Les Jones

SouthKnoxBubba Bait

Friday, August 5th, 2005 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Hey, Bubba! If you started blogging again you could do a special All Dirty Birds edition of Friday Bird Blogging. You could have the Tit Mouse, the Boobie, the Double-breasted Cormorant, the Woodcock, the Nuthatch, the Red-headed Woodpecker, the Sap Sucker, and the Swallow.

Folks, if that doesn’t get him back, nothing will.

LATER: Big Orange Michael has a Tailgate Party tribute to Bubba, though I should warn you that it is entirely devoid of juvenile humor.

New RTB Site

Monday, July 25th, 2005 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

The new Rocky Top Brigade site is www.rockytopbrigade.org. Thanks to everyone who’s keeping this alive.

RTB Updates

Friday, July 22nd, 2005 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

With Bubba’s site gone people are scrambling to salvage the Brigade. Michael Silence and SayUncle have more.

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Friday, February 18th, 2005 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Thomas Nephew has the Volunteer Tailgate Party with the best recent posts from the Rocky Top Brigade, and Best of the Rocky Top Brigade 2004.

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Friday, January 21st, 2005 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Big Orange Michael is hosting the current Volunteer Tailgate Party, a roundup of the best articles from Rocky Top Brigade blogs.

RTB News Page

Tuesday, December 28th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

SouthKnoxBubba used RSS feeds to create a combined Rocky Top Brigade Sampler for me and my fellow nogoodniks.

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Friday, July 23rd, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Big Orange Michael has the best of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Tailgate Party XXIX

Thursday, May 27th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Stoney and Mdeb have this week’s roundup of the best of the Rocky Top Brigade.

RTB Membership Update

Sunday, April 25th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Bubba has the latest additions to the Rocky Top Brigade.

Nashville Files Blog

Baseball Widow

And last but not least, Cas Walker’s Coonhunter’s Journal, a Knoxville political gossip column, carrying on the spirit of Cas Walker.

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Friday, April 2nd, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Barry has the April Fool’s edition of the Volunteer Tailgate Party.

Bonus! RTB founder SouthKnoxBubba has an exclusive interview with Kevin “CalPundit” Drum, who now has a gig at the Washington Monthly.

Web Censorship in China

Saturday, March 27th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 2 Comments |

RTBer Brian Ruckle, a Tennessee blogger living in China, reports that the great firewall of China has blocked access to Blogs.com and Typepad.com blogs. Blogspot.com blogs were already blocked.

China has partially, hesitatingly embraced some free market reforms, but a free market depends on the free flow of information (otherwise you get inefficient markets). If China wants to succeed economically, they’re going to have to accept that economic freedom and political freedom go hand in hand. “Restrictions on the free flow of information” is one of the seven signs of a non-competitive state.

RTBers Taking Over the News

Monday, March 15th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 2 Comments |

Katie Allison-Granju is now online news editor for WBIR-TV.

Donald Sensing has an editorial in the current Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.

This is in addition to CJ, Barry, Bill, and Glenn, all of whom work in the media, either full time or periodically. Did I miss anyone?

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Friday, March 5th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Teresa has the latest Tailgate Party at Hatamaran.

Tailgate Party

Thursday, February 19th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 22 Comments |

Welcome to the Tailgate Party, a collection of the best posts from Tennessee bloggers for the past two weeks.

Bill Hobbs, a long-time opponent of increased cable TV prices and increased control of cable TV, looks at recent shenanigans in the Nashville legislature.

Deb at SugarFused has a boyfriend-girlfriend financial transaction failure.

Elizabeth at Busy Mom explains how to start a riot at McDonald’s.

Hatamaran has found the Scooby Doo Mystery Mobile. (And if you like old vans, you’ll love this one.)

Buddy Don reveals all in “life of buddy don, chaptur 106: true romants in a paris horehouse.”

Aaron Chapman of The Golden Calf writes a short paper introducing readers to the Blogosphere.

Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit examines the future of blogging for Tech Central Station.

Brian of Voluntarily in China thinks that the DVD pirates are doing Hollywood (and the U.S.) a great service. He also points out the great service China is doing the U.S. via actress Zhang Ziyi.

