A real hero

I grew up in northern Moore County. My grandmother was a Garner, and everyone in the Robbins area seems related in some way. But I don’t think I know Justin Garner (left), the true hero who stopped a gunman (on the right) before he could kill more residents at Pinelake nursing home in Carthage Sunday morning.

Right now I would love the chance just to shake his hand. This is a hero in every sense of the word. Still not sold? Listen to the 911 tapes obtained by The Pilot of Southern Pines Monday.

Officer Garner — the only officer on duty Sunday morning in the sleepy little town I spent much of my life in — did not hesitate. It would have been perfectly acceptable for him to wait on back-up before going in to stop Robert Stewart.

That probably would have resulted in many more deaths, as the patients and staff at the rest home were almost completely powerless. Instead, Garner went in and did his job, singlehandedly stopping Stewart.

I can’t say I would have the same courage. And I’m glad we have men like Garner out there on our side.

As for the attack itself, I have to say I am still pretty shocked. I never thought I would see Carthage on the front page of the New York Times.

What a horrible person and a horrific event. That is the only way to describe someone who would kill seven elderly people – one of whom, Louise De Kler, was 98 years old. Imagine what she had seen in her life – both world wars, the Great Depression, the moon landing, 9/11 – everything in the last century. And now, because of some lovesick crazy man, she is dead. Another victim, Tessie Garner, 89, lived near my father’s pottery shop in Robbins and was a great and kind lady.

What a coward in Stewart. It doesn’t take much to go in to a nursing home and pick off victims – some in their wheelchairs, no less.

And what a hero in Garner. Or as we say in Robbins, “It takes all kinds,” a comment that is usually followed with, “no, we just got all kinds.”

Thank God we have kinds like Justin Garner on our side.

2009 NCAA printable bracket

Office pool time again. Enjoy:

2009 NCAA printable bracket

Review: Cinderella Man

Last night, while rearranging some stuff in my house, I found a coupon for a free pay-per-view movie from Charter. The only problem was, it was for a movie that was $4.99, but all the new releases are $5.99, so I had to pick an older movie. That’s not a problem, since there’s a lot of movies I haven’t seen out there, though I kinda wanted to see “Zack & Miri Make a Porno” or “W.”

I scrolled through the older new releases and came upon “Cinderella Man,” a 2005 film made by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger. Since I also have DVR, I thought I would rent it, save it and watch it later. It was already 12:30 a.m. when I bought it. But I couldn’t figure out how to save On Demand movies, so I was forced to watch the whole thing straight through.

I’m glad I did. Wow, what a movie! How Million Dollar Baby won best picture over this one I don’t understand. Million Dollar Baby was not even the best boxing movie made in 2005.

Honestly, I have been accused of having rather cheesey tastes in movies over the years, and I know it is a story that has been told in virtually every boxing – or sports, for that matter – movie ever. But this one really happened, making it 1,000 times better.

It’s like the first ”Rocky”, which won best picture, if “Rocky” really happened. But better. It was more like “Rocky” with Rocky IV’s villain – Similarly to Ivan Drago, Max Baer had killed a man or two in the ring before the finale fight with Jimmy Braddock. Cinderella Man is actually a good depiction of what Rocky would have been if it were made today. The figth scenes were amazing. I especially liked the scenes where they showed the x-rays of Braddock’s ribs as he was getting punched.

You may know the real life Max Baer’s son – Max Baer Jr. He played Jethro in The Beverly Hillbillies. Honestly, it was a little tough to see Baer as a murdering viscious boxer when you’re thinking of Jethro. They should have had Dolph Lungren play him.

And there were other flaws with the movie. Although the acting was superb, I thought Russell Crowe’s accent was a little overplayed. But there’s no way you won’t fall in love with the family and characters as they struggle through the Great Depression. Which leads me to my next thought on the movie. It didn’t perform wonderfully at the box office, but I can almost guarantee it would have done much better in 2009 than 2005, given the current economic crisis. We haven’t got it nearly as bad as the Braddocks and the rest of the people in the film, yet.

All-in-all, it was a great, uplifting film and certainly worth my coupon and the 3 a.m. bedtime. In fact, I’ll say it was the best movie I have seen in at least two years.

