gore vidal in conversation with eudora welty

is your state flag guilty?

probably:

The Tennessee Legislature adopted the current flag in 1905. In a 2013 article, vexillologist Steven A Knowlton argues that "the Tennessee flag has pragmatic unity with the Confederate flag: both share the element of white stars inside a fimbriated blue charge, and the element of that blue charge on a red field." He also notes a resemblance between the flag's vertical bars and the vertical bar of the third national flag of the Confederacy.

But he concludes that one interesting aspect of the Tennessee flag is plausible deniability: "it is reasonable to say a logo is only expressing Tennessee pride, even if deeper symbolic recognition does link it to Confederate imagery." 

see a bunch here. mississippi, you know you're wrong.

did i ever tell you about that thing i saw while i was in tennessee?

thomas wilhelm and i were remarking on how broad a category "country folks" is...

adia victoria - stuck in the south

joel, i recommend this to you personally.



she's an up and coming nashville kween, and she's very mysterious on the internet so that's all i know about her.

nashville folks, she's playing with those darlins at 3rd + lindsley on the 17th, and i would go if i lived where you do.

cutest wreath!

Decorate with one of these Southern DIY holiday wreaths. http://t.co/pKsI6aS8HZ pic.twitter.com/MfDPsXbev8

— Garden & Gun (@gardenandgunmag) December 5, 2013

Southern Hospitality is Dead

I mean, the Justin Timberlake owned terrible restaurant on the Upper East Side has closed. There are people on facebook that just can't believe it, but that place was the definition of over priced and mediocre. If you just can't stand it, there is another one in Hell's Kitchen and one in Denver. via

a documentary about queso dip

thx ktv!

hushpuppeh

Sundance Winner. Looks pret.ty. good. Should come out June 27th.

tumblr tuesday

this one is delightfully southern and sosocute. maddie on things

Paul William "Bear" Bryant is Spinning in His Grave!

This is some week-old news, but it seems when Bama fans aren't destroying public property, Bama alumni are sexually assaulting unconscious strangers in public.  I can't say I'm surprised.  This quote from CBS 42 in Birmingham sums up the incident using an excellent choice of words [emphasis mine]:

It all stems from a video that went viral showing [Brian] Downing and friends abusing a passed out LSU fan in a burger restaurant on Bourbon Street after the BCS game. Downing's companions performed a series of pranks on the passed out LSU fan and then the man identified now as Downing proceeded to drape his scrotum on the man's head...that led to the sexual battery and obscenity charges.

Here's the NSFW video:



CBS 42 also gives us some insight into who Downing is:

So who is Brian Downing and how did he find himself with both notoriety and a possible lifetime designation as a sex offender? He's married with a wife, a (sic) child. He's already been fired from his job with Hibbett Sports. And he has a second cousin who’s the sheriff of Russell County...Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor recognized his cousin in the video and told him to come on down to the county jail. After checking with New Orleans police, Downing drove to New Orleans to turn himself in.

Fun Fact : Deadspin is reporting that one of the other "gentlemen" in the video is the son of the sports director at the CBS affiliate in Mobile.  So there's something to be proud of all around.

If you want more details on this story, Deadspin has plenty of thorough coverage.

I said it once, and I'll say it again; it's time to DIG HIM UP...F HIS CORPSE!

plantation house | slave market

the new york times' DISUNION blog brings us a tour of the abandoned civil war-era architecture across the south:

Perhaps the most famous house of 1861 was, by July of that year, no longer standing. The home, called Spring Hill, belonged to Judith Henry, an invalid widow, and stood on a hill overlooking Bull Run. In the battle that engulfed the fields around Spring Hill on July 21, Henry was killed and her home destroyed, save for a few remnant beams and a section of chimney.

Over the next four years of war, countless thousands of homes, from grand mansions to decrepit shacks, would be damaged or destroyed. Many others were simply abandoned by fleeing families, never to be reclaimed. What was left behind was a landscape of human ruin, some of it still standing today, 150 years later. (via)

well said.

"well, that's not genteel at all! the SEC's about gentility. we prefer a genteel man, fine haberdashery."

thx heather!

the WE DO campaign

For the past 10 days, same-sex couples in Asheville, North Carolina have been showing up to the county register's office to politely request marriage licenses. They've all been denied, since North Carolina doesn't permit gay couples to marry. (A proposed amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage comes up in May.) But it certainly puts a human face on the struggle for marriage equality. (via)

the campaign for southern equality

don't ever forget how much strength you have.

totes watching this. who's with me?

thx rachel for the heads up.

poorly exceuted southern accents (finally).

now, y'all know how much of a tizzy i can get into over a bad southern accent in a movie. so, imagine my delight when i came across this nymag slideshow, comparing eleven poorly executed regional southern accents to the speech of actual residents.

and speaking of delight...

DELIGHTFUL.

PSA : sun drop is NOT a new soda.

it's been around in the south since 1947, and i actually thought they went out of business.

anyway, they just signed a deal with MTV's advertising leg (it's fully stocked in this season's real world house), and now it's the hot new drink of the summer! it's got more caffeine than bitch-ass mountain dew and mello yello, so run out and get you some! i wonder how it mixes with firefly....

joel! tell your family sun drop story!

guess what i bought!

A bb gun. it's the coolest. I am official now.

happy flag day everyone!!

they're ain't no pan edge on the ocean

could hay be the solution for cleaning up the oil spill in the gulf of mexico? some people in santa rosa county FL think so.

wondering why i wasn't at the cornhole tournament?

you had better. i like knowing i was missed. anyway, as i was saying, i was in birmingham AL for my high school bff's wedding. you might know of birmingham for the terrible segregation riots they had there in the 60's. quaint. anyway, again, there were tornadoes, i crashed another wedding reception, saw some friends from college, drank lots of firefly sweet tea vodka (starla, it was the bride's choice cocktail at the wedding) did not get that drunk on it not surprisingly, and...

went to the botanical gardens with my mom. saw lots of these.

the wedding was here.

the bride looked like this. she was real tired of having her picture taken.

the wedding cake looked like this.


there was a red tub in the house.

went up to the top of red mountain.

vulcan was up there. roman god of the forge.

check out that butt.

THE END