This week's movie picks are 'Flight' and 'The Campaign'

It’s Wednesday, so today I give you my weekly list of movies that will open in theatres this week as well as a list of movies that will be released this week on DVD.

I hope this will serve as a useful guide as to what’s going on this week if you happen to be near a movie theatre or if you’re looking for something to drop into your NetFlix queue.

Movies that are scheduled to hit theatres this week include:

The Bay (R, Suspense, Horror): Directed by Barry Levinson and starring Nansi Aluka, Christopher Denham, Stephen Kunken, Frank Deal and Kether Donohue.

The Details (R, Comedy, Drama): Directed by Jacob Estes and starring Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Kerry Washington, Anna Friel and Laura Linney.

Flight (R, Adventure, Drama): Directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly and James Badge Dale.

Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters (Not Rated, Documentary): Directed by Ben Shapiro.

High Ground (Not Rated, Documentary): Directed by Michael Brown.

Jack and Diane (R, Drama): Directed by Bradley Rust Gray and starring Riley Keough, Juno Temple, Jena Malone, Dane DeHaan and Kylie Minogue.

A Late Quartet (R, Drama): Directed by Yaron Zilberman and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Imogen Poots, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener and Wallace Shawn.

The Man with the Iron Fists (Action, Adventure): Directed by RZA and starring RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Cung Le and Byron Mann.

This Must Be the Place (Comedy, Drama): Directed by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch, Eve Hewson and Kerry Condon.

Wreck-It Ralph (PG, Comedy, Family): Directed by Rich Moore and starring the voices of John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer, Sarah Silverman and Ed O’Neill.

New DVD releases for the week of Oct. 30 include:

Americano (Not Rated, Drama): Directed by Mathieu Demy and starring Mathieu Demy, Chiara Mastroianni, Geraldine Chaplin and Salma Hayek.

Bindlestiffs (R, Comedy): Directed by Andrew Edison and starring John Karna, Luke Loftin, Andrew Edison, Will Fordyce and Morgan Alexander.

The Campaign (R, Comedy): Directed by Jay Roach and starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Katherine LaNasa and Dylan McDermott.

A Christmas Story 2 (PG, Comedy, Family): Directed by Brian Levant and starring Daniel Stern, Braeden Lemasters, Stacey Travis, Valin Shinyei and Gerard Plunkett.

First Position (Documentary): Directed by Bess Kargman and starring Aran Bell, Michaela DePrince, Joan Sebastian Zamora, Rebecca Houseknecht and Gaya Bommer Yemini.

My Friend Bernard (PG, Childrens, Family): Directed by Aaron Lim and starring the voice of Stephen Hudges.

Reef 2: High Tide (PG, Childrens): Starring the voices of Drake Bell, Donal Logue, Rob Schneider, Jamie Kennedy and Andy Dick.

Ruby Sparks (R, Comedy, Romance): Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and starring Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Elliott Gould and Antonio Banderas.

Safety Not Guaranteed (R, Comedy): Directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Aubrey Plaza, Jake M. Johnson, Karan Soni, Mark Duplass and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Stealing Summers (Not Rated, Action, Crime): Directed by David Martin Porras and starring Sophie Auster, Wilson Bethel, James Jagger and Mariano Martinez.

If I could only watch one movie at the theatre this week, it would be “Flight,” and if I had to pick just one DVD to rent this week, it would be “The Campaign.”

In the end, let me know if you get a chance to watch any of the new movies in theatres this week or if you’ve already seen any of the movies that have just been released on DVD. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Daily Weather Observations for Wed., Oct. 31, 2012

Temp: 44.6 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 78 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear; star/planet visible in the East-Southeast; birds and cows audible; security light still on in the yard; full moon visible in the West.

Winds: 0.1 mph out of the South-Southwest

Barometric Pressure: 29.52 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 304th day of 2012 and the 40th day of Fall. There are 61 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Third annual Airship Awards announced at Steamcon IV

The winners of the third annual Airship Awards were named Friday during an awards banquet at the Steamcon IV steampunk convention in Seattle.

The Airship Awards were first awarded in 2010 at Steamcon II and are given annually “to recognize the best and brightest in the steampunk community.”

Nominees for this year’s round of Airship Awards were solicited online from the world at large and were announced earlier this year. The winners were selected by a vote of the registered members of Steamcon IV. Airship Awards are currently awarded in five categories – Written, Visual, Aural, Community Contributor and Potpourri.

This year’s slate of winners included the following:

Written – “Ganymede” by Cherie Priest

Visual - Brian Kesinger

Aural - Marquis of Vaudeville

Community Contributor - Nick Bauman – League of S.T.E.A.M.

Potpourri - The Aether Brigade!

Nominees in the Written category can include “any written piece of work, including, but not limited to, novels, short stories, blogs, screen plays, etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included “Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention” by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, “Tales of the Airship Neverland” by John White and “The Wrath of Fate” by Robert Brown.

Nominees in the Visual category can include “any visual piece of work, including but not limited to 2D art, 3D art, digital art, fashion design, website design, making/modding, short film (by an individual).” The other nominees in this category this year included Ian Finch-Field - Skinz N Hydez, Laura Jones – Retroscope Fashion and Dr. Grymm.

Nominees in the Aural category can include “any aural piece of work, including but not limited to bands, songs, musicians, music videos, etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included Frenchy and the Punk, Rasputina and Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys.

Nominees in the Community Contributor category can include “an individual who is outspoken and supportive in the steampunk community, including but not limited to a Blogger, event organizer, convention runner, scholar, speaker etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included Steampunk Emma Goldman, Austin Sirkin and Doc Quincy E. Quartermain.

Nominees in the Potpourri category can include “anything not yet covered, including but not limited to game design/designer, acting troupes, short film (by a group), movie, television, etc.” The other nominees in this category this year included “The Mechanical Grave” – Director Jon Keyes, Anthony Pepe – Steampunk Frankenstein’s Makeup and Boston Metaphysical Society Webcomic by Madeleine Holly-Rosing with art by Emily Hu.

The second annual Airship Awards were presented at Steamcon III in October 2011 and what follows is a list of the winners and nominees of the 2011 Airship Awards.

Written:
• Winner: “Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel” by Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine
• “The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack” by Mark Hodder
• “Camera Obscura” by Lavie Tidhar
• “The Half Made World” by Felix Gilman.

Visual:
• Winner: Joe Benitez
• James Ng
• Myke Amend
• Adam Smith.

Aural:
• Winner: Vagabond Opera
• Professor Elemental
• Unwoman
• Steam Powered Giraffe

Community Contributor:
• Winner: Jordan Block, Sepiachord
• Ay-leen the Peacemaker – Beyond Victoriana
• Lia Keyes – The Steampunk Writers and Artists Guild
• Suzanne Lazear – Steamed

Potpourri:
• Winner: Rise of Æster RPG
• Clockwork Cabaret
• Unhallowed Metropolis RPG.

• It’s All Your Fault Award – K.W. Jeter, for coining the term “steampunk”

The innaugural Airship Awards were presented at Steamcon II on Nov. 19, 2010 and what follows is a list of the winners and nominees of the 2010 Airship Awards.

Written:
• Winner: "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" by Alan Moore
• "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest
• "Mainspring" by Jay Lake
• "Soulless" by Gail Carriger

Visual:
• Winner: Jake von Slatt
• Paul Guinan
• Richard Nagy
• Haruo Suekichi

Aural:
• Winner: Abney Park
• The Clockwork Dolls
• Extraordinary Contraptions
• The Men that Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing

Community Contributor:
• Winner: Captain Robert Brown of Abney Park
• GD Falksen
• Mike Perschon
• Jake Von Slatt

Potpourri:
• Winner: Girl Genius
• Deadlands Role Playing Game
• The League of STEAM
• The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello

In the end, which of the written works mentioned above have you read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about the Airship Awards and Steamcon, visit Steamcon’s official Web site at www.steamcon.org.

Daily Weather Observations for Tues., Oct. 30, 2012

Temp: 38.3 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 78 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear; star/planet visible in the East-Southeast; birds audible; security light still on in the yard; full moon visible in the West.

Winds: 0.6 mph out of the West-Northwest.

Barometric Pressure: 29.54 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 303rd day of 2012 and the 39th day of Fall. There are 62 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

BUCKET LIST UPDATE – No. 477: Watch “The Bucket List”

I scratched another item off my bucket list on Sunday when I finally took the time to watch the movie, “The Bucket List.”

A bucket list is nothing more than a wish list of things that you’d like to do before you die, that is, “kick the bucket,” and people have been making lists like this for a long time. It seemed to me though that discussions of buckets lists ramped up after the release of this movie. It dawned on me one day that I’d never actually seen “The Bucket List,” so I added it to my bucket list just to make sure that I wasn’t missing something important about the subject during my own little bucket list project.

