The Anglo-file

Picture Pages

2005-06-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I was about to make a long post with many interesting facts and many pics, but the computer shut down just before I published... AARGH! So here's a condensed version:

Fri. 6-17 - Lunch with principal of BCC, Richard Massey, and his wife, Christine...treated us to traditional English food - Branston pickle, pork pie, sausage rolls, Scotch eggs, and treacle. Richard also gave me a book, The Gift of Prophecy in the NT and Today by Wayne Grudem.

Fri 6-17 afternoon - Worked my last time with John Hull... gave me a copy of his book which details his descent into blindness -- On Sight and Insight. It was the first time that I can recall that I've told someone whom I know well 'goodbye' knowing I will most likely never see them again. Sad.

Fri 6-17 - Supper with Gurmakh, one of my students, and his wife (whose name was hard to catch). They are both from Punjab, India but have spent most of their lives in the UK. He converted from Sikhism to Christ 15 years ago at the age of 32. Now he's 47, married to a Christian, and they have 3 Christian kids. He gave me books on how to share Christ with a Sikhs and Hindus.

Sat 6-18 - Lunch with Jon and Su at a great chicken place downtown... said goodbye knowing we'll meet up again.

Sun 6-19 - Church - I was actually allowed to preach one more time and had a novel topic - Fathers - on Father's Day (UK and US). After church went to the preacher's house for a cultural meal... Had many delicious Nigerian dishes wish I can't name and 2 traditional Scottish dishes - Haggis (eaten with mashed potates and yellow turnips, aka rutabagas) and white pudding. I was amazed that I loved it all... don't let your English friends disparage Haggis anymore... its just their way of asserting their superiority... like the BBC.

Sun 6-19 7pm - Turned in the keys to the landlord and tried to finish packing. Depart Monday at 12:30 pm and are slotted to arrive in Nashville at 8:30pm Monday night. See below the pictures for a poem I came across a couple of months ago which seems appropriate at this point... I hope none of my British friends will take it as a jab... the UK is an awesome place in many ways... but home for me is America.

Where the Pahl family will be living - Asbury Overseas Guest House

Our little abode at 13 Clifford Rd - on the right

My path to and from the Uni everyday always involved the blue door and the yellow gate

When I came home on the afternoons I'd often look through the front window and see Helen eating her dinner.

A road I biked/walked/bused almost every day - Lordswood Rd between Bearwood and Harborne

Speaking of Harborne, this mathematically challenged and outdated sign is outside the Harborne Baptist Church.

Also on my daily route... but it does have plenty of cars

Yesterday morning Helen summoned us and we discovered her pacy (pacifier called a 'dummy' in the UK, similar to the older term 'fooler') in backward... something I often do to get her to laugh. I turned it rightways and she promptly flipped it back

The bike given to me by a brother here which now goes to a Nigerian brother here studying medicine.

The back of the Metro newspaper given free everyday on buses and trains. Notice the rage over the purchase of the Manchester United soccer team (the Yankess of the UK) by American Dan Glazer who owns the Tampa Bay Bucs. Isn't it ironic, what with the McDonald's ad at the bottom?

Now, the poem:

"AMERICA FOR ME"
Henry Van Dyke - 1909

'TIS fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,—
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,—
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,
To the bléssed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!
------------------------------------------------------------

See y'all in the funny paper.

More Stuff I Like About This Place

2005-06-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

In no particular order

2. History - It's hard for non-Europeans to fathom how much of the history we grew up reading is within 'spitting' distance in the UK. Not to mention the fact that this tiny island nation was for quite some time the mightiest power in the world. In fact, if they didn't have such a determination to tax every item known to man the Queen might at this time have almost 300 million more subjects!

3. Way of life - The saying 'There is more than one way to skin a cat' is applicable here. They've got a good thing going over here, and in a tiny amount of space. A quick comparison of England vs. Alabama reveals some important things that one must recognize about England. Alabama (135k square kilometers) covers a greater area than England proper (UK minus Scotland and N. Ireland - 130k square kilometers). Consider the fact that Alabama's population is around 4.5 million people, and England's is 50 million. How can you squeeze so many people into such a little space and not have complete gridlock and pandamonium? They're quite good at it here.

The close proximity of the north to the south and the east to the west means that cross-country travel is not a daunting thought and most Englanders I know have been all over their country.

Aside from the smallness of the nation, it is obvious that the UK has a good thing going economically. Their approach is more American than European (aka capitalistic than socialistic), but it is without a doubt a third way. It is now more prosperous than most of its Western European neighbors (an unthinkable statement 25 years ago, especially for me because I was only 6 at the time). Unemployment is a little lower than in the US (as opposed to 10+ % in Germany and France) and they have universal health care -- a bald-faced two tiered one -- nevertheless this leaves the average Brit without many worries should the worst happen, medically speaking. Of course, the trappings of wealth also abound here as they do in the US, making it absolutely necessary that all Christians spend much time in prayer and meditation over their finances to avoid the traps of materialism and debt.

4. Weather - just kidding.

4. American friendliness - I mean more here than what I've said in previous posts about most people over here tending to like America. I also mean that it is easy to get around here, to figure your way out of trouble, etc., all because you speak the language and tend to think like they do.

With that said, a few remarks I've heard about America from other foreigners here have stuck with me. First, a chap from Iran, whom I met back in February at a bus stop, when he discovered I was American, looked at me and said, "I like America. America is good." He is at the University of Birmingham studying international law, a degree which he plans to use in Iran when he returns later this summer.

Another instance also took place at a bus stop when we (Mary and I) struck up a conversation with a Pakistani woman. BTW, its amazing how having a baby causes people to talk to you who normally wouldn't have bothered. When she recognized our American accents she told us how much she loved America and liked to visit whenever she could.

Now, I didn't prompt these people to say such things, and conversely have not heard any anti-American talk aside from academic settings and the BBC :). This doesn't mean that the US is the darling of the world, but that maybe the hatred we've hear so much about is overblown. Sure, they hate our president all over the world, but they still suck up our culture and habits. And I wonder what surveys would reveal if we went around the world asking people if they had a positive or negative opinion of France. Let's just say I can guess that the numbers would be overwhelmingly negative in England, the US, the Arab world, and even Germany. I'm dragging on now... all this to say that it is 'easy' to be a foreigner here. I suggest that people less-white and less-Anglo than I would agree.

