TITLE: Something new ... DATE: 12/23/2003 5:58:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: I'm thinking about switching this blog to Movable Type. Here's an unformatted test copy I've been playing with. Let me know what you think. Just to entice you to click, I've put a post there about zombies and Cuban cigars.

-----

No! I fear change!

Posted by Leanne @ 12/24/2003 02:31 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Red Bull, tequila and Christmas trees DATE: 12/22/2003 8:29:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: Our annual tree party was a great success last week. My parents showed up, a wonderful surprise. And we had folks from all over the map in attendance. I'll post a few photos later, but I didn't have time to take pictures during the party. If you have any, I'd love to get copies to post here. Just send me an e-mail.

And there was a moral to this party: Don't mix Red Bull and tequila. Or you'll end up like poor Glenbot. -----

there are a few on the www.bbb site that you could swipe (including one of the tequila-swilling democrat with lbj).

Posted by jo @ 12/22/2003 12:28 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Every dog has his day ... DATE: 12/22/2003 8:25:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: Yesterday was one of those rare days when everything I did worked on the first try.

-- My Big Green Egg was sick, and I needed to replace a carriage bolt that holds the lid on. I went to the hardware store, bought numerous variations of carriage, nut, bolt, washer ... you name it ... expecting to have to do a lot of slogging to make it work. When I got back, the first one I picked out worked, and I was eating mesquite smoked trout within a few humble hours. Praise the Big Green Egg.

-- I needed a few screws for the hot and cold water knobs in the shower above the garage. Again, I chose several variations of screw, hoping to stumble upon the right one. When I got home, the first package I opened worked perfectly.

-- After considerable debate at the hardware store, I picked a tarp to cover my woodpile. Would 20x12 be big enough? Yup. Perfect.

-- The furnace stopped working yesterday. After much fretting and swearing, I broke down and checked the air filter. Dirty. Clogged. After I cleaned that sucker, I said, let there be heat. And there was heat.

-- Joanne sent me a "God" detector, a small, compass-like device that measures god's presence. As soon as I pulled it out of the package. The dang thing went nuts. Hmmm.

-- And finally, I fixed this blog this morning. After I upgraded my server plan, nothing worked. After a bit of tinkering this a.m., I figured out the problem. Some root paths had changed in the migration. The path to perl had shifted. And bang. It was fixed.

Today I'm going to build a fire, read James Joyce and hide. Nothing good can happen after yesterday's windfall ...
----- --------TITLE: O Tannenbaum ... DATE: 12/10/2003 8:23:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: Well, our marriage has once again survived the annual quest for the biggest Christmas tree in Knoxville.

After deciding the specimens at Suzi's Groovy Garden are too small or not "just right," we drive up Kingston Pike to a lot near Stir Fry Cafe. There it is. Standing ever green in a shaft of light, waiting for us. We walk straight to it and stake our claim. After the guys at the lot struggle mightily to get it to my truck, trim the trunk and then load it, Lara and I cart it home.

"I hope it doesn't come out," she says.

"It won't," I say, Grinchly arrogant. "I've strapped that sucker down in a major way."

Fifteen miles later, when we pull into the driveway, the tree is still there. Christmas Miracle No. 1.

Now it's time for Spiney and I to wrestle this 14-foot green behemoth out of the truck, into the house and then plant it in a stand.

This is where I tend to go GrinchBob.

And Lara is afraid. Very afraid. She doesn't want a repeat of last year, when there was plenty of hollering and shouting and one wayward spaniel got trapped beneath the tree as it was dragged across the floor. It was several hours before Crystal forgave me for that ....

But after several years of this, we have a method. This time, I use every microgram of patience I have (yes, it is measured in micrograms with me; patience is not my strength) to wait for Lara to go into the house, move furniture, corral the critters and prepare for the tree's majestic entry.

Now we're ready. We roll it up and over the side of the truck. Then I start dragging it by the trunk, toward the door. At this point, it's a momentum game. Just keep dragging until it's in the living room.

Next, we have to get the thing upright and in the stand. That's the real challenge. But after a bit of scheming and my final concession that yes, maybe Lara is right and we need to cut off more lower branches, we get the tree hoisted and in its proper place.

