Washington, DC
Monday, June 25th

Pete at the White House

Today was just another day in DC. Lazy morning, reviewing case studies, then an evening at the White House with Josh Bolton, White House Chief of Staff, in the Roosevelt Room. Honestly, I can not believe I’m actually getting paid to do this stuff. I first got to meet with Josh Bolton last year during our White House visit. This year I came away from the visit with the same impression, he is a very sharp guy. I can honestly tell you that he is in the top 5 of impressive people of the numerous impressive people that our group has heard from. We met in the Roosevelt Room due to the continuing renovations in the Press Room.

The Roosevelt Room

A small note, as we were waiting for Bolton to arrive Karl Rove stuck his head in and said, “Hello!” The odd thing for me is that in the last two months I have met arguably the most ingenious and devious political puppeteers of the last twenty years. I had met, and spoke with, James Carville at speaking engagement he had at Rhodes earlier in late spring. Karl Rove was the architect of the carefully placed referendum issues aimed at whipping voters in the far right of the Republican Party into a frenzy in key states in the last Presidential election. I believe him to be a genius and pure evil.

Bolton spoke with the group for about an hour. The substance of the talk was him walking us through a typical day with the President and his related duties. The students got to sit in the cabinet and sub-cabinet chairs and he related how the daily 7:30am morning went. He then answered questions about policy, social security and the approval ratings of the present administration.

After the discussion we went on a tour of the White House. Here is a treat for you dog lovers. We got to see the Bush family’s two dogs, Barney and Miss Beazley. If you were wondering the links are to each dog’s biography. That’s right I said biography. The two were frolicking in the Rose Garden. The tour guides were all low level aides who kind of get volunteered for the duty by higher up s on the staff. I think the guides we had were particularly good because the favor was called in from a high placed source. It was a great discussion, tour, and visit.

Barney in the Rose Garden

The Rose Garden

The tour group in the Rose Garden

We have been taking the DC Metro a lot this summer which has worked out well. It helps us beat the traffic and gets the kids better acquainted with the DC layout. It is a smaller group than last year which makes it really easy.

Washington, DC
Sunday, June 24th

Today was one of those days that makes me really realize how lucky I ma to have this job. The morning started out with a visit to NBC’s Washington affiliate to watch a taping of Meet the Press. The guests in the first half hour were former Presidential Candidate, Pat Buchanan and Rep. D-(IL) Luis Gutierez. They “discussed” immigration policy. In the second half hour their was a panel discussion about immigration and the presidential race which included David Broder of The Washington Post, John Harwood of The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, Gwen Ifill of PBS’ Washington Week, and syndicated columnist Roger Simon. (Transcript) (Netcast)

The debate between Gutierez and Buchanan was the immigration at large and H.R. 1645 specifically. I have provided a link to a congressional site that has a great deal of information about this legislation. (H.R. 1645) There was not as much discussion as it was talking at one another. Sadly, Buchanan was the better debater. He had more facts while Gutierez focused more on emotional arguments. They both could learn from each other. Gutierez needs more a fact driven argument while Buchanan, well it is Pat Buchanan. It would help if every you time you heard him you didn’t imagine you were hearing the theme music for Darth Vader in your head. The panel discussion was much more informative.

After the filming Tim Russert answered questions for about 45 minute. His down to earth manner really puts the students at ease. They asked a number of questions mostly the usual of who did you get started, how do you prepare, etc. They also asked him about the Scooter Libby trial where he had to testify and he actually became part of the story. The response was good but long, in essence he explained he heard that he was the who told Libby about Valerie Plame’s identity he knew it was false and he had to simple explain that and that was it. When asked about his favorite interviews he mentioned Ross Perot, all of the candidates, and more recently Colin Powell. He is one of my favorite speakers that the program hears, partly because he seems to genuinely enjoy speaking to the students.

Russert talks with the students

When we returned from Meet the Press we broke again into small groups and headed out to various museums in and around DC. Some of places visited will be the Spy Museum, National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport (Not the one on the Mall), National Museum of the Marine Corps, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I took a group to the Holocaust Museum. They enjoyed it, as much as you enjoy a museum like that. There was a small group and we took about two and half hours to go through the museum. They read, asked questions, and we all learned a lot.

After the groups all came back to the Close I took a group to church. The are a lot of kids who wanted to go to Catholic mass so we found a church called Holy Trinity in Georgetown that had a 5:30pm service. It was a beautiful old church right in the heart of the oldest art of Georgetown. The church dates back to the 1790’s. It is located about a block away from Georgetown and therefore logically has a long association with the Jesuits. It was a nice service with a good sermon. Only a Jesuit would base a sermon Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden when explaining the life of John the Baptist.

The inside of Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown

Pete and Tim Russert

Washington, DC
Saturday, June 23rd

Today was a day to relax and get caught up on sleep. We gave the students, who have been working extremely hard, the option to sleep in, they took it. I woke up grabbed a cup of coffee and sat on a bench at “senior circle” outside of where we live and read the paper, answered e-mails, and generally enjoyed the unseasonably mild DC summer weather. (It was about 68 degrees) The students started to climb out of bed around 10ish. After and early lunch the students went to the pool and/or got ahead on their case study readings.

