Search Engine Answer Guy #5

With less than a week to go until elections in Mississippi, a lot of the search queries that wind up on my site are concerning candidates.

1. john arthur eaves jr. first wife

I don't know who she is. I know that for some reason my blog comes up, and there've been at least two searches looking for Eaves's wife that have wound up here. Oddly enough, there hasn't been a search for Haley Barbour that winds up on this blog. At least not yet.

Cue the searches.

2. kyle veazey

Not a candidate for office, but he is the mayor of Veazeyville. And someone might be looking for his phone number. Sorry, don't have it.

3. mhsaa football playoff predictions

And all these queries come from Michigan, which reminds me, I will be doing football playoff predictions again beginning next week.

4. john bethea

Another political candidate.

5. leon jones for constable

And another.

6. lee dilworth campaign

And yet another. It's always the ones who I'm not voting for.

7. lynn posey

Not so fast. I am voting for him.

8. vaticanology meaning

I'm sure its meaning isn't related to Northeast Jones football.

9. cary hudson

Great musician. Good to know he has at least one fan in the Czech Republic.

10. "chris chew" and santa fe

Another great musician. I've not seen the Allstars perform in a while, and I'd like to sometime soon.

Tuesday Night Ramblings

While driving north on Highway 49 yesterday afternoon, I saw the Parker Dykes sign I blogged about last week. Now, I'm not disappointed.

I am a bit surprised that I didn't see the sign when I was traveling south on 49. Perhaps traffic was a bit too heavy, or maybe I wasn't paying attention to what wasn't on the road.

My stepfather and I saw USM lose to Central Florida Sunday night. Four turnovers are not good for a team with bowl aspirations.

On the other hand, MSU was the recipient of six Kentucky turnovers Saturday. And that was good.

I found out this past weekend that my mother and stepfather would be heading off to Indiana to visit my aunt and uncle. In addition, they're going to San Diego for Thanksgiving to visit his son.

And now I wonder what to do during Thanksgiving. I contacted my pla C to see if he was going to be around Starkvegas for the Egg Bowl. He's uncertain, and that's understandable. After all, he has obligations of his own.

A potential Thanksgiving by myself could suck mightily, but hopefully that won't happen. Fortunately, my mother and stepfather are planning on being in Mississippi in December.

That reminds me. I need to get the Christmas cards ready. Yes, I know. It's still October, and I'm mentioning Christmas cards. I need to run by Barnes & Noble sometime soon to see if the Christmas cards I like to send to people are on sale. (No, I don't send the same cards. I am, however, a fan of this artist.)

Now I'm tired. I'm at my house. I'm fighting sleep, but I'll let sleep win sometime in the next couple hours.

2007 General Election, Part III

In this entry, I'll focus attention on those races where there has been controversy surrounding Mississippi elected officials.

Central District Transportation Commissioner
Dick Hall (incumbent Rep.) vs. Rudy Warnock (Dem.)

Essentially, this contest is one of two contests for control of Mississippi transportation. Hall has long been an opponent of Mississippi Department of Transportation Butch Brown's reign as Executive Director and has made no secret of the fact that he wants to fire Brown. I also find this story to be interesting.

Sadly, I've gotten to be tired of this contest. I don't think either candidate deserves my vote, and because of that I will leave this ballot blank. I mean, can't we all get along here?

Insurance Commissioner
Gary Anderson (Dem.) vs. Mike Chaney (Rep.)

This race is probably the best down-ticket state contest. I voted for Anderson in his contest against George Dale who got a lot of heat from people concerning his performance in office post-Katrina. Chaney is well-regarded and if elected should do very well. The same can be said of Anderson.

Both men are qualified, but I think that Anderson is more deserving. I still think he should have won that state treasurer's election in 2003, and so he'll get my vote.

Agriculture Commissioner
Lester Spell (incumbent Rep.) vs. Rickey Cole (Dem.) vs. Les Riley (Con.)

Spell has gotten a lot of criticism for his handling of the beef plant boondoggle. If I had voted Republican, I would have voted for Phillips. I will be voting for Cole-- former state Democratic party chair and classmate of mine at MSU.

Governor William Winter

I was at the Mississippi Library Association conference in Vicksburg yesterday. I spent the whole day there-- attending various functions and meetings.

