Happy New Year!!!

Here is wishing each and every one of you a Happy New Year! Hope you all have big plans for a great celebration. Here in the Hood household, we have two kids with a stomach virus so looks like our plans involve staying home and doctoring the young-uns. Oh, well, Dick Clark is supposed to be back this year so it won't be a total loss.
See ya again in 2006!!!

White Christmas

Yes, this picture was taken in Alabama. North Alabama. While the rest of us had our normal brown Christmas, the folks at Cloudmont Ski Resort in Mentone had their usual white Christmas. Thanks to the modern marvel of snow making machines, they are able to produce enough snow to have skiing every year at the resort. Folks come from all over the South to glide down the slopes and risk life and limb for a little fun. The great thing here is that even though the temperatures may be in the 50's the snow stays. So, while the rest of us endure another plain Jane Christmas, some folks high atop Lookout Mountain enjoy their fluffy white stuff, and hope to keep all their bones intact.

Fun At The Falls

Well, it's the week before Christmas, and it finds your faithful Sand Mtn. Photog on vacation. Just me and the kids, and with the cold weather we find ourselves going stir-crazy. So today, with a little nicer weather, we took off for Noccalulla Falls in Gadsden for a little picnic and some playground time. Here are the kids with the falls behind them. If you have never been to the Falls, or not in a while, you'll find some changes. Like a fence around the place keeping you out unless you pay. And guess what? The park is closed. So this is the best, free, view of the falls you can now get. So we did the park and then went to the mall.
So, please forgive me for staying away for awhile. But let me take this chance to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! Yes, I said Merry Christmas. Hate me if you will, but that is the reason for the season.

Hot Rodders Rejoice!!

Just look at this thing!! The second picture reminds me of a Hot Wheel toy car, but man is it bad!! OK, I'm sorry, but I am a car nut. I get excited when I see something like this and know that a car company, Dodge, just might actually put it into production. I love hot rods, especially late 60's and early 70's muscle cars like the Chevy Camaro, and the Dodge Chargers and Challengers. Dodge put the new Charger into production already, and now this new Challenger will be a concept car and, hopefully, a real production car in the next couple of years. Although I have never been a Ford fan, I also really like the new Mustang with its retro look. To me, those muscle cars of my youth are still the best looking things on the road. Although if this Challenger makes it, I may have to change my mind.

I like change. Change is good. Well, not really, but I decided to give the blog a new look. You know, to keep things fresh. Anyway, not much going on today. Carson had a doctor's visit so I'm just kinda chilling, been cleaning up here at the bureau. Oh yeah, there was a wreck in front of my house last night. Wende and I heard this loud noise outside, and she thought it was raccoons on our back porch. I looked outside and saw a car had run off the road and into the trees across the road from us. Called 9-1-1 and got an ambulance on the way and then went out to check on them. Young girl driving a new Mustang had ran off the side of the road, overcorrected, and went across the road and through the ditch and into the woods. Took out my neighbors mailbox for about the fifth time. Driver broke her nose and passenger said her knee was hurting, so off to the hospital for them. I think the total count was 1 Crossville policeman, 3 county deputies, 1 firetruck, 1 ambulance, 1 state trooper, 6 or 7 volunteer firemen, and 1 wrecker. My brother Dusty called wanting to know if we were alright because his girlfriend went by the house and told him there were a bunch of policemen at the house. Finally got wrapped up about 10:15 pm. Lots of excitement in the country last night.

Mug Shot of the Week

Welcome to a new feature here on the blog. It's called the mug shot of the week, although it may not appear weekly depending on how many mugshots we get.
So, look at this guy and tell me what you see? Greg Brady, right? Yeah, remember when he had that big 'fro going on? Well, this guy is no Greg Brady, arrested for robbing a liquor store in Guntersville. But I thought he looks like Greg Brady, so he is my Mug Shot of the Week.

