Say something nice about the South

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― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

there are millions of nice things about the south.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

ludacris.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

yams.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Chittlins, mint julips, accents, hankerchiefs, verandas, girls on horseback.

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

cheese grits. William Faulkner. The Gulf coast. Music.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

sweet tea + BBQ, obv.

― jason m. (jason m), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

reportedly it's Dirty

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Quentin Compson on the South:

"I dont hate it," Quentin said, quickly,
at once, immediately; "I dont hate it," he said. I dont hate it
he thought, panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark: I dont. I
dont! I dont hate it! I dont hate it!
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Like, in USA?

The Appalachian Mountains. The Florida Everglades. Mammoth Cave.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

gygax broke ilx.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Plenty o' good things about the South, though I've barely visited it yet. All experiences good, though!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

let it be fixed!

― Ricardo (RickyT), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Having dead relatives on the losing side of the woah. Classic.

Country music.

Rustic handcrafts.

Minnieballs.

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh go on!

― Ricardo (RickyT), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

apparently the south has never made it out of the late 19th century. alert the black folk.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

New Orleans

Charleston

Savannah

Hushpuppies

Southern men

roadside fruit stands selling peaches bigger than your head

banana puddin'

― luna (luna.c), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Jimmy the Mod has perfected his time machine! I say we go to Nov 2000, move to Florida, and vote.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

haha!

Me!
Hot Browns
Royal Crown Cola
Cotton

― Dale the Titled (cprek), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

This is out of control.
― Dale the Titled (cprek), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

mannie fresh.
dj magic mike.
simon trife.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

strongo I can't believe you're giving this question the time of day

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i am JUST THAT BORED, t.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Y'all better watch it, now . . .

― Lee G (Lee G), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:29 (twenty-two years ago)

panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

most.
obscure.
poster.
e*v*a*h

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

;)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

It isn't the North.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

And all you southern girls got a way with your words, and you show it

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

it isn't the pacific northwest.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Winters are not too cold.

― oops (Oops), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Millar.
Tracer Hand.
Yanc3y.
Carey.
Blount.
Ethan.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Alex Chilton!

And yes, Ludacris.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.pigglywiggly.com/mfy/templates/pigglywiggly/images/MrPigSteppin_AN.gif

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Lebowskifest. ATL. Memphis BBQ. The Mississippi River. Cee-Lo Green. Corvettes. Nickalicious. Frickles.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Seriously, does Florida count as the South? I know geographically speaking, Florida is like the southest of the south, like I'm not that dense, but it seems that in colloquial terms, no one seems to think that Florida is the South. It's like it's its own little crazy rogue nation down there. If it counts, then Disneyworld and Sea World.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Spring Cotillions!

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

giant subwoofers.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Winters are not too cold.

They're not cold at all. We have about one day a year where it stays below freezing all day. You pay for it in the summer, but there are good stretches in the "winter" where you can leave your window open. Niiice.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Debutantes!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

the Southern Girls and the way they look (or is it cook?) they knock me out when I'm down there

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

no one seems to think that Florida is the South.

It depends on the context. I get into this with my ex a lot, cause her diss is on Southern lit, and my MA was in history. Like Texas and Louisiana, it's geographically South, but it doesn't share the same English-settled/plantation/etc. culture as the Carolinas and Virginias, etc. It's certainly South in the sense of not-being-North.

That's why I've ended up not posting to this thread much; I don't know from the South so much as I do from Louisiana.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I was kinda cold in Tennessee a few times.

I think parts of FL are definitely 'The South'

― oops (Oops), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, I've decided Florida is the South and ergo people need to give more love to the Atlantis ride at Sea World, fuck.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Florida = "America's Wang"

― Homer has taught us well. (nickalicious), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Our food be good.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, see, Texas is way south of TN. That's why you were cold, oops. Not south enough.

And I agree that South Florida isn't really "the South." It's more like Cuba.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Well then I'm saying something nice about Cuba.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Cape Horn!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Cajun food.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

those commercials for Bartles & James wine coolers

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Hurricanes are way better than blizzards. Both kinds of each.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 16:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Parts of Central and Northern FL aren't really the south to me either. I mean, Orlando? Gainesville? (ok, college town). I guess maybe it's the difference between rural and non-rural. Are there any bona fide Southern towns/cities in Florida? Pensacola???

Oh:
Friendliness
Great service, ie waiters/waitresses
Relaxed pace

― oops (Oops), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

The Drawl

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Cajun food.

Some cajun food is OK, but keep the crawfish away from me. They're insects that live in the mud. Horrible nasty little vermin that actually *taste* like mud if you don't season them right. Sometimes you bite into one to find that it still has mud in it. Oh horrible, most horrible.

And gumbo? This is not cuisine. This is what prisoners and exiles found in the swamp they'd been banished to. Oh, look, okra! Bleeeargh.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Sarah, and me (although I was born in Florida (not really the South) and then have only lived in the South for, let's see, 7 of my 24 years, though, hell, I live in the capital of the confederacy now so that should make up for lost time).

Also, people really are more polite here. Though there's usually some intense hatred lurking underneath the politeness. Guess we got it from our colonial forefathers.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

i must go to pensacola

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

And gumbo? This is not cuisine. This is what prisoners and exiles found in the swamp they'd been banished to. Oh, look, okra! Bleeeargh.

I kill you, Kenan :)

Actually, lots of gumbo isn't made with okra. I know that's where the word comes from, but that's sort of like the old-fashioned gumbo. It's fallen out of fashion. I'm not crazy about it myself, most of the time.

(They weren't prisoners and exiles so much as misled landless nobility.)

Crawfish are just lobster! It sounds like you've had them mis-prepared or fished from the wrong places.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

HAha! beat horace to it!

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Could be. But I've had a lot of them.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

(x-post)

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, excuse me, Kenan. Dickhead.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

(They weren't prisoners and exiles so much as misled landless nobility.)

Either way, they were there because other people didn't want them around. Which is American as hell, and I'm all for it. No value judgement there. It's just... swamp food. Icky poo.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Ally, that was not an attack on you.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm way off topic anyway. This is the "say something nice" thread. Sorry.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

(They weren't prisoners and exiles so much as misled landless nobility.)

Either way, they were there because other people didn't want them around. Which is American as hell, and I'm all for it. No value judgement there. It's just... swamp food. Icky poo.

I actually realized as soon as I hit submit that I was talking more about New Orleans, and you were talking more about Acadiana. Habitual lapse for me.

Turning this around: there is a cultural appreciation for the underdog stemming from numerous unrelated reasons (and therefore affecting even those people who reject one reason or another).

