Word from Mr. David Griner on the selection process:

As for the restaurant selection, the site’s Featured Restaurants are simply the same ones that Alabama Tourism has chosen to include in the “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die” brochure (which is actually up to well over 200 dishes these days)…

Tourism is currently working on a new version of the brochure, and I’m trying to find out today when that will be published and whether they’re still accepting requests. When the initial brochure was created circa 2005, I believe it was focused on restaurants that had been open more than five years and had a consistent signature dish. Since then, Tourism has been receptive to popular new additions and has updated the brochure every 2 years or so.

We’re following up with Tourism today to see where they are with the brochure and to make some recommendations on how the public can officially recommend additions. I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks again for the great question, the coverage and the feedback.

All my best,
David Griner
Director of Digital Content, Luckie & Company
Content Coordinator, Year of Alabama Food

then…

Great news, Doc – I just heard that we’ll have a brief window to solicit recommendations to the state for additions to the brochure. We’re going to start a Facebook discussion for people to post suggestions into and whip up a blog post letting folks know about the opportunity. I’ll keep you posted!

Vote or write-in your suggestions and we’ll pass them on:

Lower Alabama Restaurants listed in the Year of Alabama Food (www.yearofalabamafood.com)

Famous Dishes

Lulu’s Homeport Marina: Cheeseburger in Paradise

Panini Pete’s: Muffaletta

Wintzell’s: Oysters fried, stewed & nude

Cosmo’s Restaurant (Orange Beach): Sea Bass in banana leaves

True Restaurant: Sweetbreads

Jesse’s (Magnolia Springs): Whiskey steak

Restaurants

Orange Beach
Cosmo’s Restaurant & Bar
Ginny Lane Bar & Grill
Guthrie’s
Hazel’s Seafood Restaurant
Tacky Jack’s
Wolf Bay Lodge

Gulf Shores
Hope’s Cheesecake
King Neptune’s
Lulu’s at Homeport Marina
Original Oyster House
Tacky Jack’s
The Hangout

Foley
Lambert’s Cafe
Stacey’s Old Time Soda Fountain
The Gift Horse

Elberta
Sweet Home Farm

Magnolia Springs
Jesse’s Restaurant

Perdido
Perdido Vineyards

Fairhope
Big Daddy’s Grill
Panini Pete’s
Sandra’s Place
The Pub

Point Clear
Grand Hotel Marriott Resort
Punta Clara Kitchen
The Wash House

Daphne
Baumhower’s
Market by the Bay

Stockton
Stage Coach Cafe

Mobile
Blue Gill Restaurant
Callaghan’s Irish Social Club
Dreamland
Ed’s Seafood Shed
Felix’s Fish Camp
KATE SHEPARD HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST
Mama Goldberg’s
NOJA
Pollman’s Bakery
Saucy Q Bar B Q
Spot of Tea
Tanner’s Pecans and Candies
The Battle House Hotel
The Blind Mule
The Brick Pit
Three Georges
Tiny Diny
True Restaurant
Wintzell’s

Theodore
Time To Eat

Coden
Mary’s Place

Have you eaten at all these? We sometimes forget how much great local food there is. This year make a resolution to eat at the ones you have never tried…

With over 1000 votes from New Orleans to Birmingham you gave recognition to the South’s artists and musicians with the 2011 Southern Art & Music awards.

The Moddys were awarded by averaging our readers’ poll with our writers’ poll which was submitted by journalists and bloggers from around the South.

Old 27 Grill Award: Best Song – Alabama = Alabama Shakes, “I Found You”
This song off the Shakes debut EP narrowly edged out competitors in public polling.

Optera Creative Award: Best Album – Alabama = Delicate Cutters, Some Creatures
While the writers’ poll was divided among several great albums, Birmingham’s Delicate Cutters won the public poll.

Best Album – Louisiana = (tie) Givers – In Light; Mutemath – Odd Soul
The public poll was a tie between Givers’ first album and Mutemath’s latest.

Best Song – Louisiana = Sun Hotel, “Alchemy”
Sun Hotel’s single “Alchemy” off their EP Gifts took both the public and writers polls.

Best Album – Georgia = Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math
Manchester Orchestra edged out the competition in the public poll.

Best Song – Georgia = Black Lips “Family Tree”
The Black Lips “Family Tree” dominated the public poll.

