After this scorcher of a summer, autumn is a welcome season. Many consider Labor Day the first step into the new season, but the equinox on September 23 signals the heavens turning and the earth’s very orientation signaling the beginning of fall. Good ol’ Wikipedia says that the term “autumn” derives from an ancient Etruscan root “auti” which “has within its connotations of the passing year.” Other interesting information states that the word autumn, regardless of its ancient origins, was not in common use until the 16h century. During Medieval times, the more common term for the season wa ..read more

The first thing you notice when you walk into the old house on South Perry Street is that there’s some great art on the walls of the McPhillips-Shinbaum law firm. It’s historic and welcoming, but they’re busy, fielding calls and meeting with clients, and there in the waiting area is a small table with three or four books authored by Julian McPhillips, one of the most famous lawyers in Alabama. The latest one, Only in Alabama, was published this year by NewSouth books, and contains true tales from the most recent years of McPhillips’ storied career. It sits on the table alongside Civil Rights ..read more

Here is a view of Montgomery from Cooter’s Pond Park in Prattville. The view was a nice surprise. I also enjoyed sitting at the bench near the boat launch watching the boats be put in and taken out of the water. There was a nice breeze coming over the water as well. It’s a nice place to stop by at only 15 minutes from Montgomery. Katie Pollock is a photographer who tries to capture the startling beauty of the natural and human-made world in a way that also captures the imagination of her audience. She uses photographs to communicate a sense of place and to convey a feeling of humanity’s connec ..read more

Carrie Preston and Susan Ferrara with some scene shop machinery Something amazing is about to happen at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. More precisely, it is going to happen in the scene shop. Maybe you, like us, have never really given the scene shop much thought. We’ve only been to the “front of the house” at ASF. The “front of the house” is where you traditionally get your ticket and find your seat for a show, an especially gracious space, meant to welcome theatergoers and usher them into the many worlds that directors can conjure with assets like actors, lighting, costumes, and custom-buil ..read more

The clock is ticking. Midnight this Sunday (August 17) marks the deadline for artists to submit their work to the Montgomery Art Guild/Regions Bank Art Show. We recently sat down with some of the Guild’s leadership for a wide-ranging conversation, and we’ll write about that soon, but for now we’re here to encourage you to submit your art. There are cash prizes ($3000 worth), but that’s not why we’re eager about this. Unlike many contests, participation in this one is itself a big win –  not just for you, but for the community as whole. First, it’s worth nothing that this show is super easy t ..read more

Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers [CC BY-SA 3.0] Over the time we’ve lived in Montgomery, we’ve traveled all over the country — and all over the world. Most often, these trips are for work, but sometimes (gratefully) they are not. Almost every single time, we’ve flown into and out of the Montgomery airport. And we’ve regularly said that one perk of living here is the ability to roll out of bed and get to the airport within 20 minutes – a far cry from the experience we’d have in a bigger city, and way better than the hassle of driving to Atlanta (for example). We know that opinions differ on this ..read more

  The other day we wrote about upcoming opportunities to find out more about the folks who want to be Montgomery’s next mayor. There’s a Saturday forum at the Jubilee Center, and we just got some more information about it from the hosts. Key parts for our readers – Seven candidates will appear before a panel at their “appointed time” to answer questions in an interview format. This will be a “one at a time” format, so that you’ll really get to know each person who is competing to lead our city. This forum will be streamed live via social media and people will, supposedly, be allowed to ask que ..read more

We moved here after the great recession of 2008, when homemade Obama shirts sold on our local street corners pointed to the ways that hope could merge with electoral politics for epochal effects. But Alabama’s voting public sometimes takes a while to register and reflect changing times. So although there have been rumblings since we bought this old house, our city leadership has basically remained the same. Sure, our city council member, Martha Roby, went to Congress (and is now leaving), but Mayor Strange has been in charge here for as long as we’ve been paying our vastly undersized property ..read more

I’m still working on the new book  (Montgomery’s Classic Restaurants) with Carole King, and unable to think about much of anything else except the heat this summer. So I decided to share some of what I have learned about food in Montgomery and in the process give you a “taste” of the book to come. It seems folks in Montgomery have loved hamburgers for maybe as long as there have been hamburgers. What? You didn’t know hamburgers were invented? Before I provide a bit of Montgomery hamburger information, allow me to share a bit of hamburger history. Check out this definition: “The modern hamburge ..read more

Photo by Josh Carples Last night I attended opening night at Cloverdale Playhouse’s The True Adventures of Pinocchio. I went expecting to see a staged version of the legendary animated Disney film. What I found was much more akin to a Grimm’s fairy tale, complete with lying and cheating and killing and stealing. Not exactly what one would expect from a children’s show. And exactly the right tone to communicate the production’s important messages: You can make a fool of yourself, and the only way to be truly human is to care about what happens to others. What I enjoyed: A story that is surpri ..read more