Grass grows in Chester, S.C.

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If you believe marijuana plant tending is a lost art, read what recently happened in Chester County, S.C.

Personally, I was always afraid of marijuana--even in its hey day of the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Grass everywhere, it seemed. At parties, on university-sponsored trips in vans I took during graduate school, sprouting up in basements.

The weed isn't dead--by a long shot.

Read about it in the headline link above.

Seen on the wall at the Veterans Affairs Hospital

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I had to go to Mountain Home Veterans Affairs Hospital in Johnson City, Tenn., today.

Spent about half a day there getting poked, listened to (heart beat), drained (urine sample), pricked (blood sample) and photographed (X-ray).

Results not in yet. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, noticed something interesting--from a slide in the hospital orientation Power Point presentation I sat through:

"It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

"It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

"It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble."

Well put.

Bloggers keeping watchful eyes on murder case

If anyone doubts the power of blogging (as well as how bloggers are keeping the mainstream media on their toes,) they should read about the horrific double murder-rape case unfolding in Knoxville, Tenn.

Seems that a young couple (who happen to be white) were sexually assaulted and mutilated.

The five suspects, each charged with first degree murder, happen to be black.

So some are saying this is a case of a too little publicized black on white crime.

That said, bloggers are attacking the mainstream Tennessee media for not making a bigger deal of the race factor. After all, according to the bloggers, look what happened year (with the extensive local, state, national and even international mainstream media coverage) when an alleged white on black crime rocked Duke University. This was, as you may recall, the case where three white Lacross players at Duke were indicted on charges of sexually assaulting a young black exotic dancer.

Why all the hullabaloo about race in the Duke case and so little mention of it (by mainstream traditional news media) in the murders/rapes of University of Tennessee student Channon Christopher, 21, and her 23-year-old boyfriend Christopher Newsom?

Good questions.

My memorable encounter with Tiger

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Two days ago, I sat within 40 feet of Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer on the planet.

I'm perched in my canvas chair on the edge of the third green at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte.

I'm waiting, waiting, waiting...

From the early afternoon (about 12:30 p.m.) I get to green # 3 and figure my strategy.

Sooner or later Tiger will prowl that green.

Turned out, because of a rain delay, my Tiger sighting occurred in about four hours. (As I waited, got to see the likes of Phil Mickelson, V.J. Singh, Rory Sabbatini, Sergio Garcia and others.)

Will never forget it.

The guy is tall.

He appreciates his millions of admirers--thousands of whom were at the Wachovia Championship. It's a thrill when he tips (ever so slightly) the bill of his cap--letting us all know that he sees us.

He's quiet and focused. Never seemed to blink an eye. Never uttered a word, far as I could tell, on the green to his caddie or to anyone else. Walked all over that green, surveying and feeling it, kneeling down and staring--taking measure of his challenge.

His ball is about 35 feet from the whole. Downhill, tricky putt with contours between the ball and the whole. Very difficult. Can't hit it too softly, I figured.

He didn't sink it, but came ever so close--settling the ball on the edge of the cup, within a fingernail. . . within a breath of dropping.

A beautiful putt from our world's best golfer.

That day, he wore a white Nike cap and a white Nike shirt.

Yesterday, when he won the Wachovia Championship (by 2 strokes, earning $1.1 million), he wore red.

Always does.

If I'm alive next year, I'll be at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte at Quail Hollow--working to get another Tiger sighting.