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13 The Musical
Volume 30 • Issue #14 Publisher Luci Tate Editor Graphic Arts Director Don Sprinkle Cover Design Bill May Advertising Dave Carter Terry Patterson Lori Howell Beth Jinks-Ashbrook Patti Barr Contributing Staff Jim Kelly Andy Ross Ken Silvers Mark Marquette Brian McManus Joshua Hicks Brian Bishop Distribution Jerry Hanger Teresa Hanger Published by Pulse Publishing, 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.
Founder: Bill Williams
happenings 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 24 25 27
13 The Musical 16th Annual Heroes Ball Kingsport Book Fair Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver at NE State Theatre Bristol presents The Adventures of Robin Hood 4th Annual Carousel Fine Craft Show & Brass Ring Gala Darryl Worley - Up Close In Person ShadowGrass at Heartwood Shamrock 4 Miler Things To Do Rescue Rainia’s Rack Classifieds
music & fun
14 22
Spotlight - Great Music & Fun Times Puzzle Page
columns & reviews
12 Batteries Not Included - The Apple Issue 16 Stargazer - Year In Space Has Consequences 17 Skies This Week 18 Screen Scenes - Zoolander No. 2 19 Trivial Traveler - A Sign Of The Times 20 Mountain Movers - The Ginger & Julia Christian Interview 23 Pets Of The Week 25 Lock, Stock & Barrel - Rip Ammo 26 Kelly’s Place - Tattoo You, Bass And Treble
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Geek. Poser. Jock. Beauty Queen. Wannabe. These are the labels that can last a lifetime.
With an unforgettable rock score from Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, (Parade, The Last Five Years, Bridges Of Madison County) “13” is a musical about fitting in - and standing out! The teenagers (and preteens) of the Kingsport Theatre Guild have been asking relentlessly for 5 years to do “13” because they feel a strong connection with the characters, the story, and the music. When you think about being 13 years old, what do you remember the most? Which friends, movies, trends, or memories come to mind? This musical looks at all of the different aspects of what it means to be a teenager: facing the concept of growing up, making choices, handling bullies, taking chances, and figuring out who you really are. This story follows a boy about turn 13, Evan Goldman, as he transitions from his fastpaced life in New York City to a sleepy Indaina town following his parents divorce. He has to make new friends, establish himself in this new popularity food chain, resolve conflicts, and deal with the dating scene. Making painful decisions and incredible mistakes, Evan has to figure out how to push past the fake exteriors of some of his new “friends” and figure out who is really there for him
kingsporttheatre.org
and seek forgiveness for hurting others. Jason Robert Brown’s exploration of these themes with nascent young adults as the subjects offers something for nearly everyone. Teenagers who come to see the show have the opportunity to relate to something immediate, while adults can reminisce and possibly look back on their own experiences at that age with fresh eyes. Being hurt by the words of other people we considered to be friends after transferring to a new school can easily make those early teen years miserable. Fortunately, people grow up; they change and realize that causing someone else to lose their self-esteem and self-confidence is hardly the way to go through life. Of course, “13” shows us what it looks like in the awkward transitioning phase of being not quite a kid, but not really a grown up - before the growing pains have settled. Kingsport Theatre Guild invites you to join us in embracing this delightful experience! Performances of 13: The Musical will be March 11, 12, 18, and 19 at 7:00pm and March 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 2:00pm at the Kingsport Renaissance Center. For tickets, please visit us online at kingpsorttheatre. org or call our box office at 423.392.8427.
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16th Annual Heroes Ball at the Hall
ed at the door. Come out and cheer-on your favorite hero while helping those in need. For more information contact Angie Rutherford, Communications and Media Manager, 423-764-4171or e-mail: arutherford@bristoltn.org
The City of Bristol hosts an event each year that brings out our local heroes to enjoy a little friendly competition. The American Red Cross will be the beneficiary of this year’s event proceeds. “The American Red Cross is a perfect fit for us. They partner with us throughout the year on fire scenes where families are left homeless and insure that the families have a place to stay, food and hygiene items. They
also work closely with us in the Smoke Alarm Installation Program” said Asst. Chief Jack Spurgeon with Bristol Fire and Rescue. The Bristol Virginia Fire Department will be playing the Bristol Tennessee Fire and Rescue while the Bristol Tennessee Police Department will be going up against the Bristol Virginia Police Department. Bristol’s Police departments will be playing the first game beginning at 7:00 PM with the Fire Departments finishing out
the evening. For weeks prior to the game each of the four teams has the opportunity to practice on the home court at Viking Hall. The winning teams take the prized trophy back to their departments to be displayed for the year. MVP’s are selected from the two games and these players are awarded an individual trophy. The games will take place on Friday, March 11 at 7:00pm. The public is invited to attend. A 3 dollar donation is suggest-
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2016 Kingsport Book Fair Profits to support local literacy programs
Friends of Kingsport Public Library and First Book – Greater Kingsport announces the 2016 Kingsport Book Fair, March 10-13, Kingsport Civic Auditorium, 1550 Fort Henry Drive. Regular Book Fair hours are Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, 9am – 7pm and Sunday, March 13, 12:45 - 5pm. No admission fee is charged throughout the entire weekend. Shoppers are encouraged to make multiple trips to the Book Fair! A special Preview $ale event will be held Thursday, March 10th, 5-9pm. Admission for the Preview $ale is $10. Continuing from previous Book Fairs, sales of at least $25 are cash or major credit cards. Sales under $25 are cash only. Most donated Items are priced from 25 cents to 10 dollars, based on age, condition, and popularity. The 1/2 price sale begins at 4pm on Saturday and the $10 Bag $ale begins at 12:45pm on Sunday, rather than the last two hours of the sale. Received since mid-March 2015 from local residents, the donated items include thousands of printed books, audiobooks, music CDs, DVDs, vinyl record albums and 45’s. Each item has been individually priced and sorted in one of 30+ categories (based on format and topic). Kingsport Book Fair does not scan books for “gems” to be sold online. As with previous Book Fairs, the 2016 inventory has exceptionally quality and quantity: fiction, non-fiction, history, biography, children’s, religion, music, cookbooks, DIY, gardening, textbooks, vinyl, and art/coffee table books. The Regional Interest category includes books by TimesNews’ Vince Staten to the FoxFire series to hiking the AT or Great