Patches Lounge Award: Best Song – Mobile Bay = Ryan Balthrop, “Way Down Low”
While the writers’ poll was evenly divided, Ryan Balthrop’s song off his self-titled album narrowly beat out Kurt Wielkens Band and El Cantador in public polling.

Callaghan’s Irish Social Club Award: Best Album – Mobile Bay = El Cantador, Fools For Light
El Cantador’s Fools for Light, which showed a new direction for the band, was strong in both the writers’ and readers’ polls.

Parrish Walker Realty Award: Best New Band – Alabama = Banditos

Soul Kitchen Award: Best New Band – Mobile Bay = Underhill Family Orchestra

These special awards are given by Mod Mobilian editors to bands who released their first albums in 2011.

Bienville Books Award: Best Book – Mobile Bay = Carolyn Haines, “Bones of a Feather”
Although she was competing against a National Book Award winner, Haines dominated both the readers’ and writers’ polls.

SoAl Film Festival Award: Best Feature Film – Alabama = “Man in the Glass, the Dale Brown Story”
The documentary on Dale Brown by Birmingham’s Patrick Sheehan dominated the writers’ poll.

Ashland Gallery Award: Best Short Film – Mobile Bay = “Jobless”
Jobless edged out the competition on the public poll.

Serda’s Coffee Award: Best Feature Film – Mobile Bay = “The Night Shift”
Fighting Owl Films’ locally made fantasy dominated the public polling.

OK Bicycle Shop Award: Best Scramble Film – Mobile Bay = “Woo: A Zombie Love Story”
Scotty White and Stupid Mop Studio’s incredible write-in campaign led us to create an award for best scramble film.

Centre for Living Arts Award: King of Mobile (Mod Mobilian of the Year) = John Nodar

WKRG meteorologist, and general community supporter, John Nodar was named Mod Mobilian of the Year.

Thanks to all who voted. Pay attention to local, state, and regional albums, films, and books throughout 2012 as we will be doing it again.

2011 Mobile Bay Books

Books by author currently residing (or working) in the Mobile Bay area.

Fiction

Bones of a Feather by Carolyn Haines

“When PI Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner and best friend, Tinkie, take on Monica and Eleanor Levert as clients, they don’t have much hope of solving the case. The wealthy heiresses of Briarcliff in Natchez, Mississippi, claim that a family necklace worth four million dollars has been stolen, and they think that they can hurry the insurance payout if a reputable PI investigates. Sarah Booth has her doubts, and not just about the payout. All of the evidence suggests that the sisters might be committing fraud. But when they have just started scratching the surface on the sordid past of the Levert family and the blood money that all of their wealth was founded upon, Monica goes missing. The police suspect that the heiresses are playing more games, and Eleanor isn’t doing anything to make them think any different.”

Love, Hickory by Thomas Perez

“Together with her husband of 64 years, Alyce Hicks prevailed over a lifetime of obstacles in raising 11 children and managed to have fun doing it. In 1929 Alyce was a fun-loving high school senior about to turn seventeen when the stock market crashed and life in sleepy Mobile, Alabama changed forever for her . . . and for everybody in America. The following summer she fell in love with Rappy Perez and together in the depths of the Great Depression they started saving money to get married. But in 1933 President Roosevelt’s “bank holiday” pulled the rug from under Alyce’s bank-clerk fiancé.”

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

“Winner of the 2011 National Book Award. A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch’s father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn’t show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn’t much to save. Lately, Esch can’t keep down what food she gets; she’s fourteen and pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull’s new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child’s play and short on parenting. As the twelve days that make up the novel’s framework yield to their dramatic conclusion, this unforgettable family-motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce-pulls itself up to face another day. A big-hearted novel about familial love and community against all odds, and a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty, Salvage the Bones is muscled with poetry, revelatory, and real.”

