Good Morning Lowcountry

The New Republic ... here we go again

It's possible that some time this year or another, I recommended on a Hit List or hot-linked in a post The New Republic's "Baghdad Diarist." It's possible that is is even one of my media links. If so, I will remove it. I heard the rumblings months ago that the Baghdad diarist was making things up, but like The New Republic, it has taken me a while to respond.

So, here is The New Republic's long-winded mea culpa and how-we-investigated and how-we-fact-check, blah, blah, blah for anybody who cares. I'm not a regular reader of The New Republic, but for those who remember its last fabulist (or at least the most famous if not the last) Stephen Glass, this seems like just more of the same hand-wringing. Slates's media critic Jack Shafer is more forgiving. He's right, but I'm just irked that I have to post this notice that Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the Baghdad diarist, has been repudiated. And call me shallow, but I've had it with The New Republic.

Out for a while

Fellow bloggers at Lowcountry Blogs: I'm out for a while recovering from 2 surgeries. The view from home is intermittent although aren't we all glad that it has rained this week? Good Morning Lowcountry keeps on ticking under the tutelage of reporters who are filling in for me. Find it at www.charleston.net.

Son of Leod

Janet's trip to upstate S.C. and the mountains of North Carolina to find family roots inspires me to post on my recent pilgrimage back to the historic home of the McLeods ... for 800 years in a village called Dunvegan (population 250 people at the most and many more sheep) on the Isle of Skye off the western coast of Scotland. MacLeods also lived on the islands of Harris and Lewis but my family came from Skye.

Leod Olafson was a Norseman, or Viking if you will. He was the son of Olaf the Black. Family legend has it that Leod was called Leod the Ugly, but we're not real sure of that.

McLeod, which was originally MacLeod ... my surname ... means Son of Leod.

We are sure that Leod came over to the Inner Hebrides of Scotland in the 12th century, built a fort (which turned into a castle) at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, married into the local folks and became 1st cheiftain of the Clan MacLeod. The castle stands and the clan chieftain (Hugh MacLeod, 34) resides there. Here's Wikepedia's take on the Clan.

The family knows that our first great-great-etc. grandfather in America was James McLeod of Isle of Skye who married Margaret Blakeley of County Down, Ireland, on Skye.

They had a son, David, our great-etc. grandfather and then all three shipped to Charleston in 1773 (we don't know why; it was way after the Highland Clearances) and moved to Sumter County probably for cheap and available land. James died at 29 here in South Carolina so we wonder if he was killed in the Revolution.

                                                    Like the McLeods of South Carolina, the MacLeods of Dunvegan Castle save pretty much everything down through the years. Relics include the Fairy Flag, given to the Clan by the fairies for strength in battle. It is silk from  the Middle East (Syria or Rhodes) and dates to between the 4th and 7th centuries A.D., 400 years before the First Crusade.

It might have been an early Christian robe or the war banner of Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, killed in 1066. I prefer to believe that it came from the ferries.

There are also letters of thanks for the hospitality from Dr. Samuel Johnson and such after staying at Dunvegan Castle. There's a drinking cup made of a bull's horn and decorated in silverwork with the engraved date of 1493. There are a lot of portraits and books and there's a lock of Bonnie Prince Charlie's hair, a relic of the Jacobite uprising (or the '45, they call it in Scotland, as in 1745). Many MacLeods supported his attempt to regain the throne but the clan chieftains did not. 

Back in the saddle again...

I am back from London (a week) and Scotland (a week -- the Highlands and Islands).
Some things from out of the haze of jet lag:

-- There are crossing signs in villages warning drivers to watch for "Elderly People." The graphic is of an old man and an old woman with canes.
-- Electricity is nicknamed "lecky" in England. Sort of like "brekky" for breakfast and "brolly" for umbrella.

(A sand-bagged entrance to the Cabinet War Rooms in London, England, is modeled on the entrances to government installations in 1939 and 1940. (mvw) 2003CAROL PUCCI/KRT)

-- I thought I liked haggis years ago but I find now that I really don't. It's sheep innards (heart, lungs and liver, I think) boiled in a sheep's stomach, mixed in with oatmeal I guess).
-- Cuillin Black ... a Highlands-brewed ale.
-- Sign in Deacon Brodie's Tavern in Edinburgh (popular with tourists and the site of the last public execution in Scotland. I believe it was Brodie who was executed): "I have no fear in death or life. For I am born of Scottish blood." Or something like that.
-- The fairly new Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh is fabulous.
-- Daisy Budge, artist, who had a bed and breakfast in the village of Dunvegan (population 200) on the Isle of Skye and put me up there years ago, is still there. She's 93 and has a wonderful studio. Still painting every day.
-- Directions in London are given in terms of how many minutes walk it is. "A 7-minutes walk, just up the road."
--   "Hot Fuzz"
-- Roman Camp Hotel, a Scottish country inn.
-- The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and the ministers spent the Blitz, under London.

Lebowski news

The Lowcountry
Big Lebowski Celebration

A while back, I posted something about The Big Lebowski celebration in Austin, Texas, which brought out all kinds of freaky people as well as some righteous poster art. Now this throwdown by fans of the Coen Brothers movie is coming to our town. Here's the press release:

THIS SUNDAY at 6 PM
Madra Rua Irish Pub
E. Montague Avenue in the Olde Village of North Charleston Near Park Circle

The inaugural “Lowcountry Big Lebowski Celebration” will take place THIS SUNDAY, June 3rd at the Madra Rua Irish Pub at 6:00 PM.  The event will celebrate the The Big Lebowski, a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The movie chronicles a few days in the life of an unemployed California slacker and recreational bowler after he is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name.