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

The friendliness needs to be underscored. I feel claustrophobic even when I visit the rural-suburban northeast, because that friendliness is just plain not there. It isn't an objective better/worse thing cause it's all about comfort levels, but for me, that alone almost seals it.

Fresh local produce for the majority, if not entirety, of the year.

Hurricanes get names. Ever heard of a blizzard with a name? No. You know why? Cause they suck.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Something nice (to repent for my sins):

Most of the rest of the local Southern specialties are fantastic. Barbecue, for one. Soul food in general -- mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, chicken fried steak, sweet cornbread, green beans. These are a few of my favorite things.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard of some African American group recently complaining that hurricanes never get ethnic names, just white people names. Like a hurricane is a thing devoutly to be wish'd, or something. I think we should name hurricanes after tyrants and despots, personally.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Pecan pralines

Manatees.

The Banjo.

Waffle house

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Note to self: must kill Kingfish (or possibly read threads more thoroughly before posting, whichever's more time-efficient)

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

They're deliberately multi-ethnic! Although lacking in African American names. Maybe multi-national is a better term.

I'll second chicken-fried steak. I remember the first time I ordered it -- in New Hampshire -- with no idea what to expect. A battered T-Bone? A steak which had somehow been wrapped in chicken? Was it just a fancy term for a chicken breast? The answer was so much better than I could have hoped.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Jazz.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Blues. The crossroads.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Although New York and Sweet Home Chicago has as much to with the modern forms of all that music as the South does. But we did it first, that's for sure.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Neither Texas nor Florida are Southern, nope.

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

not even East Texas, nope.

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Muscle Shoals.

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, normally I don't like to emphasize "did it first" much, but it works for this thread :) And Louis Armstrong is good no matter what came after him.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

the South treated this ragged road-trippin ex-blue-headed boy just fine. except New Orleans. New Orleans held up a sign saying "What are you thinkin', boy?".

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll be the first to admit, on behalf of my town, that New Orleans is not a particularly good place to visit.

Hm, let me think about the rest of the South, though. Oh! Good for road trips. Road trips in or through the South are the best. You don't have the urban sprawl of so much of the North, and you don't have the featureless homogeneity of so much of the Midwest.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I am scared of Louisiana.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

It's more scared of you...

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Tep, it was circumstances though. I was alone. My car was my life blood, and obviously filled to the rim with "I'm road tripping" shit. I had just driven straight from Athens, GA earlier that day. I agree Nawlins ain't a good place to visit with that setup. However, if i went with friends, and had little to worry about in the form of immediate possessions, I'd be just fine.. i think.

I liked the rest of southern Louisiana though.. aside from the maelstrom of nutria roadkill everywhere. I stopped in Rayne (Frog Capital Of The World) for a little. I actually had to call some guy for a job interview that day! It was really bizarre.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, the only not-nice thing about the South other than that from my trip was Chapel Hill, NC. Man, boring-ass place.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Pralines, dudes. Seriously. Order some and see. Especially you Limeys out there.

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 17:43 (twenty-two years ago)

New Orleans can be good if you know people there. Weirdly enough, it's not very geared for tourists. It's a paradox I haven't been able to work out.

Nick, why on earth would you be scared of it?!

I stopped in Rayne (Frog Capital Of The World) for a little.

Oh my God. That's honestly my favorite place in the world. Did you go to the truckstop (it's very visible) with the boudin balls?

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Various fruits.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

And yes, yes, yes pralines. Oh my.

Also, the citrus fruit and strawberries will put you off their lesser regional equivalents for life. (Might not apply if you live in California.)

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

...and many interesting furry animals.

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Sarah lived in Shreveport for a while and has told me stories. Stories that involve crazy men with snakes and crack houses.

― NA (Nick A.), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.repamerica.org/fl/manatee.jpg

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

All the nuts roll down to Florida. I'm from NC, raise up. It's okay, but I'm pretty tired of it.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

New Orleans has the most spectacular cemetery I've ever seen.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

The Smoky Mountains are purdy.
Is Asheville part of them? Either way, it's a beautiful area.

― oops (Oops), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:50 (twenty-two years ago)

see the lovely lakes.

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Dollywood!!!!!!!

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

My dad was born there (the South, not Dollywood)

― rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I was born in Dollywood.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Sarah lived in Shreveport for a while and has told me stories. Stories that involve crazy men with snakes and crack houses.

Oh, well, Shreveport. Yeah, I'm not gonna argue with that :)

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Lizards! I don't know to what extent this is a mostly Gulf Coast thing. But everywhere I lived in LA, I had a lizard nearby.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Manatees! I love the manatees.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't that exclusively a Florida Atlantic-side thing? Or do they live in the Gulf?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Manatees are animals that always look either confused or jolly, depenging on how YOU feel.

― ModJ, Monday, 18 August 2003 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

They look like they should get big ol' hugs.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Sad Days for Mermaids of the Sequined Sort
By ABBY GOODNOUGH

WEEKI WACHEE, Fla., Aug. 7 — Barbara Wynns has never stopped thinking about the days she spent in an enormous water tank here, somersaulting and backflipping in a sequined tail fin while sucking air from a rubber hose. It was the late 1960's, when young women from as far away as Tokyo auditioned for the privilege of being a mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs, doing shows for half a million people a year.

These days, the mermaids at this aging water park are locals who are tired of waitressing and retail jobs, and their celebrity does not extend much past Hernando County, all scrub pine and suburban sprawl on Florida's west coast. Attendance at Weeki Wachee has dwindled, and the park has a long list of problems, not least an excess of algae in the mermaid tank.

"It's sad," said Mrs. Wynns, 54 and dainty, who quells her nostalgia by filling her home with hundreds of mermaid figurines and passes out business cards with a tiny portrait of her mermaid self, circa 1968. "To me, this 27-acre park is a universe that I love more than breathing. But not everybody gets it anymore."

The troubles became a crisis in June, when the park's landlord threatened to end its lease if it did not fix dilapidated structures, add fire exits and resolve sewage problems and a possible termite infestation.

The absentee owners, a group of investors, had put off repairs while trying for more than a year to sell Weeki Wachee Springs, one of the last and best-known of the kitschy theme-park dinosaurs that ruled Florida in the decades before Walt Disney World. The bad news for Weeki Wachee arrived just months after another faded roadside attraction, Cypress Gardens, closed abruptly after 67 years.