Directed by Rob Reiner, this PG-13 movie was released in the United States on Jan. 11, 2008 and starred Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd and Rob Morrow. Written by Justin Zackman, this 97-minute long movie posted box office revenues of over $175 million. It was shot on a budget of around $45 million. The National Board of Review would also name “The Bucket List” as one of the Top Ten Films of 2007.

“The Bucket List” is about two strangers with terminal cancer who happen to share a hospital room while receiving treatments. One man is an extremely wealthy businessman, while the other is just an average guy who works as a mechanic. When they learn that they only have six months to a year to live, they make out a bucket list and start scratching the items off one by one. They basically go on an around-the-world vacation in which they drive expensive cars, eat in fancy restaurants, fly over the North Pole, go on an African safari, ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China, skydive and visit the Taj Mahal in India and the pyramids of Egypt.

This movie struck a cord with me on a number of levels. First, it’s a somewhat morbid movie that examines the nature of human existence and reminds us all that our time on earth is limited. It urges us to quit wasting time, to use it wisely and to be thankful for the things we do have. Like life itself, this movie was very funny in parts, but it was also very sad.

I also thought it was interesting that the poorer of the two men in the film was actually the happier of the two. Played by Freeman, the “poor man” was surrounded by a loving family, a warm home and a “rich” life. The wealthy man, played by Nicholson, was literally rich, but he was lonely, without close friends and family and living an empty life. I guess the lesson is that you don’t have to be a billionaire to live your best life.

In the end, I enjoyed scratching another item off my bucket list. How many of you have seen “The Bucket List”? What did you think about it? How many of you have made out your own bucket lists? What sort of items did you include on your list? Let us know in the comments section below.

Yesterday's News from The Evergreen Courant for Oct. 29, 2012

THREE YEARS AGO
NOV. 1, 2009

“Evergreen police announced Tuesday that they have taken a suspect into custody and believe that he is the person who made a bomb threat against the Conecuh County Government Center on Wednesday of last week.”

“Investigators with the State Fire Marshals Office were set to visit the scene of two ‘suspicious’ mobile home fires yesterday (Wednesday) to determine if they were intentionally set by unidentified arsonists, county fire officials said Tuesday afternoon.”

“A New York woman who was traveling through Conecuh County was injured in a two-vehicle accident on Sun., Oct. 25.”

“Superintendent Ronnie Brogden recognized the five members of the Conecuh County Board of Education last week after announcing that they were among five local school boards to have received the Alabama Association of School Board President’s Award.”

“During a short meeting earlier this week, the Conecuh County Commission voted to update the county’s existing flood zone ordinance.
“Commissioners voted during a meeting Tuesday – a meeting Tuesday – a meeting that began at 9 a.m. and adjourned at 9:05 a.m. – to pass an updated version of the ordinance, which in effect replaced the county’s 1997 flood zone ordinance.”

18 YEARS AGO
NOV. 3, 1994

“A collision involving a log truck and a truck hauling dynamite Tuesday caused the evacuation of over 200 persons in downtown Castleberry. According to reports the collision occurred around 7:45 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 31 and County Road 6. The drivers of both trucks were only slightly injured in the mishap. There were approximately 1,500 pounds of dynamite and seven cases of electric blasting caps on the truck out of Robert, La. The vehicle was owned by Austin Powder Co.
“The log truck belonged to Webb Timber Co. of Evergreen.
“The area was evacuated for most of the morning while the blasting caps were taken from the scene. The evacuation was supervised by the Conecuh County Rescue Squad.
“The accident scene was investigated by the Castleberry Police Department.
“The Castleberry and Sandcut Volunteer Fire Departments and EMA Director Billy Mims were the emergency personnel on the scene.”

“Kay Armstrong and Allen Stephenson will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the 1995 Conecuh County Junior Miss Program set for Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at Ed Reid State Technical College’s Wiley Salter Auditorium.”

“Traffic on Highway 31 was interrupted for several hours last Tuesday when this log truck broke a power pole into causing power land telephone lines to fall to the ground. The driver of the truck was uninjured in the incident and thanks to the diligent work of City Electric Department workers the pole was replaced and power restored after only the short period.”

33 YEARS AGO
NOV. 1, 1979

“A day-long search last Wednesday, Oct. 24, for a missing woman ended in tragedy when her body was found at 6:30 p.m. Death was due to exposure, according to authorities.
“Sheriff Edwin Booker said that his office was notified at 10 a.m. by J.D. Dryer that his wife, age 74, had wandered away from their home on County Road 29 and that he could not find her.
“Mrs. Dryer’s body was found 2-1/2 to 3 miles from her home in a wooded area.”

“If you have plans for a parade, big or little, go ahead… you won’t have to worry about it ‘raining on your parade’… Courant Weatherman Earl Windham not only will not allow it, he just will not permit the rain to fall in Evergreen and Conecuh County.
“Example: ‘Ole Earl’ reports a shower, .62 of an inch of rain on Oct. 23. That’s about it as far as Earl and rain are concerned since sometime in September. In fact, when the rains are falling at their normal rate, ‘Ole Earl’ will do a bit of bragging about ‘his weather.’”

“Cynthia and Steve Smith, daughter and son of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Smith of Castleberry, took several top honors and awards at the recent Greenville District Market Hog Show.”

“Plans are shaping up for Evergreen’s and Conecuh County’s first Christmas Parade in a number of years. The Conecuh Rescue Squad is sponsoring the parade which will be held on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 5.”

48 YEARS AGO
NOV. 5, 1964

“Owner Tom Persons and the staff at Persons Hardware & Supply Co. invite you to attend the big grand opening of their all new building today, Friday and Saturday. The building replaces the one destroyed by fire last June and is in the same location, next to the Bank of Evergreen.”

“Mr. Bert R. Tuggle was ordained into the Presbyterian gospel ministry and installed as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Demopolis on Sunday evening, Oct. 11.”

“The Conecuh County Board of Education has won its second round in court in the matter of the Butler County Board of Education transporting students from this county’s Beat 8 area to McKenzie School.
“Circuit Judge William Thetford granted the local board a temporary injunction that forbids the Butler Board from transporting students after Dec. 1 following a hearing here yesterday afternoon.
“The Conecuh Board was represented by the firm of Jones & Nix and Attorney John Godbold of Montgomery. Attorneys Hamilton and Williams of Greenville appeared for the Butler Board.”

“Betty McAlister of Auburn reigned over festivities at Troy State College on Saturday as Homecoming Queen. She is shown with four attendants, all elected by student votes: Brenda Ellis, Evergreen; Dorothy Robison, Evergreen; Miss McAlister, Thelma Clark, Montgomery; and Becky Crockett, Satellite Beach, Fla.”

63 YEARS AGO
NOV. 3, 1949

From “This Week’s Wash” by Bob Bozeman – “The mercury dropped like a falling star Monday. Local thermometer watchers inform me that in the course of five minutes, shortly after dinner, the temperature dropped nine degrees. I know that I left the house after dinner in short sleeves and by the time I reached town I was proud that I had a jacket there waiting for me.
“I don’t know just how fast the temperature went down, but according to the papers, it went from a high of 78 Monday morning to 49 by night in Montgomery and a degree cooler in Mobile. That first cold snap always seems a lot colder than later ones.”

“A special tax election for Conecuh County was called this week to be held Dec. 13. The tax proposed is a special four mill levy for hospital funds.
“The election will be held on the same day that the people of Alabama vote on a state bill passed by the legislature to provide the state’s share of funds under the Hill-Burton Hospital Act. Under the Hill-Burton law, the federal government furnishes two-thirds of the cost of a public hospital with the state and county to provide the remaining one-third.
“Conecuh County, which has only one very small private hospital, has a preferred hospital rating on the state funds and will be one of the first counties to receive aid if the state and county bills are passed Dec. 13.
“The County Hospital Association and other interested groups are expected to make a spirited campaign in favor of the proposed tax.”

Daily Weather Observations for Mon., Oct. 29, 2012

Temp: 40.1 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 79 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear; star/planet visible in the East-Southeast; birds audible; security light still on in the yard.

Winds: 1.7 mph out of the North-Northwest.

Barometric Pressure: 29.57 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 302nd day of 2012 and the 38th day of Fall. There are 63 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

New 'Walking Dead' novel debuts on best-sellers list this week

It’s Sunday, so that means that it’s time for my weekly breakdown of this week’s Publishers Weekly Best-Seller List. According to the list, there are two new books at the top of the four major best-sellers lists this week.

"The Panther" by Nelson DeMille replaced "The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling as the No. 1 book on the hardcover fiction best-sellers list.

"The Drop" by Michael Connelly replaced "Shock Wave" by John Sandford as the top book on the mass market paperback best-sellers list.

"Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly remained the top book on the hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list for the third week in a row.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James retained its place atop the trade paperbacks best-sellers list for the 29th week in a row.