My morning coffee spot

I took a walk down Wisconsin Ave and met up with Bill for lunch. I gave him a break from the bit of home improvement he was engaged in. We walked over to Rocklands for some sandwiches. I had a great Cuban sandwich. The sandwich had pork loin, ham, some pickled relish, and lightly dusted with some spicy “Cuban” mustard. Fat man tested, fat man approved. We took the lunch to go and watched some little baseball at the ball across the street. We hung out at Bill’s place for a while and watched a movie.

After I headed back to Albans the whole SPS gang got cleaned up and went out for meals. We broke the crew into more manageable groups and went to different restaurants. We went to a place down Wisconsin Ave called Bourbon. Yes, I know sounds like a shady place to take high school kids. It is just a little upscale burger place. It has some fantastic entrees but the students got the variations of the burger. We sat upstairs away from the bar and the crowd and had nice conversation and a great meal.

We walked back to Albans and all jumped on the Metro and went to see the Washington Nationals take on the Cleveland Indians in inter-league play. It was perfect weather to catch a ballgame. We sat in the cheap seats and just basically relaxed and soaked of evening. The Nats play at RFK which is a bit dilapidated, see earlier blog. They are building an awesome new park in South East DC which is going to have all the bells and whistles. The best part is that the Nationals Park will have stadium views of the Capital Building and the Washington Monument.

The students hame it up for the camera

The new National Park

There were a little over 30,000 at the game so it was a nice crowd which for a nice atmosphere to watch a game. He Nats lost a heart breaker when their closer surrended a two run lead in the top of the ninth to a three run homer. Washington loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth only to run them selves into a double play as a result of poor base running. Although the home team lost a good time was has by all.

Washington outfielder Nook Logan is tagged out to end the game

Updates Coming!

This Sunday Pete will be attending Meet the Press and hanging with Tim Russert. Here is the description of the guests and topics.

The immigration debate takes center stage with the House's lead proponent of reform, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), squaring off against one of its most ardent critics, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan. Plus, a roundtable with David Broder, John Harwood, Gwen Ifill & Roger Simon

Pete with lasts year's group at Meet the Press

Washington, DC
Friday, June 22nd

The first week of the program is wrapping up. This past week was a busy one and as a result the it went by rather quickly. I taught another case study today. This one is called “The Great American Pork Barrel” by Ken Silverstein. It discusses the various threats and abuses of earmarks in appropriations bills. Mr. Silverstein is the Washington editor of Harper Magazine. The kids asked brilliant questions and kept me on my toes. They discussed the pros and cons of getting rid of earmarks as well as possible reform ideas for the earmarks. This was done in anticipation of Silverstein coming to speak to the students right after class. We also passed out His most recent article from Harpers titled, “Their men in Washington: Undercover with D.C.'s lobbyists for hire”. It is a fascinating piece of undercover journalism where he seeks lobbying firms in DC to help improve the image of Turkmenistan. He also appeared today on Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS to discuss his article. If you go to the link you can watch the portion of Moyer’s interview with Mr. Silvertstein. He truly believes in his role as a government watchdog. I think he and his discussion with the students really help link the role of the print media as public servants in a way many of them did not consider. He also has a very informative blog titled Washington Babylon.

Later in the day we prepped the students for a new feature of the program, the Thursday night debate. We introduced the format today and the first one of three will happen next Thursday. The format is modeled after the St. Albans Government Club. A have a link to a wonderful article by a fellow colleague in the SPS about the history and role of the government club at St. Albans that dates back to the 1930’s and added the girls of the National Cathedral School in the mid 1960’s. I highly recommend that you give it a read. (Gov. Club Story) The topic for the first debate will be immigration. We actually chose that topic well before we realized that it would be the topic of debate on Meet the Press when we are watching the filming.

Later on the evening we gave the students their first unsupervised free time of campus, for a couple hours only. When they returned we watched Black Hawk Down. The testosterone was flowing. The staff hung out for a while after lights out for the students.

It was great Week 1.

Washington, DC
Thursday, June 21

Lots of stuff happening today. I taught a class today called the anatomy of a newspaper. We discussed the setup of a newspaper, the financing, struggles in readership, and the role of the press in public service. What is interesting in the fact that again this year the students overwhelming read newspapers regularly. I think that this is one the keys to these students being as sharp as they are.

After class we went to the Supreme Court to meet with Cynthia Rapp, Clerk of the Supreme Court and Justice Samuel Alito. The students reacted well to both. Justice Alito spent most of the time talking about procedure. The students asked good questions, particularly about how cases were selected to be heard by the Court.

After the Supreme Court I changed into my softball gear and met Bill at his law firm on 10th and Pennsylvania. Today was my season debut with the Ugly Mugs. We play in the House Softball League. If you check the link in the last sentence you will notice that the “Mugs” are undefeated and ranked 8th out 123 teams in league. The team continued its winning ways by defeating Two Drink Minimum 17 – 12. We spotted them four runs in the top of the first with some sloppy play in the field. I pitched two innings of scoreless relief and grounded out in my only at bat.