But just when it looked as if the mermaids were going to have to hang up their Lycra tails forever, the owners proposed a last-ditch plan: why not donate the park to the City of Weeki Wachee, which has nine residents and not much to concern itself with except the park's well-being? Mayor Robyn Anderson, a former mermaid who is the park's no-nonsense general manager, was gung-ho.

"If anybody should have it, it's the city," said Ms. Anderson, 29, flipping her long blond ponytail as rain bombarded the roof of her office and the few visitors wandering the grounds ran for cover. "The people who live and work here actually know this place and would keep an eye on it better than people who are never around."

The deal was completed last week; now all the city has to do is pay a $112,500 rent installment by Aug. 30 and make a few crucial repairs by later this week. The payment can be made in time, Ms. Anderson said, but maybe not the repairs. That could mean more trouble with the landlord, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud.

"We could move to terminate the lease if the deadlines aren't met," said Michael Molligan, the communications program director of Swiftmud.

The show, meanwhile, goes on, even on rainy days like this one, when a mere 20 people await the morning's performance in an amphitheater that smells of mildew.

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/08/11/national/12merm2_184.jpg It is taxing work: the mermaids have to stay in the 72-degree spring water for up to 45 minutes, holding their breath between swigs on strategically placed air hoses. For the last eight years they have performed "The Little Mermaid" — the original Hans Christian Andersen version, not the one that has helped make that other, bigger theme park in Orlando so rich. They experimented with a Pocahontas show a few years ago, but ditched it — audiences were crestfallen at losing Ariel, Ms. Anderson said.

The spring is a phenomenon in its own right — it pumps out over 100 million gallons of crystal-clear water a day and feeds it into the adjoining Weeki Wachee River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the springhead that forms the mermaid tank; the rest of the spring snakes far underground, and the bottom has never been found.

Aware that water is a precious commodity in Florida, the city of Weeki Wachee recently sued to get possession of a local water utility that it feared might someday tap into the spring, another potential bad ending for the park.

In several months of training, new mermaids learn CPR, then become certified scuba divers before trying the peculiar art of hose-breathing. Newton Perry, a Navy diver who built the underground theater and opened the mermaid park in 1947, invented the technique. The breathing hoses scattered around the tank have buttons to adjust the air pressure — if it comes out too hard, it can bruise lungs. Mermaids bite down to stop the flow of air, and slowly exhale through their noses while sashaying to numbers like "I've Got the World by the Tail."

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/08/11/national/12merm_184.jpgMs. Anderson is blunt about the job's many demands.

"You're in a tail, 16 feet under water, breathing on a hose," she said. "If you think about it too much you can freak out."

Mermaids occasionally have panic attacks, when they suddenly feel claustrophobic or breathless and rush to the surface. New performers face nasty ailments like ear and sinus infections as their bodies adjust. There is also the issue of creatures from the Weeki Wachee River invading the mermaid tank.

"Yesterday we had a manatee in here the whole time," said Sativa Smith, who does sound, lighting and stage direction for each performance from a tiny control booth next to the tank. "We get otters, gators, three kinds of turtles."

Once, a large alligator swam unseen into a hole under the amphitheater and popped out while a mermaid was in the tank cleaning the glass, Ms. Smith said. The mermaid quit. Now, technicians do a "water check" before every show, and if an alligator longer than four feet shows up, they cancel. Manatees are welcome, however — they like to visit when the mermaids are cleaning the tank with sponges, to get their backs scratched.

Mayor Anderson, who oversees mermaid auditions, said a lot of women have shown up for tryouts with no idea of what it takes. Many "aren't very good swimmers, believe it or not," she said. The perfect candidate can endure the chilly water, lip-sync, hold her breath for up to two minutes and swim with a smile — but no diving mask — without scrunching up her face. She will also perform happily, without seeing her adoring audience, for pay that starts at $6.50 an hour.

This morning, four women who fit the bill swam out from behind a curtain of bubbles that shot from the bottom of the tank when Ms. Smith flipped a switch in the control room. They were a few minutes into their act when Ms. Smith saw a flash of lightning, then another. The phone in the control room rang; it was Ms. Anderson, who had also seen the bolts. Ms. Smith turned on the loudspeaker in the tank, which the audience cannot hear, and ordered the mermaids out.

They disappeared into "the tube," a narrow shaft to "the hot room," a hidden, heated platform where mermaids huddle between scenes in towels and bathrobes.

Ms. Anderson said she had already made some of the repairs that Swiftmud requested — shoring up rotting beams at the Mermaid Gallery restaurant, for example — but she is holding off on others: the county fire marshal told her the mermaid theater had enough fire exits, she said, and she does not want to connect the park's sewage system to the county's until the busy season ends.

The city plans to ask Swiftmud if part of the lease payments can go to repairs. "We have to help each other out here," Ms. Anderson said. But she and other park devotees are also coming up with ideas for generating income. Ms. Anderson wants to expand the kiddie pool at the Buccaneer Bay water park that earns Weeki Wachee most of its money, and perhaps create a second mermaid show, with new costumes and choreography.

Ms. Wynns, the former mermaid, believes Weeki Wachee can go even further: why not put on bathing-suit fashion shows in the mermaid tank, bus tourists the 88 miles from Disney World, even have a mermaid circulate through the park, like Mickey, Minnie and Goofy?

Among other things, Ms. Wynns would like to see the algae — "scrunge" to the mermaids — removed.

"We had silky white sand and emerald eelgrass, and when the bubbles stood on it they looked like diamonds," she said wistfully. "I believe we can make this place magic again, with the right money."

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Tep, I don't think I stopped at the Rayne truck stop, but I did go to the casino and walk through the frog restaurant. I had to do my phone job interview in the parking lot there. It was also a really beautiful day.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Weeki Wachee FAP. I'd be in.

It's so gorgeous out there -- I stopped by accident just cause we needed gas once, and made a point of going back as often as possible. I used to hope to get a house out there someday, but now that I'm living with an academic I'm not sure that's possible.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

if you're curious about manatees, and other aquatic mammals, the Library of Congress recommends the following:

Sam & Max, by Steve Purcell. In one of their adventures, Sam & Max hit the road, lookign the many missing manatees.
http://www.pe.net/~hancock/sammax01.gif

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud.

King of acronyms, right there.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I had more time to travel, I would defintely spend much of it seeing more of the south.

― Larcole (Nicole), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

i must go to pensacola

Gareth, there's not much of note there, EXCEPT Joe Patti's, which is like the best fresh seafood market in the world. Bring your cooler, take a number, then order all the best, just-caught, fresh-as-all-get-out fish and seafood you can handle. When they ring you up, they'll pack the seafood in ice in your cooler. My dad drives 40 minutes one-way each week to shop there.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Mmm, okra.