Late Breaking News

It's every parent's nightmare. Your kid slips away from you and runs out into the road. It happened Thursday night in Boaz. A 4 year old boy got away from his family and ran out into the road and was hit by a pickup truck. Luckily, it appears the boy will be OK with just a broken leg. An Air Evac helicopter was sent to pick the boy up and fly him to Huntsville Hospital.
Kids will be kids, and Lord knows they dont like to hold hands while walking through a parking lot, but I know I will hold my kids just a little tighter from now on.

Morning Fire

Went to cover this fire in Horton this morning. A mobile home somehow caught fire and then it spread to the trailer behind the first one. When firefighters arrived, both trailers were fully involved(that's fireman talk for being really on fire). Luckily, no one was home when the fire started. Well, its Christmas time and its cold out. Let the fire season begin.

Wacky Weather

We were supposed to get some severe weather today across North Alabama, and this is what we got here on Sand Mountain. No, we didn't get tornados, but this has to be one of the weirdest color skies I have ever seen. This photo is unretouched, this is how red it was. I've seen green, yellow, orange and blue, but never red like this. Carson asks what causes this, any answers? Weird, wacky weather.

Sorry its been awhile since I've posted, but I was gone last weekend. To Auburn for the Iron Bowl, and that is about all I want to say about that. Anyway, here is a picture of the Shoals Bureau sign in Florence. I have this picture because Carson and I went there last Thursday to work covering the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in the Guntersville mayor case. I case you are wondering, its about 3 hours from here in Albertville to Florence. If you ever get over that way, I recommend eating at Riccatoni's. It's an Italian place and it's wonderful. I hope to catch back up on posts this week, I promise.

Did You Hear The One.....?

Did you hear about the 2 Auburn students who died in an accident at the campus cafeteria this week? They went to get some milk and the cow fell on them.
Funny? Well, that's up to you. But this is Iron Bowl week, and that means it's time for Auburn jokes. Have any good ones, let me know.
Did you hear about the 2 Auburn students who decided to go to Disneyworld? Seems they got to Orlando and saw a sign that said, "Disneyworld, Left". So, they turned around and went home.
Corny? Yes, but the dumber and the cornyer the better. Just remember, you may post Alabama jokes here, but I reserve the right to change them to Auburn jokes.
Roll Tide!! And lets hear those jokes.

Look At Me, I'm Famous!!

Thanks to eagle-eyed Jerry Hayes for spotting this picture of me in the Shelbyville Times-Gazette. This picture was taken at the Bama-Tennessee game. If you look just in the background you can see me, in the red shirt, with the Sand Mtn. camera on my shoulder. By the way, blurry and in the background is my best side, dont you think?

Oh, How Sweet!

Captured this picture last night and just had to share it. Forrest and Jemma being sweet to each other. This had been one of those weeks when they had been at each other's throats all week, just couldn't get along. Then last night I caught them like this, sitting in the same chair with Forrest reading to his little sister. And she has her little head on his shoulder. It is just too sweet, and doesn't happen very much lately. Sorry about the picture quality, but our camera phones suck. Anyway, I now have photographic proof that my kids like each other.

Would You Call This Art???

We set up for our live shot in Starkville on the campus of Mississippi State on Friday beside this thing. It was next to the art department, so we assumed it was some sort of work of art. What is was is school chairs and desks, tied together with wire and wrapped in plastic. Is it supposed to be a tornado? Some statement about the state of our schools today? A visual analogy about the information you learn in schools being blown away like a storm? Personally, it looked like a pile of crap. But maybe I'm missing something. What do you think?

Hunka, Hunka Burning Love

On our trip to Starkville this weekend, we stayed in Tupelo on Friday night. Our hotel was only about three miles from Elvis' birthplace, so we got up early, had breakfast, and went to see where The King was born before heading off to the game. As you can see, it ain't much to look at. Just a little two room shack. But they have managed to turn it into a park and quite the attraction. There's a museum, a gift shop, even a chapel on the grounds where you can go and meditate. Oh, it costs $2.50 to tour the house, and $7 to go through the house and the museum. We skipped the tour and instead just took Brian and Tom's picture in front of the house. Didn't cost a dime, and now we can say we've been there and done that. Next stop, Graceland.