There are seven books on this week’s hardcover fiction best-sellers list that weren’t on that list last week. They (along with their place on the list) include "The Panther" by Nelson DeMille (1), "The Bone Bed" by Patricia Cornwell (3), "The Twelve: Book Two of the Passage Trilogy" by Justin Cronin (4), "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton (9), "Sleep No More" by Iris Johansen (12), "The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury" by Robert Kirkman (13) and "An Irish Country Wedding" by Patrick Taylor (14).

There are six books on this week’s hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "Lidia's Favorite Recipes" by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (4), "True Food" by Andrew Weil (9), "The Finish" by Mark Bowden (11), "Jerusalem: A Cookbook" by Yotam Ottolenghi (12), "The Digest Diet" by Liz Vaccariello (13) and "In the Pleasure Groove" by John Taylor (14).

There are two books on this week’s mass market paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "The Drop" by Michael Connelly (1) and "Alex Cross" by James Patterson (15).

There are three books on this week’s trade paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. The include "Hungry Girl to the Max!" by Lisa Lillien (4), "The Weekly Coaching Conversation" by Brian Souza (8) and "Alex Cross" by James Patterson (14).

As a reminder, I’m posting these lists each Sunday because they, as a whole, represent a great, contemporary recommended reading list. These lists are initially released each week on Thursday, and if you’re interested in reading them then, visit Publishers Weekly’s Web site at www.publishersweekly.com. Below you’ll find all four of this week’s best-seller lists.

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "The Panther" by Nelson DeMille
2. "The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling
3. "The Bone Bed" by Patricia Cornwell
4. "The Twelve: Book Two of the Passage Trilogy" by Justin Cronin
5. "NYPD Red" by James Patterson, Marshall Karp
6. "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett
7. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn
8. "The Time Keeper" by Mitch Albom
9. "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton
10. "Mad River" by John Sandford
11. "A Wanted Man" by Lee Child
12. "Sleep No More" by Iris Johansen
13. "The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury" by Robert Kirkman
14. "An Irish Country Wedding" by Patrick Taylor
15. "Live by Night" by Dennis Lehane

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly
2. "No Easy Day" by Mark Owen
3. "America Again" by Stephen Colbert
4. "Lidia's Favorite Recipes" by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
5. "Guinness World Records 2013" by Guinness World Records
6. "Who I Am" by Peter Townshend
7. "God Loves You" by David Jeremiah
8. "I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak" by Joel Osteen
9. "True Food" by Andrew Weil
10. "Waging Heavy Peace" by Neil Young
11. "The Finish" by Mark Bowden
12. "Jerusalem: A Cookbook" by Yotam Ottolenghi
13. "The Digest Diet" by Liz Vaccariello
14. "In the Pleasure Groove" by John Taylor
15. "Mugged" by Ann Coulter

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "The Drop" by Michael Connelly
2. "Shock Wave" by John Sandford
3. "Dead or Alive" by Tom Clancy
4. "Micro" by Michael Crichton
5. "Victims" by Jonathan Kellerman
6. "D.C. Dead" by Stuart Woods
7. "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett
8. "What Doesn't Kill You" by Iris Johansen
9. "A Day Away" by Nora Roberts
10. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Fern Michaels
11. "Thanksgiving Prayer" by Debbie Macomber
12. "Red Mist" by Patricia Cornwell
13. "Zero Day" by David Baldacci
14. "The Litigators" by John Grisham
15. "Alex Cross" by James Patterson

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James
2. "Fifty Shades Freed" by E.L. James
3. "Fifty Shades Darker" by E.L. James
4. "Hungry Girl to the Max!" by Lisa Lillien
5. "The Innocent" by David Baldacci
6. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
7. "Bared to You" by Sylvia Day
8. "The Weekly Coaching Conversation" by Brian Souza
9. "To Heaven and Back" by Mary C. Neal
10. "Guilty Wives" by James Patterson, David Ellis
11. "How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You" by The Oatmeal and Matthew Inman
12. "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell
13. "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks
14. "Alex Cross" by James Patterson
15. "40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life" by Tommy Newberry

In the end, let me know if you’ve had a chance to read any of these books. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Daily Weather Observations for Sun., Oct. 28, 2012

Temp: 48.9 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 80 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Mostly cloudy; star/planet visible in the east; dogs and birds audible; security light still on in the yard.

Winds: 1.3 mph out of the Northwest.

Barometric Pressure: 29.46 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 301st day of 2012 and the 37th day of Fall. There are 64 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

What did YOU think about 'The Cabin in the Woods' movie and book?

I finally got around to watching “The Cabin in the Woods” the other day, and I thought it was one of the most unique horror movies I’ve ever seen. Just when you thought Hollywood was out of ideas, a refreshingly good movie like this comes along and gives us all hope.

Directed by Drew Goddard, this R-rated movie was released in April and stars Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz and Jesse Williams. Shot on a budget of around $30 million, it has posted gross revenues of over $65 million. The movie is 95 minutes long.

The movie begins as five friends set off for a short vacation at a remote cabin. Little do they know that the cabin is wired for sound and video, and their every move is being observed by an office full of technicians. These technicians are guiding a worldwide ritual sacrifice to appease a number of slumbering “Ancient Ones.” While each of the youngsters in the cabin does have free will, the technicians do all they can to steer them toward a bad end for the sake of mankind.

I was more than a little pleased by this movie’s Lovecraftian elements. Not only does the inclusion of the “Ancient Ones” have a very Lovecraftian feel to it, but so do a number of other things in this movie. If you were looking closely at the betting board in the control room when the technicians were taking bets on how the characters were going to get killed, you probably saw “Angry Molesting Tree” and “Deadites.” These are straight from the “The Evil Dead” films, which not only featured a secluded cabin but also Lovecraft’s fictional book, the “Necronomicon.”

I also thought it was cool that “The Cabin in the Woods” also dropped several Clive Barker references. Not only does a Cenobite make an appearance, but so does one of Barker’s famous puzzle boxes, which also play heavily in his “Hellraiser” series of films. That stuff is just creepy.

One thing that I regret about “The Cabin in the Woods” is that I passed up the chance to buy the official novelization of the movie when I ran across it at Wal-Mart a few months ago. Published by Titan Books, this mass market paperback was written by Tim Lebbon, Goddard and Joss Whedon. Whedon and Goddard wrote the screenplay for the movie. Titan Books also released a book called “Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion,” but I’ve yet to run across a copy of it locally.

In the end, how many of you have seen “The Cabin in the Woods”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? What was your favorite part? How many of you read the novelization of the film by Lebbon, Goddard and Whedon? What did you think about it? How did it compare with the movie? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about “The Cabin in the Woods” movie, visit its official Web site at discoverthecabininthewoods.com.

Daily Weather Observations for Sat., Oct. 27, 2012

Temp: 50.5 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 84 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Overcast; dogs and birds audible; security light still on in the yard.

Winds: 5.3 mph out of the Northwest.

Barometric Pressure: 29.48 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 300th day of 2012 and the 36th day of Fall. There are 65 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Is 'A Confederacy of Dunces' the funniest book ever written?

“A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole may just be the funniest book I’ve ever read. If it’s not, it’s high in the running. I finished reading it a few days ago, and I’d definitely rank it among my favorite all time books ever.

I’ve wanted to read this book ever since high school friend Brandon Maughon, who now lives in New Orleans, told me a few months ago that it was one of his favorite books. I later ran across a copy of the book in Treasures on the Corner in Evergreen and snatched it up at a bargain price. The paperback edition I read was published in 1981 by Grove Press and contained 415 pages. It was a quick read.

“A Confederacy of Dunces” is set in 1960s New Orleans and gives us the story of 30-year-old Ignatius J. Reilly. While highly educated, he’s lazy and still lives with his longsuffering mother. The family runs into money troubles after Ignatius’ mother gets into a car accident, so he has to go out and get a job. The story proceeds through a number of hilarious episodes as Ignatius tries to get and keep a job. In more than a few spots, I laughed until I almost cried.

I found the publication history of this novel to be extremely interesting. The author killed himself at age 31 in 1969. His mother later ran across a carbon copy of the novel and unsuccessfully tried to have it published through traditional publishing houses. She didn’t have any luck, so she began pestering famous author Walker Percy, who was then a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. Long story short, once Percy started reading the manuscript, he couldn’t put it down and LSU Press published the book in 1980, 11 years after Toole’s suicide. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. To this date, the original manuscript has never been found.

Not only did this book win a Pulitzer Prize, but it can also be found on many “best of” lists. “A Confederacy of Dunces” was No. 10 on ShortList.com’s list of “The 50 Coolest Books Ever.” The book was No. 42 on Esquire Magazine’s list of “75 Books Every Man Should Read.” It was No. 68 on The Art of Manliness’ list of “100 Must Read Books: The Man’s Essential Library.” The book was also included in the James Agee Film Project’s prestigious list of “125 Great Southern Books.”

For those of you out there waiting for a movie version of this novel, there is hope. For decades, a motion picture version of the novel has been discussed with the role of Ignatius to be filled by such greats as John Belushi, John Candy, Richard Farley, Will Ferrell, John Goodman and Harris Glenn Milstead. For a number of reasons, these versions never came to pass. The most recent rumors have the movie starring Zach Galifianakis as Ignatius. To me, that would be awesome because he’d be perfect for the role.