I've decided to only date Southern folk from now on. Sorry yankees.

I'm in my 7th period class right now and I have one whole student. Sorry that's OT but it's just remarkable. Hence the posting.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Monday, 18 August 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

The South will always rock if only for being the birthplace of "y'all" and "ain't".

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

hey Sam, what about transplanted Southerners?

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 19:15 (twenty-two years ago)

've decided to only date Southern folk from now on. Sorry yankees.

I had to extend this to "people who've lived in the South" (I'm not sure native New Orleanians would be dateable for me), but ditto.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

you were born in KY right stence? I love me some Kentucky boys. . .

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I've decided to only date Southern folk from now on.

Me too! Let's have a club.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I was actually born in Texas. I only grew up in Kentucky.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

texas and florida north of the everglades totally count as southern

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

and nordicskillz - you, your children, your children's children: are dead to me

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Ewww, okra. My childhood best friend was from the South and everytime I'd eat over his mom would make that shit and, not wanting to offend, I forced it down. Ew.

― oops (Oops), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

CCR

― Dale the Titled (cprek), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

well you DO have to cook it first, oops

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

um, CCR were from California, which is definitely not the South.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't even know if I'm supposed to be Southern or not.

*confounded beyond belief*

― Just Deanna (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe they are from Southern California, you racist.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

uh, yeah, whatever. Southern California still isn't the South.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I have gumbo. Not in response to this thread, though.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

You never change, do you, hstencil?

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

uh, yeah, whatever. Southern California still isn't the South.

boo! piss all over her joke, whydoncha?

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

That's his "thing", he's just been on holiday all summer.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

haha calling a Southerner 'racist'

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

oh and YOU FORGOT PIZZA CHRIST

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Bo & Luke Duke

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

SKYNYRD!!!

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Shut up, you racist, stop being so pally. Goddamn.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my new thing is to just call everyone "you racist".

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

IMMORTAL LEE COUNTY KILLERS

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

grits with shrimp and mayonnaise

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheap houses

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Outer Banks NC + the Weeping Radish Brewery

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Abita Springs LA + the brewery there too

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Moonshine festivals

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Low country boil

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:14 (twenty-two years ago)

the SEC

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:14 (twenty-two years ago)

incredibly cheap cigarettes

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

CCR were definitely from NORTHERN CA

― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Damn.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Hipsters = ??? possibly a kind of pants

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, what the hell am I saying, CCR weren't even good, I hate CCR. Fuck California.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Also we built the space station

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

grits with shrimp and mayonnaise

Um... I'll have the gumbo, please.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Kenan, stop pulling a Ned Raggett on this thread.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

< / ;-) )

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:20 (twenty-two years ago)

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

(x-post)

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Who the hell is that, Jack in the Box? Get me some waffle fries, beeyotch.

(xpost--db you know I'm talkin' to you)

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

It's Ned wearing his pointy wizard hat.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Thankfully the South doesn't have Jack in the Box.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I do. In fact, I thought ONLY the south had JITB.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my new thing is to just call everyone "you racist".

[Pulls off headpiece of giant squirrel suit, looks camera in the eye]

"What, surpised to see me? Face it--you're a racist."

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Part of the south has JITB, other parts have Hardee's. Both are equally fantastic, as is Popeye's chicken.

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.jerriblank.com/107percy1_00.jpg

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought Jack in the Box was a California/Left Coast thing. Maybe they have 'em in Texas now? They're certainly no Waffle House.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)

So I have a pointy wizard hat now? And I'm being pulled? Like a pork sandwich?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my new thing is to just call everyone "you racist".

i try to use the phrase "all up in your grill" as many times as possible thru-out the workday. it sends the brokers who call into titters.

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Anyone who dislikes Jack in the Box is a goddamned racist.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:32 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.suite101.com/files/images/books/0940450372.gif

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:35 (twenty-two years ago)

something good = all the ilxors who live here (except possibly me)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 18 August 2003 20:41 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.lib.umich.edu/spec-coll/faulknersite/faulknersite/majornovels/pylon58.jpg

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't believe it took us this far in the thread to get to Faulkner (or did I miss it above?)

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:44 (twenty-two years ago)

you did. I mentioned Faulkner waaaaay upthread.

― hstencil, Monday, 18 August 2003 20:45 (twenty-two years ago)

My first taco ever was from Jack In The Box. :( I blame hstencil.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Damn, sorry, stence. It's been a long quick thread.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.sewaneewriters.org/images/williams.jpg

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Southern drawl: slow and easy on the ear as poured molasses.

DB: Who told you that Tacos from Jack in the Box were any good? Taking your life in your hands, weren't you;>?

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Hardee's Biscuits and Gravy. So terrible. So wonderful. The snuff film of fast food breakfast.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think I'd like having molasses poured into my ears.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I didn't think so either...

― oops (Oops), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.rkde.com/ohyellowdog/bigguys/tootsie1.JPG

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

The drawl gets a lot of play, but let's not forget the twang.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

or the stammer!

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

We've always had Jack in the Cracks here. At least for all of my 30 years. We also have Hardee's and there's a Popeyes across the street from me.

Jack puts sliced cheese on his tacos. This is clearly, clearly wrong.

Fried okra rules you fules. I had some with my jalapeno burger this weekend.

Stence, born in TX, raised amongst the bluegrass = even bettah!

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Ally, that depends who is doing the pouring, though

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Popeye's is maybe the tastiest food in the world if you're incredibly hot and tired and near-dehydrated and then park yourself in the air conditioning. And their sides are so much better than KFC's that I just can't eat KFC anymore.

I'll add Sam's jalapeno burger to the list of somethings nice.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

In your ears though?

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.seabirds.org/falklands/menus/king-penguins.jpg

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Monday, 18 August 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.csulb.edu/~jhrice/b&esmall.jpg

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 18 August 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

To Kill A Mockingbird

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 18 August 2003 21:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Biscuits! (I'm making dinner.)

Also, syrups. The selection of syrups for pancakes, waffles, French toast, biscuits, etc., is staggering.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh my god, I need to go to the south, the only reason that I ever even EAT breakfast is for syrup.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

this thread makes me want to go back home, but not really

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I LOVE Jack in the Box. And their tacos are tasty; what are you guys on to make you think otherwise? My whole friggin' family loves them and we're big sticklers about authenticity. I think maybe you just haven't gotten the ones that are particularly spicy. Those tacos need to have a bite to them in order to be good.