No divorce lawyers. No psychologically scarred spaniels. No GrinchBob. Christmas Miracle No. 2.

Don't forget, our tree decorating party is Saturday. Here's the invite.

-----

congratulations! i wouldn't be too quick to discard the divorce lawyer's business card until after the lights are untangled tho...

Posted by jo @ 12/10/2003 03:44 PM EDT

No problem with the lights. We just bought new ones. I know it's wasteful, but our marriage is worth it. Har.

Posted by Benz @ 12/10/2003 05:07 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Paging John Media .... DATE: 12/08/2003 7:12:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY:
A newspaper recently held a meeting for all of its print salespeople. The discussion focused on selling online media, especially interactive banner ads.

After the presentation, one print rep walked up to a friend of mine:

"You know that Rich Media everyone is talking about? I think I know his brother, John."

Hmmm. I want if we can sell any of those John Media ads and make some big bucks ...


-----

Quit making fun of Journal ad reps, Bob.

Posted by Leanne @ 12/08/2003 06:00 PM EDT

I think after all the attention Rich has received in recent years, John has changed his name and gone into hiding:
http://directory.superpages.com/wp/moreinfo.jsp?SRC=&STYPE=WS&PS=15&WL=media&RID=42421799560

Posted by glenn @ 12/08/2003 11:46 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Big Green Eggs and Apples DATE: 11/30/2003 7:39:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY:

I have two new toys in my playpen.

The first is the Big Green Egg.

It's a very cool charcoal grill/smoker. I've been playing with it non-stop for about a week and am totally impressed. When I first started reading about it, I thought there was a lot of hype infused in the descriptions and that this humble egg couldn't possible live up to egg-spectations. It has. And more. The natural charcoal lasts a long time, as promised, And meat tends to emerge from the grill with egg-squisite moistness (OK. I'll stop talking like Vincent Price/Egghead in a Batman episode.)

-- The second toy is a Mac G4 Powerbook. We have a Dell laptop and docking station that we were using for our home computer. But it just wasn't fun to use. I've been hearing so much about OS X that I decided to give it a whirl. So far, I'm impressed. Mac isn't the promised land. I've spent more than a few hours hooking things up and getting my Airport wireless connection to work with the PCs in our house and, most importantly, with Tivo. But now we're turning the corner. I remember the first time I saw a Mac. It was in the art department at the Birmingham Post-Herald in 1986 or '87. I think it was a Mac SE. And we were mesmerized by it as our staff artist put it through its paces. At the time, I was using an Amstrad word processor at home. The Mac really impressed me, and by the time we moved to Albuquerque, I bought the first of two or three Macs that I owned before jumping to PC, mostly to be compatible with the rest of the world. The G4 is very cool on the compatibility front. Most of the setup problems I've been having are related to the PCs. OS X is fast and user friendly, as advertised. We got the 12-inch PowerBook and a 20 inch cinema display. Que bonita.
-----

Lookin' pretty svelte, there, Bob.

By the way, 60 pounds would not equal one-half of a Backstreet Boy. I've seen them up close and they are fairly meaty, particularly Kevin, the one nearing 40. The PR person at the Albuquerque amphitheater where they played two years ago says they have a clause in their contract requiring piles of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches be placed in their dressing room. It's for them, not their 11-year-old fans who might sneak in.

It would, however, equal more than half the weight of anyone in Jane's Addiction. Perry Ferrell and Dave Navarro are my height, 20 pounds lighter. (I'm 5'1", 110 pounds for anyone reading this who has no idea who I am or what I look like.) Backstage at Lollapalooza this summer, they looked like elves in eyeliner and spandex.

Posted by Leanne @ 12/01/2003 02:18 PM EDT

there's a 40 year old backstreet boy?! i thought that they were just "hanson" with sideburns.

Posted by jo @ 12/02/2003 12:50 PM EDT

I know. This completely bursts my bubble. Somehow, half a member of Jane's Addiction just isn't the same as half a Backstreet Boy. Guess I have to lose more weight ... or send someone to steal all those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the boys are munching.