Worth every penny

Growing up, I never had to worry about fences. Out in the country, a dog has plenty of places to roam without fear of cars or the opportunity for mischief in a neighbor’s trash can.

But in Sanford, that is not the case. So when I bought my first home about a month ago, I had three options for containing the terrror of a puppy I recently adopted from the Lee County Animal Shelter. Well, four, if you count getting rid of him, which I don’t. One, I could tether him on a chain. I tried that for about ten minutes, but my opinion of that method was quickly confirmed. It’s cruel and unusual punishment, and anyone who does that to a dog should be shot.

Two, I could leave him in the house all the time. I soon found out that was just as cruel, both to him and to my furniture. He chewed the arm off my recliner. He chewed several adapters and cords in half. He had more than a few house training “accidents.”

Leaving him in the house turned out to be a terrible idea, so I bit the bullet and went with option three — the backyard fence. I had several fencing companies come out and give me astronomical estimates for my .25 acre lot, so I just figured it was out of reach. I even thought about taking Beau to my dad’s house to live out in the country for a second.

Then one day I was at Lowe’s, gazing longingly at fencing, when an associate came up and told me about the Lowe’s Project Card. Essentially, it works like this: I buy as much as I can for a particular project in six months, paying nothing for it during that time. When the six months are up and the project is complete, I set the amount up into low monthly payments over 4-10 years.

I talked to my dad, and he said we could get some folks from back home up here to help out and put the fence up one Saturday.

So I went back, purchased $1,300 in privacy fencing (6-foot tall premade sections of pine, 8 feet long) and supplies, and we put the fence up this past weekend. Sure, there were some hilarious miscues… imagine a potter and a journalist installing an electric fence aparatus at the bottom of the fence, and you can only imagine the details. My dad cracked me up the FIRST time he got shocked. Then it happened to me, and I wasn’t laughing anymore.

But we got it up, and Beau is so happy out there. Last night I came home for dinner and let him in the house, and within 10 minutes he was at the door scratching, wanting to go back out. Sure, I’ll probably have to pay $35 a month for four years, that is if I can’t pay it off sooner, but it was well worth it to play a 50-foot game of fetch with him. Before, his leash was about 10 feet.

Plus with all this room, I am already thinking about getting him a playmate. He has to get bored while I am at work. And I work a lot.

I don’t want to sound like a commercial, but I recommend the Lowe’s Project Card. I’m sure Beau does too.

Daytona 380

Let me preface this by saying that I have been a NASCAR fan since my dad took me to North Wilkesboro when I was five. I’ve probably been to 100 races in my life at every track from Daytona to Richmond. I know racing.

But in the past three years, I’ll admit that I have been less than an avid NASCAR watcher. Other than the ones in Charlotte, Bristol and Daytona I have actually been to during that time, I bet I haven’t watched more than 10 minutes of a race. I can’t say I really even have a favorite driver anymore, though I’ll always pull for the Pettys since they’re kinda family. And, of course, Dale Jr.

So Sunday I sat down with every intention of watching the entire Daytona 500. I planned to get back into it this year, and had even picked out a favorite driver. Back before I lost interest, my dad, a huge Dale Sr. fan, had chosen Tony Stewart as his replacement. Tony started his own team this year, so I figured I would pull for him this year, as well as his teammate Ryan Newman.

Heck, I even watched the hours of prerace show, highlighted by a rather unfortunate career choice by Keith Urban, who sang a song about FOX’s Gopher Cam.

But Sunday afternoon, the race was called with 120 miles to go because of rain, with Matt Kenseth being declared the winner. Like most race fans, I am completely ambivalent on Kenseth. As Alex Podlogar likes to say, he’s the Wake Forest or Swiss of NASCAR. He’s good, but who cares?

Not exactly the excitement a sport needs to stay alive.

How can you do this? For a sport that is so dependent on the economy for success, NASCAR really has no idea how to make and retain fans. How can you call the biggest race of the year with 48 laps to go? Even if you have to wait until Monday to finish it, the Daytona 500 should be 500 miles, with a wild finish at the end that makes you want to watch the rest of the season. Or at least by a ticket for a race or two.

My dad did that today. Like every year, he went to the 500 this year (though now it is more of a vacation for him that just happens to be capped off with a race). And every year for the past half-decade, he has called me at the end to say “wasn’t much of a race, huh?” Every year, I have to say I have agreed with him.

