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