Page 2, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
www.theloaferonline.com
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 3
Volume 28 Issue #9
Cashore Marionettes
Imagine Publisher - Bill Williams • Editor/Graphic Arts Director - Don Sprinkle • Office Manager - Luci Tate Cover Design - Bill May • Photography - Mark Marquette Advertising - Dave Carter, Akey Kincaid, Lisa Lyons, Terry Patterson, Pam Johnson-Bowling Contributing Staff - Jim Kelly, Andy Ross, Ken Silvers, Mark Marquette, Pat Bussard Published by Creative Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 3596, Johnson City, TN 37602 Phone: 423/283-4324 FAX - 423/283-4369 www.theloaferonline.com • info@theloaferonline.com e-mail: editorial@theloaferonline.com (editorial) adcopy@theloaferonline.com (advertising All advertisements are accepted and published by the publisher upon the representation that the agency and/or advertiser is authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof.The agency and/or advertiser will indemnify and save the publisher harmless from any loss of expense resulting from claims or suits based upon contents of any advertisement,including claims or suits for defamation,libel,right of privacy,plagiarism,and copyright infringement.
Page 4, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
Imagining Spring
Martin School announces spring 2014 lineup
Cashore Marionettes Following a “daring” fall of stick sculpting, endangered alphabets and magical musicians, the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts at East Tennessee State University will spend its spring season “imagining” new possibilities, perspectives and performance styles. The ETSU School of the Arts will present a winter and spring of music and musical insights of past, present and future, contemporary visual art conversations and films that span the globe and cultures. “What we’ve been trying to do with our programming is find a bridge between what’s interesting for the community but also what’s important for particular programs and goals at ETSU,” says Mary B. Martin School Director Anita DeAngelis. “Because of that, we don’t have as many performances as lectures and artist talks this semester. However, we have great variety with interesting and timely topics for the community, as well as campus.” Spring 2014’s first ticketed event is the Cashore Marionettes, performing Simple Gifts on Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. in ETSU’s Martha Street Culp Auditorium. Oil painter and marionette creator Joseph Cashore
blends “beautiful craftsmanship and artistry with insight and illusion,” said the Atlanta Journal Constitution, in this program, which features a series of touching character portrayals and poignant scenes from everyday life, set to music by composers including Vivaldi, Strauss, Beethoven and Copland. “While our primary mission is to address college-age students, I have long wanted to do some family programming,” DeAngelis says. “The performance itself was actually created to attract both children and adults. The quality of his puppets is amazing. They are very much unique artistic pieces, and Cashore has studied movement in much detail. People of all ages will be intrigued to see how he is able to take inanimate objects and bring them to life.” WindSync, a lively quintet of “revolutionary chamber musicians,” will sweep in Tuesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Culp Auditorium as MBMSOTA’s second ticketed event. The group is known for its adventurous programming, from-memory performances and work with young musicians and audiences. Whether it is a West
Side Story spoof, the Harry Potter theme, Bernstein and Gershwin or a stately Ravel’s Bolero with percussion, the young group stands out – and stands up, rather than sitting in chairs as many chamber groups do. “Our audience seems to connect well with chamber music ensembles,” DeAngelis says, “and WindSync has been getting a lot of attention because of the high quality of its performance, as well as its different repertoire. It’s a fusion of styles we look forward to experiencing.” Tuning in to the 19th century, rather than the 21st will be multiinstrumentalist and composer Bobby Horton, who will perform his “Songs and Stories of the Civil War” on Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. each evening, in ETSU’s Bud Frank Theatre. “I don’t believe I’ve met anyone quite like Bobby in the ability to understand the soul of American music,” says filmmaker Ken Burns, who has used Horton’s compositions in 16 of his documentaries. Horton’s versatility is impressive, says ETSU theatre professor Bobby Funk, for whose one-manplay, Co. Aytch: Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier, Horton composed and recorded the soundtrack. “His Homespun Songs of the CSA and USA are incredible because he plays every instrument and sings every part,” Funk says. “He creates it all in his studio located in his home.” At ETSU, Horton will perform much-loved songs from the North and South in period costume on period instruments. “He is known for his accuracy in his study of the music and his collection of the lyrics,” DeAngelis says. “I look forward to a performance that will give us insight into an historical
period that holds a lot of interest in this region.” Tickets for those three events are $15 general admission, $10 for seniors 60 and over and $5 for students with an ID. Also setting an historical tone is best-selling author Scott Reynolds Nelson, who will present his findings on “The Death of John Henry and the African American Roots of Rock and Roll” on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. in ETSU’s RogersStout Hall, Room 102. Nelson has unearthed connections between the American legend and the birth of the blues and rock music, as well as other historical elements. His study of John Henry has been covered by Entertainment Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, the History Channel and NPR’s All Things Considered. The 6 p.m. lecture is co-sponsored by ETSU’s Sherrod Library, Center for Appalachian Studies and Services and the School of the Arts. Also well known for his research on labor and economic trends, Nelson will give a lecture titled “From Mortgage Crisis to Market Meltdown” Thursday morning at 10 at the Millennium Centre. Because seating is limited, registration is required for the morning talk. To attend, call ETSU College of Business and Technology at (423) 439-5300. In another lecture collaboration with CASS, ethnomusicologist Jeff Todd Titon will look back and peer forward as he discusses “Thoreau’s Sounding Music” Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m., in ETSU’s Ball Hall Auditorium. The professor emeritus from Brown University in Providence, R.I., is known for his work and research in religious, blues and old time music and, most recently, in music, sound and sustainability. “As you can imagine, there aren’t many scholars
