all shook up

It would not have been too difficult to make Memphis the first stop on our recent road trip. However that would have put us at Graceland on August 16th, which is both the best and worst possible day to visit the home of Elvis. Instead my wife and I were there on August 20th, which was still close enough to The Big E's death anniversary that many of the floral arrangements from his fans were still on display.



After we toured the mansion and the airplanes, we wandered over to the broadcast booth for Elvis Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio. I gestured to the deejay inside that I wanted to take a picture with him. Big Jim Sykes opened the door and graciously posed with me. I told him that I worked in Knoxville and he said that he had also. As we swapped radio stories, I learned that Big Jim was once known as Jungle Jim when he did mornings on the old WOKI. He didn't like the name, which had been assigned by his boss. I promised to email him a link to Knoxville Radio History 101, a blog full of memories he would enjoy.

Big Jim asked if I had ever met his former program director, Brother Clay Gish. I explained that not only had I met him (back when he was still a him), but that I will often get a request line call during a weekend shift from Gishelle Diva Gish, as the former Clay is now known. Big Jim was rather surprised to learn of Gishelle's transition and said he would look for photos online. I said that I wished I could see his reaction when he does. At that point, Jim invited us into the studio while he did a Google search for Gishelle. Big Jim's jaw almost hit the floor when he saw the article and photo essay about her on knoxnews.com. I'm glad I was there to see it.

here's another nice mess

The bravest lifeguards in East Tennessee waded carefully into the Springbrook Pool today. Moments earlier the pool had been evacuated and the events of the Smoky Mountain Invitational meet had been halted. The announcer said the delay would last at least thirty minutes. The races are at the deep end of the pool while the shallow part near the slide is open to anyone who buys a wristband and wants to cool off. It was one of the recreational swimmers who caused the shutdown for exactly the reason you're thinking. The lifeguards had to pull on their rubber gloves and collect the specimen. A round of "eewws" could be heard from those watching as the guards scooped each piece into an old chlorine bucket.

what would Simon say?

"American Idol" finalist Ace Young got slammed on TMZ.com for performing in Pigeon Forge on the Fourth of July at StarJam 2008 while some of his castmates played nationally televised gigs. The fun would be spoiled for Harvey Levin and his crew if they knew that the crowd at StarJam numbered somewhere around 75,000. The fans were pressed in so tightly that the fire department had to hose them down. Oh yeah, Paris Hilton was there too.



As Terry Morrow mentioned in his blog, he and I talked with Ace in his tour bus. He had heard about the dig on TMZ but didn't mind because it meant that he was "on their radar."

During our conversation, the satellite TV in the bus was tuned to the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks on NBC. We saw Katharine McPhee singing "Save the Last Dance for Me" under an umbrella in Brooklyn. The fireworks were visible behind her. Earlier in the telecast Jordin Sparks sang her next single, "One Step at a Time." It was fairly obvious that Jordin's performance at Times Square was recorded on a night without rain.

When we got home from Pigeon Forge, my wife and I watched "A Capitol Fourth" on our HD-DVR. Taylor Hicks looked more like one of the congressmen in the audience than one of the performers. We cringed when he mugged into the camera like a cheesy lounge singer during a song called "Soul Thing." When he wasn't looking at the camera, we caught him looking at himself on the jumbotron several times. It got worse when he messed up the lyrics to "Dancing in the Dark" and went into the audience to select a dance partner in a pale imitation of Bruce Springsteen and Courteney Cox.

Of the four performances by Idol contestants that I saw on the Fourth, Ace's was easily the best. He won over the crowed with his original songs like "Addicted" and with one or two covers including a great version of "Dream On." Ace stuck around to meet his fans and sign autographs long after the post-concert fireworks. He is doing it the hard way by financing his own CD. I hope this nice guy finishes first, especially after what they wrote on TMZ.com.

that's hot

Some guy at Good Charlotte's record label assured Terry Morrow that Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie would not be accompanying their boyfriends to StarJam 2008 at Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge. And we all know what happens when you assure, you make an ass out of you and re.

One of my co-workers picked up the band at McGhee Tyson Airport on Friday afternoon and was surprised to see that Paris was traveling with Benji Madden. His brother Joel was without Nicole. On the way to Pigeon Forge, they all got out of the van and bought a bunch of fireworks at a stand on Wears Valley Road.

