3 APR 05: PUT IT ON PAPER

No one mentioned it at church Saturday. Absolutely no one. Did the people in my congregation not see my name in the Ledger-Enquirer? Or do they all consider it a sin to read newspapers on the seventh-day Sabbath?

Let's backtrack a second. Did YOU see my name in Saturday's Ledger-Enquirer? I dropped a hint about it in Friday's entry - the "interview with a rather interesting character." My apologies to fellow blogger Sandy Johnson, but I was NOT talking about you.

The Faith and Spirit section of the newspaper had an article on bloggers. The Ledger-Enquirer's Allison Kennedy interviewed me for the article Wednesday. I was thrilled to see she spelled my name correctly - something one church deacon had trouble doing for years on announcement bulletins.

Allison Kennedy's article was about "religious" or "spiritual bloggers." But she pointed out something regular readers already know: we cover far more than spiritual matters here. Yet this blog occasionally acts like some ministers - you know, crossing the line from preaching to meddling.

How interesting to read Allison Kennedy's description of our humor here as "subtle and dry." After all the rain of the last week, it's nice to know I'm offering a welcome alternative....

I noticed one error in Allison Kennedy's reference to this blog. The Kenneth Walker shooting was NOT in "December 2004." No matter what critics may say, Columbus civil rights leaders have shown a lot more patience than that.

During Wednesday's interview, Allison Kennedy suggested my blog has a wide range of readers around Columbus. I took a close look at the article, hoping she'd drop some names - but she didn't even put the name of my blog in it, much less the Internet address.

I tried every sort of Google search I could Saturday night to find another blog mentioned in the Ledger-Enquirer article. But Columbus Water Works employee Sandy Johnson simply didn't come up. Maybe his more controversial posts are turning into that fertilizer I heard about the other day....

Sandy Johnson's blog was mentioned at the top of Allison Kennedy's article, apparently because he criticized the recent "iGod" series at Cascade Hills Church. I wondered about that series, too - because the commercials simply looked too good for anyone in Columbus to have done them, much less a church.

The article also mentioned a Columbus woman named Kate, who uses the name "Abbeyrhoade" on blogs. I couldn't find her blog, either - but I found an online biography, listing her marital status as "involved." That could mean many things, especially for people who watched "Sex and the City."

BLOG UPDATE: How about those Cottonmouths! Columbus has a champion hockey team, after finishing a two-game final-round sweep of Macon Friday night. Hit the road, Trax - and don't you come back no more....

I was planning to go to a third game tonight at the Civic Center, had it been necessary. But the Cottonmouths prevented that, with a 3-2 overtime win over Macon. The Snakes went a perfect five-for-five in the playoffs - setting a standard we challenge all car repair workers to match.

And did you see the box score of Friday night's cup-winning game? The Civic Center attendance was 4,579! It could take the Columbus Catfish all of April to match that....

Remember the last time the Columbus Cottonmouths won a hockey title? It was 1998 in Wichita - and Robbie Watson was there, reporting on team members growing beards during the playoffs. Now Watson hosts "TalkLine" on WRCG, and sometimes sounds like she wants to pull out the hair of all Democrats.

Now for our next trick, let's see if the Riverdragons can match the Cottonmouths' success. They're still first in the N.B.D.L., and beat Huntsville at home Saturday night. But with a player who went to Yale whose name is pronounced "Yankee," it might be tough attracting a loyal crowd.

Now some other quick things before I get to bed, to avoid losing an hour's sleep:

+ Columbus-area Catholics held special services, to mark the death of Pope John Paul II. Where's Walter Cronkite at a time like this? It would be great to hear him announce: "The papal preparations for the passing of the popular Polish pontiff proceeded posthaste."

+ Spirit-Filled Ministries in Columbus hosted a "Gift of Life" gospel concert, endorsing organ donations. I presume the people passing the offering plates wore rubber gloves for this....

+ Both Riverwalks remained mostly flooded Saturday evening when I went out to jog -- so I ran around them as best I could. As I told some friends earlier in the day, I have trouble jogging in galoshes.

(The flood water was SO HIGH that ducks actually were floating on the Columbus Riverwalk, instead of waddling. So why wasn't the AFLAC duck out there with them - maybe afraid of getting injured?)

+ WRBL's late news hinted a member of the "family" became married. It turned out to be the daughter of Phil Scoggins - which was quite a relief to those of us still dreaming of a date with Amy Giuliano.

+ "U.S. News and World Report" ranked the Auburn University pharmacy school 25^th in the country. So how can Auburn move up in the standings? Can the professors challenge other schools to a "fastest-filler" prescription contest?

+ Bob Sanders marked his 50^th anniversary on the air at Auburn radio station WAUD-AM. It's hard to imagine someone working at a radio station 50 years - especially since these days, stations seem to change owners about every five.

+ Instant Message to the "Blessed Hands" beauty shop on Buena Vista Road: about your radio ad offering a "Black History Month" special -- did I miss the proclamation extending that month from February to April?

SONG OF THE DAY: It's amazing how songs come to a musician's mind. Watching a TV commercial Friday suddenly brought new words to the tune "I'm Getting Married in the Morning":

John Boy and Billy in the morning -

Rock music playing all the day.

103's Rockin'!

Some find it shockin'!

So tell nice children -- stay away!

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