The epitaph on Ernest Hemingway’s memorial quotes (roughly) from a eulogy he wrote for one of his friends.  It reads:

“Best of all he loved the fall
The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods
Leaves floating on the trout streams
And above the hills
The high blue windless skies
Now he will be a part of them forever.”

There is no more appropriate sentiment to wrap up my feelings about the seasons.  Of course, mine would have to say, “Best of all, he loved his family,” – but if it weren’t for them, I would wholeheartedly agree with Pappa.

The best time of year is looming just over the horizon.  I felt it this morning.  In the morning, there was a hint of moisture and coolness that said, “Just hold on a few more weeks, I’m almost there.”  Grab your tent, build a campfire and fix a steaming hot cup of coffee.  Hold your feet to the fire and breath deeply, because this is rare.

Some people live for spring and summer, and I’m not immune to the giddy joy that comes with hot days, blooming flowers, glaring sun, screaming kids and romps in the ocean.  But fall feels like the moment you hit the bed after an 18-hour work day.  Cold sheets when you first climb into bed.  It is the release of everything hectic and hard.  It is a big sigh of relief with a warm embrace.  It is a comfortable sweatshirt and cold dew on the grass that completely wets your bare feet and leaves that crunch and smell one-hundred times better than the most expensive perfume.  It is the violins that kick in after the first verse of “Yesterday” by the Beatles.  It is unshaven, grown up and mature … it signifies ends and beginnings.  It’s sad, but comforting.

Spring is happy and fun.  Summer is living and playing hard.  Winter is refreshing.  But fall, oh fall, it is the time to relax, release and renew.  It can be found on a hike, a hunting trip, a nighttime football game, a drive with the windows open and darkness that falls before dinner.  It surprises you when you’re least expecting it – and you know life gets no better than that.  It is orange and brown, crisp and cool and real.  It is bright blue skies almost entirely covered with huge, dark-bottomed clouds and a brisk wind blowing the leaves from the trees.

“Best of all, he loved the fall.”  Yes Poppa, you got it right one last time.  We should not be surprised.

Blane Bachelor at Sapphire

I helped a friend from Atlanta out with a Knoxville book promotion this week.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Humor columnist Blane Bachelor is used to having people ask whether Bachelor is her real last name.  Indeed it is – and it’s also the inspiration behind her first book, On Being a Bachelor: Thoughts on Dating, Mating and Relating (Virgil Press, Inc.), officially released this month.

Blane, who also writes for People.com, Women’s Health, Sherman’s Travel, and several other publications, signed copies of her book on Thurs., Sept. 2, 2010 at Sapphire (428 South Gay Street in Knoxville) starting at 4:30 p.m. During the event, Sapphire offered a number of specials and promotions (thanks Aaron !!). Popular blues singer Seth Walker performed at Sapphire at 9 p.m. after Bachelor’s book signing.

For two years, Bachelor’s column, “On Being a Bachelor,” was among the top-read stories in The Sunday Paper, an alternative weekly newspaper in Atlanta. Readers – whether they were male or female, married or single – loved Bachelor’s brutal honesty about matters of the heart (and other, um, organs) that they could relate to. And because she made them laugh.

Jamie Lynn (WATE), Michele (WVLT), Jennifer (B97.5) and Blane

A real-life “Carrie Bradshaw,” Bachelor is accustomed to comparisons between her own career path and that of the famed relationship writer and star of “Sex and the City.”  Although Bachelor understands the parallels, she is quick to point out that Bradshaw’s lifestyle is a bit far-fetched.

“First of all – a freelance writer with a closet full of Prada and Manolos?” Bachelor says. “Yeah, right. But there are some parallels between us. Though my style is a bit snarkier, Carrie was never afraid to put it all out there to connect with readers on matters of the heart. I like to think I’ve done the same thing.”

Bachelor’s top columns appear in On Being a Bachelor. The book is “a must-read for anyone who has been on a date – or just lived to tell about it,” says Colleen Oakley, a former Marie Claire senior editor.

