Monday, November 21, 2022

Southbound with Dave and S.A. Cosby

This episode of We Defy Augury is as collaborative as I get these days. 


To get the ball rolling, OBX Dave gave me a book recommendation in the G:TB comments:

Also, a future recommendation: an author named S.A. Crosby has written several books that are good reads, have drawn national attention, and won awards. It's kind of southern rural crime noir, with unexpected characters and twists. He's an interesting cat. Lives in Gloucester, Va., grew up fairly poor in what's called the Northern Neck of Va. past Williamsburg and near the Rappahanock River. Held all manner of hourly, blue-collar jobs, started writing. Found a rhythm and now can write for a living. I'd rec Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland.

So I read Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears-- because when OBX Dave tells you to read two books, you read them. 

I highly recommended both of them.

Then, last weekend my wife and I headed South to Charleston, South Carolina and I learned all kinds of Southern history. I also read a bunch of Battle Cry of Freedom, James M. McPherson's epic Civil War history tome.

Finally, there is stuff about cars in the writing of S.A. Cosby and I don't really do cars (aside from my decrepit 2008 Toyota minivan).

So I contacted Zman and my son Alex, who are both "car guys" and they gave me a couple sound bites about why on earth people like cars and driving and all that. I apologize for the quality of Zman's audio. His son had a fencing tournament and the air was really dry in the fencing center, which made his throat raspy. Troubled times. 

The result of all this cooperative cognition is "Southbound with S.A. Cosby."

Whitney also makes a quick appearance, in a car, with me . . . and I should point out that I am a guy from Jersey. 

So this is definitely a view of the South from outer space-- while I did spend four years at William and Mary and lived for a summer in the Outer Banks and both places below the Mason-Dixon Line, I'm not sure if they qualify as the true South with a capital "S." Anyway, I did my best to synthesize and comprehend all this information (f#$@ you Marls) and I really enjoyed the books and the trip to Charleston. 

Check it out, leave a positive comment, and I hope you enjoy it!


23 comments:

rob said...

anyone have experience with sciatic pain? failing that, anyone have any good pain meds?

Marls said...

Cross platform promotion! And fuck you too, Dave!

rootsminer said...

Sorry to hear you're hurting Rob. I've got a bottle of painkillers left over from my older kid's wisdom teeth operation. Glad to send them your way if you want em.

rob said...

mehdi taremi, spotlighted by this here blog, one of the few bright spots for iran against england.

rob said...

we won’t talk about the fact that sadio mané has been ruled out of the cup with injury

Professor G. Truck said...

ugh. rough second half. i blame marls and his negativity. i had terrible back pain two weeks ago, acupuncture and edibles helped.

rootsminer said...

Once the sciatica heals up, I recommend deadlifts. I've been doing them for five years, and have not had serious back pain since, and it used to afflict me somewhat regularly.

Whitney said...

Another very solid episode of WDA. I was surprised not to hear mention of The Lords of Discipline, considering I'm sure you've read most Conroy.

And always nice to be immortalized as a polite person. If also maybe a coward.

Plus Zman!

rob said...

i'm choosing to be positive about that usmnt result. we were the better team. wales' experience showed in the second half. if we can be a bit less naive, we have a chance to get something against england and we should throttle iran. kinda need iran to stand up to wales.

Danimal said...

Just listened to my 3rd WDA cast. Good stuff Dave. I need to read more. My first time hearing Z's voice...sexzee.

Professor G. Truck said...

thanks! i totally forgot about "lord of discipline"-- that would have fit in as well . . . but this one was long enough. things could get weird in this group now.

england will be tough, but if we get a tie with england and a win over iran, we might be okay-- although england and wales may cooperatively tie in their last match to fuck us over. and iran will be fired up to play "the great satan." it will be the "death to america" bowl for them, so i don't think we can take them lightly. a win today would have been really helpful, zimmerman is going to be mulling over that foul for a long time.

rob said...

my pick of the argies to win it all looking robust

rootsminer said...

I woke up an tuned in to stoppage time of the early match. Was not expecting to see that result.

I'm not sure how we hang with England. A draw in that match would be momentous.

rob said...

manchester united for sale, and tr missing in action. coincidence?

zman said...

Having my socioeconomic status mocked by a man who lives in Highland Park and hosts a didactic podcast named after a line from Hamlet makes me smile. A few hot takes:

- You are spot-on with your analysis of long beeps. Sometimes you need to get that shit off your chest.

- Someday the scales will fall from your eyes and you will realize that you are surrounded by people who are really into cars. There would be no fancy car dealers in NJ if people didn't want fancy cars. Jerzyites love love love their cars. Tommy's Tunes for god's sake!

- You missed the chance to work in "Daddy's Cup" by the Drive-By Truckers.

- The getaway driver stuff reminded me of the getaway driver in "Heat" (aka Pedro Cerrano and President Palmer).

Danimal said...

Just finishing up Legacy, the True Story of the Lakers on Hulu. Highly recommended.

mr kq said...

Thinking about getting some retro kicks. Don't really spend money on shoes but maybe it's time. Any recs? Next recurring G:TB what should a lad wear? Feel like Mark could assist. Had some killer Stan Smiths BITD. Love the white n green. Also had some white Adidas Top Ten high tops for HS ball with red and white trim. Sweet.

zman said...

You will not regret getting a pair of Adidas Rod Lavers.

rob said...

this might help, kenny: https://gheorghe77.blogspot.com/2021/08/you-still-need-more-sneakers.html?m=1

also, zman is correct about rod lavers, and if you’d like to go big early, check out oliver cabell. i’m very close to spending a stupid amount of money on these: https://olivercabell.com/products/low-1-shamrock

Whitney said...

I’m so glad Dave was driving south with THAT Cosby

Whitney said...

Someone once said, "Japan could surprise a bunch of folks in this group."

He also said, "The Saudis suck," but still. Not bad.

rob said...

the airbnb we’re staying in here in boulder has a bidet. that’ll get your attention.

Professor G. Truck said...

i decided against any bill cosby jokes in the name of good taste-- though i was tempted