Livin' In The '80s

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I'm living in the past. Or at least that's the way it feels lately.

A few weeks ago, I witnessed Steve Martin's Grand Ole Opry debut. More recently, I got the opportunity to interview the members of Spinal Tap (albeit via e-mail) about the faux group's forthcoming "Back From The Dead," a collection of new and old Tap tunes.

Facebook has also contributed to my feeling of deja vu. Just over a week ago, Gerry McCracken, the man who first hired me to work in radio in Parkersburg, W.Va., and a Facebook friend, asked me if I remembered Laura Dowler, our overnight jock at WXKX (Kix 103) back in the late '80s. I said I did and he let me know that he had just "friended" her and that he was sending her my way.

As anyone on Facebook knows, adding one friend generally leads to a steady stream of new friends connected to both you and your new friend. Before I knew it, I was back in contact with several other former employees of the station.

Suddenly it's 1987 all over again. Photos are flying and I'm 25 pounds lighter, bearded and with more hair.

Ummm, never mind.

Bowling For An Identity

Do you really care? Do I really care? Does anyone? Apparently someone does.

Every day on Facebook I'm assaulted with reminders that my friends have a deep desire to determine which Monkee, musical instrument or mass murderer they are most like. Not only that, but they also feel compelled to share the information with the rest of us. As my friend Brad used to say: "Why?"

I mostly ignore this behavior, but a question popped out at me this morning that was so insane that I'm still thinking about it 12 hours later: "Which PBA bowler are you?" Seriously? I can honestly say that I have never wondered which PBA bowler I am most like, or, for that matter, which one my friends are most like. 

I can't even name a current PBA bowler (a quick side trip to the organization's Web site reveals that someone named Wes Mallot is apparently the "King of Bowling." Who knew?).

What's behind this madness? Are we so desperate to find out who we are that we are driven to fill out these faux personality profiles and then gleefully share them with our pals? Do we really need to find out from Facebook what cocktail, carnival ride or Klingon we most resemble?

Or are we simply bored?

I don't claim to know the answer, but what I do know is that if I did a list of "The Five Things That Terrify Me" like my friend Chuck, inane lists would be at the top.

Now excuse me while I send virtual beverage to my fellow members in the "Pass A Drink" club. We have 5,829,701 monthly active users, you know.

Tornado Time In Tennessee

If it seems as if I'm overly fascinated with how almost real time conversations take place on Facebook, it's because I am. And, yes, I'm familiar with instant messaging and this modern convenience called e-mail, but Facebook is different. Where else can so many people share so much information so quickly, with pictures to illustrate no less, than on FB? (I haven't tried Twitter yet, so I can't compare the two services.)

I say all that to say this: yesterday's severe weather that swept through Middle Tennessee included a tornado that touched down near Murfreesboro, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. Two people were killed and dozens more were injured. Houses were flattened and buildings were torn apart. Thousands are without power.

And I watched it all on Facebook.

It started in the morning after a line of thunderstorms woke up citizens across the area. One friend wrote that she was "annoyed by these storms and the shaking house" at 4:42 am.

Just after 12 noon the same friend said she was "tired of these tornado sirens."

Late came reports that people were in their "safe" places, waiting out the storms, which swept through in the noon hour. (That in itself is another topic, perhaps for some future blog. People I know by and large take tornado warnings way more seriously than they used or so it seems to me. Perhaps the tornado that passed through the downtown Nashville area in 1998 has something to do with that.)

"I am thankful for our basement," one friend wrote. "Listening to tornado sirens."

"I'm at my parents and have no basement!" another wrote. "I pray that God will spare us all from any harm."

When the storms passed, pictures started rolling in. The photos on this page are from my friend Mickie Howell and some of her co-workers and friends. They were all posted on FB and there are many, many more on the site.

Today friends used Facebook to share updates about, and prayers for, those affected by the devastating tornado. While I have my misgivings sometimes about the use of the word "friend" on FB for people one barely knows, today and yesterday gave me a better feeling about the term as I watched folks share genuine concern for those affected by the storms.