Thursday, December 31, 2009

End of Year Time Killers

Over the past few weeks, several articles have been published dealing with some of Shedd's Spot favorite subjects: Robert Byrd, Dan Snyder, the Washington Nationals. Seeing that the Shedd's Spot postings have been few and far between lately, I thought I'd share the articles with you.

A couple of days before Christmas, The Washington Post ran this story on the ol' Exalted Cyclops and how important he was to healthcare reform passing in the Senate. Three days after the article was published, The Post ran this brief feedback piece from the literary editor of The Weekly Standard that reminds readers of Robert Byrd's involvement in the Klan.

In early December, the Washington City Paper's Dave McKenna used his Cheap Seats column to sum up all of Dan Snyder's 2009 missteps. Read the column and get a laugh or two here.

On December 30th, soon to be ex-Washington Post Nationals beat reporter Chico Harlan wrote this Nats Journal piece on the 10 biggest Nationals developments of 2009. To me, the post affirms my claim the biggest mistake the Lerner family made since acquiring the team was keeping Jim Bowden as general manager. The team bottomed out in spring of 2009 with the Smiley Gonzalez scandal and, since then, the team has made massive positive changes in its front office. Unfortunately, those changes don't translate immediately to wins on the diamond. But, some of us have faith the team is finally headed in the right direction.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Friday Frolics, Volume 36: LaWanda Page & Santa Claus

LaWanda Page, aka Aunt Esther, nearly comes to blows with Ol' Saint Nick over some Churches fried chicken.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Quickies

First up, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts has reached a settlement with Fairfax County in a lawsuit in which the County claimed grease from a Krispy Kreme location in Lorton was clogging local sewer lines. To me this sounds like something that would happen in The Simpsons with a Krusty Burger location. And, just think what those doughnuts are doing to customers' inner plumbing if they're clogging up the sewer lines that much. Read The Washington Post story here.

And secondly, songwriter Aaron Schroeder died last week. Schroeder was known primarily for his songwriting, but he was also was a producer and artist manager. Schroeder had a string of hits recorded by Elvis Presley in the late 1950s and early 1960s that included "A Big Hunk o' Love", "Good Luck Charm", and "It's Now or Never". But, the list of other artists who recorded his songs is quite impressive. You can read about some of them and see a photo of Schroeder in a great Hugh Heffner style outfit here.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Midweek Time Killers: Women Country Singers

Country Standard Time recently posted interviews with Patty Loveless and Rosie Flores. Seeing those pieces on the CST website made me think I should post several items relating to women in country music. Both Loveless and Flores have new CDs out. You can read the Loveless interview here and the Flores interview here. Rosie Flores performed as part of a benefit concert I attended at the Continental Club in Austin back in Sept. One of these days I'll post a blog entry of some type posted about that show.

Last year, Loretta Lynn gave this interview to Country Stars Central. The site has both the text and a podcast of the interview. If you can, listen to the podcast. I love the fact Lynn is still inviting the interviewer down to her house when Lynn's people tell her the interview time is over.

Earlier this year, My Kind of Country featured this interview with Connie Smith. Quite a few female country singers, Dolly Parton included, have said in interviews that Connie Smith is their favorite singer.

And finally, a few weeks back, I flipped my SiriusXM radio onto Johnny Knoxville's show. That week's theme was "Country Crooners With Big Cranks". Somehow Bea Arthur's version "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It" made the show. Go figure. You can hear that "masterpiece" here.

A Full Moon Over Wisconsin

Shedd's Spot reporter "J.D." submitted this a while back. Unfortunately, it's a little less than an hour until tip off of the Duke-Wisconsin basketball game and I'm just now posting this. I forwarded "J.D.'s" email to a couple of folks I know who are originally from Madison, Wisconsin. Their reaction was "why is this guy from Richmond, Va. trolling the Madison, Wisconsin version of Craigslist?". Good question. Anyway, if you're watching the Duke-UW game tonight, look for the guy who placed the following ad.


Wanted: UW vs. Duke tix so I can stick my a** in Coach K's face - $1 (Madison, WI)

Seeking two tickets to the Dec. 2 UW mens' basektball game vs. Duke. Would prefer tickets somewhere in the lower level and near the team benches. I figure if I can get a seat close enough, I can at some point sneak down to the Duke bench, drop trou, and stick my hairy crack in Coach K's face. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, so anyone who can help facilitate the dream on a budget would be most generous. I figure if there's one guy in the world who deserves to have a hairy, sweaty ass stuck in his face, it's Coach K. After all, he's been turning out team after team of cocky, whitebread under-achievers for the last two decades, and it's time someone showed him how the rest of the country feels about his brand of basketball.

When I say "budget," I should clarify that I can't afford your over-inflated mark-up if you're looking to make a buck on your seats. Sorry. But I have to figure in the cost of an indecent exposure/public disturbance citation into the cost, plus whatever I will have to buy my wife as an apology for my antics.