A look at Birmingham in videos …

Promo for Focus Creative photography and video service. From Focus Creative.

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A look at Birmingham in videos …

Scanning for FM stations. From Landon the EAS Guy 2005/Mobile Area SPC Rocks.

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A look at Birmingham in videos …

Talking with Birmingham restaurateur Frank Stitt on reopening restaurants. From Reckon.

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1. cry of the doughnut
   You need some sugar
   to start off the morning and
   sweeten up your day.
2. a twinkle
   His calm demeanor
   belied a sense of mischief
   coming from his eyes.
3. girl crush
   She and she shared an
   embarrassing amount in
   common. Syn-her-gy.
4. collegial feelings
   It’s all clicking and
   not all cliques. So many I’s
   in this splendid team.
5. an uncomfortable conversation
   Would it be OK
   if we worked it out one blunt
   question at a time?
6. wistful thinking
   What could’ve been, what
   almost was, who should’ve mat-
   tered, why dwell on it.
7. tell me a story again
   Regale me with your
   misadventures, show me your
   past self one more time.
8. past hope
   The fear deep within
   pushes us to dark places
   with no way to leave.
9. her lone voice
   Her lone voice rang out
   with despair. Will I ever
   be enough for me?
10. the wonder of it all
    Take time to marvel
    at the bounty of life, the
    majesty of you.
11. a dollop of kindness
    It goes great with a
    heaping of empathy and
    gentleness of words.
12. the statistician’s dilemma
    Count everything, make
    exceptions or run away
    in a mild panic?
13. the lurker in us all
    Why dive in when you
    Can watch safely from the shore?
    Take that, killer sharks.
14. pi piper
    3.141
    5926535
    8979
15. stranger together
    Our back-and-forth can
    puzzle others but leads us
    to fits of laughter.
16. all kinds of intimacy
    A boundless comfort
    zone, a safe space with no end
    and a love assumed.
17. the irish of the far east
    Sure, we’re all a bit
    Irish, but really, when is
    St. Korean’s Day?
18. coffee thief
    He would grab a mug
    from the break room and run off
    one cup at a time.
19. a time for cartwheels
    A greening of the
    land, a growing warmth, a sun
    smiling from above.
20. what concerns a neighborhood
    Lost dogs and kitties,
    burglars breaking into tool
    sheds, rampant gossip.
21. the role of luck
    From birth onward, luck
    influences our lives more
    than we would admit.
22. simple pleasures
    A fancy dessert,
    a bowl of cereal, a
    purring cat, sunset.
23. more simple pleasures
    Buttered biscuits, a
    warm scarf, gentle breathing, a
    super thick milkshake.
24. even more simple pleasures
    A delightful meme,
    a show on the radio,
    a recognition.
25. time to move on
    Growing contentment
    meets nagging restlessness for
    a ticket elsewhere.
26. a false unity
    Let’s not look past our
    differences, but agree to
    disagreements now.
27. fearless fest
    Wary attendees
    ease into the fun with some
    gentle icebreakers.
28. the route of creativity
    I didn’t expect
    to wander past so many
    unusual sights.
29. mlem vs. blep
    Something about tongues
    and animals and how we
    cannot resist them.
30. amazon conspiracy theory
    The Prime vans circle
    our homes waiting for the chance
    to sell us to death.
31. let me fix that for you
    Barge in and take charge
    before the lesser grunts wreck
    all of this hard work.
32. fools and foils
    An annual rite:
    The joke is on all of us
    again and again.
33. the bug vs. the world
    A microbe stops us
    dead in our tracks. Can we fight
    what we cannot see?
34. tp pdq
    Rolls of gold to trade
    for pelts or blubber or a
    shiny new mansion.
35. a life on camera
    Hello, colleagues, from
    my cluttered kitchen and my
    once clean living room.
36. under foot all the time
    Kids, no school. Kids, no
    play dates. Kids, no child care. Kids,
    no church camp. Kids … no.
37. the ever looming specter of death
    One nagging cough from
    painfully short struggle with
    coronavirus.
38. mourning the loss of normal
    Crying over lost
    softball games, get togethers
    and the stuff of life.
39. a primer on social distancing
    For some, 6 feet is
    a mile. And for others, not
    far enough at all.
40. in the shot, take a shot
    This Zoom meeting will
    never end. How do I sneak
    a drink on camera?
41. in line at walmart 2020
    Don’t stand so, don’t stand
    so, don’t stand so close to me.
    Please don’t stand, don’t stand.
42. means of transmission
    Can you catch it from
    a toilet seat? Can you catch
    it from a death stare?
43. easter 2020
    Bunny hops to and
    fro but everyone’s hiding
    their eggs inside homes.
44. cabin fever, catch it
    Where the cabin is
    a nice house and we can still
    go outside at will.
45. small business black saturday
    We witness the deaths
    of restaurants and stores while
    shopping Amazon.
46. a nonbinding stimulus
    He’s outta work, she’s
    outta work, so many folks
    are losing their jobs.
47. retreat
    These four walls can seem
    like a sanctuary, a
    prison, a flophouse.
48. a quiet place
    The silent office
    looks over an empty lot
    while gathering dust.
49. the sudden homeschool
    The kids are all in
    detention, the teacher is
    drinking heavily.
50. piece by piece
    They hunched over the
    table, squinting at puzzle
    pieces and laughing.
51. social distancing two-step
    Can’t hug, but can wave.
    Can’t whisper, but can raise voice.
    Can’t cry, but can grieve.