Smoky Mountains to fiction by Jefferson Bass and Adriana Trigiani to cookbooks from local churches and other civic groups. Each year the donations have a ‘personality’. This year there will be over 5000 new & used comic books for sale. Numerous posters and puzzles are in this year’s inventory. Based on customer request, two new categories for 2016 Book Fair include Nature/Outdoors and SciFi/Fantasy/Westerns. As always, cookbooks, gardening, and various DIY categories will be abundant and priced to sell. Kingsport Book Fair is an excellent example of recycling and sustainability. All of the items collected and sold are locally, preowned books. The donations are stored in reused boxes. Many are reused milk boxes or egg boxes from local church kitchens. Most of the boxes are reused from year to year, some on the 4th or 5th Book Fair! With the exception of the minimal monthly fees charged to store the books and move to the Civic Auditorium, the usage fee for the Civic Auditorium, and the targeted advertising, all of the labor is donated by book loving, caring volunteers. Profits from the Book Fair are split 50/50 by Friends of the Kingsport Public Library and First Book – Greater Kingsport. Each organization uses these funds to support local literacy programs.
Additional volunteers are welcomed to help unbox books (Thursday, March 19, anytime after 8:30am), throughout the weekend for the actual sale, and re-boxing (Sunday, March 22, 4:35pm). This is a fabulous opportunity for youth needing volunteer hours for high school graduation or college applications. CONTACT: KingsportBookFair@gmail.com or 423-9677135. www.kingsportbookfair. wix.com/2015 Like us on Facebook: www. f a ce b o ok . co m/ K i n g sp or tBookFair Book Fair History: In 1961, the Kingsport Branch of the American Association of University Women held the first Book Fair. Every other year through 2011, AAUW collected books and multimedia items for the Book Fair, growing it from a few tables to thousands of boxes filling all the tables in the Kingsport Civic Auditorium. The Friends of the Kingsport Public Library joined the Book Fair with the 2007 sale. Beginning with 2012 Book Fair, FOL and the First Book – Greater Kingsport continued the Book Fair tradition, while changing the frequency to annual. As with the original Book Fair, the profits continue to be used locally to support literacy and educational programs. Photos from previous Book Fair available upon request.
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Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver return to Northeast State
Northeast State Community College welcomes musical legend and 2016 Grammy nominee Doyle Lawson with his band Quicksilver to campus for a performance on Saturday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. Lawson and Quicksilver will perform at the Wellmont Regional Center for the Performing Arts on the College’s Blountville campus next to Tri-Cities Regional Airport. Advance tickets are $20 and can be purchased online now at www.northeaststate.edu/ RCPA. This year’s concert is particularly significant because it is a vital part of the College’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Proceeds from this concert will go
toward support of the Entertainment Technology Program based in Bristol. Lawson serves as a member of the College’s Entertainment Technology Advisory Board and has conducted a weeklong institute for the program. Called a “mandolin virtuoso” with “perfectly silken harmony” by The New York Times, Lawson and Quicksilver have nearly 40 albums to their credit. Lawson and Quicksilver’s most recent album In Session was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Bluegrass Album of the Year for 2016. DLQ are seven-time International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Vocal Group
of the Year winners, and have multiple Grammy, Dove, Inspirational Country Music Association (ICMA), and other IBMA award nominations. The band also earned Dove Award nominations for the Best Bluegrass Gospel Album and Best Bluegrass Gospel Song awards. DLQ burst onto the national spotlight in 1996 when their album, There’s a Light Guiding Me earned a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. They went on to receive three more Grammy nominations in the Best Bluegrass Album category. Lawson is a member of the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012 at the Ryman Auditorium. Lawson has served as the feature instructor and performer at the College’s summer music workshops held at Northeast State at Bristol for two years. He shared his knowledge and expertise with students about recording tips and techniques as well as live performances and impromptu jam sessions. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information call the Northeast State Box Office at 423.354.5173.
Bunny Hop 5K set for March 19 to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank East Tennessee State University nutrition and dietetics students, in partnership with the TriCities Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, will host the 3rd Annual Bunny Hop 5K Run and Walk on Saturday, March 19. The family friendly race will begin at 9 a.m. at the gazebo located on the Mountain Home VA Medical Center campus in Johnson City. Check-in and registration begins at 8 a.m. The cost to participate in the Bunny Hop 5K is $20 on race day. T-shirts will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis. Awards will be given out for the first place male and female participants. All proceeds will benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee and are designated to directly benefit the children who are hungry in the Northeast Tennessee region. For more information or to register, visit http://www.runtricities.net/asp/racecal.asp.