The highlight of the conference was the Authors Awards presentations. The Measure of Our Days: Writings of William F. Winter won the nonfiction award.

Governor Winter spoke for several minutes-- reading from speeches that were in the book, one of which was a speech before another session of MLA back in 1962.

The Governor is still a fantastic speaker. He projected his voice very well-- and much better than me in that regard that's for sure.

I've always thought highly of the governor and his work. In a sense, he was even my boss for a couple of months many years ago when I was a temp worker at his law firm.¹

Even though Governor Winter is 84 years old and recently left the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, I know he would give Haley Barbour more of a fight for the governorship this year than John Arthur Eaves Jr.

_________
¹In other words, I was an independent contractor for tax purposes and the person I reported to was a subordinate of Winter's. I seriously doubt the governor knew who I was. I did see him from time to time in the firm, but we never spoke to each other.

Wednesday Afternoon Thoughts

I'm at work. I've been under the weather the past few days, but feel better now. I'm putting throat drops in my mouth like they're candy though.

I was at the Mississippi Library Association conference in Vicksburg earlier today. There were a couple of sessions I wanted to attend. Sadly, I couldn't stick around and have tea with Marshall Ramsey. I had a couple projects to do here at the college.

I'll be leaving work for the day soon and will be attending a play later this evening. I'm not planning on doing too much though since I'll be heading back to Vicksburg tomorrow morning to attend a few more sessions. That's the thing about having a conference not far from where you live and work: You can't get away. On the other hand, you're not nearly as far behind as you would be if you could get away.

One note: A few weeks ago, I blogged about Supermom's nomination for worst campaign sign. Yesterday, I was perusing Cotton Mouth where reference was made to Will Bardwell's nomination for best political sign.

I second that nomination. I've seen Dykes's signs when I've traveled up and down Highway 49, but I've not seen that one. I feel almost disappointed.

2007 General Election, Part II

In this entry, I'm focusing attention on races that have more of a local flavor-- contests for positions that are by and large based in Hinds County.

State Senate District 26
John Horhn (incumbent Dem.) v. John Bethea (Con.)

Horhn faces token opposition in this race. I voted for Horhn in the Democratic primary and will vote for him again.

Justice Court Judge District 4
Bruce Burton (Dem.) v. Jimmy Morton (Rep.)

The Justice Court Judge contest was the only race I didn't make a selection since I was unfamiliar with the candidates, and I was inclined to vote for the man who became the Republican nominee. While Burton is certainly qualified since he is an attorney, I'm still inclined to vote for Morton because I'm acquainted with people who know him. Plus, I like his barbecue place.

Constable District 4
Leon Jones (Dem.) v. Jon Lewis (incumbent Rep.)

I don't know either of the two gentlemen; however, Lewis is the incumbent and he has signs out, so I'm inclined to vote for Lewis.

Monday Afternoon Rain

It's been raining off and on today. My throat began acting up this morning.

I've finished whatever peppermint candies were available and am now going through ginger altoids like they're candy. Mmm... spicy ginger. I think I'll be making a stop at Walgreens tonight after work.

I got a text message from FP yesterday. She ran and finished the Nike Women's Marathon yesterday. Her first marathon-- awesome. I know two other people who were supposed to run, but haven't heard from them yet.

I've looked out the window again. It's dreary, and it'll be dreary again tomorrow.

Third Saturday of Jacktober

Well, that was disappointing.

I watched the first half of the MSU - West Virginia game at the Alumni House in Ridgeland, and Mississippi State lost. Granted the loss wasn't surprising, but I didn't expect MSU to be trailing 28-0 in the first quarter. I was also surprised that Alabama won with ease against Tennessee today.

I'm at the house now. I'm a bit tired. I'm not planning on heading out again tonight. I think it'll be more likely that I fall asleep sometime around 10 p.m. this evening.

I did go to Jacktoberfest for a little while yesterday evening. I then went over to Borders in Flowood before heading over to Martin's last night. I got to be with friends for a little while, and it was good.

I checked out the Clarion-Ledger web site this morning and saw this gallery of photos taken at last night's Heidelberg Academy - Alpha Christian game. I graduated from Heidelberg many years ago. The photos are also available via the Hattiesburg American.

