Another hit for Billboard’s ‘High Finance Country’ chart

By Walker Duncan Posted on July 27, 2009 at 12:50 pm

Music City’s Merle Hazard takes a swing at Ben Bernanke and the huge amounts spent aiding failing banks in his newest hit ‘Bailout.’

News of the song’s release on YouTube has already popped up on the Huffington Post and the New York Times‘ DealBook blog.

permalink | 1 Comment

Tags: Ben S. Bernanke, government stimulus, Humor, Jon Shayne, Merle Hazard  

Weird ways to make a living

By Walker Duncan Posted on July 8, 2009 at 12:56 pm

Not a local story but definite proof that you can do almost anything to make a living, the man who used to embody University of Tennessee’s mascot hound Smokey has started a new business providing life-size costume characters for parties or corporate events.

Meadows thought his first call would be for “little Johnny’s birthday” but it was for a government official. Other calls primarily have been for corporate events.

Knox County Commissioner Mike Hammond, who represents West Knoxville’s 5th District, reserved two costume characters from Character Impressions to stand beside him at the Farragut parade this weekend.

“It seemed like a no-brainer; what better way to draw attention to yourself in a parade,” Hammond said. “It makes people feel good. They just light up.”

permalink | Comment on this post

Tags: Humor, Jamie Meadows, Mike Hammond, Odds & Ends  

Who knew we drink a lot of Drank?

By Walker Duncan Posted on July 1, 2009 at 2:46 pm

Innovative Beverage Group, marketers of the “extreme relaxation drink” known as “Drank,” in a release marketing its new two-ounce shot version for those “consumers looking to relax in a hurry,” mentions that the new product is “thriving” in our fair city.

John Layfield, founder of Layfield Energy said, “Drank Deuce(TM) is the product of a complementary partnership between Layfield Energy and Innovative Beverage Group. Its title as first ‘extreme relaxation’(TM) shot has helped it to thrive in Nashville, TN, and now that it’s available online we expect the kind of results that drank beverage received in its first year.”

We’ve never seen the stuff, but have to admit we’re intrigued by the idea of relaxing in a hurry.

permalink | Comment on this post

Tags: Drank, food business, Humor, Innovative Beverage Group, Layfield Energy  

Hazard back at it

By Walker Duncan Posted on May 5, 2009 at 2:22 pm

This time, high finance’s Hank Williams sits down for a chat with Stanford economist John Taylor, author of the well-known Taylor Rule, and gets inspired to pen what is sure to be another runaway hit on Billboard’s financial chart.

permalink | Comment on this post

Tags: financial instruments, Humor, interest rate, John Taylor, Merle Hazzard, Stanford University