Partying with Pokemon

Somewhere there are curmudgeons, both old and young, kvetching about the explosion of interest in Pokemon Go across the world.

Before you criticize, take a deep breath and remember your days playing Farmville and Candy Crush Saga and let the Pokemon hunters have their fun.

I have to admit, I have captured one Pokemon using the application. Bulbasaur was lurking around my desk. I just don’t have time to go Pokemon hunting.

Maybe the next time I take a stroll at Ridge Ferry Park with Mrs. C I can catch a few more. It’s not high on my priority list, but I can understand why so many people think the game is a lot of fun.

The city of Rome’s response to the players has earned my respect. Rome asked that the players be respectful of local cemeteries and to not be tromping around in them after dark, a measured and reasonable request.

It has also been good to see downtown businesses and churches getting involved in the craze. Fun is not a bad thing.

Things haven’t been as cordial in other cities, where apparently some Pokemon hunters haven’t behaved quite so well.

The Newnan City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits people from playing internet or cellphone games at the city’s three cemeteries.

Sounded a little extreme to me at first, but Newnan City Manager Cleatus Phillips indicated that game players damaged a fence, blocked roadways and were running on and across gravesites.

The police chief indicated there were about 50 people in the cemetery at one time playing the game.

I wonder if members of ISIS are out in the desert somewhere trying to get their hands on a Pikachu. MIKE COLOMBO Illustration by Lee Field, RN-T

A leading Egyptian Sunni Muslim cleric has warned against the dangers of going overboard with the game.

Abbas Shumman, the deputy sheikh of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Institute, told The Associated Press that the game “makes people busy with it, ignoring their main work and it might also put them in danger,” but says there is no problem with people playing it in moderation if they are at home or in a safe place.

Shumman made it clear he isn’t against the game; he just doesn’t want to see anybody get hurt doing something stupid.

“If someone is busy reading the Quran while he is walking in the street, this might make him have an accident so we would tell him not to read it this way,” he said.

And in case you think only hipsters in their skinny jeans are hunting Pokemon, that certainly isn’t the case in Coeymans, New York.

A 62-year-old man playing the game at night in the woods behind his home became and Urias — sing up a storm. Today, the ACLU would likely get their politicallycorrect shorts in a wad about folks singing and praising Jesus in a (gasp!) government building. Bless their hearts.

Nobody has done more to keep gospel music alive and well than the Gaithers. Bill and Gloria Gaither are two former school teachers-turned-performersturned-entrepreneurs from Alexandria, Indiana, who reign over a global gospel empire featuring television shows, worldwide concert tours, music publishing, CDs, videos and the like. Despite their enormous success, I have a feeling they are what we call in the South, “real people.” They still reside in in their hometown of Alexandria.

They are also outstanding songwriters. To date, they have written more than 700 songs, including, “Because He Lives,” “Sinner Saved by Grace,” “He Touched Me” and “Jesus, There’s Something About That Name,” among others. I know them all by heart and am not hesitant about singing along (and loudly) while out driving around town. I do get some weird looks, but that’s OK. At least I’m not texting.

A Saturday night ritual at our house is watching the Gaither Homecoming Shows on television. Over the years, I have come to feel as though I know the performers up-close and personal. I grieved when we said goodbye to Eva Mae Lefevre, George Younce and Glen Payne; Hovie Lister and Jake Hess; Happy and Vestal Goodman; Jessy Dixon (my hero) and Anthony Berger and just recently, Joey Feek, a woman who must have been as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.

But we still welcome into our home David Phelps and Lynda Randle; Buddy Staff graphic

Of the readers who responded to our most recent poll about whether they think Rome should raise property taxes to make up for a budget shortfall, 86 percent said No, and 14 percent said Yes. Poll results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate. LField@RN-T.com

stuck in waist-deep mud and had to be rescued after calling 911.

In Germany, the Catholic Church has hired a lawyer to tackle a plague of Pokemon Go players invading Cologne Cathedral.

A local newspaper reported that the church decided to take legal action after the virtual reality game’s manufacturers didn’t honor requests to exclude the church.

The newspaper quoted the dean, Robert Kleine, as saying that “the cathedral isn’t a playground.”