9-0!! Thank God for Mississippi!

Sorry I've been away for a couple of days, but we left on Friday to go to Starkville to cover the Alabama-Mississippi State ballgame. If you watched the game, you'll know that it wasn't that exciting a ballgame. Alabama's offense was once again anemic, and once again the defense saved their butts. But, hey, they are still unbeaten and ranked in the top 5 in the country. After the last couple of years for this team, it shouldn't matter how this team wins as long as it wins. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from warmups before the game. Huntsville's own Kenneth Darby playing catch, and Brodie playing toss.
We stayed in Tupelo on Friday night, and tomorrow's post will have pictures from our visit to Elvis' birthplace right there in Tupelo.

Last Titans Post, I Promise

Well, I've managed to get three days worth of posts out of my visit to the Titans game on Sunday. I'm sure everyone has seen enough pictures by now, so this will be my last post on the Titans. First picture is of game action with Steve McNair about to air it out. Now, you will recall just how high our seats where. This is why I bought my Fugi digital camera a couple of years ago because it had a 10x optical lens. And notice how it even caught the ball in mid-air with no shake to the picture.
The other is the feel good picture of me with some of the Titans cheerleaders and Heather from the station. Heather is the one without the Go-Go boots in case you were wondering.

Ole' Crazy Eyes

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Crazy Eyes. He is the guy in the blue shirt pointing. And being watched by the deputy to his left. Crazy Eyes was, as we like to say here on Sand Mountain, about three sheets into the wind. And this is still in the first quarter. Crazy Eyes, we think he was a Raiders fan but we're not sure, was hollering at this one Titans fan, staring at him and pointing. Well, finally the deputy had seen enough and Crazy Eyes was escorted out of the game. He did return late in the fourth quarter but he was much calmer. So here's to you, Crazy Eyes, our Sand Mtn. Photog Blog fan of the game!

Remember the Titans

Hello from Nashville! Well, not really, I'm back now but you know what I mean. Yes, our seats were kinda high but you sure could see a lot of stuff from up there. Stuff like this guy. Now, if you saw this guy walking down the street you would probably run for cover and call the police. But somehow seeing him at a football game is OK. Yes, he is a Raiders fan and they do like to dress up for the games. I was surprised by how many Raiders fans there were at the game. This guy was actually from West Virginia and it was first time to see the Raiders play. But my absolute favorite guy was "Crazy Eyes", and him you will meet in my next post. Let's just say, unlike college games, beer is served at Pro games.

Family Weekend, Or Go Gamecocks!!

Couple of pictures to put up of the kids. First is my little Jemma, dressed up as a witch for her preschool Halloween party. Isn't she just the cutest thing? Next picture was taken this Saturday when the family loaded up and headed out to the Homecoming festivities at Jacksonville State University. Both Wende and myself went to school there and we haven't been back in quite a while. Weather was great and the Gamecocks won, so a great time was had by all. On Sunday, your favorite Sand Mtn. Bureau blogger(Since Carson pulled the plug on his) took in a Tennessee Titans game. Pictures and commentary from that game will be on the next post. So stated tuned Loyal Readers, I promise it will be worth the wait.

It's A Tradition

Last night was one of my favorite nights of the year. Why, you might ask? Well, I will tell you. "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" came on last night, and in my mind it's not Halloween until you see that show. Most of you may not know this but I am a HUGE Snoopy fan. HUGE. And I must see this show every year. Of course, I tell my kids that it's for them but it's really for me. Snoopy as the World War 1 flying ace is my favorite Snoopy character. In fact, I'll tell you a little Sand Mtn. Photog Blog secret. I have a Snoopy tattoo on my shoulder. There in all his glory is the WW1 Flying Ace flying in his Sopwith Camel, bravely taking on the Red Baron in air to air combat. Yes, I love Snoopy. And this show is a classic, as is the Peanuts Christmas special. So don't bother calling me if Snoopy is on TV cause I won't answer the phone. Who knows, this may be the year that Snoopy shoots down the Red Baron. Or maybe, just maybe, the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch and Linus won't ruin Sally's tricks or treats after all. When you are a kid, or a kid at heart, anything can happen.