Posted by Benz @ 12/02/2003 05:31 PM EDT

I said Kevin the BSB was NEARING 40. He is about 35, actually. I was rounding his age up to be mean. A dead career isn't enough; boy band members deserve as much cruelty as can be heaped upon them.

I'm not exaggerating about the Jane's Addiction boys, though. Standing next to them I felt Amazonian. I could have picked Dave and Perry up, one on each shoulder, and carried them off.

Posted by Leanne @ 12/03/2003 01:39 AM EDT

And are you sure this green egg talk isn't some promotional tie-in to the horrid live action movie "The Cat in the Hat"? If you mention ham or Sam I am, start inverting the objects and subjects in your sentences and saying things like "I will not eat carbs in the rain, I will not them on a plane" then I know the grill was studio graft you snagged from a newsroom features department on one of your journeys through Scrippslandia.

Posted by Leanne @ 12/03/2003 10:24 AM EDT

No, my egg talk is totally Vincent Price motivated. Egghead was the coolest Batman villain of them all. He was EGGsceptional.

Also, don't let another horrid, uninspired creatively bankrupt movie version/remake of a great work poison you on the original. Every time Hollywood does something like this, I go back to the original and ask: Why in the hell did we need a remake of this? One of my favorite examples is Bedazzled, the '60s flick with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Raquel Welch. Why in the hell did Hollywood need to puke out a remake? They should have just reissued the original ...
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Bedazzled-1001920/

Posted by Benz @ 12/05/2003 07:35 AM EDT

What's quality or wisdom got to do with making big-budget films?
The guiding force is M-O-N-E-Y. You can't make a bazillion dollars off product tie-ins on a 30-year-old movie or cartoon, no matter how great a piece of pop art it is. You need new stars to market the movie around, and most importantly, new licensing rights to insure the fattest profit possible from the Happy Meal toys, t-shirts and Special Edition Pez dispensers.
Who the hell cares whether the remake is a ravaging of the original? There's gold in them thar classics.

Posted by Leanne @ 12/05/2003 10:52 AM EDT

Dang, Leanne. With an attitude like that, I might have a job for you in interactive sales. Har.

Posted by Benz @ 12/05/2003 07:07 PM EDT

I sat through "Cat in the Hat" and "Bad Santa" in one week. My cynicism about the movie business has been provoked.

Posted by Leanne @ 12/06/2003 11:15 AM EDT

hey! when did pez become evil? i still enjoy an occasional petrified, pressed sugar wafer dispensed by none other than speedy gonzales.

Posted by jo @ 12/06/2003 11:09 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Good reads, cool tunes DATE: 11/29/2003 9:31:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: A couple of recent articles that are worth checking out:

-- The New York Times did a neat piece on the Texas twang. It's from a linguistic perspective, and the mutations and evolution of language always have fascinated me.

-- Sadly, the only thing left of Calvin and Hobbes these days is those stupid stickers of Calvin pissing on a Ford/Chevy/Dodge decal. In Tennessee, we also see the occasional Calvin on his knees praying in front of a cross sticker. Cleveland Scene went out in search of Calvin creator Bill Watterson. It's a good read, though Watterson's J.D. Salinger act seems to be holding steady. Who knows. Maybe Berkeley Breathed's re-emergence with Opus will draw Watterson out. We can only hope ...

-- I recently converted to Mac (actually, I guess I'm a born again Mac user), and I've been playing with their iTunes program and store. I stumbled across a new CD by Rory Gallagher, one of my favorite blues guitarists. Rory died a few years back after his second liver transplant, but his brother has released Wheels within Wheels, a collection of Gallagher's acoustic pieces. I downloaded it and love it. Great stuff, including work with some fascinating collaborators, including Bela Fleck.
----- --------TITLE: First flight out ... DATE: 11/25/2003 7:39:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: I found myself at the Knoxville airport this morning at 5:30, waiting for a 6 o'clock flight to wonderful, frosty Cincinnati. Two funny scenes that made it a little less painful ...

