Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give a Ham

As referenced in my blog entry of last week, I was "lucky" enough to win a canned ham from the Floyd Country Store. This week Taryn and I thought we'd be brave and actually try this thing. We had bought some sort of premade mashed potatoes and thought ham and mashed potatoes sounded like a good meal.

Oh were we wrong. Taryn was disgusted by the gelatinous coating and the odd bubbles found in the meat. She chickened out and didn't partake in the fine canned ham. In my first foray into canned hams, I realized that, while the taste isn't terrible, the texture is just plain frightening. It's very inconsistent from normal ham-like texture to chewy to, I don't know, just plain icky. And sadly, the potatoes were bad, too. Really bad.

My culinary advice: Don't eat canned hams or premade mashed potatoes.

Everybody Get Foot Loose

In the continuing saga of this past weekend, I thought I'd share another photo from the Floyd Country Store. (See blog entries and links of the store below.) Part of the goings-on at Floyd's weekly Friday Night Jamboree held at the Country Store is the clogging, or what some might call flat footin'. I watched intently as people, young and old, would try their hand, um, feet, at this traditional dance of Appalachia. Some were pretty good. Others, not so much. But all seemed to have a good time. Just take a look at this picture and draw your own conclusions about a Friday night in Floyd.

Check back for info and pics about Galax, Va.

Hammin' It Up

OK, so in my last blog entry, I mentioned the canned ham I won at the Floyd Country Store last Friday. Just to brag about this gift bestowed upon me from the pork gods, a photo of the popular pork product is right here. Can you believe my luck? In all the drawings I have entered from iPods to vacations to gift certificates, I finally win ... a canned ham. Thanks to the good folks at the Floyd Country store. And if you have any recipes for canned ham, let me know!!

More photos and commentary about the weekend to come.

Fun in Floyd

On Friday, Taryn and I visited Floyd, Va. After a quick stop at Harvest Moon, we had lunch at the Blue Ridge Restaurant, which featured classic homestyle Southern food. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging around the town, going to Farmer's Hardware, Schoolhouse Fabrics, The Pickin' Porch, an antiques shop some galleries and then to dinner at Oddfella's, where the band Avatar played Irish music.

Friends Ken and Sue came down from Roanoke for dinner and then we all four went to the Floyd Country Store. Several bands played, including the Bubbatones, seen here. And before the night was over, turns out I was the big winner. They had a drawing, and my number was called. Now I am the owner of a fine canned ham. Mmmm mmm. Can't wait to dig in to my packaged pork product!

Stay tuned for more pictures and info about last weekend.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Well, it's been another busy week and the weekend is almost here. I'm taking off work a bit early today and heading to the town of Floyd, Va. After Taryn and I hit a few of the businesses in the area we'll be joining friends Ken & Sue at Oddfella's for dinner and some Irish music. From there it will be a short jaunt to the Floyd Country Store to soak up some Appalachian culture.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day, and check in later for more on the Floyd adventure. Maybe I'll actually have some pictures up!

Wow, time has really slipped away from me again. Hard to believe it's been so long since my last post. I had to finish a big writing assignment for my MFA program and have been generally busy with a variety of things. Perhaps I can get in a couple new posts this week, though.

I did enjoy the warm weather we had over the weekend. Nice to soak up some sun and wear shorts for a couple days. Of course, cooler weather is on the way. Ahhh, spring.

A Voice of Reason

After the complete hack job by WSET Wednesday night in its "Christ on Campus" story (see posts below for more on the so-called "controversy"), The Roanoke Times provided an intelligent editorial on the matter today. Thanks, though, to WSET for reminding me why I generally dislike broadcast "news" and rarely watch local "news" (read: five weather reports with a few poorly reported stories mixed in).

Do They Want To Grow Up To Be Fox News?

Wow, I just watched a piece on "Christ on Campus" on WSET Channel 13 News out of Roanoke/Lynchburg (yes, THAT Lynchburg, home of Liberty University and Jerry Falwell). It seemed clear to me that the Channel 13 News "reporter" who came to campus had an agenda before he stepped foot onto Radford University. (For more about this so-called "controversy," see the posts below.)

First, some background. The reporter called the creator of "Christ on Campus," Christian Keesee, to set up an interview and then asked Christian for names and numbers of those who opposed the toon. Christian gave him the info for the people who had loudly opposed him and his toon. Do you think the reporter asked Christian for names and numbers for those who supported the toon? Nope. The reporter talked to Whim Executive Director Andrew Lent. Did he use any information gleaned from that interview in the story? Nope. On the Whim message boards, are there many more people who post supporting Whim and "Christ on Campus" than those who oppose? Yep. In the facebook group that was started to oppose "Christ on Campus" how many students have joined out of more than 9,000 students enrolled at RU? Last I checked the number was around 40 - 45.

Bottom line, "Christ on Campus" has NOT been a campus-wide controversy, and WSET's portrayal of the story was incredibly one-sided. A true hack job. WSET, like most broadcast news, is a disgrace. Like Fox News, they decide what they want the story to be and then make the story fit their mold.

The Roanoke Times, on the other hand, had a much more balanced follow-up story in this morning's paper. Too bad the reporter from WSET and his bosses didn't read The Roanoke Times article to get an idea of the real story. And for that matter, RU's student newspaper, The Tartan, had a better story than WSET.

Not that I will probably watch Channel 13 News again, but if I do, I will wonder if the story they present is true or just the spin created by some ethically challenged reporter.