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3 Really Quick Things, vol. 84

March 6, 2014 By Jeff 48 Comments

surfwv (1)Surf Reporter Alex sent the above photo to me a few days ago, via Facebook. Pretty weird, huh? I’m assuming it’s a white water rafter, or somesuch? I don’t believe it has anything to do with this site. What are your thoughts on it? If you click on it, you’ll get a larger version. Strangeness.

Remember the two unsmiling cops I told you about, a few days ago? The ones who banged on our front door, and asked several accusatory questions? Well… a few nights ago I was at work, and Toney left a message on my phone: “Call me! There’s something going on here. I’m FREAKING out!!” What the??

I called her back, my heart racing again. I get a daily cardio workout, by just being Jeff Kay. Shit! She told me somebody was banging on the front door again, and she didn’t answer. It was after 9 pm, and dark outside. And now there were cops everywhere — cops with rifles. In our back yard, and all over the neighborhood…

Then black trucks began rolling up, and a group of men stormed the house behind us. Toney said all the lights were off inside, and she could see flashlights through the windows. The number of people involved was astounding. Within minutes it was over, and all the police disappeared.

It’s an unnerving thing, all this frantic door-banging. I’m not a fan of it. We found out the next day it was the cops again. They wanted permission to use our deck — to put a couple of sharpshooters up there. Sharpshooters?! Good god! Since Toney didn’t open the door, they just stood under the deck. Freaky, man.

Nobody knew the story — our oldest son talked to the cop at the high school, but he wouldn’t give up any details. Today, however, this article appeared in the paper. So, there you go. Our neighbors. Fun stuff.

And finally, I was thinking about something while driving to work yesterday. When we lived in California, we used to drive to a beach that was nearly deserted. It was beautiful, and was pretty much our own private beach whenever we went there. Sunshine knew about it, somehow. It was for the public, but few people used it.

Anyway, during the drive there we always passed through a town with a big sign that read, “Home of the Doobie Brothers.” This always made me chuckle for some reason. There’s a town near here, called Factoryville, with a sign that says, “Boyhood home of Christy Mathewson.” He was a Hall of Fame baseball player, during the early 1900s. A few years ago, they opened up the house to the public, and I checked it out.

For a Question, I’d like to know about the “Home of” signs you’ve encountered during your life. Does anything come to mind? Please tell us about it in the comments.

And I’ll see you guys again soon.

Have a great day!

Now playing in the bunker
Treat yourself to something cool at Amazon!

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Filed Under: Daily

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stephanie C says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    First?

    Reply
  2. Stephanie C says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    …I even read the whole update first, too. I’m gonna play the Powerball today.

    Reply
  3. Dogberryjr says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:24 pm

    Home of the Whopper.

    Reply
  4. Dogberryjr says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    And speaking of bright lights and neighbor disputes:
    http://www.distractify.com/fun/pranks/letters-between-australian-troll-and-neighbor-over-floodlight/

    Reply
    • kristin says

      March 6, 2014 at 3:15 pm

      That excellent tiff, and many others can be found on the author’s site here: http://www.27bslash6.com/
      Check it out, David Throne is hilarious.

      Reply
      • kristin says

        March 6, 2014 at 3:15 pm

        Thorne! not Throne. erg.

        Reply
        • johnthebasket says

          March 6, 2014 at 3:26 pm

          I’ve followed David for years, and have a t-shirt with a pic of the nice finger-girl on it. He gets a little carried away from time to time, but he’s usually dealing with the most dense and clueless among us.

          I’m glad he’s immigrated from Oz and become one of us, even if it’s not Austria.

          jtb

          Reply
  5. The Qweezy Mark says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    Holy crap! I know that guy (the shooter) and am good friends with his (much much different) sister !!!

    Reply
  6. WB in OH says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    Having the SWAT team banging on the door has to pretty freaking exciting. Must of been some bright ass lights, that’s why some communities have rules against light pollution.

    20 miles south of me is a sign, Home of the Mills Brothers, 10 miles north is a sign Home of Galen Cisco-Major League Pitcher. Always thought it was kind of funny they added the second part of that to the sign.

    Reply
    • Michelle says

      March 6, 2014 at 7:45 pm

      We have a night sky ordinance in my town (in the desert, lots of astronomy geeks around) and there are constant duels between the people who like stars and those who like bright-ass flood lights. It hasn’t come to shooting as far as I know, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

      Reply
  7. Clueless says

    March 6, 2014 at 2:59 pm

    I live near Winchester, which claims to be the Home of Patsy Cline. But she was really from Gore; I don’t know if they have a sign too.

