Hank, Merle and Waylon. West Asheville.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Pure Treasure


In the video, my brother Miles is the first baby (1969).  I am the second (1971).
 
A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving
 
My mother is a poem
I’ll never be able to write,
though everything I write
is a poem to my mother.
~Sharon Doubiago

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Sheer Magic

I don't know why I hadn't seen Magic Johnson's Hall of Fame speech before now.  His greatest rival, Larry Bird, introduced him.  Just powerful.  To hear what Bird says about Magic, and then what Magic says about Bird is very moving.  And Magic goes on to talk about others.  He was the ultimate team player.  Listen to the remark he makes about his coach, Pat Riley, and take note of the emotion being expressed.  If anybody ever says a man shouldn't cry, share this with them.  People with hearts cry.  Magic has heart.


 
Looking back at my sports-crazed life in the early to mid-80s, if I had to pick a single match-up that exceeded all others, including any Auburn-Alabama games, it was the Lakers vs. Celtics, Magic against Bird.  I was in a zone watching them play!  When the Lakers won, I felt sky high.  And when Bird pulled out victories, it was a dagger in my back.  I have to give my dad tremendous credit; he took me to see Magic play when the Lakers visited Atlanta.  It was a school night even!  What an experience!

I remember when this commercial came out.  I got the Magic shoes, and my brother got the Bird ones.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Stinney Exonerated

A couple of years ago C-SPAN stopped by the Albany (NY) Library Special Collections to take a look at their extensive death penalty archives.  In the aired segment, the library archivist presents some of Watt Espy's records on the execution of George Stinney, the youngest person ever to be put to death in the United States.  Just recently, seventy years after the fact, the 14-year-old South Carolina boy was exonerated of the murder that led to his unfortunate execution.  A big 'thank you' to my relatives near Charleston who brought this story to my attention.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

In the Spirit of Christmas Eve

I've been watching this North Korea cyberattack news pretty closely.  Read a few articles online and then watched some of Anderson Cooper 360, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and a bit of Morning Joe - to me, for American news media, pretty down the middle.  However, what I quickly noticed is that over and over the focus was on the "cyberterrorism" committed by North Korea against Sony and how we as nation should respond ("proportionally") to this aggression.  But one thing I never heard anyone ask is, Can anyone name a Hollywood film ever produced where the plot was for the main characters (let's say, American citizens) to pursue and successfully carry out the assassination of a sitting US President (not a fictional president)?  What would happen if your neighbor down the street used YouTube to produce a low budget independent film - let's stay with a comedy - that resulted in our dear leader (Repub, Dem, whoever) being assassinated?  So, as I watch our news, and how stories are framed, I'm reminded of double standards.  Imagine if I had been in Thailand and their movie industry created a film in which a couple of popular comedians from Iraq escaped the bombing of Baghdad and made their way to the USA, eventually using their wits and charms to somehow work their way into the White House in order to carry out an assassination of then President Bush.....and people worldwide thought it was hilarious and said, "Oh.  It's just comedy.  Don't you believe in free speech?  And isn't he a bad guy anyway?" It would have disturbed me.  And believe me, our government ("we the people") would have reacted.  And where's Jesus in all this?  And Buddha?  Gandhi?  MLK?  And the principles we supposedly hold so dear? How would our moral giants grapple with this?

Later on I was watching Charlie Rose on PBS and heard this interview.  Reminded me that there are some folks who have questions about what's going on.  
 

at the 40 minute mark
"In my view, an incredibly stupid movie. Don't you think we shouldn't be making movies about assassinating sitting leaders.......... There's enough people killing people today in the world. It's not funny to me."


And then the following morning, a lady (incidentally, a Repub) from New York phoned in on a C-Span program and made some interesting remarks. 

Washington Journal News (C-Span) Telephone lines were open for viewer calls on whether the U.S. should respond more aggressively to North Korea following the country’s involvement in a cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

18:55 mark  "You have to remember, when you take a movie that's done here in the United States, and you threaten the leader of their country (North Korea)........North Korea sees a movie come out about killing and assassinating their leader.  Why did we do that to begin with?  It's kicked off everything that's happened.  We do something to antagonize them.  I thought we were supposed to be a better country now."

 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Christmas Spirit

Uncle Watty shared this story about Granddad Major.  I obviously chose not to use the man's name.  The message is what's important - what that man did, how he chose to rectify it and how my grandfather responded.  If that's not a Christmas message, I don't know what is.

" _ _ _ _ _ _ _ shoplifted some toys (from the Espy Mercantile) around Christmas.  Years later he had a conscience, confessed his crime and paid for the stolen goods.  His confession made Daddy (Major) trust him and think highly of him the remainder of his life."    Watty Espy


Major W. Espy

Sunday, December 21, 2014

2014 Hiking, by the numbers

Deep Gap Trail

Courthouse Falls

Weekday Hiking Maniacs was very active in 2014.  We scheduled 101 total meetups, only five of which were not actually walking/hiking events.  Since I like numbers, I decided to share what I personally accomplished this year.  I also wanted to share some ratings.  Keep in mind, for me, the hiking season started in the Spring and ended a couple weeks into November.  I also had about six weeks off due to my travels to Thailand.

