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Politics Not as Usual

As my second pro-Jackson piece was published this week in the JFP, more of my "friends" called me out for not staying true to who I am. Huh? I believe what they meant to say was true to who they think I am. It is true, judge if you want: I was a staffer during Governor Kirk Fordice's second term. I was a gung-ho right winger, well, I was gung at least. Not ashamed to admit it, I did to my boss at the time, that I voted for Bill Clinton in his first bid for president. I am still not ashamed of that. But as a gunger, I voted for Dole the second time around. I was surrounded by those beliefs everyday and, heck, I was able to pay my bills because of it. I did believe it. I did live it but not enough to get the title of being gung ho, just gung.

Sundance: There Is Always A Mississippi Connection!

You know how this goes. Mark talks to our friend Diana Shows about going to Sundance and Diana mentions that her niece Elizabeth Mims has a short film in the festival. Mark tells me, and I get excited because I'm always proud of the creative talent from our state. Mims produced Jason Tippet's short documentary, "Thompson." I haven't seen the film yet, but the excerpt in the program book sounds promising. It's about two young men who share a bond of "speech impediments, weapons and things that go fast." It won the jury award at the SXSW Festival. I can't wait to see it, and hopefully meet Mims in a crowded cafe, or even better Thai restaurant, on Main Street.

Sundance January 27 - Liftoff

An uber early flight, a last minute gate switcheroo, and a quick transfer between the second and third plane commenced my journey to Sundance 2010. A few years ago, back when Delta would connect flights going west in Dallas, rather than the round-abouting through Atlanta, I meet Peggy Hemus, a filmmaker from Houston, Texas. We've kept in touch over the years. On Monday night, Peggy provided me with a quick guide on what's been going on at the festival, which started last Thursday.

JFP Knows How to Party

On the shelf in my closet, between my Nine West velvet, lace-up wedges and my favorite pin-up style, Mary Jane stilletos, is an empty space. This is where an undiscovered pair of fabulous new shoes for the Best of Jackson party will go.

A Few Jackson Warm and Fuzzies

As the celebratory edition of the Best of Jackson sits on the press as I type, the anticipation of its distribution is at its climax. I must admit this will only be my second edition I will be "aware" of its existence. More on that tomorrow. But the fact that I am aware is a warm and fuzzy.

Horse Trailer: Heavenly Phenomenon - Live @ Sneaky Beans

Musicians are a bit like objects in space. Give them a particular orbit with which to hang around, and eventually they bounce off of each other. Sometimes, these cosmic particles stick together, drawn by gravity into bands. And sometimes, these bands bump into other bands, giving way to an all new creation...bound together by the magic ties of the universe: the "supergroup." Horse Trailer is such a collaboration, formed with members of some of Jackson's most talented groups. And like any supergroup, they succeed most when they are not just individual artists taking turns at the mike, but when common purpose and love...that gravity... slings them forward on the same course like a comet streaking across the sky. Composed of many pieces, but greater than the sum of its parts...able to let those individual parts shine brightly, but never more brightly than the whole.

This is why I'm still here at 8 p.m. Friday night

And I'm not the only one. Ronni is here, Ward is here; Lacey and Adam just left. We are in the middle of our huge annual issue to celebrate all that is great about our city. Someone just *now* dropped fruit and M&Ms. Mark Scurlock showed up earlier with pastries. It's as if so many of y'all are cheering us on as we sort through thousands, no millions, of little Best-of blurbs, trying to get the damn commas right!

20th Century Boy - A Skin-Deep Appreciation of Glam Rock

You would never know it to look at me, but I love glam rock so much it hurts. Aesthetically, I'm pretty devoid of pigments, opting to wear black 9 times out of 10. But inside, there is a Technicolor 70's NYC hipster with skinny pants and glittery eyeliner, pretending to be an alien from the future. Scratch that...I'd be a British version of that. But the creator did not grace me with the form, temporal placement, or geography to pull it off. And I'm straight. But hey, we all have our cross, right? All of that is to say that it is a subject dear to my glittery heart. So along the next couple of paragraphs, I will touch on some of the things that make it such an incredible era of music which spawned a cultural revolution, particularly for the Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transexual community.

