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It practically gallops!

Virginia Real

Shortly after Northern Virginia was rocked by an earthquake, my sister called to tell me about it. She felt a violent shaking, as opposed to the rolling motion that characterizes many California quakes. She wanted to know what to tell her kids in case of aftershocks. Should they run outside or stand in a doorway? I told her to have them stay away from windows that might break or any bricks that might fall.

When I lived in California, they advised people to get under a desk or table during a quake. A doorway was a good second choice. My daughter remembered that advice and crawled under her desk when the quake struck. She works on the third floor of an office building in Northern Virginia and her cubicle is next to some large windows. She yelled out to her co-workers to do the same thing. The building was evacuated as a precaution and the employees got to go home early.

My daughter had a hard time making cell phone calls or even sending a text message. Her call to me was the first that went through. I suggested that she send a text to her boyfriend while she was still on the phone with me. I figured that it might be more likely to go through since she had a connection with a local cell tower while we talked. It worked.

After the two phone calls, I tuned in to WTOP.com on my WiFi clock radio and looked online for updates. My Facebook and Twitter feeds were loaded with comments about the quake. Many of my friends live in the D.C. area and wrote about their experience. One of my college friends posted that she was changing clothes at the time and was only concerned with getting dressed in case they had to pull her from the rubble. Fortunately her home in historic Fredericksburg was unscathed.

There was an abundance of jokes online. Many of my Democrat friends posted that the GOP was blaming Obama for the quake. Many of my Republican friends posted that Obama was blaming George W. Bush. One of my Libertarian friends re-posted a joke that the quake was caused by the founding fathers turning over in their graves. Knoxvillians got into the game by adding to the currently popular Stephen A. Burroughs meme: “The Earthquake Felt Him.”

August 24, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Spot On

After church on Sunday, my friend Mike was excited to tell me about a show he’s been watching on IFC. Since then, I’ve been catching up on episodes of “Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings” via OnDemand and online.

Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal are a comedy duo from North Carolina. In the show, they travel the country and make funny commercials for local businesses that couldn’t normally afford their services.

The episode that made Mike laugh featured pop musician Richard Marx. That particular episode is not currently available via OnDemand but you don’t have to look very far to find an unofficial copy of the segment online. Somehow Rhett & Link persuaded Richard to write a jingle for a colonic service called Fountain of Health. Mike is thinking about asking Richard to sing the jingle when he performs at the Tennessee Theatre in 2012. Set your DVRs. The colonic episode will be repeated at 1:00 p.m. on Labor Day during a five-hour “Commercial Kings” marathon.

I really liked the episode set in Asheville, North Carolina. Rhett & Link set out to find two businesses to promote, one that’s hippie and and one that’s hillbilly. They chose a local trash hauler and a “green burial” company called Bury Me Naturally.

My wife was amused by a commercial they did for a doughnut shop in Burbank that was walking distance from our old house. I know first-hand that George Lopez used to stop at Donut Prince on the way to his morning radio show. As a bit for his TBS show “Lopez Tonight,” he had Rhett & Link make a commercial for Donut Prince.  My wife recognized the owners as fellow parishioners at St. Finbar Church.

August 23, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

New Latte-tude

Vienna Coffee House looks like someplace I would go while on vacation. Instead of a beach locale, it is in the heart of nearby Maryville. I was enticed to stop by because of a mention on Twitter of their salted caramel apple latte. My wife and I told the barista that we want to come back when our coffee-loving relatives are visiting.

I had imagined a sea-salt garnish on top of the latte foam. The flavor actually comes from a shot of Torani Salted Caramel syrup mixed in with the espresso. The drizzle on top was regular caramel sauce. I tried to save a few calories by substituting nonfat milk for regular.

As we were getting back in our car, I heard a familiar voice saying hi to my wife. It was Kristin Farley of WATE. She and her family were bringing some friends to see the coffee house, just like my wife and I plan to do. Kristin told us that she recently did a story on the local coffee roastery and shop. Chemical-engineer-turned-coffee-roaster John Clark said he wants the coffee house to be his customers’ “third place.”

August 22, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Bang, Zoom!

Members of the FBI Citizens’ Academy learn a lot about the mission of the Bureau during the nine-week course. The most memorable experience was when they put lethal weapons in our hands on range day. Those of us who are active in the FBI Knoxville Citizens’ Academy Alumni Association were anxious to get back on the KPD range and do it again. Our opportunity came yesterday.

FBI Knoxville Citizens' Academy Alumni Association - range day FBI Knoxville Citizens' Academy Alumni Association - range day FBI Knoxville Citizens' Academy Alumni Association - range day Like I did two years ago, I shot four weapons on the range and tried two scenarios in the simulator. Yesterday the agents showed us a few new things. The Phil E. Keith Training Center now has a live fire shoot house in which the agents can storm into a room and take control of an unexpected situation. The first thing the FBI SWAT team did was toss in a flash-bang grenade, which was deafening. They then had to shoot the target that represented a bad guy but not the target that represented a hostage. Before our lunch break, we saw a demonstration of rappelling down a building in full SWAT gear.

After lunch, we got to go for a ride. The two Knoxville Police officers who train all the officers to drive squad cars took us for a ride around the driving course and over their state-of-the-art wet pad. The water is recirculated rather than wasted. We were told that Knoxville will host  a law enforcement convention next year and that the wet pad will be a highlight of the tour.

August 21, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Pongy

A recent WMOT news report points out that the Body Farm was the first such research facility and now one of only three in the world. The radio newscast includes quotes from graduate students collecting finger and wrist bones. As you would expect, the odor is a main topic of the story.

Earlier today, someone asked me about the Body Farm. He wondered why he never sees vultures flying above it as he drives past on Alcoa Highway. I made a mental note to ask Dr. Bill Bass about it. My own theory is that the vultures may not be interested in bodies that decay under black tarps. Many of the bodies are placed under tarps because  maggots prefer the darkness and do a better job of cleaning those bones.

All three real body farms are in the United States. A fictional body farm in England is the setting for an upcoming BBC One series. “The Body Farm” is a spin-off of “Waking the Dead.” Writer Declan Croghan acknowledges that the show was inspired by the real Body Farm in Knoxville. A site called Cult Box already has a synopsis of episode 1. I guess that will have to do until the show turns up on BBC America.

August 20, 2011 | Filed Under Body Farm | Comments Off 

Mallow Martial

Yet another Frank Murphy has caught my attention on the Internet. This one is known as Master Frank Murphy , because he is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. He also has a great Irish accent, which makes sense because he’s in County Cork. This week he started uploading training videos to YouTube.

August 19, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Dar-winism

One of the added benefits that came with my WiFi clock radio was an account with MP3tunes. I can upload songs from my computer to my MP3 locker and listen to them via my clock radio.

I got an email last week offering a new service from the MP3tunes people. It’s a cloud-based recording service that captures streaming radio shows and puts them in my MP3 locker. It’s like a DVR for radio, which is why they call it DAR.fm. Company founder Michael Robertson made a video to demonstrate how it works:

So far, I’ve used my DAR.fm account to record a talk show on KMOX and two music shows hosted by friends of mine. On Saturday, I recorded Anne Litt on KCRW, although DAR grabbed the KCRU feed from Oxnard. I also recorded Paula Kidwell’s midday show on WINC. I loved hearing their familiar voices between the songs.

August 18, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

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