Watch for coverage of Blane’s book signing in the Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville Magazine, CityView Magazine, on WBIR and on WVLT.  Blane’s book is also this months “Book of the Month” on B97.5 in Knoxville (thanks Jennifer !!).

Check Blane’s personal website out here and her book website out here.  While you’re checking it out, order a copy of her book – you won’t be disappointed.

Kirk Cameron in Marietta, Ga. last weekend

We had another event with Kirk Cameron and Warren Barfield last weekend in Marietta, Georgia.  More than 4,000 people turned out for this one and, as usual, Kirk and Warren were awesome.  In coming weeks, we’ll be in Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma — then we’re done for 2010.  We’re currently working out the details of 2011, but we will continue to do the LOVE WORTH FIGHTING FOR tour across the country.  We have raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities that help those in need and, at the same time, brought some some helpful information to people about relationships, marriage and family.

Feed Your Faith’s LOVE WORTH FIGHTING FOR tour will be in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday, September 18, 2010 at the Whitesburg Baptist Church.  The event has two sessions – an afternoon matinee session from 1 – 4:30 p.m. and an evening session from 7 – 10:30 p.m.

Kirk Cameron at the LOVE WORTH FIGHTING FOR TOUR

For more information about LOVE WORTH FIGHTING TOUR featuring Kirk Cameron and Warren Barfield LIVE at Whitesburg Baptist Church, 6806 Whitesburg Drive South in Huntsville, Alabama, or to order your tickets, visit www.FeedYourFaith.org. Tickets range from $17.50 to $35 each and are available as reserved seats or general admission for singles, couples, and groups of 10 or more.

Feed Your Faith was started five years ago by Mike Williams. His concept was simple: Bring in the best and brightest Christian speakers, authors and musicians to spiritually feed believers while raising money to physically feed those in need. Four years ago, Williams was joined by Rick Laney, co-director of Feed Your Faith and today the ministry is still a two-man operation. Feed Your Faith has worked with nationally known writers and music groups including Kirk Cameron, Warren Barfield, Lee Strobel (former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and author of The Case for Christ), author Mark Middleberg, DecembeRadio, Decyfer Down and Sanctus Real (Dove Award winning Christian Rock and Alternative band), needtobreath and Sarah Reeves. To date, Feed Your Faith has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities throughout the Southeast United States.

“I am not privy to the contract negotiations, so I can’t say with absolute certainty, but the industry buzz right now is that an iPhone is coming to Verizon early in 2011,” says Jay Witherspoon, director of advertising with Cellular Sales, a Verizon Wireless retailer with 350 stores nationwide.

If the rumors come to fruition, it could be a win-win-win situation for Apple, Verizon and consumers. Apple is finally feeling the heat from Android smartphone sales. Verizon could stand to have an iPhone feather in its cap. Consumers have been asking for a competitive alternative to contracting with the AT&T network. “The demand for a Verizon iPhone cannot be ignored by the decision makers at Apple or Verizon, so whatever differences the two companies have will likely be worked through soon because of the enormous sales potential,” Witherspoon says.

Read the complete story here.

As they pulled out of the school and back onto the road, headlights came on behind them, followed quickly by red and blue flashing lights.  They pulled over and a heavy-set, old police officer walked up to the driver’s side of the vehicle and asked Beccah’s boyfriend for his license and registration.  He went back to the police cruiser for a few minutes before returning to Beccah and her friends.

“What’s the hurry young man?” the elderly officer asked.  “You were doing 43 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone.”  (The truth of the matter is that they were likely pulled over for the suspicious U-turn more than how fast they were driving.)

“There’s no hurry sir,” Beccah’s boyfriend responded politely.

“I’m just going to give you a warning this time, but you need to slow down,” the officer said.

Before he walked away, he pulled out his flashlight and shined it into the car at Beccah and her best friend.  “I wanna’ know,” the officer said, “if you two are in this vehicle of your own free will?”

Being a chip-off-her-daddy, many things went through Beccah’s mind at this point.  According to Beccah, her first thought was to scream, “No, help us please – get us out of here.  This guy is crazy and dangerous!!”  She says she wanted to do this “just to see the look on my boyfriend’s face.”