Boring, But....

A win over Tennessee is still a win. Yes, the first half may have been a little boring, but that fourth quarter sure made up for it. Thanks to being busy I didn't get to snap any pictures of the game but I snagged this picture of Roman Harper's hit causing the fumble that gave Bama the ball back and saved a touchdown. What more can you say about that game than it was good ole smashmouth football. A note about the sidelines before the game is that thanks to Sec of State Conde Rice being there, there were about 100 more media passes handed out than normal. All those lookie-lou's were crowding out those of us there who were actually interested in the ballgame. By the way, many of those "media" with passes were busy taking pictures with camera phones. And wearing Bama hats and clothes. If you aren't there to work, please get out of my way. Sorry, but had to get that off my chest. It was good to see Brock again. Brock, I'm beginning to think you are bringing us some good luck, so hope to see you back for the LSU game and down on the plains. Alright, enough for now.

Man, I Hate Orange!!

Sorry, no pictures just yet. I'm off to Tuscaloosa today for the Alabama-Tennessee game so look back here tomorrow for some pictures from that. Hopefully, there will be a lot of fans wearing Crimson celebrating, while there are a lot of pictures of sad, beaten-down Orange wearing folks. As the header says, I do hate Orange. It's just an ugly color. Even pumpkins cant wear that shade of orange and get away with it. So, Roll Tide!! Beat the Vols!! And Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer!!!

Real, Live Mascots

This is Ramsy. Ramsy is the mascot for the Sylvania Rams football team. Most schools have a person dressed up in a costume for their mascot, but Sylvania has both. And you know what? I like it. Wouldn't it be great if high schools had real mascots to cheer their teams on? How about Crossville, wouldn't it be great to see a real lion prowling the sidelines? Or for Pisgah to have an eagle peering down from the press box? Now, I will allow that it would not be that inspiring for Ider to have a little caged hornet on the sideline, or for Gordo down in Tuscaloosa County to have a bowl of water as their mascot (they are the Green Wave). And Lord knows we would never want to show up to a Fyffe Red Devils game and see that guy leading cheers. But cheers to you Sylvania, and here's to soon seeing a buffalo leading the North Sand Mountain Thundering Herd onto the field.

Amy George Looking Cool!

Amy, Amy, Amy? Guess what Brad found? Looking through some old tapes and found this that Carson had found while doing some Christmas history stories. Glad you like to read my blog and for that, and for looking so cool in the Santa hat, you are the Sand Mountain Photog Blog's Person of the Day!! Congratulations, Amy.

Build My Church On This Rock

We'll get to the pictures in a moment, but first I would like to tell you about our day. The station called us with this story in Mentone. Seems a kid from Mississippi had died from rabies after being bitten by a bat while at camp in Mentone. Head up there, they say, and plan on being live at 5 and 6pm. So off we go on the hour's drive up to Lookout Mountain. We get to the camp and they release a statement saying the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta had determined that the boy had not been bitten by a bat while at their camp. Seems a bat had flown in kid's room and he took it out, and that's where he contracted rabies. So the story is a bust and back to Albertville. But near the camp is Howard's Chapel. The church was built in 1937 by Colonel Milford Howard and was built around this huge rock. As you can see, the rock comes into the pulpit area and takes up a good bit of space. The good Colonel is even buried in the rock, as his ashes were put there after his death. The church is always open to visitors and is just one of those off the wall kind of places that I love to search out and find.
Oh, if you would like call Mrs. Mary Shirey at 256-638-4441 to book your wedding at the Chapel.

