Cartoonist Kenny Be at the Denver Westword alt-weekly writes:
I have been working on a web feature for Westword. It is part field guide and part travel guide for the upcoming 2008 Democratic National Convention to be held in Denver in August of 2008. It is a field guide to help Denver residents identify the delegates from the 56 states and territories of the US. It is part tour guide in that it helps delegates to find the Colorado bars, restaurants and day trips most like home. It is a project that allows me to make fun of/pay homage to everyone in America, while I make fun of/celebrate the city of Denver.I started the project in July of 2007, and have added a delegation every week since then. The final delegation of Wyoming will appear two weeks before the convention begins.
The most recent entry is, you guessed it, Tennessee:
How to Recognize a Tennessee Delegate:There is no greater state then Tennessee. America's fascination with the Volunteer state has been nothing short of all-encompassing and everlasting. Even the derogatory jokes -- duct tape is "Tennessee chrome," and fashions from Lane Bryant are "Tennessee shower curtains" -- are just the clumsy swats of envious Ohioans and Michiganders wishing to relocate. From Mountain Dew to Miley Ray Cyrus, every backwoods brainstorm that Tennessee touches turns to gold.
It gets better from there. And lest you think we're being singled out, start here and scroll down. Pretty funny stuff. And it actually might come in handy.
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Butternut State? I guess it
Butternut State? I guess it must be one of our official nicknames, but I never heard of it.
He couldn't just stick with the Volunteer State?
Perhaps we Tennesseans are Couch Butternuts rather than Couch Potatoes?
Famous (not really) Democrats
The best part is where they list the famous Democrats from Tennessee and include Steve Cohen and Lois DeBerry, but not Harold Ford, Jr.
And what is it with nicknames I've never heard of? Butternuts and couches. I'm beginning to think I've wandered into a parallel universe.
Tennessee Blue Book
According to Wikipedia, which I generally don't use but I'm being lazy, Butternut State "(refers to the tan color of the uniforms worn by Tennessee soldiers in the American Civil War)" The source given for this is none other than the Tennessee Blue Book.
Personally, I'm more perplexed by Usher being from Tennessee.
Pam Strickland
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut
Butter-what?
I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in being perplexed about the Butternut thing. I'm a native Tennessean, but clearly I didn't get the memo either.