SayUncle wonders why kids don’t know their civil rights when confronted by the police.

Queen Medb remembers her friend Katie.

2004 Election

Jay Johnson of Drawing Dead suggests Tennessee Democrats give a write-in vote to Governor Phil Bredesen.

A Moveable Beast says of John Edwards recent stop in Knoxville, “I have met the future, it is good, and it has a great smile, too.”

Now that Dean is out of the race CJ at Up for Anything updates his rhyme to “And Then There Were Four.”

Janet Dagley Dagley discovers that one of her friends is that rare and mysterious creature, the swing voter.

Chris at My Quiet Life defends John Kerry and the Winter Soldier investigation.

Guy Montag wonders aloud, “Why No Democrat Voter Registration at Daytona 500″? On a related note, SayUncle says that “appealing to Nascar dads is Democrat codespeak for appealing to racism.”

A few days after explaining why I wouldn’t vote for Kerry, I defended him on the intern allegations.

War in Iraq

Thomas of Newsrack takes another look at Iraq and WMDs.

Granny Rant discusses the role of journalism in the war.

Gay Marriage

Manish of Damn Foreigner reports from San Francisco City Hall on the gay marriages being performed this week.

Peggy at A Moveable Beast is planning a trip to Massachusetts in May for nuptials.

Thomas at the Newsrack thinks you should oppose the Marriage Amendment.

Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping - the only RTBer I know of who has actually performed a marriage ceremony - looks at the gay marriage controversy in light of the changes in heterosexual marriage these past 40 years.

Strange Things

Brian of Resonance notes a school that is regulating the number of bathroom breaks.

Goobage explores the Tao of Codes.

Eating Strange Things

? at Bugly writes about an incident not covered in any published Charlie Daniels song.

StraightWhiteGuy reminisces on MREs.

Granny Rant brings up some uncomfortable thoughts about eating cloned animals and, uh, other stuff.

Tailgate Party

Thursday, February 5th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Adam Groves has the Super Bowl Edition of the tailgate party.

Pistol Night for the Rocky Top Brigade

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 7 Comments |

What

We’ve talked about it before. Let’s do it. It’s time to get the RTBers in Knoxville together to shoot.

Who

Members of the Rocky Top Brigade and their friends. After the first month we may open it up to readers.

Note: The pistol range only allows access to those 21 or older.

When

Tuesday, February 10. Come between 6:00 and 7:00. The range closes at 9:00, and most people will be done long before then. When you check in, let someone know you came for the RTB shoot and get a name badge so we can put a name to a face.

I’d expect this to be a monthly event, generally on Tuesday nights since that’s Ladies Night at the local range. (And yeah, Ladies Night at a pistol range is pretty funny.)

Where

Guncraft Sports off of Lovell Road in Knoxville. Here are directions and a map.

If you’ve never been to Guncraft Sports

If this is your first time at Guncraft, they require you to take a 15 minute safety and range orientation. There is a one-time orientation fee of $10.

Guncraft provides free eye protection and hearing protection. They rent pistols for $7.50 ($5.00 for members) and sell ammo and targets. The rental fee allows the use of an unlimited number of rental pistols in that session. If you rent their pistols, you have to buy their ammo, which costs around $10 for 50 rounds of centerfire reloads. You can, of course, bring your own pistol and ammo.

Range time is $10. Women shoot free on Tuesdays. I have six guest passes I’ll give to the first six men who have never been to Guncraft - you’ll still need to pay the $10 orientation fee, but your range time will be free.

If you’re new to guns and shooting

We welcome anyone who is new to guns and shooting sports. When you go through orientation, let your instructor know that you’re new to guns. When you rent a gun, or someone lets you shoot their gun, let them know that you’re new to all of this. Ask them to show you how the gun operates, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Safety

Remember the basic rules of gun safety:

• Treat every gun as if it’s loaded
• Never point a gun at anything unless you want to put a hole in it, OR, Keep your gun pointed in a safe direction (down range)
• Never put your finger in the trigger guard until you’re ready to put a hole in something
• Don’t shoot unless you’re sure of your target and what’s behind it

Those are the most basic rules. For more safety information, visit the NRA’s Web site.