When I had a little bit of a break later, it occurred to me to call Terry Morrow and to tell him that I had met Paris. He loves to tell people about the party he attended at her house. Naturally, Terry was surprised to hear that she was in Tennessee. He couldn't get off the phone fast enough so he could start driving to Pigeon Forge. As a result of his efforts, he was able to phone in a story for this morning's paper and post a few more details on his blog.

Here are the photos I took from my vantage point backstage. You may not use any of these photos on your own site without my permission, but you may go ahead and link back to this blog entry freely.

kingdom of the plastic skull

In our last interview back in February, the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass told me that their next novel will be set in Oak Ridge, local home to the Manhattan Project. Now one of their sources has revealed some juicy details in the Oak Ridger. A drowning scene is likely to be set at the Alexander Inn, the hotel that housed Enrico Fermi and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

While I eagerly await the next Body Farm novel, I have a few other books stacked up on my nightstand. I'm currently reading a copy of "Dexter in the Dark" that I borrowed from Terry Morrow. Next, I will either get to "The Road" or "Book of the Dead," both of which I received for Christmas.

On Saturday, my wife and I stopped by McKay's to peruse their selection of audio books. We're starting to look for something to entertain us on our next long car trip, later this summer. I saw a few selections by Kathy Reichs, whose life is the inspiration for the TV show "Bones." I have never read any of her books nor seen "Bones" but I am thinking about giving both a try after receiving perhaps the greatest promotional item ever. Fox 43 sent me a replica of a human skull in an evidence bag. The accompanying note said the skull was just like the one Dr. Temperance Brennan keeps on her desk. It now proudly rests on a top shelf in my home office. Or maybe I should say "she proudly rests." As best as I can tell from what I learned from Dr. Bass, the lack of a pronounced supraorbital ridge indicates that it's a female skull.

two out of three ain't bad

An interesting email arrived in the main Einstein Simplified inbox today. Paul Simmons forwarded it to the rest of us in the group.

Jon Tanzman, a casting director for Mark Burnett Productions wanted to tip us off to the upcoming Nashville auditions for a new CBS show called "Jingles." They are inviting musicians and improv performers to try out. Jon specifically mentioned singing comedy duos and barbershop quartets. Once the show goes into production, teams of 2 to 8 members will write and perform jingles for real products. The casting call asks: "Do you think you could use your quick mind, great sense of humor and musical skills to impress Fortune 500 companies?"

Considering that "Bartender" is one of my weakest games, I will have to pass.

survival of the fittest

The owner of a local restaurant says business is down by a third since the state enacted a partial smoking ban last October. Tennessee allows restaurants to choose whether to serve all ages in a smoke-free environment or to only serve patrons over 21 who are free to smoke at the table. In many other states, smoking is banned at all restaurants, period.

When a restaurant suffers because of the smoking ban, I have to wonder what it was that drew in their clientèle in the first place. Obviously, restaurants that can survive on the quality of their food will do so. Others that rely on their atmosphere, albeit polluted, can continue to cater to smokers. Some of the comments posted on the News Sentinel article are worth reading (especially this one and this one), if you can ignore the ones from smokers who somehow feel that their "right" to blow smoke in our faces has been infringed upon by the ban.

At the end of the newspaper article, Scott Bryan from the Knox County Health Department says that some restaurants have seen their business double since the smoking ban. Yet that doesn't make the headlines. Meanwhile, the story about the restaurant switching back to allow smokers gets picked up by TV stations in Alabama and Kansas and who knows where else.

sales call agitates many

The guy on the phone said his name was Eddie Portland. He called me at home yesterday and claimed that my name had been drawn in a contest which I had no recollection of entering. Could he be telling the truth? I'm on the National Do Not Call Registry. He knew my name and phone number and mentioned what he thought was my annual income. I only wish he had been right about that amount.

Eddie said I had won one of four prizes: a choice between a Lincoln Navigator or $50,000; a cruise to the Bahamas for two; a $2,500 cashier's check or a 32-inch flat screen TV. Sounds good, right? To claim it, my wife and I would each have to bring two forms of I.D., preferably a driver's license and major credit card, to Gatlinburg this weekend. After attending a 90-minute presentation on a vacation resort, we would then have to pluck scratcher tickets out of a drum to see which prize we had won.