Immigration Reform for Dummies

If passed in its present form, Mississippi SB 2032--charitably titled the "Immigration Reform Act of 2010"--would: Force undocumented immigrants to remain in Mississippi for up to 10 years against their will, at taxpayer expense [see Sections 1(5) and 2(5)];Impair the ability of Mississippi agencies to cooperate in federal immigration law enforcement by giving any racist crank in the state the authority to monopolize personnel time with as many writs of mandamus as their little heart desires [see Section 5(5)]; andUnfairly target family members of undocumented immigrants, forcing legal citizens to rat out their parents, children, or siblings to law enforcement or face imprisonment [see Section 3]. Ordinarily when I see a bill this nasty and punitive, I chalk it up to the race-baiting excesses of the anti-immigrant movement. But this isn't even, strictly speaking, just an anti-immigrant bill; it's an anti-common sense bill. SB 2032 tells us the best way to make immigrants leave is to imprison them here, that the best way to keep immigration paperwork moving through the system is to pile on an indefinite amount of additional immigration paperwork, and that the best way to promote family values is to criminalize them. There is only one conceivable reason why anyone would propose a bill like this: to bait public officials of good will (and good sense) into opposing it, then paint them as "pro-amnesty" by misrepresenting the bill's contents to the press.

Donate Shoes and Help Haiti

Read the press release below.

(http://www.giveshoes.org) and Shoe Carnival have joined forces to provide shoes

Is it OK to still love Favre this week without fear of dismemberment?

In short, he was my favorite player EV-AR.

Beyond the years when I actually possessed some amount of athletic ability, I've not been that much of a sporto. Unless your sport is going to a sports bar. But back when I did play this or that, I was always drawn to the "riverboat gambler" from Southern Miss. I can recall staying up all night watching a re-run of this bowl game on some UHF channel on rabbit ears. I can't remember who they were playing, but I can remember very clearly this kid conjuring magic from his fingertips. Magic, I tells ya...feats that no mere mortal should be able to pull off with a leather oblong object. When he went on to lead the Packers to improbable playoff victories while building legends of chicken wings and alcohol swilling, he only further endeared himself into my then-sporto heart. Somewhere along the next 16 years or so, dude became honorable too, by winning MVPs, a Superbowl, a host of records that may not be broken for a long time, if ever. Ultimately, he built a lasting legacy by earning a deep respect among his contemporaries and adversaries alike as perhaps the best football player to ever play the position. Certainly, he has been one of the most exciting.

New Year - New You..er, New Me!

G'mornin...technically, I suppose mid-morning or noon. But whatev.

Tons o' folks tracked my crazy progress and boot camp from back in the summer. I tweeted. I FB'd. I even updated MySpace(aww, don't despair little buddy...people still go to you periodically for music or to spam and hawk their latest wares.) If I was even more of an attention whore...I probably would have even sent stuff to Friendster(yes, I still have an account.) I got lots of emails and questions about why. About how. About what. It was an inspirational story of triumph and redemption. Okay, maybe not THAT much of a Jaclyn-Smith-Lifetime-Movie tear jerker. But it was good.

Projacks: THIS should make you mad!

Received this as via email today. Forwarded to me by some other outraged Jacksonians. Seems our Metro "friends" *sarcasm off* are using our crisis as a a means to drum up business. Having a good laugh at our expense. Or is it biting the hand that feeds you? Here is the info below. Several emails in response have been sent and in his replies this guy stands defiant with his "We're better than you" attitude. Two Rivers Restaurant. Im sick of this!

Senate Grants Barbour More Budget Power

The Mississippi Senate passed a bill yesterday that would give Gov. Haley Barbour greater leeway in cutting state agencies to balance the state's budget. The bill, Senate Bill 2495, would allow the governor to cut agency budgets by up to 10 percent at his discretion. Current state law requires Barbour to make across-the-board 5 percent cuts to all agency budgets before cutting any individual budget by more than 5 percent.

How to Help Haiti; List of Supplies Needed; Where to Donate

Please support the people of Haiti through your generous medical supply donations. It is with great sadness and responsibility that we reach out to you. As you may well know by now, the earthquake that took place on January 12th of the present year has devastated the country of Haiti. The Latin American and Caribbean Community Center, Project South and the Georgia Hunger Coalition have joined efforts and are personally seeking your support in gathering the following donations in an effort to provide much needed relief supplies.

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