# of walks/hikes scheduled:  96
# of walks/hikes in which I participated:  68, one every 2.17 days
City walks:  27 for 126.81 miles, average distance - 4.7 miles
Hikes:  41 for 201 miles, average distance - 4.9 miles
New destinations:  24
Waterfalls:  46 (including some repeats)
Longest distance:  8 miles (Big Butt Trail, Ramsey Cascades, Panthertown Valley)
Highest elevation gain:  2300 feet (Ramsey Cascades)
Most difficult:  Deep Gap Trail (Mount Mitchell), Ramsey Cascades
Favorites:  Roan Highlands, Big Butt Trail, Courthouse Falls

And then I had hikes with my Atlanta cousin and her friend, plus a day of hiking with my Albany, GA brother and his boys.

3 hikes, 12.5 miles, 4.17 miles average distance, 9 waterfalls

Grand Total:  71 walks/hikes, 340.31 miles

Simply the distance alone would be like walking from Headland, AL (my hometown) to Huntsville, AL + another 45 miles.  But, I bet with the elevation I covered, you could add a significant number of additional miles.


To view all hikes I've blogged about, click on 'Hiking' in right sidebar.  Just remember, when you reach the bottom of each page, click older posts to continue.

Friday, December 19, 2014

No More Games

I'm listening to Keith Green right now.  I will be very honest.  Although I find a lot of peace in my spiritual life, especially when I'm at a low point, I just don't have a lot of belief in organized church.  I don't really even go, and I'm happier than ever.  I remember a slow shift years back (early '90s) when people in Birmingham would ask if I was a Baptist and my answer was, "No, I'm a Christian."  I'd do that just to throw them for a loop a bit to point out the divisions among Christians.  Later - and this is long before I started this current journey overseas - people would just ask if I was a Christian, and I'd say, "No, I'm a believer."  I did it for the shock value more than anything. In scripture, Christ condemned church-going people more than others. I just think that organized religion and church is a game. I don't want to play games anymore.

- from an e-mail I sent my brother in 2003
 
 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Birthday Tribute - Mark C. Espy, Sr.

Today Dad would be 71 years old.  In his honor, I decided to post a couple of interesting videos.  In the first, he's with my sister Leslie at the Mitchell Street home (circa 1967) and then with my brother Miles and sister Leslie inside the newly built Solomon Road home (circa 1970).  I made the second video inside Dad's office in 2012, just weeks before he retired.  Great memories! 

Was thinking I'd like to use my camera to shoot a video of Dad talking a bit in the HNB boardroom, mainly about bank history, using portraits and documents on walls as a backdrop and talking points.  Just didn't happen.  We ended up doing a long interview on his porch, which turned out to be wonderful.





Sunday, December 14, 2014

Thursday, December 11, 2014

We all wear a mask

 
Shortly after Robin Williams died, these were some quick thoughts I expressed in an e-mail.   Of course, since then, more has come out.  My view was limited then, and remains so today.  However, maybe I touched on a few things.

boy he was talented.  depression is the silent killer.  i think he just saw the world as it is at times - cruel, dark, inhumane.  i guess one clue was the years of drug use and stuff.  just shows fame, money, big houses can't always drive darkness away.  in some ways, it took courage for him to go out on his own terms.  feel sorry for his kids.....but makes you wonder how close they all were anyway.

A few days later, just outside the temple gate at Wat Arun in Bangkok, we noticed a message up on a community bulletin board.  It was about Robin Williams' death.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Tom York Interviews Watt Espy

In the early '80s Watt Espy gave an interview on The Tom York Morning Show, a popular program that aired for 32 years on Channel 6 in Birmingham (now owned by FOX).  I've heard from a few people that they remember seeing Espy's interview.  However, I can't seem to find a copy of it.  Hoping that this blog post might magically assist me!  To learn a bit more about Tom York, click here.

York (left)

Watt Espy

Click here for an interview Charlie Rose did with Byron York, Tom's son.

I got this email from Byron York:

I'm sorry to tell you that there are not any archives of The Morning Show.  As I understand it, whenever the show was taped, the tape was reused to tape another one the next week.  At some point, they were thrown away.  It's a terrible thing, but that's the situation.  So your uncle's interview was not preserved.

Sorry I can't help you, and I wish you the best with your blog.

Best,

Byron York

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

When Vinyl Ruled

We had these two LPs in our home, and they got played quite a lot on our portable record player.  I remember sitting in my sister's bedroom, on her bed, playing Centerfold and Freeze Frame by The J Geils Band. This was still a good couple of years I guess before cassettes became more popular.