In addition to a screening of the classic cult movie, there will be a Big Lebowski costume contest, Big Lebowski trivia and white Russian drink specials (the favorite drink of “The Dude”, the main character in the movie). Guests are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite character from the movie. Admission is FREE.

“Once you see The Big Lebowski, you will become a fan for life. We want to share the fun and laughter of this movie with the Lowcountry.” said Jason Weber, Madra Rua General Manager and one of the event organizers. Weber promised a fun experience for all guests whether they have seen the movie a hundred times or are new to The Big Lebowski.  “ I can get you a toe!” he added, quoting one of the many memorable lines from the move.

The Madra Rua Irish Pub is located on 1034 East Montague Avenue in the Olde Village of North Charleston near Park Circle. The event is sponsored by Kahlúa and Stoli. 

For more information on the “Lowcountry Big Lebowski Celebration”, call the Madra Rua Irish Pub at (843) 554-2522.

www.madraruapub.com

 

All the news that's fit to blog...

Jared sent me this C of C notice. Thanks, Jared, I think I'll go.

New York Times Reporter/Editor Peter Applebome
To Lecture At College of Charleston

Charleston, SC- Peter Applebome, a reporter and editor for The New York Times since 1987, will deliver a special lecture at College of Charleston. The talk, titled "All the News That's Fit to Blog:  The New York Times and the Changing World of Journalism," will be held April 5 (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at Wachovia Auditorium in the Beatty Center (School of Business and Economics). The lecture is free and open to the public.

His work has appeared in numerous publications including The New Republic, Washington Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation and The Texas Observer. He is the author of two books. In 1996 he wrote "Dixie Rising: How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics and Culture." His new book, "Scout's Honor: A Father's Unlikely Foray into the Woods," published by Harcourt, comes out in May.

"We're delighted to have Peter Applebome speak to our students and faculty," said Brian McGee, chair of the Department of Communication.  "Applebome is a distinguished journalist and perceptive commentator on American culture and politics.  We're honored to welcome him back to Charleston."

Applebome, a New York City native, graduated from Duke University in 1971 and received a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1974. After working at Texas newspapers in Corpus Christi and Dallas and at Texas Monthly magazine, he joined The New York Times as a national correspondent and then bureau chief in Houston. He moved to Atlanta as Southern Bureau chief in 1989, and served in that job for five years. Since then he has covered education and culture and is now Deputy Metropolitan Editor.

Where is GMLc?

As the great philospher and scholar Cliff Clavin (one of GMLc's secret influences) was fond of saying, "It's a little-known fact there, Normie."

And today's little-known fact is: It's the secret birthday of our secret lead author, who is wandering amuk in festival land on her day off. With that in mind, we offer this birthday homage (yes, that's a French word)...

Shall I compare thee to a Spoleto day?
Thou art more random yet more definite:
Rough editors may strike your thoughts on Tom Delay,
and deadlines' shadows render dreams less infinite:
Sometime too oft' the phone of whining chimes,
And too much the flame of wit be dimm'd;
And every bumpersticker find contempt'd,
By worry or concern, grown humorless, bummed:
But through eternal pluffmud shalt thou wade
and Our Favorite Price remains still lowest;
Nor shall the stupid aim to rain on your parade,
so long as offshore racing breezes blowest:

So long as as humor grow, wisdom live, and art stay,
We'll wish upon you this: a most GMLc'd birth'd day.

Find today's column slouching in its usual cantina booth aboard The Mothership.

I know you are, but who am I?

Hola, gringos. Our pink-lunged, sweet-smelling, quite healthy Tuesday column can be found online at The Mothership.

"GENDER PUZZLE SOLVED?" Many people suffer identity crises at some point in their lives, but then again, most people don't write for an anonymous column. Here at GMLc, we like to think that we've raised identity crisis to the level of fine art, as in "Who am I... today?" We're always a little unsure, but with our Chief Pluffmudder still recovering from a bout with some exotic bug, the column has reverted to its collective past in recent days.

In other words, our main writer is out sick, so a few of us have been pitching in. Different writers, different bloggers, different voices, but still united in the pursuit of our One Noble Mission: Amusing Ourselves.

Apparently, some of you keep track of such things. A Jim Rice from Somewhere in Southern Indiana (and alternately, "a little place on IOP"), writes:

Having been fans of GMLc for several years now, we have often speculated whether you are a man or a woman. Your writing style, choices of subject matter, and general world view are, for lack of a better term, androgynous. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Well, today's column settled all bets. Your hope that "one day GMLc will be the mistress of her domain" was the absolute first time you tipped your hand in at least three years, by our reckoning.

All Seinfeld references aside, you are correct, gentle reader, in deriving the essential feminity of Tuesday's fill-in columnist. We have it on good authority that the author is, in fact, a ravishing and mysterious woman. And we would tell you her name, except the disclosure might damage her career as an A-List supermodel.

But wait. Perhaps we've said too much.

Anyway, can a column be said to have a gender? En Espanol: El GMLc or La GMLc?  Apparently this is a big deal in France, too. Further confusing matters, might the print version of GMLc have one gender, while the blog version has another? Is it just us, or does this entire episode sound like it's headed straight for a big tearful hug on Oprah?

We don't know, but we can swear to this: If somebody doesn't cough up the sports section and the remote control, things could get ugly around here fast.