1. While waiting in line to pay for my News Sentinel, a clearly flummoxed man, wife and infant were in front of me trying to pay for an assortment of goods they were purchasing. Based on their accent, I'm guessing they were from the West Indies. The guy was having a real tough time figuring out U.S. coins and how much he needed to give the clerk to complete the transaction. Finally, he held out a handful of coins: "Take what you want," he said with a chagrined smile.

I started laughing and told him: "That's generally the way it works anyway."

I've tried to conduct similar transactions in foreign currencies, and it's always trying. I could feel his pain.

2. After buying my paper, I found this nugget buried back in the local section. It generally annoys me when something bad happens and people say "That's what god wanted." But I'd like to think that in the case of this particular Klansman, it is what god wanted ...

Man accidentally shot during KKK ceremony

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A gunshot fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony wounded a participant when the bullet came down and struck him in the head, authorities said.

Jeffery S. Murr, 24, of Erwin, was in critical condition Monday in intensive care at Johnson City Medical Center, hospital officials said.

Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, of Elizabethton, was charged with aggravated assault and felony reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident, Washington County Sheriff Fred Phillips said.

The ceremony occurred about 8 p.m. near Limestone. A 26-year-old Elizabethon man was blindfolded, taken to a wooded area and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a 9mm handgun in the air.

A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, Chief Deputy Patrick Littleton said.

----- --------TITLE: Party time ... DATE: 11/24/2003 8:56:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: Just a heads-up: We're going to hold our annual tree decorating party on Saturday, Dec. 13. I'm hoping to get the invite together this weekend. If you're out of town and plan to attend, let us know so we can start planning. Click here to see last year's invite. There are links to other invites, going back to 1996, in the left nav on the main page of Opposable-Thumbs.com. -----

I have the invite ready now. It's at:

http://www.opposable-thumbs.com/invite03/invite.shtml

Posted by Benz @ 12/01/2003 10:49 AM EDT

--------TITLE: Doggedly reading Ulysses DATE: 11/16/2003 8:28:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: While I was running Xena and Ozzy at Melton Hill Lake yesterday morning, Ozzy started acting strangely. He stiffened, nose in the air, and started walking gingerly as if across sharp gravel. Then Xena reacted, too. She was bolder, bounding forward to where the dead fox lay in the field. It's neck was ripped out. Body still steaming in the morning cold. A coyote must have caught it, I thought. I was quick to drive the dogs away from it, thinking rabies thoughts. As we continued through the park, the image of that fox stayed with me. It resonated more than I realized.

I've begun re-reading Joyce's Ulysses, and later on Saturday I came upon this passage, where Steven is walking along the shore and watching a dog that's moving toward him stop to investigate the bloated body of another hound.

"... The carcass lay on his path. He stopped, sniffed, stalked round it, brother, nosing closer, went round it, sniffling rapidly like a dog all over the dead dog's bedraggled fell. Dogskull, dogsniff, eyes on the ground, moves to one great goal. Ah, poor dogsbody! Here lies poor dogsbody's body.

"-- Tatters! Outofthat, you mongrel!

"The cry brought him skulking back to his master and a blunt bootless kick sent him unscathed across a spit of sand, crouched in flight. ..."

Amazing. It also drove home what an incredible writer Joyce was. In fact, fueled by insights from the Ellman biography of Joyce, I'm enjoying this go-round with Ulysses much more than past reads ... -----

I didn't realize Bloom was a dog-kicker.

Posted by Leanne @ 11/18/2003 01:42 PM EDT

Not Bloom. This is a scene with Stephen Dedalus ... and the dog kicker is a stranger who is walking the dog on the beach. Stephen is just observing ... I should have done a better job setting it up.

Posted by Benz @ 11/18/2003 09:52 PM EDT

I hope Dedalus promptly called the Irish animal protection authorities.

