Okay, since it was brought to my attention that there was a glitch on the website that deleted my rather lengthly but thought-out answers to your five questions, I decided to do a simple edited-down version. If you got to read the original comments, hope you enjoyed them.
1) I believe the most powerful people in Chattanooga are the ones that do the most behind the scenes. These are the people that make Southside a hip section of town, that make whiskey distilling legal again, that give Chattanoogans that opportunity to watch independent films without having to fight Atlanta or Nashville to see them, and so on. The late Gene Roberts helped lay the foundation to transform Chattanooga and the next generation is building on top of what took decades to do.
2) It is still too early to give the mayor a fair review when all he has done is clean house internally (compared to what "Blackburn" did during his 30 days, this is a rather drop in the bucket). He appears to going on the right direction, but I figured give him at least a year.
3) Chet technically beat me to the punch on this because the glitch deleted my post. But on this subject, the Wiccas and the Buddhists in this town tend to get the most sour looks of "needs to be run out of town" by the 600 lb silverback known as the Southern Baptists in town. My comments stem from previous articles where Buddhists that have been interviewed have been told how co-workers pray for them in order to see the light and other harassing issues. And there was the time the Buddist Monk meditating in downtown Chattanooga got "quacked" by a bunch of ignorant first graders. Hince, this is why I believe the known Buddhist Temple on Bonny Oaks is as well-hidden as the Smurf Village.
4) Tennessee Aquarium is fine as is. Yes, it is 20 years old but has stayed current with new exhibits, expansions, building upgrades, etc. The fact Atlanta is talking about a Ferris wheel shows how extremely out of touch they are with their "real" issues. If I want to ride a Ferris wheel, they have Six Flags over Georgia or One Flag over Ft. Oglethrope.
5) Best idea for Chattanooga: NFL expansion team. Upgrade Finley to 70,000, all private donations so Drew won't have anything to whine, cry, kick, and scream about, have the city retain ownership and promote it as a source of community pride (like in Wisconsin). Everything else is pretty much done except it needs to be bigger with the progress of time. Anime Blast Chattanooga becomes the next Anime Weekend Atlanta, Connooga becomes the next DragonCon and Samantha Teter, marketing director of the CSO, will up her game after the soon-to-be successful Video Games Live concert by finally bringing the Legand of Zelda and Final Fantasy shows to the Memorial.
I was the person who pointed out Memphis "is sorta another state". Weeds, if I recall correctly, was the one who commented how the Grizzlies are a Tennessee team but are overlooked by the rest of the state. Memphis is indeed a city-state with no real ties to the rest of Tennessee other than for legal reasons. If Memphis really wanted to push for a larger fanbase outside of their market area, I believe they would have tried using caravans and other publicity stunts. But they know better because when it comes to the Tennessee fanbase east of Memphis, it's "The Vols" followed by "that other stuff". Hince, they keep it local the same we do for the Mocs, Lookouts, and so on (And they do for the Redbirds as well).
He is. And has addressed this with the media on more than one occasion early in his career when he was being touted as the "first" African-American to win a masters.
And you brought up a good point on the grounds I was going to state "For those who fail to learn from history...". However, Sergio is exhibit A that no one tends to follow that rule as I keep seeing the same mistakes over and over again. I could go into a whole soapbox over de-evolvement but when people talk about MySpace as though it is as old as the wheel, that's scary enough by itself.
Agreed on the fried chicken and watermelon thing. The only reason is growing up in Tennessee 1) everybody ate fried chicken (via homemade, grocery, or KFC) and 2) everyone at watermelon. There was not one family, company, school picnic where watermelon was not served.
However, for people who might live in a region where those food items are not a staple, they may see it as the negative stereotype it has been portrayed in various pop-cultural references over the years (just a theory mind you).
Now if Sergio had said "pigs feet" (like they sell at a certain Bi-Lo in a certain part of town), that would have been MORE than obvious.
MT-
No biggie but all media outlets pay the AP a licensing fee (which does cost some serious coin) in order to access their online database for any stories newspaper X or newscast Y wishes to run. During my brief employment with WDEF, our morning show director would access this information via a password and you could literally read articles that may or may not eventually end up in your local paper or newscast.
