In previous posts, I have taken several jabs at my brother who lives in Arkansas. It's really not fair on my part to pick such low hanging fruit for my amusement, and again, I resolve to stop it. Just the other day I was talking to him and he was giving updates on my niece and nephew.

They are one of the lucky families in that my sister-in-law is able to stay home with the kids. I'm always hearing how advanced my nephew and niece are for their ages.

So, while I was talking with my brother I said, you know it would be great if everyone once in a while you sent some, you know, pictures and what not? It just seems like today, with all this technology we don't seem to share pictures as much as we could. He said he would and I anxiously awaited some pictures.

Here is the picture I received of my niece, the prodigy...








Did I mention that they live in Arkansas?

What I had thought...




"The dog can play with the volleyball in the yard".


What I now know...





-Insert obligatory Tom Hanks scream of "WILSON!" here.

Have you noticed how cities are using those light and telephone pole banners more and more today? They are pretty neat I guess. Usually, you can find them lining the main thoroughfare through a city or town.



Cities use them in a variety of ways, but mostly they offer a nice uplifting message welcoming visitors and tourists to the area. They are usually very bright and colorful, evoking a positive image of the city and surrounding area.



Local merchants use them to advertise shopping areas and specialty stores.



Seasons are popular, you can often find Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter banners as well as holidays such as Christmas or the 4th of July.



Local sports teams are promoted letting visitors know this is Cardinal or Tiger country! Oooo...scary! (ha ha...)



Yes, there are probably countless examples of banners like these. If you stop and take the time to look around, you'll see their welcoming messages almost everywhere.

Here's another one. Wow, it's black! That's definitely different. It's advertising something, let's see, "2008" something, something..."Race Riot". Wait, what?






Ok, on a serious note, the referenced race riot was a dark time in our burg's history. But, it spurned the formation of the NAACP, so something positive did come from it.

Well, in addition TO this blog post!