Later, after she got home, she became insulted by the question.  When she was telling her mom and I what happened, she was all, “Yea, like if we didn’t want to be there, that cop didn’t think Courtney and I could have totally kicked his butt and taken that car.  Right.”

Beccah rocks.

Christmas onboard the Titanic

It will snow this holiday season in Pigeon Forge; Titanic Museum Attraction guarantees it.  Starting Saturday, November 13, it will snow – yes, REAL snow – at the Titanic every Friday and Saturday evening at 7 p.m. through January 1, 2011.  The snow is part of the museum’s “Christmas in a Winter Wonderland,” which is dedicated to honoring and celebrating the lives of the 2,208 passengers and crew of the Titanic.

Titanic Museum Attraction co-owner Mary Kellogg-Joslyn is pulling out all the stops this Christmas and has invested $150,000 in snow equipment (the same equipment used to make it snow at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom every Christmas) that will produce real, falling snow every weekend at the museum.  An additional $100,000 will be spent on Christmas trees, carolers and musical events, holiday lights, and ornamentation that will decorate the interior and exterior of the Titanic Museum Attraction.

To read the rest of this story, visit Ackermann Wire.

Payment Station

A few years ago, Leigh and I took the kids to Indian Boundary Campground down off the Cherohala Skyway to camp, kayak, hike and swim for the weekend.  For those not familiar with this area of the Cherokee National Forest, it’s as beautiful as the Great Smoky Mountains, maybe a bit better-kept, and far less crowded even during holiday weekends.  It’s also one of the few areas where you can throw up a tent next to a beautiful lake, tie your kayak or canoe out and take three steps from your tent to your kayak before taking a nice trip around the lake to watch the sun come up.

The Cherohala Skyway is about an hour from our home (about the same as the entrances to the Smokies).  Other than the (sometimes) obnoxious motorcyclists, it’s just about the perfect place for Knoxville families to have fun in the outdoors without fighting hours of tourist traffic.

Indian Boundary Campground has a beach and swimming area near the lake where people who aren’t camping there can still come and play.  While campers pay the normal camp site fees, those who just want to swim and play in the lake can pay a day rate (I think it’s $5 per car).  Like many park and campgrounds, payment at Indian Boundary is on the honor system.  A small pay station or “fee box” is located at the entrance with a sign telling you what the day-use fee is.  No one monitors the collection box.

While walking through the parking lot, I watched as an elderly couple – probably in their 70s – fetched their towels, coolers and beach blankets from the trunk of their car.  They must have been a bit hard of hearing because they were speaking VERY LOUD.

Their conversation went like this:

Elderly Woman – “Honey, you need to go and put $5 in that box over there.”

Elderly Man – “I’m not putting $5 in anything.”

Elderly Woman – “But it says we have to pay $5 to swim here.”

Elderly Man – “They like you to pay $5, but you don’t have to pay $5.”

At a family gathering in Ohio a few years back, my dad fell asleep on the couch (as he is known to do after a large family meal, or a small family meal, or after just about anything).  We were all in the family room watching a ballgame or something on television when my middle brother, Ryan, started playing around with the lighter that was used to start my parents’ gas-log fireplace.  You know the kind of lighter I’m talking about – the one with a little trigger and 6- or 8-inch neck that allows you to light something without burning your hands.

Ryan discovered that when he pulled the trigger back just far enough, he could release the Butane without actually igniting a flame.  The tip of the lighter made a hissing sound when Ryan did this.

Dad Laney

In an attempt to aggravate our father, Ryan held the tip of the lighter down next to my dad’s ear and made the hissing sound by pulling back on the trigger.  It didn’t wake our father, who could sleep through a hurricane coming through Neyland Stadium during the Florida game.  Not getting the desired result, Ryan did this repeatedly, pulling the trigger back just far enough to release Butane without sparking a flame – each time he placed the tip of the lighter a little closer to dad’s ear.

