Page 2, The Loafer • July 22, 2014
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July 22, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 3
Volume 28 Issue #33
Grand Opening Weekend August 1st - 3rd, 2014
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, Terry Patterson Contributing Staff - Jim Kelly, Andy Ross, Ken Silvers, Mark Marquette Published by Tree Street Media, LLC., P.O. Box 3238, 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.
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Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Grand Opening Weekend August 1st - 3rd, 2014
Photograph by Jay Phyfer
•• Sunday, August 3
The much-anticipated Grand Opening of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum takes place August 1-3, 2014. The museum opens with a weekend packed with events, including free concerts and an opportunity to see Mountain Stage with Larry Groce recorded live at The Paramount Center for the Arts! Everyone is invited to be part of this historic occasion! Believe in Bristol’s Downtown Welcome Center, located across from the museum at 36 Moore Street, will be open from 10:00am — 6:00pm all weekend (with possible extended hours) for out of town guests seeking information about Historic Downtown Bristol dining, shopping and venues.
Courtesy of Malcolm Wilson / pixandpr.com
1:00pm — 5:00pm: Birthplace of Country Music open to the public (Admission $13 / Seniors, Students, Children, & Military $11) 7:00pm: Mountain Stage with Larry Groce at The Paramount Center for the Arts (Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets on sale now, $30 at TheParamountCenter.com). Featuring: Carlene Carter Doyle Lawson Dale Jett Very Special Guest TBA Mountain Stage is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting and can be heard internationally on NPR.
•• Friday, August 1
10:00am-6:00pm: Birthplace of Country Music Museum opens to the public (reduced admission $10). Located at 520 Birthplace of Country Music Way, across from Cumberland Square Park. 6:00pm: Free Border Bash Concert Series featuring Mustered Courage, The Deep Fried 5 Set in Historic Downtown Bristol, Border Bash takes place outdoors on the 400 & 500 blocks of State Street, one block from the museum. The evening’s events will start with children’s activities, crafters, and concessions at 6PM. Live music begins at 7:00PM with Mustered Courage followed up by The Deep Fried 5 around 8:30PM. As always, Border Bash is free to the public!
•• Saturday, August 2
All of Downtown gets into the act; decorating windows and staying open late. There will also be a Scavenger hunt, Buskers (street musicians), a Photo booth, Country music “idols”, & more! 1:00pm — 2:00pm: Grand Opening Event Ceremonies Be part of the official ribbon cutting ceremony with legislators and members of our local government. 3:00pm-10:00pm: Birthplace of Country Music Museum open to the public (reduced admission $10). 3:00pm-10:00pm: Free Concert Event Parts of Cumberland Street will be closed to traffic for lights, stage, and sound at the intersection of Lee Street. The performance schedule is as follows: 3:00pm — Dr. Ralph Stanley 5:00pm — Orthophonic Joy Music Contest Winner 7:00pm — Carlene Carter & Jim Lauderdale 9:00pm — The Whistles & The Bells
Have an event coming up? Email a press release and photos to:
editorial@theloaferonline.com Photograph by Jay Phyfer
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BCMM _____ continued from page 6
History of the Goodpasture Building and How It Became the
Birthplace of Country Music Museum History of the Goodpasture building The building that now houses the Birthplace of Country Music Museum was built in the 1920s by Frank Goodpasture Sr. In 1919, Goodpasture Sr. and Samuel Taylor Copenhaver founded the Virginia Tennessee Motor Truck Corporation and dealt in Defiance trucks. Frank Goodpasture III notes that his grandfather “would take mules for trucks…you just find another farmer who needs a mule, walk it over to the stockyard, and auction it off. It wasn’t bartering…mules were a way of moving goods and services at the time,” and so this was similar to how people trade in old vehicles for new ones today. When Goodpasture Sr. erected the building on the corner of Cumberland and Moore Streets, it was to house a Chrysler distributorship. The company recruited automobile dealers all around this area, and as far south as north Georgia, to sell Chryslers. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, Chrysler eliminated the distributing network and began selling their
Reproduced with permission from the Bristol Historical Association
cars directly to the dealers. The company was later reorganized as Goodpasture Motor Company and began dealing in Federal trucks. They then moved their location to a site on Lee Street. However, Goodpasture Sr. still owned this building, and he started using the second floor for various events and activities in order to generate extra income. Sporting matches, such as prize fights and wrestling bouts, were held here, along with musical concerts and dances. Later occupants of the building included a cab company, The Palace Barber Shop, Union Shoe Store, and Tate’s News.
special expertise in museum planning, architecture, and exhibit design; and Hillmann & Carr, full service media producers from Washington, DC, serving corporations, visitor centers, museums, non-profits, and government – began work in 2012 on restoring and converting the building for its new use and developing the exhibit content and design. This year, the exhibitions took physical shape under the expertise of 1220 Exhibits Inc., a Nashville-based, nationally recognized leader in the production and installation of exhibits, and ExPlus Inc., a company based in Dulles, Virginia, that provides comprehensive fabrication services exclusively for museums. The new museum, opening in August 2014, consists of two floors, totaling 24,000 square feet, and includes: • 10 permanent exhibit areas • Interactive displays and media experiences throughout the per-
Photograph by Charlene Baker
Transformation into the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
The Goodpasture building was given to the non-profit Birthplace of Country Music (BCM) in 2003 by Steve Johnson to house the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, one of 160 Smithsonian Institution affiliates across the United States. After extensive fundraising and through community partnerships, BCM – in collaboration with Peyton Boyd Architects of Abingdon, Virginia; studioMUSarx, a design studio based in Philadelphia with BCMM _____ continued on page 7
manent exhibition • 80-seat orientation theater • 100 seat performance theatre • 2,000 square feet of special exhibition space featuring traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution, other organizations, and guest curators • A variety of educational programs, and music, community and outreach events • An in-depth digital archive Joe and Cindy Gregory have just donated the neighboring building – the former Automotive Service & Supply Company – to BCM. This building will be developed into museum offices, further exhibition areas, and expanded archive space.