We don't have any Hardee's or Waffle House restaurants locally. We do have Weinerschnitzel, though, which is thoroughly a Sun Belt thing I would imagine. We also have Jason's Deli, which IIRC originated from the South and thus could also fit into this thread. (OMG, their pasta salads. There's this one made with angel hair pasta and featuring chopped avocado and shrimp... *sighs*. It's so big you can share it with someone else, which is a neat thing.

Other localized restaurants here:

Jim's (pretty much an S.A.-only thing)
Bill Miller's (only available in Central & South TX)
Luby's (is it just a TX thing or is it available elsewhere?)
Whataburger (mainly a TX thing)
Taco Cabana (mainly a TX thing)

... and people wonder why so many of us here have weight problems....

― Just Deanna (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:14 (twenty-two years ago)

We had Whataburger in Phoenix. They were pretty good. Paul Westphal was their spokesman for a while.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I just realized nobody on this thread has mentioned BOURBON.

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:16 (twenty-two years ago)

http://i.tsn.com/i/n/radio/makersmark/bottle.gif

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh my god, I need to go to the south, the only reason that I ever even EAT breakfast is for syrup.

I made a list once, just at a run-of-the-mill grocery store that wasn't anything special. I don't think I have a copy, but off the top of my head, it included:

* Maple syrups: fake and two grades of real
* "Indeterminate" syrups labeled things like "waffle syrup" or simply with a brand name -- distinctly different from fake maple syrup, but not just corn syrup either.
* Cinnamon syrup
* Praline syrup
* The fruit flavored syrups: strawberry, blueberry, cherry, apple-cinnamon
* Molasses: light, dark, blackstrap
* Cane syrup (my preference; FUCK, I forgot to tell my friends to bring me some)
* The many kinds of honey you can get now

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yes! And how could I have forgotten THIS:

http://www.centralmarket.com/images/cm/nav/cmLogo.gif

It's a Texas thing, you know. :)

You guys had Whataburger in Phoenix as well? ROCK ON! They're expanding further than I anticipated. I know they originate in Corpus Christi, so hurrah for the area team.

― Just Deanna (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah there was a Whataburger on my way home from school, sometimes we'd stop there. It was next to the gas station that would sell us cigarettes. I loved that street corner.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The last thing I can imagine wanting to eat in Corpus Christi would be a hamburger.

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:23 (twenty-two years ago)

We also have Jason's Deli

Yeah, my ex's dad is from NY but lives in San Antonio now, and this is the only place he'll get cheesecake or deli sandwiches from. I never got around to trying em cause I was so busy with BBQ AND CHACHO'S.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Krispy Kreme (yes it's nationwide now but so is bbq right)

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 18 August 2003 22:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Based on the web site alone, Mellow Mushroom Pizza

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I mean, for fuck's sake, they're totally continuing the Sid & Marty Krofft legacy right here right now, and they MAKE PIZZA!

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I am not so crazy about their sandmiches

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:03 (twenty-two years ago)

In the south you can order a SWEETENED iced tea without getting a dumb look from your waitress...followed by, "you mean peach/mango tea?".

FUCK NO I DIDNT MEAN PEACH/MANGO TEA.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

??? You can do that in New York too, you know.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:06 (twenty-two years ago)

thank god - after reading that I thought "I will never venture north again"

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:07 (twenty-two years ago)

mind you, it's not like I'm ever venturing north again anyway

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Not even to see me? :(

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:11 (twenty-two years ago)

what's the point now? haha

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I immediately regret posting that

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:12 (twenty-two years ago)

has anyone mentioned Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears yet?

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:13 (twenty-two years ago)

cuz they southern

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Hrmph.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:13 (twenty-two years ago)

they are!

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Nice diversion, Rico Suave.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Ive been listening to a mix of Justin Timberlake's "Justified" album and Ice Cube's "Predator". They compliment eachother well. Somehow.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Ding dong el timbre suena
Tu madre abre, que vieja mas buena
Le digo ¡Hola! Pero no para bola
Que se ha creido vieja chola

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Ruffles' Cajun Spice potato chips, back inna day.
Zapp's.
Harry Connick Jr.
Gambit, yo.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:20 (twenty-two years ago)

My fav things about the South in order:

-porch sitting
-double hashbrowns covered
-Beach music
-Link Wray
-Jockey's Ridge
-the junction in Athens, GA which has, like, 4 Waffle Houses about 1/4 of a mile from each other

― Carey (Carey), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Amen, i need a waffle house. Closest one to me now is an hour towards Richmond...and thats just not worth it. So many years i took those bottomless cups of coffee and bitter waitstaff for granted...

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:32 (twenty-two years ago)

if only the south weren't so damned hot!

― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I lived in the South and I do a damned good accent - does it count?

― luna (luna.c), Monday, 18 August 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

God it's so humid. I'm never leaving the house again.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 18 August 2003 23:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I lived in the South and I do a damned good accent - does it count?

I would nominate you as honorary southerner but wasn't actually born there myself, so I'm not sure I can. My father's from the South, maybe I've inherited his title.

And yeah, it's hot, but -- even though I like the AC cooler than most people, etc. -- I'll take the heat over the cold any day. It's never so hot outside that it hurts.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

haha Tep you haven't spent enough time outside

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:30 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, that statement makes me think Tep's never been to New Orleans, much less lived there.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, it depends on just how hot, I guess, but I'll take anything up to a hundred degrees with saturated New Orleans humidity, for hours on end, over ten below plus windchill for ten minutes.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:33 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not that bad! I mean, don't get me wrong, it gets fucking hot, but you sweat, maybe you get woozy (luckily in New Orleans, when it's at its hottest it's rarely bright and sunny) and nauseous. It sucks. But it's better than that "ow, my face feels like it's being frozen into thin sheets which are going to slough off and reform into a Tep puddle in the spring, and the two of us -- Real Tep and Puddle Tep -- will have to fight for the right to the Tep name" thing.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

you are insane. Ten minutes of ten below is not nearly as bad as hours of New Orleans heat.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

And all you southern girls got a way with your words, and you show it

kingfish, you get it.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:46 (twenty-two years ago)

no, Tep's right in the sense that cold is more directly painful than heat, but cold is a lot less dangerous - but one football season spent travelling fm blistering heat to blistering cold in the same woolen uniform with a metal instrument over your shoulder playing 'Rocky Top' over 20 times + assorted other fun tunes - heat can hurt just as bad. I'm not a fan of any extremes.