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Theatre Bristol Opens The Adventures of Robin Hood Announcing a cast of 27 in this medieval story of legend and comedy. Tickets on sale now!
Theatre Bristol presents a madcap band of merry men and the people of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood at the ARTspace theatre, opening March 11 and running through March 20. The Adventures of Robin Hood is a whimsical retelling of the folk fable about the outlaw/hero Robin of Locksley, whose mission it is to “steal from the rich to give to the poor.” Robin Hood, his merry band, and Maid Marian join forces in Sherwood Forest to foil the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and restore justice to the kingdom. This lively and comical tale promises to be great entertain-
ment for all ages. Directing is Theatre Bristol veteran, Steve Baskett, most recently seen in Oliver, Cinderella, Sound of Music, Peter Pan, Anne of Green Gables, Miracle on 34th Street, Les Misérables, and as Scrooge in Scrooge! The Musical. In the title role is Joey Collard as Robin Hood, joined by Stephanie Marie as Lady Marian Fitzwalter, Hunter Johnson as Sheriff Sir Guy of Gisborne, and Dan Gray as Oswald the Unready. The merry cast also includes Lily Horton as Lady Gwendolyn of Glendower, Gracie Cunningham as Maid Gwyneth, James Francis as Little John, Marc Montgomery as Friar Tuck, James Altman as Will Scarlet, Anthony Underwood as Alan-a-Dale, Michael Bishop as Davy of Doncaster and The Trinket Peddler, Alayna Walker as Nell Stutley
the Innkeeper, Kaly Schmidt as Midge the Miller, Althea Huggins as Clever Cordelia, Jessica Blaylock as Brave Beverly, Autumn Grubb as Gilda, and Margaret Swiney as Rowena. Bill Locke is Alfred the Saxon, Gerri Timmons is his wife Alfrieda, and their children are Ava Marie White as Alison, Abram Moore as Albert, Carly Street as Alice, Zaiah Gray as Alvin, Sydney Cunningham as Alyssa, Solomon Lennon as Alwyn, Whitney Brooks as Alfreda, and Sophia Horton as Little Alfie Jr. The Merry Maidens are Ava Marie White as Lucy, Carly Street as Georgie, Syd-
ney Cunningham as Kate, and Whitney Brooks as Ethel. The Deputies are Abram Moore as Bardolph, Zaiah Gray as Randolph, and Solomon Lennon as Ferguson. Baskett is supported by stage manager Shannon Dabney, with production team Suzanne Eleas, Laura O’Bryan, and James Altman. The Adventures of Robin Hood is written by Michele L. Vacca and is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials supplied by On Stage!, classicsonstage.com. For reservations, tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 423-212-3625, or at the door though please note that many shows sell out in advance. Tickets for all performances are $12 for adults, $10 for students and senior citizens (over 60). Performances are scheduled
for March 11th at 7:30 pm, 12th at 2:30 and 7:30 pm, 13th at 2:30 pm, 17th at 7:30 pm, 18th at 7:30 pm, 19th at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm, and 20th at 2:30 pm. The ARTspace Theatre is located at 506 State Street, Bristol, TN 37620. Founded in 1965, Theatre Bristol is the oldest continually running children’s theatre in northeast Tennessee and now proud to start its 51st season. Its Main Stage season consists of up to five productions. Some of its performances take place in the ARTspace, a multi-purpose, black box theatre which seats up to 120. Theatre Bristol is entirely volunteer run and we invite you to get involved. For more information, visit the Theatre Bristol’s website or Facebook page, contact Theatre Bristol at 423-212-3625, or emailinfo@ theatrebristol.org.