After the games the traditional procedure is to head to the bar near the Hill that sponsors us for some mini-burgers, quesadillas, pizza rolls, and a few pitchers.

Washington, DC
Tuesday and Wednesday, June 19th and 20th

The students spent the day at Georgetown University with Robert Gallucci. The former Deputy Secretary of State and current dean of the School of Foreign Service was an engaging speaker the students really seemed to respond to him. He was witty as he was informative.

In the evening I slipped out and went out to eat with Bill and his cousin John from Greece. It was his last night in DC and of course in the Greek tradition he wanted…., Outback. We enjoyed our Kookaburra Wings and bacon cheese fries. We had a great time.

On Wednesday the students studied, prepped, made oral arguments, and adjudicated the Supreme Court Case of Morse v. Fredrick. If you don’t want to read the 71 page oral argument transcript here is a link to the Wikipedia citation of the case. (Link) It is more popularly known as “Bong hits for Jesus”. Who would guess that a principal’s suspension of smart ass stoner kid would turn into a Supreme Court case of freedom of speech? What I think is hilarious is that when the principal hauled the kid into her office and informed him he would be suspended for five days he responded by paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson's warning that "speech limited is speech lost". She promptly doubled the suspension. The Washington Post has a great article about the case after it chosen by the Court. The students did a great job with the responsibilities. The two lawyers who led this endeavor and have taught at law school said the students did better than about 50% of their law school students.

The banner that caused the uproar.

Stuart Gerson speaks to SPS about Supreme Court procedure

Washington, DC
Monday, June 18th

At this point I’m not really sure what direction to go with the blog. Tusky, I’m sure you have suggestions but none of them are printable. I do not want the posts to get redundant for those who kept up with Pete last year. What I mean by that is that since this is annual program the curriculum minus a few changes remains relatively consistent. So I’m going to try not to be too repetitive.

This morning we headed out to the Madeira School in McLean, VA for a ropes course team building activity. I thought it went very this year. The staff at the school did a much better job of facilitation this year and I think as result the students got more out it. From the activities some leaders emerged from the group. I was pleasantly surprised at foreign students’ language skills. They were some of the most active participants. The activity went well and because we were in the woods most of the morning the heat did not get to oppressive.

We returned to Albans for a quick lunch and to the first class of the program. The School of Public Service uses the cases studies and methods from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Here is a link to an excellent journal article about the history, use, and methods of case studies as an instructional tool in the classroom. Here is a link to the University of California, Santa Barbara web site about the use of the case study method in the classroom. (UCSB Website)

Last year all of my classroom teaching was going through preview or background material in advance of another class. This year I am adding the case studies. So the first class of the program was the first case study that I teaching. Here is an abstract of the case “Ethical Problems in Public Careers: Lying”. The case is actually 10 smaller vignettes of cases to discuss when, if ever it is okay for various public officials to lie. After walking them through the first couple scenarios I pretty much sat back and simply facilitated conversation among the group, we had broken the group of 22 in two separate groups. The students are all very bright and had a great deal to say. It is still early but judging from the discussion this should be a fun group to work with.

After the case study the students took a behind the scene tour of the National Cathedral. The students went up into the Bell tower and even got onto the roof of the Cathedral. After the tour the students had free time until the SPS board reception in the Commons room outside the Headmasters office. The students seem to enjoy themselves and make good small talk with the Board Members of SPS. There were also a number of alumni from previous years who also were in attendance. I good time was had by all.


Here is a link to some more photos of the reception. Link

Washington, DC
Sunday, June 17th

Today was a relatively slow day. The students from the program started to trickle in to SPS (School of Public Service) around noon. When I got up I slid over to the National Cathedral for Church services. I had never attended service their and was feeling a bit ecumenical. What stood out from the service was the music and singing. I later found out that St. Albans originally started as choir school for the National Cathedral and over time morphed into its current state. The service was enjoyable.

The kids themselves come from all over the place. Just off the top of my head the students from Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, a few from the DC area. We also have three international students who hail from Bosnia and Herzegovina (2) and Moldova. There are a balanced number of boys and girls. They seem like a bright bunch. I look forward to having them in class.

There was a reception at the Headmasters home for the students. They host this every year and serve Rockland’s BBQ, a nice gesture but for the “BBQ” was not up to Memphis standards. The students and faculty introduced themselves and there was mingling and small talk.

When we returned to the dorms it was all about handling business and laying out rules and expectations. There is no need to get into this because any reasonable person can make an assumption as to what those rules are. After that we all pretty much hung as the students mingled and got to know each other.

Washington, DC
Saturday, June 16th

Saturday was a jam packed day. I met with Double E and Amy O for lunch. We all went to college together and I have not seen Amy O since last year when I was in town. We caught up on a bunch information, read gossip. We discussed Amy O’s job on the hill and laughed at some anecdotes of some of the senior Congressional members. It was good to catch up.

I later met up with Bill, Amanda, and Bill’s cousin and wife from Greece. We went to Rex’s place, a classmate of Bill’s at the Academy and a teammate on the Ugly Mugs for a crab boil. The food was great although complicated. I had never had so many instructions to eat a type of food. It was worth the work.