working in this area,” DeAngelis says. “Having someone connect music to the importance of our environment is very significant, and we are looking forward to his perspectives.” Mary B. Martin School of the Arts also will bring two visual artists to campus to talk with Art and Design students and lecture – Brooklyn-based sculptor and painter Julia Dault and painter Anne Harris, who teaches at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Dault will give her artist talk Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m., and Harris her presentation Friday, March 21 at 7 p.m. Both events are in Ball Hall Room 127 and free and open to the public with receptions to follow. Dault’s abstract work is “playful and elegant,” says ETSU painting professor Mira Gerard, using combinations of industrial and fine art materials. “Many of our students are interested in nontraditional art materials and production, and Julia Dault answers that impulse,” Gerard says. In contrast, Harris’ self-portraits are “haunting and distorted … inward-looking, uncanny and psychological …” she says. “We have a great deal of students who are devoted to the craftsmanship of their chosen medium. Anne Harris’ work speaks to that tradition while bending it into an unexpected form, making it relevant to our time.” All Mary B. Martin School of the Arts lectures are free and are followed by talkbacks and receptions with the artists. The School of the Arts’ spring season will again feature a trio of films from the South Arts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. The Iran Job will Continued on page 5
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 5
www.theloaferonline.com Continued from page 4 open the season on Monday, Feb. 3; Finding Hillywood is Monday, March 17; and The New Public screens Monday, April 7. The films are free of charge, at 7 p.m. in Culp Auditorium and include Q&As and receptions with the filmmakers afterward. All three films have strong multicultural themes. The Iran Job follows an American point guard through his first year playing basketball for Iran’s Super League, while Finding Hillywood depicts
the healing power that film has had in post-genocide Rwanda. The New Public brings the focus back to the U.S., on an inner-city school in Brooklyn and its unconventional efforts to educate at-risk youth. “The films we’ll screen this spring cover topics we really haven’t addressed previously,” DeAngelis says. “I really enjoy the films that introduce us to different cultures, especially when we get to see a segment of a culture that we are not expecting or we might assume is very different from our
own. Often, we find out that everyday people are pretty much very similar all across the world. “We all want about the same things – peace, friendship, joy and a sense of accomplishment in our lives.” For more about Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, visit www.etsu. edu/martin or call (423) 439-TKTS (8587). Follow Mary B. Martin School of the Arts on Twitter at TheArtsAtETSU and on Facebook.
WindSync
Page 6, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn Opens JCCT’s 102nd Season Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn opens Johnson City Community Theatre’s (JCCT) 102nd Season. Come Blow Your Horn is the comedy/farce that was Neil Simon’s first Broadway hit in 1961, later becoming a film starring Frank Sinatra. The plot of Come Blow Your Horn centers around two brothers. Alan Baker, a 30-ish swinging bachelor with time, money and women to spare, welcomes rebellious and eager 21-year brother Buddy into his den of iniquity while their horrified parents can only watch and pray. Will Buddy follow in Allan’s footsteps with a parade of women in and out his door? Has Allan finally met his match in the games of love? Will the brothers’ antics drive their father to close the doors on the family wax fruit business forever? Can Mrs. Baker keep peace in her family without
ending up in the looney bin? Simon’s classic comedic timing and deftly penned script paint the timeless portrait of the coming of age of sons and parents that is both hilarious and heartwarming. JCCT’s production of Come Blow Your Horn is directed by JCCT stalwart, Angus Walton. “The cast and crew are proud to present Come Blow Your Horn and hope that you will enjoy a few good belly laughs. We also hope that, even though the play was first produced over 50 years ago, you will still discover its relevance for the 21st century, as it speaks to traditional values under pressure in today’s world,” Walton commented on the upcoming production, “Come Blow Your Horn presents us with a perfect example of imperfect but decent characters and, in the end, the traditional values of marriage and family unit come through the comedy.” The cast of Come Blow Your Horn includes Chris Tester, John Kaywood, Kallie Gay, Shelley Mangiacotti, Bill Campbell, and Hannah Swayze. Rounding out the production team are Stage Manager
Rachel Townsend, Set Designer Brad Davis, and Lights and Sound Designer Thomas Townsend. Come Blow Your Horn was Neil Simon’s first hit on Broadway. American playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon is widely regarded as one of the most successful, prolific and performed playwrights in the world. The original production opened on February 2, 1961, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. He went on to receive Tony Awards for his plays Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers and has received a total of 15 Tony Award nominations for his work in shows such as Little Me, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity, Plaza Suite, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Sunshine Boys, They’re Playing Our Song and Broadway Bound. His plays are all, to some extent, a reflection of his own life—often paying homage to his beloved New York City. “Neil Simon has always been a favorite of audiences not only at JCCT but everywhere, because his humor and his characters are vital and real,” commented JCCT ArContinued on page 7
www.theloaferonline.com Continued from page 6
tistic Director, Thomas Townsend, “Come Blow Your Horn is a great start to our 2014 Season.” The JCCT 2014 Season will be Come Blow Your Horn by Neil Simon, directed by Angus Walton; The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow, directed by Thomas Townsend; Always a Bridesmaid by Jones, Hope, Wooten, directed by Melanie Yodkins; You Can’t Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Pat Cronin; Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti, directed by J J Jeffers; and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the Musical, directed by Thomas Townsend. For show dates, please go to www.jcct.info. JCCT will hold performances Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn on February 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, and 22 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, February 15 and Sunday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m. Regular ticket prices are $15.00, with students, seniors (55 and up), active military, and MSHA employees discounted tickets at $12.00. Season Tickets are also available. For more information on JCCT performance dates, tickets, auditions, or volunteer opportunities, please go online to www.jcct.info or call JCCT at 423-926-2542. Reservations can also be made online 24 hours a day by clicking on the reservations tab.
