Occupy Birmingham

You can easily miss it, but there is an on-going Occupy Birmingham demonstration going on in Downtown Birmingham.

Frankly like so many things that go on in the “Magic City” that also take place elsewhere, i.e. film festivals, music festivals, tries at major league sports, marathons etc… it is at best an anemic effort.

The only thing we really have other cities beat is in having the nation’s largest Veteran’s Day Parade. That’s where I took the photo here.

I sympathize with the Occupiers, heck as someone who works in education I MORE than sympathize with the movement.

But personally, as a movement, I don’t really give it much hope.

My reason for this is while watching news about it a comparison about it came to me.

Back in the 1890s after having been defeated again and again and moved to smaller and drearier Reservations some Native Americans, looking for something like hope, started to participate in the Ghost Dance.

The Ghost Dance was a way to dance into a trance where it was said those taking part could talk to departed relatives and ancestors, and if enough took part the white men would leave and the buffalo would return.  It at least gave those who danced something to believe in other than despair.  And all it was really was dancing, who could deny them at least that?

Never underestimate ignorance, fear and hate, the message from those in charges of the Reservations was “Indians continue to dance, send more soldiers.”

They did, and with the biggest and newest guns available, the scary dancing was stopped.

You get my metaphor?

Return of An Old Holiday Treat

I remember this old treat that use to show up around the holidays that I haven’t had literally in decades.

The part about it I remember most, other than how good it was, was the strange bit that at the time the cake came out of a can.

Seriously cake from a can? Yep a can, however I wasn’t even sure what sort of cake it was, this being such an old memory.

Doing some research (Google) I was able to find a picture of the can I remember it coming in. That’s when I found out that it was Dromedary Date Nut Roll, which has not been produced for years.

Out of luck? Hardly there are plenty of date bread recipes… yeah, forget that.

Going to the same place I found the picture of the Date Nut Roll* I found a local bakery that makes date Nut bread, to avoid making this an ad I’ll just say it’s in Homewood.

With that, and some whipped cream cheese, I was able to savor a treat I haven’t had since I was 12.

It was great!

* They may have enslaved half the world but it’s still the best search engine.

Sorry, there will be a slight delay with your steak… would you like some more bread?

Looks like there will be a bit of a postponement before you can order that 9 oz. porterhouse at the new Tinroof on 7^th Ave. South… busted water main, which they started to work on Monday the 5^th (after a rather long delay) but things had to stop with the heavy rains Tuesday and Wednesdays, so now there is a hole wider than a child’s plastic swimming pool as well as being pretty deep, now its almost filled to the brim with muddy rain water.

Uh Oh!

Birmingham the 7th saddest city in America?

According to an unscientific survey in Men's Health Magazine Birmingham, Alabama is the 7^th saddest city in America with only 1. Petersburg, FL, 2. Detroit, MI, 3. Memphis, TN, 4. Tampa, FL, 5. Louisville, KY, and 6. St. Louis, MO being more sad.

All this being based on each cities' suicide rates, unemployment rates, a percentage of households that use antidepressants and number of people who report feeling the blue all or even most of the time.

There's a “Blues” index somewhere? Where does one go for information like that, and how do they arrive at a number? Count the number of Muddy Waters CDs sold and divide by PI times the number of earth tone clothes sold?

Sad?

Hey....look around, we're just aware baby!

Fargo, Omaha and Sioux Falls are just fooling themselves!

Sad Cities

Construction Has Started

Well, the much delayed new construction on 29^th street and 7^th Ave. South is indeed underway, got a crane and everything.

And that little `frozen in time’ building (see photos below) that sat there on 29 – 7 for so long is now gone, it use to stand in the space found at the bottom left of the picture above.

So it looks like the “feng shway” of the neighborhood will indeed be getting a major overhaul in the next seven or eight months.

One of Those Rare Days

Where Autumn feels like Spring.

Enjoy them, they won't last long.

Indeed it has started.

It looks like the long delayed construction is indeed about to start on 7^th ave. South.

Even that little frozen in time building, the one to the left of the shot there which I have other photos of on here, has been thawed out.

Seems I just did get my pictures of it just a step and a half before it disappears.