Alpha Christian is a predominantly African-American private school in Hattiesburg. If I recall correctly, it's a ministry of Mount Carmel Baptist Church. 2007 is their first year of high school football. Heidelberg won the game 24-20 and will play Wayne for the MPSA District 4-A title next week.¹

I also noticed this AP story regarding a Barbour campaign hire, Earl Faggert. I've known him and his family for many years. No surprise, since he hails from my hometown.

He was my headmaster at Heidelberg Academy for most of the time I was there, and his wife was my fourth grade teacher. He's also a very good science teacher.

I took classes from him whenever I could. His classes had the reputation of being tough, but I did well in them.

_________
¹Yes, those are Confederate Battle Flag emblems affixed to the Heidelberg helmets. I suppose if you must blame someone, blame Archie Manning and Johnny Vaught. The football team voted on the colors and mascot in 1970.

It's Friday Morning...

..and I'm listening to some music on Pandora this morning in my office. I believe I've mentioned it before, but life's been busy for me this semester.

My mother moved things up, and that means I now have a stepfather. She got married yesterday afternoon-- not that much of a surprise. I thought she'd be married sometime in the next week and a half.

I don't know what's going on this weekend. I might head over to Jacktoberfest. I need to relax.

I've been working on several different projects for the library in addition to my usual responsibilities. The projects seem to be going well; they just keep me busy. But I repeat myself.

The state library association conference is in Vicksburg next week. I'll be there for about half of the sessions.

Fortunately, I don't have any responsibilities during this conference unlike last year. It should be fairly fun. It'll be good to see colleagues from other libraries.

2007 General Election, Part I

Election Day is a little less than three weeks away, and I've already pretty much decided which candidates will receive my votes. Every few days, I'll blog about particular races.

While each of these entries may not have a general theme, I'll focus attention on contests involving the scions of politically prominent families in Mississippi. A sample ballot can be seen here.

Central Public Service Commissioner
Charles Barbour (Rep.) v. Lynn Posey (Dem.) v. Lee Dilworth (Ref.)

Barbour is a Hinds County supervisor and a nephew of the Governor. I voted for Posey in both the Democratic primary and runoff and will vote for Posey again in the general election.

Auditor
Stacey Pickering (Rep.) v. Mike Sumrall (Dem.)

As previously mentioned in past blog entries, my family has known members of the Pickering family for many years. I don't know Stacey, who is a cousin of Chip's though.

While Stacey is a state senator, I've not heard much about him from my friends and relatives (most of whom are Republicans) who still live in and around Jones County. If I've not been given a good enough reason to vote for someone local this late in the election, then that's cause for concern for me. I voted for Sumrall in the Democratic runoff and will vote for him again in the general election.

Governor
Haley Barbour (incumbent Rep.) v. John Arthur Eaves Jr. (Dem.)

Eaves is the son of a two-time gubernatorial candidate and well known attorney who's been regarded as one of the better campaign speakers in recent Mississippi political history. Eaves Jr. is running a faith-based campaign, bringing up religion early and often-- What Would John Arthur Do indeed.

I didn't vote for Barbour in 2003. If I were eligible to vote in the 1982 Senate election, I wouldn't have voted for him then either. I did vote for Eaves in the Democratic primary since he was easily the best, most qualified candidate running for the nomination.

That being said, elections involving incumbents are essentially referendums on their performances. In the 2003 election, Barbour made campaign promises concerning my place of work which I took with a grain of salt. Well, he's actually followed through on those promises.

You can call it what you wish. I prefer to think of it as enlightened self-interest, and that means Barbour's getting my vote.

One bit of good news for Eaves. I've not voted for the winner of Mississippi's governor race since 1991, so he still has hope.

Wednesday Morning Political Links

Haley Barbour is Mike Espy's homeboy?
That's what the AP article states. The governor also got endorsements from Bill Waller and Brad Dye.

Now I wish I lived in South Carolina...
Stephen Colbert is running for president as a favorite son candidate only in his native state.

Cousins?
Oh my.

Continued Chronicles of the Dread Pirate Roberts

I pretty much subsisted on a diet of coffee yesterday, and I needed it after having only three hours of sleep during the night. I worked on some projects yesterday afternoon after being at the desk for pretty much most of the morning.