    Reply
  8. madz1962 says

    March 6, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    I live in the town “Home of Sybil Ludington” (well it morphed into Kent, NY) – anyway good old Sybil and her horse, Star, were the younger, feminine version of Paul Revere. It’s actually a pretty cool story.

    Oh, speaking historically, it’s also the home of Chief Daniel Ninham.

    We don’t have any cool “Home Of” signs, though. I should write to the Hysterical Historical Society.

    Reply
  9. rob says

    March 6, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    Being a long time Surfer, I have to ask:

    That wasn’t Papa Half-shirt that got arrested, was it?!?

    ’cause that guy looked like the half-shirt wearin’ type…

    Reply
  10. Bill in WV says

    March 6, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    I just put up a sign, right inside the town limits that reads “Home of Jeff Kay and The West Virginia Surf Report”.

    BTW, when I clicked on the back button at the bottom of the Christy Mathewson pics, it sent me here. God, I miss Charley West !!!

    http://thewvsr.com/page2.htm

    Reply
    • jim britton says

      March 6, 2014 at 4:07 pm

      That page two takes me back in time!

      Reply
  11. Phantom Railfan says

    March 6, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    Not far from where I live there used to be a sign “Home of Brace Beemer.” He was the actor who played the Lone Ranger on the radio, and was a sizeable star in the 40s I guess. There’s also a town in Ohio, Reynoldsburg, that advertises itself as “Home of the Tomato.” What that means, exactly, I don’t know…

    Reply
    • WB in OH says

      March 6, 2014 at 4:23 pm

      Per wiki “Reynoldsburg is known as “The Birthplace of the Tomato”, claiming the first commercial variety of tomato was bred there in the 19th century.”

      Who knew, it’s also home of the State plans examiner, they can be a real pain in the ass.

      Reply
  12. icecycle66 says

    March 6, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    Over these years, you have greatly exaggerated the slope in your yard.

    Reply
  13. icecycle66 says

    March 6, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    Why did they need a SWAP team?
    Couldn’t they have just waited until he walked outside then taze the shit out of him?

    Reply
  14. Milissa "My B-day is your Wedding Anniversary" Sampson says

    March 6, 2014 at 4:50 pm

    Henryetta Oklahoma: home of Troy Aikman (side note – my Grandfather was his principal) and Alice Ghostly

    Reply
  15. Doug says

    March 6, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    TMI, I think I just located Jeff’s house. Can I book a week on your sofa in June?

    Reply
    • Billy Joel says

      March 6, 2014 at 5:20 pm

      he gave away an awful lot of information today, didn’t he? I wouldn’t want to mow that sloped lawn of his either.

      Reply
    • John Smith says

      March 6, 2014 at 6:38 pm

      Holy Crap, look at those trees. Here in the desert, we just have tall weeds.

      Reply
    • Jack says

      March 7, 2014 at 5:38 am

      Haha, he did give it all away. I see a dark blue Camry in the driveway. I now see why he bitches about all the leaves in autumn!

      Reply
  16. Alex says

    March 6, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    Straffordville Ontario, “Home of the Watermelon Festival”.

    Reply
  17. Phil Jett says

    March 6, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    Milan Ohio, the birthplace of Thomas Edison and home of the Milan Melon Festival held every Labor Day Weekend.

    Reply
    • WB in OH says

      March 7, 2014 at 8:42 am

      Which reminds me, our state quarter, Birthplace of Light and Flight.

      Reply
      • Jorge says

        March 7, 2014 at 2:39 pm

        Yeah, Ohio kills me.

        The lightbulb was created in Menlo Park, NJ and while the R&D happened in Ohio, it was first flown in North Carolina.

        Way to “Me too! Me to!” it up, Ohio.

        Reply
        • WB in OH says

          March 7, 2014 at 3:47 pm

          Easy big boy, the inventors were born here, “we” can claim it for our own. “We” also invented the electric starter for automobiles which keeps everybody from breaking their arms crank starting their cars. But we don’t brag that one up as much for some reason, probably couldn’t fit it on the back of the quarter, probably cause we didn’t invent the quarter.

          Reply
          • t-storm says

            March 7, 2014 at 5:30 pm

            Ohio rocks!

            Reply
            • WB in OH says

              March 8, 2014 at 11:35 am

              Damn right. Birthplace of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney and them boys rock!

              Reply
  18. chill says

    March 6, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    The sign going into my town has a lot of logos for Kiwanis and Lions and the like, but I don’t recall any “home of.”

    And unlike some. I will pretend I didn’t Google Map the address in that article.
    .

