INTRODUCING-Mitch Alday, SUPERSTAR

One of my dearest friends is a man named Mitch Alday.
He's a teacher of American literature.
I was sitting on the steps of the Moon building (our art building in college) before one of Dr. Virginia Troy's art history classes, when we met. I have treasured every second of every minute that i have known him since.
He stores more knowledge in his head than anyone i know. I only wish i knew half as much about art history as he does!

(Mitch, Mitch's dad and DECOY at graduation from college)

This is a true story.
Once i had gained the knowledge that mosquitoes have 47 teeth. I kept this secret to myself and the next time i saw Mitch I popped the question. I am not lying when i say, he stood there...shifted his head up and scratched his scruff and said in a questioning voice "47?" still thinking. And then in that solid, for sure Mitch voice. " yes, mosquitoes have 47 teeth i believe".

He is directly linked to one of the most horrible crimes ever committed in Georgia history. The Alday murders where there was an attack on the Alday family of Donalsonville, Ga., in which five men were killed and one woman was raped and killed. It was called ''the most heinous crime in Georgia'' by Gov. Jimmy Carter. Carl Isaacs, 34 years old, was convicted of the six murders in 1974.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003. The day after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his death sentence, and 30 years after the crime, the man considered the longest-serving U.S. prisoner on death row was scheduled by a Georgia court for execution May 6.
The Houston County Superior Court scheduled Carl Isaacs, 49, to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. May 6 at the maximum- security prison in Butts County, said Russ Willard, spokesman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

There was even a film made about it in 1988 entitled Murder One.


And so, the other day Mitch introduced me to the Corpse plant, and i thought i'd shae it with you.

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "penis", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The popular name titan arum was invented by the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants, in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time. Attenborough felt that constantly referring to the plant as Amorphophallus on a popular TV documentary would be inappropriate.

It invests a lot of energy during blooming to heat up the sulfur-based compound in its stalk. Because it uses up so much energy to bloom, it only does so every 5 to 10 years. In spite of the plant’s long preparation for its flowery display, the blooms last, at best, two to three days, so visitors will have to be vigilant to see and smell it. A flowering stalk can be seven to 12 feet in height and three to four feet in diameter. After the bloom dies, a leaf stalk resembling a tree sapling will begin to emerge.
The "fragrance" of the inflorescence resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and Flesh Flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The flower's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.


Once i watched the movie Elizabethtown and it confirmed for me, what i had thought all these years about Mitch's.
In the scene they are on a plane and Claire Colburn,Kirsten Dunst, is the flight attendant. She is talking with Orlando Bloom who plays Drew Baylor. A kid flying home for his dad's funeral. His dad's name was Mitch.

Claire says to Drew, "Never met a Mitch I didn't like. Fun, full of life. Like... everyone wants to be a part of Mitch's club".

Like hitting a nail on the head.
Love you Mitch.