Non-Fiction

Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations by Roy Hoffman

Alabama Afternoons is a collection of portraits of many remarkable Alabamians, famous and obscure, profiled by award-winning journalist and novelist Roy Hoffman. Written as Sunday feature stories for the Mobile Press-Register with additional pieces from the New York Times, Preservation, and Garden & Gun, these profiles preserve the individual stories—and the individual voices within the stories—that help to define one of the most distinctive states in the union.
Hoffman recounts his personal visits with writer Mary Ward Brown in her library in Hamburg, with photographer William Christenberry in a field in Newbern, and with storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham and folk artist Charlie “Tin Man” Lucas at their neighboring houses in Selma. Also highlighted are the lives of numerous alumni of The University of Alabama—among them Mel Allen, the “Voice of the Yankees” from 1939 to 1964; Forrest Gump author Winston Groom; and Vivian Malone and James Hood, the two students who entered the schoolhouse door in 1963. Hoffman profiles distinguished Auburn University alumni as well, including Eugene Sledge, renowned World War II veteran and memoirist, and Neil Davis, the outspoken, nationally visible editor of the Lee County Bulletin.

Kearney’s March by Winston Groom

“In June 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny rode out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with two thousand soldiers, bound for California. At the time, the nation was hell-bent on expansion: James K. Polk had lately won the presidency by threatening England over the borders in Oregon, while Congress had just voted, in defiance of the Mexican government, to annex Texas. After Mexico declared war on the United States, Kearny’s Army of the West was sent out, carrying orders to occupy Mexican territory. When his expedition ended a year later, the country had doubled in size and now stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, fulfilling what many saw as the nation’s unique destiny—and at the same time setting the stage for the American Civil War. Winston Groom recounts the amazing adventure and danger that Kearny and his troops encountered on the trail. Their story intertwines with those of the famous mountain man Kit Carson; Brigham Young and his Mormon followers fleeing persecution and Illinois; and the ill-fated Donner party, trapped in the snow of the Sierra Nevada. Together, they encounter wild Indians, Mexican armies, political intrigue, dangerous wildlife, gold rushes, and land-grabs. Some returned in glory, others in shackles, and some not at all. But these were the people who helped America fulfill her promise. Distilling a wealth of letters, journals, and military records, Groom gives us a powerful account that enlivens our understanding of the exciting, if unforgiving, business of country-making.”

We focus on the films made in 2011 by production teams around Mobile Bay. All but Prairie Love were filmed in the area.
Most of these were screened at either the South Alabama Film Festival or Sidewalk Film Festival. If you missed those – you are out of luck, although The Night Shift is currently available on DVD. It is interesting to note that 3 of the 4 were fantasy films that relied on special effects – a challenge given their budgets.

2011 Mobile Bay Feature Films

Counter-Clockwise
Mudbrick Media
Director: Denny Wilkins
Writer: Denny Wilkins
Starring: John DeLong, Catalina Soto-Aguilar, Kirk Jordan
Storyline: “How far would you go to find the love of your dreams? For Kevin Williams and stowaway, Diana Vanderbilt, it would be to the future where they risk everything to ensure their love will last. Weaving science and romance together the couple must find a way back home while stranded in a strangely familiar future . Packed with classic sci-fi and modern science, Counter-Clockwise asks how far would you go for love.”

The Night Shift
Fighting Owl Films
Director: Thomas Smith
Writer: Thomas Smith
Starring: Khristian Fulmer, Erin Lilley, Soren Odem, Jonathan Pruitt
Storyline: What if you could live forever? What if you had to spend that eternity stuck in a cemetery with only a limbless corpse for a friend, and cantankerous “residents” that were anything but resting in peace? That’s the situation for Rue Morgan, night watchman extraordinaire, in this rollicking supernatural adventure-comedy. Rue, along with his buddy Herb, spends his nights watching out for zombies, and his days dreaming of a date with hard-nosed day-shifter, Claire. It’s an okay eternity–until a scourge of paranormal occurrences leaves Rue not only watching the cemetery, but also watching his back! Based on the hit short film that critics have called “delightful”, “charming”, and “unapologetically goofy”, “The Night Shift” is guaranteed to be the most fun you’ve ever had in a cemetery!

The One Warrior
Director: Tom Stout
Writer: David A. Prior
Starring: James Russo, Jason David Frank, Dominic Keating, Brent Henry
Storyline: “The One Warrior is a fantasy/action piece that is loosely based on video adventure games. In our story, the character of The One Warrior finds himself in a mythical world where he must destroy the Evil Lord Shoukata, but to do so he must first fight his way through many challenges. These include dragons, the cursed swords of Damacleus, the Samurai Six, the Amazon Warriors, and much, much more.”