Also, I would have gone with the Marlins as a rushmore but opted because Jay hinted what I was thinking AND the fact their miseries are on their hands intentionally. "Stuff" happens is one thing, having a "fire sale" on your entire team after winning the World Series, that's 30 levels of wrong.
At least you answered a burning question from yesterday. I replied to D.Cook's "Five Questions" column with some insiteful information only to have it deleted as if I did something wrong. But then there were two posts on yesterday's 5 at 10 that were gone so I knew it had to be a clitch. I'll go back and do an edited version.
Love your comparisons regarding Sergio vs. Tiger. Unfortunately, as "silly" as the third-grader asking out the prom queen might be, given the Lifetime/Nancy Grace/HLN/Dr. Drew/HLN-You be the jury/Jodi who gives a (blank)/Huffington Post sad world we live in, I would not be surprised to see said prom queen take the kid up on his offer and then some (seriously, no shock value, I actually believe it given the world today).
Pauly Shore: the love ended when you cannot entertain based on your material and have to resort to staged heckler confrontations in Odessa and then show off your dairy-air supposedly on JR/Wally's show. I didn't hear that broadcast directly, but whenever Wally was always asked who was the best/worst comic guest Mike Alfonso ever brought, he ALWAYS referenced the Pauly Shore visit as the worst.
Rushmore:
Chicago Cubs: Even as die-hard of fanbase as they have, you can't underestimate the power of the goat. The fact the owners believe in order to solve the problem you have to throw money at it amazes me. No amount of wealth can fix voodoo.
Atlanta Hawks: The numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Last championship: 1958 (when they were still the St. Louis Hawks). Last conference championship: 1961 (when the Kennedy administration was less than 3-4 months old). Last division title: 1994 (senior at Red Bank High School). Not even native Atlantians root for these cats.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Enough said
Jacksonville Jaguars: I really like this team as Jacksonville/St. Augustine was almost a second home for me during my childhood/teenage years visiting Aunt Nancy (mom's sister) for Christmas, summer vacations, etc. However, since Mark Brunell left and Tom Coughlin became the Giants head coach, the "slump" factor is unbearable.
Clint Eastwood (the spaghetti westerns) - "Rawhide" got his name out there, but those, low, low, budget films is what help put him on the map.
Hugh Jackman (The X-Men/Wolverine movies) - without Marvel, who by then was getting their act together after several misses [DareDevil anyone?], he probably wouldn't have much of a career outside of Australia.
Jim Carrey (In Living Color) - enough said.
Matt Groening (The Tracy Almen show)- No one remembers Tracy herself, but her show helped launched an American jauggernaut that has not stopped for 20+ years.
Mocs: We'll start with Weeds. Two words: great column. However, quality is only as good as its intended use. Needless to say, I am looking forward to mid-July when the actual BB schedules are released just to see what Wade -n- Foster are up against.
Billboard: I haven't watched a music awards show in more than 20 years. 1) All Top 40 music is in-studio and sung by "literally" nameless people. I actually am working on a bit regarding the "DJ" format of most Top 40 stations. Basically, they NEVER tell who-sings-what as if we're suppose to already know. Instead, they hire these literally "bubblehead" chicks who talk about nothing but shopping, Hollywood gossip, and "the club" then segway to "If corporate radio won't allow you to do a real radio show, then 'Steven Bates' it." (Followed by my Steven Bates impersonation).
Bieber is basically a corporate tool. Period. His only appeal is girls between 10-12. Most girls after the age of 14 start to really discover their musical tastes. And as crazy as this reads, not all of it is modern pop. I talked to this one girl (via public event) who was 19 and she had early Beatles on her iPad playlist. Quality will win in most cases.
Madonna: You are correct that MTV helped brand her. However, she was trying to break into the music biz pre-MTV. In fact, I remember reading an article about an auction house that was selling one of her "many" rejection letters dirt-early in her career. Nutshell: She got to experience a "little" of that pre-MTV stuggle.
My all-time favorite though has got to be Dr. Suiss. His first transcript got rejected up to 21 times by some of the major publishing houses of his era before someone gave him a shot.
