An Eye for an Eye

Rash of Alabama news hitting the national wire lately....

No Lurleen was she.....

Former Alabama first lady Cornelia Wallace dies:

"MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Former Alabama first lady Cornelia Wallace, who threw herself over Gov. George C. Wallace when he was shot in a 1972 assassination attempt, has died in Sebring, Fla. She was 69."

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I'm very much down with this 'podunk' town. Though, shouldn't you create the renewable energy before you create the renewable energy museum.

Hell, close enough. Give 'em the cash!

Why a Tiny Alabama Town Wants a $375 Million Chunk of the Stimulus:

"There's certainly no denying that Edwardsville has big ambitions. Through the various proposals, which include a renewable energy museum, scenic railroad, and vineyards, these small Alabama communities envision themselves becoming a cutting-edge demonstration project for energy sustainability and a hub for tourism.

'I know we look like some little Podunk town, and by the census, we are,' Phillips says. 'But we really think we've done some amazingly progressive things in the past two years.'"

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Couple of things here. Clean coal? Everybody who bought that load, raise your hand. If you're hand's raised, you, ma'am or sir, are a dumbass.

Also: TVA transformed the South. It supplied both of my grandfathers with means to support and raise families. TVA hasn't seen many upgrades to its infrastructure. A bunch of band aides but no serious overhaul.

Expect more of this unless infrastructure is fixed.

SECOND TVA SPILL: Dam Breaks At Alabama Coal Plant

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In 'What the hell is wrong with people' news....

Give your wife a kidney then she goes and cheats on you. Hello country song.

NY man demands estranged wife pay him for kidney

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I don't think she did much research on this. That, or she had a massive supply of Visine.

Dude was sick, but his eyes were crystal clear.

Woman allegedly tries to kill hubby with eye drops:

"A 40-year-old southwest Missouri woman is accused of trying to kill her husband by spiking his tea with a half bottle of Visine eye drops."

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He'd previously done the same with his other eye.

A little Monday Morning Gross out for ya.

Texas death row inmate pulls out eye, eats it:

"HOUSTON – A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it.

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DBT Week in Review - 10/03/08

Damn, I so want to write about dipshit Palin in the 'debate' last night. Alas, I'll resist until Monday, but if you run into anyone this weekend who was taken in by her incoherent babbling, please slap them really hard and right into their face yell "Stop swallowing Horse Shit"!

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DBT!

Patterson's GOAV Jambase article:

Rocktober: Get Out And Vote! on JamBase:

"What is the relationship between music and politics - and how, if at all, has this relationship affected your music?

P: I think all aspects of life are affected by politics so therefore everything is somewhat political. To pretend otherwise is a dangerous slope and a big reason why we as a nation got into as much trouble as we have. I really try not to ever stand up there and preach my political beliefs to the audience, as that's not what they've come to the show for, but it does affect the writing and it's no secret how I (or the rest of the band) feel about things. I tend to write about more personal aspects of character's lives, but often the two are intermingled."

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I've been grooving on Zebulon for the past week. Great record.

Aquarium Drunkard: MP3 Blog, Music Blog � Long Shots :: Don Chambers & Patterson Hood:

"(Long Shots, a new feature on Aquarium Drunkard, asks some of our favorite artists to interview one another. Think of it as listening in on a good conversation.)

Presently on the road touring with the Drive-By truckers, Don Chambers & Goat, released their latest LP, Zebulon, September 9th via Athens, GA’s Warm Recordings label. Chamber’s pal, Patterson Hood, produced and played on the album. Below, the two talk shop for a bit before getting into the nitty-gritty in regards to favorites in film and music. Great stuff."

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Scott showed me pictures of Cooley's guitar on his cell phone at the Outside Lands. What a beautiful piece of artwork!

