Archives for June 2007
A Sad Day in Huntsville
They’re tearing down “Aunt Eunice’s”.
I know there are some former Huntsvillians who visit this dumb little blogsquat, and I know they’ll be as saddened as I am over the news that one of the city’s landmarks is about to come down.
Aunt Eunice’s was the best little breakfast spot in town. Aunt Eunice Merrill cooked up the best darned biscuits, red-eye gravy, sausage and eggs this side of heaven. And along with the vittles, she was always quick with a “hug your neck” too.
During my days of hosting the Easter Seals Telethon, Aunt Eunice would always send along several big bags of biscuits and sausage. And usually about once a week, I’d find my way over to her tables for a hug and food after doing the morning show.
Aunt Eunice passed away in 2004 and the folks who bought the property have gotten permission to tear the building down and put up, (heaven help us all) a Dollar Store.
Lord, Lord, Lord.
I found this online a few minutes ago. It’s a 360-degree look at the restaurant and the famous “Liar’s Table” where everyone from politicians to preachers to tv anchors would sit and have their coffee.
By the way, that tv person voice you’ll hear is Dick Curtis, one of the best story-tellers I’ve ever worked with.
Click on the photo to see the picture.
Top 100 Movies of all Time
I’m watching AFI’s Best 100 Movies of all Time.
I love these shows as they always remind me of some of the great movies I either haven’t seen or haven’t seen in a long long time.
So, inspired as I feel tonight, I put together my own Top 100 movies. Maybe not in the exact order of preference outside of the top 10. Frankly, I don’t want to spend that much time on it.
100. Planes Trains and Automobiles
99. Parenthood
98. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
97. American Graffiti
96. Good Morning Vietnam
95. The Apartment
94. Stripes
93. Fever Pitch
92. The Sure Thing
91. She’s Having a Baby
90. Airplane
89. The Magnificent Seven
87. Local Hero
86. Big Fat Liar
85. Broadcast News
84. A Christmas Story
83. Bull Durham
82. Tin Cup
81. Raiders of the Lost Ark
80. Big
79. High Noon
78. All the President’s Men
77. Cool Hand Luke
76. Breaking Away
75. Say Anything
74. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
73. The Cowboys
72. Alien
71. E.T.
70. Ferris Bueler’s Day Off
69. Some Kind of Wonderful
68. Apollo 13
67. From Here to Eternity
66. Pulp Fiction
65. Gone with the Wind
64. The Graduate
63. His Girl Friday
62. The Last Picture Show
61. Tora Tora Tora
60. The Longest Day
59. Lost in Translation
58. Grease
57. North by Northwest
56. The Birds
55. Manhattan
54. High Noon
53. Animal House
52. On Golden Pond
51. The Right Stuff
50. Saving Private Ryan
49. Gallipoli
48. Stand By Me
47. This is Spinal Tap
46. Cinderella Man
45. Amelie
44. Annie Hall
43. Bonnie and Clyde
42. Walking Tall
41. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
40. The Wizard of Oz
39. Bringing Up Baby
38. Fargo
37. Rocky II
36. Rocky
35. Goodfellas
34. Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead
33. Giant
32. Star Wars
31. Dances With Wolves
30. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
29. Forrest Gump
28. Psycho
27. Rear Window
26. Raging Bull
25. Raising Arizona
24. Caddyshack
23. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
22. Best of Times
21. The Jerk
20. Father of the Bride
19. Mr. Roberts
18. Batman
17. The Godfather
16. The Shining
15. The Hustler
14. Miracle on 34th Street
13. Hoosiers
12. Facing the Giants
11. Serendpity
10. Almost Famous
9. Singing in the Rain
8. It’s a Wonderful Life
7. Vertigo
6. The Searchers
5. Some Like it Hot
4. Field of Dreams
3. Casablanca
2. When Harry Met Sally
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
3.
Seeing my Father in Me
“You can’t deny him”.
“He looks just like you.”
“I feel like I’m looking at a little Wayne.”
I’ve heard that all my life. From the time I was old enough to understand the words people were saying, they’ve been saying how much I look like my dad. Exactly like my dad.
I remember picking up an old black and white photo from one of my mom’s photo albums, thinking it was me. Nope, it was an old picture of my dad from the 5th grade.
And it apparently went beyond just looking like him. One of my high school friends who’s dad went to school with my dad told me, “My dad says your dad acted just like you did when he was in high school.”
We both played basketball in school. We were both selected as “class clowns” of our senior class. We both liked to tell a good joke. We both liked people, and doing things for people and making people feel pretty good about themselves.
He introduced me to golf, country music and Auburn football. He taught me how to drive, taught me the importance of doing a good hard days work. He taught me the importance of taking care of family, loving his mom and serving the people around him.
One of my favorite memories is the football games we used to go to. One Auburn-Alabama game we looked behind us and saw Payne Stewart and Orel Hershisher sitting in the stands at Jordan-Hare Stadium. At another, we yelled like crazy kids when substitute quarterback Patrick Nix threw a 4th down TD against Alabama.
A few years ago, Dad and I got to see a heavyweight boxing match with Mike Tyson in Memphis. The fight lasted all of 7 seconds, but it was a great time being there with him.
Sometimes I look in the mirror and realize that I am now the age Dad was when I was in high school. I think of what all he had accomplished by that age, and how much I have to do and learn to be anywhere close to being “just like Wayne Tucker”.
There are a few things I wish for my dad on this Father’s Day. I wish his back felt well enough, or the pain would go away enough for him to play golf again. I wish we could go to another Auburn football game down on the Plains. I wish we could get down there to visit him more often. And I wish he’d stay for more than a night or two when he visits us.
I wish it would rain on his garden. I wish his grandkids could grow up closer to him and my mom so they could learn some of what I learned. And I wish one day he could meet Kitty Wells, Bashful Bob, Dolly Parton and Charley Pride.
Happy Father’s Day Dad. Thanks for everything.
Westward Ho
I’m headed west on I-40 tomorrow morning to cover the Winkler sentencing in Selmer.
Sure I’ll run into a few of my old friends who’ll head east from Memphis.
Sure I’ll run into a few of my old friends who’ll head east from Memphis.
And I found this tonight while browsing around. Seems a 21 year old wheelchaired man was taken for a ride on the grill of an 18-wheeler. 
There he was, just minding his own business in Paw Paw, Michigan when the semi pulled out of a truck-stop and slammed into the wheelchair. The driver hit speeds of around 50mph but other than spilling his bottle of pop, the man in the chair was okay.
Who’ll be the first morning anchor to have this guy on tv?
“We’ll Get to it! Sheesh”
The New York Times ran a correction this week where the copy desk misspelled a person’s name in a photograph.
The photograph ran in the Times June 8th, 1944.
Here’s the correction, listed in Tuesday’s NYT:
A caption on June 8, 1944, with a photograph of Army officers at mess on the
Pacific front, misspelled the given name of the first officer seated at the left
side of the table. He was Col. Girard B. Troland of New London, Conn. — not
Gerand. The error was called to the attention of the editors by his grandson
yesterday.