Finally, after about three or four attempts, Ryan put the tip of the lighter so close that it appeared to actually be going INTO our dad’s ear.  He released butane repeatedly in an attempt to wake our dad.  Then, he pulled back just a little too far on the trigger.

A bright flame, about a foot high, erupted from our father’s ear – who immediately woke up and, for a second or two, appeared to be levitating about three feet above the couch.  Dad was not amused … but Ryan, John and I laughed hysterically for about the next three days.  Every time we thought about the look on dad’s face, and the look on Ryan’s face, when my dad’s ear momentarily became a flame-thrower, it would start all over again.  We laughed until we cried.

I’m pretty sure there’s something wrong with our family, but we do know how to entertain ourselves.   I’m also pretty sure my dad still hides the fireplace lighter.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I always thought that if I could find the “right” bag, my life would immediately be orderly and controllable.  The proper combination of cell phone holders, pen pockets, laptop protection, room for my water bottles, maybe a camera on occasion, a New York Yankees baseball hat, a few notebooks and whatever book I was reading at the time, a padded shoulder strap AND (very important) a well-made handle, and – like magic – I would be good-to-go in any situation.  My life would be complete.  A place for everything and everything in its place.

Ryan Reynolds and "the" bag

To tell you how out of control my obsession is, I spent weeks (literally) on Google trying to figure out what kind of bag Ryan Reynolds carried in the movie “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock.  I can’t remember much about that movie (except the scene where Sandra Bullock dances in the woods with Betty White to “Get Low”), but I can tell you all about the leather and green canvas messenger bag Ryan Reynolds carried in about three scenes.

As a disclaimer, I spent the first twenty years of my career traveling about 70 to 75 percent of the time by air.  At least three or four days every week, I lived out of bags.  If it wasn’t in my suitcase or briefcase, I simply didn’t have it.  I say this as a feeble attempt to justify my obsession and the amount of money I have spent on bags.

Now, let’s talk about bags.   The criteria I used to justify the bags I purchased included; (a) it had to LOOK awesome and manly, (b) it had to have POCKETS and places for everything, and, (c) it had to be the right size for my 5’ 7” body.  As I searched for the perfect bag, I became a connoisseur all things man purse.  An expert in all things simultaneously manly and purse-ly.  You would be hard-pressed to name a bag that I can’t give you the dimensions for, how much it weighs, and tell you the complete history of the company that manufactures it.

Now let me drop some knowledge on you.  Here are the best-of-the-best.  Bags I have owned and bags I still drool over but have never actually shelled out a week’s salary for.  If you love me, feel free to use this as my Christmas and/or birthday list, I will gladly provide you with a shipping address if you’re feeling generous.

The J. Peterman Gladstone Bag (N^o. 1006) – This was the FIRST awesome bag I ever purchased and may, to this day, be the best guy-bag ever created.  It was from the J. Peterman catalog and I was a complete victim of the way they wrote their catalog.  The catalog said, “Try looking in the attic first.  You don’t have one?   Then it’s time maybe to go to the secret barn. Somewhere there is one.  And it’s filled with everything.  Look … there under that huge pile of saddles and hats … You trip on something. What is it? A leather suitcase of some kind.  You lift it by its handles. It has old European hotel stickers on it. You grab it and practically run…you’ll come back to the barn some other time…

In broad daylight you examine it. A beautiful, mellow old leather Gladstone. (That’s what they used to call them.) Rather defiantly and ruggedly old-fashioned looking. Strong enough to go down the Nile, across the Alps, through the Canal, over the oceans, but still small enough to carry aboard a plane. A thing like this would cost a fortune these days…”

For a mere $385, it was mine (today it sells for $598).  Other than my family, I may love this bag more than anything else in my life.