5. The British Sense of Humor - Though Mr. Bean is there equivalent of Ernest P. Worrell (and I like them both), it is amazing the amount of continual wit one encounters here. I can think of at least 4 different radio and TV programs along the lines of 'Whose Line is it Anyway' (which began here, too) that are hilarious. Though I blame British TV for the reality TV plague which has beset American Tele over the past few years, I must admit that they are funnier than we. ~~I mean, they still have a royal family! Isn't that a riot?~~ Oops, I mean isn't Monty Python funny?

BTW, the best bloggers never put this much in one post because they know readers will only scan. If I were more astute, I'd have written a shorte

Winding Down

2005-06-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

With less than 5 days left in our tour of duty, I have started to become reflective on our experience. Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of things that have been part of my world here. Tonight I'll list the things I've liked most about England:

1. People - I suppose it is not too surprising, but we've met some great people. I've had opportunity to get to know people through three avenues; 1) church, 2) university, 3) teaching. We've come to appreciate our little congregation of the Summer Lane Church of Christ. Even with the 1 hour bus ride to and from, it was always worth worshiping with them and we'll miss our English, Socttish, Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Malaysian brothers and sisters from the church.

Because I showed up in the winter term, I did not have the opportunity to take lots of classes, and, not having an office, it was difficult to get to know many people in the Theology Department of the University. That said, I have grown more and more appreciative of Mark Goodacre, and I also admire the work of one of the professors I got to enjoy firsthand, that of Prof Sugirtharajah ('Sugi' for us English speakers). I had weekly meetings with Mark, and the only trouble was that we'd normally get wrapped up in talking about everything but my research. I'm an Anglophile and he's an Americophile, so we could talk for hours about the most mundane topics. I'll miss those weekly sessions. But Duke (not to mention the US) will be better off having the Goodacres. And they're moving to my 3rd favorite state!

Probably the most rewarding experience I've had here came courtesy of Birmingham Christian College. The opportunity to teach 2 courses was priceless (though they paid me a little!) and the friendships I've made via BCC will remain long after we leave. Only one of my students was my age (I've since passed him) and his wit, insight, and love for the Lord have made me have a natural affection for Jon Taylor. I know that if Mary and I were here longer Jon and Su would continue to be a regular part of our lives. He's considering an academic career teaching New Testament courses... I can only hope that he'll come and teach at a uni in America!

I should also mention that I've had experiences from all over the Christian religious spectrum. Birmingham Christian College is a bona fide evangelical college. Queen's College (where I have worked as an assistant) is as liberal an institution as I ever care to work for. It trains clergy for the Church of England, Methodist Church, and United Reform Church. I could tell stories about the school... but I want to stay positive here.... My experience with John Hull, professor at Queen's, has been one of those which will continue to shape me for some time. John has been blind since the early 1980's but he has continued his scholarly career in the study of religious education in Britain and mainland Europe now into his 70th year. The most remarkable part of our friendship is the fact that I rarely even think about the fact that he is blind anymore. He is such an enjoyable and wise person that even I have learned to get past the superficial and appreciate his heart. I will miss working with him.

And, as you would expect, the Theology Dept. at the Uni covered a broad spectrum of faiths with scholars from each one. In a similar vein, today I returned the last 4 library books to the Uni library. I reckon that I've read significant portions (if not all) of 50 academic books since January... not a world record or anything, but an immensely rewarding endeavor nonetheless. Now if I could just understand Schleiermacher (a cursory reading of a few internet summaries will indicate so much conflicting information that you'll wonder how one person could be understood so differently on so many subjects... until you read Schleiermacher himself!).

I'll list more things I like about the UK over the next 4 days... stay tuned.

Theological Worldview

2005-06-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

My 'china plate' JT took this quiz on one's theological worldview. My results were similar to his, though mine were closer to those of Jesus.

My results:

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

100%

Neo orthodox

61%

Emergent/Postmodern

57%

Reformed Evangelical

50%

Fundamentalist

43%

Classical Liberal

39%

Modern Liberal

32%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

32%

Roman Catholic

25%

What's your theological worldview?

Do you ever get that feeling...

2005-06-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Everbody else knows what's going on but you? That was our day yesterday in London.

We boarded our train at Birmingham New Street Station and rode 1 hour 45 minutes to London Euston Station. Having arrived at around 12:30, we knew that we had better get moving. We walked the 2 and a half miles or so over to Westminster Abbey (we being Mary, Helen, and I). Actually, Helen rode while we walked. En route stopped at the Britism Museum to freshen up. By the time we got to Westminster, it was 2pm. We were digusted to discover that the abbey closes at 1:45 on Saturdays. Having seen most everything in that part of town already, we decided to go back to the British Museum and take in some things we failed to see last time and then grab some supper. We enjoyed the amazing pieces in the China section of the museum and spent a few minutes in the Americas.

After that we walked back to the station and treated ourselves to some pasties. Yes, I meant pasties. The singular, pasty, describes a oven-baked pastry usually filled with a meat. The little booth was called the West Cornwall Pasty Co., though I doubt their's are as good as the reknowned pasties of Cornwall. I had a pork and applesauce pasty (delicious!) and Mary had a Chicken Balti pasty (quite good). And by 'quite' I mean something between good and very good. I know some Brits who use quite to mean "only a little". Anyway, after we ate, we decided to go to the British Library, which is close to Euston Station. As misfortune seemed our lot, we arrived at 5:10pm, 10 minutes after the library had closed. So, we spent some time in a neat little bookshop near the station. We loved the books and Helen loved the time to crawl.

Our train departed at 6:30, so we got to the station around six. The platform number for the train was not displayed until 6:20, so we were part of a mad dash to the train to get seats together, which we found and had an uneventful ride home. We arrived back in B'ham at 8:10 and then took the bus home. We walked back into our door a few minutes before nine.

Then I began discover all the things we'd somehow missed in London. BK emailed me to ask if we had been part of the nude bicycle protest through London. No. We forgot our bikes. But we did walk some of the same areas where these people showed their, um, displeasure with oil dependency. I think BK must subscribe to some nude protest newsletter because he's always emailing me about them.