Hood Family at the Harvest Festival

Last Saturday was the annual Harvest Festival in Boaz, and the Hood family loaded up into the family car and headed out for the festivities. In my mind, Fall just isn't the same without a trip to the Harvest Festival. We checked out the arts and crafts, listened to some good music and just generally had a good time. After spending roughly $30 dollars on polish sausages, corn dogs, curly fries and drinks, it was time for the kids to hit the inflatables. Oh, nothing says fun to a kid like a big inflatable slide or a swing. So here are pictures of the Hood kids getting their dollars worth of fun. Jemma is swinging away while young Mr. Forrest is thrilling himself with a life threatening 10 foot slide!! After a trip to Wal Mart and then Pizza Hut, it was time to call it day. Much fun was had by all, now just looking forward to the big Homecoming parade this week at Crossville. What a life, huh?

Doctor Visit

Today I'll take a cue from Carson's blog and tell you about my doctor visit. I went to the eye doctor this morning. Being a photog and all, I figure I need to take care of my eyes. Everything is good, 20/20 vision and no glaucoma. But those darn eye drops they put in your eyes. Luckily it is very cloudy here today or it would be horrible. Leaving the doctor's office, my phone rang and I tried and tried but couldn't read who was calling my vision was so blurry. So, if watching highlights of high school football tonight you see that poor old Brad missed a play, or if some of the shots are out of focus please be understanding. It's not fault, it's those darn eyedrops.

Look What We Found

Look what we found today in Albertville. Carson and I were doing a story about how Albertville has starting towing cars when people are stopped and don't have a drivers license. We went by A & B Wrecker to get video of some of the 22 cars that were taken in Monday. And we found this in their garage. For those of you not in this market, this is Live Star, the satellite truck for the ABC affiliate in Huntsville. Seems they were in Guntersville and had the clutch go out on the truck. They were towed to A & B where it was going to be repaired. Of course, with the story we were doing we had to make jokes about their driver not having a license, which he did. Just thought I would share this picture because it made me laugh.

Give Gadsden the Finger

We went to Gadsden today to cover former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's press conference to announce he was running for governor. We won't get into Roy Moore in this blog, but we will discuss this statue and her finger. This lady is Emma Sansom. The reason there is a statue of her is that during the Civil War, she helped General Forrest cross the Black River while chasing Yankees. Notice the picture of her hand. The index finger is missing. Years ago, someone stole the finger off the statue. City puts another one on, finger comes up missing again. Years go by without a finger until just recently the city gets the finger replaced. Guess what happens next? You got it, the finger is gone again. So will she get yet another finger? Or is it pointless, like poor Emma herself.

Roll Tide!!!!!

What a game!! Can I say it again? Roll Tide!!! One of the perks of this job is that I get to go to cover Alabama football games. Those of you who are not Alabama fans might not think this is much of a perk, but the rest of you will understand. And this is one of the best ones I have been able to cover. Alabama played as good a game as I have ever seen them play. The fans were huge in this game, they started out loud and kept getting louder. I really think that they played a big part in this win as they kept Florida's offense confused. These are video stills from the game, the one being the first touchdown to Tyrone Prothro and the other is Don Shula, Coach Mike Shula's dad and a pretty good coach himself.
I also want to say a big hello to Brock Parker, a fellow news blogger who works at WTVM out of Columbus, Georgia. I shot a big part of the game standing next to him on the sideline. The great thing for me was the he recognized me from my blog photo. Wow, I must be getting famous now for sure. Brock was a really nice guy and it was great to meet him. Besides, he may be good luck for the Tide, so get back to T'town for the Tennesse game, Brock. You can check out Brock's blog here http://bpontheair.blogspot.com/.
One more time please. Roll, Tide, Roll!!!!!!!!

More Iron Bowl History

In case you didn't notice, I have been on a history kick lately. We have been doing stories in advance for the Iron Bowl this year and one of our stories is about the history of the annual Alabama-Auburn game. This is a picture taken of that first game played in Birmingham. Thanks to the Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa for the photos and all their help. This picture has written on it "Dorsey makes first touchdown (four points)". I don't know if Dorsey played for Alabama or Auburn, but notice that a touchdown counted only 4 points back then. Also notice the people sitting on the top of the fence watching the game. And I don't know if you can see it or not, but the guy at the left of the picture in the hat is a referee. I also think he has a cane, maybe instead of a flag he would bopp you in the head with his cane. Anyway, thought this was an interesting photo. And yes, Auburn won the game 32-22.