Rex sends the crabs to their death and subsequently our stomachs.

The eating tutorial begins.

After the boil I headed to RFK Stadium for a soccer match between DC United and the Chicago Fire. They are teams in Major League Soccer. DC United won the game 3 to 1. (Recap) I was surprised how good the crowd was; it was over 20,000 people. I had to leave the game early to take of some school business but got to see almost the entire match. It was quite enjoyable. The city is discussing building a soccer only stadium near the new baseball stadium in Anacostia, in South East DC, but the plans are not set in stone and the talks have turned quite acrimonious of late. (Post Article)

The crowd cheers on United.

The "Black and Red", DC United's cheering section cheerd the entire game.

After taking care of some school business I met up with McGizzle from the H and we met over at Norm’s condo. From their we went to Norm’s fiancée’s business partner’s house for a party. It was a great party. They had a DJ, freely flowing spirits, and quite good foods. I was sad because we missed out on the craps table that they set in the back. They have a gazebo/garage, see picture, which makes the setup for this type of party quite nice. We all had a great time and I headed back to the Albans for to get ready for the arrival of the students on Sunday.

Kegerator Envy

Did you know that Old English 800 is no longer charcoal filtered?

More spirits, Pete sticks with beer.

Washington, DC
Friday, June 15th

For the faculty this was the first official day at SPS (School of Public Service). We had a staff meeting in the morning were we went over staff introductions, schedules, and outings for the month we are here. The bulk of the staff is the same from last year. We have two new RA’s who are both SPS alums from 2003. Hilary is a senior at UNC Chapel Hill, where she is a political science and women’s studies major. Amelia is senior at Notre Dame where is studying American Studies. She is an example of how the world is a very small place. She is from Memphis; this is not all that remarkable because Memphis has always had a strong presence at SPS due to the Rotary Club in Memphis and Harold Ford Jr. who is an SPS alum and strong supporter of its programs. When we first met she was with her sister who lives in DC and writes for the Life section of the USA Today and all of looked at each other like we had met before. Well we had. Amelia and her sister are both alums of Bridgebuilders in Memphis. I think it is hilarious because as spoke more Amelia knows one of my old basketball players, Reggie, from St. Augustine Parish in Memphis and she also worked at the Midtown Boscos as a hostess and knows the gang there, even my former roommate Tusky.

For those who kept of with Pete last summer you pretty know what the School of Public Service is about. For those who don’t here is a LINK to a short video on the program that is narrated by Tim Russert of Meet the Press, whose son went to St. Albans the school that hosts the program. Also for Memphians a quick word on the Memphis Rotary club. Here is their blurb on their web site that explains what the PREP Program does;

Each year the club sends academically promising but economically disadvantaged high school students to summer programs at private preparatory schools across the country. In 2006 the schools awarded over $300,000 in scholarship aid to 114 deserving students. Schools included Choate Rosemary Hall, St. George’s, Northfield Mt. Hermon, The Putney School, Phillips Academy, The Taft School, Phillips Exeter Academy, The Webb School and St. Albans School of Public Service. After the students return, the club organizes community service activities, ACT/SAT training, college application assistance and essay writing workshops.

This program places very deserving students from Memphis in some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation. It is really quite amazing what opportunities the Rotary Club in opens up for these remarkable students. The club also has several other initiatives that are also noteworthy.

The day after the meeting was occupied by meeting the Dusza Men, for a wall on the National Mall, I had not seen Dave’s brother in at least ten years. I then hung out in the Sculpture Garden near the National Gallery of Art until Bill got done with work. At that point the two of us met Amanda and Bill’s cousin and wife from Greece at Fogo Da Chao for dinner where we laid waste to pounds of animal flesh succulently prepared by the Brazilian themed restaurant.

After dinner I met up with Norm, Double E, and Fran for some shuffle puck and beers at a pool hall/hang out place called the Rocket Bar near Norm’s place in Chinatown. Double E and I defended Memphis’ honor at shuffle puck and emerged victorious. We ended the night with Norm spinnin’ some vinyl at Fran’s place. A good time was had by all.

Washington, DC
Thursday, June 14th

The road tripping is over for the time being. I arrived into DC around 2pm this afternoon and made my way to Albans. As I pulled up I immediately realized that the construction which impeded upon the sights and views of the National Cathedral and the school were now gone. Unpacking my clothes and setting up my room it seemed like I had never left. I am in the same room as last year which is quite spacious, for a high school dorm that is. The school staff had snagged a college fridge where I can keep my …., energy drinks cold. I still have difficulty comprehending that this is where I live for the next five weeks. I have included some pictures from around the campus.

The school entrance off of Senior Circle

I thought this was a nice pic with the flag waving

Side view of the school

View from one of the classrooms
After getting set up I ran some errands and headed over to Bill and Amanda’s place to watch game 4 of the NBA finals. Bill’ cousin John was in from Greece on business and we ordered some pizza and had a few beers. Bill and Amanda are in the latter stages of some home renovation and they have completed what I call a “man cave”. If you click on the link you will find a great article on what these things are about. Bill’s got a bar, a beer fridge, a very relaxing couch system, a bathroom (very important), and of course an overly large flat screen TV. The Dooz came by later on; he is in town for a family wedding and was able to join us.

