Canceled Roadside Attractions by State
Alabama — Rocky the Cracker-Eatin’ Coon – Statue of rascally-masked critter eating white people CANCELED
Alaska — Sockeye the Battlin’ Salmon – Angry mechanical fish gave black eyes to children in downtown Anchorage CANCELED
Arizona — Euthanasiaploratorium – Children’s science hall promoting death for the elderly CANCELED
Arkansas — Rodney the Razorback Hog – Giant metal hog made out of discarded razor blades CANCELED
California — Dr. Humboldt’s Magic Forest – Set amidst the splendor of America’s legendary redwood forest is a psychedelic cornucopia for mushroom-lovers of all ages to explore CANCELED
Colorado — Doc Holliday’s Wild West Dispensary – 19th century remedies like raw opium and uncut cocaine available in a period …
Bouquets and Brickbats
The Eras Tour concert film by Taylor Swift brought in $92.8 million in its opening three-day weekend. The film, which captures a live concert by Taylor Swift, who grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Cumru Township, Pennsylvania before moving to Henderson, Tennessee, shook the paper-thin walls of our local cinemas, which are places where older people are supposed to be able to enjoy afternoon matinee showings of cinematic offerings like Meg II: The Trench without being blown out of their sneakers.
If you haven’t seen the original Meg, starring a giant shark whose mouth opens even wider than Taylor Swift when she is caterwauling like a bobcat impaled on a fence-pole, you are in for a treat. Next summer, we will be looking forward to Meg III: The Eras Tour, starring a 75-foot-long Taylor Swift of the deep who bloodies the waters off the coastal town of Watch Hill, Rhode …
Cousin Jesus
A Southern Family’s Proud Pedigree
Better than 'The DaVinci Code'
Poor white Texans claim miraculous descent from a Roman Soldier and unwed Jewess
I nearly drove the car off Interstate Highway 35 when my grandfather told me, “I have discovered that our family might be related to Jesus of Nazareth.”
I had been paying little attention to what Granddaddy had been saying, up to that point. We were nearing Selma, a tiny jurisdiction and notorious “speed trap” just north of the city limits of San Antonio, to which I was driving my grandfather from Austin for an appointment with a medical specialist. Focused on making sure that I was under the speed limit, so that we would not be pulled over and shaken down for a huge fine, I had been ignoring my grandfather’s discussion of his latest genealogical researches.
Tracing his ancestry had been his hobby since he had retired. A brilliant but half-mad engineer, he had concocted a fantasy genealogy for his ancestors that connected them with Scottish lairds and Norman barons. On the basis of dubious …