Mulholland Brothers Angler’s Bag – After purchasing the J. Peterman Gladstone bag, I found that it was actually made for J. Peterman by a San Francisco-based company called Mulholland Brothers.  All of the Mulholland Brothers’ products are hand-made (literally).  And, much to my surprise (and my wife’s dismay), they also made OTHER bags !!  While I was on a business trip to San Francisco in the 1990s, I looked them up, tracked them down, and approached their doorway as if I were entering a holy site (I still think that their operation is a holy site).  I believe it should be required that one remove his shoes before walking into Mulholland Brothers.   I walked out with the Mulholland Brothers Angler’s Bag in “stout” leather.  Like the Gladstone bag, it was made of saddle leather (the kind that will last about 1,000 years and still look awesome).  For the next decade, I could rarely be found without this bag hanging from my shoulder.  It racked up approximately 1.5 million air miles – for real – with United and US Airways and still looked like new.  It was the perfect size and was about as important to me as my right arm.  They still make this bag for $495.

Timbuk2 Messenger Bags – For the past few years, I have been using a Timbuk2 Messenger bag (I have two of them).  They make high-quality, sporty bags that hold up very well, but (in my opinion) they will never compare to other bags I have known.  I love them, but I am not IN love with them.

Which brings us to my next bag.  There are three companies I am currently considering to build my next “perfect” bag.  They are:

Saddleback Leather Company – This company makes an awesome bag in a variety of sizes and colors.  All of them are manly, durable and unbelievably beautiful.  I’m extremely partial to the large satchel in “chestnut” leather.

Roots – Although Roots is a Canadian company, I can still say this bag was made in the U.S. since Canada is really just a big suburb of America.  They make nice, high-quality stuff and their prices are better than most of the bags I fall for.  Their “Old School” bag and “Cargo Messenger” are on my list of possibilities.

Col. Littleton Satchel

Col. Littleton – The real object of my lust right now is actually made right here in Tennessee.  Just south of Nashville, there is a company called Col. Littleton that produces some of the most unbelievable leather goods I have ever seen (and I’ve seen most … if not all of them).  You need to check out their web site.  Read about the Colonel (his office is a Civil War tent that still has bullet holes in it).  Look at their bags.  Wipe the slobber off of your keyboard … and then order the No. 37 Satchel for me.  Please.

The last thing I will say about my very real problem with bags is that part of the reason I like these things is that they will long out-live me (or anyone else who carries one).  In today’s world – with email, throw-away pens, cheaply-made clothing, and electronic equipment that is designed to be obsolete within a few years – there is something comforting about owning an item that your grandkids can fight over years from now.  Does anyone actually have anything nowadays that could truly be called an heirloom?  If so, consider yourself lucky.

Brendan Walker

Brendan Walker, who is hosting the documentary, was hilarious.  His background is in aeronautical engineering, but he has applied his vast knowledge to building roller coasters, thrill rides and creating amusements throughout the world — and hosting a variety of television shows in England (including many for the BBC).  He wears eyeglasses that belonged to his grandfather.

Unlike the news crews I usually work with, these guys came with a crew and a truckload of equipment (I wouldn’t have wanted to be responsible for their “additional luggage” fees at the airport).  Where news folks come in to get a story, shoot their video, do their interviews and hit the road, this was television — not news.  I think we shot every interview and every scene at least four times (most of them five or six times).  They had lighting guys, a sound man, a producer, an associate producer and two videographers.  I doubt they were familiar with the term “backpack journalist.”

Part of the National Geographic crew

The National Geographic Channel was launched in 1997 in the UK.  It started airing in the United States in 2001.  Today, the channel is available in over 143 countries, seen in more than 160 million homes and in broadcast in 25 languages.  Based in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Society‘s historical mission is “to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world’s cultural, historical, and natural resources.”

It was fun simply because it was so far removed from the television work I am usually involved with.  Beth Haynes of WBIR followed them around while they were shooting at the Titanic Museum Attraction and did a wonderful story for Live at Five at Four (you can watch Beth Hayne’s report by clicking the logo to the right).  I’m pretty sure Beth finished her story, went back to Knoxville, edited her piece and had it on the air before I finished shooting with the crew that day in Pigeon Forge.

The five-part special (each segment one hour long) is tentatively scheduled to air on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and UK this fall.  Once I know more details, I’ll pass them along.