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 7 The Drifting Theatre. The Drifting Theatre has produced Chasing Charming twice in conjunction with their SATP. Now published by Heuer Publishing, Chasing Charming is being produced on stages all over the USA!!! roes? A great comedy the whole showings. RaChelle Cheeks, Artistic DirecChaos and comedy ensue when family will enjoy. tor Visit http://kingsporttheatre. Local Playwright: We were a blundering young narrator disorg/ for more information and to covers that Prince Charming has thrilled to obtain the rights for this purchase tickets in advanced or been kidnapped by the evil witch production because it is written by call (423) 392-8427 Hagragard. The narrator struggles newly published local playwright to save her family honor while her Alaska Reece Vance. Vance is a well-meaning Fairy Godmother playwright and acting professor mistakenly sends not one, but six at King University. She has served fairytale princesses (and Gold- as the Artistic Director of Kingilocks) to the rescue. Will a needy sport Theatre Guild where she dragon, a score of evil minions and developed the Imagination Thebig princess personalities keep this atre youth series. Vance is now the unlikely team from becoming he- founder and Executive Director of
Chasing Charming Get Excited and Get Involved at KTG!!!
This February, Kingsport Theatre Guild is thrilled to present Chasing Charming. The show will be held at the Kingsport Renaissance Center Theatre which is the building that KTG calls home. Performances are February 6th at 10am and 7pm, February 7th at 10am and 7pm, February 8th at 2pm and 7pm and February 9th at 2pm. Tickets are $12.00 and can be purchased at kingsporttheatre.org or at the door. Special rates offered to schools and groups at our 10am
Page 8, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
Industrious Artist
Sculptor/painter to discuss boundary-pushing art processes Julia Dault’s sleek, abstract sculptures are raw, industrial and often derived from Plexiglas, Formica and Everlast boxing wraps boldly tethered in place. Her paintings, often of rhythmic repeating and random geometric shapes, reveal surprising materials when layers of colorful paint and vinyl are scraped away. “Transcending the traditions of abstraction, Minimalism and PostMinimalism … Dault is a daring and adventurous artist, who pushes the boundaries of painting and sculpture,” says Emily Colucci of online cultural guide Société Perrier. Mary B. Martin School of the Arts and ETSU’s Department of Art & Design are bringing Dault to lecture Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in Ball Hall Auditorium, Room 127. The lecture – and reception which follows in Slocumb Galleries – are free and open to the public. Dault will also be visiting with ETSU art and design students and critiquing their work during her visit. The Brooklyn-based artist and former art critic has been on the “20 Artists to Collect Now” list of Architectural Digest and has had work exhibited across America, as well as internationally, in cities such as Zurich, South Korea, Ma-
drid, Warsaw, Marrakesh, Brussels and Istanbul. This year she has presented solo exhibitions at Jessica Bradley, Toronto, and Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich, and is included in the group exhibitions “Outside the Lines” at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and “Americana: Selections from the Collection” at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. Her next solo
exhibitions are at International Art Objects in Los Angeles, in April, and Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York in October. She was reared in the Toronto arts community, since her mother was an arts educator and her father, Gary Michael Dault, an art critic and painter. With a degree in art and European history, Dault interned at Saturday Night magazine and was art critic for the National Post from 2003-2006. She left writing, however, to work on her master of fine arts from Parsons, the New School for Design, in New York, which she completed in 2008. She has been pushing the boundaries of contemporary art around the world since. Dault was recommended by Chase Westfall, a visiting assistant professor at ETSU in 2013-14. Painting Professor Mira Gerard was also on the committee that invited the artist. “Her work is playful and elegant,” Gerard says. “She utilizes surprising combinations of industrial and fine art materials to create lyrical, lush Continued on page 8
www.theloaferonline.com to find new ways of mediating the interaction between my hand and the surface of the painting. “If I don’t learn something new with each piece, then it’s not worth it. I am often attracted to materials that push against the very fine line between beautiful and hideous. I’m often looking to thwart my own ‘good’ taste.” Dault’s sculptures are always built on-site, she says, and she works alone when creating them, a very strenuous task, with the taut textiles, that lasts as long as her strength holds out. “What the viewer encounters is the result of a private performance, of my interaction with these particular materials at the particular time denoted by the artwork title,” she said. “They require a lot of physical effort, and no matter how often I work with my favored Plexiglas or Formica, I can never entirely predict how a given sheet will reContinued from page 7 act to my attempts to shape it and abstractions. Many of our students tie it in place.” are interested in non-traditional The materials, as well as the proart materials and production, and cess and the product attracted the Julia Dault answers that impulse.” ETSU art faculty selection comIn addition to Plexiglas and mittee to Dault as a visiting artist. boxing wraps for Dault’s flashy “The people we bring to campus on-site sculptures, her paintings represent what we feel will benefit may find their “canvas” on Span- our students to expand the scope dex, nylon, velveteen, costume of their experiences,” Gerard says. pleather or sequined velour. “I beThe Brooklyn artist’s work is gan working with “unconvention- not only daring, but also highly al” materials in 2010 as part of my imaginative – fitting the themes of search for means by which to com- Mary B. Martin School of the Arts’ plicate my art-making process. … 2013-14 season, says Anita DeAnI don’t paint my emotions,” Dault gelis, School of the Arts director said in a 2012 interview. “My aim and art faculty member. “We [in is always to surprise myself and the Art & Design Department]
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 9 have a tendency to go to artists who are working more realistically, so it’s nice to have a change here and address other styles of art,” DeAngelis says. For more about Dault’s artwork, visit http://juliadault.com. For information about the ETSU Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, call 423-439-TKTS (8587) or visit www.etsu.edu/martin. “Like” ETSU Mary B. Martin School of the Arts on Facebook and follow it on Twitter and Instagram at ArtsAtETSU.
Page 10, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
Mirari Brass Quintet to appear in concert
The Mirari Brass Quintet will present a concert of newly commissioned works, classics and original arrangements of jazz standards in a concert sponsored by the East Tennessee State University Department of Music on Saturday, Feb. 8.
