January 7, 2012

One week ago there was a party on Head Avenue with a few thousand of my closest friends. The Possum Drop was an overwhelming success. Kudos to Danny Welch for his leadership and all the volunteers that made the annual event bigger and better than ever. The city got some positive press coverage and I met a number of people who drove hours to get here. Mayor Bridges introduced me to three medical administration majors from the University of Arkansas Little Rock. They had read about the event and decided Tallapoosa was the place to be on New Year's Eve. They expressed how much they enjoyed the hospitality. The entertainment of the band Cotton Road and Elvis tribute performance artist Eric Schneider made the night quite special. Speaking of Elvis, the king would have turned 77 tomorrow. Elvis has been gone for almost 35 years and is more popular than ever in music and merchandise sales. Only his former son in law the King of Pop outsells the King of Rock and Roll. Do you remember when after Elvis died, there were people claiming that he was still alive? A woman out of Hall County wrote a wacky book detailing how Elvis faked his death. I had lunch in the 80s with Pastor Rex Humbard who preached Elvis' funeral and I also talked extensively with the late Hovie Lister of the Statesmen and Masters V and they both assured me that Elvis was the body in the casket and not a wax figure. I still was unsure that Elvis had passed away until Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson. I knew then that Elvis had succumbed to pills and fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I took Presley and Callie to Memphis three years ago. I took them to Stax Records where Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Isaac Hayes, and Rufus Thomas made the R & B hits that I still love today. We went to Graceland. If you have never been, you should know that Elvis loved naugahide and shag carpet. I didn't do the traditional cuisine of the new year such as black eyed peas, collards, and hog jowl. I fired a turkey breast. I heard Bobby Gaines on Monday morning on WKNG saying eating anything like turkey, chicken, etc on New Year's Day was bad luck. So far I twisted my ankle walking under a ladder, broken 3 mirrors and twenty five black cats have taken up residence at my house. Did any of you make resolutions for 2012? I applaud any of you giving up smoking. I cheer any of you who have vowed to exercise regularly. I've hid the television remote and that is going to be my exercise for the year. Remember the days before remote control? Can you recall when the only person most of us knew that had a color television set in Tallapoosa was Willie Cook? 2012 is going to be the year that I make a more sincere effort to lose weight. I read a study a few days ago out of Brown University and an organization called the Obesity Society. I am not kidding. There is such an organization. I am hurt that they never invited me to join. I've been qualified for years. The findings say that it is important to eat breakfast regularly, walk about an hour a day, weigh weekly. The study also says to count calories and fat grams and limit eating out to an average of three times a week. They also said to watch less than 10 hours of television a week. I am trying to cut back on 10 hours of television a day. I will be watching television on Monday night when the BCS Championship game is played in New Orleans. Louisiana State University is number one in the nation and narrowly beat the Crimson Tide a couple of months ago in Tuscaloosa. I truly believe that Alabama will win the game by a touchdown. I went on line earlier this week and the cheapest tickets for the game I saw were about $1,400 dollars a piece. The Atlanta Falcons have had a pretty good year and are in round one of the NFL playoffs tomorrow at the Meadowlands facing the New York Giants. Go Birds! Classes for the Spring semester begin this week at Kennesaw State. I am suiting up with shoulder pads and a helmet for the first day of class. It is a brand new year and we only have 358 more days to get ready for the next Possum Drop.