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4th Annual Carousel Fine Craft Show & Brass Ring Gala 2016, Co-Hosted by Kingsport Office of Cultural Arts & Tennessee Craft
The City of Kingsport Office of Cultural Arts and Engage Kingsport in partnership with the NE Chapter of Tennessee Craft (formerly known as TACA) proudly present East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia’s premier juried Fine Craft show: Carousel Fine Craft Show and The Brass Ring Galapreview party March 18-20, 2016. Free Carousel rides included! The Carousel Fine Craft Show features professional craftspeople and artists in a variety of media that will exhibit and sell their own work. There will be excellent Fine Furniture and Woodwork, Ceramics and Metal art, Jewelry, Glass and Textiles on exhibit and for sale to the public. The public is invited to talk to the artists and watch live demonstrations. There will only be high quality, hand-made wares, with no imported or commercial items allowed in the show. This is a Fine Craft show; similar to ones held in Asheville and Nashville, featuring artists and craftspeople from throughout the Southeast. We have an abundance of talent in this region and are
very proud to showcase it. Fine Craft is different from Arts & Crafts. Fine Craft refers to the production of art or goods reliant on the maker’s skill, technique and dedication to the art. Fine Craft is skillfully fabricated and displays the maker’s expertise and attention to detail. In addition, Fine Craft Shows use a jury method for choosing artists. This is a rigorous and competitive process that ensures that only high quality work will be for sale. This year the NE Chapter of Tennessee Craft, a statewide advocate for Tennessee’s handmade legacy, has partnered with the show to help promote Fine Craft in the region. Tennessee Craft, formerly known as TACA, provides direct support to artists year-round through professional development workshops, regional programming, scholarships and mentor opportunities. The Tennessee Association of Craft Artists (TACA) was founded in 1965 to encourage, develop and promote crafts and craftspeople in Tennessee. Tennessee Craft strives to
embrace the passion of the state’s first makers and the organization’s founders by connecting today’s emerging and experienced artists and the public with resources and opportunities to make their mark on our state’s handmade legacy. The Carousel Fine Craft Show will be held from March 18th through March 20th , 2016. Day passes are $3 for one day and $5 for two days. The Brass Ring Gala preview party opens the show with live music, hors d’oeuvres, and the opportunity for the public and our juried fine craft artists to have an exclusive meet and greet; and to share food, music, shopping and community spirit. Cost of the Brass Ring Gala is $50 per person, which includes a weekend pass to the show. The Carousel Fine Craft Show continues on Saturday and Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm each day, and feature interactive children’s art activities and live craft demonstrations and talks by various exhibiting artists and members of the community. The Kingsport Farmers Market has
quickly become a favorite location for social gatherings in Kingsport. An original building of the former Kingsport Press, the historic setting provides a unique backdrop for events such as weddings, fundraisers and festivals. The Farmers Market is located adjacent to the new Kingsport Carousel which opened in July 2015. The Kingsport Carousel features 32 hand carved, hand-painted platform animals, rounding board scenes of regional history, as well as paintings of birds, wild flowers and butterflies all painted by the Kingsport community. Work for the Carousel began in 2010 and has involved over 300 volunteers and 700 sponsors. Rides on the Carousel are included with any ticket to the Brass Ring Gala Preview Party and the Carousel Fine Craft Show. Regular operating hours of Kingsport Carousel: Wednesday – Friday: 11 am – 5 pm Saturday & Sunday: 1 pm – 5 pm ALL RIDES = $1 • Birthday Parties & Private Rentals: (423) 392-8418
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DARRYL WORLEY
UP CLOSE IN PERSON
The Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival is showcasing artist-singer-songwriter Darryl Worley ‘Up Close In Person in a very Intimate Songwriter Round’ with fellow Hit Songwriters Jerry Salley and Bobby Tomberlin at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort Sat. Mar. 12, 2016. Jerry Salley actually co-wrote three songs with Darryl Worley and had Darryl record a duet with him on one of
Jerry’s albums. Bobby Tomberlin who wrote “One More Day” for Diamond Rio also co-wrote “A Good Day To Run” with Darryl. The hit songs that Worley is most known for include: “Have You Forgotten”, “Awful, Beautiful Life”, and “I Miss My Friend”. The mission of the Smoky Mountains Songwriters Festival is to promote songwriting by providing a venue that brings together
music professionals, music lovers and songwriters. “To have a Country Artist/ Songwriter perform with two other hit songwriters along with a song by a young aspiring singer/songwriter on the same stage is a rare and special treat,” noted Cyndy Reeves. “This is a once in a life type show at the fabulous Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort. The show is open to the public. Showtime is 8 PM. Doors open at 7 PM. You can get tickets at www.SMSWF.com or call 865604-9066. Not only is Darryl Worley a great Country Aritist, he also recognizes the importance of giving back every opportunity that he can through his annual charities that has funded organizations such as the Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center in Savannah, Tenn. Next up on the charitable future for the singer-songwriter is breaking ground on a wellness center geared toward assisting youth battling abuse of drugs and alcohol. “It’s a labor intensive job, but it is a labor of love when you have a chance to really see how it affects human beings,” Darryl says softly. “We’ve saved lives, and that’s what it’s all about.” While he takes pride in making a difference in the lives of those around him, Worley also has spent much of his career giving back to the men and women overseas doing their job to keep his family and our country safe. Following the tragic events of 9/11, Worley penned the heartfelt “Have You Forgotten,” which became the biggest hit of his career. The song remains one of the most anticipated highlights in his live shows, especially when visiting the U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has become a yearly tradition for Worley. “I am just in a really good place in my life and my career,” Worley says, as a smile spreads across his face. “I have been so blessed throughout my career. I have seen so much and experienced so much that I will never take for granted. I’m definitely not done yet. There is a lot more to come from me in the future. It feels good to start stirring it all up again. I’m ready to get back out there!”
