Jerry Reed dies at age 71

From the Miami Herald:

Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit," has died of complications from emphysema at 71.

His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday.

"He's one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That's the way I feel about him," Moore-Reed said.

Reed was a gifted guitarist who later became a songwriter, singer and actor.

As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, he had a string of hits that included "Amos Moses," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "East Bound and Down" and "The Bird."

In the mid-1970s, he began acting in movies such as "Smokey and the Bandit" with Burt Reynolds, usually as a good ol' boy. But he was an ornery heavy in "Gator," directed by Reynolds, and a hateful coach in 1998's "The Waterboy," starring Adam Sandler.

He had a long way to go...and a short time to get there....

Monster Garage lives again.

Monster Garage was a popular television show for the Discovery Channel hosted by Jesse G. James. A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise builds a "monster machine."

Despite its huge ratings success, Monster Garage was cancelled in 2006 after Jesse G. James lost interest in the show shortly after his marriage to movie star Sandra Bullock. Jesse had grown so bitter that he did not even appear in the Finale. Obviously the show could not be produced without its sole architect, and so James rode into the sunset.

My favorite Discovery TV show behind Mythbusters. It left this world way too soon, IMHO. However, it lives again on Thursday nights on TLC. The show has been shortened into a 30 minute show, removing a lot of the drama, but keeping the core building and machining. There are two episodes run back to back. Right now, season one is running. School Bus/Pontoon and Geo Tracker/Baloon was on last night.

Free speech ends with a noodly appendage.

From http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=56826&provider=gnews

Every Wednesday afternoon for two years now, a group of about eight Cumberland County residents put on a display of free speech right in front of Cumberland County's courthouse in Crossville.Advertisement

"This is what American citizenship is. We're patriotic when we come out here," Herb Muenstermann said. "We just think there should be peace, rather than war."

But every day, 24 hours, seven days a week, free speech shines through the lawn monuments in the courthouse's yard.

War messages, a miniature Statue of Liberty, and even the now-famous flying spaghetti monster grace the landscape.

Ariel Safdie, the artist who put the spaghetti monster on the courthouse lawn, says she originally put it up as an expression of freedom of speech.

Since a 10 News story a few weeks ago, the story has gotten national exposure, even hitting the pages of Rolling Stone magazine.

You can read Safdie's blog about the "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" here.

For locals who want to check it out, it's best to eat it up while you can. All the monuments won't be around much longer.

"At the end of this month, all displays have to come down," said Joe Gittings, a Crossville resident who joined in the anti-war demonstration.

The displays to be removed include one that Gittings helped build. It's a memorial honoring the casualties of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Model dog-tags represent each American life lost.

It stands just a few yards from the spaghetti monster.

"I don't want to hurt any artist's feelings, but I don't think it (the spaghetti monster) did anything for anybody," Muenstermann said. "But, when I see those dog tags, I fight tears."

Thursday, the commission voted to eliminate all permanent displays. They say they'd like to keep the green space green and not detract from the courthouse.

Safdie says she has no problem with the commission's decision.

"As long as the county gives equal opportunity, it has to be everything up or nothing up," she said.

If you don't know who the Flying Spahetti Monster is, you need to read up on this gracious and delicious diety. May you be touched by his noodly appendage.

Mandles

Manly smells for manly men:



My Favorite:

11 years later, hell freezes over