Tapestry

Friday, January 23rd, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Amber Li at Voluntarily in China has finished a gorgeous hand-made tapestry. Amazing.

Tailgate Party is Up

Thursday, January 22nd, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Janet Dagley Dagley has this week’s Volunteer Tailgate Party, featuring the best posts from the Rocky Top Brigade for the past two weeks.

LATER: I emailed Janet, and it turns out she’s cousin to Nancy Dagley, if any friends-of-Nancy are reading this.

New Elephant Stomping Ground

Saturday, January 17th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Justin has thrown off the surly bonds of Blogger and has a new address and new digs at http://elephantrants.blogs.com.

RTB In the News in Memphis

Saturday, January 10th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Mike Hollihan writes:

Kevin of LeanLeft and I (Half-Bakered) were interviewed by the local
alt-weekly, The Memphis Flyer, for their Annual Manual. The article is
on blogging and also includes comments from Atrios. While I did mention
the RTB, the writer did not include it. You can read the story here:

http://www.memphisflyer.com/annmanual/media_fea.asp

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Thursday, January 8th, 2004 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Damn Foreigner has the new Volunteer Tailgate Party, a collection of the best of the Rocky Top Brigade for the past two weeks.

Jane at Classless Warfare is inviting bloggers to join in on a diet. I started a diet after the New Year’s, so I may jump onboard.

Also on the New Year’s resolution front, Deb is trying to quit smoking. I gave up coffin nails five years ago, so I feel for her. Zyban helps.

LATER: BTW, my New Year’s resolution (besides the diet) is to not drink any booze for the month of January. It’s a good way to moderate, and like VodkaPundit I’m trying to knock up a gal named Melissa.

Volunteer Tailgate Party

Tuesday, December 30th, 2003 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

CJ at Up for Anything has the latest tailgate party.

Tailgate Party XVII

Thursday, December 11th, 2003 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | No Comments |

Big Stupid Tommy has the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party.

Blogger Awards Poll

Saturday, December 6th, 2003 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 8 Comments |

WizBang has a poll for best bloggers. There are categories by topic (liberal, conservative, humor), and by size (playful primatess, large mammals, marauding marsupials, etc.).

Lots of Rocky Top Brigade members are nominated, including yours truly. (Thanks to whoever nominated me!). Here are the RTB members nominated for each category. Click on the links to vote.

Best Overall Blog
- InstaPundit

Best New Blog
- Rush Limbaughtomy

Best Liberal Blog
- SouthKnoxBubba
- Lean Left

Best Conservative Blog
- InstaPundit (though I don’t think he or most conservatives would agree with the categorization; why no small “L” libertarian category?)
- One Hand Clapping

Best Media/Journalist Blog
- HobbsOnline

Best Large Mammals Ecosystem Level Blog
- SayUncle

Best Marauding Marsupials Ecosystem Level Blog
- AlphaPatriot (one of the most underrated bloggers in the Rocky Top Brigade, IMHO)

Best Adorable Rodents Ecosystem Level Blog
- A Moveable Beast
- Damn Foreigner
- Les Jones
- Up for Anything

Best Flappy Birds Ecosystem Level Blog
- Adam Groves
- Inn of the Last Home
- Resonance
- SugarFused

Congratulations to all of the nominees. It’s amazing how many Tennessee bloggers are on the list. Thanks to InstaPundit for inspiration and SouthKnoxBubba for organization.

LATER: one oddity: according to the notes, you can vote once every 12 hours until December 14th. Weird. Vote early and often.

LATER STILL: I checked, and the cookie is actually for 24 hours, not 12.

New Tailgate Party, Congrats to Bubba

Friday, November 28th, 2003 | Rocky Top Brigade | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Buddy Don has the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party.

SouthKnoxBubba has passed the quarter million visitor mark, and has evolved to be a playful primate on the TTLB link ecosystem, meaning his is one of the 100 most-linked sites in the blogosphere. Congrats, Bubba.