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ShadowGrass
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Featured at Heartwood
ShadowGrass Photo by: Noel Amaral
The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail presents ShadowGrass in concert on Thursday, March 10th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Heartwood in Abingdon, VA. This youth music concert is part of The Crooked Road Music Series at Heartwood. ShadowGrass is a youth bluegrass band based out of Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina. The name ‘ShadowGrass’, was created by the members when they came to realize that they are playing bluegrass music in the ‘shadow’ of all the great players such as Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, and more. Recently, the band has been honored with many awards in the bluegrass competitions within their region. ShadowGrass has performed at venues such as the Blue Ridge Music Center, HoustonFest, The Historic Earle Theater, and SPBGMA in Nashville. ShadowGrass is looking forward to contributing to the heritage of bluegrass music within their own generation for many years to come. The Crooked Road Music Se-
ries takes place each Thursday at Heartwood. The series features youth music performers each 2nd Thursday and showcases venues of The Crooked Road region each 4th Thursday. These events, along with open jams on the 1st, 3rd, (and 5th) Thursday of every month showcase Southwest Virginia performers. The Crooked Road Music Series is sponsored by The Crooked Road with support from Heartwood, Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Heartwood: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Gateway is located off I-81 at Exit 14 in Abingdon, VA, and features food, music, and craft of Southwest Virginia. Admission to the concert is free and donations will be accepted for Crooked Road Traditional Music Education Program (TMEP). More information can be found at The Crooked Road website, www.thecrookedroad.org, and at www.heartwoodvirginia.org. For additional information, please call (276) 492-2409 or email: info@ thecrookedroad.org.
Join the Tweetsie Trail Ride each Thursday
Citizens of all ages and skill levels are invited to join the Tweetsie Trail Ride at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday starting March 17. Participants will meet in the lobby of Memorial Park Community Center, 510 Bert St., and will enjoy a casual and fun ride on the Tweetsie Trail. All non-motorized bikes are welcome. Appropriate biking apparel with a helmet and bike light are recommended. Participants can register in person at MPCC prior to the ride. The Tweetsie Trail Ride is presented by the Bike Shop and Boyd Sports/Johnson City Cardinals. For more information, please call the Bike Shop at (423)926-2453 or MPCC at (423)434-5749.
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The Apple Issue
Apple, the tech giant whose products we all use, has been in the news a great deal lately over issues with a iPhone. I too have been having issues with Apple. More to the point I’ve been having major issues with one of Apple’s most predominate programs. iTunes. iTunes feels at times like a necessary evil. I have to use it to manage my digital music on my iPod and iPhone, but for those who are meticulous about how their music is organized—and ripped to digital from CD—it can be a nightmare for which there is no end. There are still a number of CDs I own which haven’t been digitized yet. Some of my friends get rid of their CDs
when they digitize them—I don’t. I like looking a wall full of music, and I’ve spent too many years culminating the collection to just send it off to a bin. I get the reason to sell them off, but it’s not my thing. Also if— heaven forbid—my digital music would crash, I’ll have back ups to re-do the whole thing (just typing that out caused me to have night terrors). But there’s one CD set that has been causing me great distress over others I’ve had for years, and there’s only one disc of that set that’s causing major issue at hand. Apple makes amazing technology that has changed our lives. Yet, how in the hell is it that Apple’s USB SuperDrive optical drive can’t rip disc two
of Ultimate Bee Gees without error!? I have made ten different attempts at getting Ultimate Bee Gees in my library (oh, like you don’t do your best Barry Gibb impression in the car either, sure. Whatever.). I don’t know what it is about a slot based optical drive that causes this issue, but iTunes simply won’t let me add the tracks from this album without weaving them full of errors and audio issues. Pops, clicks, and digital stuttering. Half of the sixteen disc Ella Fitzgerald box set I hadn’t ripped yet? No issue! That random Joe Jackson album I found I didn’t know I had? No issue? Wanting to hear “To Love Somebody?” Hell no! I even got the other computer in
the basement out of storage and tried it on that—didn’t work. I finally messaged a friend who works with computers for a living, and she said she’d be willing to give it a go on one of her super computers. Amazingly, she texted me a day after I gave her the discs, with a note “Welp, I can’t get my optical drive to work.” Did I somehow wind up with a cursed copy of Ultimate Bee Gees? Am I living in a musical Twilight Zone orchestrated by Stephen King? Will all my music somehow become replaced by One Direction songs? I can’t live like this! My only option at this point
is to either go door to door trying to find a computer that works, or to break down and order the damn collection digitally—which kinda defeats the purpose. Still, what drives me up the wall the most over this is how a company that can make a smartphone I can unlock with a thumbprint, can manage to make an optical drive that gets defeated by the brothers Gibb. This is a question that I simply can not pin point an answer to, but it seems it shouldn’t be one I have to ask in the first place. Here’s hoping I can finally “Stay Alive” longer to solve this. See you next week.
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Here they come! Baby eagles will soon hatch live on ETSU’s EagleCams East Tennessee State University’s Department of Biological Sciences is live streaming activity at two local nesting sites of American Bald Eagles, one in Johnson City and the other in Bluff City, through the EagleCam Project. The nests can be viewed at www.etsu. edu/cas/biology/eagle-cam/ . Right on schedule, the Bluff City eagles presented viewers with two eggs, one on Feb. 3 and another on Feb. 6. The Johnson City eagles joined them a few days later, with eggs appearing on Feb. 10 and 13. If the eggs develop as predicted, little eaglets should hatch on March 9 and 12 in the Bluff City nest and on March 16 and 19 at the Johnson City site. Once hatched, the fledgling eagles should be visible through June. Eagle watching through a home computer or mobile device has proven highly popular, with 190,727 visitors in 112 countries viewing the nests as of early March. Dr. Fred Alsop, Department of Biologi-
cal Sciences faculty member, says, “We are gaining worldwide attention for our local eagles. We appreciate those who watch the eagles, as well as volunteers and those who contribute financially so we may continue and improve the service in future nesting seasons.” The EagleCam Project is the result of the combined efforts of scientists, technicians and administrators at ETSU working with private property owners, local companies and government agencies. Those involved include Re/Max Checkmate of Johnson City, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Mahoney’s Outfitters, Mountain Empire Oil Company, Bristol Tennessee Essential Services and the Johnson City Power Board. Some contributed time and expertise while others provided funding and equipment to meet deadlines imposed by the eagles to have everything in place for this year’s nesting season. For further information, contact Alsop at 423-439-6838 or alsopf@etsu.edu.