The internet has always been a haven for gamers. I think Pokemon is a step upward. At least it will get the energy-drink zombie crowd out of their darkened rooms and into the world, and some of them prowling around Myrtle Hill Cemetery might actually learn something about their community. Green and Mark Lowry, who collaborated on “Mary, Did You Know,” which has become a Christmas classic; the Martins and the Gatlin Brothers. Larry Gatlin and I were once tighter than ticks when he did a series of commercials for us at Southern Bell, but that was a long time ago.

And every time I hear Larnelle Harris and Sandi Patty sing, “I’ve Just Seen Jesus,” I get goosebumps and wonder how anybody could be a non-believer after hearing this electrifying performance.

The risk in meeting Bill and Gloria Gaither is that I might find out that everybody isn’t having as much fun as it looks like they are having, and that like a lot of artistic endeavors, there are ego clashes, personality conflicts and contract disputes.

Something tells me that they just might be different. I attended a Gaither concert at the Gwinnett Arena a few years back. At the end of a long and celebratory night and after the obligatory encores, Bill Gaither came back on stage to tell a packed house getting ready to leave that his folks were having so much fun they wanted to keep on going if that was OK with the audience. I decided these people love what they do.

Bill and Gloria Gaither and their Homecoming friends have brought a lot of joy to my life and to millions of others with their music. I may never get the chance to tell them in person but if you happen to see them, I hope you will let them know. That would fill my bucket to overflowing. Man jailed on child porn charges following year wait to get into phone 2 charged with killing rabbits after posting them on social media Police searching on armed robbery suspect East Rome Taco Bell closed temporarily 2 charged in Catoosa rape case released on $50,000 bond each Rome man arrested on child molestation charge Wayne Atchley, former sheriff and Rome police officer, dies Police seek help finding missing man last seen at DeSoto Falls Woman leaves hospital in gown, tries to fight police to avoid arrest Robbers take Pokemon Go player’s cellphone on footbridge 11,118 views 10,191 views 7,123 views 5,626 views 5,301 views 5,151 views 4,956 views 4,084 views 4,022 views 4,004 views

I’m either partially blind, or totally honest. That said, I say: Newborn babies are not cute.

I can already hear the audible gasps of horror from some readers; the “finally, somebody had the guts to say it” from their counterparts.

I recall the “oohs” and “aahs” when our children were newborns, the exclamations of he/ she “is so cute,” of “What a beautiful baby!,” of “Something just came out of your child’s nose!” I don’t get it. To me, there is little about a newborn baby that resembles what our culture defines as attractive. Who looks more like a baby? Channing Tatum or Danny DeVito?

Our oldest son looked just like Wilford Brimley when he was born, without the mustache. Everyone constantly remarked about how “adorable” and “cute” he was. Same with his brother, and sister. Again, how many of you think the Quaker Oats guy is “cute”?

I generalize on purpose. All babies look the same. Here’s proof: They put armbands on every baby born with their name on it, and go to great pains at the hospital not to mix them up. If they all looked different, they wouldn’t need such identification.

That’s why the practice of “going to see the baby” is so confounding. I love having visitors, love having friends and family over, and especially loved all the food they brought over when our children were born (why did it stop?!?). But I don’t understand the lure of going to see a newborn baby.

Why go see a baby that looks just like any other baby that age? I don’t tell my wife: “Hey, let’s go over to the Greshams’ house and see their new toothpicks. I hear they have toothpicks that look just like all toothpicks.”

Instead of going to see a newborn baby that looks the same as every other baby, why not wait until the kid is a teenager?

Then, you can really something.

“Honey, let’s go over to the Greshams’ house tonight to see their 14-year-old son. I heard he has some really weird hair.”

At that point, you can actually tell who he looks like, he can talk, and you can decipher what kind of person he’s probably going to be.

Then, when the mother asks — “Who do you think he looks like, his father or me? — you can have a good, reasonable answer based on something substantial. And not have to guess based on what you think the person who asked the question wants you to say.

“He looks like neither of you, but he’s the spitting image of former Seattle Sonic power forward Shawn Kemp.”

That joke goes over well in some homes. Not so well in others.

So, come on over to see what our 14-year-old looks like. And don’t forget to bring some food. tell