Today I was instant messaging with my niece, Brittany, and she asked me if we saw the Queen. Of course, we didn't, but apparently we somehow missed all the celebrations for Queeny's birthday yesterday(though her birthday was in April).

Then, a few minutes ago, I discovered that the American tennis player Andy Roddick was in London yesterday winning in the Queen's Tournament he has dominated in recent years.

So not only did we miss doing anything we'd planned on yesterday, we also missed chances to be scandalized, aculturated, and to act condescendingly. It figures!

But we did get a few pictures yesterday and today:

Helen and her new friend Ben.

Just to prove to Helen that she has been to Westminster when she gets older and tells us that we never go anywhere cool.

Helen today at play in the church building.

With her friend Elliot (13 months).

Tonight at supper looking for her belly button.

Oddly Enough

2005-06-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

When I view my blog page in Internet Explorer it looks all jumbled, but it looks fine on Firefox. Anyone else notice trouble with IE?

There's lots of articles, etc. that I've been planning on blogging about over the past few days. I decided to bundle them in this post.

Do you love Napoleon Dynamite? Do you love Star Wars? Then you will love this.

Could it be that most people aren't persuadable anymore? I must admit, it seems the older I get the more I have my mind made up about most things before I give them much time. One part of me says that is sad... but the other tells me that I'm simply saving time to reach the same conclusion I would have anyway.

I take back everything I said about the BBC because Jon bought my lunch today. Well, okay, I take away point number 5. But this is worth reading.

The best place to get Fish and Chips in Birmingham is George & Helen's. Mary and I had it for the last time tonight... yummy.

On my way to the aforementioned restaurant tonight on my bicycle, I was approached by a group of 12-13 year old girls who stopped me and asked me to buy them some drink. It took me a second to catch what they were asking (the Brummie accent is brutal). I asked them if they wanted me to buy them some drinks (I thought Coke at first... duh). Their ringleader/spokesgirl said, "We have the money. Will you go to that shop over there and buy it for us?" Of course, I then realized that they wanted me to buy them alcohol. And, of course I refused. I was tempted to take the money and then ride off and give it to charity. Maybe I should have. I'd like to blame this juvenile deliquency on the influence of the BBC on these girls' minds... but the same thing could have happened in the States.

Maybe the only bright spot about the above story is that the girls must have assumed I looked younger than 31 to have asked me? Don't you think?

I must admit that I know my readers well. If I want Mark or Jon to respond, I simply ridicule the BBC. If I want BK to respond, I simply need to mention this Larry King interview with Condi Rice where she relates a story about growing up in Birmingham, AL and says that the right to own guns is a civil rights issue. If I want to get Fat Gorilla to respond, all I need to do is mention a World Cup Soccer match which will have no audience.

And if I want the rest of you to respond, I need to include a few of these:

Sweet potatoes are for wearing and for eating.

Proud of the dress she wore to church last Sunday.

At Edinburgh Castle

In the PJ's Amy P bought for her

With the moms at the big Ferris Wheel in the City Centre

Just reel them in

2005-06-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Now that I have hooked 2 of the most revered and respected of the Queen's subjects with my closing remarks about the BBC, I simply have to reel them in and take them to the taxidermist and I'll have a trophy.

Did you notice it wasn't my remarks about British education, or the Biblical warrant for the death penalty, but criticism of the beloved BBC that brought their ire?...

I must apologize for the fact that much of my argument, convincing though it is, has been refined from years of debate in America over public funding for the 'arts', PBS and NPR (National Public Radio). In other words, you don't know what you are getting yourself into :-)

1. Quality of programming - I'd never argue that there aren't 'some' quality programs on the BBC. That is beside the point. The question is whether everyone who owns a TV should pay for government subsidized programming, regardless of its content (which I cover in #3). The license fee (tax) which partially pays the enormous cost to have the BBC gives it an unfair advantage over other programming. Which leads to...

2. Competition - The growing number of people with satellite dishes and cable in the UK is evidence that people want a greater variety in their programming. This is classic 'voting with your feet'. If you prefer a government run network where a few bureaucrats decide the the pgramming to that which is decided upon by the people of this great land, then the BBC is for you.

3. Content - Is there really that much on the BBC that warrants the billions of pounds required to keep it running? And is a tax needed to fund creativity and entertainment? I'd of supposed that a nation which produced the likes of Shakespeare and Dickens (without the help of the BBC) would have enough talent to make worthwhile programs. Or, to put it another way, is it inconceivable that the best stuff on the BBC could have been made without government funding?

And the amount of pornography that comes on the BBC over the aerial (antenna) is horrendous. This is what you're (we're) paying for with the involuntary tax. And I don't want to hear any nonsense about desecrating the Koran from a company that thinks that its broadcast of a play with 'Jesus in a Diaper' should be overlooked because it is valid artistic expression. You can't have it both ways.

4. Independence - Can an entity which depends largely on government funds be expected to report objectively? Let me put it another way... when government entities from other countries release news stories, are you the least bit skeptical?

My most recent example is a comparison of the the BBC's coverage of Blair's visit to Washington earlier this week and the UK's EU 'rebate'. The way the BBC, among other British news outlets reports it, Britain is the country that is really concerned about Africa... but George Bush is a tightwad and refuses to help the poor African people. Now, when I first came across these stories I was shocked because the US has long been an advocate of debt relief for African countries (while European nations have opposed it, I might add). But, in an attempt to make Blair look unsuccessful (not their golden boy, Gordon Brown), the BBC never mentions that the US advocates debt relief for more countries than the UK, or that the real difference is over how the money is given to Africa. I am not arguing that America or any other rich nation is doing enough for Africa, really. What I am arguing is that the BBC's rampant anti-Bush and now anti-Blair stance does is keep them from reporting all the facts.

Contrast that with the BBC's tacit acceptance of the government's argument that Britain should continue to receive a 3 billion pound per year rebate from the EU. Now, one might expect some suspicion over the government's supposedly benevolent attitudes to poor countries when it insists that it will demand to continue to receive the rebate PAID AT THE EXPENSE OF POOR COUNTRIES LIKE POLAND AND GREECE. The UK is the ONLY country arguing it should still receive the rebate. Why wouldn't the BBC question Gordon Brown's motives when he says that the rebate is "wholly justified"? Could it be that it has a vested interest in the UK receiving the rebate? Might not a truly benevolent government give this rebate to poorer countries... 3 billion pounds a year more to Africa... where it is really needed? FWIW, a paper outlining Poland's position for the UK to stop receiving the rebate is here.

