Alabama builds it, Murray should come selmatimesjournal Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Alabama Cancels Classes For BCS National Title Game Huffington Post Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Alabama's Ingram wins Heisman Trophy The Washington Post Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The Bill of Rights went into effect this week because reasonable men could agree.
December 17, 2009
Alabama joined the union this week in 1819, the 22nd to do so, so it's only fitting we make this the seventh state to be honored in our playful romp through our 50 states.
First things first.
Alabama industry is not about chemicals, rubber, plastics, apparel, textiles, and automobile manufacturing.
It’s, of course, about football.
Especially now since Alabama has returned to its rightful place, among the college elite, and are playing for the idiotic BCS championship.
But don’t get me started.
And the University, in Tuscaloosa, (there's a Groucho quip in there someplace) is showing where their priorities are by cancelling classes a day before, during, and a day after, the game.
The least they could do.
And how can you not appreciate a state that gave us Mary Anderson, from Mobile, who invented the windshield wiper in 1905.
Can you imagine the mess we’d be in if she hadn't.
Pecan is the official state nut, although I can think of some other official nuts from Alabama.
And maybe the best state song, that is not an official state song, is "Stars fell on Alabama." (A must listen.)
Some obligatory history before we get to the food (no skipping):
Spanish explorers arrived at Mobile Bay in 1519, and later by explorer Hernando de Soto.
The French, at Fort Louis de la Mobile, became the first permanent European settlement in 1702. The Treaty of Paris gave the British control of the area in 1763 but had to cede almost all of it to the U.S. after the American Revolution.
The Confederacy began at Montgomery, in Feb. 1861, and, for a time, the city was the Confederate capital, as well as the state capital.
Some think...no, the jokes are too easy.
Let's talk accomplishments.
At Tuskegee Institute, Dr. George Washington Carver revolutionized agriculture and gave us peanut butter.
And in 1955, a brave black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white passenger.
Martin Luther King, Jr. led a successful boycott of the city's public transportation and brought passive resistance to national prominence.
The Yellowhammer nickname, in case you’re not from Alabama, was adopted in the Civil War when a company of young cavalry soldiers entered the scene spiffily attired with yellow on their sleeves, collars and coattails.
Soon all Alabama troops became known as the "Yellowhammers."
Not so coincidentally it's also the state bird, and a cute one at that.
Naturally, Alabama has given birth to many famous Alabamians.
Three of my favorites, in no order are: Tallulah Bankhead, Nat King Cole and Willie Mays.
And, as they say about Alabama, come hungry.
Food is passion here and the locals love to show true southern hospitality to those that are unfortunate not to live in the state.
You get your plate of fried green tomatoes at the Irondale Cafe (at least visit their website) in Irondale.
And probably the best southern cuisine in the country in Birmingham, at the legendary Highland Bar and Grill, which was named the fifth best restaurant in the nation by Gourmet magazine.
The Cotton Patch in Eutaw has the best fried chicken and seafood in the country, natives claim.
If those aren't fighting (or squawking) words, what are?
ALABAMA FOOD al.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Famous Alabamans alabama.gov Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Alabama Department of Archives and History archives.state. Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Being from the South I can just taste food from back home now. I'm not sure if I could move back ...
Dec. 17, 2009 12:45 AM
Best food state (if you could only eat in one)?
35% 20% 15% 13% 10% 8%
I love my new Classic Inverness Cape Coat.
...and songs, so many good things rhyme with Alabammy....
I have the Nepal Rolled hat. Just what I needed to keep my wigwam.. ;-) well,no wig,but warm.
Being from the South I can just taste food from back home now. I'm not sure if I could move back there now but I do think it would be a great place to retire after some time living away...a good bit of time. The world is an oyster and I love oysters but I want to sample them from all over this world of ours.
more on the honor rollI drove through Alabama once... lots and lots of pine trees.
y'all just stay out'a bama....... roll tide!!!!! being a bamafan, i'm proud for mark ingram!