In the end, how many of you have read “A Confederacy of Dunces”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.

Monroe Journal reporter tells of trip to old Castleberry bank building

The following feature story, "Cigar smoke and dead silence," was written by Josh Dewberry, an award-winning writer and photographer at The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Alabama. The story was originally published in the Oct. 25, 2012 edition of The Journal and is reprinted here with Dewberry's permission. Enjoy.

Headline: "Cigar smoke and dead silence"
By Josh Dewberry
Staff Writer
The Monroe Journal

Just after 10 o'clock Saturday night, something unexplainable happened inside the old Castleberry bank building - the distinctly sweet scent of a lit cigar made its way through the building.

In what has become an annual trek, award-winning writer and photographer Lee Peacock of The Evergreen Courant, John Higginbotham of the Alabama Paranormal Research Society and I sought out a location in which we could investigate claims of other-worldly activity.

Located on the corner of East Railroad Street and Cleveland Avenue in downtown Castleberry, the bank was once a busy financial institution and the town's only bank. It later housed the post office.

The bank folded in the Depression of the 1930s. Sometime during the fall of Wall Street, it's said a bank president lost everything and took his own life inside the bank.

Another financial institution occupied the building through at least the 1980s, and employees reported the smell of cigar smoke, the unexplainable sound of a man talking and walking across the bank and items inexplicably moving overnight.

That brings me back to Saturday night. Lee, John and I met just before 8 p.m., and after chatting briefly out front, we went inside.

There are shelves, cabinets and glass cases all full of historic relics from bygone days: an antique stereoscope with slides, books dating to the mid- and late-1800s, dozens of household items and myriad other objects.

Additionally, there were some bizarre artifacts, including a weed pod called Devil's Horn said to have come from a Native American headdress.

Most of the first hour was spent wandering through the tight spaces of the bank, trying to take in all the history around us. Between us, several hundred photographs were taken throughout the night.

Around 9 p.m. we stepped outside for some fresh air - the building is seldom opened, and the air inside is stifling - and to relieve the feeling of claustrophobia that had settled onto all of us.

After a walk up the sidewalk to examine the neighboring buildings and a check of the perimeter of the building, we re-entered the bank and locked the door.
Things soon became very interesting.

John used an electromagnetic field (EMF) meter to check for any anomalies, and noticed there were strange spikes in energy, even though we noted during our check outside there is no electrical service to the bank.

As we sat silently and listened for any sort of noises, there was a certain quietness to the building that was odd. Anyone familiar with old buildings knows there is almost always pops or cracks or thuds as the wood construction contracts when temperatures drop. There were none of those. The silence induced a tinnitus-like ringing in all our ears.

Any sound we emitted was quickly absorbed, too, with almost no echo. Despite several broken windows and a direct opening in the floor to an outside crawl space, there were no signs of life. In the fall in the South, one would expect to see a roach or an earwig or some sort of insect, but there were none. Not event a moth fluttering around our flashlights.

As we took note of all these environmental factors and chatted about how, while the building is pretty creepy, there didn't seem to be anything unexplainable going on, John and I locked eyes. At almost the same instant, an unmistakable scent had hit us both.

It was the smell of a just-lit cigar. Not your run-of-the-mill convenience store cigar. A pure, genuine, undeniable cigar.

"Do you smell that?" I said.

"One side of my nose is stopped up, but yeah, I smell it," John replied.

Lee said he didn't smell it, but he walked across the room between us, and as he entered an adjoining office it hit him.

"Guys, it's right here," he said. "I smell it right here."

In another minute it was gone.

It was the only event of the night we all experienced and for which we couldn't come up with a logical, scientific explanation. We explained away shadow movement as our own silhouettes bouncing off glass or mirrors; we explained odd pinpoints of light on the wall as refractions from passing headlights; but there was no reason for the smell of cigar smoke.

There was no one nearby outside, no vehicles had passed in the last five or 10 minutes and none of us had a cigar. It verified the claims of former employees, and all three of us experienced it.

Shortly afterwards, we all also noted a drop in temperature - something paranormal investigators say may be a sign of an attempt to manifest. While it could well have been a draft from outside, it was unusual in the suddenness with which the change happened.

While checking the temperature drop with a laser thermometer, John experienced a sudden battery drain despite having installed a brand new battery in the thermometer.

By 10:30, though, everything had stopped, and other than passing traffic and three trains rumbling past, the dead silence returned.

We packed up our gear and around midnight all headed home, still trying to digest everything we experienced in the flutter of activity just after 10 p.m.
I'm still perplexed. But even as a skeptic, I can't deny something unexplainable happened Saturday night in the old Castleberry bank.

And it may happen every night when the dead president checks on his bank, puffing a cigar as he does.

(Special thanks to the Castleberry Town Council for graciously allowing us access to this landmark in their town.)

Daily Weather Observations for Fri., Oct. 26, 2012

Temp: 61.2 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 82 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear with a few clouds on the horizon to the North-Northeast; star/planet visible in the east; birds audible; security light still on in the yard; dew on the ground; thin line of fog low to the ground in the North.

Winds: 0.0 mph (No wind)

Barometric Pressure: 29.49 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 299th day of 2012 and the 35th day of Fall. There are 66 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Is the old bank building in downtown Castleberry haunted?

Is the old bank building in downtown Castleberry haunted?

That is the question that myself and two other men attempted to answer during an investigation this past Saturday night.

For the third straight year, The Courant teamed up with award winning reporter and photographer Josh Dewberry of The Monroe Journal and John Higginbotham of the Alabama Paranormal Research Society to investigate a supposedly haunted location in our neck of the woods. The decision to investigate the old Castleberry bank was easy, given all of the spooky tales we’d heard about this unused building.

Located on the corner of Cleveland Avenue and West Railroad Street in downtown Castleberry, the building is one of the oldest structures in town. Once a busy financial institution, the original bank failed during the Great Depression and the building was later used as a post office for the town. On and off, it’s also been used as a town museum and continues to house a number of old-timey relics from the town’s past.

There are more than a few creepy tales about the building and according to one story, it’s haunted by the ghost of the original bank president. This banker supposedly committed suicide inside the bank after he lost everything in the famous stock market crash of the Great Depression. A town official whose mother worked inside the building during the mid-1980s also told us that employees would sometimes hear a man’s voice when there were no men in the building. Employees would also smell cigar smoke just like the smoke from the cigars smoked by the original bank president, she said. Objects would also get moved around during the night for no apparent reason, she said.

We began our investigation on Saturday night around 8 p.m., and we could tell right away that this was no ordinary building. Once inside, we all admitted that the confined space of the building’s interior gave us feelings of claustrophobia, and the air inside the building seemed oppressive and heavy, almost stifling.

Another unusual thing about the building was that it was devoid of all signs of life. The old bank has obviously been the victim of vandals over the years and more than a few of windowpanes are missing from the building’s exterior windows. Despite these direct openings to the outside world, the entire time we were there, we didn’t see a single insect. We never saw a single spider, spider web, roach, moth or anything else you’d expect to see in a vacant building.

The building was also eerily quiet, almost as if the building seemed to absorb sound in some strange way. Our small group sat quietly for long stretches of time in hopes of hearing something out of the ordinary, and the sound of the dead silence was almost overwhelming. Absent were the sounds you’d expect to hear of an old building creaking and settling. Absent were the sounds of passing vehicles up and down U.S. Highway 31, just up the street. Absent were the night sounds you’d expect to hear in any other small town on a Saturday night.

Throughout the night, John, an experienced paranormal investigator, picked up some unusual readings on an electromagnetic field (EMF) detector he used inside the bank. Paranormal investigators, like those you may have seen on television’s “Ghost Hunters” or “Ghost Adventures,” claim that EMF detectors can help determine when a spirit is trying to manifest itself. The theory is that the ghost is drawing energy out of the environment, so that it can make itself seen, felt or heard. John picked up unusual EMF spikes throughout the night on his handheld detector.

While using a handheld digital thermometer, John also experienced what’s known as “battery drain.” Prior to Saturday night’s field trip, John loaded the device with fresh, fully-charged batteries, but at one point on Saturday night the thermometer began to give a low battery warning. Paranormal investigators theorize that battery drain like this is caused when ghosts try to draw energy from electronic power sources, especially when they are trying to communicate or move objects.

With that said, the oddest thing that happened that night occurred at 10:05 p.m. Josh, John and I were sitting quietly in the building’s middle room when Josh said, “Do you smell that?”

"One side of my nose is stopped up,” John said. “But yeah, I smell it. It smells like a cigar.”

I didn’t smell anything, so I got up and stood between Josh and John. Breathing deeply, I still didn’t smell anything. I continued across the room and made my way towards a back office. Just as I crossed the threshold of the adjoining office door, it hit me like a slap in the face – the clear, strong, distinct aroma of a cigar. I was so stunned by this that it took me a few seconds to say anything. Just that fast, 15 or 20 seconds later, the smell was gone, but not the feeling that I’d just encountered something supernatural.

