A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham segment on the city’s future in 50 years, produced by Mike Cunliffe and Wade on Birmingham contributor Jennifer West

April 11 | A tremendous milestone for this site: post No. 2000. Another 2,000 posts, and that free breakfast at Denny’s is mine!

April 20 | The way Birmingham works takes a step forward with the opening of Shift Workspace downtown. Our sneak peek showed professionals what to expect from the new coworking space, including room for classes from the Birmingham Blogging Academy.

April 22 | Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival hires Chloe Collins as its new executive director, and we told you first. Plus, we had the exclusive interview with Collins on her plans to pull the film festival out of debt.

April 27 | We glimpsed into our crystal ball to see the city 50 years from now, with a little help from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. Given the challenges this year, looking forward seemed to be the only hope left. (The video above has a shout out to this site at 0:53.)

April 29 | Swine flu arrived in Alabama, as two cases were reported in the Huntsville area. In 2009, 37 people in the state have died from H1N1.

“Survivor” at a glance | April 2: Debbie chows down for a reward, while J.T. casts a deciding vote … April 9: J.T. and Debbie make it to the merge, only to face a surprising elimination … April 16: Debbie and J.T. share a reward, and J.T. casts another pivotal ballot … April 23: More rewards for J.T. and Debbie, and yet again, J.T. decides another’s fate … April 30: Debbie has a showdown with Sierra.

See all of our April coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

concrete savanna (April 20)

From on high, urban
structures kneel to the crushing
sky, brick versus steel.

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

Merry Christmas from Birmingham!
Peace on Earth, good will toward y’all.

Video stocking stuffers …

Jack Bauer interrogates Santa Claus

“The Little Drummer Boy,”
Michael Franti and the Blind Boys of Alabama

Plus, a favorite of mine every Christmas.

As you settle for Christmas, enjoy this holiday treat, David Sedaris’ “The Santaland Diaries” …

The story is available in his collection, “Holidays on Ice” (affiliate link).

A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: “Chains of Love,” Los Lobos. The band will play
an acoustic concert on Jan. 22
at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.

March 3 | Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival moves forward with plans to hire a new executive director, as featured in this Wade on Birmingham exclusive. The leader of the state’s largest film festival will need organizational and fund-raising skills, but not necessarily deep cinematic knowledge.

March 11 | The Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center was still months away from the end of its 2008-09 season when we broke the news on the lineup for the 2009-10 season, including Los Lobos (see video above), Savion Glover and the Peking Acrobats coming in early 2010.

March 15 | The way the ball bounces: A sad post-season for Alabama college basketball squads, as Alabama State didn’t even make it past Morehead State in the men’s play-in game, while No. 2 seed Auburn won its first-round game, only to lose to Rutgers next in the women’s tournament.

March 23 | Wade on Birmingham branches out into another company and blog, the Birmingham Blogging Academy. Businesses interested in all forms of social media have a new resource here in town.

March 29 | City Stages announces its headliners, the all-too-familiar mix of oldies but oldies, including the Doobie Brothers, Styx, 38 Special and REO Speedwagon. Birmingham yawns.

“Survivor” at a glance | March 5: Debbie and J.T. go toe to toe in shouldering the most weight, and J.T. survives Tribal Council … March 12: J.T. breaks a tooth in a losing battle, Debbie schemes with Coach … March 25: clip show! with more scenes from Debbie and J.T.

See all of our March coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

grandma said (March 15)

Kind words go further
than angry ones. Mind that you
keep plenty in stock.

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: Excerpt from “In Broad Daylight/Fight Club,”
featuring Birmingham homicide detectives in “The First 48”

Feb. 4 | Wade on Birmingham goes microblogging via Twitter with @WadeOnTweets, changing the way news tips come into this site and breaking news and other features are announced. And in less than a year, close to 1,600 followers are keeping up with the latest headlines in real time.

Feb. 5 | Crime pays, sort of, as Birmingham’s finest appear in new episodes of reality docudrama, “The First 48.” The A&E show followed homicide detectives as they pursued leads and suspects in one of America’s deadliest cities. Check it out in the video above.

Feb. 11 | Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival starts anew, beginning with the firing of executive director Catherine Pfitzer. If it happened at Sidewalk, Wade on Birmingham brought it to you first throughout 2009.

Feb. 17 | Birmingham begins the slow march into digital television, starting with Alabama Public Television, CW21 and My 68. The remaining local stations would follow suit some 4 months later.

Feb. 26 | Jason Mraz becomes the first performer announced for May’s Schaeffer Crawfish Boil, a Wade on Birmingham exclusive. It would become a year of success for the boil, but disastrous for other longtime Birmingham music festivals.

“Survivor” at a glance | Feb. 12: J.T. and Debbie start out in opposing tribes, and J.T. survives first Tribal Council … Feb. 19: J.T. forms a game-changing alliance with Stephen; Debbie survives her first Tribal Council  … Feb. 26: J.T. keeps his tribe full with fresh fish; Debbie survives another Tribal Council.

See all of our February coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

in a field of dirt (Feb. 11)

Out there, somewhere, is
a vegetable garden just
before it pokes up.

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: 2009 Sugar Bowl recap: Utah vs. Alabama

Jan. 2 | Alabama ends season in the Sugar Bowl losing to Utah. It was coach Nick Saban’s first bowl trip with the Tide, and also the first, and last, time Alabama would lose this year. Relive the magic of the entire game in compact video form, or just watch the highlights above.

