Live From Walker's Coffee & Pub

(Check out Dan's blog here.)

8:30 a.m. - OK, it's Dan and I live now. We've got emails to sift through, a few folks planning on swinging by and a good cup of coffee ... which is sorely needed when your daughter wants to wake you up at 5:45 a.m.

8:35 a.m. - Definitely read J.T.'s editorial. It's excellent and, of course, spot on.

8:36 a.m. - And Ben has a column too! Wow. He used to write regularly for the paper back in the day when I worked there, and he's an all-around good guy. Plus, his topic is good too.

8:41 a.m. - Dan has photo evidence available.

8:45 a.m. - Walker's has Discovery Channel on right now ... and we've got a show focusing on falcons. With no sound, it's somewhat disconcerting, particularly since some of these falcons have some form of headgear on them.

8:51 a.m. - Athens-Clarke County District Nine Commissioner Kelly Girtz just dropped by to visit with us (and he's drinking coffee out of a large, glass mug more suitable for root beer). Michael Smith, who's a local organizer for Organizing For America, just swung by too.

8:59 a.m. - Girtz on Rep. Paul Broun Jr.'s health care proposal: 'My primary concern with things like health savings accounts are cost control and access. I appreciate anyone who brings something to the table, but my primary concern is going to be tied up with access to the care.'

9:11 a.m. - In a random discussion on the creation of pedestrian spaces, Smith offers the funniest line regarding a pair of examples of good space utilization: 'Is Madison, Wis., more socialist than Munich?'

9:22 a.m. - Check out Brian's post on utilizing rail, which links to Dan Matthews's line cab video.

9:26 a.m. - Brandon Shinholser, one of the students running for mayor, stopped by the visit. Good to see him.

9:30 a.m. Shinholser on running for office: 'I've always been interested in helping others, and that means helping to make this a good society.'

9:42 a.m. - Athens-Clarke County District 10 Commissioner Mike Hamby stopped by and obviously should be home studying his agenda for tonight's meeting.

9:45 a.m. - Hamby on budget concerns for 2010: 'The biggest challenge is going to be that you're going to affect people's lives. You're got employees, and you've got to think about them. But we're also working to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money, so there are a lot of factors you have to take into account. ... How do you do this and have the least impact on someone's life, but either way, you're going to have some impact.'

9:54 a.m. - Hamby on the cost of the jail: 'The only reason they throw ($80 million) out is to give us a highball number to work with, and I suspect it will be signficantly less when it's all said and done. I hope so.'

9:58 a.m. - Via Brian's Twitter feed, he's implying that Kenny Chesney will be a 'surprise' guest for The Zac Brown Band's performance benefitting The Georgia Theater on Oct. 30 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.