Friday, March 11 at 7 PM The Abingdon Farmers Market Abingdon, Virginia 24210 Race Me I’m Irish! St. Patty’s Day race with post-race beer garden (bring your IDs) and live music sponsored by Abingdon Music Experience. Electronic B-tag timing and professional race management by We Run Events. The Shamrock 4 Miler benefits the Johnston Memorial Hospital Foundation. Performance shirts! Very nice performance shirts from Leslie Jordan. Please note: Pre-registered
runners/walkers will have first priority on shirts. We can not make guarantees on shirt sizes. Limited quantities of some sizes. Fantastic Post-Race Celebration Post-race beer garden (bring your IDs) and live music sponsored by Abingdon Music Experience. The Shamrock 4 Miler Benefits: The Johnston Memorial Hospital Foundation. Register online at: https://register. chronotrack.com/r/18733. It’s a great event! We hope to see you there.
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CALAMITY JONES BAND - TUESDAY - Mar. 8th OPEN MIC at Acoustic Coffeehouse
DOWNTOWN COUNTRY at Jiggy Ray’s 6:30pm
- WEDNESDAY - Mar. 9th OPEN MIC
at Jiggy Ray’s
SCOTTY MELTON
at Hungry 1 at the Apex 5pm
OPEN MIC
at The Willow Tree Coffeehouse & Music Room 6pm
JOSHUA ROBERT MAL COOPER
at Acoustic Coffeehouse
- THURSDAY - Mar. 10th ACOUSTIC SINGER SONGWRITER NIGHT at Capone’s
MARSHALL BALLEW at Bone Fire Smokehouse
SCYTHIAN
at Holston River Brewing Company 7pm
RYAN & GUEST
at O’Mainnin’s Pub 8pm
TIM MCNARY STOLEN RHODES at Acoustic Coffeehouse
- FRIDAY - Mar. 11th TREE TOPS W/ A GREAT DISASTER at Capone’s
WORKING CLASS HUSSIES at Bone Fire Smokehouse
JB5nDIME
at Down Home BELOW 7 (Rock) at Biggie’s
(formerly The Jones Boys) at Country Club Bar & Grill
DASHBOARD SAINTS
(Blues, Classic Rock) at Poor Richard’s Campus 8pm PLAN Z (Rock) at 50/Fifty Sports Tavern
SOUTHERN COUNTRYMEN BAND (Country) at The Outdoorsman DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE w/ HUDSON K
at The Willow Tree Coffeehouse & Music Room 7pm
JAYSTORM PROJECT at O’Mainnin’s Pub
SOUTHERN 76
HIGH T INDIGHOST, SUNDALE, THESE ARE ANGLES at Capone’s
SUNDOWN BAND (Country)
at Willoughby Ruritan
HB BEVERLY / BROKE & BUSTED
DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER
at Acoustic Coffeehouse
ROCK N ROLL FREAKSHOW
- SATURDAY - Mar. 12th SUTHERN BOYZ at The Family Barn MARK LARKINS at Political Dogs 8:30pm
KILLER BEAZ
at Holston River Brewing Company 9pm
THE IMPALAS at Jiggy Ray’s 7pm
SHOOTER
(Country, Classic Rock, Oldies) at Hansonville Music Barn 7:30pm NIGHTSHIFT (Country, Southern Rock, Oldies) at The ShowPalace
FOLK SOUL REVIVAL at The Willow Tree Coffeehouse & Music Room 8pm
at Northeast State Performing Arts Center at O’Mainnin’s Pub
EXIT 23
at Bone Fire Smokehouse
BILLY CRAWFORD
at Holiday Inn (Exit 7) 9pm
BENNY WILSON ALI RANDOLPH & THE OUTTA LUCK BAND RAILWAY EXPRESS at Country Club Bar & Grill
DAVID OLIVER WILLIS at Acoustic Coffeehouse
- SUNDAY - Mar. 13th JAM SESSION
at The Family Barn 1pm
LETTERS TO ABIGAIL at Bone Fire Smokehouse
GUS MOON
at Acoustic Coffeehouse
- MONDAY - Mar. 14th THE SCOTT COUNTY BOYS
KIDS OUR AGE (50’s - 90’s, rock n roll, country, a bit of everything) at YMCA / Kingsport Aquatic Center 6:30pm SHOOTER (Country, Classic Rock, Oldies) at State Line Bar & Grill 7pm
at Bristol’s Pickin’ Porch
at Jiggy Ray’s 7pm
at Hardee’s (Boones Creek)
THE NEW CONSPIRATORS
TUESDAY
Karaoke At Numan’s - JCTN Karaoke at 50Fifty Sports Tavern ***********************
WEDNESDAY
Karaoke w/ Southern Sounds Karaoke - Rainia Winegar Benefit Concert at Just One More Bar 8pm at American Legion 8pm Karaoke At Bristol VFW - BTN SOUTHERN SOUND (Classic Country & Southern Rock) Turn the Page Karaoke at Abingdon Moose Lodge At VFW Post 2108 - JCTN JAY STORM PROJECT Karaoke w/ Absolute Entertainment at 50/fifty Sports Tavern at Smokey Bones - Johnson City TN HIGH TEST GRASS *********************** at Carter Fold THURSDAY
at The Family Barn
ZACK MILES
KARAOKE
OPEN MIC
at Acoustic Coffeehouse
BLUEGRASS JAM
Karaoke At Numan’s - JCTN Karaoke w/ Southern Sounds Karaoke at Macadoo’s 8pm Karaoke At Holiday Inn - JCTN Karaoke w/ Absolute Entertainment At Everette’s Bar & Grille - JCTN Karaoke At Bristol VFW ***********************
FRIDAY
KaraokeAt Bristol VFW - BTN Karaoke w/ Southern Sounds Karaoke at Sportsman’s Bar & Grill 9pm Karaoke w/ Reverb Karaoke at The Cottage 8:30 pm Turn the Page Karaoke at VFW Post 2108 - JCTN Karaoke At Elizabethton VFW Karaoke w/ DJ Marques At Holiday Inn (Exit 7) - BVA Karaoke At Numan’s - JCTN ***********************
SATURDAY
Turn the Page Karaoke at VFW Post 2108 - JCTN Karaoke At Numan’s - JCTN Karaoke at Bristol VFW Karaoke w/ Absolute Entertainment At Macado’s - Kingsport ***********************
SUNDAY
Karaoke w/ Absolute Entertainment At Everette’s Bar & Grille - JCTN ***********************
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Spotlight Directory