Later in the night, we thought we could see pinpoints of light and shadows moving in adjacent rooms, but we explained those away as tricks of light or due to passing cars and trains.

In the end, can it be said that the old Castleberry bank building is truly haunted? Without more concrete evidence, it’s hard to say for sure, but one thing is certain. I can say without reservation that the old Castleberry bank building is one of the creepiest places I’ve ever been. It will be a long time before I ever forget that sudden, unexpected whiff of cigar smoke that seemed to come out of nowhere last Saturday night.

(Special thanks to Castleberry Mayor J.B. Jackson and to the Castleberry town council for giving us permission to visit the old bank building on Saturday night. This story would have been impossible without their gracious cooperation. Many thanks.)

Jacob Ramer takes sole possession of first place in local contest

I got a great e-mail question from a member of our reading audience over the weekend and here’s what I was able to find out.

Clint wrote “I know you like answering questions so here's one for you. I ran across this stat on Espn.com, QBR for quarterbacks. I don't know. What is it?"

QBR, which is sometimes abbreviated as Total QBR, stands for Total Quarterback Rating. Developed by ESPN in 2011, QBR is used to measure a quarterback’s performance. The way this stat is computed is complicated but it basically measures the degree to which a signal-caller contributes to his team’s ability to score points and win. To come up with a quarterback’s QBR you have to examine every play in which they’re involved. QBR values range from 0 to 100 with a QBR of 50 considered as average.

Don’t confuse QBR with the better known NFL passer rating statistic, which is another popular measure of a quarterback’s performance. Passer ratings are computed based on a quarterback’s completion percentage, interceptions, passing yardage and touchdowns. In the NFL, a perfect passer rating is 158.3, not 100.

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This past Saturday wrapped up the eighth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest, and after the dust settled on Saturday, Jacob Ramer found himself in sole possession of first place.

Ramer, who was one of two contestants tied for the top spot last week, correctly picked the outcomes of all 10 games last Saturday, and he holds a two-point lead over second place Johnny Davis.

Hunter Norris, who was in fourth place last week, moved up to third place. My brother Mark Peacock dropped from third place to fourth place. I retained my spot in fifth place, and Aaron Albritton moved up from seventh place to sixth place.

LaBarin Banks, who was in sixth place last week, dropped to seventh place this week. Sharon Peacock and David Price, who were tied for ninth place last week, were tied for eighth place this week. Travis Presley, who was also in ninth place last week, dropped to tenth place.

With six more weeks to go, there is still a lot of time for everyone out there to make their way into the Top 10. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and a lot can happen in the college football world in the next month and a half.

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There are more than a few good SEC football games on tap for this week, including several rivalry games. Games set for this Saturday include Mississippi State at Alabama, Ole Miss at Arkansas, Texas A&M at Auburn, Florida against Georgia, Kentucky at Missouri, Tennessee at South Carolina and UMass at Vanderbilt.

For what it’s worth, here are my picks for this weekend’s slate of games. I like Alabama over Mississippi State, Arkansas over Ole Miss, Texas A&M over Auburn, Florida over Georgia, Missouri over Kentucky, South Carolina over Tennessee and Vandy over UMass. LSU doesn’t play this week.

Last week: 6-0. So far this season: 56-14.

The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for Oct. 25, 2012

20 YEARS AGO
OCT. 22, 1992

“The Hillcrest High School Jaguars put up a valiant effort in their bid against one of the best 5A teams in the state last Friday night, but the Stanhope Elmore High School’s defense shut down the Jag offense to secure a 14-0 win in Evergreen.
“Bryant Richardson carried the ball 20 times for 75 yards in the losing effort. (Cecil) Gill had 26 yards on 15 carries.”

“Domination was what Sparta Academy faithful became accustomed to seeing last year. Last Friday night, fans were reminded of years past as the Warriors drummed the Cathedral Christian Academy Saints 35-14 in Birmingham.
“Steven Bledsoe started the scoring for the Warriors with a 10-yard touchdown run. Bryant Robinson was next to put points on the board for the Warriors, catching a four-yard pass from Terry Conway for another Sparta score.
“Britt Ward was next to come through for the Warriors with a 10-yard touchdown reception from Conway. Bledsoe added a two-point conversion.
“Greg Atkins added a 23-yard touchdown run for the Warriors. Conway capped the scoring drive with a two-point conversion run.
“Sparta’s scoring came to an end with a 10-yard Casey Grant run and a Ward point-after kick, making the final score 35-14.”

“The Evergreen Pee Wee Jags won the South Central Alabama Championship last Saturday night with a 12-0 victory over the Evergreen Pee Wee Aggies.”

35 YEARS AGO
OCT. 27, 1977

“Clint named ‘Boxer of Year’ as ‘day’ nears: At a recent convention of AAU coaches and officials in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 14-16, Clint Jackson was named the AAU Boxer of the Year.
“Since it was first announced that Clint Jackson Day, would be held here, sportswriters have already begun to contact officials of the Conecuh County Branch NAACP asking about the itinerary for Nov. 19. In addition, various state officials who have heard about the event, have expressed a desire to come. Lt. Gov. Jere L. Beasley plans to attend the Awards Dinner, along with other notables.”

“Sparta Academy built up a 20-point halftime lead and coasted to a 27-6 win over Thomasville Academy’s Panthers in Thomasville. Coach Mike Bledsoe’s club racked up its second straight win and third of the season behind the sensational running of sophomore Ronny McKenzie, solid blocking and a stout defense.
“McKenzie scored twice on runs of five and 96 yards on his way to picking up 212 yards on 29 runs. He became the first sophomore in Sparta history to rack up 200 yards rushing in a game and ran his total for the season to 969 yards, virtually assuring him of a 1,000-yard season, which will also be a record for a sophomore.”
Other standout Sparta players in that game included Greg Anthony, Tony Baggett, Harry Crabtree, Steve Dubose, Tommy Hutcheson, Cook Morrison, Bobby Padgett, Terry Peacock, Mike Raines, Tony Raines, Johnny Ralls, Joey Rayfield, David Sabino, Gray Stevens and Mike Webb.

50 YEARS AGO
OCT. 25, 1962

“Showing a stout defense and a strong running game, the Evergreen Aggies dominated their game with Flomaton Friday night and shut out the visiting Hurricanes 6-0 in one of the quickest-moving football games ever played in Evergreen.
“Fullback Bobby Lynch scored on a one-yard plunge on the second play of the final quarter to end a 12-play, 61-yard drive for the Aggie TD. Quarterback Jimmy Raines’ pass on the conversion attempt fell incomplete.
“Halfback Paul Deason gained 97 yards and fullback Mike Mininger ran for 50 yards to pace the Aggie attack. Tackle Alvin Dees led the strong Evergreen defense.”

“Aggies Try Whippets Here Friday Night: The Evergreen Aggies, fresh from their first win over the Flomaton Hurricanes 6-0 last week, will meet the unbeaten Frisco City Whippets Friday night at 8:00 at Brooks Stadium.
“Frisco City has one of the best ball clubs in school history this year and they have moved over all competition to date.
“The Aggies are still crippled this week, but Coach Robinson said that he expected all of his boys to be ready to play Friday night. Robinson said that he was pleased with the play of Winston Pugh, Alvin Dees, Robert Rigsby, Paul Deason and Sid Lambert in last week’s victory over Flomaton.
“The Evergreen-Frisco City game is always one of the best in this section and both teams are usually ‘up’ for the contest.”

65 YEARS AGO
OCT. 23, 1947

“There will be a meeting of the Escambia-Conecuh Wildlife Association and sportsmen at the Court House in Evergreen Monday night, Oct. 27, at seven o’clock.
“This association will be in charge of the issuance of permits to hunt on lands of the T.R. Miller Mill Co. in Conecuh and Escambia Counties. All sportsmen are invited and urged to attend this important meeting.”

“The underdog W.S. Neal High Eagles battled Evergreen’s previously undefeated, untied, unscored on Aggies to a 6-6 deadlocked here last Thursday night.
“The Aggies got off to a fast start with McIntyre taking Logue’s pass in the left flat and dashing down the left sideline to score after eluding three Neal tacklers. A pass, Logue to Bozeman was incomplete on the conversion attempt and here ended Evergreen’s scoring and offensive power.
“Hanks and Brooks stood out in the Evergreen line. Herky Salter’s play was limited by a back injury, but he was definitely in the ball game. Rawls and Ryan played well in the Aggie rearworks.”

“The Evergreen Aggies will be definite underdogs for the first time this season when they clash with an undefeated aggregation from Monroe County High, Monroeville.
“Coach Hart and Harper have been stressing blocking and tackling this week and will give the Aggies plenty of work this week with no game on tap. The Aggies should be in good shape Thursday night, Oct. 30, when Coach E.H. Penny brings his Tigers to Brooks Stadium for the night tilt.”