Courtesy of Malcolm Wilson / pixandpr.com
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Hillbilly Bad
Carter Railroad Museum features
headlines next week’s lakeside concert Hillbilly Bad will take the stage Thursday (July 24) for the third installment of this year’s Lakeside Concert Series at Winged Deer Park. With backgrounds in bluegrass, rock and everything in between, this band plays original songs with catchy lyrics and music that won’t let you sit still. Concert-goers may recognize some of the band members, which include Jason Lloyd on bass and vocals and Mike Malone on guitar. “Frog” Nelms, who spent more than 15 years with the Christian
Thursday, July 31, 7-9 p.m. – Catfish Frye Band Thursday, Aug. 7, 7-9 p.m. – Lauren Cole Band Thursday, Aug. 14, 7-9 p.m. – Kids Our Age Band Sunday, Sept. 7, 6-8 p.m. – Johnson City Symphony
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Coal Operations at July Heritage Day
band Fortress, is on drums, and Lynn Allen Shirley is on rhythm guitar. Last but not least, Hillbilly Bad features Benny Wilson on harmonica and vocals. This free concert takes place from 7-9 p.m. Bring your lawn chairs and your dancing shoes. Winged Deer Park is located at 4137 Bristol Highway, and the lakefront amphitheater is off Carroll Creek Road. For more information, call (423)283-5815, or visit jcparksinfo@johnsoncitytn.org.
The remainder of this year’s concert schedule is as follows:
Grab
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East Tennessee State University’s George L. Carter Railroad Museum will hold its July Heritage Day on Saturday, July 26, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The special exhibit, “Big Power and Black Diamonds of Appalachia,” was created with the region’s past and present rail carriers in mind. “There is a large amount of history associated with how railroading came into
the Appalachian region to provide transport for the coal business,” said Geoff Stunkard, coordinator of the museum’s Heritage Days program. It was vital to the nation’s economy and industrial might, and the terrain that held this mineral required both large amounts of capital and innovative engineering to access and transport.”
The vast coal deposits of the region featured grades of coal suitable for everything from home heating to steel manufacture. Railroad branch lines and even mainlines had to cling to mountainsides and wind along waterways, with long tunnels and soaring bridges to get coal from the mines to the mills or to tidewater ports. New, larger, coal-fueled locomotives were designed to meet those needs. Notable rail operations in the region, including the Norfolk & Western, Louisville & Nashville, Cinchfield, Southern and Interstate, began with coal as an integral part of their business. During Heritage Day, a layout will be on display featuring older railroads, a model of a mine and other coal-oriented industries. Some modern equipment may be in operation as well, since coal remains part of today’s operations on the CSX and Norfolk Southern railways. Members of the Mountain Empire Model Railroaders (MEMRR) club and the George L. Carter Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society are coordinating the program. Visit www.memrr.org to learn more
about MEMRR, which helps demonstrate and maintain the model layouts, museum exhibits and other projects. The Carter Railroad Museum is open every Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. The museum can be identified by a flashing railroad crossing signal at the back entrance to the Campus Center Building. Visitors should enter ETSU’s campus from State of Franklin Road onto Jack Vest Drive and continue east to 176 Ross Drive, adjacent to the flashing RR crossing sign. The museum is in the process of creating a scale replica of the Tweetsie line in a 1,300-square-foot display hall. Visitors may view this work-in-progress exhibit. To learn more about the museum, visit http://johnsonsdepot.com/glcarter/cartermuseum.htm. For more information about Heritage Day, contact Dr. Fred Alsop, the museum’s director, at 423-439-6838 or alsopf@etsu. edu. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423- 439-8346.
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Symphony of the Mountains Announces 2014-2015 Season
Entice, the Best Motown, Soul and Funk Tribute Band, Takes Bristol’s Downtown Center Stage
“Musical Mosaic” has something for everyone Come out to the 2014 Full Moon Jam Concert and Tribute Series at the Downtown Center located at 810 State Street to hear some of the best of Motown, soul, modern
Symphony of the Mountains Music Director Cornelia Laemmli Orth is proud to announce our 2014-2015 Season entitled “Musical Mosaic.” With a variety of music, artists, sounds and styles, the elements of our new season create a stunning mosaic with something appealing to everyone. A few of the many highlights are: • An elegant, yet lighthearted, outdoor concert at Allandale Mansion in July, • An Appalachian version of Strauss’ famous operetta “Die Fledermaus (The Bat)” in October, • A unique concert embodying inclusion for children with and without disabilities as part of our “eXceptional Sounds” concert
in November, • Our crowd-pleasing Holiday concerts in December, • An award winning bluegrass trio, The Krüger Brothers, in February, and • Mozart’s Requiem performed during the “From Sadness to Hope” concert in March Our spectacular Summer Concert Series includes a return to the Allandale Mansion in Kingsport, TN. Last year’s inaugural concert at Allandale was such a success that we’re bringing a new concert to the same venue on Sunday, July 27 at 6pm. Everyone is invited to bring their family, chairs, blankets and picnics for this fun and family-friendly evening. A guest appearance by Principle
Double Bassist for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Laura Snyder, is slated, but not to play her instrument. Ms. Snyder will perform several traditional spirituals and her sonorous, contralto voice has been alleged to bring down the house with fire and moral magnificence. Other repertoire for the Summer concerts includes: • Light classics such as Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5, G Minor”; • Much-loved pops like the medley from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “A Tribute to Louis Armstrong” and music from “Guys and Dolls”; • And patriotic favorites such as “The Star Spangled Banner” and “A Tribute to the Armed Forces.” Tickets are just $15 in advance by calling our Box Office at (423) 392-8423 or visiting our website at SymphonyoftheMountains.org. Tickets will be $20 at the door. This concert will also be performed on Friday, July 25 at 6pm at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, NC with tickets available through the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce and on Saturday, July 26 at 8:15pm with free admission at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise in Wise, VA. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the Symphony of the Mountains’ website at www.SymphonyoftheMountains.org or call (423) 392-8423.