NASCAR is operated by idiots. I am goingt o try desperately to get into it again this year, at least when nothing else is on. But unlike Sunday, I’m not making any plans to sit down and watch. Why should I? Give me something to care about, NASCAR!

I’m on Facebook too

We truly are living in incredible times.
If you are my “friend” on Facebook, as about 187 of you are right now, you’ll probably know that over the last two days there has been quite a heated debate going on on my page over the recent announcement that ExxonMobil experienced the largest profits in American history over the last quarter.
As a poli sci major and once an aspiring lawyer, I am a sucker for a good political argument. My friend since high school, Chris, and I have wildly differing views on the world. As a grad student going for an MBA at the University of Georgia, he is quite conservative. As a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a journalist, you might have guess that I am not.
But I respect his opinion and his right to have it. I think he does mine, too. Think, at least.
It was great. Heated, scathing, at times personal and even offensive, as any political debate should be.
Anyway, you’ll have to become my “friend” to read the discussion. But that’s beside the point. At one point on Friday, I paused for a second to take in just what was occuring before me.
The Internet, and especially social networking sites like Facebook, are making the world smaller and larger at the same time. Here I am having a heated argument with a guy that, just 10 years ago, I may never have seen again. Actually, I haven’t “seen” him in at least five years.
Then my friend, colleague and former roommate Gordon Anderson threw his hat into the scuffle, as did reporter Faith Swymer and my boss, Billy Liggett. Several of my other “friends,” some of whom know both Chris and I from high school and others that have never met him, messaged me privately to chime in their two cents as well.
So we have a grad student in Athens arguing with journalists in Sanford, three of which are originally from out of state (Gordon – California, Faith – New Hampshire, Billy – Texas) and me. We had virtually the entire electoral map covered. Ain’t it grand?
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think it is good. No, great. The expansion of your mind from differing viewpoints – be they right or wrong – can only lead to a better, more well-rounded person and world.
I imagine that the amazement I felt today is the same that people felt when the telephone or television became widely available. Their thoughts probably went something like this:
- “You mean I can pick up this funny looking thing and talk to people in the next county? Wow! The world is going to end,” or
- “You mean that I can look at this box and see things happening across the country? Wow! The world is going to end now.”
So what’s next? We can’t even imagine. Who would have ever thought that we would make it this far? It’s scary and exhilarating at the same time.
Fasten your seatbelts, Sanford.

E-mail your prez

I did something today I had never done before or even thought was possible – I e-mailed my president. My concern was centered on bank fees – the scourge of the economy as I see it. Banks charge us astronomical fees every time we mistakenly overdraft our accounts, which is easy to do in the age of e-business, where debits and check go in at all times of the day.

I, like most Americans, live paycheck to paycheck. How does Obama expect us to get ahead if we are constantly digging ourselves a hole – a hole that, as hard as I work, I cannot seem to break out of. And how can banks, with a straight face, charge us such fees when we the taxpayers just gave them $850 billion?

Obama says he is committed to an open and honest government. Hold him to it.

If you have a concern or thought that may help this country move forward, visit this site and let him know.

No talk. Need sleepy

Since I am too tired to give any real insight into Monday’s activities on the Hill, you’ll have to pay for my thoughts by buying a Herald tomorrow.

But here are a few photos from the day, including a rather dorky shot of me in front of the capitol building. That’s the last time I trust a hot blonde.

Yeah right.

Anyway, enjoy. Oh yeah, I almost forgot my favorite tacky souvenir of the day…

Let’s see. There are soooooooooo many to choose from. Everyone and their brother are up here selling homemade shirts, posters and other crap out of the trunk of their cars.

I guess my winner today for worst item would have to be the poster with Obama’s face, looking like he just got out of prison, with the acronym HNIC at the bottom. I’ll let you figure out what that means. I’m not saying it.

Also-rans include the velvet painting I saw of Obama and the family, the Bedazzled Obama hats, toboggins, shirts and, yes, mini-skirts, another Obama-as-Michael Jordan shirt and some rather crudely-made buttons.

One pretty cool poster I saw had the 43 other presidents drawn in cartoon fashion with the same skin color, then Obama at the end. I have seen it before online, though.