Didn't attend the Bryon (go figure). I want to attend the Colonial (to see you-know-who) but at $45.00 for a daily ticket and I have no idea when he would tee off, that's not a gamble I'm willing to take. Plus, I'm saving for a possible return trip home in July.
I wasn't try to start anything but I imagine my mix of sarcasum and humor obviously did not read well (I thought the hug a gangbanger pun was funny).
I guess because Jay is on vacation, the dust has settled at UTC (for now), and we're in a "laid back" period, no one really has anything of substance to talk about = little to no comments hince the "slight slam" on the "gabfest" comment. Believe you me, I am the LAST person to ever see this because another Bennett coloring book forum (I did like the tin foil hat comment).
Did not know that about McNair (or the fact that ANYONE from an FCS school could even contend for the Heisman). Unfortunately, I wasn't following sports that closely in those days hince my ignorance.
Steve McNair - Not that it matters, but because Steve played for Alcorn State, I believe he technically wouldn't even qualify for the Heisman (hince why FCS schools have what is called the Walter Payton Award which is suppose to be quote-unquote "our" Heisman if you're a UTC fan).
That "might" be a good top five or Rushmore: Top Five (QB or non-QB) players who should have won the WP award but didn't. And yes, BJ would have been a serious contender had he not gotten injured during the Georgia Southern game his senior year.
Speaking of, shout out wa-wa to Frierson for posting that link (via his Twitter account) from the Milwaukee paper basically stating BJ is a dead serious contender for the no. 2 sport behind Rodgers.
What gabfest? David (no relation but we did go to HS together) Cook's "Hug a gangbanger like Jeff Styles hugs a tree" columns are getting more responses then 5 at 10. Sorry, but they are.
5-at-10: Stupid Sergio, 1998 re-drafted and the Grizz grow
GratefulD,
Thanks for reading. :D
David Cook: Here are five questions for Chattanooga
Okay, since it was brought to my attention that there was a glitch on the website that deleted my rather lengthly but thought-out answers to your five questions, I decided to do a simple edited-down version. If you got to read the original comments, hope you enjoyed them.
1) I believe the most powerful people in Chattanooga are the ones that do the most behind the scenes. These are the people that make Southside a hip section of town, that make whiskey distilling legal again, that give Chattanoogans that opportunity to watch independent films without having to fight Atlanta or Nashville to see them, and so on. The late Gene Roberts helped lay the foundation to transform Chattanooga and the next generation is building on top of what took decades to do.
2) It is still too early to give the mayor a fair review when all he has done is clean house internally (compared to what "Blackburn" did during his 30 days, this is a rather drop in the bucket). He appears to going on the right direction, but I figured give him at least a year.
3) Chet technically beat me to the punch on this because the glitch deleted my post. But on this subject, the Wiccas and the Buddhists in this town tend to get the most sour looks of "needs to be run out of town" by the 600 lb silverback known as the Southern Baptists in town. My comments stem from previous articles where Buddhists that have been interviewed have been told how co-workers pray for them in order to see the light and other harassing issues. And there was the time the Buddist Monk meditating in downtown Chattanooga got "quacked" by a bunch of ignorant first graders. Hince, this is why I believe the known Buddhist Temple on Bonny Oaks is as well-hidden as the Smurf Village.
4) Tennessee Aquarium is fine as is. Yes, it is 20 years old but has stayed current with new exhibits, expansions, building upgrades, etc. The fact Atlanta is talking about a Ferris wheel shows how extremely out of touch they are with their "real" issues. If I want to ride a Ferris wheel, they have Six Flags over Georgia or One Flag over Ft. Oglethrope.
5) Best idea for Chattanooga: NFL expansion team. Upgrade Finley to 70,000, all private donations so Drew won't have anything to whine, cry, kick, and scream about, have the city retain ownership and promote it as a source of community pride (like in Wisconsin). Everything else is pretty much done except it needs to be bigger with the progress of time. Anime Blast Chattanooga becomes the next Anime Weekend Atlanta, Connooga becomes the next DragonCon and Samantha Teter, marketing director of the CSO, will up her game after the soon-to-be successful Video Games Live concert by finally bringing the Legand of Zelda and Final Fantasy shows to the Memorial.