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No clubs, no problem…..
Junior golf club giveaway set for July 26 On Saturday, July 26 from 10 a.m. until noon, Pine Oaks Golf Course will be distributing junior golf clubs for free. Golf Pro Mike Jennings will be on hand to fit golfers age 6-16 with the proper size clubs, while supplies last. Please call 434-6250 for more information.
Devotional Gathering and reflection Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “Let your vision be world embracing rather than confined to your own self.” Join the Devotional Gathering and reflection on the Writings of the Baha’i Faith each Thursday evening at 7:00 PM. Location: 1913 Fairway Drive, Johnson City. Kindly RSVP: 423.631.0178.
rock, and funk music in Bristol. Entice will take the stage at 7PM on Thursday, July 24th. As always there is no charge for the concert, plenty of seating will be available
along with food and drink on site. The Entice Band wants their audience to be entertained instead of just hearing a band play, and they put all of their energy into achiev-
ing that goal. The Entice Band has shared the stage with some of the great funk, soul and R&B acts like Cameo, The Ohio Players, The Gap Band, Midnight Star, Solo, and Evelyn Champagne King, Bobby Blue Bland, Rick James, The SOS Band, Parliament-Funkadelic, and The Bar-kays. “Entice played for us a few years ago during the Great on State music series and the response was over-whelming at that time. We have had multiple calls and comments from fans asking if we are going to bring them back to Bristol,” said Darlene Cole, Deputy Director for the Community Re-
lations Office which oversees the city’s entertainment venues. “This is one band you don’t want to miss. With on-stage energy, choreography and audience interaction, Entice will make your evening one to remember. Be one of the 2500+ visiting the Mural stage that features some of those who started the music in Bristol. It is a great way to spend a warm summer evening under the stars with family and friends,” added Cole. For more information call Darlene Cole at 423-764-4171 or dcole@bristoltn.org.
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Rob-Con to be hosted in Viking Hall
29th year of celebrating the world of comic books, fantasy and science fiction This summer’s key word for the August 2, 2014 RobCon Comic Convention is “more”. More guests, more artists, and more events. It will be the biggest comic con ever in the Tri-Cities. Rob-Con goes into its 29th year of celebrating the world of comic books, fantasy and science fiction. The long guest list this year includes renowned fantasy artist Charles Vess. His award-winning work has graced the covers and interior pages of many comic book publishers including Marvel (SpiderMan) and DC (Books of Magic, Swamp Thing, Sandman). His recent work is found more in book illustration, such as “Stardust”. Attendees will be able to visit with well-known artists includ-
ing Joe Staton, Andy Runton, Gary Kwapisz, and Tom Lyle. Lyle’s work has included “Starman”, “Robin”, and “The Comet” for DC Comics. His Marvel work includes “Spider-Man”, “The Punisher”, and “Warlock”. Since 2005 he has taught sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design. While there visit the Eisner Award winning cartoonist, comic book artist and children’s illustrator, Joe Staton- best known for his decades of work on DC Comics characters like Batman, Green Lantern, The Huntress, Plastic Man and the Justice Society of America, his co-creation (with Nicola Cuti), E-Man, and many popular “all-ages” comics like Jughead and Scooby-Doo. Other artists coming to this year’s convention include Jason Flowers, Kaysha Siemens, Bridgeforth Studios, Scott & Callie West, Jeremy Massie, Matthew D. Smith,
Christopher Gibbs, Brett Cook, John Hairston Jr., Brett Harris, Matthew Childers, and Lost Story Studios. Writers will be well-represented by New York Times best-seller Jennifer Estep along with Gayle Trent, Amanda Lee, Misty Martin, Stephen Semones and others. New attractions this year will be a life-size Tardis and Dalek from the Dr. Who television series. The East Tennessee R2 Builders will join fan favorites like the Carolina Ghostbusters with the Ecto-1 and the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine van. Walking Dead fans can meet and greet with two zombies, Sonya Thompson and Larry Mainland, who were a part of the television series in addition to other TV and movie series. Darlene Cole, Deputy Director for Community Relations said, “Rob-Con is making its third ap-
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Artists join forces for Johnson City shows to none. Between the two of them there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Be sure to catch them at one of their shows in Johnson City, TN (25th July at The Willow Tree Coffeehouse and Music Room and 26th July at The Acoustic Coffee House). For full bios on these artists please check out their websites: Tim Pepper - www.timpeppermusic.com Adam Burrows - www.adamburrows.com
pearance in Viking Hall and it will be a blast. Last year was indeed one of the more fun events we have hosted in a while. We are so excited about having them back this year. Robert Pilk and his partner George Stone are the best people to work with, they know their audience, most by name and that creates an atmosphere for a good time.” The popular costume contest, featuring divisions for both young and older cosplayers, starts at 3 p.m. You don’t want to miss see-
ing some of your favorite characters on the stage at Viking Hall. “It is amazing to see the talent that is put toward these costumes,” continued Cole. The event is August 2, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is $6.00 for adults and children under 10 will be admitted free. For more information on ticketing call the Viking Hall Box Office 423-7640188, for information on the show or vendor information checkout the Rob-Con website at http:// robcon.net/
The Toby Jugg Band Tim Pepper and Adam Burrows, a pair of independent songwriters based in Nashville, TN, are joining forces this summer for a few shows around Tennessee. Both artists run in the Americana/Folk vein and write songs that are sincere and direct. While Tim favors the gritty and rootsy numbers he’ll pull out a few pretty heart-string tuggers in his set. Adam is a classic story teller with a finger-picking guitar style that is second
returns to the local area Rising South Records is pleased to announce that East Tennessee’s own, The Toby Jugg Band, will be returning to the area to kick off their 2014 summer tour season. The Toby Jugg Band has opened for Molly Hatchet, The Johnny Van Zant Band (Lynyrd Skynyrd), 38-Special, Blue Oyster Cult, Goose Creek Symphony, Webb Wilder, Jackyl and The Derek Trucks Band (The
Allman Brothers Band), just to name a few. They will be bringing their high energy, all original, Southern rock show to the Cocke County A&I Fairgrounds for the 5th Annual Popcorn Sutton Jam Festival in Newport, TN on July 27th, starting at 12:30 PM. Don’t miss your chance to have “another sip from the Jugg!!
