Video: Veterans Day by the numbers

We salute the men and women who have served in our armed forces!

Sadly, the National Veterans Day parade — an annual downtown tradition — will not take place today because of safety concerns related to COVID-19. Instead, a “virtual parade” will air at 4:30 p.m. online.

Video: Halloween 2020 … yay

Happy Halloween!

Fifteen years ago today marked my first foray into blogging. On this very site, some 7,000 posts ago.

Birmingham has come a long way since 2005, as have I, your humble blogger. I’m proud of the city as it stands in 2020, even if we still struggle with our place in the world.

And 2020 has been hard on all of us. Loved ones laid out by COVID-19, jobs lost, businesses too. Not to mention our fraying mental health in quarantine, our fight to show Black Lives Matter, our daily battle to contain the coronavirus.

Oh, and making sure we can vote and vote safely.

Today is an Election Day for most towns across Alabama, a runoff race for the offices of city council and mayor. Elections are one of the few reasons I do extra coverage on this site, and we’ll have results posted after poll close this evening.

I spun off all the daily haiku in 2019 from this site to, appropriately enough, Wade’s Daily Haiku. I took the #Sundayread recommendations in 2019 to, well, Sundayread.org. At least I left the funny and weird videos on the weekly Birmingham channel post.

I still love Wade on Birmingham, blogging and the few who are still blogging out there. Maybe I’ve got another 15 years in me. And I’ve entered a new phase of my own: On Monday, I started working as a data analyst after training for a few months at the Innovate Birmingham boot camp this year.

We can always grow. We can always become better. Thank you, whether you’ve been a loyal reader over the years or a first-time visitor.

Stay strong, stay safe.

Video: Enjoy the holiday, but please protect yourself
and others against COVID-19.

Happy Labor Day! Just because it’s a holiday weekend doesn’t mean you should let up on masks, social distancing and being safe during the pandemic.

Video: John Legend performs “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

•

Happy birthday, America!

I never knew this: “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson is also known as “The Black National Anthem.” As we mark our country’s 244th birthday, let us also note that many of us still struggle for that promise of freedom and equality.

Black Lives Matter. Here’s how you can help.

Video: Honoring first responders.

Happy Memorial Day!

Let’s face it. It’s a weird time to have a holiday, and even a little strange that the National Memorial Day Concert is still happening, albeit from performers’ homes.

Hosts Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise take a moment to recognize first responders taking care of us while battling COVID-19. Enjoy the holiday and stay safe.

Easter egg marble races

Happy Easter, y’all!

Sadly, no Peeps Diorama Contest this year. (Wonder why …) Instead, enjoy this tension-filled high-stakes marble race with Easter eggs.

Photo: Rob Briscoe (CC)

Happy New Year! May all your wishes come true in the coming year and decade!

Video: Katy Perry’s “Cozy Little Christmas”

Merry Christmas!

Video: USA Today: “Refugees give thanks through
big Thanksgiving meal”

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

My weekly #sundayread picks have moved to a new site after 10 years: Sundayread.org.

I hope you’ll check it out, and also follow @Sundayreadorg on Twitter.

The archive of #sundayread picks from 2009 to 2019 can be found here on this site.

Photo: Tom Driggers (CC)

Video: Livestream of the 2019 National Veterans Day parade

A big thank you to all the men and women who have served in our armed forces!

The National Veterans Day parade starts at 1:30 today, with live streaming available in the video above.

Map: National Veterans Day parade route

Photo: Bennilover (CC)

My picks for #sundayread for November 10, 2019:

• I listened to “The Majesty of Calmness” by William George Jordan, a short and worthwhile read on taking the hurry out of life.
  https://buff.ly/33wleuT
• Why Kim Jong Un wouldn’t be irrational to use a nuclear bomb first
  By @NarangVipin
• Investigating a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb
  By @Allie_Conti
• Ten years ago this week, what were our #sundayread recommendations?
  https://itswa.de/2V7l49T
• From 2017, Colin @Kaepernick7 Has a Job
  By @Rembert Browne
• The Kid Who Didn’t Die at Riverfront Stadium
  By Dave McKenna
• Flashback: War on Thanksgiving
• Madam Ram
  By @JoshuaNeuman
  (via @sundaylongread)
• Hardboiled Superstars Ed Brubaker and @MeganEAbbott Discuss Comic Conventions, Criminals and Hollywood
  By @Steve_Foxe
  (via @sundaylongread)
• Flashback: From 2009, reality show “Supernanny” visits family in Hayden
• The Streaming Wars: Its Models, Surprises and Remaining Opportunities
  By @BallMatthew
  (via @sundaylongread)
• Harvey: Terror, heartbreak and heroism as five Houstonians brave America’s worst storm
  By @Mike_Hixenbaugh, @DavidHunn and Mark Collette @chronMC
• She Was Convicted of Killing Her Mother. Prosecutors Withheld Evidence That Would Have Freed Her.
  By @EmilyBazelon
• The Strange, Sad Story of the Ken Doll’s Crotch
  By @RichJuz wiak

More posts from Wade this week:

• The Birmingham channel: Sound bites

More #sundayread:

• All tweets for November 10 #sundayread
• The latest #sundayread tweets
• More #sundayread recommendations from me

Photo: Mliu92 (CC)

My picks for #sundayread for November 3, 2019:

• Ten years ago this week, what were our #sundayread recommendations?
  https://itswa.de/2V3kYQO
• Wrong Way: At 15, Isaiah Battle was the county’s No. 1 car thief.
  By @LisaGartner and @ZackSampson
• Benefit of the Doubt: How Portland (Ore.) Public schools helped an educator evade sexual misconduct allegations
  By Bethany Barnes @BetsBarnes
• I listened to Ursula K. Le Guin “Words Are My Matter”: Skip the book intros/reviews — enjoy the essays on writing, genre fiction and feminism instead.
  [aff. link] https://amzn.to/2PF8vC4
• The Cop Who Became a Robber
  By @JeffMaysh
• Frank Dowsing, Mississippi State’s first black football player, is almost unknown today.
  By Andrew Maraniss @trublu24
• Flashback: From 2009: What Unstuck Austin: One roadmap for Birmingham economic development
• Q&A with esteemed actor Yaphet Kotto
  By @ElonGreen
  (via @sundaylongread)
• Q&A with New York Times writer and author @TaffyAkner
  By @SaraFredman
  (via @sundaylongread)
• Flashback: Payoff: How my blog posts ended up in the New York Post and the Birmingham News
• The 20 defining comedy sketches of the past 20 years
  By @ElaheIzadi
• Tampa Electric knew the procedure was dangerous. It sent workers in anyway.
  By @_NeilBedi, @JonathanCapriel, Anastasia Dawson @adawsonwrites and Kathleen McGrory @kmcgrory
• A Scientist Witnessed Poachers Killing a Chimp
  By @EdYong209
  (via @sundaylongread)
• The Year I Went Bald
  By @SarahW einman
  (via @sundaylongread)

More posts from Wade this week:

• The Birmingham channel: Treats treats treats

More #sundayread:

• All tweets for November 3 #sundayread
• The latest #sundayread tweets
• More #sundayread recommendations from me

Video: A look at women’s sexy Halloween costumes

Happy Halloween!