Sunday, November 14, 2004

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14 NOV 04: MAIL IT IN



We're getting plenty of e-mails these days - which means we have plenty of readers. Thanks to all of you! And we start today with an idea for public safety:



Hey Richard,



I have seen Columbus police officers directing traffic at churches around town. I guess they are doing it for the extra money. Well maybe they can direct all those crazy carts that get pushed around the aisles of Wal-Mart. The "Thin Blue Line could even wear those thin blue vests. "How may I help you?"



Enjoy your site...keep the colors!



ME, MYSELF AND I



Thanks to Me, it works for all of us - no wait, that wasn't how that slogan went....



I've noticed Columbus police doing traffic work outside churches, too. They come in handy at mega-churches like Cascade Hills, where drivers are exiting onto River Road. But for some reason, I never see them putting tickets on double-parked cars at Fourth Street Baptist.



Do police direct traffic at churches "for extra money?" If they're using police cars and they're in uniform, I really don't think so. They would be doing it while on duty - and the worshippers might not be in a mood to give them tips, after putting offerings in the collection plates.



M.M. & I. (what IS that ticker symbol, anyway?) has an interesting idea, having officers direct traffic inside Wal-Mart. For long-time officers, it might bring back some memories - back to when K Mart was king, and people crowded around
"blue light specials."



But I'd be more concerned right now about the cars outside Wal-Mart. Consider the next six weeks at smaller stores like the one on Airport Thruway. Maybe police should treat this like "Thunder in the Valley" in reverse - and have people park at the airport, then take shuttle buses.



(And officers wearing those vests - well, it would give the phrase "thin blue line" a new meaning....)



Our BLOG SPECIAL EVENT also received a couple of replies - and boy, were we embarrassed to see them. First:



Richard,



I noticed that there was a discrepancy in your time. Did you mean 1984?



"Two months later in October 2004(1984?), the late CNN Headline News manager Paul Amos called and offered me a job. I didn't have to think about it long - because by this point, I had become THE radio news department. One person working long days and split shifts - sort of like some gift shops will do it for the next six weeks."



Just Axin...



Very good, Mr. Axin - you chopped me down to size.



I've been writing the blog late at night for awhile - and as politicians love to say, "mistakes were made." I've corrected the one he noted from 11 Nov. The CNN Networks had copy editors to keep writers like me in line - but as you may know, I'm a single guy....



(So sloppy has my writing been that I never explained something I promoted on the blog two weeks ago: the "orange thing hanging from my mailbox." On Halloween weekend, I didn't put a jack-o-lantern outside - I left a pamphlet explaining the pagan origins of Halloween. No one took it. Perhaps the thought of reading scared some children away.)



By the way, Saturday marked 20 years since I started at CNN Headline News. I still have the sportcoat I wore to work that Tuesday, and I thought about wearing it to church this weekend for the fun of it -- but I now know lime-green jackets in November don't really look right.



I've lost track of almost all the people I worked with when I started at CNN. This year, I've been thrilled to restore a friendship online with fellow writer, now public radio reporter, Lisa Napoli. We're open fans of each other -- but I keep waiting for her to call me for that exclusive interview.



Here's one more e-mail about my trip down memory lane - taking my memory [12 Nov] to task:



Bo didn't go to the NFL until 1987, and you claim to have watched him on MNF in 1984? He was still in college, where he won the Heisman in 1985.



Just an FYI.



mm



As I wrote on a message board awhile back, especially fitting for the new millennium: "Roman numerals. They're M-M-good."



MM is right - I had my Monday night football games mixed up. I don't "know Bo." But then again, it's hard for me these days to believe Bo knows the sweet potato pies with his name on them.



I admittedly stopped and puzzled for a moment over what I actually saw on that Monday night in 1984. That's because I remembered seeing Atlanta newspapers around the same time, analyzing a wrong turn Bo Jackson made in a close college game. The fact that they still analyzed it the following Tuesday told me how slow a sports day it was.



A check online just now showed Bo Jackson had a 91-yard at the Seattle Kingdome in November 1987. Since then the Kingdome has been imploded - and if what I hear is accurate, Jackson's arm muscles have fallen to around his waistline.



Since we're talking somewhat about Auburn football - can someone explain why Tiger players were spinning hubcaps in the stands, at the end of Saturday's Georgia game? I certainly hope no trustees bought them sports cars....



Now let's breeze through other items on a breezy fall weekend:



+ "Ritmo Latino" radio returned to the air - only it's the title of a Saturday night show on Georgia Public Broadcasting. So at least the continual commercials for nightclub concerts have stopped....



+ An afternoon drive past the Sports Page bar found two people spray-painting words on the lawn. C'mon now - you can't have end zones for parking lot touch football, that close to traffic.



+ The Columbus Cottonmouths beat Winston-Salem 4-2 - and there were more than 200 penalty minutes in the first period alone. Isn't it nice to see Coach Jerome Bechard has learned from his mistakes, and isn't passing them on to his players?



+ Instant Message to Cascade Hills Church: I know you're trying to be hip and impressive with your "Real Time" telecast. But when you use fancy sound effects to show a phone number during the middle of the sermon, you're distracting from your pastor - not to mention getting on my nerves.



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