80 YEARS AGO
OCT. 27, 1932

“Conecuh High Wins Again Over Brooklyn: Castleberry, Ala. – Oct. 26 – Meeting Brooklyn for the second time this year, Conecuh High School won again Friday, 38-0.
“Carter was the principal figure in the first four touchdowns. He threw passes to Weaver and Barfield for two of them, carried one over himself and placed the ball within striking distance of the goal line for the fourth touchdown with a 15-yard run.
“Jay Quimby pulled the most spectacular play of the day. He caught a Brooklyn punt on his own 35-yard line and, after picking his way through a group of Brooklyn players, raced the remaining 65 yards for a touchdown. The line plunging of Wilson Walters featured the Brooklyn attack. The visitors showed the effect of the absence of Graham Jones, their star back, who was on the sidelines with an injured knee. The line-ups:
“Brooklyn – C. Finlay, left end; Pate, left tackle; Blair, left guard; B. Finlay, center; M. Finlay, right guard; McCreary, right tackle; Aycock, right end; W. Walters, quarterback; Uptografft, left half; R. King, right half; Robinson, fullback; sub., S. Walters.
“Castleberry – Barfield, left end; Barlow, left tackle; Phillips, left guard; Nealy, center; Smith, right guard; Oliver, right tackle; Stapleton, right end; Carter, quarterback; G. King, right half; J.C. Quimby, left half; Weaver, fullback; subs., W. Quimby, Brewton, G. Ellis, Finlay, P. Ellis, Suddith, N. Walters, Boling.”

Daily Weather Observations for Thurs., Oct. 25, 2012

Temp: 59.9 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 82 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear; star/planet visible in the east; birds audible; security light still on in the yard; dew on the ground; small patches of spider webs visible in the grass.

Winds: 0.0 mph (No wind)

Barometric Pressure: 29.55 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 298th day of 2012 and the 34th day of Fall. There are 67 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

This week's movie picks are 'Silent Hill: Revelation' and 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'

It’s Wednesday, so today I give you my weekly list of movies that will open in theatres this week as well as a list of movies that will be released this week on DVD.

I hope this will serve as a useful guide as to what’s going on this week if you happen to be near a movie theatre or if you’re looking for something to drop into your NetFlix queue.

Movies that are scheduled to hit theatres this week include:

Chasing Mavericks (PG, Drama, Family): Directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue, Leven Rambin, Abigail Spencer and Taylor Handley.

Cloud Atlas (R, Drama, Science Fiction): Directed by Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski and starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Sturgess and Hugh Grant.

Fun Size (Comedy, Family): Directed by Josh Schwartz and starring Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Chelsea Handler, Jackson Nicoll and Thomas Mann.

The Loneliest Planet (Drama, Suspense): Directed by Julia Loktev and starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Hani Furstenberg and Bidzina Gujabidze.

The Other Son (PG-13, Drama): Directed by Lorraine Levy and starring Emmanuelle Devos, Pascal Elbe, Mehdi Dehbi, Jules Sitruk and Areen Omari.

Pusher (R, Crime, Suspense): Directed by Luis Prieto and starring Richard Coyle, Bronson Webb, Agyness Deyn, Mem Ferda and Zlatko Buric.

Silent Hill: Revelation (R, Horror): Directed by Michael J. Bassett and starring Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger, Radha Mitchell, Adelaide Clemens and Kit Harington.

New DVD releases for the week of Oct. 23 include:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (R, Horror, Suspense): Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring Benjamin Walker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Alan Tudyk and Anthony Mackie.

Cargo (R, Horror): Directed by Yan Vizinberg and starring Natasha Rinis, Sayed Badreya and Philip Willingham.

Crooked Arrows (PG-13, Drama): Directed by Steve Rash and starring Brandon Routh, Gil Birmingham, Alexandra East, Crystal Allen and Chelsea Ricketts.

Dragon Eyes (R, Action, Crime): Directed by John Hyams and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Peter Weller, Cung Le, Monica Acosta and Kristopher Van Varenberg.

Madea’s Witness Protection (PG-13, Comedy): Directed by Tyler Perry and starring Tyler Perry, Eugene Levy, Denise Richards, Doris Roberts and Romeo Miller.

Magic Mike (R, Drama, Comedy): Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer and Joe Mangianello.

Morgan (Not Rated): Directed by Michael D. Akers Jr. and starring Leo Minaya, Jack Kesy, Ben Budd, Theodore Bouloukos and Darra Boyd.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (R, Comedy, Romance): Directed by Lorene Scafaria and starring Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Connie Britton, Melanie Lynskey and T.J. Miller.

Take This Waltz (R, Drama, Romance): Directed by Sarah Polley and starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman and Aaron Abrams.

Transit (R, Action, Suspense): Directed by Antonio Negret and starring Jim Caviezel, James Frain, Diora Baird, Elisabeth Rohm and Harold Parrineau.

If I could only watch one movie at the theatre this week, it would be “Silent Hill: Revelation,” and if I had to pick just one DVD to rent this week, it would be “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”

In the end, let me know if you get a chance to watch any of the new movies in theatres this week or if you’ve already seen any of the movies that have just been released on DVD. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Daily Weather Observations for Wed., Oct. 24, 2012

Temp: 57.4 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 82 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear; star/planet visible in the east; birds audible and visible; cows audible; security light still on in the yard; dew on the ground.

Winds: 0.0 mph (No wind)

Barometric Pressure: 29.64 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 297th day of 2012 and the 33rd day of Fall. There are 68 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Which of Michael Crichton's novels is YOUR personal favorite?

I read on Writer’s Almanac earlier today that today – Oct. 23, 2012 – would have been best-selling author Michael Crichton’s 70th birthday. Born on this day in Chicago in 1942, he died on Nov. 4, 2008 of complications from throat cancer.

Crichton was a remarkable man. The son of a magazine editor, he was raised on Long Island and went on to graduate summa cum laude from Harvard. After teaching anthropology at Oxford in England, he went on to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Best known for his thrillers, his books have sold 200 million copies worldwide. His books fell into a wide variety of categories, including action, adventure, science fiction and techno-thriller.

As you might have imagined, Crichton won a number of awards during his career. He received an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1969 for “A Case of Need” from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1980, the movie “The Great Train Robbery” received an Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture. The 6-foot-9 Crichton was also named to People magazine’s list of “50 Most Beautiful People” in 1992.

By my count, Crichton wrote four non-fiction books and 27 novels, including two that were published after his death. What follows is a complete list of his books in alphabetical order by title:

- Airframe (1996)

- The Andromeda Strain (1969)

- Binary (1972)

- A Case of Need (1968)

- Congo (1980)

- Dealing (1970)

- Disclosure (1994)

- Drug of Choice (1970)

- Easy Go (1968)

- Eaters of the Dead (1976)

- Electronic Life (1983)

- Five Patients (1970)

- Grave Descend (1970)

- The Great Train Robbery (1975)

- Jasper Johns (1977)

- Jurassic Park (1990)

- The Lost World (1995)

- Micro (2011)

- Next (2006)

- Odds On (1966)

- Pirate Latitudes (2009)

- Prey (2002)

- Rising Sun (1992)

- Scratch One (1967)

- Sphere (1987)

- State of Fear (2004)

- The Terminal Man (1972)

- Timeline (1999)

- Travels (1988)

- The Venom Business (1969)

- Zero Cool (1969)

Thirteen of his books have been turned into movies. Those movies (and their year of their release) include the following films:

- The Andromeda Strain (1971)

- Dealing (1972)

- The Carey Treatment (A Case of Need, 1972)

- The Terminal Man (1974)

- The First Great Train Robbery (1979)

- Jurassic Park (1993)

- Rising Sun (1993)

- Disclosure (1994)

- Congo (1995)

- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

- Sphere (1998)

- The 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead, 1999)

- Timeline (2003)

I’ve only read two of Crichton’s novels – “Congo” and “Eaters of the Dead,” but I’ve got “Read all of Michael Crichton’s novels” on my bucket list. I’m going to have to get busy if I plan to pull that off. I’d have to say that “The 13th Warrior” is probably my favorite Michael Crichton movie.

In the end, which of Crichton’s books is your all-time favorite? Which of the movies based on his books is your all-time favorite? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.

(For more information about Michael Crichton, visit his official Web site at www.crichton-official.com.)

Daily Weather Observations for Tues., Oct. 23, 2012

Temp: 54.0 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 81 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Mostly clear with a few scattered clouds; jet contrails visible; star/planet visible in the east; birds audible and visible; security lights still on in the distance; dew on the ground.

Winds: 0.0 mph (No wind)

Barometric Pressure: 29.64 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 296th day of 2012 and the 32nd day of Fall. There are 69 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

BUCKET LIST UPDATE – No. 564: Ghost hunt the old Castleberry bank building

The old Castleberry bank building.

