As you while away the remaining hours till Christmas, let’s review some cheery holiday posts you may have missed …
Plus, we found the true meaning of Christmas, and Easter, and even Flag Day, on someone’s windshield today.
If you’re like us, your shopping has been done for weeks, and you can kick back with some hot cocoa and a good book.
But if you’re still in the hunt for the right Christmas gift, fear not. We can toss a few suggestions your way.
The second Christmas party of our two-party outing was a down-and-dirty raucous affair. If the corporate party had been plesantries and pie, this other outing was hipster-ish and crowded.
We drove to Park Lane restaurant in Mountain Brook and snagged the last parking space within the village limits. Outside, it was freezing, as the huddled throngs of smokers puffed away. Inside, it was a mad scene.
Anything to get out of this cold and into a … hot chocolate fountain?!
Bowl season. Time to start planning your Jan. 2 party, when Alabama will play Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and Auburn will play Wisconsin in the (Bank Name Here) Bowl. The Tide rolls at 10 a.m. on Fox, while the Tigers pounce at noon on ABC, part of five bowls airing that day. Wanna see all 28? Hope you caught the first two earlier this week, but here’s a schedule of the remaining 26.
Will bowl for $$$: It’s been 15 years since Birmingham played host to a bowl game, but since then, Mobile has become home to not one but two bowl games. (Only Orlando and Miami can boast similar double duty.) What the hell happened?
• Coming up empty [Birmingham News]
The non-graduate: The Crimson Tide is in the Top 5. Among 116 Division I-A schools for non-graduating football players. More than three-fifths of Alabama footballers don’t receive a diploma. And at Auburn, more than two-fifths of football players don’t graduate. The NCAA report says about one-fourth of all Division I athletes fail to graduate. Did we mention that both Alabama and Auburn made it to bowl games? Good bowls, too.
• UA football grad rate worst in SEC [Birmingham News]
Also:
• • •
Send us your news tips.
We love a good party, so December is our chance to swing with the best. Though we’re at our best staked out in a quiet corner with an adult beverage and surrounded by friends, we can be lured out to the bigger affairs through:
Join us on our recent two-party jaunt. Party all day, and party all night. (That joke never gets old.)
Railing at each other: The Railroad Reservation Park could be a grand step forward in adding cultural vitality to the heart of downtown Birmingham. The city, county and federal governments are tossing in more than $7 million of the $10 million needed to make it happen. But first, the city and Friends of the Railroad District must work out which entity will oversee the project. What’s at stake is the plan for green spaces, a lake, retail and dining spots, public art and an amphitheater. Those four blocks are fertile ground for rebirth. So who’s going to run this train?
• Dispute may derail park [Birmingham News]
Driven to distraction: Traffic is like the weather: Everyone talks about it, nobody does anything about it. Meet the “eyes in the sky” who keep tabs on rush-hour jams. Surprisingly, the Birmingham News’ story allows for an allegation of willful negligence of public safety by the government, without seeking a response: “There are kinks. … (Metro Networks) has ended its contract with the Alabama Department of Transportation for use of ALDOT’s public traffic cameras because there weren’t enough cameras to monitor traffic effectively, said Steve West, director of operations for Metro Networks.” He also says ALDOT cameras aren’t being fixed, leaving readers to wonder just how the state is monitoring highways, if at all. It’s only fair to allow someone from ALDOT to answer — but the story has no such response. Tsk tsk.
• Traffic service keeps watch on commuters [Birmingham News]
Death race 2005: And speaking of oversights, a trucking industry magazine’s readers ranked Alabama as having the weakest truck inspections. More than 300 readers responded in the mag’s annual survey. Fortunately, most of us have been able to inspect the trucks up close as they’re about to run us over coming into our lane oh my god ohmygod!!!!!
• Worst roads: Go west [Overdrive magazine]
Also:
• • •
Send us your news tips.
Stamp price hike comes soon.
Two cents more to send letters.
What is mail again?
• • •
Read more haiku.
Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
One of my favorite stories ever in the Birmingham Post-Herald was a true holiday gem: the real tale of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
The song is lovely because it touches upon the wistfulness of the holiday season, almost a lament. And yet, it remains a personal favorite among all the Christmas classics.
Erin Shaw Street wrote this December 1999 story. Birmingham native Hugh Martin, the composer partnered with lyricist Ralph Blane, talks about tussling with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra over one little tune.
Vote earlier and oftener: Our pal Taylor Bright has the story on a not-new idea: moving up state Democratic primaries from June (which makes no difference) to one of the first in the nation. Party leaders say they want to add diversity to the states — lily white Iowa and New Hampshire — voting early on candidates. Just think, for $1 million, Alabama could help choose the next Democratic loser in 2008 …
• Alabama may get an early primary [Huntsville Times]
Diagnosis: gouging: The California Nurses Association put out a study showing which hospitals have the highest markups. Brookwood Medical Center in Homewood was at No. 9, with an astonishing 804 percent cost-to-charge ratio (charging eight times the actual cost). The average among the 4,222 hospitals studied: 244 percent. However, that’s the hospital that saved my life in 1989, for a mere $20,000 (thank God for health insurance), but I shouldn’t have been charged the $7 for the single Tylenol that I threw up immediately — so we’ll call it even. I’m worth every penny, or grand.
• Study: Brookwood hospital cost mark-up one of nation’s highest [Birmingham News]
Adding it down: Economically poor students are expected to also be academically poor students. However, a Standard and Poor’s study shows that in Alabama, we’re equal opportunity underachievers. When poverty is factored out, state fourth and eighth graders still perform below expectations in math. S&P has a great educational data site, SchoolMatters, with a detailed snapshot of Alabama worth a look. As noted statistical scholar Barbie said, “Math is hard!”
• Study: Alabama’s poor performance not due to poverty alone [Associated Press]
Also:
• • •
Send us your news tips.
Error: Feed has an error or is not valid.