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Stargazer.... continued from page 16
Stars Influence Human History You look up at the night sky and see a few stars, most of the time with little care or wonder. Only the brightest of the constellations of stars are visible from the backyards of suburbia—if you’re lucky. But maybe you wander away from the campfire, or find yourself on a boat at night looking up at far more stars that you can count in any direction. Seeing the Summer Milky Way from the dark skies of a wilderness area can be awesome as well as startling at the number of stars. And then you might start to wonder. Shining bright and not so bright on any given moonless night are about 1,500 stars that are visible to the human eye from a dark sky free of human light pollution. Looking up you become connected with all human eyes since antiquity that have mentally aligned the bright lights in the sky dome overhead. Sometime in ancient history, someone began naming the shiny stars that never changed position relative to each other—except for five that wandered in the same region around the sky where the Sun and Moon are always seen. Primitive people realized that when it was hot, there were different patterns of stars visible than when it was cold. Certain stars rose in the east at the same time each year. And there was one star in the north that never moved, and the same group of star patterns rotating around it and never setting. Thus the rhythm of the night sky was witnessed and eventually recorded by someone in beginning in the years 10,000 years ago. The brightest stars were named, and then they were put into patterns that told of a civilization’s mythology or honored earthly creatures. Three of the oldest named stars that have existed at least 7,000 years are Sirius, Cano-
and Jupiter are thousands of small, rocky bodies called “asteroids,” Greek for “starlike.” • Other forgotten Latin words tied to the sky overhead include “influentia,” which was thought to be cosmic fluid from heaven that affected mankind. Derivative words are influenza, influence and influx. • Latin’s “desidere” literally means without a star, and we’ve turned that into “desire.” • Egyptians looked at the stars as dead souls and the Chinese as souls waiting to be born. There were plenty of objects in the sky that puzzled and awed the ancient people. The moving stars (planets—a Greek word for wanderer), meteors, comets all had omens, legends and gods associated with them. Of course there was the Sun and its movements, and the Moon and its phases as it moved to a definite rhythm that was used by all cultures to denote periods of time. Both the Sun and Moon also had their bright light mysteriously put out for a short time called eclipses. Both allowed the washed out stars to reappear in the night and day, and further led to the myths of the times. Hundreds of named stars are visible to the naked eye, thousands with binoculars and millions in telescopes. There are 88 constellations, but that was not always so. Several star patterns have been broken up o form separate constellations There are plenty of words and while faint stars have been gathpoints that dot the jet black darkcharts. phrases we casually use in our ered together to form modern star The stars above meant so much ness of the night sky. The sight of certain stars rising daily lives that have starry roots— patterns. The brightest stars of to the peoples of antiquity compared to what a 21st Century ca- were thought to trigger events in and you can “bet your lucky stars” each constellation have been given letters of the Greek alphabet with sual stargazer sees. These are the ancient lands: the Egyptians saw on that one! Examples: very stars that all people have the rising of Sirius before the Sun • The “asterisk” is rooted in the Alpha being the brightest, Beta, seen, the famous, the infamous triggered the rising of the Nile Riv- Latin word for star, “aster.” The Gamma, Delta and so on. Double and the billions of other humans er and precious water for growing flower Aster has tiny star-shaped Greek letters and numbers continwho have lived and died on Earth. crops; Chinese thought the orange petals; and the word “disaster” Stargazer.... continued on page 17 From the stars you can tell time, star Arcturus had power over meant “evil star.” Between Mars pus and Arcturus, the three brightest stars. Where those names came from and what they exactly mean is lost in the ages. And it was the Greek astronomers who first recorded star names o their crude
you can know what season it is, and you can discover the values and ideals of long forgotten civilizations that put their beliefs, their legends and even their dreams among the pattern of lighted
changing the Winter to Spring. Canopus is not seen from the Northern Hemisphere, but to the brave sailors who navigated the unknown oceans; this bright star was the guidepost to the equator.