My point is not to simply pick at the government... it acts in its own (or what it thinks is its own) interest the way America's does (whether I like it or not). But I suspect a little 'fox guarding the hen house' with the BBC and the Labour Party. They despise Blair now but want to be sure that Brown, and thus Labour, still retain power in 5 years. So Gordon Brown is the man who can do no wrong if you watch the BBC. I'm suspicious, okay?

I could cite further examples from the elections in May... if I need to.

Lest one think I don't like it over here (I am an anglophile after all), I'll include this tidbit I came across today in my 'light' (non-research related) reading. It's from Twain's Tom Sawyer Abroad. When Tom, Huck, and Jim are floating over the Sahara Desert in a hot air balloon, Tom explains to them to vastness of the desert... 600 miles wider than the entire US. This impresses Jim and Huck...

I (Huckleberry Finn) says:"Why, I've heard talk about this Desert plenty of times, but I never knowed before how important she was.
"Then Tom says:"Important! Sahara important! That's just the way with some people. If athing's big, it's important. That's all the sense they've got. All theycan see is SIZE. Why, look at England. It's the most important country inthe world; and yet you could put it in China's vest-pocket; and not onlythat, but you'd have the dickens's own time to find it again the nexttime you wanted it. And look at Russia. It spreads all around andeverywhere, and yet ain't no more important in this world than RhodeIsland is, and hasn't got half as much in it that's worth saving.

From Project Gutenberg online text.

Doesn't that make you feel all warm inside?

11 days

2005-06-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

We fly out on June 20th. In a few days I plan to blog about the things which have struck me most about living in the UK. I've got a running list.

A few more Edinburgh details... I was a little apprehensive about being able to rent the car we took because my Alabama driver's license expired in May. However, as I expected, the American convention for displaying dates helped me slip through. In the US, today's date is 6-9-05, but in much of the rest of the world it is 9-6-05. My license expired on my birthday, which is 05-07-05, which to a Brit looks like July 5th. Of course, I didn't say anything about this... they just assumed. BTW, my driving without a legal driver's license over here has parrallels to BK's driving without a license for around 2 years now.

On our trip to Edinburgh, we stayed about 12 miles outside the city in a town called Livingston. I actually had a good idea for once. I noticed a sign for a train station not too far from our hotel, so we drove to it on Tuesday morning instead of to Edinburgh. Parking was free at that station and the train came along in a few minutes. It took less than 15 minutes to arrive in the center of downtown Edinburgh. This was much easier than trying to negotiate Edinburgh traffic and find a parking spot. FWIW, we couldn't buy train tickets at the Livingston station but other folks there said we could buy them from the conductor. Well, he didn't have time to make it all the way into our compartment. So we left the train without having paid a cent or a pence or anything. When we were ready to leave, we only needed single (one-way) tickets back to Livingston. But, of course, we bought return tickets to pay for the morning's ride, too. I wonder how much money the train company loses every year from this stuff.

At the first little shop we entered in Edinburgh, I noticed that a woman paying for something at the register (till) had an Alabama driver's license. She was with another woman and both were from Gadsden. I struck up a conversation. As expected, they were tourists. We heard many American accents, and many Southern ones at that, on our visit to Edinburgh. They must think they own the place.

Though we didn't get to try any, I was glad to hear that our preacher and his wife will be bringing Haggis (picture here) to the cultural dinner our church is having the day before we leave. We'll be bringing biscuits (Southern variety), corn bread, and sweet tea. I wonder what the family from Malaysia/Australia will bring?

When we got home, the first thing I saw on the news was this. The news camera focused on a blood smear on the sidewalk. The incident took place on Tuesday not 4 blocks from our home. Always heartwarming to know. Or maybe heartworming.

I must mention this, too... At church last Sunday we were treated to Kit-Kat Lime candy bars. I hope I'm not the only one to notice the humor (or humour) in it.

One last bleat (which I hope does not offend my ~~Limey~~ British friends). It is my sincere hope that the BBC becomes a defunct organization in the near future. Besides being a waste of taxpayers' money, its news reports are skewed and as shoddy as any I've ever seen. Don't make me provide examples. The sooner the BBC has to actually support itself with its own revenues, the sooner it will have to wake up to the real world. I know, I know... it has some good radio programs and a TV show or two, but the product could be much better. I think most Brits don't like the idea of scrapping the BBC because they can't imagine life without it. But it's not hard for me. And you get used to the commercials.

Back from Edinburgh

2005-06-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

We made it back to Birmingham around 9pm last night from Edinburgh. We rented a car (to make the trip easier on Helen than a long train ride would have been) and drove the roughly 340 miles. Because of a mix up and a little confrontation, Thrifty car rental gave us £20 off the original price and gave us a Renault Clio with a diesel engine. That was a blessing because the little car got around 40 miles per US gallon (45 UK). In fact, we got almost 500 miles off the first tank of gas.

I'll get to what we saw in Edinburgh in a minute. First, I must mention that staying overnight in a hotel with an 11-month-old is not easy. Because we'd kept her up well past her bedtime, and because we were in such a new place, and because we were in the same room with her, Helen would not go to sleep. This is uncommon; she usually goes to sleep for the night rather easily. First we tried to put her down at around 8:30pm, but she could see us through her Pack-N-Play walls, so sleep was out of the question. I moved the PNP and we decided to let her "cry it out," but with people staying in the neighboring rooms, we couldn't do that for long. As her hollering became more and more intense, we relented. Mary got up, looked at Helen, and immediately said, "Well how did you get that way". She was standing up! The first time she had made it all the way by herself (the added frustration helped, I think). It will only be a matter of time before the stand becomes a walk. To finish the Helen story, after about 5 attempts to get her to sleep, Helen finally passed out in the bed with us and none of us slept well.