But CUUKOO- I was on my way over to your house for your famous cookies & hopefully some good, hot tea.
oh bebe, i don't live there. a fan!!!! you can cover over any time, we'll have cookies and tea. they have great corndogs there!!!
Ok C, we could meet in Alabama- gorge on corndogs & then retire to your house for cookies & tea. I'm calling in sick right now!
a little seasonal music from my favorite 'Bama boys....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFy1dqw3kwY&feature=related
meet y'all in mobile (talk about good food) and head down to daulphin island, then over to gulf shores....ah!!!! now it might take me a phew, cause i'll have to stop at the peabody on beale first....packin now.
cuukoo1
we take the ferry from gulf shores to daulphin island on our yearly treck to NOLA and jazzfest. We usually hit the Peabody the month between thanksgiving and christmas...see you at the fountain and the duck march next year.
and don't forget the Hank Williams museum in Georgiana....
and then there's Alabama (the band).....so good.
Miss Blue, what a nice surprize, it appears that we have similar taste in music!
I cannot designate any of the listed states as "best" for food. That's a lot of territory, and furthermore with mobility in society so-called recional foods can be acquired almost everywhere, if you set your target and don't give up. The rest of you will have to assist me.
...regional..... need spellcheck, and more dark roast.
Andy, I cracked up when I saw your avatar.... Does this mean that you are anticipating having a "bad hair day?"
explain you food thoughts bert? please......
Bert
food, language and music.....examine these regionally and you get a pretty good idea of the history,social structure etc .and a look into the heart of the community.
I spend a great deal of time in the Gospel tent at Jazzfest.
Just last Sunday, I parked my car next to the AME church in Franktown and sat for a while just to listen to the music....my 15 year old was with me and thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Run On"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOiquKuoDac
Spent 10 August days in a seamless steel pipe mill in Fairfield about 25 years ago. The massive sculpture of Vulcan in Birmingham was impressive. So was the heat. So was the torrential downpour that occurred every afternoon around 3:15. Food? I was on expense account, but young and inexperienced and alone...I didn't eat anything memorable except barbeque that was so spicy it could only be palatable on spoiled goat.
andy
by the way, Elvis says hey.
I married into Alabama history. My mother-in-law was born in Opp, raised in Mobile and fled young by marrying an Air Force mechanic from Ohio whose roommate was dating her sister. When we got engaged the test was a 17 hour drive to Alabama to meet the family. The cruise control got stuck and we had to keep shutting off the engine. We pulled up in front of his grandparents house late and his grandfather came out in stripped pajamas without his teeth, too late to but them back in, he said. They were delightful and the place always felt like home.
Thanks for the music Miss Blue.
Ah and let's not forget the haunting and absolutely fabulous song by Alan Jackson called MIDNIGHT IN MONTGOMERY - one of his very best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjegQY28W04&feature=PlayList&p=571C628703A73E9A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=12
Love the Ella and Louis song, one of the best of that genre. And the pic of Louis and the socks is just too much.
Cuukoo1: All I was trying to say is that it is harder and harder to truly be fluent in venues where the best of foods originate. Asian foods, for example, are not one entity. My kid thinks "chop suey" is Asian food, where obviously we know it is American, passed off as Asian food. But luckily most big cities have at least one restaurant, albeit an obscure location hideout, where authentic food from just about anywhere can be obtained. So I am humble, and go with someone with the knowledge that I need to keep away from overpriced & inferior or imitation regional foods.
Miss Blue, you do all of the right things to seek out the music, it does not sua sponte seek out you. Bravo. Now give up the address and schedule of choir services of that African-American church, or we will have to obtain the information by more sinister methods....like tickling your feet.
Road Yacht: I was going, given our food discussion, to tell Miss Blue to FORK OVER the information.....but I knew you would be groaning loud enough for me to hear it over all of these many miles away.....lol
Robert
I too love oysters, but do not care for Gulf or other warm water varieties.