    Reply
  19. son of sam says

    March 6, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    Home of Hack Wilson here. Baseball hall of famer.

    Reply
  20. Buck Naked says

    March 6, 2014 at 11:30 pm

    “Can we put snipers on your deck?”

    “Sure! And when Alien Deliverance Boy next door shoots back at them and kills my wife and kids, I’ll just think of it as a sad collateral incident.”

    The cops in that town have got a lot of stones but not much sense.

    Reply
  21. Jason says

    March 6, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    Honest to God, I thought the guy dealing out scoops of shit in the last post was one of us using a pseudonym until Jeff jumped his ass. Good God.

    I’m now in Alabama (from Texas) and you see weird ass signs concerning “famous” people everywhere. We grasp to whatever we can, I guess. I got roped into a festivle in Florence, AL which was honoring their hometown hero WC Handy who they billed as the “Father of the Blues” one time. I think he died in the 1950s. Has anyone heard of this man? Is he, in your view, the “Father of the Blues”?

    As for Huntsville, AL we have a few cool ones, I guess. There’s John Hendricks who founded the Discovery Channel. There’s Jimmy Wells that co-founded Wikipedia. And there’s also Me, who has done jack shit.

    My hometown of Waco, TX boasts people like Steve Martin and David Koresh (who I knew personally).

    Y’all have a good weekend. Ya hear?

    Reply
    • chill says

      March 7, 2014 at 6:46 am

      W.C. Handy: yes, I’ve heard of him. Calling him “Father of the Blues” is not completely out of left field. He was an influential early bluesman, although less famous than, say, Robert Johnson.
      .

      Reply
    • WB in OH says

      March 7, 2014 at 8:58 am

      I googled “father of blues” and WC Handy’s wiki page was the first result. I’m not familiar with him but I have some of Robert Johnson’s music. Eric Clapton did a decent cover of his song Crossroad. Robert Johnson could arguably be the first member of the 27 club.

      Reply
      • Jorge says

        March 7, 2014 at 2:40 pm

        WC Handy was mentioned in the song “Walking in Memphis”.

        Ubtil this post I had no idea who he was.

        Reply
        • Jason says

          March 7, 2014 at 11:43 pm

          Good catch Jorge. I now remember that too. Well He deserves a festive then.

          Reply
  22. TxTy says

    March 6, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    Refugio, Texas has a sign of it’s pride to be the home of Nolan Ryan.

    Reply
  23. revashane says

    March 7, 2014 at 7:41 am

    “Fayetteville Arkansas, first home to Bill and Hillary Clinton” I think the day he left office they took the sign down.

    Reply
  24. WB in OH says

    March 7, 2014 at 8:48 am

    While back Jeff you asked if we had any obscure VHS tapes, Patrick Carney posted this on Twitter last night stating his room mate had it in the 80’s. I think this is what you were gunning for.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA_iMuZ3ZDw&feature=youtu.be

    Reply
  25. Greg Baumann says

    March 7, 2014 at 10:42 am

    On the way from Atlanta, GA to Pawley’s Island, SC we pass through Andrews, SC which has a big “Home of Chubby Checker” sign. However, I discovered today that his bio page says he was actually born in Spring Gully, SC. Not far from Andrews, but certainly not in Andrews as you can see from this map:

    https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs&q=Spring+Gully,+South+Carolina&ie=UTF-8&ei=DOgZU9aYHLHeyQHg8YHwCA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ

    All my illusions are shattered. Sigh.

    Reply
    • chill says

      March 7, 2014 at 6:40 pm

      Not necessarily; people move. My birthplace, the place I live now, and the place I consider “home” are three different places.
      .

      Reply
  26. t-storm says

    March 7, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    I lived in OKC near Bethany which had an astronaut to it’s credit, Shannon Lucid.

    Reply
  27. Airandee says

    March 7, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    I live just a few miles from the hometown of Patrick Henry.

    My wife grew up in the town of the birthplace of the original HJ Heinz.

    Jeff, you might want to swap out your 150 watt bulbs for those 7 watt LEDs

    Reply
  28. Shane says

    March 9, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    As soon as I saw that article in the Times Friday I knew I’d found Jeff’s shooter.

    Reply
  29. hardoxdan says

    March 10, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    My wife is from Moundsville, WV.

    When we were first married in 1991, we rented an apartment in Glen Dale, WV for about one year. Our next door neighbors were the Paisleys. My wife had Mrs. Paisley as a high school teacher.

    Brad was not famous yet, I remember him being a college kid. Then we moved to Eastern PA and missed all the fun.

    Reply

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