50 Fifty Sports Tavern 2102 N. Roan Street Johnson City Abingdon Moose Lodge 15605 Porterfield Hwy Abgindon VA 276/628-2756 Acoustic Coffeehouse 415 W Walnut St. Johnson City 423/434.9872 Biggies Clam Bar 417 W Stone Dr Kingsport 423/765-9633 Bone Fire Smokehouse at the Hardware 260 W Main St Abingdon Va 276/623-0037 Bristol’s Pickin’ Porch 620 State St Bristol 423/573-2262 Capone’s 227 E Main St Johnson City 423/928-2295 Carter Family Fold 3449 A. P. Carter Hwy Hiltons VA 276/594-0676 Country Club Bar & Grill 3080 W State St Bristol 423/844-0400 David Thompson’s Produce 251 Highway 107 Jonesborough 423/913-8123 Down Home 300 W. Main St. Johnson City 423/929-9822 Family Barn 15559 Lee Hwy Bristol VA Holiday Inn (Exit 7) 3005 Linden Dr Bristol Va 276/466-4100
Holston River Brewing Company 2621 Volunteer Pkwy Bristol TN Jiggy Ray’s 610 E. Elk Ave Elizabethton 423/ 518-1500 Just One More Bar AJ Hwy Mosheim Northeast State Community College 2425 Highway 75 Blountville TN O’Mainnin’s Pub 712 State St Bristol 423/844-0049 The Outdoorsman 4535 Highway 11W Kingsport Poor Richards - Campus 825 W. Walnut St. Johnson City 423/ 928-8611 Show Palace 14364 Lee Hwy Bristol VA 276/494-6610 State Line Bar & Grill 644 State Street Bristol 423/652-0792 Wellington’s Restaurant Carnegie Hotel 1216 W State of Franklin Rd Johnson City 423/979-6400 Willoughby Ruritan 5145 Marvin Rd Bulls Gap VA The Willow Tree Coffeehouse & Music Room 216 E Main St Johnson City Woodstone Deli 3500 Fort Henry Dr Kingsport 423/245-5424
Stolen Rhodes
Mar. 10th Acoustic Coffeehouse
March 8, 2016 | The Loafer | Page 15
Page 16 | The Loafer | March 8, 2016
YEAR IN SPACE HAS CONSEQUENCES
A joint American/Russian mission billed as a “year in space” has brought an awareness of the possible unhealthy consequences of living in the weightless void of outer space. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth on March 1 after spending 340 days aboard the International Space Station. Also returning was three-time spaceflier Sergey Volkov, who’s total days in space is 548. Their plunge back into the bonds of gravity after exposure to the unique environment of space is a test of the human body against the ultimate odds. And filled with facts like Kelly “grew” two inches taller and his face was fatter right after medical checks at the landing site. Kelly now has been in space longer than any American with 520 days on four missions. Kornienko has accumulated 516 days across two spaceflights. Early in the Space Race it was realized the human body exerted a lot of energy in trying to move about in Zero-G, creating many problems with foggy faceplates and lack of leverage to move about. It was also realized that several hours of exercise a day was necessary to combat the body’s attempt to adapt to weightlessness. If left without exercise, human muscles would become so weak that they would atrophy and be rendered nearly uselessness in gravity. Before the first orbital missions of Yuri Gagarin in 1961 and John Glenn in 1962 space scientist didn’t know if a human could swallow, blink their eyes or even talk properly in outer space. Now, after 45 years of human spaceflight, we do
know certain things happen to the body. The human body changes in the environment of “microgravity,” as weightlessness is properly called. Culled from four decades of spaceflight missions, we know some of the physiological effects: • The spine stretches as spinal discs between the vertebra relax like a relieving pressure on a spring. It takes a few months of gravity to push them back. • Muscles turn to jelly, that’s why exercise is crucial. Up to two hours a day is budgeted to run on treadmills and stretch with a special resistance machine. • Your face gets puffy as fluids that were pulled down our bodies are redistributed more evenly. The face gets fat and legs and arms skinny. • Bone density is lost, similar to osteoporosis. So extra calcium and
other vitamins are geared to keeping bones solid and not brittle. • The immune system is compromised, leading to a susceptibility to sickness. Things like radiation, microbes, stress, altered sleep cycles and isolation all have a unique effect that is little understood. • Other factors include lack of coordination to up and down directions; the mystery that the senses of smell and taste are altered to almost be a none factor; nutrition is a challenge with few fresh foods and a freeze-dried menu made up a year in advance; and unknowns about dangerous cosmic radiation that may alter DNA and damage internal organs. • And then there is sex and procreation in space—something neither America or Russia has any experience about—yet. A normal mission duration on the International Space Station is
