Dre’s Ramblings

The results are in… While we here at the Ramblings are not normally into the nuts and bolts of politics, we figured it would only be fair to provide links to some of the coverage of last night’s local debate.

Wade on Birmingham - provided live blogging coverage

Red State Diaries - commentary about the debate

Politics in Alabama - Preview and live blogging coverage

• Gubernatorial Debate
• Lt. Governor Debate
• Atty General Debate

and for good measure, a link to Loretta Nall’s site where she plans to post answers to the questions for the governor’s race since she was not invited to participate in the debate. The link takes you to the post promising answers. We’ll see what happens today.

BTW: For those that missed the debates, they will air on APTV this Sunday beginning at 2 p.m.

There are several things that still bother me about politics in this state, which is probably why I don’t write posts about it that often. Most notably, we are extremely apathetic when it comes to actually voting. We will go out and talk about how conservative or liberal our candidate is and bad mouth the other person; then we don’t bother to exercise our right to vote and follow through on our convictions. The people who write blogs and make comments, while partisan, are at least taking part in the process.

This year’s elections have provided more reasons to not get involved in the process, at least at first glance. To only have one debate compared to three or four and to have that debate in Montgomery only gave more reason to not care about it. There was no opportunity to have the candidates go into several parts of our state, whether they be in the Black Belt, Huntsville, Mobile or the Magic City, and address the issues that are important and critical to residents in these areas.

The political process is supposed to be about empowering the people. It has not been for some time, and the rhetoric and resulting exclusion of certain areas from being able to actively & vigorously question those that want to serve their state makes it more difficult than ever to heal the rift being caused by partisan catch phrases and sticking so close to the party message that people forget that they are representing other people.

Voters should demand that the candidates come in the future and provide any answers that are needed. The Internet and talk radio are accessible to some, but it is not for most. It is also very difficult to face a constituency and defend your plans and hopes for the state, or your region as the case will be next year in many areas.

For many the issue is the lesser of two evils instead of the best person for the job. Maybe if we stepped away from personal attacks long enough to actually talk about issues (and I mean real in depth discussion of issues, not sound bites), we may actually feel comfortable as a state about the winners, instead of going into your neutral corners preparing to whine and put a spin on why “my candidate” did not win and why nothing “that other candidate” wants to do will pass, at least not on our watch. All those that say that progress and change is your goal, make sure the rhetoric doesn’t keep you from your goals.

Let’s hear what you think about it. At least before you run out and get tons of candy.

Enjoy the day.

Cheers.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an entry, though it’s not because I haven’t tried. In the last five days, I’ve had… wait for it… 5 different computers refuse to work for me. This now includes a loaner that was provided to me just two days ago that has decided that it does not want to turn on anymore. It also includes the laptop that is provided by work. Needless to say that in the process I’ve lost most of the images that I’ve already taken as well as some other files that were much more relevant than I first thought.

It has made me realize just how dependent on the computer I’ve become. It’s funny to say that since the first time I really started using one, I thought it was only going to be for typing papers and sending e-mails. While in most cases, that’s what I do, I also noticed that it is a window onto the world, one that I’ve become so dependent on that it’s very difficult to operate without one. This leads to Betsy and I going computer shopping early tomorrow morning. Some would say it’s a sign… I’m saying it’s bad timing.

Needless to say it was one of the more interesting times to have a computer die, especially with the recent first meeting of the civic organization roundtable. The good news is that the loft should be back online before lunch tomorrow, though I will not be enjoying the benefits until after the Notre Dame v. Navy game is over Any suggestions for a new (affordable) system are greatly appreciated.
I’ll eventually catch up on all of the entries that have been floating around in my head, including some more thoughts on “the parks”. In the meantime, a couple of things to keep in yours as we approach the end of another work week:

Today’s the last day that you can register to vote in the upcoming election. I’d find a way to as soon as possible and then exercise the right; otherwise you really have no reason to criticize the results. We’ve made it a little easier for you; here’s a link to the form you need to fill out (page 3 of the form includes the addresses for delivery here in Jefferson County).

