Brenternet (The World as seen by Brent Moore)

Trying to appeal to the highest common denominator. I can't give you 110% effort, but I will give you 107.4% effort. If you're a spammer and leave me a comment, I will make fun of you. I use twice as many semicolons compared to most other bloggers

My Photo
Name:
Location: Smyrna, Tennessee, United States

As the title implies, I am Brent K. Moore. I married MariLynn Simons on Sept. 25, 1999. we attend Stewart's Creek Church of Christ. We have five pets, a dachshund, Slinkie, a malamute, Juno, and three rabbits, Ebunny and Ifurry, and now Houdini.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Rejected Tennesse Tourism Slogans

I wrote these today when I had some time to kill.

Chattanooga:
Rock City: On a cloudy day, see 2 states.
Ruby Falls: Save yourself the trouble and buy the post card.
Incline Railway: World’s Steepest Tourist Trap.

Memphis:
Graceland: Childhood home of Michael Jackson’s ex-wife.
The Pyramid: This whole place can be yours, just name your price! Ample Parking!
Peabody Hotel: Spend your day watching ducks get off an elevator!
Zoo: Hey, We’ve also got a Panda!

Nashville:
Wave Country: Wet N’ Mild
Our Parthenon is Better because it hasn’t fallen down.

Knoxville:
You too can make fun of the Sunsphere!
Forget this, We’re going to Gatlinburg!

Oak Ridge: The Pride of Atomic Weapons.

Murfreesboro: The charm of a small city and the traffic of a big city.

Gatlinburg: Six Flags over Podunk.

Pigeon Forge:
[use your own Dolly Parton Joke Here]
Heckle a caged black bear.

Sevierville: Like Pigeon Forge with cheaper hotels.

Cedars of Lebanon State Pake: Cedars not included.

Paris: Fish N’ French

Adamsville: We’d call it Bufordpusserville but that just sounds weird.

Hohenwald: Battle a stranger for a T-shirt from Chicago

Hurricane Mills: Coal Miner’s Daughter Self-Aggrandizement Ranch

Bucksnort: Yes, you read that right.

Some animals are more equal than others

I don't like Animal Rights protestors. For one thing, they always seem to only want to save the Popular animals, like monkeys, rabbits and cows. Have you ever seen someone protesting the rights of a tapeworm? Has anyone broken into an Aquarium to set an anemone free? Groups like PETA will have no credibility with me*, until I start to see protests like this picture, which I have doctored:






























* At that time, PETA will still be unlikely to have any credibility with me, but I might warm up to the ASPCA.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Things I've learned about Tennessee...

I'd like to give credit to whoever wrote this. If you know, let me know. (I did however add photos.)

1. Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Tennessee.
Miniature golf snake

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Tennessee plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. Squirrels will eat anything.

5. Unknown critters love to dig holes under tomato plants.
Prarie Dog, Chattanooga Zoo

6. Raccoons will test your crop of melons and let you know when they are ripe.

7. If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.

8. Onced and twiced are words.

9. It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.

10. Fire ants consider your flesh as a picnic.

11. People actually grow and eat okra.

12. Fixinto is one word.

13. There is no such thing as "lunch". There is only dinner and then there is supper.

14. Ice tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. They do like a little tea with their sugar!

15. Backards and forwards means "I know everything about you."

16. Jeet? is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"
Knows where the food really comes from

17. You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

More about Tennesseans....You know you're from Tennessee if:

1. You measure distance in minutes.

2. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

3. You use "fix" as a verb. Example: "I'm fixing to go to the store "

4. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.

5. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

6. You know what a "VOL" is.

7.You carry jumper cables in your car...for your OWN car.

8. You know what "cow tipping" is.
This cow has an itch...

9. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.

10. The local papers cover national and international news on one page but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

11. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

12. You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit "a little warm".
Bad day at the Office

13. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.

14. You know whether another Tennessean is from east, west or middle Tennessee as soon as they open their mouth.

15. Going to Wal-mart is a favorite past time kn own as"goin' Wal-martin" or off to "Wally World".

16. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good pinto-bean weather.

17. A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola or pop...it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: "What kinda coke you want?"
Faded Coca-Cola sign

18. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

19. You understand these jokes and forward them to your friends from Tennessee (and those who just wish they were).Not EVERYONE can be a Tennessean, it's an art form and a gift from God!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Polar Bear Snowball Fight in Nashville

Ok...This is Odd...

Click Here to Enlarge the picture.

These 6 foot tall statues are at the corner of 12th and Edgehill here in Nashville - and I've never noticed them before even though I have driven past this intersection dozens of times. I found out about it by reading on the Roadside America website. (Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions)

I was going to crop the picture to the size of the polar bears, but for some reason, was inclined to keep the historical marker on the left. It is for Grand Ole Opry performer Deford Bailey.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Rock City (not quite) Barns on highway US231

US Highway 231 in Tennessee avoids the biggest cities, but is still an important and scenic highway. It goes through Lebanon, Murfreesboro, Shelbyville and Fayetteville. The stretch from Murfreesboro to Shelbyville has been widened, so any barns that were ever there are gone.

