I recently discovered a 24-year-old reality TV show, and I am obsessed. Streaming live for free on the internet since 2012, this show airs most days between 9 a.m. and noon from January to the first few days of April. Occasionally there are special episodes that run longer or even air at night, and there … Continue reading My new favorite reality TV show
Spoiler alert: Do not read any further if you do not wish to have knowledge that spoilers will ruin your ability to enjoy reading books, going to plays, watching television or spending the evening at the cinema. This post is a spoiler alert about the existence of spoiler alerts. You have been warned. Read further … Continue reading Spoiler alert
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, I recently spent 53.2 hours, give or take a few minutes, in the charming little town of Bluebell, Alabama. Never heard of it? Neither had I until a few weeks ago. Carla and I just finished a pandemic binge of “Hart of Dixie” on Netflix. We’re always late on pop culture … Continue reading New South TV
I get my news from Will McAvoy. The fact that he’s a fictional news anchor and the events he’s reporting on are two years old is really immaterial. My good friend, Bob, gave me season one of the HBO series “The Newsroom” on Blu-ray for my birthday this year, and it took me and Carla … Continue reading News? What news?
I used to work for a South Carolinian who issued colorful quips and witticisms the way most people speak casual greetings. One of Ben’s favorites was “Words mean things.” This week the Internet has been abuzz with the controversy surrounding the words used by Southern cooking diva Paula Deen. The brouhaha over Paula’s admission in a deposition that … Continue reading Words mean things
They’re bearded. They’re quotable. They’re camouflaged. They’re armed. They’re wildly popular. They are the Robertsons. Unless you manage to completely avoid all media – other than New South Essays, of course – then you have probably seen or heard about the Robertson family. The pride of West Monroe, La., the Robertsons are self-proclaimed rednecks who … Continue reading Robertsons taking the New South by storm
Raise your hand if you ever envied your sick child’s excused day of lying on the sofa watching cartoons and napping. OK, so I’m the only one? No? You say you have felt that way, too? You have been burning the candle at both ends until there’s no wick left and you still haven’t found … Continue reading Sick day
After just a few whistled notes of “The Fishin’ Hole,” the immortal theme song of “The Andy Griffith Show,” I am transported to the carefree summer days of my youth. I memorized that tune, gained an appreciation for the show and developed a fondness for the characters watching midday re-runs in the late 1970s and … Continue reading Andy Griffith: One of a kind
School’s out for the summer. Now what? One thing is for sure: sitting around doing nothing is not an option. Summer is play time. It seems that in the New South, everyone has somewhere to go … all the time. Our schedules don't allow for plain ol’ downtime. You remember that, right? Get-up-at-11-stay-in-your-pajamas-watch-TV-barely-move-off-the-sofa-all-day-kind-of-lazy? Those days … Continue reading No more pencils, no more books
Childhood obesity. Video games. Television. Air quality. Bugs. Weather. There are lots of circumstances that conspire against children playing outdoors these days, so much so that getting kids outside is one of the biggest challenges of parenting in the New South. Long gone are the days when barefoot children hit the screen door after breakfast and … Continue reading Just a swingin’
New South Essays 