It looks like this:

Oh, and Gordon and Billy, I got you guys a really good souvenir. Not really of the event, but I think you’ll enjoy them. See you guys on The Rant!

No glove, no love

OK, so I didn’t make it into Washington tonight. I figured that the 100,000-plus people who were at the concert would be crowding the Metro stations by the time I got up there, so I decided to take it easy tonight in preparation for a big day tomorrow…

I did get some pens and gloves though, which turned out to be a journey in itself. Let me explain.

The local Wal-Mart was completely sold out of normal gloves – they had work gloves, but I figured that would be unfashionable in the press tent. I just bought my pens. By the way, the Wal-Mart in Dumfries, Va., pales in comparison to the one in Sanford. But the crowd that shops there is largely the same. When paying, I asked the clerk if there were any other stores around, to which she paused, then answered “not really.”

Another pause, then I hear, “well, there’s a Target up the road.”

A Target? How can you forget a Target. See there Sanford… Target isn’t everything. Dumfries, Va., has one they don’t even like.

Anyway, I go to the Target, and they have no gloves either. I had to go all the way to the Potomac Mills mall 10 miles away to find gloves that were around $30…when I wanted some cheap ones for $5.

OK, so today was not very exciting. But tomorrow will be. I pick up my press pass at 10 a.m. at the Russell Senate Office Building – the part of the trip that I am most excited about. I’m thinking about donating it to my high school when I get home. Then I am going to walk around town in hopes of spotting someone famous (maybe even an Obama) doing something good for MLK Day. A tour of the Newseum at 1 p.m. is also sure to be a highlight. I will likely have a few stories and pics in Tuesday’s Herald on my day, but be sure to check this blog tomorrow night for another update.

Oh yeah. Each day I will update you on the worst piece of memorabilia I find commemorating the event. Today’s item is a T-shirt. There are a lot of gaudy, terrible shirts up here with Obama on them. There are even T-shirts with newspaper fronts on them, something I plan to mention  to Jeff Ayers when I get home. Look for a Sanford Herald shirt commemorating the re-election of Cornelia Olive next year.

But one particular shirt took the cake. It was black, and featured our president-elect’s head on Michael Jordan’s body flying through the air in Jordan’s signature pose toward a goal. Obama was also wearing a Superman cape, and the backboard of the goal was the White House. In the lower left corner of the shirt was a silhouette of Martin Luther King Jr.

Obama. Superman. MJ. MLK. Yep, all the bases covered. Talk about high expectations. My head almost exploded. I tried to take a picture of it with my phone but the salesman came up and shewed me away.

I am going to buy the worst shirt I see this week. I may have to make a trip back to the mall on Tuesday, because that one will be hard to top.

I’m there

I made it, mama. You can quit worrying about that part of the trip (the drive up)  now.

So after gathering up the mountain of things – laptop, clothes, coats, gloves, boots, three cameras, notebooks, etc… all the stuff a journalist needs I guess – I finally got on the road around 7 a.m. this morning.

Right now I am watching the free concert/celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on Washington public TV. I wish I had known about this event. I would’ve left a lot earlier to take it in. Bruce Springsteen, U2, Mary J. Blige, every famous actor ever, Obama and Biden and almost everyone else in the country are there. Jeez. I once paid $100 bucks just to see Bruce in Kenan Stadium. Why was this not publicized? Probably because everyone in the country would have been there.

But as I type, Jon Bovi is completely butchering one of my favorite songs – “A Change is gonna come” by Sam Cooke. Maybe I’m not so sad I didn’t make it.

For all the hype about crowded roads into Washington, I found the drive up to be quite pleasant. According to the handy Tom Tom I got for Christmas (thanks mom) I averaged 70 mph on the 288 mile voyage. I only stopped once – for gas in Cary. I’m male. We don’t stop.

Like I said, I packed up nearly my whole apartment for this trip it seems. But as I crossed the Virginia line I realized that I forgot one very important item – an item that all journalists must have to do their job – a pen. So now I must go to Wal-Mart. That’s OK, though, because when packing up I could only find one of my gloves. So I need a new pair of those, too.

This can only end badly…

I’m sure the roads are going to get much more crowded as the week progresses. I may head downtown now to take in some sights. I’ll report back – with pictures – later tonight if I do.

Then the real fun starts tomorrow morning.