The free public performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 105 S. Boone St. Earlier that day, members of the ensemble will conduct master classes for ETSU music students. The Mirari Brass Quintet, founded in 2009 in Bloomington,
Ind., is comprised of five friends who “truly believe in the intrinsic value of music in our world,” according to tuba player Dr. Stephanie Frye, an instructor of tuba and euphonium at ETSU. The group has toured the United States, performing at concert halls, schools and churches and holding clinics and residencies at numerous colleges and universities. Members of the group now teach at universities in Arkansas, Idaho, Ohio and Tennessee, and have performed with symphonies in such cities as Charlotte, N.C.; Kansas City; Reno, Nev.; Paducah, Ky.; Indianapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Fountain City, Kan.; and Richmond, Va. In addition to Frye, members include Alex Noppe and Matt Vangjel, trumpet; Jessie Thoman, horn; and Sarah Paradis, trombone. For more information, call the ETSU Department of Music at (423) 439-4276. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.
Tuesday Night @ the Movies Jonesborough Library
Come join us at the Jonesborough Library for Tuesday Night @ the Movies, on Tuesday, February 4 at 5:30 p.m. Our movie this month is a delightful romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. “Free-thinking Johnny Case finds himself betrothed to a millionaire’s daughter. When her family, with the exception of black-sheep Linda and drunken Ned, want Johnny to settle down to big business, he rebels, wishing instead to spend the early years of his life on “holiday.” With the help of his friends Nick and Susan Potter, he makes up his mind as to which is the better course, and the better mate”. – Terri A. Mabry Our show time features free popcorn and drinks. Tuesday Night @ the Movies is a free event sponsored by the Friends of the Washington County Library. For more information, please call the Jonesborough Library at 753-1800.
www.theloaferonline.com
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 11
COLOSSEUM 2 COLOSSEUM SWEEPSTAKES Sends Bristol Fans To Rome, Italy All Food City 500 Ticket Purchasers Entered to Win Opening to the public in A.D. 80, the Roman Colosseum hosted fierce competitions waged between imposing gladiators on one of the biggest stages in the world. Since 1961, the battle site has shifted to Bristol Motor Speedway but the allure of both properties still remains. Bristol Motor Speedway officials are offering one lucky Bristol fan and a guest the chance to visit the city of Rome, including a tour of the iconic Roman Colosseum, through the “Colosseum 2 Colosseum” sweepstakes starting today. “BMS is a one-of-a-kind venue with a storied sporting history,
much like our Roman predecessor,” said BMS General Manager Jerry Caldwell. “Our fans frequently say that a trip to Bristol is a bucket list item for them, and we are excited to offer the chance to take another trip of a lifetime through our ‘Colosseum 2 Colosseum’ sweepstakes.” The sweepstakes, presented by Premier Sports Travel, provides one lucky winner and a guest a five-day trip to Rome, Italy with a grand prize package including:
• Round-trip airfare for two
• Tour of the Roman Colosseum
• Four night hotel accommodations • $1,000 cash in spending money
All season ticket holders and Food City 500 ticket purchasers are entered to win. Alternate means of entry details can be found at bristolmotorspeedway.com/rometrip. Registration ends Sunday, March 16 with the grand prize drawing scheduled for Monday, March 21. Tickets for Sunday’s Food City 500 start at $65 with weekend packages available for just $89. To reserve your seat at the Last Great Colosseum and enter to win the trip of a lifetime, visit www. b r i s t o l m o t o r s p e e d w a y. c o m / rometrip or call (855) 580-5525 today.
Page 12, The Loafer • February 4, 2014 Fundraiser to Support Senior Center
Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance Featuring The Diamonds
A Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance featuring The Diamonds will be held Friday, Feb. 14, at the Virginia Ballroom in Historic Abingdon. Enjoy delectable dining in an elegant setting amid the sweet sounds of jazz… all the while supporting programs for seniors in Washington County, Va., and the Town of Abingdon. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. A dinner buffet, prepared by Chef Stephen Gilbert, will be available from 6 to 7:30, and dancing will continue through 9 p.m. The evening’s musical program will feature romantic standards, swing, and Latin jazz. Support for this event is provided by sponsor Broadmore Senior Living and media sponsor Bristol Herald-Courier. The menu features Herb Crusted Prime Rib w/Au Jus, Chicken Marsala, Dauphinoise Potatoes, Peas with Spinach and Shallots, Artichoke Risotto, Spring Mix Salad, Hot Rolls & Butter, Assorted Cheeses, Crackers & Olives, Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries, and Red Velvet Trifle. Coffee, tea and water are included in the ticket price, but a cash bar will also be available. Advance tickets are $20 for Senior Center members, or $22 for non-members. Tickets will be $25 at the door (pending availability). All proceeds from the event will support
Abingdon Senior Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving seniors ages 50 and above in Washington County, Va., and the Town of Abingdon. The Diamonds, based in Kingsport, are Sloan Hill on trumpet and flugelhorn, Glenn Diamond on bass, and Morissa Diamond on keys. Sloan has performed with legends Bill Gamble and Charles Goodwin, arranged for nine years with the Air Force, and has performed on Broadway. He currently plays with Charles Goodwin and the Milligan Jazz Band. Glenn was bass player to Columbian jazz pianist Eduardo Alcayaga, has performed with Jon Faddis and Rita Coolidge, and was formerly the principle bassist of the Johnson City Symphony. He also plays with the Milligan Jazz Band. Morissa, whose beautiful voice and playing tend toward the new era of jazz, such as Norah Jones, has performed with Maynard Ferguson, Ed Shaughnessy, the Marvin Stamm Quartet, Futureman, and Jeff Coffin of the Dave Matthews Band, among others. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 276.628.3911. The Virginia Ballroom is located at 300 Senior Drive in Abingdon. Hours are 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday, also open until 9 pm on Thursday.
