the new government created by the United States Constitution. This document set aside Thursday, November 26, as the day set aside for Thanksgiving, which we now celebrate on the fourth Thursday in November.

What Is Mincemeat?

2011-11-23T16:49:00.001-05:00

Sherry asked me this afternoon about mincemeat. I tried mincemeat pie once, and I remember it being like pecan pie, which is this Southerner's favorite dessert. I told her that mincemeat did not actually have meat in it, but I subsequently found out that it once did. Wikipedia has mincemeat recipes from the 16th century and the 19th century that call for beef.

2011 Nashville British Car Club Show

2011-11-23T05:30:00.005-05:00

It is not everyday one sees a bobby on the grounds of Centennial Park in Nashville, but here's one guarding the Parthenon during the recent 2011 Nashville British Car Club Show. Car lust has much more.

1953 Hudson Jet

2011-11-22T05:35:00.001-05:00

For more photographs of this fine old automobile visit Car Lust.

Breaking Down a Door

2011-11-21T05:25:00.001-05:00

Since a fireman is pictured in the diagram, I will stifle the urge to suggest obtaining a warrant as a necessary first step, though as a former prosecuter the temptation is there. This handy guide is from the Art of Manliness.

Winding Down the Birthday Weekend

2011-11-20T12:04:00.003-05:00

We had Sarah's birthday party yesterday morning at Michael's craft store, and it was a success. The kids made Christmas ornaments and ate cupcakes, while the adults tried to avoid getting covered with glue and glitter. At Sarah's request, we had lunch at Gatti's Pizza, which I still call Mr. Gatti's, as it was known in the distant past. We sometimes also refer to it as "Mr. Eddie's," as Sarah referred to it when she first went there.

We met Laura, Stewart and Grace, and my friend, Mike, and his family at Gatti's, and enjoyed hanging out and catching up with Mike and his wife, Julie. Mom came over later yesterday afternoon to visit and discuss Thanksgiving plans, and also to dispense birthday loot to Sarah, who has pulled in a pretty good haul on her eighth birthday. Leslie and Frazier are also planning on dropping by this afternoon for a visit and to dispense yet more birthday loot.

Sherry is helping her friend, Angel, decorate a tree for the Festival of Trees across the river in Knoxville. She's had a busy week baking cupcakes and preparing for Sarah's party. I suspect she will be ready for a sofa, a quilt and a kitty when she gets home.

The Sad, Doomed Bellevue Mall

2011-11-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

When I moved to Bellevue, which is on the west side of Nashville, in 2002, the Bellevue Center Mall was thriving. I'm not sure whether there is community agreement as to what slowly killed the mall, but I'm sure that other shopping opportunities in Cool Springs and in Green Hills had a lot to do with it. Now the only remaining business operating there is Sears. A new development company is looking at the site, but its representative told a Bellevue meeting that it is unlikely that the mall will be reopened because costs associated with strip malls are lower. It will be interesting to see if anything comes out of this new outfit.

Second Grader

2011-11-19T12:01:00.001-05:00

Here is Sarah's second grade photograph from school. It is hard to believe my child is eight years old. I remember when Sherry and I first told Jake and Joey that they would soon have a younger sibling, and I remember telling them that they would be eight years old when the baby was born and that when she was eight years old, they would be sixteen and driving. The quickness with which that has come to pass is stunning to me.