Feeling suspicious, I looked online. Others had posted about their experiences with the same company in other cities. I decided not to bother with it when I read about people who went to a presentation expecting to be there for only an hour and a half but were stuck for over three hours instead. Still more complained about the hard-sell techniques. I wish I could have found a post from someone who got their prize, didn't have to buy anything and was happy about the experience. No such luck.

poly want a cracker?

The Apostrophe Abuse website has a never ending supply of plural words that are made possessive by the erroneous insertion of an apostrophe. I enjoyed looking at it back in October. On our recent walk through Gatlinburg, I spotted a sign for a shop called God's Corner. Given that it's in the Bible Belt, they probably meant for the sign to be possessive, not made plural by the omission of an apostrophe.



Earlier that day we went to a shop in Pigeon Forge called Country Clutter. They sold a line of Willow Tree figurines that were missing faces. I was reminded of the stained glass windows at All Saints Church, which have faceless figures to allow the observer to imagine themselves in the scene. You may recall that a columnist for the local Catholic paper didn't like the windows (or anything else). The figurines were okay but the creepy keepsake boxes looked like they belong in a columbarium.

waxing with the stars

The Hollywood Wax Museum in Gatlinburg put their best, um, foot forward by positioning their Angelina Jolie love doll statue to be the first thing you see once you get inside. King Kong is the first thing you see before you go in. You may recall that I saw Kong over the summer while at a wedding reception next door.



Angelina Jolie looks like the real thing. A couple of others don't. For example, Elvis Presley, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. And Tobey Maguire.



Colin Farrell is posed in a tuxedo at a wedding chapel. I think women can pose in the wedding dress that was hanging nearby. Somebody must have thought they could literally take Colin's hand in marriage.



After a while you can't help but get into the campy spirit of the place. For example, the file name of this picture of the creature is "FrankAndStein.jpg"

fork a stick in it

After the 4:00 p.m. dinner show at the Dixie Stampede on Wednesday, we were ushered out of the arena past a display of stick horses from WHOA, the Woodin-stick Horses of America. I have looked at their website and cannot figure out why they insist on misspelling it "woodin" instead of wooden.



The night was still plenty young, so we headed to Gatlinburg for more sightseeing. I saw a bunch of marshmallow treats in the window at Kilwin's. They had chocolate covered marshmallows on sticks as well as chocolate covered Rice Krispies Treats on sticks. The Poofy Ropes and Poofy Pops were bargain priced but I wasn't interested in strawberry-flavored marshmallow poof.



It was only 7:15 p.m. when I took a picture of the Gatlinburg Inn. All the lights were out. Because of the prominent placement of the AARP logo on their sign, I assumed that the residents had gone to bed for the night. It turns out that they are closed until April 1. It also turns out to be the place where the song "Rocky Top" was written in only ten minutes, presumably not in the winter.

reason for the season

The North Pole defeated the South Pole in a surprising come-from-behind victory yesterday at the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The South Pole team took an early lead in several equestrian events. The North Pole team finally scored some points in the pig and ostrich races. Ultimately it was audience participation that made the difference. A North Pole fan tied the overall competition by decisively winning the toilet seat toss. With the game on the line, North Pole fans were able to pass several toy candy canes from person to person faster than their South Pole counterparts. The cane-passing standout Murphy family of Knoxville helped cinch the victory for the North.

Prior to the competition, the audience witnessed a short nativity play. Actors portraying Mary and Joseph were lowered from the ceiling on a small square ice rink. Once the platform touched down on the surface of the horse arena, a herd of goats and a few donkeys were shepherded around it. Three camels carrying three wise men completed the scene as a trained dove flew the length of the arena into the hands of a live angel suspended from the rafters.

horse sense

Eight big celebrities are in town this week. My wife spotted them at Food City and called to suggest I drive over to see them too.



The Budweiser Clydesdales made an appearance at the grocery store and with Erin Donovan on today's "Live At Five" today. They'll be in the Gatlinburg Christmas Parade on Friday evening and in the Maryville/Alcoa Jaycees Christmas Parade on Saturday morning.

The Clydesdales are famous for their feather, which is what you call the white hair on their ankles. Their horseshoes made some marks on the parking lot asphalt that I thought might look like a night sky full of stars to my camera phone. I couldn't leave out the official Clydesdales shovel, which apparently has its own golf cart.

will it float?