www.theloaferonline.com
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 13
The Breakfast Club back in Johnson City
The Breakfast Club will be making the first local appearance of 2014 at Capone’s on Saturday, February 8. The band had a banner year in 2013, including drawing the largest crowd in the history of The Covered Bridge Festival. Fans must be 18 years old to attend, and admission is $10. F-Bomb will open the show at 10 p.m. The show is presented by Ansley Roberts Promotions. Who loves the 1980s? Almost 25 years later, women still love occasionally wearing their leg
warmers, mini-skirts, and reproducing that video vixen hair. Men have a soft spot for those Members Only jackets, moon-walking on the dance floor, and wearing eyeliner while playing the air guitar. America can’t resist the urge to sing along when “Come On Eileen” is played on the local retro radio station. Whether we always admit it or not, America loves the 1980s. When it comes to bands that specialize in music from this unforgettable decade, America’s
favorite band is The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club is not your average cover band, as the band plays and sings each and every song live. Lip syncing will be never be found at a Breakfast Club show. The Breakfast Club has per-
formed with many different bands including Whitesnake, Hootie and The Blowfish, and Edwin McCain. In most venues on their schedule, they are the most popular attraction.
Page 14, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
Apollo 14 Moon Landing Redeemed NASA
I never miss an opportunity to remind people that 24 humans made the quarter-million mile journey to the Moon and back, and this is the week of NASA’s triumphant Apollo 14 mission. Redeeming the near fatal failure of Apollo 13 in April 1970, the mission of Apollo 14 less than a year later showed the technological prowess of America to solve a problem in front of the eyes of the world.
The back-story of the Apollo 14 is an interesting one involving the first American in space, Alan Shepard, and his famous golf shot on the Moon. Then, there are the telepathic experiments, unbeknownst to NASA, by the sixth man on the Moon, Edgar Mitchell, and the red-headed forest ranger Stu Roosa, who seeded the world with “moon trees.” Shepard was an American hero who on May 5, 1961 took a 15 min-
ute, suborbital trip to the edge of outer space, rocketing off Cape Canaveral inside a Mercury spaceship called “Freedom 7” and landing near Bermuda. While training for a Gemini mission, he was diagnosed with an inner ear disorder called Meniere’s syndrome that affected his walking balance. Shepard was given a desk job, sharing rein over the astronaut corps with Deke Slayton, another Mercury astronaut grounded because of heart
arrhythmia. Together, they chose the crews for Gemini and Apollo. In 1968, Shepard had ear surgery to fix his problem and was cleared for flight. He put himself on the Apollo 13 flight crew, but later moved to Apollo 14 for more training. When his Saturn V rocket roared off launch pad 39-A on Jan. 29, 1971, he was at the time the oldest astronaut in space at age 47. Shepard died in 1998 from leukemia. The third member of the crew, Stu Roosa, orbited the Moon in the Command Module called Kitty Hawk for two days. He would have commanded and walked on the Moon with Apollo 18 had the mission not been cancelled. Roosa was a former smoke jumper, and was coaxed by the Forest Service to take 500 seeds of trees with him to lunar orbit. The seeds were germinated and grown by the Forest Service and disseminated throughout America. The “Moon Trees” include
included Sycamore, Sweet gum, Redwood, Douglas Fir and Loblolly Pine (one of which is alive and well on the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee). Roosa died in 1994 of pancreatitis. The destination for the third landing was the original target for Apollo 13, with a little rougher terrain than the flat land of Apollo 11 and 12. Called Fra Mauro, the hilly moonscape is near the middle of the Moon. Fresh debris tossed out of 1,000-foot wide Cone Crater millions of years ago was the bull’s eye, and Shepard hit the target with the moonship called Antares. NASA added a big handheld drill to bore into the surface and bring back three-foot core samples of lunar history. Also, a wheeled rickshaw to carry tools was toted around with some effort in the very fluffy areas of moon dust, some places a foot deep. A color, tube-style television camContinued on page 15
www.theloaferonline.com Continued from page 14 era sent back the live images of the two, four-and-a-half-hour Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs). For the first time the commander, Shepard, was easily distinguished from Mitchell by the red stripes on his arms and legs. That red stripe to tell apart spacewalkers is still used aboard the International Space Station. The alien world of one-sixth gravity proved a formidable match for the two astronauts, who struggled uphill in ankle deep moon dust in an attempt to reach the rim of Cone Crater and have a look inside. But tired, disoriented and running out of oxygen time in their moon suits, Shepard and Mitchell had to reluctantly turn back. Photos taken in 2009 by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showed their foot tracks stopping just 30 yards from the rim! The two astronauts worked hard and efficiently, bringing back almost 100 pounds of moon rocks and core drillings. They deployed a science station called ALSEP and detonated explosive charges for detection by a seismometer. Then, there was a little time for ath-