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

When it's ten below you at least get a new white landscape, which has its charms. Heat is just hot. And besides, in the cold you can layer, you can wear a parka, you can buy silk thermal underwear, whtever it takes. In the heat, you can't get naked, and it wouldn't help if you could.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Bad thing about the South -- hardly ever a justifiable reason to wear a big soft cable-knit sweater.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Millar, you were... I'm going to have to guess... a Civil War soldier who carried his banjo to entertain the troops?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:53 (twenty-two years ago)

At football games?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes that's exactly it, Kenan.

Unsurprisingly, I like the cold and the snow.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:56 (twenty-two years ago)

exactly, except it was a sousaphone

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Carpetbagger.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh! Band! I see!

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 00:59 (twenty-two years ago)

No. Millar is really Bob Log III.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:00 (twenty-two years ago)

i can't stand the NYC heat, i stay indoors all nice and air conditioned. how the hell would i be able to tolerate the Walls of Heat down south?

and i like winter and the cold, thankee much. it's the slavic blood, see.

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Racists.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:01 (twenty-two years ago)

we prefer the term "bigots"

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Seriously, the heat is all well and good and all, right, but like v. surprisingly I prefer wearing turtlenecks and coats and jeans.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I always think that until summer rolls around and I'm like WHOO shorts and T-shirts who gives a fuck.

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm with Tep. It's a southern thing. I'll take heat over cold anyday. That said I nearly died on the drive home today. (Did I mention how my boy passed out driving the other day via heatstroke?) Sitting at lights I was thinking "if this light doesn't change I'm going to run out screaming into the middle of the street just to generate a breeze." By the time I got the keys sitting in my ignition were too hot too touch, just from the sun coming through the windshield.

Luna I dub thee southern.

I love how this thread is almost all about food. I'll introduce the best thing though:

COUNTRY MUSIC!

yee haw.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I refuse to wear shorts outside of the gym or my house.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Me too honey.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I would never wear shorts if I could avoid it. My legs are like sasquatch.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:33 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't tan, i burn. ergo, shorts and guinea teas are out.

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 01:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Millar were you in the UT band?!!!

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 02:18 (twenty-two years ago)

you are insane. Ten minutes of ten below is not nearly as bad as hours of New Orleans heat.

Chicago residents to thread!!!

Oh, wait, they're all outside, enjoying day 25 of our 45 day pseudosummer ... 9 months of miserably-frigid-to-tolerable-but-depressing-cold-and-damp weather is much worse than several months of brain-baking heat ...

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:12 (twenty-two years ago)

No shit, that's why everybody, you know, moves away from here. However, I've come to the conclusion that extreme cold and extreme heat BOTH SUCK EQUALLY.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I think they might. Ask me after this winter. Personally, I don't mind cold, and don't find it one bit depressing. And frankly, I'm looking for solid REASONS to never go outside, instead of just weak excuses.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i like this bourbon better, millar:

http://www.cocktailtimes.com/tasting/bottle/woodford.jpg

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, it may just be that I'm a reaaally skinny guy; extreme cold is just literally more dangerous, oppressive, joy-corroding to me ... heat'll drive me crazy (or is that the humidity, har har) but doesn't make me hate life ... and yeah, I've got waaaay too many excuses to stay inside as it is ...

But how cold are we talking about, anyway? Like gulf stream or otherwise coastally mitigated cold, or wind-whipped no-sun-for-five-months barren-midwestern-plain cold?

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:39 (twenty-two years ago)

The latter.

Which is why you need this:
http://64.95.118.51/images/opti/6e/1b/fddkSpiritsBy_NameAllKnob_Creek_Kentucky_Straight_Bourbon_Whiskey-resized200.gif

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah! I knew it wasn't my fault!

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Southern girls make you feel at home; people are friendly; we send thank-you notes and wonder if you are feeling all right; we actually care about other people and it shows. We cook; we bake; we make you smile. We want to love you. Have a Co-Cola.
--Orbit of rural southeastern North Carolina

― Orbit (Orbit), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 03:54 (twenty-two years ago)

(crying)

I want to touch people!

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 04:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Southern girls make you feel at home; people are friendly; we send thank-you notes and wonder if you are feeling all right; we actually care about other people and it shows.

Sure ... but on some occasions, though, I've found 'southern hospitality' much more venomous by way of condescension + insincerity than good old fashioned northern fuck-off gruffness ...

(Isolated occasions, please understand; I totally see what you're saying, but sometimes the thinking strikes me as about as wishful as how 'plainspokenly friendly' and 'down to earth' Chicagoans get blanketly designated)

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I want to touch people!
Don't give me no lines and keep your hand to yourself!

, I've found 'southern hospitality' much more venomous by way of condescension + insincerity
I've found that this is often the hearer interpreting it through their own lens where the speaker is being perfectly sincere. The hearer isn't acculturated so assumes what they are hearing is bullshit, according to how such speech would be interpreting in their own regional culture.
imho.

― Orbit (Orbit), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 04:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I want to touch you all.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 04:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Hussy.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:01 (twenty-two years ago)

MIKEY'S CLASSIC THINGS ABOUT THE SOUF

1). GRAVEYARDS! RIGHT BY THE ROADSIDE!

2). CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELDS! WITH CANNONS(Forgive me, I'm a history teacher!

3). BIG ASS GLASSES OF SWEET TEA!

4). RELATIVE EASE OF ACCESS TO LIQUOR, FIREWORKS, LIQUOR AND FIREARMS!

5). PIGGLY WIGGLY!

6). TAKING A WEEK TO TELL A STRANGER THE TIME!

― Michael Stuchbery (Mikey Bidness), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:11 (twenty-two years ago)

4). RELATIVE EASE OF ACCESS TO LIQUOR, FIREWORKS, LIQUOR AND FIREARMS!

You forgot liquor!

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:16 (twenty-two years ago)

1). GRAVEYARDS! RIGHT BY THE ROADSIDE!

Is this unusual? Where else would they be?

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:17 (twenty-two years ago)

is that unusual? I'm gaping with horror at the north again

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Piggly Wiggly rules, hoss.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Randalls and H-E-B ran them out of these parts. But I remember them from when I was a kid. Such a happy little pig on their sign! You could just imagine how he would wiggle!

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, sadly, the past couple of decades have seen the decline of nearly all Affiliated Food Stores. Of which PW was one. There are still a couple in the hood I teach in but they are few and far betwee these days.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:24 (twenty-two years ago)

few and far betwee

Ha! I like that. Like they're far apart, and excessively cute.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:25 (twenty-two years ago)

ah fuck off. i'm kinda tipsy and have to be at school in 6 hrs!

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I know! You didn't actually think I was making fun of your spelling, did you? This is me we're talking about.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Our electricity stays on!