After work, I had to go to a funeral home to pay my respects. A co-worker's mother died over the weekend, and the service is today. While many of my colleagues will be there, I'll be here at the college. Incidentally, I wasn't familiar with the name of the funeral home, but as it turns out it was where the service for my grandmother was held several years ago.

I went to Cups for a little while and then belatedly decided to go to Hal & Mal's and maybe play some Pub Quiz. When I found out what the rounds were going to be like, I decided to chip in a couple bucks and see if I could compete well under my usual solo team name.

Fortunately, the Pub Quiz seas were very friendly for me. No musical storms. No celebrity eyes hurricanes-- with the exceptions being the Fair Trivia and Phillip Seymour Hoffman Movie Quotes rounds. That being said, most other teams were affected by those rounds as well.

I went so far as to be within one point of the lead (and in third place) before the final round thanks in part to an author/pen name round. When the game ended, I finished three points behind the winning team and in second place.

This morning, I'm still subsisting on coffee. I got maybe five hours of sleep.

Colleagues are about to go to the funeral. I'm on duty helping people and working on projects. Such is the life of a pirate.

Staying Awake While Listening to Louis Prima and Miles Davis...

It's been a hectic day. Several classes have come to the library for bibliographic instruction sessions. An instructor came in with his class unannounced, but no big deal since we weren't involved too much in his talk to his class.

Three of my colleagues have talked to classes today. I haven't. I was at the reference desk for the good part of the morning.

Helping students when neeeded. Working on interlibrary loan projects. Drinking lots and lots of coffee.

Of course, I did have maybe three hours of sleep. My sleep cycle's still out of whack.

I've been listening to some All Songs Considered podcasts lately. Today, I'm in a mood for jazz. Yesterday, it was Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

With the baseball season now in playoff mode, I like to pay a little more attention to Curt Schilling's blog. I've been a long-time reader of Neil Gaiman's blog. Today, I found out "swearing is the only example of infixing in the English language."

I ran across this page concerning here are the ten freakiest animals on the planet. Incidentally, my vote goes to the star-nosed mole.

Sigh. I'm yawning again. I need more coffee.

Escher Sketch?

Who Should Paint You: M.C. Escher

Open and raw, you would let your true self show for your portrait. And even if your painting turned out a bit dark, it would be honest.

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

Thanks go to Lorelei.

Monday Evening Links

Thirty Years for a Doughnut?
FARMINGTON, Mo. – It’s a hefty price for a pastry: A man accused of stealing a 52-cent doughnut could face time in jail.

Authorities said Scott A. Masters, 41, slipped the doughnut into his sweat shirt without paying, then pushed away a clerk who tried to stop him as he fled the store.

The push is being treated as minor assault, which transforms a misdemeanor shoplifting charge to a strong-armed robbery with a potential prison term of five to 15 years. Because he has a criminal history, prosecutors say they could seek 30 years.
(more)

Buy From Me! I'm a Man! I'm 40!



The tip of the hat goes to Kyle Veazey.

Dogs Nursing Cats!
Let's see... Mass hysteria's supposed to be next, right Dr. Venkman?

You know, I think I'm jealous.
What I'm wondering is how does one become a sleep concierge?

No Antisocial Butterfly

I’ve always enjoyed being with friends. My schedule’s been such this semester that I’ve not had the opportunities to be with friends as much as I would have liked.

That being said, it was good to get out a few times this past week. I met up with Trophy Chick and Cowboy, and I had an enjoyable time. What with me being ill the previous week, I was very much in a sociable mood.

Not that anyone can tell-- as introverted and quiet as I am-- but I like being with people even if I’m not extroverted like the ordinary average guy. I'm no antisocial butterfly.

I went pub crawling. Essentially, I was looking for fellowship. As I've mentioned previously, I’ve long considered myself to be unwelcome in churches.

I saw some friends and visited with them, and that was good.

I ran into one at Hal & Mal’s who I’d not seen in at least a couple months. We spoke briefly about a few things, and she expressed interest in the book club.

And, she’d be a good member. She also said she’d email me in a few days regarding a couple things we’d previously talked about.

I ran into friends at Fenian’s. We talked about various things-- mostly good and fabulous.

Friday evening, I ran into someone from the college at the football game that I covered. We spoke briefly. While we’re acquainted with each other, what I do doesn’t normally affect what she does and vice versa. I don't recall ever getting an email from anyone in her department concerning libraries.

