The Tar Heel Tavern (#9)

Hello and welcome to the 9th edition of The Tar Heel Tavern. Submissions were slow to arrive at first, but after a little shameless begging the floodgates opened and entries from around the state poured into the Viewfinder BLUES home office, (which is really just a spare bedroom in my suburban High Point abode). Now that I have a respectable number of screeds, editorials and commentary, I can respectfully open the Tar Heel Tavern:

Melinama over at Pratie Place kick things off with an enlightening essay on appreciating what life gives you, including a brief rundown of intriguing experiences and images she’ll take all the way to grave. She calls the act of savoring what comes your way fighting ‘kiasu’. I call it common sense.

Speaking of which, Ogre thinks it may makes no sense that the dire predictions of the lousy economy are in the air when North Carolina exports SO MUCH STUFF around the world, especially everyone’s favorite walking state delicacy, the lowly pig.

One of my favorite IMPORTS is good coffee; in fact I’m pretty wired on a nice Guatemalan blend as we speak. Over at Josh Staigler’s site, he’s listed several of his favorite coffee shops in the Raleigh area, proving high quality bean doesn’t always have to start with ‘Star’ and end with ‘Bucks‘.

In the first of several TV news related entries, Chris Weaver at TV Photog Blog reveals the truth: Not EVERY day behind the big lens is an exercise in breathless adventure, in fact some shifts are a prolonged lesson in loitering . And here I thought I was the only who catnapped at stoplights.

While we’re wallowing in all this inaction, let’s take a look at Dirty Greek’s offering - a sobering post on how quickly we're depleting the Earth’s resources. The stats and links he provides are indeed scary - especially considering there’s no spare planet floating just off shore.

Closer to home, Terri-Lynn at Nearest Distant Shore checks in with what she calls ’a tale of bad parenting’, but to me she just sounds like a loving Mom who happens to be human. Read her pain-filled post and you’ll agree, little Liam is in good hands.

No, for real dunderhead behavior, check out Phin’s blog, who offers a tale of adolescence, alcohol and the Emerald City. I commend Phin for submitting this particular anecdote, as epic tales of bad decisions aren’t always easy to share. Having staged my own orchestras of stupidity in the very city Phin speaks of, I can relate.

Something else I can relate to is chasing newborn celebrities with a face full of viewfinder. A ludicrous assignment, yes - but it’s one of the many thankless tasks that falls on the weary shoulders of the TV news photog. But don’t take my word for it. Read this post from Colonel Corn and you’ll never look at a live shot the same way again.

But let’s turn off the tube and focus on deeper matters. Over at his site, the ever-admirable Ron Hudson provides a thought-provoking post on what we can do in life if only we try. Whether its translating Spanish poetry or dealing with his own mortality, Ron continues to educate us along the way. Read Ron Hudson. You’ll come away a better person.

Speaking of better people, the eponymous operator of Sue’s Place checks in with a delightful expose on the real Amityville Horror. As a child of the 70’s I grew up intrigued by the Long Island house with the funny windows. Now Sue’s debunking all my youthful misconceptions and providing a few laughs along the way.

While we're on the subject of real-life horrors, TV meteorologist Eric Chilton is being haunted by too much technology. From too many computer passwords to all those damn acronyms, Eric yearns for simpler times, when banks were crowded on Friday afternoons and blue tooth was something you used to convince the kids to brush their teeth. And you thought he was just a weatherman.

I’m told the weather was good for The Masters, but since what I know about golf could be spray painted on the surface of a micro-chip, I turn to the Grunkle Guru for all my links-related news. This week Grunk checks in with a rundown of golfdom’s premiere event, and explains why Vegas is a lousy place to blog. Who knew?

Back in North Carolina, Alex Wilson submits the latest entry from his audio book project at Telltale Weekly - an interview with Cary-based publisher and writer Jason Lundberg. It’s A 75-minute candid and informative exchange for anyone interested in their own publishing venture. I’M listening…

I’m also reading. So is Bora at Science and Politics. In fact, he recently raced to Raleigh to attend a book signing. The Good Father is a tome about being a Dad and what that means, particularly when the society is sending mixed messages about what it means to be "a man". As a father of two little girls, perhaps I should check it out.

Kent Bates also reads, and not just glowing letters off the teleprompter. At his burgeoning blog, he breaks down just who is to blame for soaring gas prices and why they look a lot like that person staring back at you in the rearview mirror. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go gas up my Hummer.

But before I leave broken pavement in my path, let’s check in with my favorite rapscallion of all time, William Teach. No longer terrorizing the Carolinas Coast, Teach holds up in his Pirate’s Cove and launches regular salvos of conservatism across our cyber-bow. This week the uber-blogger drops the politics for something we can all agree on; the beauty of a goose in a mall parking lot.

That’s it, people - The Tar Heel Tavern is closing down for the week. But before I chase all you drunks into the breaking daylight, I must issue an appeal to all who’ve made it this far. The tenth edition of the Tar Heel Tavern is currently homeless. Won’t one of you fine barkeeps step up and host it next week? The duties involved are far from taxing and the dense blogosphere that clings over our state will be a better place for it. Click here to add your name to the role and I’ll forever sing your praises. Until then dear reader, this is your friendly neighborhood Lenslinger hoping everyone’s upcoming week will indeed be something to blog about...