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I love H-E-B. Especially on a Saturday night, if I can get to go there and do my grocery shopping on a Saturday night. Their music system plays the most amazing mix of '80s songs and it's so wonderfully exciting shopping to, for example, the Human League's "The Lebanon" or Joboxer's "Just Got Lucky". It delights me to no end.

One truly great thing about the South is that the following people are/were Southerners:

Martin Luther King, Jr. (and his widow, Coretta Scott King)
Medgar and Charles Evers
Tennessee Williams
James Earl Jones
Oprah Winfrey
George Clooney (if you can count KY as the South)
Ron Howard
Will Rogers
Maya Angelou
Leontyne Price
Ray Charles
Otis Redding
Janis Joplin
Buddy Holly

... and I just found out through searching online that one of the few MTV personalities I actually really like still to this day, Tabitha Soren, WAS BORN IN SAN ANTONIO! YES!

― Just Deanna (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 05:53 (twenty-two years ago)

The hearer isn't acculturated so assumes what they are hearing is bullshit

"Your head is full of their language / There's wisdom there you're sure"

(I wondered if this weren't the case.)

― jackson anderville, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 06:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I've found that this is often the hearer interpreting it through their own lens where the speaker is being perfectly sincere.

Maybe, but most people can hear sincerety or the lack thereof through any accent or cultural habits the speaker may have. If Brian says he has encountered rude and slightly sinister Southerners, I see no reason to doubt him. So have I.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 06:16 (twenty-two years ago)

gentility can certainly be weaponized, like anything else ...

― jackson anderville, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 06:24 (twenty-two years ago)

George W. Bush to thread.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 06:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeh ... file 'weaponized' under other nonesteemed words that crack me up ...

― jackson anderville, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 06:52 (twenty-two years ago)

"Weaponized" is a perfectly cromulent word.

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 12:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Southern hospitality is just as overrated as the supposed Northern standoffishness. There are plenty of nice people and plenty of assholes no matter where you are.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Sshh, Ally, you're shattering our mystique! Our mystique!

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 12:46 (twenty-two years ago)

i hate dennmark

― Christian Vasbotn Braaten (Christian Vasbotn Braaten), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 12:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I like D.C. Apparently that's in the south.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

and nordicskillz - you, your children, your children's children: are dead to me

????????????????????

Did I miss something?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Most grocery stores have only a small shelf of karo syrup. Southern grocery stores have an ENTIRE AISLE of karo syrup.

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

the hell is karo syrup?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

DC is technically in the south, according the the Mason-Dixon line...but im going to say that you need to venture a little more southward for my definition of the south.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:13 (twenty-two years ago)

You use Karo Syrup in pecan pies. slurp.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Taco Cabana.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Sonic.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Shlitterbahn.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

It's Schlitterbahn. New Braunfels and the whole of the Hill Country in general to thread! ;)

Also, now that I think about it, once again I must point out that Fredericksburg, TX, is THE place to go for yummy peaches and fun times peach picking. And I'd be more than happy to start up a sign-up sheet for those who want to go peach picking next summer. I've already got Sam's and Luna's names on the sheet; who else? We could go eat barbecue afterward -- it'd be a great day!

― Jane Datsun (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I second Sonic.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

You use Karo Syrup in pecan pies. slurp.

and, according to Bruce Campbell, in fake blood.

sam, would you slurp that?

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

It would bring out the sweet-toothed goth in me, King.

I'd like to add tubing the Guadalupe to what's nice about the South.

― Texas Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

It would bring out the sweet-toothed goth in me, King.

http://www.osric.com/~jeremy/hooray.jpg

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Jane - Sorry about the SCHLITTERBAHN spelling. Its just that that whole area is confusing with their german influence. Like for instance: Bexar County, 'Historical' Gruene, etc. There is a place in Gruene called the Gristmill that serves the best chicken-fried steak in the world...and its the size of a housecat. Mmmmmm...graaaavyyyyy......

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Millar were you in the UT band?!!!

Yes. I was the guy in the front row who kept bringing his horn up on the wrong beat of the cadence and feeling like an out-of-place jackass (but I could play better than 90% of those other dirtbags)

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 20:14 (twenty-two years ago)

"Weaponized" is a perfectly cromulent word.

It will embiggen the heart of the smallest man!

― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 23:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Judging from the southerners and used-to-be-southerners on ILX all people from the south are, like, master rhetoricians or something. No insult intended, it's a good thing! If I was ever on a debate team I'd totally want y'all on my side.

― Dan I., Wednesday, 20 August 2003 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Yer damn tootin'

― Strom Thurman, Ghost of (mawill5), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 00:40 (twenty-two years ago)

when did Strom Thurman die?

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 00:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I hear they buried Strom Thurman in Grant's tomb.

― Dan I., Wednesday, 20 August 2003 00:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Wearing a Neil Young T-shirt.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 00:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Nevermind...that what Ronnie Van Zandt.

― Spinktor the Unmerciful (mawill5), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 00:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Boiled peanuts. Used to eat them at Tybee Beach, Savannah. Now you can buy them in a bag, at Wal-Mart. They're great.

Fried okra is awesome--pick the small ones, roll around in cornmeal, fry. No egg, no breading. One of the best things in the world on a hot day, along with fried green tomatoes.

Cool thread. As do a lot of native southerners (I grew up in Tenn.), I have conflicted feelings about the region. The people in the south are usually nicer, or at least more civil, than those elsewhere. On the other hand, having just moved back to Davidson Co., Tenn. (outside Nashville) I have become re-acquainted with that weird simmering aggression and resentment that so many southerners (men, wimmen too) seem to carry around with them. It's an American trait, obviously, but I do think that southerners of a certain stripe seem to have more of it. I also find it weird that so many people around here affect this super-patriotism when in fact the whole region has always been in opposition to so many "American values." Lack of consciousness?

― Jess Hill (jesshill), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

and nordicskillz - you, your children, your children's children: are dead to me
????????????????????

Did I miss something?

Well, did I?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah Jess all the American flags hanging from the front door, and then a bumpersticker on the truck in the driveway saying "Bein a Rebel's in My Blood" or whatever - i think if this contradiction could be explained we'd have the key to everything

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

the air smells better. maybe it is a subtle difference in native vegetation, but it truly does. and you naysayers who have never noticed southern hospitality must've somehow offended the southerners' sensibilities with your yankee manners.

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 17:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Jane

It's really Dee, or Deanna if you'd like. ;) (See the anagrams thread for more info.)

- Sorry about the SCHLITTERBAHN spelling.