There is a parade tomorrow morning downtown if you don’t already know. The Magic City Classic Parade takes its annual spin through downtown before the kickoff of the game between Alabama State and Alabama A&M (at 2:30 p.m.) The link will take you to the official site.

The forecasters are predicting that the rains will have subsided by this evening, giving you NO excuse to not come out and enjoy the artists and merchants participating in the open house in Avondale this evening. Please click here to view a previous post that includes information about just what’s going on at the park this weekend.

Keep Officer Mary Smith, her daughter and her family in your thoughts today as the former Birmingham police officer is laid to rest today. The service begins at noon with at least two networks that I know of carrying it both on television and streaming on their websites. For those not in Birmingham, Smith (a 21 year veteran of the Birmingham Police Department) had recently retired from BPD and was working for the Fairfield Police Dept. for less than a month when she was fatally shot on October 23 while responding to a call.

Stay safe.

Cheers.

Well, we’ve talked about it for several months (submitted it here), actually for nearly a year. As alluded to last week, the first meeting of a young professional/civic organization roundtable for Birmingham, Alabama (and the first of any type of collection of clubs of this type in years) happened last night. I was not quite sure what to expect last night in terms of the number of people to expect or whether or not it would be a successful event.Twenty-nine (29) people representing 13 young professional and young civic organizations and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham convened upstairs in Jackson’s Bar & Bistro in Soho Square to begin a dialogue and begin to do their part to move our community forward.

Those in attendance were asked what they would like to be known for aside from their mission and vision statements. In the process, participants were able to find out information about groups that they previously did not know existed. Others got a better understanding of organizations that they’d heard about but did not fully know the scope of what they sought to accomplish.

The power that communication has is indescribable. By encouraging communication among these groups and others that were not able to attend, the hope is that it will become easier for organizations to accomplish their goals, work with each other on similar projects and in the process, make others aware of the opportunities that exist for them to be involved.

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, Catalyst and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce are among those that have lent a commitment to spearheading an effort to keep this dialogue moving. Perhaps this somewhat unique grouping of organizations can demonstrate to our region the importance and the opportunities associated with encouraging our young professionals, now and always, in getting their voices heard.

Attendees were encouraged to do several things:

- Consider posting their meeting information to activeculture.info in hopes of creating a one-stop shop for general information.

- Contact Alison Howell with the Chamber to provide her suggestions and feedback about the creation of a website that provides information.

- Contact me with additional feedback about comments from last night, comments about future topics/issues for discussion at future meetings.

- Help us continue to expand the list of organizations that are known to exist in the greater Birmingham community. Click here as the civic organizations list is updated in the coming days to include additional organizations in the greater Birmingham region. Let us know if anyone is missing. (NOTE: There are some that attended last night’s meeting that are not posted as of yet. They will be at lunchtime today.)

The following is a list of those that attended the meeting on Monday evening. The list will be updated to show what organizations they represented later on today has been updated to include the organizations represented. Those names with asterisks next to them have volunteered to help organize the next meeting. If there is anyone else that attended that is interested in participating in that group, please let me know before the end of the week.

Anthony Smith - City of Homewood, Young Advisory Bd. of Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Betts Johnson - United Way Young Leaders Society
Molly Watson - Young Advisory Board of Big Brothers, Big Sisters
John McDonald - Young Supporters Board, Comp. Cancer Ctr., UAB
Kimberly Kirklin - ASC Social Club
Brian Murphy* - United Way Young Leaders Society
Matt Stiles - Birmingham Museum of Art Junior Patrons
Cherie Fields* - Catalyst
Josh Westerhold - United Way Young Leaders Society
Chris Wilson - Birmingham Change Fund
Kristy Jaska - Young Leadership Board, Ronald McDonald House
Jackie Wuska - Friends of the Literacy Council
Zandile Moyo - Young Supporters Board, Comp. Cancer Ctr., UAB
Wade Kwon - Young Advisory Board of Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Deidra Perry - BRCC, Friends of the Literacy Council
Josh Till - Young Supporters Board, Comp. Cancer Ctr., UAB
Charles Lewis - Birmingham Change Fund, Catalyst
Sarah Pilgreen* - Birmingham Jaycees
Lee Ann Petty - Birmingham Museum of Art Junior Patrons
Eizabeth Dotts - Catalyst, YWCA Junior Board
Ali Louis - Rotaract, YWCA Junior Board
Jessica Simpson - ASC Social Club
Rich Campbell - The Phoenix Club
Blair Liggins - Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BRCC)
Alison Howell* - BRCC
Curtis Palmer - Catalyst
Emily Rushing - The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
Lyord Watson, Jr. - Birmingham Change Fund
Andre Natta - Birmingham Jaycees, Catalyst, PARCA Roundtable, Friends of Ruffner Mtn. (new org)