Prairie Love
Director: Dusty Bias
Writers: Ashley Martin Bias, Dusty Bias, Holly Lynn Ellis
Starring: Jeremy Clark, Holly Lynn Ellis, Garth Blomberg
Storyline: Three lost souls look for love on the North Dakota tundra.

After a night of way too many wedding cocktails, the best thing you can do is wake up at 7:30am to go on a kayaking trip. Okay, okay…usually I’m equal-parts self-depracation and pessimism, but I have to admit that — despite having stayed up late into the night getting over six rum and pineapples — I truly had a great time. The nature was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the company was entertaining. With everything going so well, rowing hardly felt like work.

Days before the trip, I made a visit to Fairhope Boat Company, in search of some answers to my kayaking questions. After speaking with Dave, I learned that the best way to know which kayak is right for you is to just try them out. He quickly set up an excursion that included three different kayaks and Fish River.

After scaring my own balls off a few times by not being able to maneuver such a finicky boat (I had never used a fiberglass kayak before), things started to get more leisurely. The tip “dance with your boat; use your hips” was the Ark of the Covenant that melted my face with enlightenment. What? It’s an adventure. I can reference Indiana Jones if I want!

Now, I’ve been up, down, and around Fish River a few dozen times, but going on a kayak was like floating down through a whole new place. There were little, skinny, infantile rivers that had overhang so low, no motored boat could get past. But in a kayak, you could duck down, bring your paddle in, and scoot on through the spiderwebs and vines to a new maritime oasis. It was actually sort of magical.

If you would like to experience the *~magic~* of your own guided tour of Fish River — or any other bodies of water in Alabama — please feel free to contact Dave at the Fairhope Boat Company by calling 251-928-3417…or stop by their store at 702 North Section Street in Fairhope! Tell them Alexi sent you. Maybe I’ll get something free if you do that.

On June 21st, The Alabama Writers’ Forum presented “An Evening with Rick Bragg” at the Faulkner State campus in Fairhope.

Bragg grew up in the small community of Possum Trot near Jacksonville, Alabama. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1996 for his work at The New York Times and recently won the Harper Lee Award. Bragg has authored five books: All Over but the Shoutin, Ava’s Man, The Prince of Frogtown, I Am a Soldier Too: The Jessica Lynch Story, and The Most They Ever Had.

As a writer, I find introductory articles pretty horrible. They’re contrived and impersonal, yet necessary for most projects. So what quirky qualities should I divulge?

Well, I’ve lived through the popular phenomenon of dating musicians. I’ve dealt with packing equipment, fending off the drunkards, and — the classic — finding out the musician has another lady on the side. There should be a ribbon for survivors like me. A 5k fun run. Something.

Also, I have that sexy Hit It & Quit It mentality. Yes, I’ll get all dressed up and head out for a good time. Then after I’ve hit the gym/social gathering/lesson, I’ll say, “Aw, fuck it,” and quit that life-improving activity forever. Or until I hit it and quit it again in the future.

One last thing you’ll be happy to learn about me is that I’m an aspiring Crazy Dog Lady (sorry, fellas, I’m taken). What this means is that I have dogs, make dog artwork, and foster dogs I find until I can get them a good home. What I’m trying to tell you is that I’m socially inept and weird. Do with that as you will.

In all seriousness, there is something I do want you to know, and that’s what I intend to bring to Mod Mobilian. I plan to enrich this blog with an Eastern Shore perspective, as I’m a lifelong Fairhopian myself. It’s a great, creative community with a growing culture and event calendar. Conversely, I hope that Mod Mobilian enriches my life by giving me the push to be more adventurous. I mean, it’s pretty clear that I’ll need all the material I can get to entertain you heathens.

Grayson Capps Interview on his new CD ”The Lost Cause Minstrels” (Part 1)

Interviewed by Kris Skoda on the Capps Back Porch, Fairhope, Alabama, May 26, 2011

In this episode, the “serious” interview, Grayson talks about moving back to Fairhope, the Mobile Music Scene, Bon Jovi, Callaghan’s, the end of the Stumpknockers, the beginning of The Lost Cause Minstrels, and what is his Lost Cause.