5-at-10: Stupid Sergio, 1998 re-drafted and the Grizz grow
chase-
I was the person who pointed out Memphis "is sorta another state". Weeds, if I recall correctly, was the one who commented how the Grizzlies are a Tennessee team but are overlooked by the rest of the state. Memphis is indeed a city-state with no real ties to the rest of Tennessee other than for legal reasons. If Memphis really wanted to push for a larger fanbase outside of their market area, I believe they would have tried using caravans and other publicity stunts. But they know better because when it comes to the Tennessee fanbase east of Memphis, it's "The Vols" followed by "that other stuff". Hince, they keep it local the same we do for the Mocs, Lookouts, and so on (And they do for the Redbirds as well).
5-at-10: Stupid Sergio, 1998 re-drafted and the Grizz grow
MT-
He is. And has addressed this with the media on more than one occasion early in his career when he was being touted as the "first" African-American to win a masters.
And you brought up a good point on the grounds I was going to state "For those who fail to learn from history...". However, Sergio is exhibit A that no one tends to follow that rule as I keep seeing the same mistakes over and over again. I could go into a whole soapbox over de-evolvement but when people talk about MySpace as though it is as old as the wheel, that's scary enough by itself.
5-at-10: Stupid Sergio, 1998 re-drafted and the Grizz grow
Stuck-
Agreed on the fried chicken and watermelon thing. The only reason is growing up in Tennessee 1) everybody ate fried chicken (via homemade, grocery, or KFC) and 2) everyone at watermelon. There was not one family, company, school picnic where watermelon was not served.
However, for people who might live in a region where those food items are not a staple, they may see it as the negative stereotype it has been portrayed in various pop-cultural references over the years (just a theory mind you).
Now if Sergio had said "pigs feet" (like they sell at a certain Bi-Lo in a certain part of town), that would have been MORE than obvious.
MT-
No biggie but all media outlets pay the AP a licensing fee (which does cost some serious coin) in order to access their online database for any stories newspaper X or newscast Y wishes to run. During my brief employment with WDEF, our morning show director would access this information via a password and you could literally read articles that may or may not eventually end up in your local paper or newscast.
Also, I would have gone with the Marlins as a rushmore but opted because Jay hinted what I was thinking AND the fact their miseries are on their hands intentionally. "Stuff" happens is one thing, having a "fire sale" on your entire team after winning the World Series, that's 30 levels of wrong.
5-at-10: Stupid Sergio, 1998 re-drafted and the Grizz grow
Jay,
At least you answered a burning question from yesterday. I replied to D.Cook's "Five Questions" column with some insiteful information only to have it deleted as if I did something wrong. But then there were two posts on yesterday's 5 at 10 that were gone so I knew it had to be a clitch. I'll go back and do an edited version.
Love your comparisons regarding Sergio vs. Tiger. Unfortunately, as "silly" as the third-grader asking out the prom queen might be, given the Lifetime/Nancy Grace/HLN/Dr. Drew/HLN-You be the jury/Jodi who gives a (blank)/Huffington Post sad world we live in, I would not be surprised to see said prom queen take the kid up on his offer and then some (seriously, no shock value, I actually believe it given the world today).
Pauly Shore: the love ended when you cannot entertain based on your material and have to resort to staged heckler confrontations in Odessa and then show off your dairy-air supposedly on JR/Wally's show. I didn't hear that broadcast directly, but whenever Wally was always asked who was the best/worst comic guest Mike Alfonso ever brought, he ALWAYS referenced the Pauly Shore visit as the worst.
Rushmore:
Chicago Cubs: Even as die-hard of fanbase as they have, you can't underestimate the power of the goat. The fact the owners believe in order to solve the problem you have to throw money at it amazes me. No amount of wealth can fix voodoo.
Atlanta Hawks: The numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Last championship: 1958 (when they were still the St. Louis Hawks). Last conference championship: 1961 (when the Kennedy administration was less than 3-4 months old). Last division title: 1994 (senior at Red Bank High School). Not even native Atlantians root for these cats.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Enough said
Jacksonville Jaguars: I really like this team as Jacksonville/St. Augustine was almost a second home for me during my childhood/teenage years visiting Aunt Nancy (mom's sister) for Christmas, summer vacations, etc. However, since Mark Brunell left and Tom Coughlin became the Giants head coach, the "slump" factor is unbearable.