I’d like to thank all of you for coming out and sharing your time and comments. We hope to collect the additional comments by the end of the week to distribute for review. The first part is finished. Now the hard work begins, but the reward is sweet: a better Birmingham.

Enjoy the day.

Cheers.

Yesterday we got up early and made the trip down to Northport, AL and the Kentuck Festival for the Arts. We had the added bonus of having our friend Charles meet us down there and hang out with us during our rounds through the festival site, leading us to some really cool artists in the process. The art school student in me still enjoys looking and exploring, though I’m still nervous about what is becoming more and more likely to be a return to the world of creating.

The festival is in its 35^th year of providing an opportunity for folk arts to be displayed and having patrons enjoy the results in central Alabama. Based on our conversations with Charles and some of the other artists, it was easy to see that the festival had more of what would be considered contemporary work. I just enjoyed seeing booth after booth of artwork

felt quite upset that we did not have enough wall space to take it all home with us. The cooler weather helped to make it feel more like a fall festival that we’d stumble upon back up north at this time of year.

The bulk of what got purchased was prints. I got a chance to finally get a copy of the poster from the Man or Astroman? show that I went to in September as well as a second piece from Standard Deluxe. There were some great mini-notecards from Yee-Haw Industries. The best piece I got yesterday was from Perkolator Press; a special edition print for Kentuck depicting a study of Van Gogh’s Starry Night and William Butler Yeats’ When You Are Old.

It also made us realize once getting home that we have way too much art that is not up as of yet.

Today we joined fellow Catalyzers (still not sure if that’s actually a word) from the Parks and Greenspace pillar on a hike/journey through Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. This is our second hike of the year; our first led us through the soon-to-be Red Mountain Park property in western Jefferson County. The property visited today was scheduled to be used as the site for a new county jail facility in Pinson, AL.

Residents started a friends group to save the property, resulting in 450 acres of woods, old building foundations, and Turkey Creek itself. Our trip just 20 minutes north of downtown Birmingham also allowed us to enjoy some gorgeous fall foliage.

Images from the hike are available in this photoset. The group’s next excursion will hopefully be to Ruffner Mountain Nature Center in the next two months.

While at Kentuck I stumbled across a quote by Mark Twain that I find quite appropriate:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

Thanks to some conversations this weekend I was reminded of the importance of the meaning of this quote. To stay within the walls you’ve put up for yourself is to deny yourself the opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest. There are many times that you need to see something else in the world to either appreciate what you already have or to show you an ideal that you hope to achieve. I’m sure that there are many people that live in the Magic City that do not get a chance to go out and explore and do all that there is to do nearby. Sometimes you may just have to go out and discover it on your own by stumbling upon it. The hope that you will want to do this brings the promise of a more active area, though it’s already pretty active. Getting outside of that comfort zone is sometimes all that is needed.

So let’s get out and explore. You never quite know what’s going to be at the end of the road.

Cheers.

A fuzzier image of a neon sign than normal, however it still let’s you know whose sign it is. Fife’s seems to be one of those places that would almost be too comfortable to ever leave. It’s located in Birmingham’s Central City neighborhood, near the city’s main post office on 24th Street North and 4th Avenue North. Here’s a link to a page about the restaurant on the Yahoo site.

This is a time of year when signs that have not been on all summer will awaken from their slumber. Or at least so we hope.

Don’t forget about the rest of the series. Enjoy the day.

Cheers.