ue to denote the separate stars so astronomers can talk about what they are observing, like the variable star Epsilon Lyra. When you start saying the common names of the brightest stars in the most familiar constellations, the words are decidedly exotic with spelling and pronunciations that have a dialect from civilizations long forgotten. Examples are Big Dipper stars Dubhe and Merak, Orion stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix and the Summer Triangle of three bright stars Deneb, Altair and Vega. For centuries—no, dozens of centuries—mankind believed the stars were fixed in their positions to a special moving sphere, and they, the Sun and Moon all moved around the stationary Earth. This “geocentric” version of the Universe was popularized by Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, whose belief systems were the mainstay and unchallenged for 1,500 years. Then the scientific revolution of the Renaissance period beginning
in the 16th Century brought about the realization that the Earth orbited the Sun, as did the other planets. This “heliocentric” system was first figured out by Nikolas Copernicus and so controversial at the time that he published his findings on his death bed in 1543.. It has taken great minds who literally risked their lives to challenge the belief systems to bring man’s understanding of our true place in the Universe. First, Galileo discovered that Jupiter’s moons crated a minisystem of worlds, and that the Sun and Moon had imperfections contrary to religious dogma. Other greats like Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton looked at the stars and developed natural laws that allowed for predictable patterns of motion. The greatest visual astronomer Sir William Herschel proved that the stars aren’t fixed but moving, and that the Sun was moving in the outlying region of a disk-shaped aggregate of stars we called the Milky Way. Then it was
time for Albert Einstein to figure out how gravity alters space and time, and Edwin Hubble to figure out those galaxies moved away for each other at a constant speed in
all directions. In the 21st Century, a deeper understanding of the laws of nature in the exotic realm of quantum mechanics is the quest of genius Stephen Hawking.
All these giants of astronomy stood on the shoulders of the previous generations to grasp new meaning to the true nature of our place in the Universe. Do we really understand what’s going on? Remember, man is just 400 years removed from the Inquisition of Galileo when the Catholic Church demanded the great scientist recant his support of the Copernican heliocentric Solar System, spending the last years of his live under house arrest. And there was at least 4,000 years of incorrect assumptions and dogma to overcome. With the Space Age and the incredible astronomical observatories launched into space, we may think we know the nature of the Universe. Where we came from, and where we’re going are two eternal questions that no matter how much data we gather with our fancy instruments of science, the truth might never be known. But man will always look up with awe and wonder.
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Skies This Week Celestial events in the skies for the week of July 22nd - July 28th, 2014, as compiled for The Loafer by Mark D. Marquette.
This is the first week of the Summer that the Milky Way will be seen before midnight against dark skies as the Moon is a crescent in the morning sky waning to new phase on Saturday. Campers can spend some stargazing time away from the campfire and see the Summer Triangle stars of Deneb, Vega and Altair straddling the “river of stars” that is a long arm of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Meanwhile, at dark the planet Saturn is directly south and a fabulous target in any telescope. Red Mars has caught up with white star Spica, the planet being to the left and above the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Virgin.
Tues July 22
Pairs of planets highlight the early evening and morning skies. Saturn and Mars are stunning in the evening sky, while an hour before dawn Mercury is a challenge to see below and left of brilliant Venus. The crescent Moon moves among the two, predawn planets later in the week.
Wed. July 23
On this 1972 date in space history, NASA launched Landsat 1, the first satellite devoted to monitoring plant life around the world, from wheat to Pine forests. Today, a dozen satellites keep track of Earth resources on land and in the sea as well as the health of our atmosphere.
Thurs. July 24
On this 1969 date in space history, Apollo 11 returned from the Moon with 48 pounds of rocks and lunar soil, splashing down in the Pacific and welcomed home on the USS Hornet aircraft carrier by President Richard Nixon. A hero’s world tour followed. This morning, the crescent Moon is next to brilliant Venus and Mercury is below them in the pre-dawn sky from 5-6 am, hugging the eastern horizon together in the constellation Gemini.
Fri. July 25
On this 1984 date in space history Russian Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space outside the Mir Space Station. An American woman followed three months later on Space Shuttle. Today, 11 women have walked in space out of the 205 people who have stepped outside into outer space.
Sat. July 26
New Moon is today, meaning our celestial neighbor is in the daytime sky, below the Sun. If we could “turn out the lights” of daytime, you still wouldn’t see the Moon because it is between Earth and the Sun and no sunlight is striking the side facing us. But you would see the planet Jupiter near the New Moon, in the constellation Gemini the Twins.
Sun. July 27
On this 1972 date in space history, Apollo 15 was half-way to the Moon after a launch July 26th. In the belly of the Lunar Module lander was the first car on an alien world, the Lunar Rover. Destination on the Moon was an ancient lava river called Hadley Rille.
Mon. July 28
On this 1973 date in space history, the second three-man expedition to America’s space station Skylab was launched on a 59-day mission. This was the longest space mission at the time, filled with biomedical experiments to observe how the human body adapts to weightlessness.
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Three exhibits of regional crafts on display at Reece Museum “A Summer of Fine Crafts,” a series of three exhibitions featuring crafts by regional artists, is under way at the Reece Museum on the campus of East Tennessee State University. Now on display and continuing through Aug. 29 are “Mountain Messages VII: Gateways – Past, Present and Future” and “Woodturners: A Juried Competition.” “Mountain Messages,” a biennial quilt competition, is open to quilters residing within a 150-mile radius of Johnson City. Quilts in the exhibit are original works and fit the “Gateways – Past, Present and Future” theme. This year’s judge is Darlene Zimmerman, a quilter, author and inventor from Fairfax, Minn. “Woodturners” includes over 40 juried works of fine woodcraft by 10 regional woodturners. Woodturning involves mounting the wood on a lathe, spinning the wood, and using a variety of handheld tools to remove excess wood.