52. the potluck crew
    Each dish outdoes the
    last one. Each taste is even
    better than we hoped.
53. drowning in real time
    The lessons come so
    quickly, it’s impossible
    to keep up, catch up.
54. the intimidation factor
    No one counted on
    her bursting out with so much
    energy and verve.
55. voices parry
    She said, he said, he
    said and said and said and said
    and kept on going.
56. out-of-context theater
    Not in the same ball
    park but trying to achieve
    collaboration.
57. teamwork makes the dream worthless
    It all fell apart
    the moment we sat down to
    toil together.
58. the stress of it all
    Work, more work, school, more
    school, health, poor health and a lot
    of things left unsaid.
59. today broke me
    I’ve been sprinting the
    marathon for weeks and hit
    the wall. Nothing left.
60. the contagion
    We use masks and gloves
    with the hope that they hide us
    from the wee killers.
61. thinking positive
    The cough, the fever,
    the trouble breathing, the test,
    the wait, the results.
62. romeo and juliet 2020
    Verona succumbs
    to the plague. Star-crossed lovers
    inherit it all.
63. little girl found
    She would log into
    book club each afternoon just
    for her sanity.
64. a drive-by party
    Kids wave and honk and
    shout “Happy Birthday!” to her.
    It gives me such hope.
65. peanut butter problems
    Crunchy or smooth, no
    one can agree on which one
    goes on sandwiches.
66. the numbers
    How many dead? How
    many infected? How much
    longer can we last?
67. me exotic
    Meet my giant house
    cats as they prowl the compound.
    I’m the Tiger King!
68. the crawfish boil
    Pinch the head and suck
    the tail, two steps to true
    tasty happiness.
69. something’s brewing
    Coffee panic sets
    in as I try to wake up
    before class begins.
70. caveat emptor caveat
    We’re gonna die from
    this damn disease, but at least
    we can go shopping.
71. a question of masks
    Some are offended.
    Others demand compliance.
    A lot of hot air.
72. a notion of oppression
    It isn’t about
    haircuts and personal re-
    sponsibility.
73. a bite here, a bite there
    Our fearless leader
    trapped in meetings all day, can’t
    find time to eat lunch.
74. petri dish nation
    The germs waited oh
    so patiently to avenge
    themselves on us all.
75. corona calendar
    It is either Mon-
    day or Thursday or the day
    before yesterday.
76. toss mustard, too
    Mayo is the worst.
    On grilled cheese and in life. Let’s
    throw it in the trash.
77. the inevitable second wave
    All because we did
    not have patience for delayed
    gratification.
78. who’s really behind the plandemic?
    I do swear on my
    virginity that it’s the
    New New World Order.
79. we’re all doomed
    What if a virus
    didn’t attack brains or bones
    but plain ignorance?
80. odds, ends and assorted detritus
    He took all the old
    and worn-out produce and made
    a composite stew.
81. the when of it all
    Plans for the future
    don’t exist. We muddle through
    the endless present.
82. full-throated confidence in half-baked ideas
    THIS IS HOW I MAKE
    A POINT ON THE INTERNET,
    LOUDLY AND PROUDLY.
83. pan-dilemma
    No matter which way
    we go, we’re adrift in a
    sea of bad choices.
84. the dashboard courier
    Some die, others live.
    The story’s in the digits
    climbing steadily.
85. the quest for friends
    This modern life has
    its drawbacks. Where does one go
    for companionship?
86. take and take
    Today we honor
    their sacrifices. Can we
    not sacrifice, too?
87. the first hundred thousand
    No monument. No
    flags at half-staff. Just a pile
    of names and bodies.
88. the lost art of compromise
    When the remaining
    10 percent becomes too big
    of an obstacle.
89. smotherhood
    A working mom adds
    teaching and babysitting
    to her packed weekdays.
90. this perfect spring
    Inhale the freshness
    of nature. Admire the
    beauty all around
91. nitrogen + oxygen 4 ever
    Can we not simply
    laugh at the stupidity
    of most everything?
92. the may we were
    In like a shelter-
    in-place, out like a battle
    over masks, distance.
93. catch the second wave
    Bodies ride the crest
    before the whole thing crashes
    down like a honed scythe.
94. hungry are the damned
    A food supply that
    can’t feed hordes out of work, out
    of school, out of luck.
95. learned helplessness
    Stunned by media,
    worried by “how it’ll look,”
    no action today.
96. linn park, jefferson davis’ birthday
    The statue is gone,
    but the Confederacy
    lives on in their hearts.
97. the protest and the price
    Marchers shine a light
    on police brutality.
    while enduring it.
98. until my voice is raw
    Black lives matter. Black
    lives matter. Black lives matter.
    Black lives matter. Preach.
99. for a few corpses more
    We absolutely
    need to reform the police
    to save our black friends.
100. fears of a black planet
     Coronavirus,
     police brutality and
     white fragility.
101. damn tired
     Are we feeling spent
     by the chaos in our lives
     and everywhere else?

• • •

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A look at Birmingham in videos, focusing on this week’s protests, rioting and aftermath …

George Floyd died May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes, sparking Black Lives Matter protests nationwide. The one in Birmingham started on Sunday afternoon at Kelly Ingram Park downtown with speakers addressing the crowd. (Our vertical video of the week.) From Griffin Holmes.

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