Maybe it was the amazing HD picture that helped me be less critical of NBC's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade than in years past. This morning I decided that Meredith Vieira has a warmth and a sincerity in her voice that makes her better at reading the Macy's approved script than Katie Couric. In 2005, I was less than enthusiastic about the Katie and Matt Lauer combination. The cheese factor increased today once Al Roker joined Meredith and Matt at the table. Voiceover announcer Joel Godard's pronunciation of "Menudo" was oddly entertaining every time he attempted it.

In 2006, I focused on CBS's coverage. This year I am too frustrated to deal with them because Hannah Storm still doesn't know the difference between a parade float and a balloon. Hannah might have been a little embarrassed when Hannah Jr. used her whole palm to wipe her nose on live TV. Dave Price was definitely embarrassed when he said that Tom Osborne had coached Oklahoma and when he said "you're watching The Early Show... no you're not, you're watching the Thanksgiving Day parade!"

The Ooltewah High School Marching Band dressed in clown costumes and played a medley that included a little bit of music from "Big Top Pee-wee." They finished their performance and started playing "Rocky Top" as NBC moved on to the Ronald McDonald balloon. From the aerial view, Ronald's hair looked more like his brain. The Ooltewah band posted their itinerary online. The students had to wake up at 1:30 this morning, get on their bus by 2:30 and line up for rehearsal at 3:00 a.m.

One of the foot-juggling Huesca Brothers almost neutered his sibling on live TV. One brother was on his back, feet in the air. The other brother was supposed to plant his soles on his brother's. He missed.

Matt Lauer said that the girl on the Care Bears float was "one of rock's foremost vocalists, Kay Hanley." That impressive descriptor didn't help me at all. Besides, she looked too young. Matt might have mentioned that Kay was in the band Letters to Cleo and that she's 39.

You can vote for your favorite float or balloon at ivillage.com, assuming you know the difference.

bookworms go in, bookworms go out

Dr. Bass can always tell when the interviewers haven't read the book. That's the helpful tip I got from Stacey Handel as she was cutting my hair over the weekend at Garde Bien. Longtime readers know that another of Stacey's clients is Carol Bass, the lovely wife of the famed forensic anthropologist. Tomorrow I get the opportunity to record another interview with Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson for Sunday's public affairs show. As of right now, I have finished twelve chapters of their new non-fiction book, "Beyond the Body Farm." I still need to read the last four chapters tonight.

I should have read the whole book as soon as I got an advance copy. Instead, I didn't start until last week when I finally knew the date of our interview. One thing I have tried to impress on my children is be the tortoise, not the hare. In my academic career, I was definitely a hare. I waited too long to start homework projects and term papers and would then have to race to catch up. More often than not, my first draft and final draft were the same thing. Fortunately, my children have found that school is easier when they get an early start on their assignments. I believe that our high school and college systems test a student's ability to handle the work load, not their intelligence. I came to that realization too late to help myself when I saw a fellow GMU student plod through his studies and graduate the year before I did.

Having said all that, I really need to get back to reading. The new Body Farm book chronicles several true stories including The Big Bopper exhumation and the Leoma Patterson case. Chapter 5 is especially grisly but fascinating. It describes in detail the aftermath of an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in Polk County. I will be sure to ask the authors about that and about another chapter that angered me. A young girl was murdered by a prison inmate who was on his way back to prison after a day on work release. I need to ask if the deputy who trusted the inmate to drive a police vehicle has any responsibility in the death of the girl.

If you can't wait to hear Sunday's radio show, you can ask Jefferson and Bass yourself at an event Tuesday night. The authors will be at the East Tennessee History Center at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $25. Refreshments and a copy of the book are included. If you're busy tomorrow, there are several more book signings on the schedule in East Tennessee and around the country.

first b.r.a.

So what if it's a new twist on the old chain letter? So what if it's just another type of meme? I won an Blogger Reflection Award and I'm happy about it. D.O.M Dan has chosen to award my efforts this Labor Day weekend. In 25 months of blogging, I have now received exactly one award and one meme. Dan gave a posthumous award to Bean's Blog, which I also miss a great deal. I accept this award and thank Dan for his gracious remarks:

My final award goes to Frank Murphy. I discovered Frank’s blog while reading Bean’s Blog. Frank posts everyday, and I think that alone is deserving of an award. Frank is a man of faith whose posts are many times about his family, sometimes about his town of Knoxville, sometimes about his life experiences and travels, and although I don’t often leave comments, I read it regularly.