But we did have a good time in Edinburgh. Besides the beauty of the city and all the little shops, we spent time in Edinburgh Castle (10£ each) and in the Museum of Scotland (free). There is too much in those places to blog about. One attribute of Edinburgh that I did not like, much like London, was the presence of Americans. Now, I tend to like Americans, but over here its nice to be in a city where being an American is somewhat of a novelty. In the tourist cities, no one bats an eye when they hear a Yank speak.

More later today...

But the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them

2005-06-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to understand how Paul felt trying to get to Bythinia (Acts 16:6-7). I blogged long ago about our first failed attempt to go to Stratford upon Avon. Well, today we figured our odds of actually making it were pretty good because we were travelling with a large group from church. The preacher's wife, Helen, was even kind enough to let us borrow her car. All we had to do was follow in the convoy for the roughly 35 mile trip. After having been in the car for 10 minutes (mostly in traffic) I was starting to get familiar with the car... even adjusted the radio. While we were waiting at a redlight, I noticed that the radio was off, and then I noticed that other dashboard lights were not on. I had a feeling that this did not bode well. And it didn't. When the traffic began moving, I let off the clutch and the car died. I tried to recrank... nothing. The battery was dead. In vain I beat upon the steering wheel to honk the horn so that the folks we were following might see our problem. Unfortunately, the battery was dead AND the horn was not located on the steering wheel. Of course, this all happened in the midst of heavy traffic.

After a couple more attempts at starting the car, I got out and Mary jumped in the driver's seat. I pushed the car about 40 yards and, thanks to a helping hand from a nice guy who then let us cut across in front of him, we turned down a side street and Mary coasted into a parking spot. All of this was too much for Helen, who promptly fell asleep.

After a couple of minutes, my mobile phone rang... the preacher, Mike, wondering where we were. I told him our dilemma and he turned around and was with us in less than 10 minutes. We jumped the car off, but made it less than a mile before it died again. The entire convoy was waiting on us. The guy leading the trip, Phillip, decided we should just call it a day and forget Stratford. Instead, we left Helen (the preacher's wife, not the baby) with the car and the rest of us went to the city centre and had lunch at The Big Wok... a huge Chinese buffet... all Phillip's treat. Helen and Mike have AA coverage (same as AAA coverage without the 'American' part), so they rang them up and a guy came out and fixed the car by the time we finished lunch... broken alternator belt. Mike and Helen were kind enough to let us keep the newly fixed car overnight so we can skip the hour long ride on the bus in the morning for church... 10 minutes in the car.

So, it appears Stratford will have to wait until some time later when we come to the UK. And I should mention that I took Mary's parents for a "fly by" of the place in late March, though all they did was buy 2 British army shirts at a flea market and a book from a bookstore. I hope the Spirit has no problems with our intentions to go to Edinburgh on Monday-Tuesday.

I should mention that Mary and I had a delicious meal last night from Martin's Restaurant, an Indian place just a stone's throw from our house. They delivered some Chicken Masala for me and Lamb Dhansak for Mary. Highly recommended.

Here are some pics from today, and a couple from earlier this week:

Folks from church at the Big Wok:

Helen, the preacher's daughter Roxanne and yours truly at The Big Wok:

Helen trying to stand using the couch:

After toting her favorite towel over to me, she grabbed my leg, tried to pull up and said distinctly, "Da da!". Of course, I picked her up. This is a freeze frame of some video:

Rain, rain go away

2005-06-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

At least until I can get on my bike and ride home. I'm sitting in a university computer lab waiting for a let up right now.

It occurred to me the other day that I committed a classic blogging blunder... misspelling a word. I rarely do much proofreading, so I often find mistakes days later. The most obvious one lately was when I said that Mark Goodace wasn't too discrete with his news of moving to Duke. I should have put "discreet". However, to my credit, discrete is a word, a mathematics one at that (discrete as opposed to continuous). Took many classes in the Department of Discrete Mathematics at Auburn years ago. It changed to the Department of Discrete and Statistical Sciences, and has since merged with the Math Dept (imagine that!).

Well, the sun is out and I hear Helen calling my name.

And, BK, there not your large letters but mine. Looks like you need to brush up on your koine pronouns.

I sprang from my bed to see...

2005-05-31T23:45:00.000-07:00

Why the kid was crying. Early this morning, around 1:20 am, I climbed out of bed and peeked out the window to see where the crying was coming from. From my angle I couldn't see, but Mary could see some people standing in the street from her vantage point. There were 3 people; 2 men and woman. The woman began to yell at one of the men while the other man stood behind her. She repeatedly pushed the young man in front of her and he appeared to be interested in getting past her to the other guy. The crying child was watching this from an open door across the street where, intermittently, a person (grandmother?) would try to convince the woman (mother) to come inside. I watched this scene for about 2 minutes.

Finally, the guy had had enough of the woman's pushing, so he shoved her down and tackled the other guy. This is when I decided to go downstairs and offer 'help'. I slipped on my shoes and a pullover and made my way outside and down the road. Two men, Africans I surmised from their accents, were trying to pry the first guy, whom we'll refer to henceforth as Instigator, off of the second guy, whom we'll call Slim. The Africans were able to get Instigator away from Slim, but the fun was far from over. I stood back probably 15 feet and marvelled at the fact that I understood almost nothing these people were yelling at each other. I suspect we can blame much of it on the booze and/or drugs which was apparent from the slurred speech of the woman and Instigator. Another reason I couldn't understand them is that, in the heat of the moment, our accents are accentuated (nice pun) at high volumes. Thus, I was unable to surmise why these people were fighting. Throw in the fact that I'd been in REM just 5 minutes before, and its not surprising I was clueless.

All appeared to be well, people dispersing and death grips abating when... Slim decided to say something about Instigator's brother. I thought he said, "Tomorrow your brother will be in the nick.' But again, I'm not sure I understood any of it. Anyway, this set Instigator off (though the woman's further shoves probably helped). I asked the Africans if they knew what was going on, but they were as clueless as I. One said, "He might kill him." I asked them to call the police. I also looked toward the door where the screaming kid was and told the adult there to call the cops.