This process allows creative shaping of the wood, limited only by the imagination of the artist. The Tri-Cities Woodturners Association, a chapter of the American Association of Woodturners, has members from Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina. Opening Monday, July 21, is “Tennessee Craft: Northeast,” showcasing crafts created by 10 current members of the organization by the same name, formerly known as the State of Franklin Chapter of the Tennessee Association of Craft Artists. The exhibit of fiber arts, pottery, painting and jewelry runs through Sept. 12. An opening reception for all three exhibits will be held Thursday, July 24, from 5-7 p.m. During the event, Zimmerman will give a gallery talk about the “Mountain Messages” exhibit and competition winners will be announced. The Reece Museum, a unit of ETSU’s Center for Appalachian Stud-
ies and Services, is open MondayFriday from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The exhibits and reception are free and open to the public. For more information, call 423439-4392. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-4398346.
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The Next Door Comedy Night The Next Door Comedy Night is Johnson City’s only open mic comedy show. We run monthly shows at the Next Door Room in the Acoustic Coffeehouse. Our next show is going to be Friday, July 25th at 9:00 p.m. The Next Door Comedy Night showcases talent from the Tri-Cities area and beyond. In the past we have had performances from Asheville comedians Cary Goff (Disclaimer Comedy), Tom Scheve
(Disclaimer Comedy), Lea Garth, and local comedians Hunter Roberts (Apologies to Follow) and Chelsea Lyons (Apologies to Follow). In addition to the featured comedians, the show is also open to anyone to perform without the need of advanced booking. Next Door Comedy Night offers unpredictable comedy for a good cause. Proceeds for the show are donated to local charities.
Country artist with a bluesy rock edge A country artist, with a bluesy rock edge, Kris Rowdy born in southwest virginia and raised in johnson city, will be performing at the Bonnie Kate Theatre, Elizabethton TN on August 12th. Tickets on sale now by calling Bonnie Kate at (423) 297-1054. Rowdy has been a song writer for years and has been known for writing from the heart and for high energy stage
presence. He has recently signed a recording contract with Visionway Records Nashville and Nominated for CCR make artist of the year, with his first single hitting radio soon. Rowdy is being dubbed one of the fast up and comers of 2014 already. For bookings call (423) 218-8998.
Catch breakout rock band CROBOT at Capone’s Rock band CROBOT has been garnering acclaim for their self-titled EP and wild U.S. performances. With breakout live performances at the sold-out Rock On The Range festival, SXSW 2014 and tours with artists including Clutch, The Sword, Truckfighters, Kyng and Kill Devil Hill, the quartet will be stopping locally in Johnson City on July 24th at Capone’s. This will be a hometown show for guitarist Chris Bishop. CROBOT has re-teamed with Machine (Clutch, Lamb of God, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes) to produce their forth- Wind-up Records. “Nowhere coming sophomore album---due To Hide”-- their first single off out late 2014--and first release on their just-released self-titled EP –
recently hit radio and is climbing the active rock charts (#23).
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Jonesborough Welcomes Storyteller
Corinne Stavish Master storyteller Corinne Stavish will serve as the next teller in residence for the Storytelling Live! series. During her weeklong engagement, Stavish will share a wide variety of the personal stories for which she is known. She first learned the art from her grandmother. “She had this portrait gallery in her living room—pictures of all the relatives,” Stavish recalls. “We would sweep those pictures with a feather duster, and she would tell me all about them. You know, ‘This is your great-grandfather, and Uncle Norman was named for him.’ “My family comes from Eastern Europe, and in our tradition, it’s believed that when you name someone after a person who has died, you perpetuate their memory,” she continues. “That’s how you keep their stories alive. So for me and all of my cousins, it was important to know who we were named for.” Stavish will offer daily performances in Jonesborough July 29 – August 2, Tuesday through Saturday, at 2:00 p.m. in the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall. Tickets for all shows are just $12 for adults and $11 for seniors, students, and children under 18. Advance purchase is highly recommended. In addition to her stage work, Stavish frequently serves as a behind-the-scenes coach, teaching big businesses how to craft narratives with universal appeal. A specialist in corporate storytelling, she believes in the power of narrative. “The wonder of storytelling is that when we hear someone else’s story, we’re reminded of our own,” she says. “In a car commercial, when you see a family taking their kids to a soccer game, you think of moms and dads and responsibility.” The stories that touch our hearts are also the ones that sell us cars, cameras, and breakfast cereal. A student and fan of her fellow storytellers—she’s particularly inspired by Donald Davis and the late Kathryn Windham—Stavish returns to Jonesborough often to listen and learn as much as to
perform. “I’m flabbergasted and honored that I get to come back again,” she says. “I really enjoy the challenge of having a new program every day. The hustle and bustle of the National Storytelling Festival [in October] is exciting, but I love being able to leisurely walk down the street, support local merchants, and really feel like I’m part of the town and the community. You only get to do that when you’re teller in residence.” Stavish is the latest performer in the International Storytelling Center’s Storytelling Live! series, which will host a new performer every week through October.
Information about all TIR performers, and schedule is available at www.storytellingcenter.net. Season passes that offer savings of 44 percent will be available while supplies last, and ticket holders will save 10 percent on same-day dining at The Olde Courthouse Diner, The Dining Room, Jonesborough General Store and Eatery, or Main Street Café. The International Storytelling Center is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information about Storytelling Live! or to make a group reservation, call (800) 952-8392 ext. 222 or (423) 913-1276.