Jan. 15 | First exclusive of the year: Two Alabamians were see compete in “Survivor: Tocantins – the Brazilian Highlands.” (Check out our first looks at J.T. and Debbie!) The only reality show we recapped this year, save for the Birmingham elections from August through …

Jan. 22 | A little self-promotion never hurts: My first interview in 2009 with the Birmingham Business Journal. The article focuses on making the most of an involuntary career change.

Jan. 30 | The saga of a country farmer from Holly Pond who became governor but then fell from grace came to an end. Guy Hunt, dead at 75. It seems as though politics and corruption would be a recurring theme this year.

See all of our January coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

neck-row-philia (Jan. 20)

Snazzy scarf becomes
wrapped up in knotty neck, a
tangled, tussled heap.

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

Neil Diamond says, “Happy Hanukkah, y’all!”

The Sexy Pilgrim wishes you a steamy Thanksgiving! (You’re welcome.)

Make plans to see the nation’s oldest and biggest observance of Veterans Day in downtown Birmingham. Other events take place this morning, including the World Peace Luncheon, sponsored by the National Veterans Day organization.

• Time: 1:30 p.m.
• Forecast: 63 degrees and cloudy
• Route:
  • Starts at Eighth Avenue North and 19th Street,
  • heading south to Fifth Avenue,
  • east to 22nd Street,
  • south to Second Avenue,
  • west to 18th Street,
  • north to the end at Sixth Avenue.

Veterans Day downtown parade route

Also:

• Veterans and current members of the military eat free at Applebee’s today.
• McWane Science Center and the Birmingham Museum of Art’s “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” exhibit will admit vets and active duty military for free today.
• Also, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, which is closed today, will admit vets for free from Thursday through Dec. 31.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween,
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene,
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright.
It’s our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween.

— “This Is Halloween,” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (affiiliate link)

We’re grateful to our readers and fans who voted in the Birmingham News’ “Birmingham’s Best 2009” reader survey. The results, announced earlier today, made this humble site a Runner-Up in the category, Best Local Web site.

Thank you, thank you, thank you from Wade on Birmingham!

And see our earlier post on our non-campaign.

Thank you to our fans and readers who nominated Wade on Birmingham in the Birmingham News’ “Birmingham’s Best 2009” reader survey.

It’s especially flattering, given that we celebrated our fourth anniversary earlier this week and we actively seek no recognition other than your continued readership and feedback.

(And given our propensity to mock such media-sponsored popularity contests, it’s perhaps nothing short of a small miracle.)

This site was nominated for Local Web Site, along with …

• AL.com
• ABC 33/40 Weather Blog
• NBC13.com
• The Terminal

Congratulations to our fellow nominees!

So which site should you vote for by Oct. 19?

First, let us point out that “Web site” is so broad in this day and age to be meaningless. Birmingham has a rich community of homegrown blogs and talented folks using the Internet to inform, entertain and connect residents and outsiders.

Second, three of the sites are corporate media. Nothing wrong with corporate media (it’s how this blogger spent most of his career), but we find it rather discouraging that generic template sites pass for the best available in the metro area.

(And we again say: AL.com should remove itself from consideration as it is the ballot’s host site. No restaurant finalist would ever be allowed to serve as the sole polling place for its category.)

Third, our friend and Birmingham Blogging Academy colleague André Natta runs The Terminal. He is by far one of the most dedicated and passionate bloggers around and deserves a medal just for the herculean accomplishments he has made for this city. So extra kudos for him!

Lastly, this site. We would happily trade any vote cast for this site (or others) for your vote at the real ballot box. A scant 15,302 voters participated in city election runoffs this week, with a couple of races settled by 98 votes and 63 votes. While you’re happily snuffing out your free time on Facebook quizzes and voting on Web-based popularity contests, this city burns.

Thus ends the sermon.

But let us again say thank you to our readers. Without you, such recognition would not be possible. If you vote, vote for the truly outstanding that Birmingham has to offer, not just based on friendships and passing familiarity. Demand excellence, then celebrate it.

For those of you who love milestones, we have a milestone.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Wade on Birmingham, another year of exclusives and poems and slices of life from our favorite misfit Southern city. We’re still going strong after 2,280 previous posts. Whew.

A few of the highlights from the last 365 days …

• The Daily Haiku on this site is now featured on the Alltop Poetry page.
• You know what makes this blog go? Reality television. So why not cover a truly memorable season of “Survivor” with a couple of Alabamians?
• What’s stranger than reality television? Reality history. Meet Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks.
• I’ve picked up a new bad habit: tweeting (as shown above). You can witness the debacle at @WadeOnTweets.
• I’ve also picked up a new gig: teaching. Welcome to the Birmingham Blogging Academy.

I know Birmingham has its best days ahead. I look forward to sharing them with you.

Thanks for reading, for sharing, for talking back. On to Year 5!

• • •

Also:

• First anniversary
• Second anniversary
• Third anniversary

Enjoy your labor-free day!

Just a quick preview of what lies ahead this month …

• We’ll have a special Artwalk preview next week. The free downtown art festival takes place Sept. 11-12.

• We’ll have our annual extended coverage of the 11th annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, also downtown on Sept. 25-27. Look for movie reviews, preview coverage, site coverage and a whole lot more.

• And don’t forget the “Food Inc.” screening at Bottletree Cafe this Labor Day weekend.

What else is going on this month? Let us know what we should be covering by leaving a comment.