I scratched another item off my bucket list on Saturday night when I took part in a “ghost hunt” at the old bank building in downtown Castleberry, Alabama. For those of you unfamiliar with Castleberry, it’s a small town between Evergreen and Brewton that’s best known for being the “Strawberry Capital of Alabama.”

There are a number of places in Southwest Alabama that I’ve always wanted to check out, and this old building has been high on my list for some time. My first encounter with this building occurred several years ago not long after I first started working at The Courant. If memory serves me correctly, I visited Castleberry on that day to take a picture of the town’s new nutrition center van.

After the picture, I mentioned to Mayor J.B. Jackson that I’d never been to Castleberry before and he gave me the dime tour. He took me along Cleveland Avenue, the main street that runs through downtown Castleberry, and told me about the town’s colorful history. He eventually took me down to the old bank building, which is located at the corner of Cleveland Avenue and West Railroad Street in the town. It was locked on that particular day, and I had to settle for looking through the building’s large windows.

The building was obviously one of the oldest in town and while it had seen better days, it still had a lot of character. Sherry Johnston, the head of the archives department at the Evergreen-Conecuh County Public Library, would later tell me that the bank was once a busy financial institution and also housed the town’s post office at one time. The original bank went belly-up during the Great Depression.

My interest in this old building only increased later when Castleberry Fire Chief Josh Reeves told me that the building is believed to be haunted. He told me that the original bank president lost everything he had during the Great Depression and committed suicide inside the building. Reeves’ mother worked there during the mid-1980s and she said that every once in a while employees would hear a man talking even though there were no men in the building. She also said that employees would smell cigar smoke just like the smoke from the cigars smoked by the original bank president. She also said that things would get inexplicably moved around during the night.

A few weeks ago, the Castleberry Town Council was good enough to give me and two other people permission to visit the old bank building at night to conduct a “ghost hunt.” The idea was to see what we could experience inside the old building and to write about it as a way to promote the building as a potential museum for the town. On Saturday night, our group, which included award-winning reporter and photographer Josh Dewberry of The Monroe Journal and John Higginbotham of the Alabama Paranormal Research Society, visited the old bank building. We began our visit around 8 p.m. and left the bank a few minutes after midnight. For full details about our trip, see a more detailed story that’ll be posted here on Thursday and reported in The Monroe Journal and The Evergreen Courant.

In the end, how many of you have ever been inside the old bank building in Castleberry? How many of you remember when it was an actual, working bank? Do you know anything more about its history? Do you know any other “ghost stories” about this building? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Special thanks to the Castleberry Town Council and Mayor J.B. Jackson for giving us permission to visit the old bank building. They could have easily shut us down from the start, but instead they were more than willing to let us visit this historic building during odd hours. The trip would have been impossible without their cooperation.)

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Oct. 22, 2012

20 YEARS AGO
OCT. 22, 1992

“Laurice A. Baggett, who has served the City of Evergreen for 34 years, has resigned as city clerk, effective Dec. 1.
“Mrs. Baggett presented the members of the Evergreen City Council and Mayor Lomax Cassady copies of her letter of resignation Tuesday night prior to the council meeting.
“Aside from her duties as city clerk, Mrs. Baggett also serves as the city’s court clerk and serves as a city representative on many committees.”

“The Evergreen City Council has created a ‘building official’ position as the first step to create building codes for the city.
“Curtis Hamilton was named as the city’s building officer, a title which was determined by the wording of legal statutes in the Southern Building Codes.”

“Kim Tolbert was named Miss Heritage for the 12th annual event. Lakesha Womack was the first alternate and Cynthia Thompson was the second alternate. The pageant was held at Ed Reid State Technical College last Thursday night. Willie Crutchfield was the master of ceremonies. Entertainment was provided by Mrs. Kathy Salter.”

“Weatherman Harry Ellis reports .02 of an inch of rain on Oct. 16 and .14 on Oct. 17.”

“Brenda Woods-Green, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willie George Woods of Rt. 2, Evergreen, recently completed a pre-law course at Oxford University, England. Brenda is a graduate of Lyeffion High School.”

35 YEARS AGO
OCT. 27, 1977

“Evergreen’s official ‘weatherman’ Earl Windham reports no rainfall during the past week, ending Oct. 23. Next week, he’ll report on how much rain fell Monday and Tuesday.”

“Roy Riley Jr., 34, died of an apparent heart attack shortly after midnight Friday (or early Saturday morning) while visiting friends in Birmingham. He was a popular and respected sportswriter for The Nashville (Tenn.) Banner and formerly had served as a sports editor and writer in Alabama.
“Riley is survived by his parents, both natives of Evergreen, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Riley Sr. Riley (Jr.) was born in Evergreen, but grew up in Montgomery, receiving his early education in the public schools of that city.”

“Evergreen Hospital opened its doors about 2:30 o’clock last Thursday afternoon. Torn from the front doors was a sign that read: ‘Hospital Closed Until Further Notice.’
“Since our new hospital opened in the old, closed building, there have been from 11 to 20 patients receiving treatment.
“The man responsible for us having a functioning hospital is Billy G. (Bill) McKenzie. He stuck his neck out to buy the defunct Conecuh County Hospital, and he got it open in record time, in spite of some unexpected delays.
“Bill and his wife, Mary, are in the process of moving to Evergreen as this story is written. He believes in Conecuh County and Evergreen and the future of our hospital.”

50 YEARS AGO
OCT. 25, 1962

“City council adopts record size budget: A record budget, exceeding $300,000, for the City of Evergreen was adopted for the 1962-63 fiscal year by the city council in its meeting Tuesday night. The budget for all city operations for the year ending Sept. 30, 1963, totals $305,955.
“The council also voted to change the parking on one side of Rural Street (side by Ivey Chevrolet Co.) from parallel back to angle parking. City Clerk Miller Sellers said that the spaces would be sharply angled so as to reduce the amount that parked vehicles protruded into the street.”

“Funeral services were held Oct. 15 for Dr. Paul Alston Rainey of Rt. 1, Horton, who died at his home on Oct. 12.
“Dr. Rainey was a retired U.S. Army officer and was serving as a veterinarian with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. He was a Mason, a Shriner and a veteran of World War II and the Korean War.”

“Levyn W. Ivey of Repton, Ala. has been promoted to flight commander in the Auburn University Air Force ROTC Cadet Wing.”

“With only one week left, absentee voting in the November 6 election is extremely light in Conecuh. In fact, absentee voting official Circuit Clerk Ralph Crysell said yesterday that only one absentee vote had been cast thus far.
“Voting is expected to be heavier in the county than normally in a general election due to interest in the liquor election and the Hill-Martin race.”

65 YEARS AGO
OCT. 23, 1947

“According to the latest government report, there were 3,306 bales of cotton ginned in Conecuh County from the 1947 crop prior to Oct. 1, 1947 as compared to 2,068 ginned to the same date in 1946.”

“Freight and passenger service on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad will be restored on Oct. 24 between Mobile and New Orleans, the railroad management announced today. Service was disrupted south of Mobile when the hurricane of Sept. 19 severely damaged three important bridges and some 37 miles of track.”

“Dr. D.G. Gill, State Health Officer, reminds Alabamians that it is illegal to open the caskets containing the bodies of service men and women which are brought back to this state for final interment.”

“Edward Pate, president of Castleberry High School 4-H Club, walked away with top honors in the district dairy show at Mobile on Oct. 15. Eight southwest Alabama counties participated in the show. His two-year-old heifer ‘Daisy’ was judged the best among 150 entries. Edward’s total winnings were $162 plus a trip to the National Dairy Show in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 21 to 25, which he is now attending.”

“DYNAMITE FOR SALE: I am now carrying a new supply of Hercules 60 percent Dynamite and caps and fuse at very close prices. Also have 1-1/2 inch stump auger bits for sale. W.L. Middleton, Frisco City, Alabama.”

80 YEARS AGO
OCT. 27, 1932

“First Timber Sent Down River Monday: Taking advantage of the first ‘full’ river in recent weeks, the T.R. Miller Mill Co. started six rafts of timber down Conecuh River Monday, making the initial shipment under the recent plan of transportation adopted by the company and the first time in many years that a fleet of rafts has been floated from this point down the river to Pensacola.”

“Of the 162 cadet officers appointed in the ROTC at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, two are from Conecuh County. They are J.T. Millsap, Evergreen, and E.A. Price, Castleberry.”

“James Lane has been confined to his room for several days with malaria.”

“Mayor J.L. Kelly, Sheriff J.G. Moore, J.E. Jones, County Solicitor and W.S. Dreaden, Circuit Clerk, spent several days in Montgomery on business.”

“Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Deal and two children, who have been residing in Thomasville, arrived today to make their home in Evergreen and will operate ‘The Oaks,’ which has been under the management of Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Riley.”

“Seville, Spain, Oct. 26 – At the request of the American vice consul, police today detained a man who gave his name as Jean Saul and arranged to send him to Madrid for questioning in connection with the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.”