Posted by Leanne @ 11/19/2003 12:06 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Getting the picture ... DATE: 11/09/2003 7:54:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: After considerable procrastination, I've put several sets of photos online:

1. Jamaica: These are shots from the trip Lara and I tool last summer. I still need to add descriptions for the photos.

2. LornaFest: The going away party for Lorna the snarky intern.

3. Canaan: Photos Lara took during the annual gathering at Canaan.

----- --------TITLE: Jingles joins the pack ... DATE: 11/08/2003 5:28:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: jingle.jpgWhen our friend Boogie died, we took in her dog, a scrappy five-pound terror named Jingles. Somehow the name doesn't quite capture the sound and fury of this Maltese. So we started casting around for a new name. And I started thinking of the emperor of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's incredible "Gulliver's Travels." This was a little man with a big attitude. Just like Jingles. So we decided on a new name for the little guy, retaining his Jingle but adding a bit of attitude. He is now Jingles Golbaste Mamarem Evlame Gurdile Shefin Mully Ully Gue, Delight and Terror of the Universe. Since that's a lot of name for a little pooch, we've shortened it to Mully Jingles.

Here's Swift's description of this regal monarch. We think it fits the newest member of our pack (yes, I'm up to five dogs now ...)

"Golbaste Mamarem Evlame Gurdile Shefin Mully Ully Gue, Most Mighty Emperor of Lilliput, delight and terror of the universe, whose dominions extend to the ends of the globe, monarch of all monarchs, taller than the sons of men, whose feet press down to the center, and whose head strikes against the sun, at whose nod the princes of the earth shake their knees, pleasant as the spring, comfortable as the summer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as winter."

Yup. That's Mully Jingles. If you want to see a few photos of him, click here.

And if you have never read "Gulliver's Travels," snap it up. Incredible book. Swift was an incredible satirist.

-----

I'm imagining Jingles riding on Xena's back....

Posted by glenn @ 11/08/2003 09:03 PM EDT

congrats on the new pack member. do the other dogs realize that this is not breakfast?

Posted by jo @ 11/10/2003 08:37 AM EDT

IIRC, a certain Bob Kazmaier had a swift fondness for Swift...but seemed to prefer Sir Philip Sidney's courteous ways.

My favorite student Swiftian comment, in response to our discussion of "A Modest Proposal" when I was cramming EH 102 down their throats at UAH:

Uh, that's supposed to be satire, right?

Posted by chris @ 11/10/2003 05:06 PM EDT

Very kind of you to give this bereaved pup a home. Does this bring the pack up to five?

Posted by Leanne @ 11/12/2003 12:46 PM EDT

Yup. We have five now. I really felt sorry for the little guy the first few days he was here. It was clear he missed Boogie. Lara brought back Boogie's pillow, which Jingles sleeps on. I think that helps. He also follows Lara around. I think he's starting to get adjusted to life here ... wish I could. Har.

Posted by Benz @ 11/13/2003 07:33 AM EDT

Good. I count on you to have a larger pack than me, Bob, because then when Scott tugs at his hair and says "We have too many goddamn animals!!!", I say "Well, I only have two dogs. Bob has five."
By the way, a new bird joined the flock. Henry, the yellow-naped amazon, moved in a few months ago. Which brings the bird count up to 12 parakeets, three large birds.

Posted by Leanne @ 11/13/2003 03:54 PM EDT

i'm not allowed to have more than two dogs at a time. i tried to get the limit switched to a weight basis figuring that i could have a larger pack of smaller dogs but ryck wouldn't go for it. he hasn't set a limit on barn animals yet tho... i'm thinking "miniature donkeys"! ;-)

Posted by jo @ 11/14/2003 09:12 AM EDT

--------TITLE: The deer hunter DATE: 11/08/2003 9:00:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: I"ve been walking my dogs at Melton Hill Park every weekend for several years. This morning, for the first time, we saw deer. I'd always seen deer scat and tracks, but never actually seen one. This morning we saw two.

Shots were ringing out over the ridge while we walked, so I knew the deer hunters were over on TVA land. As I rounded a turn with Xena and Ozzy, I heard something rustling up ahead. At first, I thought it was two large German shepherds. But their gait and then their size made it clear they were a pair of bucks. The dogs never actually saw them because the grass was so tall, so we didn't have a chase seen. When the bucks saw me, they split, with one turning back and the other moving even closer. I got within about 30 yards, then he took off over the hill. It was a nice complement to a crisp autumn morning. Most of the leaves are down now, and it really changes the way the light filters through the woods at sunrise.