I thought about going to Starkville Saturday morning to see MSU play UAB, but my sleep cycle was still out of whack. I woke up at 10:00 to call my pla C to let him know I couldn’t make it.

I went back to bed and woke up at 2 p.m. I slept a little over 12 hours.

I didn’t go out much Saturday evening or Sunday either. I just felt like being at the house, and now it’s about 12 hours until I have to be at work.

Friday Afternoon

I'll be getting off work in a few minutes. I don't really know what I'll be doing this weekend except that I'm going to cover a local high school football game for a friend who I've had the occasion to write with previously.

It's been three years or so since I've actually done a game story. It shouldn't go too badly. I may head up to Starkville tomorrow. I may stick around here. I don't know if I'll head down to Hattiesburg.

Here are some links I thought were interesting:

Via Digg, this entry. I think the description in the entry is best: Craigslist meets Wall Street.

The top ten secret celebrity scientologists according to Cracked.com. Actually, not that big of a surprise.

And two from McSweeney's:

First, Orc Alumni Notes.

I love this entry:
Zoellick the Unslaked
CLASS OF '81

I am president of the World Bank, elected this summer after my stint with the Project for the New American Century. If you'd like to get in touch, please contact me at my personal Yahoo! mail, not my work address.

Does he look like an Orc?

Second, The iPhone Reviewed Several Years after the Destruction of the Global Economy.

Danny Bonaduce and Jonny Fairplay

Explanation also found here.

Oh, and thanks Digg!

Whither Skipping or Sprinting?

Westwood College in Atlanta is looking for a Campus Librarian. While I'm not interested in the position, I couldn't help but to chuckle when I saw the listed physical requirements:

1. Standing
2. Walking
3. Sitting
4. Carrying – up to 50 pounds
5. Normal vision/talking/speaking

Vaticanology and High School Football

First, from Wikipedia:
Aggiornamento, literally meaning "bringing up to date," was one of the key words used during the Second Vatican Council both by bishops and clergy attending the sessions, and by the media and Vaticanologists covering it. It was used to mean a spirit of change, openness, openmindedness and modernity.

Next, the first two paragraphs of an article from today's Laurel Leader-Call:
It has been almost a decade since the “Jungle,” the nickname given to the football field at Northeast Jones, has been feared by visiting football teams. Most historians say that events of the past usually repeat themselves every ten years.

So could the mystique of the Jungle from the past become reality for visiting high school football teams again? Will this year’s Tigers be able to meet their goal of aggiornamento? This goal of bringing Tiger football up to date is a passion of Northeast Jones head football coach Bubba Hathorn. Hathorn and his coaching staff have gone through some very tough times the last three years in rebuilding the Tigers’ fortunes.

Aggiornamento. Wow.

Its use in a story about high school football deserves the slow clap.

Search Engine Answer Guy #4

It's been almost four weeks since Pavarotti died, which means that the Pavarotti loves Elephants queries have begun to slow down. Again, here are actual search phrases from actual blog viewers.

1. "johnny stringer" "jasper county" election

Johnny Stringer is the current Chair of the Appropriations Committee in the Mississippi State House of Representatives. As mentioned previously, I've been acquainted with him for almost 25 years-- beginning when my father ran against him.

2. rainbow connection 15



Fifteen! Fifteen rainbow connections! Ah ha ha ha!

3. wine women california

I'm shocked my entry was #2 on the list.

4. turquoise nm rings

Ah. An oldie, but a goodie.

First Monday in October

I made it to the college earlier today. One of my co-workers was wondering if I wasn't feeling too well. I think the weekend took a bit too much out from me what with moving all that stuff from my mother's shop.

And as I suspected, I'm not all here mentally yet. Joy.

Because I've been sick and busy doing honey-do errands and such, I've been remiss in adding links to some sites of interest. There are two new additions to the blogroll:

John Leek has been known to comment on this blog, and he is also a contributor to Cotton Mouth, which is a blog I also like to read.

The Mississippi Library Commission Reference Staff has a new blog. The first entry is dated last week.

I've also added one link to my Websites of Interest page:

The Mississippi Library Association ACRL section has a wiki. Considering I'm a librarian and work at a college, this site is, of course, of interest to me.