Bayou-Picayune

#32: Did you know the phrase “Who Dat” was first used by Herman Melville in his 1851 novel “Moby-Dick?” Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-who-dat/

#31: When I was twelve, we moved from California to Louisiana. In California, I played baseball. I lived baseball. But in Louisiana there was no baseball. Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-i-play-center-linebacker/

#30: When I walk, my head is down, and I scour the ground for nickels, dimes and quarters. It’s a poor boy habit I developed when I was twelve, but that tendency to look down before I make a step almost resulted in my death when I took a dare and stepped off the top of a football stadium. Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-i-step-off-the-top-of-a-football-stadium/

#29: With my title — “Jesus Lied” — many Christians will probably presume this is yet another attack on their religious beliefs, while non-Christians will think this affirms what they already believe — that Jesus, if there was such a person, was merely a man and not God.

#28: When I was in high school, I knew a boy who went by the nickname “Bwana” because he loved outdoor critters. He used to keep a pet snake, and every morning some of us boys would watch when it was feeding time. 

#27: When a company tries to sell at full price, a diluted version of its own product customers tend to react strongly. Sometimes even petitioning their elected representatives to exert regulatory pressure on the company.

#26: This is, I guess, a confession of sorts about the role I played in last century’s video game fad. The years in question were 1978-1981.

#25: Did you know it was Galileo (1564-1642) who first figured out the percentages for each roll of the dice?

#24: Bleach. The smell of bleach and pine. A lot of what I do in the classroom, when it's not grammar, when it's not composition, is intuitive.

#23: People spend most of their waking moments staring at their boxes. That is, their TV's, and when they venture forth, they fixed their eyes and even smaller rectangular boxes. Their electronic devices. 

#22: Did you know George Washington was born on February 11, 1732, and February 22, 1732?

#21: There's more to “Green Eggs and Ham” than is dreamt of in your philosophy.

#20: Thank You for Your Service. The Federal Government reinstated its draft lottery during my senior year in college. It was based on the birth dates of young men born before 1950. Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-thank-you-for-your-service/

#19: How do you lose an election to a dead man? Did you know that the longest-serving member in the U.S. House of Representatives Donald Young of Alaska lost a congressional election to a dead man? Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-losing-the-election-to-a-dead-man/

#18: Did you know the stolen base originated because someone questioned authority? Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-the-inventor-of-the-stolen-base/

#17: Did you know baseball stadiums used to be constructed so that the pitcher was pitching from east to west. Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-why-lefties-are-called-southpaws/

#16: Did you know the first time Major League Baseball committed the unforgivable sin of starting a baseball season in March (instead of April, as the baseball gods had always decreed it) a home plate umpire dropped dead on the baseball field? Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-a-sin-against-the-baseball-gods/

#15: Did you know there was a “priest’s hole” in many an old English manor house so that outlaw priests could escape undetected when the authorities came in search of them? Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-the-priests-hole/

#14: After college, I was drafted into the U.S. Army. This was during the Vietnam War. Instead of being sent to Vietnam, however, I ended up in Germany as an army postal clerk. Podcast show transcription available here: https://www.davidpierson.net/podcast-my-love-for-a-free-press-and-a-mimeograph-machine-part-two/