And the deer were foreshadowed. Last night, Lara brought home a cooler full of venison. Seems a guy who works for her loves cigars, but his wife won't let him spend money on them. He's an avid hunter. I'm an avid Atkins-ite. I told him I'd trade him Padron cigars for deer meet. Can't wait to toss a few of those steaks on the grill. Now I need to run out and get him some Padrons.

-----

Cube the meat, rub with a little salt and crushed peppercorns, skewer on pointed bamboo with peppers, mushrooms, and Vidalias, cook briefly over low coals, pull em off while they're still rare and eat em hot until your throat's just about cauterized...I'll be there in half an hour with the Foster's. SAVE ME SOME!

Posted by C-H-R-I-S @ 11/08/2003 04:59 PM EDT

I have some in the freezer. Just bring the Fosters. We're going to try a few steaks tonight.

Good to hear from you again, oh denizen of Alabama.

Posted by Benz @ 11/08/2003 05:33 PM EDT

Good to be back. I'm busy as hell but something inside me revolts against all the business.

As a remedy, I planned to just run screaming out of the trees with a big fork and, without breaking stride, stabbing your venison off the grill and eating on the run, but my wife gets kinda torqued when I go out and don't come back for 24 hours. Women.

Posted by C-H-R-I-S @ 11/08/2003 05:46 PM EDT

Had an incredible cigar yesterday ... so good, had to do it again today. Hoya De Monterrey Seleccion Del Arte ... incredible, perfect draw ... smooth flavor, gentle aroma, but still a bit of a kick. Wish I could get a whole box of them ... in part because the box itself is a work of art.

Posted by Howard Owens @ 11/15/2003 09:31 PM EDT

I've had the Hoya De Monterreys. Good cigars. But I've never had the Seleccion Del Arte. I'll have to try one. I've been leaning toward the Padron anniversary editions for my luxury smokes ...

Posted by Benz @ 11/15/2003 09:53 PM EDT

--------TITLE: Remembering a friend DATE: 10/31/2003 9:59:00 PM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: Lara and I lost a dear friend this week. We knew Boogie's health was failing. She'd been given only a few years to live. But we were stunned when she was robbed of even those few precious years. Rather than dwell on the sadness of losing Boogie, we spent a lot of time talking about the good times and how she brightened our lives.

One of my favorite Boogie stories dates back to the Birmingham days, when we were all hanging out in the kitchen. I was banging on a guitar. Lara was being her cheerful self. And a beleaguered Boogie was trying to make daiquiris. As she struggled to make the drinks, we started heckling her from the peanut gallery.

"Y'all shut up and drink," she said, just as she hit the start button on the blender.

Without missing a beat, I pounded out a few blues chords on the guitar and howled:

"Y'all shut and and drink/
She said from the sink"

Unfortunately, my lyricism ended there and those are the only words I was able to put to the song. But it lives on in infamy.

You left us too soon, Lynn. But you live on in thousands of fond memories and two incredible children. Thanks for the years you did give us. They were a gift.

Here's the obituary that ran today in the Montgomery Advertiser:

EVANS, Carol Lynn Rollings, 43, loving mother and award-winning journalist, known affectionately as “Boogie” by some, will be remembered at 11:30 a.m. today at Dalraida Baptist Church in Montgomery where she was an active member. After graduating from New Hope High School in 1978, Ms. Evans attended the University of Alabama where she served as Managing Editor of the student newspaper, The Crimson White, and as Life and Academics Editor of the student yearbook. Ms. Evans was Features Editor of the Alabama Journal when it was named a finalist in the 1987 Penney-Missouri Awards, a prestigious honor recognizing features writing. Ms. Evans also was Sports Editor at the Arab Tribune in Arab, AL and the Entertainment and Arts Editor at The Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, Texas, during the early and mid-eighties. Burial will be Saturday, November 1 at 11:30 a.m. at Walker Cemetery, Hebron, Alabama. She is survived by two children, Kimberley Rose Evans and Trey Evans; her father, James O. Rollings and two sisters, Elizabeth Potter (Jerry) and Debbie Renfroe (Harry) and several nieces and nephews. She will be missed by many whose lives she touched, especially Lara Edge and Bob Benz. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Dalraida Baptist Church, whose members rallied around Ms. Evans and her family in their time of need, at 3838 Wares Ferry Rd., Montgomery, AL, 36109, or to the Diabetes Foundation. Leak-Memory Chapel Directing

-----

i'm shocked and so sorry to hear the sad news. i did not realize that boogie was facing such serious health problems.

i recall often hearing bob's rendition of "ya'll shut up and drink". somehow, i think that boogie would find that a fitting tribute.

