Have a great New Year!

As promised on this morning's radio show, here are my 2011 obituaries: Swami Bhaktipada Kate SchulteBetty FordJoe Bageant Ben Masel Jessica Nathanson (Plains Feminist)Elizabeth TaylorOwsley Stanley (Bear)Anne FrancisAnthony Dellaventura (from 2010)Requiescat in pace.~*~Blogging notice for the New Year:Apparently, there is some sort of weird software that pops up on my comment page, but it doesn't manifest on all computers and phones. I am trying...

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Onward and Upward

At left: Occupy Greenville has kept our plucky heroine from dissolving into hopelessness during her long period of unemployment this year: THREE CHEERS FOR THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT, which has restored many folks' faith in America. ~*~ I used to wonder why people (usually women) deleted their blogs. No longer. I get it now. As net-denizens Google various religious-and-Christmas-oriented-posts I have written over the past four-and-a-half years, I...

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Merry Christmas from the Family

FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW, I hereby present our official Dead Air Christmas tradition of the ages, Robert Earl Keen!Enjoy, and Feliz Navid...

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Wordless Wednesday: Greer Opry House

This is the legendary local Greer Opry House in downtown Greer, South Carolina. I took these back in October and forgot all about posting them--my apologies. And a splendid time is guaranteed for a...

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Two Father Christmases

Two Father Christmas songs, played on my radio show. We will be playing them next Saturday, of course. Father Christmas - The Kinks~*~I believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake The lovely melody in the song's middle section was borrowed from Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé, which always makes me think of the end of Woody Allen's Love and Death. :: Your weekend dose of cute comes from HuffPo: Baby Seal Enters House, Sleeps On Couch. As adorable as it sounds!:: This weekend's podcast is up! Yall come vis...

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Alyssa Clemens explains it all for you

We now turn our attention to one Alyssa Clemens, Bob Jones University graduate and Fox News Carolina photojournalist. Clemens was sent by our local Fox News affiliate, to cover Monday's demonstration at BJU. (Yes, this is what passes for objective journalism in upstate South Carolina: A BJU graduate is sent to cover an anti-BJU demonstration. Do you believe?!?) And since Clemens attended BJU's so-called "journalism school"--she sees nothing...

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So true

...

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Haley Watch: Nikki wastes another $1M, needs tutorial in how to govern

This just in from the intrepid Renee Dudley of the Charleston Post and Courier: SC Gov. Haley dictated health panel findingOutcome ordered before committee metBY RENEE DUDLEYrdudley@postandcourier.comWednesday, December 14, 2011Gov. Nikki Haley dictated the conclusions of a committee charged with deciding how the state should implement federal health care reform before the group ever held its first meeting, public documents show.Now, some of those...

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Bright lights, dark room

I am currently watching Dennis Hopper playing a neo-nazi on an old Twilight Zone episode. Very strange. I heard this hypnotic old song from Speak and Spell the other night. (I have it on vinyl and therefore have not heard it in eons, since I have nothing to play it on.) Now I can't stop hearing: I.. take.. pictures... photographic... pictures... in my head, over and over, as well as the words of today's blog post title. Bright Lights. Dark Room. Sharing the dreaded earworm!Depeche Mode - Photographic Although I usually agree with Eminem...

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Greenville News brainwashed by Bob Jones University

At left: Ex-faculty member Dr Camille Lewis and others at BJU Alumni Day yesterday, releasing red balloons in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse. Photo by Hannah Goodman. I nearly titled this "Greenville News blows Bob Jones"--but as Ben Bradlee famously said in a similar situation: This is a family newspaper. Likewise, this is a family blog. Brainwashed is not the best word to describe their ass-kissing 'reportage.' The humorous initials...

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Fun Friday Links

From here, there and everywhere: :: CNN reports that the newest poll shows that Voters want to throw em out:76 percent of voters said most members of Congress do not deserve to be re-elected, the highest percentage Gallup measured in 19 years of asking that question. And the 20% who say congressional members should be re-elected is a record low-one point below the previous low recorded in August.:: December 6th was the 22nd anniversary of the...

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The Real Daisy

... was my grandmother. I have no idea when or where this photo was taken, but it was probably in Pittsburgh. Her eyes were so black, you couldn't even see the pupils. Her hair was likewise very black, naturally curly and silky. My grandmother was Melungeon, which I have always intended to blog about, but there is so little known about them, I don't know exactly what to write. Suffice to say, they were very WEIRD backwoods people with...

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Santa Claws

Starring wonderful Simon's C...

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Everybody's having fun

I love this song passionately! Time to play it, officially kicking off the DEAD AIR Christmas season. Merry Xmas Everybody - SladeLook to the future now, it's only just beg...

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Rev Charles Phelps resigns from Bob Jones University board

As I mentioned on my radio show yesterday, Reverend Chuck Phelps has resigned from the board of Bob Jones University. As usual, our local mainstream media initially said absolutely NOTHING about this situation and it was therefore left to the bloggers to take the lead. In fact, bloggers were actually singled out as Bad Boogeyman in BJU's original, official statement about the case, which has now been yanked from their website, and ceremoniously...

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Occupy the Christmas parade!

We showed up last night at the Christmas Parade in Greenville, with 99% Santa. In his regular incarnation, he is a regular caller to my radio show. (PS: Check us out from yesterday!) He told us he made a list, checked it twice, and he knew exactly who had been naughty (Goldman Sachs, Bank of America) and nice (us!). He also instructed us to Occupy!--and none of us would ever dare to disobey Santa. Hope you like my other sparkly pictures of...

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News flash: People on TV live better than we do

At left: Audrey Meadows and Jackie Gleason as Alice and Ralph in THE HONEYMOONERS.I was looking at Ralph and Alice Kramden's tiny, dingy apartment last night, flipping channels and feeling some 50s nostalgia. And then, jarringly, I landed on some shiny new sitcom, and the same supposedly middle-class people are living in $350,000 homes. Wait, what? How could they afford THAT? Alice and Ralph barely scraped by, and they didn't even have a car....

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Moment of Panic

Uncle Dave played this great tune last night on the radio-inspired namesake of this blog, Uncle Dave's Dead Air. Airplane - Widespread Pa...

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Something to think about

Thanks to Yellowdog Grann...

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Odds and Sods: Post-Thanksgiving edition

At left: I didn't mean to look so bloody GRIM! From Occupy Greenville yesterday, photo by wonderful Uma. And we are still at it. For how long? I don't know, but I don't mind. I figure any lasting changes in our society will take a long time--and I figured that out a long time ago, as well. As it is, we are dealing with a society that often has no clue. People come out of the CVS and Starbucks and ask us what we are doing; they've never even...

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