Daily Weather Observations for Mon., Oct. 22, 2012

Temp: 54.0 degrees F

Rainfall (past 24 hours): 0.0 inches

Humidity: 79 percent (Humid)

Conditions: Clear skies; star/planet visible in the east; birds and cows audible; security lights still on in the yard; dew on the ground.

Winds: 0.1 mph out of the North-Northwest.

Barometric Pressure: 29.67 inHg.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.0 inches

Month to Date Rainfall: 4.4 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 63.35 inches

NOTES: Today is the 295th day of 2012 and the 31st day of Fall. There are 70 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hrs Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily, just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834°N Lon 87.30131°W. Elevation: 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Top spots on weekly best-sellers lists remain unchanged

It’s Sunday, so that means that it’s time for my weekly breakdown of this week’s Publishers Weekly Best-Seller List. According to the list, there are no new books at the top of the four major best-sellers lists this week. While this is unusual, it’s not unheard of. This usually happens once or twice a year.

"The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling retained its spot as the No. 1 book on the hardcover fiction best-sellers list for the third week in a row.

"Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly remained the top book on the hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list for the second week in a row.

"Shock Wave" by John Sandford remainedthe top book on the mass market paperback best-sellers list for the second week in a row.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James retained its place atop the trade paperbacks best-sellers list for the 28th week in a row.

There are two books on this week’s hardcover fiction best-sellers list that weren’t on that list last week. They (along with their place on the list) include "NYPD Red" by James Patterson and Marshall Karp (2) and "The Round House" by Louise Erdrich (15).

There are three books on this week’s hardcover nonfiction best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. They include "Who I Am" by Peter Townshend (3), "Here Come the Black Helicopters" by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann (11) and "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed (15).

There is only one book on this week’s mass market paperbacks best-sellers list that wasn’t on the list last week - "The Litigators" by John Grisham, which was No. 15 on the list.

There are six books on this week’s trade paperbacks best-sellers list that weren’t on the list last week. The include "How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You" by The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman (4), "The Innocent" by David Baldacci (5), "To Heaven and Back" by Mary C. Neal (6), "40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life" by Tommy Newberry (10), "The Walking Dead Compendium, Vol. 2" by Robert Kirkman (13) and "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell (14).

As a reminder, I’m posting these lists each Sunday because they, as a whole, represent a great, contemporary recommended reading list. These lists are initially released each week on Thursday, and if you’re interested in reading them then, visit Publishers Weekly’s Web site at www.publishersweekly.com. Below you’ll find all four of this week’s best-seller lists.

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. "The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling
2. "NYPD Red" by James Patterson, Marshall Karp
3. "Winter of the World" by Ken Follett
4. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn
5. "Mad River" by John Sandford
6. "The Time Keeper" by Mitch Albom
7. "A Wanted Man" by Lee Child
8. "Live by Night" by Dennis Lehane
9. "Low Pressure" by Sandra Brown
10. "This Is How You Lose Her" by Junoit Diaz
11. "Zoo" by Petterson, Ledwidge
12. "Severe Clear" by Stuart Woods
13. "Phantom" by Jo Nesbo
14. "Telegraph Avenue" by Michael Chabon
15. "The Round House" by Louise Erdrich

HARDCOVER NONFICTION
1. "Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly
2. "No Easy Day" by Mark Owen
3. "Who I Am" by Peter Townshend
4. "America Again" by Stephen Colbert
5. "God Loves You" by David Jeremiah
6. "Guinness World Records 2013" by Guinness World Records
7. "I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak" by Joel Osteen
8. "Waging Heavy Peace" by Neil Young
9. "Total Recall" by Arnold Schwarzenegger
10. "Mugged" by Ann Coulter
11. "Here Come the Black Helicopters" by Dick Morris, Eileen McGann
12. "How Children Succeed" by Paul Tough
13. "The End of Your Life Book Club" by Will Schwalbe
14. "The Price of Politics" by Bob Woodward
15. "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1. "Shock Wave" by John Sandford
2. "Dead or Alive" by Tom Clancy
3. "Micro" by Michael Crichton
4. "Victims" by Jonathan Kellerman
5. "D.C. Dead" by Stuart Woods
6. "What Doesn't Kill You" by Iris Johansen
7. "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett
8. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Fern Michaels
9. "A Day Away" by Nora Roberts
10. "Thanksgiving Prayer" by Debbie Macomber
11. "Red Mist" by Patricia Cornwell
12. "Zero Day" by David Baldacci
13. "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman
14. "The Lady Risks All" by Stephanie Laurens
15. "The Litigators" by John Grisham

TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James
2. "Fifty Shades Darker" by E.L. James
3. "Fifty Shades Freed" by E.L. James
4. "How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You" by The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman
5. "The Innocent" by David Baldacci
6. "To Heaven and Back" by Mary C. Neal
7. "Bared to You" by Sylvia Day
8. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
9. "Guilty Wives" by James Patterson, David Ellis
10. "40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life" by Tommy Newberry
11. "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks
12. "The Chew" by The Chew
13. "The Walking Dead Compendium, Vol. 2" by Robert Kirkman
14. "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell
15. "Finding the Dream" by Nora Roberts

In the end, let me know if you’ve had a chance to read any of these books. What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Did a game camera take the photo of a ghost in Conecuh County?

Is this a photo of a ghost?

Arguably the best ghost story published in Southwest Alabama in recent memory was a story published in the Oct. 31, 2011 edition of The Mobile Press-Register. Written by award-winning reporter Connie Baggett, the story was titled “Dead man walking? Hunters’ camera captures ghostly image.”

According to the story, 26-year-old Zach Davis and his father-in-law had spent a Saturday last fall working on hunting land somewhere in Conecuh County. On that day, between 4 p.m. and sunset, they stopped to watch deer come and go from a food plot they intended to hunt over during the upcoming deer season. A game camera had been capturing all the action, but when Davis checked the camera the next day, he found something very unusual in one of the digital photographs.

The story goes on to say that one of the photos contained a “ghost image” from the spot he’d been watching the day before. Davis, who was a Sheriff’s Department employee at the time, admitted that at first glance, he thought that the camera had taken his picture during the time that he’d been working in the food plot. A closer examination disproved this idea though. He’d been wearing a “camo head-to-toe” that day, but the person in the photo appeared to be wearing khakis pants and a plaid shirt. The person in the photo also appears blurred due to motion.

The game camera also stamped the photo with the date and time it had been taking, a feature that aids hunters by letting them know when game animals are most active. According to the time stamp, the photo had been taken at 5:12 p.m. while Davis and his father-in-law had been watching the food plot. Neither man saw anyone walk through the area.

According to the story, Davis and his father-in-law also searched the ground for any footprints that may have been left behind by the man in the photo, but none were found. Davis also checked the photos on the game camera that were taken before and after to see if the man’s image had somehow gotten transferred, but none of the other photos showed a man, only deer and the surrounding woods. Davis told The Press-Register that since that day, the game camera has also captured sports of bright, glowing light, but nothing like the image of the mystery man.

The story went on to say that a friend of Davis’ had the photo enhanced at a local business and discovered that the man in the photo is looking directly at the game camera as if he knew that it had snapped a picture.

Davis showed the image around, and individuals living near L Pond said the person in the photo looked like Pott Weaver. Weird thing is, Pott Weaver died in 1984. Other people who saw the photo said that it looked like Pott’s brother, Horace, who was killed in a log truck accident a number of years ago. Davis would later pick Pott Weaver’s photo out of an old family photograph, saying that he looked most like the person in the mysterious game camera photo.

Davis noted that Pott Weaver’s former residence, an old house, isn’t far from where the photo was taken and most of his belongings remained in the house at the time of the incident. In fact, if you look at a map of the area, you’ll see that there’s even a Pott Weaver Road not far from L Pond. Davis’ mother, Peggy Sue Weaver, told The Press-Register that Pott Weaver walked through the area daily on his way to feed his dogs. Her husband was related to the family who lived at Pott Weaver’s old house, the story said.

Peggy Sue Weaver told Baggett that if she thought the photo had been faked, she’d have been the first to say so. However, the more the family tried to prove that it wasn’t a ghost, the more questions arose, she said. She admitted that the whole situation was creepy enough to keep her from visiting the food plot. Davis noted though that he wasn’t afraid to return to the food plot, especially if it meant bagging a big buck. Davis said he was operating under the idea that if the “ghost” didn’t do anything to him or his father-in-law on the day the photo was taken, it would never mess with them. They would have also seen the “ghost” with their own eyes if it had been mean to be.

Before I wrap this thing up, I’d like to add that after this story was published last year, I tried unsuccessfully to track down Davis and his mother for interviews. Everywhere I turned, I reached a dead end. If you know how to get in touch with either of them, let me know because I’d like to interview them about the photo and what’s happened since.

In the end, what do you think of this incident? What do you think about the mysterious photo? Has anyone else out there seen anything strange in the vicinity of L Pond? Let us know in the comments section below.