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 15 letics. Before walking up the ladder to end the second moonwalk, Shepard took out of his leg pocket a Wilson six iron golf club and stuck it to a sampling tool metal pole. Then he dropped two Titleist golf balls on the lunar surface, and with one inflated spacesuit arm took a couple mighty golf swings! Not to be outdone, Mitchell took a tool handle and flung it like a javelin across the Moon’s surface. It was a moment of distraction in the serious business of Moon exploration, and captured on video. You can check it out on YouTube, along with all the moonwalks and NASA space highlights. Shepard and Mitchell spend 33 hours on the Moon, each less than 10 hours outside. Meanwhile, Roosa was busy in the Apollo mothership Kitty Hawk, making 13 orbits as the most isolated human from Earth, taking hundreds of valuable photos of future Apollo landing sites. Enjoying the triumphant, three-day trip back in their mothership called Kitty Hawk, the trio landed Feb. 9, 1971 in the Pacific Ocean. They were quarantined aboard the Navy ship
New Orleans against any moon germs until Feb. 27—the last moon voyagers to be kept in isolation. Shepard’s conquest of the Moon was symbolic as he was the only member of the “Original Seven” Mercury astronauts to have met President John F. Kennedy and fulfill his challenge to land a man on the Moon. Shepard was the quintessential jet-jockey test pilot, cocky and living the fast life. In fact, the character Garrett Breedlove portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1983 movie, Terms of Endearment, is partially based on Shepard’s bravado. He parlayed his Mercury flight into the first astronaut millionaire through real estate investments around Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In May 2011, the US Postal Service issued a first-class stamp in Shepard’s honor as the first American in space. The sixth man to set foot on an alien world, Edgar Mitchell, is alive and well age 84 on his ranch outside his hometown of Herford, Texas. Since 1974, Mitchell has been promoting his Institute of Noetic Sciences. The institute he founded conducts and sponsors research in neglected main-
stream science like telepathy, psychic intuition and possible alien influences. Before leaving Earth, he made plans to telepathically communicate with several people while on his lunar voyage. While the experiment conclusions were mixed, Mitchell became more engrossed in the paranormal, UFOs and psychic healing. Mitchell claims that on the way to the Moon he sensed the consciousness of another entity. It was so overwhelming that he’d never be the same. His experiences and belief system are outlined in his book, “The Way of the Explorer: An Apollo Astronaut’s Journey Through the Material and Mystical Worlds.” Enough said. The mission of Apollo 14 and life of America’s first spaceman, Alan Shepard, is vividly recounted in his book, Moonshot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon. The book is a good read about the NASA astronaut corps. And like any astronaut tell-all, much is censored as the superstar status of the moonwalkers attracted their share of groupies, hucksters and idolizers. And Shepard was an astronaut who seemed to revel in the attention.
Page 16, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
www.theloaferonline.com
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 17
Skies This Week Celestial events in the skies for the week of Feb. 4-10, 2014, as compiled for The Loafer by Mark D. Marquette.
Our winter night sky at 9 pm looking to the southeast is an incredible sight, like no other during the year. Nine first magnitude stars and planet Jupiter are visited this week by the waxing gibbous Moon. Moonlight doesn’t interfere with the bright stars of some of the most recognizable constellations of the season—Taurus, Orion, Gemini and Auriga. Tues. Feb. 4 Don’t forget the two hunting dogs of Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The Big Dog has the brightest star, Sirius, while the Little Dog has bright Procyon. With reddish Betelgeuse, they make up the asterism called the “Winter Triangle.” Wed. Feb. 5 On this 1971 date in space history, Apollo 14 landed on the Moon in place called Fra Mauro. America’s first spaceman, Alan Shepard, deceased, and rookie Edgar Mitchell, 83, became the fifth and sixth men to walk on the Moon. Shepard, an avid golfer, rigged a six-iron to a tool handle and whacked two Titleists golf balls before boarding in his Moon ship for the trip home. Thurs. Feb. 6 First Quarter Moon is today at 2:21 pm, directly south at sunset. The amazing array of bright stars to the Moon’s left can form a giant circle in your imagination, called the Winter Hexagon. Start the dot-to-dot with red Aldebaran in the “V-shaped” stars of Taurus the Bull. Go upward to yellowish Capella, left to Pollux and Castor, then down to Procyon. Sirius is at the bottom then up to Rigel. You can imagine a celestial “G” with Betelgeuse and planet Jupiter in the middle. It’s easy! Fri. Feb. 7 The Moon is between the star clusters in Taurus, the Hyades Cluster and The Pleiades. Moon shine will wash out the cluster of stars unless seen in binoculars. Sat. Feb. 8 Even in moonlight, the constellation Orion is still magnifi-
cent. The two stars in his legs are supergiants—larger than the orbit of Mercury if they replaced our Sun. The knee star to the right is Rigel, a blue-white supergiant that is 910 Light Years away. Saiph, the other knee star, is another supergiant, 1,300 Light Years distant. Sun. Feb. 9 The Moon is at the feet of Gemini, with Betelgeuse below it. Red Betelgeuse is 310 Light Years away, a bloated, old star that is one of the largest “supergiants”—filling the orbit of Mars if placed in our Solar
System. Bellatrix, the other shoulder star, is a blue giant 360 Light Years away. Mon. Feb. 10 The Gibbous Moon is in the middle of Gemini, with Pollux to the left and Castor above his brother. Pollux is one of the closest stars to Earth, only 36 Light Years away. Castor, 45 Light Years away, is an amazing star with five other stars orbiting it—two easily seen in a telescope.
Page 18, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
“I, Frankenstein” He Lives!