5-at-10: Winning the offseason, Saban's metaphysical process, Braves and Madonna — yes Madonna
Rushmore:
Clint Eastwood (the spaghetti westerns) - "Rawhide" got his name out there, but those, low, low, budget films is what help put him on the map.
Hugh Jackman (The X-Men/Wolverine movies) - without Marvel, who by then was getting their act together after several misses [DareDevil anyone?], he probably wouldn't have much of a career outside of Australia.
Jim Carrey (In Living Color) - enough said.
Matt Groening (The Tracy Almen show)- No one remembers Tracy herself, but her show helped launched an American jauggernaut that has not stopped for 20+ years.
5-at-10: Winning the offseason, Saban's metaphysical process, Braves and Madonna — yes Madonna
Jay
Bullet Points
Mocs: We'll start with Weeds. Two words: great column. However, quality is only as good as its intended use. Needless to say, I am looking forward to mid-July when the actual BB schedules are released just to see what Wade -n- Foster are up against.
Billboard: I haven't watched a music awards show in more than 20 years. 1) All Top 40 music is in-studio and sung by "literally" nameless people. I actually am working on a bit regarding the "DJ" format of most Top 40 stations. Basically, they NEVER tell who-sings-what as if we're suppose to already know. Instead, they hire these literally "bubblehead" chicks who talk about nothing but shopping, Hollywood gossip, and "the club" then segway to "If corporate radio won't allow you to do a real radio show, then 'Steven Bates' it." (Followed by my Steven Bates impersonation).
Bieber is basically a corporate tool. Period. His only appeal is girls between 10-12. Most girls after the age of 14 start to really discover their musical tastes. And as crazy as this reads, not all of it is modern pop. I talked to this one girl (via public event) who was 19 and she had early Beatles on her iPad playlist. Quality will win in most cases.
Madonna: You are correct that MTV helped brand her. However, she was trying to break into the music biz pre-MTV. In fact, I remember reading an article about an auction house that was selling one of her "many" rejection letters dirt-early in her career. Nutshell: She got to experience a "little" of that pre-MTV stuggle.
My all-time favorite though has got to be Dr. Suiss. His first transcript got rejected up to 21 times by some of the major publishing houses of his era before someone gave him a shot.
Didn't attend the Bryon (go figure). I want to attend the Colonial (to see you-know-who) but at $45.00 for a daily ticket and I have no idea when he would tee off, that's not a gamble I'm willing to take. Plus, I'm saving for a possible return trip home in July.
5@10 -- All-time Heisman head scratchers
I wasn't try to start anything but I imagine my mix of sarcasum and humor obviously did not read well (I thought the hug a gangbanger pun was funny).
I guess because Jay is on vacation, the dust has settled at UTC (for now), and we're in a "laid back" period, no one really has anything of substance to talk about = little to no comments hince the "slight slam" on the "gabfest" comment. Believe you me, I am the LAST person to ever see this because another Bennett coloring book forum (I did like the tin foil hat comment).
Did not know that about McNair (or the fact that ANYONE from an FCS school could even contend for the Heisman). Unfortunately, I wasn't following sports that closely in those days hince my ignorance.
5@10 -- All-time Heisman head scratchers
Steve McNair - Not that it matters, but because Steve played for Alcorn State, I believe he technically wouldn't even qualify for the Heisman (hince why FCS schools have what is called the Walter Payton Award which is suppose to be quote-unquote "our" Heisman if you're a UTC fan).
That "might" be a good top five or Rushmore: Top Five (QB or non-QB) players who should have won the WP award but didn't. And yes, BJ would have been a serious contender had he not gotten injured during the Georgia Southern game his senior year.
Speaking of, shout out wa-wa to Frierson for posting that link (via his Twitter account) from the Milwaukee paper basically stating BJ is a dead serious contender for the no. 2 sport behind Rodgers.
What gabfest? David (no relation but we did go to HS together) Cook's "Hug a gangbanger like Jeff Styles hugs a tree" columns are getting more responses then 5 at 10. Sorry, but they are.