Posted by jo @ 11/03/2003 08:17 AM EDT

Good lord. What happened to Boogie? Did diabetes kill her?

Posted by Leanne @ 11/03/2003 01:47 PM EDT

I think the actual cause of death was a stroke, but it was brought on by heart problems. I think she'd already had a bypass, and the doctors said her heart wouldn't last. She wasn't a good transplant candidate because of the diabetes.

Posted by Benz @ 11/04/2003 09:04 AM EDT

Does heart trouble run in her family, or was it a complication of her weight?

Posted by Leanne @ 11/05/2003 12:34 PM EDT

Not really certain about family history, but I don't think her weight was the main problem. I think she just had bad wiring.

Posted by Benz @ 11/07/2003 07:28 AM EDT

I love your tribute to my sister
Lynn "Boogie." You and Lara are
incredible! Thanks for everything
but especially for being Boogie's
friend. I'm looking for pictures
of Jingles.

Posted by DEBBIE @ 11/07/2003 03:02 PM EDT

I'm glad you like it, Debbie. Boogie was incredibly special. I'm hoping to get some Jingles photos online later today.

Posted by Benz @ 11/08/2003 08:44 AM EDT

Being Lara's sister, I have many wonderful memories of Boogie. I remember a kind person who seemed to always be either smiling or giggling. She always made me feel okay just to be myself.

While I have many memories of her, there are two that stand out for whatever reasons.

We were at Lara & Bob's getting ready to grill out. Boogie was trying, unsuccessfully, to light the grill. When at last it did light - with tremendous pizazz! - Boogie was left with no eyebrows and what looked like a pretty good sunburn. Since she didn't seem to be seriously injured, we all laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.......

The second memory is quite silly, but has stuck with me for years. Again, we were at Lara and Bob's cooking. This time, fajitas. I had never made fajitas before. Boogie was getting the tortillas ready to heat in the oven. She placed them on a very large piece of foil, putting just a touch of butter between each one. She wrapped them tightly and put them in the oven to warm.

To this day, I cannot heat tortillas up in the oven without thinking of Boogie. It's a silly thing, I know, but what a pleasant memory that comes along so regularly.

We will all miss Boogie very much. She was absolutely a unique and special person.

Posted by Barbara @ 11/22/2003 08:30 AM EDT

I'd forgotten all about the seared eyebrows. That was hilarious. Vintage Boogie.

Posted by Benz @ 11/23/2003 06:53 PM EDT

Hello,
Thanks for your blog and your appreciation/obit for Boogie. She and I lost touch over the years after college and the Montgomery papers. I had heard she has died and couldn't find any information besides your web page. She was the best and I will miss her.
Thanks,
mark

Posted by Mark Miller @ 04/04/2004 07:42 PM EDT

Mark:

Glad you were able to get info via the blog, even if the info was sad. Boogie's kids (and dog) all are doing well. They're a tribute to what a great person she was. We'll always love and remember her.

Posted by Benz @ 04/04/2004 08:58 PM EDT

--------TITLE: technical ecstasy DATE: 10/26/2003 8:13:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: I got to put my latest gadget to the test yesterday. Lara and I are in Dallas visiting Wes. Wes and I decided to look for a cigar store. But he didn't know where the nearest one was, and we were already on the road. So I pulled out my new cell phone and started surfing the Internet looking for one. It was far from a flawless search. The first one I found in the directory didn't exist. We plugged the address into his car's GPS, and when we got to the location where the cigar store was supposed to be it was a residential interestion.

So I tried again.