Rules of participating:
1. Copy these rules.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link to this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Leave your chosen bloggers a comment to let them know they've been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site

East Tennessee is a hotspot for blogging. Four of my five award recipients are from the Volunteer state. First, I choose to award Shots Across the Bow. Rich Hailey gave me the nudge I needed to start blogging in the first place. His political and social commentary rings true with me almost every time. He recently wrote that the way to get teenagers to stop wearing their pants ridiculously low would be for their parents to start wearing them that way.

About two months before I started my blog, I went to a party at Rich Hailey's. That's where I met Les Jones and his wife. I started reading his blog and found a lot of things I was interested in and only a few that I wasn't. I choose to award Les.

Frank Strovel somehow found my blog and posts an occasional comment. I began reading his regularly and I have linked to it several times. Blogging is not a competition, yet I sometimes feel like I've been scooped by Frank's fine efforts. Especially when I first learn of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" news on his site. Left of the Dial receives my next award.

Byron Chesney has multiple sites. His Knoxville Trivia Blog is a regular read for me. He had a great post recently about the lawn sprinklers running at a local utility office during the drought. Obviously I especially enjoy his posts about the local TV news. For that, he gets an award.

I seriously thought about reserving my final award for a blog that I haven't discovered yet. Perhaps you readers would suggest some new ones for me to try. But that would be a cop out. Ken Levine's blog has become hugely popular and doesn't need any help from me. Similarly, I have disqualified professional blogs by very talented newspaper writers. Instead I'll give my fifth award to Perry Simon. He and I will never root for the same sports teams but I can still appreciate his fandom for teams I really dislike. Add to that his vast knowledge of radio and I'm hooked.

eighth wonder of the world

Rather than sit in weekend traffic through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, I opted to take a more scenic route from Morristown to Gatlinburg today. I drove south on I-81 to I-40 and headed east, where I picked up U.S. Route 321 in Cocke County. I was only passing through and did not see anything unusual. It was probably a greater distance than if I had taken exit 407 but I got to keep moving and see a less developed side of the Smokies. Along the way, I enjoyed some hyper-local radio. One AM station had some great cheesy jingles and frequent weather reports between their moldy oldies. A local FM station was in the middle of a four-hour remote from a client. Both reminded me a little of my favorite station, WLNG in Sag Harbor, New York.

My wife and I had been invited to a wedding and reception in Gatlinburg. The wedding was at St. Mary Catholic Church and the reception was at Lineberger's Seafood Company. The bride is a fourth grade teacher. During the reception, she read aloud from some essays her students had written on the topic "How to Be a Good Husband." One young girl wrote, "if your wife ever wants anything, buy it for her."

As I looked out from the restaurant balcony at the crowded sidewalks and shops below, I was reminded of a recent Metro Pulse article by an intern making her first trip to Pigeon Forge. A new tourist attraction is being built next door to the restaurant. It's the third location of the Hollywood Wax Museum. They also have one in Branson and one in Hollywood. I went into the museum in Hollywood when my friend Pam Baker and I were scouting possible locations for Mark & Brian's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As it turned out, their star was placed right by the museum. The new Gatlinburg wax museum has a gigantic likeness of King Kong to grab the attention of visitors. During the wedding reception, I tried to surreptitiously take a photo of the bride and groom with King Kong in the background. Ultimately it was just easier to ask them to pose for the blog.

self-evident truths

Happy Independence Day! I enjoyed reading R. Neal's post at KnoxViews this morning. It's an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence.

I have to leave the house pretty soon for a work event. Everyone is telling me to allow three hours for the 45 mile drive to Pigeon Forge. I know that it's only half the distance if I take Chapman Highway but I'm going to try to avoid some traffic by going through the Peaceful Side of the Smokies.