Whatever it was that Slim said, Insitigator was mad enough to resume the death grip for a minute or so on Slim's head. The woman peeled him away, but that only freed Instigator (drunk and/or high I remind you) to go to a nearby construction skip (dumpster) and grab a long stick, perhaps an old piece of moulding. He approached Slim and, thankfully, only threw the stick at him. The stick missed its target. After a little more shouting, Instigator grabbed another stick and began holding it like a baseball bat. Did I mention that I was backing up by now? Slim made a wise choice and decided to run. The woman was screaming bloody murder by this time. As Insigator took off after Slim, approaching the corner of our block, I was seriously hoping that Slim had the sense to keep running. At the moment that Insigator was about to get out of view, a police car pulled up and stopped in the middle of the road. I saw the officers get out and begin to run. It was obvious that they caught Instigator rather quickly but most of this took place just around the corner. Needless to say, someone had obviously called the cops before I showed up.

Another police car showed up and order was restored. I came back inside and talked the whole thing over with Mary who'd watched it all from our bedroom window. Because there was nothing to do but go back to bed, we did. I was awake at least 2 more hours. Certainly not the first incident I've seen between 'juiced up' people. Mary commented that, if this had happened when we first arrived, she and Helen would have been in a hotel across town.

Ba-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding

2005-05-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

What's the hottest song in Great Britain at the moment? Would you believe a mobile phone ring tone? Believe it. Back on January 6th of this year, the day after I arrived here, I remember hearing a guy's phone ring with a crazy "ba ding ding ding...", sort of like a chipmunk doing an impression of a minibike. That was not the last time I heard it, and since then it has been put to a beat with some 80's rap music (can't remember the song) and climbed to #1 on the charts. It's known as the crazy frog (mp3 link, see picture below). I don't know if it's popular in America yet. BTW, the original sound seems to have come from this.

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. (I'll see if I can't scrounge up some charcoal) and a bank holiday here. Schools and universities are out this week here, too, so many, many people here are on vacation (holiday). Because the library is closed and I've read everything I have on my research topic, today will be spent reading Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler. This is my first Cussler book to read, but won't be the last. FWIW, we're going Stratford-upon-Avon with folks from church on June 4, to Edinburgh on June 6-7 via rental car, and back to London June 11 via train. That will probably be the last of our adventures (not counting the flight home, of course). We fly out 3 weeks from today.

If you get a minute, check out Doug Giles advice -- 10 ways to ensure that you are a failure in life. I have linked to his article on the second one. The series begins here. I haven't read this guy's stuff before, and he's a bit wordy for what he says, but his thinking is on this right on target. His 10 ways are:

1. Be a slacker.
2. Blame others.
3. Embrace hopelessness.
4. Follow others mindlessly.
5. Be a wet blanket.
6. Hang out with morons.
7. Be a self obsessed me-monkey.
8. Stand for nothing.
9. Have an “it’s not my job” mentality.
10. Quit when the going gets tough.

It appears articles on the remaining 8 are forthcoming.

Bob's Your Uncle

2005-05-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

The unthinkable happened today in England... it was warm. Yesterday it got so warm that I had to shed my sweater(jumper) on my bike ride home. But today it got up to 80! Don't worry. The high tomorrow is supposed to be around 62 and in the 50's after that. I almost had reason to wear one of the two short sleeve shirts I have here (aside from T-shirts of course).

Speaking of weather... Mary and I were watching the news the other night and the weather--uh--person said we should take a long look at the weather map because it would be the last we'd see of it on the BBC. The next day they changed to a 3-D map. For normal people, this would not matter, but, fortunately the UK has plenty of abnormal people. See where we get it?

I commented about Mark Goodacre's accepting a position at Duke the other day. Well other folks weighed in as well. Of note here is Michael Pahl, a Canadian who teaches at Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta (north of Montana). Michael will be bringing his wife and kids over later this year to fulfill his required stay in Birmingham as part of the external PhD program (much as I have done). Michael's supervisor is also Mark Goodacre, and it looks as if Michael's arrival in the UK will coincide nicely with Mark's departure. But, Michael, you and your family are in our prayers. At least he can take comfort in the knowledge that the winter over here will be easier on them than it was us. And it appears that Michael plans to blog his time here... and call it the Anglo-file, too. Here, here!

Mary and I check yahoo every night to see what's on TV. Tonight something interesting is appearing on Channel 5 apparently... The Patriot. At first, I thought it had to be the Steven Seagal one, not the Mel Gibson one. Apparently, the folks at Yahoo couldn't decide so they put this description. FWIW, the Seagal Patriot is on now... don't imagine the Brits care too much for the Gibson one.

Now, for the part most of you care about... Helen pics:

Most fun part of the day: bathtime

Using the mouth keeps the hands free

After bath, her favorite game (with her favorite towel): Where's baby Helen?

The same game at another time and with her coat:

4 More Americans

2005-05-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to blog about this until I knew he was letting word out. Of course, I figured it would be in a more discrete way than via the internet, but it does save him having to send out a hundred emails. My supervisor here in Birmingham, Dr. Mark Goodacr e, likes me so much that he's following me back to America. He won't make it all the way to Tennessee, but will stop in Durham, North Carolina where he'll be a prof in the religion dept. of Duke University. He and his family will be making the move sometime later this year. Yes, this will affect my research, but thankfully Mark has agreed to continue to be an external supervisor and it will be nice to have him just one state away. Of course he'll still be around 514 miles away, roughly the same distance as Glasgow to Bude (Cornwall) -- see graphical representation below with the Murfreesboro to Durham map rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

Of course, they'll be less than 2 hours to the mountains or to the beach.

I'd like you to submit advice for these soon-to-be Americans using my comments link. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

27 More Days To Get Knighted

2005-05-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

One of my secret ambitions in coming here was to do something honorable (for my UK friends, "honourable" with the usless 'u') enought to get knighted. Its looking less and less likely to happen... probably because of the whole "Don't blame me, I voted for the House of Hanover" bumper sticker thing.

Thanks to almost all of you who commented about Helen's "Tickle, etc." (didn't know she knew Latin, huh?). I'll handle responses in order:

1. I believe Mary Joyce H. is the most chronologically advanced of all my readers, and for that she gets a bouquet.

2. For Tim B.: I have a Creative Muvo Tx USB 2.o 256 MB mp3 player. It cost around $80 U.S., or around 107 kiwi dollars, including shipping. I highly recommend it. Currently, mine has over 5 hours and 40 minutes of voice record time left on it (even with the 1+ hours of music on it). Perfect for recording classes. Its also a handy memory stick. It looks like this:

3. No, Jon, the picture is of the star of one of my favorite (insert usless 'u' after 'o') TV shows of the 90's, Parker Lewis Can't Lose. If you' ever update your blog you could put in obscure stuff like this.