Myspace.com Blogs - The New Cooley Custom is finished - Scott Baxendale MySpace Blog:

"Check out the photos I just posted of the new Scott Baxendale/Wes Freed collaboration, which is Mike Cooleys new Custom guitar. He recieved it today in Austin just in time for the Austin City Limits taping. This guitar is also the ssubject of the Perfect Timing video to be out soon. Look in my pics section to see pictures of the finished guitar. Let me know what you think.

This is the most elaborate guitar I have made since the Warner Brothers guitar that I made in 1988. This one was featured in the Travis Tritt video for 'Country Club'."

Check out all of the pictures especially the neck:

MySpace.com Photos - Scott Baxendale - The New Cooley Custom

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I said on 5/16/07....

Alabama Ass Whuppin': DBT TDU - Great American Music Hall - SF - Night 2:

"How ready is this band for an Austin City Limits gig? It's been long over due in my opinion but with this showcase of songs sitting down and tales facing up the folks who book that show just ain't being christian by not having DBT on pronto."

I'm glad they've remedied that.

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I thought I blogged this in last week's WIR, but apparently I didn't.

Now, THESE are the guys I want to hang out with Pre-DBT show.

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Marina captured a great performance of You and Your Crystal Meth for our enjoyment:

Drive By Truckers~Crystal Meth

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Jason Isbell

Isbell and Browan will be heading out to Cali for some November accoustic shows:

Myspace.com Blogs - California in November - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit MySpace Blog:

"California in November

Notice the three new shows that just went up in California. Browan and I will be doing the acoustic duo on these, and we're really excited about it. The acoustic shows in the past have gone exceptionally well. Expect some surprises."

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Dexateens

Check out the video to the 'teens awesome song 'Kid'.

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Film/Literature/Muscle Shoals Sound

I believe a couple of Hoods are in this doc. I'm very anxious to see it because the TVA's existence caused my existence. Tied right down to my soul with the damns, lakes and rivers created by the TVA. Both my Grandpas worked for the TVA.

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One of my favorite authors visited my hometown University recently:

Bragg a little | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"Rick Bragg knows how to tell a good story."

"Growing up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain in eastern Alabama, place and family have become recurring themes in his work, including the best-sellers 'All Over but the Shoutin' ' and 'Ava's Man.'

In his most recent book, 'The Prince of Frogtown,' Bragg digs a little deeper into the character of his father, a shadowy and wayward character whose life and absence from the life of the author has largely influenced his career."

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Chris Lilly is from Florence, AL. I believe I've blogged about him before. He kept showing up on my TV on ESPN all last week especially during the Alabama - Georgia 'blackout'.

Meals Together - Chris Lilly's Bio

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Music

Via Tac.

What do y'all think about these folks:

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I Grew Up 2 Hours North of Birmingham

AAW Fund Raiser.

Read about it here.

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"Me and my daddy use to fish next to Wilson Dam". - Isbell - TVA

The inspiration for many a DBT/Jason Isbell song.

Both of my Granddads worked for TVA.

TVA's impact on the Shoals can not be overstated.

75 years of TVA: A new start | TimesDaily.com | Florence, AL:

"Before TVA was launched in 1933, the Shoals, like much of the Tennessee Valley, suffered from years of depleted farmland, poverty, unemployment and an absence of electricity in rural areas.

TVA historian Pat Ezell said the entire nation was suffering, but conditions in the Tennessee Valley were especially difficult. The average annual income throughout the region was a paltry $168 - $2,759 in today's dollars. Illiteracy levels were high, residents suffered from malnutrition and malaria was rampant."

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However, my dear North Alabama still struggles to move forward to the later 20th century. Yes, I meant 20th... not 21st.

Douche-bag illegal 'Governor' of Alabama.

Colbert County shocked over Riley's veto of draft beer law

"Any plans in Colbert County that include a keg of beer are on hold after Gov. Bob Riley vetoed draft beer legislation Monday night - the last day of the 2008 legislative session."

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Speaking of Douche-bags you've all probably seen the Bill O'Lielly Inside Edition meltdown that's been floating in all of the tubes recently.