These are two examples of "man caves" as sent by some folks from the Boston area in response from the article linked above in the Boston Globe.




After watching the Spurs dismantle the Cavs in the finals I headed back to school to end an enjoyable but very long day. By the way, if there has been a more fundamentally sound NBA team in recent memory I would love for someone to point them out to me. The Spur’s ball movement, floor spacing, and work away from the ball is superior. The most loyal Spurs fan I know north of the Alamo, R. Baruch says he did not watch the game for fear of jinxing the team. Despite his protests, I still call bullshit.

Monday, June 11th to Wednesday, June 13th
Atlanta to Raleigh, NC

I hit the road around 9am to miss any chance of traffic. There is something so satisfying about embarking on road trip. The car is all gassed up and a fresh cup of coffee to take the edge off the morning. The only way a long trip can be spoiled is when there is an impending time deadline. It takes all of the fun away. Oh well.

I’m heading to Raleigh to visit with my other post college roommate, Rick. Rick is teaching Biblical Studies at a Catholic high school in NC. His wife, Amy, just finished her first year at NC State’s Veterinary Studies Program. (More on that to follow). They have to wonderful kids. Courtney who turns 10, July 4th and Simon, who turns 1 at the end of this month. I can’t believe I have a friend who has a ten year old. It blows my mind.

Rick and I basically hung out. I know that may not sound crazy but it was a great time. I really enjoyed seeing him and his family. Rick was part of my short lived fraternity career before we both left, with a number of others. Our friendship transcended that pike fiasco. The funny thing is that at one time he and I were responsible for nearly all of the religious education of sophomores in catholic schools outside the I-240 Loop. The crazy thing is that while I think I did an OK job Rick was amazing. I have a number of his former students who worked with me in various summer programs in Memphis mention to me that his class was the one where they learned the most in high school. He designed a fantastic website for his theology classes.

On Tuesday night I jetted over to Durham to visit my cousin Christine, her husband Brian, and their daughter Jillian. They recently moved to Durham with Christine’s job at as Physician’s Assistant at the VA in Durham. It was great to see family. Our clan has spread out across the country in recent years so it was great to connect with them. Their daughter Jillian, who was the first great-grandchild of my grandparents on the Stephany side of my family, is doing well. She had a wonderful personality and she just lights up any room she enters. It was great visit.

Rick, the kids, and I hung the last day before I headed up to DC for the beginning of the program. In the evening Rick gave me a quick tour of the Chapel Hill area that is the home of UNC Chapel Hill. We had a couple of beers at restaurant/bar called “The Top of the Hill” on Franklin street, the main drag of the “scene” at the college. I had a beer called Swim Test Saison, it is described as, “A French Belgian style beer flavored with spices and East Kent Golden hops. A refreshing, yet fairly strong seasonal beer”. Strong is not the word for it, it had 7.5% alcohol by volume. Two beers and I had to head home.

Here is an article about the 45,000 students who converged on the street after UNC’s 2005 basketball championship

Sunday, June 10th
Atlanta, Ga

Sunday at Owen’s house has always been chore day. It has been that way since we lived on Mud Island over 10 years ago. Chore day does not change. My favorite chore day ever was when Owen did his chores in a Seersucker suit that his grandmother gave him for graduation. Anyways after running a bunch of errands and getting a mini tour of Atlanta and specifically Georgia Tech, where Both Owen and Amy work, we had treated ourselves to a frozen treat at the Varsity near the Georgia Tech campus. The varsity is your classic on campus burger joint that is packed by drunken students late night and alumni on football game days. I got the “Frozen Orange”. Imagine one of those frozen orange push up pops of our youth and now its shake. MMMMMM Frozen Treats. After errands we grilled out for dinner and watched the Spurs dismantle the Cavs.

The Varsity near Georgia Tech's campus

The Frozen Orange

A couple of housecleaning thoughts.

OTP vs. ITP

For those who do not live in Atlanta the acronyms stand for Outside the Perimeter and Inside the Perimeter. If one check the urban slang website it gives these definitions and examples.

Inside the perimeter.

• Used in Atlanta to let people know you live inside the 285 beltway or "The Perimeter".
• Many ITP'ers like to shun the OTP'ers.·

Outside the perimeter.

• slang for anything suburban; outside of I-285.o
• I almost got hit on Highland by some OTP fuck in a SUV that doesn't know what a crosswalk is. Cobb plates, of course.

Article 1

Article 2

I’ve linked a couple of articles about the great debate. There are lots of mentions of elitism, racism, McMansions, and Urban Sprawl. It is your classic argument that occurs to a degree in every major city but I think is perfected in Atlanta. I don’t know enough to judge either way but let weigh in this way. It has been over 7 years since I have been to Atlanta and I always heard about horrible traffic. I found very little traffic problems. I found the ITP to be full of great non chain restaurants and bars and they were quite fun. It basically had all the things I liked about Midtown Memphis only more of it. Yes, I’m single with no kids and I keep teacher hours but I had a great time. Many thanks again to Owen and Amy for their excellent hospitality. I always feel at home wherever I visit them. I will definitely be back to Atlanta, sooner than later.