So, I will stick to some ' Bama shrimp with some pecan pie for dessert. I order a large box of 'bama pecans every year.
So, partial menu set for the club car.....
shrimp something or the other and pecan pie....and lets include a Lucy Buffett 'Bama Breeze. or two for a beverage selection.
her CrispyCreme bread pudddin is pretty good too.
Hope the club car has a dance floor tonight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKOVPXhlnE&feature=related
think i'll follow the music down that lost highway on the Hank Williams trail, in a Baby Blue Caddy of course.
What?!? It is 9am and not a single person has spontaneously broken out "Sweet Home Alabama"? For Shame!
I've got some dear friends in Coffee Alabama, attended a wedding at the highest point in Alabama (Mt. Cheaha, yes there were a few people who got "high" to truly appreciate the altitude, if you can call it that), and my brother and his family lived outside of Mobile in the town of Daphne for quite a while.
Food is always plentiful and fried. I once saw a whole (fur and all squirrel on a stick...deep fried. I learned that soda isn't soda, its coke...even if you can find pepsi its a coke.
Tiberius...I.Am.So.Jealous!
some fine Christmas music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDeXUvWbLp8
Speaking of food, Alabama is the only place where I've seen and tried WHITE BBQ sauce...it was good, different, but good.
nachista
you may have opened up the flood gates for oneliners....
i won't jump in so as not to offend EVERYONE !( for once)
...have a sudden craving for fried clams and hush puppies...
I just returned, and for an instant I was daydreaming... THEN my ESP told me that SOMEONE mentioned "dancing" and "club car," both in the same sentence. My ears perked up, my toes started tapping, and in my mind I am inventorying what best to wear for such a momentous occasion. We may have a problem with allocation of space, some club cars had tables permanently affixed to the floor. We, however, are special. OUR club car is an OBSERVATION car, with a platform just outside the rear door. These cars tended to formerly be owned by private corporate barons, and they were often furnished like an English men's club, with open space towards the rear. What for some would be a mundane opportunity to stand, mingle, and gossup for ME shall become a quest to DANCE! - Seize the moment -
I doubt that anyone will notice that classes are cancelled at Alabama U.
Watched the Ella & Louis song -- none of today's "divas" will ever compare to Ella . . .
Miss Blue
Being from Louisiana I love all Southern foods but the hurricanes (the storms not the drinks) are what pushed me away. And being that I was raised by my Grandparents I learned from a young age how to cook. Everything Southern and delicious is always on the potential menu.
I just made blueberry cobbler, and out of deference to today's topic looked to see if Alabama had made any notable contributions to my confection of the day. I was interested to read that blueberries had been banned in the original territory by the French after an unfortunate incident involving a member of the petty nobility, a fine lace ruffle, and a vigorous bar maid of questionable ambulatory abilities.
I confuse Alabama with Louisiana.
For the longest time I thought New Orleans was in Alabama.
And Mississippi, I only know how to spell it.
I am one of those armchair travelers, and I've clearly misplaced my A's, L's, and M's volumes.
Ask me which states start with Z though, and you'll be really impressed at all that I know.
Never been to Alabama, but I'm going to have to challenge JP's assertion about football. They may have a good team every once in awhile, but I know of a few states where a football game changes how the population is counted.
Now, what are the chances of pecan pie and Southern Comfort being served in the Club Car tonight?
Whew.
Michael...can you handle it?
;)
Someday I'll tell you about my Last Southern Comfort Experience, but it won't be now.
Park4, tell me about the states that start with Z.
Just a minute, Michael.
I'm thinking.
Zambia and Zimbabwe if you define 'states' a bit loosely....
Zuhtah, Zew Mexico and ZewYork
you two are geniuses....