Here are a couple of parodies that are pretty funny.

NSFW 'cause of the naughty language.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

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You'll be humming this one all day long:

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DBT Lyrics Tour - River Lore

The Tennessee River and Wilson Dam are referenced in several DBT/Solo DBT songs. The River has a strong hold on those who have grown up and lived in the Shoals and are of the "Tennessee Valley". Quite a few folks in the Shoals and surrounding area are natural born water babies who have been baptized a thousand times over a hundred summers by that "dirty ol' water". Learning how to water ski wasn't just for the children of "doctors, lawyers and musicians". The children of factory workers, school teachers and TVA employees also learned how to be properly dragged behind a motor boat.

The River has been a life force of the area for millenniums. The natives called the river the "Singing River", oddly enough. I like the think that this initial name set the stage for the area becoming "The Hit Making Capitol of the World".

"The Yuchi people believed that in the Tennessee River there was a young woman who sang beautiful songs. They called it the Singing River".

The Trail of Tears began in the Shoals. One of the sadder historical points concerning the river.

Some of the pictures below were taken by me and others I lifted from the web. I've provided some links that will describe the history of the River and the dam much better than I can.

There is one sneaky picture in the series that's more DBT related than the rest. I'm wondering if anyone will catch it. Leave a comment it you do.

Hope you enjoy a tour of DBT's River Lore!

Never Gonna Change - You can throw me off the Wilson Dam...

Uncle Frank - They flooded out the hollow....

Boys From Alabama - They might find your body in the Tennessee River...

Uncle Frank - The banks around the hollow sold for lake-front property where...

...Doctors,....

...Lawyers,...

....and Musicians teach their kids to waterski.

TVA - Thank god for the TVA
Puttin' People on the Moon - Double Digit unemployment, TVA be shutting soon

In elementary school we'd take field trips to the dam. The most frightful place they took us to was the corridor that ran underneath the damn from bank to bank.

Way before 9/11 we would go down by the locks and sneak off to one of the neo-classical arches and drink beer, make-out..... Good times, good times.

"Towering in size, incomparable in scale and ambitious in design, the Wilson Dam project, constructed from 1918-1927, established a standard for the nation for future waterways improvement. The largest mass concrete United States lock & dam yet built, it was the first federal hydroelectric project as well as the first Corps of Engineers multipurpose effort. Congress, noting the combined benefits of flood control, aid to commercial navigation and the production of hydroelectric power in a single project, soon mandated these elements be evaluated in all new investigations. In 1933, the completed project amazed and inspired newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt to create the Tennessee Valley Authority. This act revitalized a region and provided a blueprint for development of water resources nationwide.

Wilson Dam marked the first successful attempt to tap the potential of the Tennessee River. Efforts to develop the river for economic purposes dated back to the 1830's. Inadequate, they failed to achieve significant results. The barrier of the Muscle Shoals continued to divide the residents of the Tennessee Valley geographically and socially. Poverty stricken, the region led the nation in grim categories like illiteracy, lowest per capita income, infant mortality and the availability of electricity and running water. Initially authorized for national defense, the completion of Wilson Dam paved the way for a period of development that harnessed the river. Rapid industrialization and economic diversification swept the valley".

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sits in the rear of a touring sedan Jan. 21, 1933, at the Wilson Dam hydroelectric plant on the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals, Ala

Uncle Frank - They powered up the city with hydro-electric juice.

...Now we got more electricity than we can ever use.

I think the sign below would make a good album title

TVA - Me and my daddy use to fish....

....next to Wilson Damn.

Commercial and recreational fishermen proudly display their “catch of the day” below the Wilson Dam outside of Florence, Alabama (circa 1940).

TVA - In that dirty ol water sometimes we couldn't tell...

TVA - Where me and my daddy use to bow to the river and pray...

TVA - ...he put up the damn that powered most of the south...

Uncle Frank - T.V.A. had a way to clear it off real fast...

Lots of men and machinary, build a dam and drown the rest