Atlanta, GA

Saturday, June 9th

Afternoon napping, major league baseball, porch beers, hangin’ with new and old friends, and late night K-Burger run.

Folks, that’s a darn god day!

After a rather late sleep in, Owen and I grabbed some quick lunch and did absolutely nothing. We watched golf, college baseball, and generally napped till Amy got home. It was everything that I thought it could be and more. What has made my visits to Owen and Amy’s house(s) so enjoyable over the years has been that there is no pressure for them to entertain me. To clarify I mean that the best part of the visit is just hanging out with them. Saturday in Atlanta was a perfect example.

After Owen and my afternoon siestas we met up for with a former colleague and friends’ of Owen from Hattiesburg Drew and Morgan. The five of us joined up with Charles and Angie, friends from the college days, for dinner at Frittis. This is one of the wood oven pizza places that had specialty pizzas with a European flair. The restaurant is located in an area of Atlanta called the Virginia Highlands. The pizzas were great. The company and conversation better. If anyone was wondering the place was certified by the VPNA or for those not skilled in the lingo, the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association.

After dinner we went the Braves game at Turner Field. The Brave beat the Cubbies 9 to 5, box score, in front of a sold out home crowd. (game recap).

Braves Cubs game obstructed by a Cubs hat

Andruw Jones makes a diving catch to save at least three runs

Harris slides under tag.

Amy, Angie, and Charles enjoy the game.

Charles and Owen pose for Pete's photo

After the game we went over to Charles and Angie house for a couple of porch beers. We retold old stories, updated new ones, and generally had a great time. Nothing beats catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones. I knew both Charles and Angie before they started dating and both are great people. Charles is finishing up a law clerkship in Jackson, MS and Angie is in her second year of law school after acting in some movies. She had some major, minor roles if that makes sense. Charles originally hails from Jackson, MS were a number of my college friends come from and many still live. If someone told me 18 years ago when I was a senior at Prep, my high school as if anyone who knows me has not heard me mention a little over a thousand times, that I would live in and have the bulk of my friends in the south I would not have believed them.

On the ride home a classic college tradition was relived. I am not sure who mentioned Krystal first but idea was met with thunderous and unanimous approval. For the uninitiated the K-Burger is a staple of the 1am to ? crowd for late night dining. What the K-burger lacks in nutrition (link) it more than makes up for in late night availability, comical stories of visits, cheapness, and taste. And yes those factors are in order of most to least important. The staples of my order are a 2 to 1 ratio of Cheese Krystals to the Kystal Chic. Some others prefer to chase the ever elusive Chili Cheese Pup who frequency of sightings in midtown Memphis are akin to the mythical Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster. The exact number ordered varies on your BAC level, time of night, and store location (the former Death Krystal on North Parkway and Cleveland in Memphis). If you have never enjoyed the epicurean bliss of a late night K-Burger and its corollary next day “struggles” you simply have not lived.

The spoils of a late night Krystal Run

Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta
Friday. June 9th

The road Odyssey Begins
Got on the road this morning. I always think that the toughest part of a road trip is actually getting out of town. Once you are out of the city whatever you forgot or did not do cannot be changed so you are just gone. It is tough for someone as organizationally challenged like myself to pack for 7 weeks.

After getting the car parked and dropping off stuff at my parent’s house I headed over to Truk and Kath’s house for some coffee and music. Yes, I said music. I only recently joined the 21st century and purchased a 4 Gig IPod Nano. I had some downloaded music but not nearly enough for as much as I will be on the road for the next few weeks. Suffice to say Truk hooked me up. My Ipod is loaded up.

In addition to Truk’s music I have recently become obsessed with podcasts. To be honest podcasts were the true impetus to getting an Ipod. All the ones that I listen to are free. The best ones in my mind are your typical NPR fare of Talk of the Nation and Fresh Air. However the favorite is easily Bill Moyer’s new show Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS. There have been some great shows. They are longer but when you are on a road trip they help pass the time in an incredibly informative fashion.

I took a longer route to Atlanta by going through Nashville. The reason was to meet an old college friend for lunch. Whitney and I got to know each other because she dated one of my best friends. They stopped dating long ago but she remains a good friend. She teaches at Ensworth School in Nashville. She is in charge of a summer program for kindergarten and first grade students so we ate lunch with them. I truly admire teachers of really young kids. I love teaching but do not have the patience or organizational skills to teach them. I love playing with them, riling them, up, and causing chaos but man they tax you. It was a quick lunch but it was great to catch up with an old friend.

From there I drove through Chattanooga to Atlanta. Two Moyer’s podcasts and I was there. I am staying with one of my best college friends, Owen and his wife Amy. He and Amy were brought to Atlanta through his job at ISP Sports. He has worked a number of different schools and I have visited him at nearly all of them. Owen and I lived together after college and have traveled a great deal together. He is a great friend and our visits are quite fun. He found a great mate in Amy. It is not always that the wife is so easy going with the college friend. I truly enjoy hanging out with her. The two compliment each other nicely.