Since this highway would not take you to Chattanooga, an ad for Rock City would then advise you to turn onto the highway that will take you there. Also, you will see that not all Rock City barns are actually barns. Although the next two photos are not actually barns, they were part of the Rock City barn painting advertising campain painted by Clark Byers, and part of my photo collection, as well as included in the David Jenkins Rock City Barn book.
You can get a closeup of any picture by clicking on it.

Barn 1 - Wilson County

TAKE U.S. 41 to ROCK CITY

TAKE U.S. 41 TO ROCK CITY

This may at one time have been a barn, but doesn't quite look like it. It at one time appears to have been an Antique store. It is also difficult to read as the original white paint has now become rust. When I drove to this place, I could not tell if this place is still open for business, but like a few other "antique" stores I have seen, had junk strewn about the grass between the building and the street. This is in Wilson county, south of Lebanon, just north of the Rutherford county border. You can see it on a map on MSN Live Local here. The Live Local Bird's Eye view allows you to get closer to this area than typical on an aerial photo.

Barn 2 - Rutherford County

See Rock City Take US 41

And, you thought the last one was difficult to read!

SEE
ROCK
CITY
TAKE U.S.
41

The paint has definately been peeling on this one. There could have been a different message painted here at one time, or perhaps the white had been painted over with black thanks to the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. (if this was the case, the black paint used for the HBA was not as good as the original paint.) The unpainted side was white in color. Now, I don't know enough about barn structures to know what this is. I suppose it could be a silo, and the building that juts from the right of it could be stables. This is in Rutherford County just north of Murfreesboro. It is at a spot where the old highway (old Lebanon Pk.) intersects with a newer part. You can see it on a map here.

Barns I could not find.

These next two barns I could not find, but they were given full color pages in the Jenkins Rock City book, and then copied on the official Rock City website. I probably would not have permission to use their photos, so I will link to where you can see it on their website.

This One was listed as being in Wilson County but I did not see it. Perhaps the line of trees on the right seperated it from the highway.

This next one was listed in Lincoln County, and more than likely is north of Fayetteville. On this barn, like many other painted metal roofs, the black paint rusted to a whiter color and the white paint rusted to a more recognizable rusty red color.

Bonus Barn - Lincoln County

Although I could not find the previous barn in Lincoln County, I did see this one just north of Fayetteville:

It Costs Less at Sterchi's

It Costs Less at
Sterchi's
TO
FURNISH
YOUR
HOME

Rock City isn't the only barn advertiser, just the most famous. (although I suppose Mail Pouch Tobacco would take the crown in certain parts of the country.) I did a google search for Sterchi's to find out they are a small chain of furniture stores that I had up until now never heard of. (In case you were wondering how I know for certian it said Sterhi's, I saw the same thing painted on another barn in Lincoln County, but that picture didn't look as good.)

Monday, April 10, 2006

NCAA Tourney: How the random numbers did on my bracket

To first see what this is about, you can read the original blog post here.

I used a random number generator to fill out my NCAA Bracket. 2 things unusual happened:

FLORIDA lost in the first round
and
I still did better than 2/3 of America

of the 63 games, 33 were predicted correctly, 30 were incorrect. George Mason didn't necessarily mess up my bracket, as it messed up most people's bracket. Of the final four, only UCLA was correct.

I signed up for 2 contests. One was on ESPN, the other on local radio station 104.5. The day after the finals, 104.5 had already pulled their link to the contest, and I am unable to verify how well I did in their contest. I have emailed them and have waited 5 days for a response I will likely not get. I didn't win it all, but their scoring system rewarded picking upsets in round 1 and 2. If I ever do get their results, I will post it here.

ESPN's scoring rewarded more points for getting it right closer to the end. Their website does not say how many brackets were submitted but it has been estimated to over 3 million. I finished with an ESPN score of 610 in the 66th percentile (which means I beat 66% of submissions) and had a final rank of 902526.

That, and 39 cents will buy you a postage stamp.

Monday, April 03, 2006

The newest soda flavors for me to try

I am an oddball, and one of those reasons is to actively look for soda flavors I've never tried before. (except for diet and root beers.) I found the following in the past week:



Cherry Lemon Sun Drop. There are many places in the country where you can't get sundrop. There are rural places in the deep south where you can't find anything but Sundrop, it would seem. (I went to a high school baseball game at some rural public school, and the game was at Sundrop stadium, and the concession stand literally only had sundrop to drink.) Sundrop is a unique flavor. Then to my surprise, I find this in Lincoln County, TN. It tasted to me exactly what I would expect a Cherry Limeaid soda to taste like. Sometimes when you get too many flavors together, each flavor loses its distinct taste. (see: Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.) I suppose it wasn't too far off from Cherry 7-up.