Since I'll be gone all day, I set my two TiVos to record the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN and several Fourth of July specials tonight. At 8 o'clock, I'm recording the local Festival on the 4th on WBIR and "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS. I don't have the technology to also record the tape-delayed (from last night) "Taste of Chicago Fireworks Spectacular" on WVLT-2. At 10 o'clock, I will record the "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular" on CBS. Fortunately "Let Freedom Sing: Music City July 4th Concert" on GAC will be repeated several times over the next few days. Don't tell anyone at GAC but once again I'll fast forward through the country acts and just watch the Nashville Symphony.

money to burn

The down-the-street neighbors are playing with fireworks tonight. An article in the current Metro Pulse points out that Tennessee is one of only ten states that don't require a permit to shoot them off. As of today, you do have to be at least 16 years old to buy fireworks. My neighbors could have bought their mortar shells at any of the countless stands just outside the Knox county line. Or they could have picked them up from the merchant whose TV commercial I saw this morning.

Bimbo's sells fireworks year round from their location just off I-75 in Lenoir City. Their TV spots are of the "so-bad-its-good" variety. As I recall, the owner of Bimbo's (and star of the commercial) is on the Lenoir City council. I met him when I got the key to Lenoir City during a remote broadcast almost five years ago. Since they are running ads, the city must have resolved last year's discussion over whether Bimbo's should be able to sell fireworks and gasoline at the same location. Also last year, a blogger named Bay Loftis wrote about her excitement over buying and exploding fireworks from Bimbo's.

A few years ago I did a phone interview with Deborah Norville of "Inside Edition." I wanted to ask her about a comment she made on "The View." While she was describing her family's road trip from New York to Georgia. she said that Tennessee had the best bathrooms. When I asked Deborah about our local rest stops, she volunteered that she and her family had stopped at Bimbo's because she couldn't resist the name.

The owners of Bimbo's Fireworks must know what their name means to most people. I wonder if the makers of Bimbo snack cakes realize the connotation of the word in this country. Bimbo could turn up in Mexican marketing textbooks just like the Chevy Nova did in our books.

this old Wodehouse

Shawn Green hit a foul ball into the Dreamseats just before his walk-off home run Monday night. I had flipped over to ESPN in time to see the end of the game between the Mets and the Cardinals. Unfortunately, tonight's game didn't end as well.

The Dreamseats are luxurious leather recliners near the foul poles. A brief video on their website shows the seats in use and concludes with an address in Hauppauge. They may sell them from New York, but every Dreamseat is manufactured in Tennessee.

The reference to Hauppauge made me think of an old song from a musical that mentions several places we would pass on the way to Grandma's house. I thought that Hauppauge might have been one of the villages in the lyrics. But as it turns out, the song goes: "let's build a little bungalow in Quogue, in Yaphank or in Hicksville or Patchogue."

sweet teeth

The staff at Garde Bien offered me a cupcake when I arrived for my haircut today. They were celebrating the birthdays of an employee and of a favorite customer, Carol Bass. I first met Mrs. Bass at the salon on the day of my makeover. After I finished my cupcake, I realized that I had forgotten to try eating it sandwich style. Cupcakes are an infrequent treat. I'll try to remember to put the icing in the middle next time.

Today's newspaper had a recipe for a different sandwich style treat. The Mint Chip Monster is made by splitting a chocolate snack cake and putting ice cream in the middle. Kids can decorate it to look like a monster. The idea for a fun food is reminiscent of the hamburger cookies I saw at a swim meet last year.

I briefly flipped past the AFI special on CBS tonight. They were up to the movie "Nashville" in their countdown of the top 100 films. In the clip, I heard a reference to the Grand Ole Opry, sponsored by Goo Goo Clusters. It got me wondering if the candies got their name from the initials of the Opry. They didn't. The Goo Goo website points out that the candies have been around 13 years longer than the Opry.

do-re-mi

A family friend approached me after Mass this morning. She thought I might be able to offer advice for her 20-year-old daughter who wants to pursue a singing career. I have no expertise in that area but was willing to do some on-the-spot brainstorming. Please feel free to leave your own ideas in the comments section. The daughter is mainly interested in country music, so I suggested that before picking up and moving to Nashville, she go to the next set of auditions for Dollywood. There's a bulletin board at Broadway Sound where musicians post notices looking for band members. Maybe she could find a local singing gig that way. Of course, if she's as good as her mother says, there's always "American Idol" and "Nashville Star."