This time it worked. I found the address, we plugged it into his GPS and the car took us right to the place. I was a little worried that the Internet availability wouldn't be too useful, but I'm starting to rethink that, especially given how much I travel. It will allow me to check flight schedules and weather reports online, and having instant access to online yellow pages is pretty handy. I also liked that GPS system. Again, it isn't flawless. But it's pretty useful. And that's really the key gauge of a gadget's worth.


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i imagine you in 10-20 years with a metal detector on the beach...

;-)

Posted by jo @ 10/28/2003 08:29 PM EDT

--------TITLE: we're only in it for the money DATE: 10/24/2003 11:59:00 AM AUTHOR: Bob Benz ----- BODY: Outrage of the day: I've been using 1800PetMeds to save A LOT of money on prescriptions for my pack. It's convenient, too, with the drugs being delivered right to the door. But now my veterinarian has decided that PetMeds isn't reputable and I have to come to the vet's office to get a written prescription each time I want to refill my dogs' medication.

We're talking 275 pounds of dog here. Four of them, two of which are senior citizens and consume a lot of medicine.

Basically, the vet has decided to make it so difficult to get cheaper prices on these meds, that I'll have to go back to being charged through the nose at the vet. I went round and round with the fine folks at Pellissippi Veterinary Clinic, reminding them how much I spend on routine exams and other services each year. But there were adamant.

Then I called another vet. They, too, have decided that PetMeds is dangerous. Well, it might be dangerous to their unscrupulous practice of overcharging pet owners for medication. But I don't see how it's dangerous to the dog. The dogs have to have medical records at the vet. PetMeds calls to confirm that the dog is current on its shots, etc., and really should be getting the prescription.

Looks like the vets of America are aligning against PetMeds and other low-cost providers of medicine. Fortunately, I finally found a vet who is willing to work with PetMeds. I'll be stopping by Pellissippi today to get my dogs' records and move them to the new vet. Bastards.

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i'm not surprised. i think that medication is to them what appetizers and drinks are to a restaurant... the serious money makers. when i looked into changing vets, the new place was going to require that my "senior citizen" see an orthopedic specialist before they would prescribe the same medication that she has been taking effectively for many years. (apparently, they're not only in it for the money but they also like to share the wealth with each other).

the net effect will be that conscientous owners will pay through the nose while millions of other pets will simply be denied proper medical care.

i used medi-vet to get gypsy's pain meds. my vet couldn't credibly refuse to write the prescription because he had claimed that the drug was unavailable. on the plus side, they only sold it in quantities of 500 so i am now set for a year and a half.

Posted by jo @ 10/24/2003 01:00 PM EDT

What the hell is a "Pellissippi"?

Posted by Leanne @ 10/27/2003 03:41 PM EDT

Jo is right; meds are a fat source of income for veternarians. They don't have much markup on x-rays and surgeries, but on meds it is huge.
I make peace with my vet by buying the maintenance meds from 1-800-PetMeds, and my special dogfood and one-time-only meds from him. I also make sure the vet gets the annual vaccinations because those have a healthy markup, too.
That way he gets some gravy and I don't bleed to death from heartworm, arthritis supplements and flea meds.

Posted by Leanne @ 10/27/2003 03:45 PM EDT

I'm assuming Pellissippi is some Indian name. I prefer to call it Pellistupidity, since it's also the name of my leach vet and a community college for victims of Tennessee's educational system.

As for making peace with the vet, I see your point. But my doctor doesn't force me to buy meds from him. The vet shouldn't, either. I never get out of the vet's office for less than $100. That should be enough to run a business on. And if they want to sell drugs, too. Be competitive and I'll buy there.

Posted by Benz @ 10/28/2003 07:46 AM EDT

My vet works out of a converted garage at his house, charges low fees for most services and provides free medical care to every stray animal he finds or that someone brings to him.
The guy is a saint. That is why I throw him some of my business. He isn't greedy like it sounds like the Pellistupidity people are. If nothing else your vet is guilty of being a bad businessman.
He just ran off an animal-loving DINK. Can you say "dream customer"?

Posted by Leanne @ 10/28/2003 02:05 PM EDT

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