Once everyone got home and cleaned up we headed out for the night. We grabbed some dinner at a pizza joint near Georgia Tech’s campus called Rocky Mountain Pizza. It is your typical, in a good way, college pizza and beer joint. From there we went to an area in Atlanta called Atlantic Station. The place is one of those “live, work, play” sustainable development ideas. Normally I would not like this sort of thing. It initially gives a Truman Show vibe. However I will note this. It replaced an old shut down factory that blighted the area. If done properly this idea could be quite effective in Memphis. The Memphis Uptown community is a version of this but not quite a complete or as well planned out. Besides the whole turning imminent domain handed over to a private developer thing kind of creeps me out despite the positive outcome of the endeavor. Here is a link to the Supreme Court case, Kelo vs. New London, which paved the way for this type of thing. Here is a link to an article in the Washington Post that summarizes the key points of the ruling and the history of the case.

But I digress; the reason for the visit was the Crocs AVP Atlanta Open, beach volleyball folks. Honestly even if you don not care for volleyball this event has something for everyone. I mean how any event can go wrong that has beers, and well sculpted athletes in bathing suits. Not that this event is simply watching that. We stayed for a couple a matches and got to see the legendary Karch Kiraly win a double match. The guy is 46 years old and looks 22. Women players, such as Holly McPeak and Misty May, fueled the sports rise in popularity during the last summer Olympics. They are very skilled players but the fact the they are easy on the eyes did not hurt their cause.

Reaching for a spike

Karch Kiraly, see ladies something for everyone.

After a couple of matches we headed off for a couple of beers at great little bar called McCray’s Tavern. At the suggestion of a TSuds I tried a Sweetwater 420 draft. Great call TSuds.

Man was Friday a busy day.

An evening of dining and drinking in Little Rock
On Tuesday I slipped out of Memphis for a short two hour drive to Little Rock. I joined in with the Big Cat, Steffi, Tonti, and Coach Wes. We were on the road to attend a meal and wines tasting at Boscos in Little Rock were my old roommate, Tusky, is the General Manager. The meal was incredible.

Appetizer: Salmon Biscotti with Caviar
Salad: Greens with Mangos and Strawberries drizzled in gorgonzola vinaigrette
Main Courses: Crawfish wrapped in Lamb
Mahi Mahi with linguine
Dessert: Raspberry Tort

All of these foods were paired with excellent wines. Being a moron I didn’t write down the wine list. There were some great Pinot’s and fantastic Chilean wine. The dessert was paired with a Raspberry Port which they suggested pouring in the torte. I did and it was amazing.

After the meal we went out on the President Clinton Avenue for a few beers. For anyone who has never been to downtown Little Rock I highly suggest you visit. Once you park your car at your hotel you do not have to touch it again. You can catch a 5 minute shuttle to the Clinton Presidential Library across the highway.

Schools out for the summer!!!!!

I love my job teaching at the “H” but man is summer vacation grand. Since school ended May 25th I have been to Greers Ferry Lake for the Memorial Day weekend, attended an afternoon Redbird’s game at AutoZone Park, attended a few “pint nights” at various and sundry watering holes in midtown and downtown Memphis, and grilled out at least 4 times at various homes of friends, and hung out on the island for the Harbortown 5K.

Here are some photos and brief recaps of some of Pete’s activities.

Memorial Day at the Parkers
This weekend is easily one of my favorite of the year. Here is the situation in brief. College friends and high school friends of college friends who are now my friends(say that three times fast) all gather at the Parker’s Lake house for a weekend of food, fellowship, napping, lake rides, and cold libations. For me it is the official start of the summer.

Relaxing on the Porch

A boat ride around the lake

The Host of the Weekend with grandchild

For more photos of the lake house, thank you Truk, click here

Redbirds Game

What could be better than an afternoon ballgame on Wednesday? Big Cat, Steff, and I enjoyed a couple beers and a pretty good pitchers duel. We sat right behind the first base dugout on a slightly overcast day which never reached above 74 degrees. A true Memphis rarity in June. The game was followed up by an afternoon nap. Solid day.

AutoZone Park

Home plate view

Skyline from first base side

Pint Nights
If you live in or visiting Memphis I highly suggest attending the Celtic Crossing for Monday Pint night. The following draft beers are $2.50 from 7pm till close;
Guinness, Harp, Bass, Newcastle, Blue Moon, Woodchuck, Tennents. I have included a link to their event calendar check it out. It is good scene. For those who like smaller crowds I suggest you hit the place before 9:30pm. The place is quite packed after 10pm. It is when the east Memphis set invades midtown for the evening. It is still quite fun but scene shifts from leisurely, conversation friendly, patio pints to shoulder to shoulder, facebook loving people.

Out door meat charring
Special thanks to Link, mistercoachericwells, and Amanda for their hospitality and grilling prowess. Link smoked some country ribs, Amanda grilled the traditional ribs, and mistercoachericwells cooked the succulent filets from Charlie’s Meat Market to perfection. If you have never eaten from or shopped at Charlie’s in Memphis you’re truly missing the boat. It is the best place to buy meat that I know of in Memphis. Check out the link for location and products.