Suzie Spies tells us about Earth Day Mobile Bay:

Earth Day Mobile Bay

April 23rd, 2011, 10:00am - 7:00pm at the Fairhope Pier Park

This festival is a forum for all the local and national Environmental
groups to come out and exhibit what they do. The setting is right on
Mobile Bay and it’s usually a beautiful day to get out with the family-
lots of kid stuff to do; art from Mobile Museum of Art, face painting,
kite flying, Easter egg hunting.

We have Bands to entertain: Grayson Capps and the Lost Cause Minstrels,
Louis Franklin with Woodshed, Corey Rezner with The Rez, and Christopher
Sawyer Spies with Yeah, Probably and more.

Represented are: Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Five Rivers, Weeks Bay, Nature Conservancy
Baykeeper, and many more.

We, along with the City of Fairhope host a Recycle Amnesty Day, for
folks to bring in tvs and electronics.
We have a Blessing of the Animals for those who want to bring their pets
to be blessed.

We have an excellent web site www.earthdaymobilebay.org. We’re also on Face Book as Earth Day Mobile
Bay.

Since our first report on the Trip Pittman/ Bob James Scandals, Trip Pittman has come back to say that the ethics charges against him are “a political grudge” or vendetta. Fairhope Mayor Tim Kant says accusations of the city’s involvement are “conspiracy theories.”

Whatever.  

This isn’t about political parties. No one in their right mind believes that Baldwin County will elect a Democrat to the state Senate any time soon.

To review:

• State Sen. Trip Pittman’s company Pittman Tractor Co. was awarded $639,000 by the city of Fairhope for oil spill response work. At the time, Pittman was in charge of dispersing the $15 million provided to Baldwin County by BP. Kant says Pittman “had an adverse reaction” when he was told the contract should be bid out instead of just being given to him.
• When Baldwin County EMA Director Leigh Anne Ryals called attention to this conflict of interest and Baldwin County legal counsel Scott Barnett decided the situation posed an ethics violation, Pittman came back with a second set of paperwork that listed Oil Recovery Co. Inc. (OCR) as the contractor instead of Pittman Tractor. But the city still paid Pittman for the work as contractor.
• Other local businessmen told the Press-Register they were shut out of the process: “I showed Trip Pittman our absorbent barrier boom. … Not only did he not forward this info to anyone weeks before any votes for boom were cast, but he never told me that he was in charge of the BP funds,” Silverhill’s Don White said.
• Ryals and other Baldwin department heads that questioned Pittman’s involvement, such as County Administrator Michael Thompson, have resigned or been demoted.
• Pittman has been pushing for an interchange at Baldwin County 13 and I-10 while he and Commissioner Bob James hold financial interest in property located near the proposed interchange.
• Bob James’ James Bros. Excavating Inc. was recently awarded a $1.1 million contract by Fairhope for disaster (i.e. hurricane) debris removal. The contract was previously held by Pittman Tractor Co.

Pittman and Kant have since given scattered and contradictory accounts as to why their actions in assigning the contract were legal.

But no explanation has been given to the apparent falsification of the contract in OCR’s name or the personnel changes.

In the meantime, we await word as to whether the claims will be investigated by our new, ethical state legislature.  In fact, Pittman has been named Chairman of the Finance and Taxation-Education Committee, which has responsibility for the state education budget. 

Whose idea was it to name a politician with pending ethics claims to be responsible for the part of state government most in need of cleaning up?  If the Republican want to be seen as more ethical than the Democrats, they should investigate the charges and – unless there is something we are all missing – ask Pittman to step down.

Pittman is claiming to have seen the light – now that he has been caught.  He told Lagniappe:

 “Certainly I didn’t understand public perception of how seriously some people take that you shouldn’t do business when you’re in office, and I understand that now.”

Duh.

The fact is – despite our past, we should expect South Alabama politicians not to enrich themselves at the public trough (what a concept).   If you do government work – then don’t run for office.  Period. Else we get these slimeballs in office (or a cartel of them).

Apparently Pittman met with the Press-Register editorial board and said he “wouldn’t do it again,” so all is supposed to be forgiven and forgotten. But it is too late for Pittman and James - they shouldn’t get away with it.  South Alabamans need to have zero tolerance for this BS.  There are other, decent people who can represent us.

Trip Pittman and Bob James just need to be voted out, period.  If not, we are asking for our politicans to keep trying to rip us off until they get caught and then they can just seek forgiveness. No more easy money for politicians – while those of us lucky enough to have a job are working our rears off to pay those taxes.