The Frankenstein monster has had quite a cinematic history that stretches back to 1931. Frankenstein returns to the big screen in the new film “I, Frankenstein” starring Aaron Echart (“The Dark Knight”) in the title role. Personally I was happy to see several of the actors from the “Underworld” film series in this film, including Bill Nighy. The story begins with a brief introduction of the creation of the monster in 1795, and then presents us with the idea he has survived to the present day and has been roaming the earth in secluded locations for years. When Frankenstein is attacked by demons, he is rescued by two gargoyles named Ophir and Keziah, who take him to the gargoyle strong hold and present him to the gargoyle queen, Lenore (Miranda Otto), and the commander of the
gargoyles, Gideon (Jai Courtney). While with the Lenore, she explains to the creature that gargoyles were created by the Archangel Michael and have been battling demons for years in order to protect humans. Lenore names the creature Adam, and encourages him to join their battle with the demons. “Adam” rejects the offer, takes some gargoyle weapons and departs on his own, even while being perused by demons. He fends off demons over the centuries, and in present day once again crosses paths with the gargoyles as a result of a fight with a demon in a night club. This draws the attention of demon-prince Naberius (Nighy), who is posing as a billionaire businessman who wants possession of Adam in order to secure the process of reanimating corpses. The desire to capture Adam leads to
battles between the demons and gargoyles with the creature right in the middle. Eventually Adam aids the gargoyles in their fight, and eventually embraces his true identity as Frankenstein. The style of this film very much reminded me of the “Underworld” films, of which I am a big fan, and that was definitely a plus for me. Echart was a great choice for the title role, and brings a sexy appeal to a creature often depicted as monstrous. The supporting cast, led by Nighy are all fine, and Courtney, as Gideon, made an excellent gargoyle warrior. The film has a brisk running time, and wastes no time getting right to the action. I enjoyed the 3D effects in the film, and the special effects were top notch. This is one of the films I like to define as “B-movie” in style, and one that can simply be enjoyed for its uniqueness. “I, Frankenstein” is a fantasy/ action film that makes for a pleasant deversion from all the serious Oscar films currently playing in theaters. (Rated PG-13) B
www.theloaferonline.com
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 19
Koffin Kats Return to Johnson City
Following a soldout show in October, Michigan and Sailor’s grave Record’s own, Koffin Kats, will return to the Mecca Lounge, 117 Spring St. in downtown Johnson City, Sunday February 9th. Doors open at 6:30, with music beginning a4 7:30. Tickets are $10 in advance, and $12 at the door. Early arrival is suggested. Joining the Koffin Kats will be Alabama’s The Casket Kids, local favorite The Cryptoids, and local standouts Hanging Judges. With six years under their belt and countless international tours to prove it, the Koffin Kats show no sign of slowing down. This trio blasted out of Detroit in June of 2003 with the mission to not stop for anything. Vic Victor (Lead Vocal, Upright Bass) would join forces with long time friend Tommy Koffin (Guitar) and start laying the ground work for the sonic assault known as The Koffin Kats. They put together songs about drug use, self loathing, and all things evil. With Eric “e Ball” Walls (Drums) they began to stomp the
crap out of Detroit and the surrounding area. The next couple of years proved to be up and down with drummer changes and the release of their first three albums S/T (2003), Inhumane (2005), and Straying from the Pack (2006). This onslaught caught the attention of many and helped to cement The Koffin Kats as one if the top acts in the world of punk rockabilly. In 2007 Vic and Tommy hooked back up with Eric to get ready for the Fourth album- Drunk in the Daylight (2008) - and began what the Kats are known for- NON STOP TOURING. With their love for their fans and for the road they set out to play everywhere willing to listen to them. They have done this ever since and now have joined forces with Stomp Records to release their 5th album “Forever for Hire” in October 2009. In 2010 The Koffin Kats saw the change in line up with EZ Ian replacing Tommy on strings & vocals. The bands 2013 release “Way of the Motor” has garnered international success and acclaim.
Page 20, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
www.theloaferonline.com
The Music Coundrum I know for a fact that the fastest way to cause me to change from normal Andy to Jack Nicholson in The Shinning Andy, is to take away my music (that’s right my arch-enemies, the secret is out there! Come at me! My secret underground mole man army is WAITING FOR YOU!). Anyone who knows me knows that music is such a central part of my life, an overwhelmingly huge part of my life. These modern times in which we live in are quite interesting for anyone with unquenchable thirst for music. Two weeks ago, Beats Music was launched, a new streaming service from the company that makes the headphones everyone seems to love. Personally, I’m not a fan of the headphones, but there is so much chatter on various websites I frequent, that I found myself singing up for the free seven day trial. This is where the duality of The Music Conundrum begins. Here’s the first part of
this duality. Music is in my blood, and it always has been. You want evidence? There exists a home movie from 1988, I was three years old, and I’m playing in the backyard with some kids from the neighborhood. On this tape, my mother is heard telling another mother, “You know when Andy gets up in the morning, he doesn’t want to go potty, but the first thing he wants to do is listen to music.” That’s how deep it runs in me. This is where the idea of Beats Music catches my eye. For $10 a month, you can listen to an unlimited amount of commercial free music. 80% of which has curated by actual, hardcore, music loving humans just like you. The curated part is what impressed me most, as I was putting the app through it’s paces, I searched for Harry Nilsson. Beats Music’s “Intro to Nilsson” playlist was 80% the same as my “Andy’s Guide to Harry” mix CD I made a few months ago. There’s a
Tom Hank’s dance party mix, and Bruce Springsteen has a “Guide to Southern Soul” mix. You can download these playlists to your device and listen to them as much as you want, off line. At its basic, Beats Music is trying to be the Netflix of music, plus a never ending online record party. This is where the other part of the duality I feel begins. You don’t own this music, you’re, essentially “renting” it. So why does the idea of using that bother me, when using Netflix doesn’t? I think it’s because music is perhaps the most personal of all the medias. Music taps directly into our hearts and souls in a way that movies don’t. I’m not saying that a movie can’t have the same effect, but there’s something more immediate, more intimate about music. I also want artists to get paid, what’s the royalty rate on Beats? How does that
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 21 ists are getting their fair share of the pie. The app could very well become a supplement to an already music rich life. A great way to find new favorites, and know that I could always pull up what I wanted when I wanted. As of this writing, my free work? Is it like Spotify—which I don’t use—and it’s famously trial hasn’t ended yet. Will low $0.006 and $.0084 rate per I make the leap into a subsong stream? Beats has some scriber? I’m honestly not sure. music people at the head of So many people are trying to it, so I would hope that artists navigate these new waters of are gonna get a better shake. a streaming music on demand It would never stop me from service, and what they may buying new music, I can’t stop mean for the future of the muthat. But it could let me try sic industry. I’ll say this much out an album I’m on the fence about Beats Music, it’s the first about before I decide to jump one that’s grabbed my atteninto picking up that shinny tion, so much so, I had to write record. You know me, I love about it. Again, will it replace my vinyl, and I love my indie going to a local record store? record shops. I would never No. Will it replace my record want them to go away, so per- collection? Hell no! What it haps this is just more an evolu- could be, however, is a chance tion in the idea of how to dis- to satisfy almost every musical whim with the flick of a digital cover new music? This is The Music Conun- button. That excites me, but I drum I’m faced with. The du- want to make sure it’s the right ality of my music loving self in way of going about it. See you full form. The one side, over- next week. whelmed by the like minded curation, and the sheer volume of music right at my fingertips. The other, wondering if it’s really worth it, and if the art-
Page 22, The Loafer • February 4, 2014
new immersive system. Writing in GeekoSystem, Carolyn Cox asks the provocative question, “Enjoy reading, but incapable of forming opinions of your own?” She goes on to say that although researchers claim that sensory fiction will keep the tradition of printed books alive much longer by preventing more readers from being ensnared by E-reading, “I’m just glad that pesky imagination part has finally been taken out of it!” She concludes by saying “I think MIT
ings. Of course, I get a little mistyeyed when I think about that book now (which my daughter still owns) and the way it made her eyes twinkle and her face glow with delight every time she made the kitten meow (i.e. sensory fiction circa 1990). Roberts makes a good closing point, however, when he observes that “Emotions that start in the head and move into the body are far more effective than faux-emotional responses mimicked by flashing lights and pressure pads.” But, just think how cool (or perhaps how positively geeky) you will look when outfitted with your sensory fiction harness as you hold that vibrating and illuminated book in your hands.