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Jonesborough’s Music on the Square presents
The Steel Wheels “Planet of the Apes” is a media franchise that began with a 1963 French novel. Since then there have been eight films, two television shows, numerous comic books, novels and video games. The most recent film in the series is “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, and is the follow up to the 2011 reboot “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. Before I took in the latest “Apes” film, I revisited the 1968 film “Planet of the Apes”, and while the film still fascinated me, I was really surprised by the overacting of star Charlton Heston. Just imagine crossing Faye Dunaway in “Mommie Dearest” with a man and you get the idea. I still enjoyed the 1968 original, but it sure seems different now than the first time I
saw the tale of intelligent apes. So with much excitement I headed to the theater to see the second edition of the rebooted apes. The film is set in 2026, ten years after the ALZ-113 virus caused the collapse of human civilization, and removed James Franco’s character from the series. The lead ape in the film is Caesar, who was raised by Franco’s character in the first film, and he now leads a community of chimps, gorillas, and one orangutan (I didn’t see any others!) in the Muri Woods outside San Francisco. One day while exploring in the woods, Caesar’s son Blue Eyes and and ape named Ash run across a human. The apes are shocked as they had the understanding all humans had perished
due to the virus. Of course the human overacts and shoots Ash, leaving the ape kingdom extremely upset. Caesar orders the humans to leave and never return to the forest. However, the humans discover they need to get a local dam operational if they are to get long term power for the city. Access to the dam is gained via ape country, and this leads the humans back into the forest. Meanwhile, a rival of Caesar’s, named Koba, has been spying on the humans in the city, and is convinced they are going to attack the apes. Several unpleasant interactions between hu-
man and ape lead to an eventual attack on the human headquarters in the city, led by the ape Koba. Even though Caesar and his human friend Malcolm (Jason Clarke) secretly team up to stop the fighting, the conflict still leads to a pending all out war. The film features marvelous special effects, especially those of the numerous apes, and coupled with an entertaining story-line, proves better than the 2011 original. All the actors were fine, and Gary Oldman adds plenty of acting cred with his portrayal of the well-meaning but vicious Dreyfus, leader of
the human survivors. I can’t say enough about Andy Serekis, who once more provides the facial expressions for Caesar. Amazing work. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” proves to be a summer blockbuster in every way, so don’t miss your chance to see the film at a theater in 3-D. On a side note, I recommend searching for the video that ran on “Good Morning America” of two real chimps taking in a viewing of the film at a theater in Myrtle Beach, S.C., as the reactions of the chimps to the film is priceless. (Rated PG-13) A-
The Steel Wheels bring their Slipstream Tour to to Jonesborough on Friday, July 25 , when they perform at Music on the Square. The Steel Wheels are renowned for their raw energy and chemistry on stage, where they cluster tightly around a single microphone to adorn Trent Wagler’s unmistakable tenor with bell-clear four part harmonies complimented by Eric Brubaker’s fiddle, Brian Dickel’s upright bass and Jay Lapp on the mandolin and guitars. The band’s own brand of acoustic Americana roots music reflects stylings of the past yet boldly embodies the strength of powerful original song writing. They’ve named this tour to honor the roots musicians that have influenced them – created a slipstream for their creativity. They’ll be performing some new unreleased songs in addition to some of their past hits. The Steel Wheels are selling out venues from coast to coast and appearing at many of the top festivals in the US & Canada. These include Merlefest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots, Ann Arbor Folk Festival, Stagecoach, Fayetteville Roots Festival, Moab Folk Festival, Musikfest, Walnut Valley Festival, Can-
more Folk Festival, Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Riverhawk, Kerrville Folk Festival, and many others. 2014 shows no signs of slowing down with a full schedule of prestigious festivals and venues. In July the band hosts their own annual Red Wing Roots Music Festival, www.redwingroots. com bringing over 40 bands to 4 stages for 3 days of music & community. In addition as the schedule allows, the band organizes
and performs the SpokeSongs bicycle music tour, during which the band members tow their instruments, equipment and merchandise from one show to another via bicycle. Past tours have spanned up to 11 days, 600 miles, and 10 shows. The attention from these special SpokeSongs tours allow the band to raise extra money and awareness for charities and causes along the way.
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Winter Isn’t Coming It was a hot evening, a very, VERY hot evening. The heat was the kind of heat that left you with little to do, outside of rocking on your front porch, sipping lemonade, and wondering aloud when General Beauregard would arrive from Richmond. Naturally, being a night when the heat had reached the heights of Atlanta before the war, it would make it a remarkably perfect evening for my air conditioning to cut out completely. At first, I hadn’t noticed the increasing heat inside my home. I had spent most of that day in my basement lair, watching movies and playing records. My first indication that something was amiss with the air is when my cat ambled down the stairs, and looked at me with a look that said “Let’s try that telepathic communication we’ve been working on, shall we?” I sat my iPad down, and looked intensely into my cat’s eyes. “Human, the temperature in the room where the kibble is stored appears to be warmer than it was before when I was making my rounds. You might wish to investigate this. Meow.” That is what I got back from him, while he looked at me, a slight purr, and tale wagging. “You’re right, cat. It does feel warmer in this house.” I transmitted back to him. Then he bit me on the leg as I was standing up, and I swore like a sailor at him. I went upstairs to look at the thermostat, it was set at 72, but was currently reading the house temperature as 77. I, having no clue what could be the problem, went around and turned on every fan I own. After doing that, I called my friend Dave, who knew a thing or two about a thing or two when
it came to air conditioning. Dave told me the quickest he could come over would be sometime the next day, in late afternoon. I began to ponder how I would manage to keep myself comfortable and not dead from dehydration for a 24 hour period. My first step of order was to make sure that the cat had plenty of water in his bowl, he did, and he was pleased. Then I began to think about all the “what ifs” that could occur during the 24 hour internal heat wave. “What if my fridge breaks down and I can’t have ice? What if heat miser shows up thinking it’s Christmas in July!? What if Rick Astley sends out a tweet publicly announcing that he has given us all up?” As the heat began to amp up my paranoia, I realized that all the ice in the house was melting. It wasn’t, but my mind became convinced that it was. I drove to the nearest Sonic, and bought as many bags of ice that I could fit into my car. As I unloaded fifteen bags of ice into my house, I soon realized they wouldn’t all fit into my freezer. Three bags did, four went into coolers, four into a giant metal washtub, and four went into the downstairs bathtub. I would sometimes just dive into the ice, and let it freeze me all over, that is until the heat made it melty. As the sun began to set, and the heat had reached its peak, I found myself doing things that I couldn’t even explain. At one point I started walking around in an undershirt reciting dialogue from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” When I walked into the kitchen and yelled “Maggie the Cat is alive!” I swear I saw what looked like my cat trying to
dial 911 on the telephone. I’m not entirely sure if I went to sleep or passed out, all I know is I woke up on the floor of my living room the next day. Dave came by the house around four, it didn’t take him long to find the problem, something had short-circuited, and luckily he had a replacement in his truck. As Dave started to repair the A/C unit, I began to clean up around the house, and trying to figure out
how to deal with all the ice I had bought the day before—at least the ice that hadn’t melted yet. All the ice in the metal tub had completely melted, and I thought I would take it out downstairs and dump it in the back yard. As I began carrying the large and difficult to maneuver steel tub down the stairs, my vision was somewhat limited. So it was that I did not see Dave as he started to come up the stairs, and he, look-
ing at the part he just replaced, did not notice a man with a large tub of water coming in his direction. What transpired was my own homemade recreation of Splash Mountain. On the one hand, after a 24 hour cycle of heat, it felt good to have a sudden splash of water. On the other hand, Dave then asked me if I would like to use his shop-vac. See you next week.