Harbortown 5K
If you have never been to the “Island” as the Harbortown people refer to it you need to schedule a visit. Grab some coffee and breakfast on the patio of Miss Cordelia’s or my suggestion; a walk along the Mississippi river at Sunset followed up by a pizza and a couple of beers at the Movie and Pizza Company, Sierra Nevada on tap!!! The race was fun and the rehydration was successful. Harbortown is a mix of the “Truman Show” and an upscale frat row. The residents vary in age and demographic but all enjoy a good time. I lived in the Turley Apartments after college and my parents moved there about three years ago and they could not imagine living anywhere else in Memphis.

Pete, Jenny, and Eric

Ribs on the "Egg"

The Crew in a furious game of Bagg-O

BBQ Recap
How does one measure the success of a BBQ fest weekend? Various factors could include; the amount of pigs killed for culinary satisfaction, the amount of kegs drank and therefore brain cells killed, the amount of visitors to the Magically Siliceous tent, or the fact that everyone survived with minimal hangovers, and/or BBQ overdose.
Suffice to say a good time was had by all. Here are some highlights:

1. The Don’s remarkable comeback on Friday. After a steady stream of H20, he was able to shake off the previous nights “troubles” and comeback strong.

2. The success of McGoogle’s Flip Table. McGoogle was able to design, build, and deliver a Flip cup Table with precision accuracy. The table was successful in its designed purpose, lots of flip cup, and the fabulous graffiti that made its way on the table. It was truly offensive. Awesome.

3. The crawfish boil of Jr. and the Cajun Doctor. They are experts in their craft and I truly believe the Saturday crawfish boil will become a staple of the Magically Piglicious crew.

4. Smilin’ Chuck taking one for the team during judging on Saturday. What had happened was that Smilin’ Chuck took a quick bathroom break between the BBQ judging and got caught in the Job Johnny. The judge was there a good 15 minutes and Chuck had to resort to breathing from the grates on the top of the Port-O Let. We dubbed it the poor man’s steam bath.

There are more stories but none fit for publication. Sorry no pictures of the Flip Cup Table. That would cause a quick R – Rating, possible XXX depending on the graffiti photographed.

The Wednesday BBQ FEST Report

So far, so good. The food was wonderful and the fellowship grand! The only hiccup was the decision by Memphis In May to stop all beer sales from D Canale at 7pm!!!! This is insane. Smilin’ Chuck saved the day by borrowing 5 cases from a nearby tent. I spoke to the D Canale people and they said it was the MIM brain trust’s choice to cut off sales that day. They also reported that sales will be cut off at 10pm the rest of the weekend. Oh well, that's the LAST TIME we will run out of kegs.

Hats off to Pete and Jenny for their scrumptious eats. The chicken was awesome!!

The bag-o, corn hole to us Yankees, was oft used and thoroughly enjoyed. The Don ordered and purchased a custom made Bag-O game, complete with the team logo emblazoned on it. I highly recommend that anyone playing bag-o should avoid squaring off against Pete, his aim is deadly.

For the uninitiated here is link to the history, rules, and other minutia of the game. In the north the game is mainstay at tailgates and family functions. The game is well suited to the enjoyment of cold libations and “talking trash”. Maybe if we all get good enough we can go pro. Lest you think I’m kidding here is a STORY about the “world championship”. It is bound to be on ESPN’s OCHO sometime soon. You can even join the American Cornhole Association. I love that we have enough free time in America that people can start things this. All it takes is too much free time, a web site, and a dream!!!! Is this the sign of the Empire at its height or its decline.

There were very little shenanigans last night the Piglicious Headquarters, due to it being family night. We shall see what the rest of the weekend holds.

The Super Bowl of Swine

Every year Memphis hosts BBQ Fest. The last three I have been on a team. I have attended many a BBQ Fest as a guest, thanks you kind friends, but having a team has been much easier. The fun, a place to eat and drink with friends and the ability to invite whoever you want easily outweighs the work, a handful of meetings, some cash, set up and break down.

The team is made up of some friends from Rhodes that span roughly eight years of attendance. The group is bolstered by friends of friends. This formula has held up so far, two years. Now that is not quite a trend but it gives me enough information to make a generalization. Every year we add a few folks and so far that has worked out just fine. The key to our team is our cooking team who are friends of Smilin’ Chuck from New Orleans who cook for us. They have a BBQ place in New Orleans, called THE JOINT. If anyone is ever down there please look them up. Pete and Jenny are great folks and their food is fat man tested fat man approved.
Here are some links to reviews and location.
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Story 5

It is so essential to support New Orleans business and I can think of no better way than eating and drinking. I realize that New Orleans has always been an idiosyncratic city but there is no reason to let the city waste away. Yes, I know that corruption and New Orleans are synonymous in some circles but that is no reason to abandon a place that harbors so much cultural importance to our country.

I am gong to try and keep the blog up so those in other parts of the country can keep up with the goings on of Magically Piglicious. If you are reading this you obliviously need something to do so I suggest you stop by the booth for nummy eats, cold libations, and fellowship. Here is a map of the park. We are booth R-90.