Tickle, tickle, tickle

2005-05-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day at church. We had a crowd of around 60, which is the most since we've been here. We enjoyed a fellowship meal afterwards (what we call a potluck back home). We took chili, biscuits, and a pudding pie. The high point of the day was when, in the midst of the congregational singing, Helen belted out her favorite phrase. She has quite a vocabulary for an 11-month-old, but most of all she likes to say "Tickle, tickle, tickle...." especially during that quite time between hymn verses. I thought you might like to hear her say it, so here's a short clip of her favorite phrase said at my prompting. BTW, our little mp3 player makes the best recordings, don't you think?

Back so soon

2005-05-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

To make up for lost time, here I am blogging a few hours after my last post.

I forgot to mention the best "Star Wars" parody I've ever seen which can be viewed here.

I must add this disclaimer - I'm not much on the global advantages of organic farming. Here's an article that lays out some reasons, with the most important part being "Organic food costs more because average yields are 20-50% lower than those from conventional farms. Its inefficiency is highly relevant to the hungry and the poor... In the words of the Indian biologist CJ Prakash, its only contribution to sustainable agriculture will be 'to sustain poverty and malnutrition"' But, anyway, Grocery Store Wars is still hilarious.

Four Noteworthy Things

2005-05-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

1. A UK police officer was recently caught on camera going 159 mph on a joy ride... I mean to "test his high speed driving skills"... and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. I remind you that this is the same place where a camera takes your picture if you go 5 miles over the speed limit and then you receive a ticket in the post.

2. UK residents now have the option of watching TV on their mobile phones. In an odd twist, it seems this technology has been available in France for some time now. Of course, the most advanced feature on my decade old phone is the ability to choose between "jingle bells" and "mexican hat dance" ringtones. I wonder if subscribers to this new TV-mobile will have to pay the TV tax?

3. BK is back from Alabama... obviously time well spent because a) he made significant research progress and b) he effervesces when writing about Auburn University.

4. Today the Annual Jesse Owens Memorial Run took place in my hometown of Moulton, AL. It might be worth bombarding BK's blog with comments to ask him to pressure his dad into actually giving the JO a web presence. I'm about to do my own personal 10k here and will report back with my time. The downside is that they probably won't include my results in the JO. The upside is that I can get the silver platter for top local runner (if I go out and buy it).

FWIW, it's almost 8:40 pm here, but when I finish I'll bet that there will still be a flicker of sunlight. The summer days here are ridiculously long, and by necessity the winter days are short. When we leave in June, it will get dark well after 10pm.
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Update (10:20pm): The first annual Birmingham (UK) Jesse Owens Memorial Run 10k race was won by yours truly in a time of approximately 43 minutes and some change. The course was not certified, and the poor publicity meant that turnout was low. However, all participants agreed it was a well-run affair.

Auf Weidersehen

2005-05-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

Mom and dad are now back home safe in Alabama and they loved all the landscape work my bro-in-law did. Before they left, we all went to Bath. Of course, it is world-renowned for the Roman Baths (and they are awesome), but Bath Abbey and the Royal Crescent were also worth taking in while we were there. The coolest thing at the Roman Baths was the fact that we saw some Auburn people (we could tell by the AU logos) were there, though we never met. Mary and I also ran into 3 AU folks in the British Museum in London. Of course, this goes to show that Auburn produces the kind of people who appreciate history.

Below I'm including some pics from our trip to Powis Castle in Wales, etc.
The view from the castle grounds:

The fam:

A less than commendable attempt at using the timer to capture Mary and me with the castle in the distance:

Helen having a good time in front of some of the flowers:

Helen just after one of her new hobbies, trying to pull herself up with the chair:

An older pic of Helen in mock pigtails:

Mom and Dad

2005-05-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on all our doings:

1. On Tuesday May 10 - Thursday May 12 Mom and Dad were in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dad said it was hard to find the castle at first because everything looked like a castle.

2. On Friday the 13th (oooh) Mary and I drove to London whilst the grandparents watched Helen. We made passing visits to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament (ie Big Ben), and spent most of our time in the British Museum. One really needs at least a day and a half there to do it any justice. I recommend the Ancient Near East section and Bog Man. Next time we'll do the British Library, where I could spend several years.

FWIW to you Brits, my friend Lew tolf me (via JT) the best way from Birmingham to park and ride into London. Take the M40 which becomes the A40 outside London. Take the Northolt exit and go left past the train station. At the intersection turn left and park at the Swimerama swim baths for less than £3 all day. Brilliant.

3. On Saturday, I took the others on a repeat trip of Wolverhampton and Wales (the same as with Mary's parents in March). In Wales, we went into Powis Castle this time. The gardens alone were worth the price of admission. The castle was awesome and the view breathtaking. Of course, there were several valuable items on display, the most impressive being Bernardo Belloto’s "View of Verona" which is worth £12 million!!! And for you thieves out there, the security is almost nonexistent. Wink, wink.

Powis Castle is the kind of place that most people in the West Midlands/Birmingham area don't know about, yet need to visit because it is only 1 1/4 hours away.

4. On Sunday, we went to the preacher's family's home after church and spent the afternoon. We had a nice lunch of that traditional British meal -- lasagna.

5. Yesterday, Monday, my parents took a bus to London and will be returning tonight. We all plan one more trip... a visit to Bath on Wednesday. Dad was too cheap for the train, so they took a megabus. Cheap but no luxuries. Then mom and dad will be departing on Thursday, and we'll have one more month of UK living.

The weather here right now is about like early March in North Alabama. Thankfully, it has rained very little so mom and dad have been able to see most everything they wanted. They don't know this yet, but my brother-in-law Chris has added tons of grass and landscaping to their yard while they've been away. You Moulton folks make sure to ask them about it when they get home.

