tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post4949434388746676808..comments2024-03-20T03:12:56.498-05:00Comments on Lou Anders: Lou Plugs Historic BirminghamLou Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362734492222851noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-72063797090536552372007-12-09T09:20:00.000-06:002007-12-09T09:20:00.000-06:00And Dylan references it a few times too I think.And Dylan references it a few times too I think.Lou Andershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362734492222851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-2125618316707036752007-12-08T08:17:00.000-06:002007-12-08T08:17:00.000-06:00When, as a young lad, I first heard Randy Newman's...When, as a young lad, I first heard Randy Newman's hymn to the city ('Well you can travel 'cross this great, wide land/But there aint no place like Birmingham') I assumed the reference was to the English city. Took me a while to realise my error.The Spirit of Creative Writinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08814590995293463174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-47908535704295211402007-12-07T09:30:00.000-06:002007-12-07T09:30:00.000-06:00Thanks guys! Yeah, when I first moved back, my fir...Thanks guys! Yeah, when I first moved back, my first week out, I got cornered in a bar by a very nice old guy who explained at great length to me - who he mistook for a northerner - that in truth n*****s made the best barbecue. I didn't even know how to unpack that, because while he was banding about a racial slur and also stereotyping a whole class of people, it was obviously being offered as friendly advice and said with great admiration for the people in question. I told my brother, who shook his head and said, "I've lived here on an off my whole life and never encountered that. You're back <I>one week</I> and..." <BR/><BR/>So seeing beyond that took me some deliberate effort. But 35% of the state voted against Bush in the last election, so the majority of that percentile has got to be in this town, not in the outlying rural areas, right? And I love seeing the <A HREF="http://britebluedot.com/" REL="nofollow"> Bright Blue Dot</A> stickers on occasional cars here.Lou Andershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362734492222851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-42350338401020102332007-12-07T09:11:00.000-06:002007-12-07T09:11:00.000-06:00I have similiar issues with my southernness, Lou. ...I have similiar issues with my southernness, Lou. I grew up in such an insulated and parochial bit of the mountains that getting out seemed the only sane choice, and going back was to be avoided at all costs. My memories of the place are fond in specific wavelengths, and pretty damn horrible in others. There's no question that getting out of the south was important in my development.<BR/><BR/>Going back, though, has been an experience. I found a marked uptick in the "interestingness" of the place. It's not the town I grew up in, I don't think. Elements of that town are still there, and when I visit I can't help but spend most of my time in those unpleasant bits. I don't know. I'd like to go back in a more permanent way, but there's still too much there that reminds me of the old life.<BR/><BR/>Then again, where I live now is all Hummers and cheerleaders and mortgage obligations. So there's not a lot of winning going on.Tim Akershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749644135364065658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-76387985527402179992007-12-07T07:13:00.000-06:002007-12-07T07:13:00.000-06:00Great post: when I visited you (and met Xin and Ar...Great post: when I visited you (and met Xin and Arthur) last year you were, indeed, happy about how Birmingham had developed for the better. And while you obviously only showed me the good places, I had a great time.<BR/><BR/>I'm having a similar experience: ever since I've stopped flying across the globe like mad, I'm slowly appreciating the history of my home town, Den Bosch.<BR/><BR/>A work in progress, indeed.Jetse de Vrieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09995292305473339386noreply@blogger.com