;)
And now, what I hope (some of) you have been waiting for --
On TCM, tonight!
it's ho ho ho time, again:
8:00 pm EST
Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
A homemaking specialist who can't boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner Dir: Peter Godfrey BW-102 mins, TV-G
10:00 pm EST
Holiday Affair (1950)
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert Dir: Don Hartman BW-87 mins, TV-G
11:30 pm EST
Never Say Goodbye (1946)
A husband tries to win back his wife before she can divorce him.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Lucile Watson, S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall Dir: James V. Kern BW-94 mins, TV-PG
I've never seen this last one, from the trailer: it's definitely a soaper, nonetheless it sounds like it's light and gay (in the fa-la-la sense of the word), and might just be a comfy late-night kind of flick, along with some Christmas cookies and hot cocoa...or Southern Comfort, if you're Michael.
Enjoy, Villagers!
To Michael: Having known people from Alabama and spent some time in that state, I can tell you that Alabama football is up there with any state in the union in their idolotry of football. More so, in fact.
All you have to do is google Bear Bryant to understand what football means in the state. And now that they've returned to glory, the mania is there again.
jmr: Does Alabama sell out the stadium during a losing season?
Wow, a Yellowhammer. Who knew? Have nothing to say on the football front and food, birds and windshield wipers, how can you go wrong. Thanks, Mr. P.
Bert -- not anticipating; having :)
Park, good point about "gay" meaning "fal-la-la" once upon a time. Now it can mean "fa-la-la", however infrequently, but also homosexual and (rudely used) stand as a term of general derision. I think the spelling of each usage needs to adapt. "Gay" for homosexual, "Gae" for "fa-la-la" and "Ghey" for general derision.
Likewise, "faggot" hardly ever means "bundle of sticks" any longer. But when it does, it should be spelled "faggot" and pronounced as in the French. The British can keep "fag" for cigarettes, if there's anybody still dumb enough to do that. The rude usage applied to Gays should be written "phaggut", and when truncated I think should be spelled "phag". No changes to "poofter". Although "puuphtah" would be funny, albeit not intuitively readable; it looks like a Hindi transliteration.
Likewise, "Straight" when used to indicate sexual preference should be spelled "Strait" - since the state of straitness implies "only going one way", which is exactly what traveling through a strait means. I think bisexual, when abbreviated, should be written as "Bie", like in pie; everybody loves pie, so that's pretty much self-explanatory.
Okay, back to the drinking for me.
GO HUSKERS!!!
But, I was a little happy to see 'Bama beat Tebow.
Park4, I watched Christmas in Conneticut last night on DVD, don't have cable. I wish you could order cable channels al-a-carte...AMC and TCM would be on the top of my list.
"and "ghey" for general derision..."
Oh, I like American humor best, especially when it comes from Isles.
You know, I didn't think I'd piled on if I just said "gay" not from the Village, but I know (I'm pointing out of this website, out of your screen, at YOU, yes YOU, you who are lurking and not posting!) -- anyhow, I didn't want to offend anyone who might be one of those who are easily offended, so I felt compelled to say FA LA LA gay.
Fred Astaire used to say "gay" meaning light and amusing and fun, all the time in his movies. When I see them I'm always thinking, Oh Fred, you'd be kicked out of the Academy and the union too, if you said that nowadays.
We've come a long way, not.
But Jonathan, since I'm pretty darned sure you're not any of the above three g's, I just want to tell you I think you're swell. Fredspeak....
nachista: I can empathize. We didn't have cable in the last place we lived. It was a big condo community, and the board of directors were mostly all over 100 years old, and they didn't want to pay for cable, since they could get Jeopardy on the regular stations.
It was a bummer.
I wish Santa would bring you cable, or at least, somehow TCM. It's the intelligent person's television channel, it offers a really decent alternative to reading, and it's almost as much fun as fooling around in thesepia club car...
I am not writing on today's thread, am I.
No, I'm not.
I might have been camped out here all day, wondering where everybody went...
I'm embarrassed.