And Capes mentions that she has never seen my parents, so here is an old family photo:

That's me on the right, mom to the left of me, my sister in the middle, dad in the traditional Wren male garb to the left of my sister, and on the extreme left is the one of whom we do not speak.

What's Up

2005-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Its been too long since I last posted. I need to provide updates to the folks in Moulton on my parents and their visit thus far.

On Sunday after church we all went to our house and ate chili which Mary had made. We pretty much hung out around the house for the rest of the day to let Helen rest.

On Monday morning, mom and dad took the bus to Cadbury World all by themselves. Tell them you are proud of them when we see them.

On Monday afternoon, mom and dad stayed home with Helen while Mary and I went to see the movie The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (£3.95 each). Something rather unique happened at the theater (Brits should read 'cinema') -- we were the only ones in the movie for the entire time. Because I snuck (or is it 'sneaked'?) in my own generic 19p cola (conveniently poured into a 500ml Pepsi bottle), the entire venture was pretty cheap. BTW, I'd recommend the movie to anyone familiar with the book. Of course, it would be impossible to put all of the THGTG in one 2-hour movie, but this was an admirable attempt. It also included a nice mix of British and American actors. But we were never told why the leading actress who played Trillian was American. Ford Prefect was supposed to be a foreigner. The fact that Zaphod Beeblebrox had a quasi-Texas accent was appropriate.

We stopped by KFC on the way home -- mom doesn't like too much adventure when she eats. And the Colonel cooks it over here the same way as back home... but without the biscuits.

On Tuesday morning I dropped mom and dad off at the train station and they departed from Edinburgh, Scotland. I talked to them in the afternoon and they had arrived alright but were still walking around looking for their hotel. Let's hope they didn't have to sleep under a bridge. They will return to Birmingham on Thursday night.

I've done alot of research lately and am hopefully coming to some insightful ideas.

Mary and I plan to go to London on Friday morning and return that evening. Mom and dad will enjoy an entire day with Helen, and she will revel in their undivided attention!

Since I don't get to brag about stuff like this much -- Alabama's unemployment rate is now 4.7%. It is better than almost all of its neighbors: Georgia is at 5%, Lousiana is 5.3%, Tennessee is 5.9% and Mississippi is 7.0%. Florida is ahead at 4.4%. Unemployment in the UK is currently 4.8%.

This and that

2005-05-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

I took mom, dad, Mary and Helen to Warwick Castle today. Since I'd already been, I went into town and took care of some old work... grading papers from last term that were overdue. I also discovered that I tend to be to gracious when I grade papers over here... but giving a 70 for an A just feels so wrong to me! FWIW, most universities use the following scale: A=70-100, B=60-69, C=59-50, etc. A 94 paper in America would be about a 77 here. No one gets over an 85 (regardless of the work or the school) and rarely are grades of 80+ given. But I was able to grade the 3 papers I had and take in some of the town before I "collected" my family at the castle.

I still plan to blog about the election in the near future.

I have the honor of preaching again here tomorrow morning. After the in-laws came all the way to hear me speak in March, now my parents are here for my sermon in May. Odd that.

I turned 31 today. Or so numerous people have told me. My parents have official documents reflecting that 31 is my actual age, but those things can be forged, you know.

I must include a pic from JT's blog. If he created this gif image himself I'm going to go back and change his grade.

Greatest Hits #3

2005-05-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

At BK's behest I gave Alabama Sacred Harp Singers a listen and I'm glad he was so insistent. I seem to recall hearing about this kind of Southern music years back, but today was my first experience. Sacred Harp singers are actually a capella singers singing four part harmony with "shaped" notes. Many in Churches of Christ grew up with the same, but probably never sang like this. The most interesting characteristic of Sacred Harp singers is the fact that, before they sing the first verse, they sing the notes -- "do" or "ra" or "mi" or "fa" - to get the tune engrained. It can be an awesome sound. Its the kind of thing that one can envision getting exposure in a movie and sparking world interest in the art (akin to the renewed interest in bluegrass after O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 1991). So I will be including The Last Words of Copernicus by the Alabama Sacred Harp Singers.

I also decided to include Seven Spanish Angels by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson to give Texas a little credit. Dixieland Delight by Alabama will also most likely make the cut. Keep the suggestions coming in! Remember to identify yourself if you choose to make an "anonymous" comment (even if that sounds completely contradictory).

I have also decided to include snippets of Jerry Clower's and Andy Griffifth's old standup routines for some more Southern flare. Maybe some Foxworthy, too!

My mom and dad arrive around 10am tomorrow morning. I'll be blogging about their exploits after they arrive.

Finally, I wasn't able to catch Jim B.'s prayer on C-Span today so Mary videotaped the broadcast for me. Below is a still shot of the Rev. You know he loved that!

Greatest Hits #2

2005-05-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who have suggested songs thus far. Please keep them coming.

I should be a little more clear about what I am looking for. Both of these guys know American music well. Jon's album collection would make a 58-year-old unreformed hippie living in a commune salivate. He probably knows Dylan better than Dylan does. The Eagles, Baez, Simon & Garfunkel, etc. are out simply because they know them well already. So I have to go for the lesser knowns... ones that are classics but not necessarily known worldwide. That is easier said than done when Lew's dad raised him on American country and bluegrass. With all that said, I've decided to add these songs to the list:

1. The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels - though I suspect that they know it already.

2. Its Midnight in Montgomery by Alan Jackson - mentions Montgomery and Mobile.

3. Paint Me a Birmingham by Tracy Lawrence - not a spectacular song, but they'll get a kick out of the whole Birmingham thing.

4. You Don't Even Call Me By My Name by David Allan Coe - against my better judgment.

5. Walkin' in Memphis by Marc Cohn- though I really don't like the song.

6. The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton - I'd originally planned to have it on the funny CD (still waiting for suggestions from BK, JSM, etc) but at BK's urging I'll put it on this one. Interestingly, Mary, Helen and I had a great time visiting Jon and Su in Coventry on Monday. We were singing songs to/with Helen and I asked them if they knew the Battle of New Orleans. They didn't, so I sang them a little. Doubt it will become a favorite.

Today is election day here and I consider myself privileged since elections only roll around every 5 years or so, depending on when they powers-that-be call for them. I'll have more to say about this later.