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Questions In a book I strongly encourage you to read, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry To Spark Breakthrough Ideas (2014), Warren Burger asks us to think very deeply about questions, and to ask why questioning is so important to the world in which we live. Although most us prefer not to ask a lot of questions, probably because questions tend to challenge our assumptions and beliefs, Berger believes that questions are essential if we are to survive and thrive in a world of constant change. In fact, says Berger, “when we want to shake things up and instigate change, it’s necessary to break free of familiar thought patters and easy assumptions. We have to veer off the beaten neural path. And we do this, in large part, by questioning.” In fact, “the ability to ask big, meaningful, beautiful questions—and, just as important, to know what to do with those questions once they’ve been raised—can be the first steps in moving beyond old habits and behaviors as we embrace the new.” According to Berger, a “beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something—and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change.” Note that the key ingredient in this definition is that a beautiful question must be actionable. That is, it should be one that has an eventual answer, albeit an answer that might be multidimensional. Although questions
like “What is the meaning of life?” are meaningful and can stimulate some interesting conversation, they are not very actionable. So, in his book, Berger doesn’t ask these kinds of questions, but rather questions like “Why are we doing this particular thing in this particular way?” “What is the fresh idea that will help my business stand out?” “If/when I find it’s not working, how do I figure out what’s wrong and fix it?” “Can technology help us ask better questions?” “Why does it all begin with Why?” “Do we really want 300 million who actually think for themselves?” “What if we could find a way to help parents ask better questions at school meetings?” “How do we know what’s true or false?” “How do I actually get this done?” and one of my favorites “How can I encourage questioning in my child?” The next-to-last question asked by Berger in his book is “What if we cultivated ignorance instead of fearing it?” A good and beautiful question indeed. Ignorance, after all, is the true beginning of wisdom, so not being aware or informed is the best place to begin the questioning process. There is no doubt that we need to develop more questioners, especially in classrooms—places where answers have prevailed for far too long. Learning (as opposed to teaching) should be about inquiry and questioning rather than merely listening to someone telling us what to think or what to repeat on a test. And the same is true for most areas of our lives. Berg-
er’s book gives us page after page of very practical advice about how questioning can lead to meaningful change. So, before you ask any more questions, read this intriguing little tome. As I asked questions related to this column and inspired by Berger’s book, I came across a semi-social media site called Quora. This site gives its members permission to ask all sorts of questions. Being a sucker for this sort of thing, and feeling I needed this to enhance my column, I signed up (but of course plan to deactivate my account as soon as I finish writing this—I am social media’s least favorite person). After perusing several questions posed in Quora, and even responding to a few, I am a little disappointed in what I found there, but nevertheless am fascinated by the kinds of questions—mostly not very beautiful—that members ask. Let’s take a look at a few of them. “What is an example of some-
thing true that nobody generally wants to admit as fact?” Interesting question, but some not-so-interesting answers. How about “We keep denying it all the time, but an attractive person has an upper hand over a not-so-attractive person most of the times”? Or “That no shampoo can actually nourish your hair”? And the very thoughtprovoking reply, “That the world can end at any instant.” After reading this reply, I felt it was time to move on to other questions. And I found more than I needed. I’ll let you answer these profound and not-so-thought-provoking questions: “How can I make my girlfriend believe that I love her?” “How true is science?” “Which is better: to believe or not to believe?” “Do you believe that there exists a combination of words which could convince someone of anything?” And “How has Quora changed your view/belief about yourself?” Before you answer, let’s see how Jenna Ross,
who describes herself as a “Voracious Reader,” handled this one: “Quora has made me realize that I am a person of average intelligence that wishes she could possess the same amount of brain power and keen insight about things that a lot of people on Quora possess . . . .Quora is like have a dozen mentors in the form of an app on my phone.” To be honest, I found much to be hopeful about while checking out these Quora questions. At least the people I found there were asking questions, some profound, some not-so-profound, and some just downright silly. But this is one place to hangout if you have a critical mind and want to consider many issues from multiple perspectives (including whether or not any shampoo can actually nourish your hair). Here’s hoping you will ask many questions this week—and I hope all, or at least most of them, are beautiful.
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