Frosties Orange Soda. I'd never heard of Frosties before, but they had a line of beverages in a small Lewis County gas station I visited. If you can't tell, That's Santa drawn on the bottle. I figured that an Orange flavor would be less of a bad shock than their "Blue Cream" flavor. The label is listed as "Since 1939." I did a quick google search on them and Didn't find much, but I didn't look to hard either. To me, it tasted like I was drinking an Orange gum drop.



Double Cola is the popular-in-some-places alternative to Coke or Pepsi. Originating in Chattanooga, it gets its name from back in the days when a soda bottle was usually 6 or 8 ounces. Thus a 12 oz. product was double. For an independent brand, it does well, but partially because it sells in some countries that Coke or Pepsi won't touch. Oddly, I never found it in the multiple times I've visited Chattanooga, but I saw it at a convenience store in Smyrna, TN. I like the denim pocket look on the design. It tasted to me like an RC.



Jumbo Orange Soda. This is the Orange flavor from the Double Cola brand. Tasted Generic to me. Their mountain dew like beverage is Ski. It came out before Mountain Dew and is apparently still popular.

Coming soon: Dr. Pepper Berries and Cream and Black Cherry Vanilla Coke.

Rock City Barns on Highway US 64

Highway US 64 is the classic US Highway that, among other things, connects Memphis to Chattanooga. Because of this, it was a good place to have barns painted to advertise Rock City.

Like many of the older highways, it was originally winding and one lane in each direction, while taking you into each town square along its path. However, the current trend for the more traveled roads is to straiten and widen, bypassing the city center, and thus whenever possible, a two-lane divided highway is paved, often at the expense of these barns.

Some of the remaining barns do get repainted, but many of the older barns have only decades old paint, and in some cases replacement wood. The three barns below all show symptoms of what time forgot.

For each of these, you can click on the picture to see a larger version, plus a link to its location on MSN Local Live. (we will be moving from west to east.)

Barn #1 - Wayne County


Used to be a Rock City Barn

You would probably have to be looking for this barn to spot it. (and I was looking for it!) At one time, this barn proudly proclaimed SEE 7 STATES FROM ROCK CITY but now it can barely be made out. The road runs to the left of this, but a newer shed partially blocks the view. A lot of the original wood has been replaced. What I find odd is how the black and white paint from the RO section is more distinct than the other remaining segments.

This is located just East of the Hardin County line but west of Waynesboro. Here it is on MSN Local Live.

Barn 2 - Lawrence County

See 7 States from Rock City

SEE 7 STATES FROM ROCK CITY Near Chattanooga Tenn

In Anita Armstrong Capps book See Rock City Barns: A Tennessee Tradition, she labels this as Lewis Bruton's Rock City Barn. This one is currently intact but looks like it could topple any day. US 64 widening has spared this barn, but has made it tougher to see, as an older stretch of the highway merges with the newer portion. The visible writing does not even face the newer section of highway, just the older part, once again making it tough to see. Otherwise, this one is in easy-to-read shape.

This barn is one block west of where TN 240 intersects with US 64 and is easier to spot on Genson Rd. It is East of the Natchez Trace Parkway but west of Lawrenceburg. You can see it on the map here.

Barn 3 - Giles County

World's 8th Wonder

At one time, this read SEE BEAUTIFUL ROCK CITY WORLDS 8TH WONDER but as you can see, half of the wood has been replaced. you can barely make out the first W on the left side and the ONDER on the right. Plus, the black paint has faded more than the white.

Unless the landowner plants more trees, this one is still easy to see. it is in Giles County, just a mile east of the Lawrence County border. You can see it on a map here.

Barns that are now gone for good.

There were two other picturesque barns that didn't survive through the ages along this stretch of highway. I would post other people's pictures of them, but am not sure if I could get permission, so I will just link to their pictures instead.


SEE SEVEN STATES
FROM
ROCK CITY
ATOP
LOOKOUT MT.

The first was also in Giles County, just west of Interstate I-65 and was known as the Robert E. McAfee barn in the Capps book. It was at a nice bend in the road, which made it a victim of highway widening and straitening a few years ago. It deserved a full page color photograph in David Jenkins book on Rock City Barns and that photo can bee seen on the Rock City website here.

STAY ON U.S. 64 and see BEAUTIFUL ROCK CITY

This one at first survived the highway rebuilding and is described as the Everette Stevenson barn in the Capps book. U.S. 64 was painted as an actual highway shield. This was quite a wide barn but also just a couple of feet from the edge of the old highway, so only the left half of this barn was painted as the right half was a solid red. This was very close to the Giles and Lincoln county line.

The original highway made essentially a mile long S curve starting at the small town of Frankewing, the newer stretch of highway went strait through. At a spot where the original highway goes under a bridge of the newer part and then goes along the south side of the newer part, this barn was still visible from the new highway, albeit looking down upon it. This barn had been fragile for many years, and having such a busy highway so close to it didn't help. When I drove by this area in March, I could tell where the barn had been. All that was left was the base. You can see a photo of what it used to look like, taken by Bill Frehman Here on the OhioBarns.com website.

Coming Soon on this blog: What you will find on US 231 in Tennessee.