No worries hon. If you don't live around here or have studied German at length, it would be kinda tricky to spell.

Its just that that whole area is confusing with their german influence. Like for instance: Bexar County, 'Historical' Gruene, etc.

Bexar County! You mentioned our county! *laughs* We do have a lot of Germanic influence here in this area, which is both neat and interesting. I'm sure you're aware of the fact that one of the main thoroughfares here in S.A. is called Fredericksburg Rd.; well, the big thoroughfare in my neighborhood is called Wurzbach, which again highlights how thoroughly Germanic peoples have influenced the region.

There is a place in Gruene called the Gristmill that serves the best chicken-fried steak in the world...and its the size of a housecat. Mmmmmm...graaaavyyyyy......

The Gristmill! I've been meaning to try that out. Just need to figure out if Gruene is a short enough distance away for me to drive there sometime soon.

(Boerne is very close by to where I live. I can totally do anything in Boerne. I could also easily handle the drive out to Leon Springs.)

Ahhh, the TX Hill Country....

― Jane Datsun (Dee the Lurker), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Southern identity on the wane

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Southern identity on the wane.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I just realized that my initial post on this thread reads like I think there is nothing great about the South. Oops. No wonder some people got pissed off.

― adaml (adaml), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 20:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Shrimp and grits at Crooks Corner in Chapel Hill, NC.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

Don't steal a television in North Carolina otherwise they'll throw you in prison for 33 years.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 01:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Before I clicked on the link I knew he was black.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 02:17 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

If I was going to do a road trip through the South, and I wanted to take my time and avoid cities and see interesting sights and nature and eat nice food, what route would I take?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I once drove through the Carolinas and Georgia. That was nice.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I live in in South Carolina! That more than justifies the south's existance in my book!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

why would you want to avoid cities?

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Because they're full of sin.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know, maybe I don't. Tell me some good ones.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

And don't say Charlotte because then I'll know you're lying.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

have you ever driven on the Blue Ridge Parkway?

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Like when gygax tried to trick me into going to a gay club in LA.

xpost - I tried to, but it was closed!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Check this out.

What's wrong with gay clubs?

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Other places I have been - Savannah, Memphis, New Orleans, Charleston, somewhere in Virginia.

xpost nothing, but I was asking where I could go to watch football.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

do you not know about KURT WARNER's PICTURE on GAYSPORTSFANCENTRAL.COM?

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes I do. Actually I meant "soccer". Are there "soccer" players on GAYSPORTSFANCENTRAL.COM?

And are the two of us just going to derail every single thread we post today, h? That's my wish.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Your search - gay sports fan central soccer - did not match any documents.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Now that is surprising.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha that pink ball is great.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't be bothered reading through all of this (though I did get far enough to say Dee, we have Weinerschnitzels in CA), but I must mention (even if it's been mentioned already) Dixie Beer.

― luna (luna.c), Thursday, 3 June 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzz/Southerners_Dying_Early

― UART variations (ex machina), Thursday, 25 January 2007 19:38 (nineteen years ago)

not surprising AT ALL

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 25 January 2007 19:52 (nineteen years ago)

Isn't that electoral map a bit outdated now?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 25 January 2007 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

You can say what you like about Southerners, but at least they are not uptight.

― The Real Dirty Vicar (dirtyvicar), Friday, 26 January 2007 14:59 (nineteen years ago)

Except for, like, the Bible Belt, I guess.

― Allyzay doesnt get into the monkeys or vindications (allyzay), Friday, 26 January 2007 15:30 (nineteen years ago)

not everyone in the bible belt is a bible thumper! dirty dirty represent.

― Ms Misery (MissMiseryTX), Friday, 26 January 2007 15:30 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, as I'm well aware, but the numerous bible thumpers there certainly don't class as being freewheelin'.

― Allyzay doesnt get into the monkeys or vindications (allyzay), Friday, 26 January 2007 15:49 (nineteen years ago)

I'm in the "buckle of the bible belt" and we're really liberal, but I reckon that comes from just living in a fairly large city. Go out to the sticks, and you'll find some Dixie Chicks-hatin' folks at every turn.

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Friday, 26 January 2007 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

Southern Schools Serve Funnel Cakes and Pizza for Breakfast

by brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com

I WANT

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 26 January 2007 17:15 (nineteen years ago)

"You can say what you like about Southerners, but at least they are not uptight."

What the fucking hell are you talking about?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:16 (nineteen years ago)

The South is warmer than where I am writing from.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:26 (nineteen years ago)

i have never had want for a ride home or a place to crash in the south.

― chicago kevin (chicago kevin), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:28 (nineteen years ago)

Springs smells (and is) delightful in the South. Nashville smells like fresh laundry.

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:33 (nineteen years ago)

it's really easy to take naps here

― Bernard Snowy (sixteen sergeants), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:35 (nineteen years ago)

awesome awesome food

― Mr. Que (Mr.Que), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:36 (nineteen years ago)

Meat and 3s.
Fried okra.
Turnip greens.

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:39 (nineteen years ago)

Except for, like, the Bible Belt, I guess.

I'm talking about manner and mien rather than world view. Any Southerners I've met all seem pretty laid back, unlike most Northerners.

As an aside, I do love how saying you like Southerners is such a red lines crosser for Northerners.

― Remember Fredericksburg! (dirtyvicar), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:43 (nineteen years ago)

broad generalities are accurate both ways vicar.

― chicago kevin (chicago kevin), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:45 (nineteen years ago)

i have never had want for a ride home or a place to crash in the south.

So, so true.

― B.L.A.M. (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Friday, 26 January 2007 17:58 (nineteen years ago)

"As an aside, I do love how saying you like Southerners is such a red lines crosser for Northerners."

Not a line crossing thing for most people I know, more just a matter of thinking that anyone who would make a generality about an entire region's people (aka "they're all likeable", "they're all laid-back", etc) doesn't really know much about that place or those people.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 26 January 2007 18:03 (nineteen years ago)

Bourbon

― jennyjennyjenny (pullapartgirl), Friday, 26 January 2007 18:07 (nineteen years ago)

seven years pass...

Headed to Dollywood tomorrow!

― Stephen King's Threaderstarter (kingfish), Thursday, 31 July 2014 04:54 (eleven years ago)

Ooh! I've never made it there, but I hear it's fun.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 31 July 2014 05:39 (eleven years ago)

It's weirder than one would think, and probably far more gay than most of its punters realize.

Bitchin roller coasters, too

― Stephen King's Threaderstarter (kingfish), Thursday, 31 July 2014 05:52 (eleven years ago)

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