Yeah, But Did They Tailgate?

Trivia question, where was the very first Alabama-Auburn game played? If you said Birmingham, give yourself a pat on the back. Carson and I went in search of this historical marker today. It marks the spot for the very first Iron Bowl, played way back in 1893.
Sadly, Auburn, known then as A&M College, won the first meeting by a score of 32 to 22. If you ever want to find the marker for yourself it's near St. Vincents Hospital, on the corner of 8th Street South and University.
What was then known as Base Ball Park is now home to office buildings.

Visit To Bear Bryant's Gravesite

Today, Carson and I went to a place I had always wanted to visit but just never got around to. We visited Bear Bryant's gravesite at Elmwood Cemetary in Birmingham. We are doing some stories in advance for the Iron Bowl and we went to the cemetary for one of the stories. First of all, there is a crimson line painted on the drive that takes you to his gravesite. The most surprising thing I quess was just how simple the site was. Just a simple headstone marking this as the family plot and a plaque marking his grave. Nothing at all about his being a coach, nothing about Alabama. Just simple. I'm sure those of you out there who are Alabama fans and who were alive at the time remember where you were when you heard that the Bear had passed away. I know I do. And I remember the pictures of hundreds of thousands of people lining the road to say goodbye as his funeral procession passed down the road. So to see his gravesite today brought back all those memories. Those of you who are not Alabama fans probably dont understand our fascination with Bear Bryant. All I know is that growing up all I wanted to do was play football for the Bear at Alabama. And he remains a big part of Alabama football, and hopefully always will.

Dont Try This At Home

Having just finished shooting our story for the day, we were in Guntersville and looking for some lunch.
Then across the scanner comes this, "Medics respond to Allred Marina, reports of a plane crash, plane is in the water and sinking.".
Well, nothing gets your blood pumping faster than hearing breaking news and knowing that you are close to the scene and may beat police and rescue personal to the scene. Sure enough, we get out there first and beat the responders by a couple of minutes.
Seems a man flying a boat plane was either attempting to land or flying too close to the water with his landing gear down. Wheels hit the water and plane flips into the lake. Luckily, the pilot was able to get out with only scratches and was picked up by a couple of fisherman close to the crash.
Thanks to Alabama Marine Police who took us out to the site in their patrol boat.

Picture of The Day, plus New Contest

Sometimes I go back through our archive tapes here at the bureau and I come upon stories like this. A group of senior citizens calling themselves the California Raisins, go to nursing homes and entertain the residents. Personally, they look more like grapes than raisins, but their hearts are in the right place anyway. Now, my faithful readers, the rest will be up to you. I want to see what kind of funny caption you can come up with for this picture. Make it short, sweet and funny. Winner gets an all expense paid trip to anywhere in the world within a one block radius of their own home. Travel expenses not included.

Jerry, You Are My Hero

Carson and I had to work in Huntsville Tuesday. While we were there, Jerry asked why he didn't make it on the blog this weekend. So here is a photo of your humble photog sitting on the set with Jerry and Kym. I think I kinda look good up there, what do you say? Jerry, if you need someone to sit in for you while you are on vacation just give me a call.

Kids Count, Sand Mtn. Version

Saturday was the Kids Count On the Road event here in Albertville. Thanks to all the folks here in Sand Mtn. who came out and showed the love for Channel 19. Couple of people asked to be put up on the blog, so of course I am more than happy to comply. Here is a picture of ace reporter/weekend anchor Amber Moody interviewing a young man in the Kids Speak Out area. And then there is Keith. Keith Lowhorne spent all day cooking hot dogs for all the thousands of people who came out for the event. Just how many weiners did you cook up, Keith?