around young Danny Torrance’s neck, and a vest strapped to your body syncs up with the frightening encounter and mimics the actions happening in the book, bringing the novel to life.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t find that idea very appealing. And I believe it also might be best that we don’t linger very long over the possibilities of a 50 Shades of Gray sensory fiction book and harness. What I do find appealing, however, is the prospect that one day you might be reading this column, strapped comfortably into your harness, with a vibrating and glowing copy of The Loafer in your hand. Get ready for the Sensory Loafer experience! While you immerse yourself
scientists should stick to impressively crunching numbers, and leave story time alone. Something which sits in your lap and vibrates and/or heats up already exists, and there’s a reason I don’t use it when I’m reading Beloved or Fast Food Nation.” Another critic of this new innovation, Adam Roberts, writes in The Guardian that sensory fiction is “infantalising, like reverting to those sorts of books we buy for toddlers that have buttons in them to generate relevant soundeffects.” Come to think of it, my daughter had one of these books when she was a pre-schooler, and it drove me crazy with duck quacks, elephant trumpetings, rooster crowings, and dog bark-
Before you rush out to buy your first sensory fiction book and accompanying wearable, hang on for a moment. According to the folks at MIT, “it’s not likely it will hit the market anytime soon.” But, given the logic of innovation, we probably won’t have to wait very long. After all, we already have a whole slew of vibrating and motion-sensing video game paraphernalia, so I think it might be a safe bet to add sensory fiction to our Christmas 2014 Santa lists. After all, just imagine, as author Steve Annear does in Boston magazine, what it will be like when “you’re reading the scene from Stephen King’s The Shining, where the unwanted inhabitant of Room 217 slowly closes her hands
in that scenario, I will bid you a fond farewell until next week, when you will have to settle for something a little less sensory.
SENSORY FICTION:
WILL READING EVER BE THE SAME?
The question is often asked, “What will be the fate of reading in a digital world?” I consider this a pretty meaningless question, because reading certainly hasn’t gone anywhere, although it is now presented in more ways and in more formats than ever before. Needless to say, most people who ask this question are generally referring to printed books, and are usually lamenting the decline of a reader’s experience of turning paper pages in this Age of the Kindle; and, more often than not, they are under the spell of the kind of nostalgia that fears any sort of change. I usually don’t have the heart to tell them that the world for which they long never really existed. Book fanatics now have something else to worry about in the form of something known as “Sensory Fiction.” In a recent MIT blog by sensory fiction innovators, we are told that “Sensory fiction is about new ways of experiencing and creating stories.” Whereas traditional fiction uses words to create emotions, sensory fiction uses “a combination of networked sensors and actuators” to provide “an immersive storytelling experience tailored to the reader.” Yes, I know, digital books and virtual reality programs have for some time used interactive video to immerse the reader in various experiences, but sensory fiction goes a little further. Sensory fiction enthusiasts will be provided with a “connected book and wearable.” According to the project directors at MIT, this “augmented book portrays the scenery and sets the mood, and the wearable allows the reader to
experience the protagonist’s physiological emotions.” So, you hold in your hand an augmented book that changes color with the changing moods of the story, complete with flashing lights, and if you want the complete experience, you will don what appears to be a harness that feeds electronic information from your body to the book (and vice versa), thereby creating a truly interactive experience between you and the book. Here’s a partial list of the things that can happen when you read (and experience) a sensory fiction book: Light being emitted from “150 programmable LEDs” correlated with the mood setting of the story, sound, a “personal heating device” that can change your skin temperature, a vibrating mechanism than alters your heart rate, and a “compression system” that uses airbags to tighten or loosen the harness, creating feelings of fear and foreboding or relief and joy. Feel free to check out the YouTube and Vimeo videos depicting the sensory reading experience to see what the fuss is all about. The book that is currently being used by MIT to demonstrate this new sensory experience is James Tiptree’s The Girl Who Was Plugged In, a story designed for young readers, but we can imagine a whole library of other titles evolving in the near future. There have been several suggestions, as you might surmise. One reader, after watching the sensory fiction videos, responded by urging the creators to “Market this with 50 Shades of Gray and you’re onto a winner.” Go ahead--let your imagination run wild. Not everyone is thrilled by this
www.theloaferonline.com
February 4, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 23
Page 24, The Loafer • February 4, 2014