four months, with the Russian’s three-person Soyuz ship—America’s only access to space—rotating crews out on a regular basis. Sometimes there six people aboard for stretches of three months. Then there will be three left for a couple weeks until ISS Expedition crewmates are blasted to the incredible facility. On March 18th three people of Expedition 48 are scheduled to rocket off the Russian launch facility in the country of Kazakhstan, formerly a part of the Soviet Union. In a couple years the new Russian launch site, Vostochny Cosmodrome, will become their main space port in eastern Russia, saving $115 million rent to Kazakhstan for use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome—site of all Russian manned spaceflights. For America, it may be five years—2021— when our new 4-6-person spaceship Orion becomes operational. Back to the long duration mission of Kelly and Kornienko. They are adjusting to Earth and undergoing a series of tests. Plus, Kelly has an identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, also a four-time space voyager, who is a Guinea pig for an Earth comparison of biomedical data. The unique situation will match the twin brothers’ medical baselines, DNA and other physiological comparisons. They are the only siblings, let alone identical twins, who have been in space. The information is vital in planning how to survive a 600-day roundtrip mission to Mars. During the recording-setting One-Year Mission, more than 400 experiments were conducted relating to a long-term mission to Mars. And the mission was packed with lots of Earth photography and observations for ecology, farming and understanding any global warming. Kelly and Kornienko saw six resupply spacecraft during their mission. Kelly got spend some time outside as he performed three spacewalks: the first routed cables to a new docking port; on the second he assisted the successful reconfiguration of an ammonia cooling system and the restoration of full solar power generation; the third he restored the station’s Mobile Transporter system. The International Space Station has been continuously occupied since November 2000, and
has been visited by more than 200 people from 17 nations. With NASA becoming focused on a mission trip to Mars, the ISS is now a springboard for knowledge to make that goal a reality. Here are some of the issues of space travel: • Behavioral Health; The stress of space living, i.e. having a thin metal frame separate from and life and death; living with others in a confined space; lack of mood changing stimulus. • Metabolic rates; Food, body eliminations, the immune system and nutritional requirements change in space and details are still vague. • Microbial Health; do the essential collection of microbes in and on human bodies change in space? • Vision Impairment; It is suspected that fluid shifts in eye can put pressure on the optic nerve and affect eyesight. • Motor Skills; microgravity of space makes little use of many leg and arm muscles, and being able to physical tasks may be compromised in long duration space flights. • Functional Tasks: How soon after landing in gravity can an astronaut have the strength to open a spacecraft hatch and walk? There have been many long duration spaceflights six months or more by cosmonauts, most aboard the series of Salyut and MIR space stations. There have been longer spaceflights than the 340 days of Kelly and Korniyenko, which ranks fourth all time: Valeri Polyakov spent 437 days in space on Mir in 1994-95; Sergei Avdeyev spent 380 days in 1998-99; and both Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov had a 365-day stay on Mir in 1987-88. Also, the accumulative effect of many space trips can take a physical toll on the amount of cosmic radiation on a body, and possible future problems like tumors or degenerative blood cells. Some of our world’s most experienced space travelers are Gennady Padalka, 878 days, 5 spaceflights; and Sergei Krikalev, 804 days, six spaceflights. Kelly’s total 520 days over four flights ranks him 17th overall behind 17 Russians.
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March 8, 2016 | The Loafer | Page 17
Celestial events in the skies for the week of Mar. 8th - Mar. 14th as compiled for The Loafer by Mark D. Marquette. Enjoy the last days of Eastern Standard Time and get ready to enjoy more daylight in the evening as we “Spring forward” Sunday for a 23-hour day. The Moon is also New Phase on Tuesday so the Winter constellations will be in the darkness splendor for one last time. The New Moon will pass in front of the Sun for a total eclipse as seen from only Asia and Indonesia. Tues. March 8 New Moon at 8:54 pm. The mighty hunter Orion dominates the southern skies with the brightest star in the skies, Sirius, at his feet in the Big Dog constellation. The bright stars of Orion’s knees and shoulders, and his bisecting belt of three stars are the most recog-
nized star pattern--next to the Big Dipper. Wed. March 9 Speaking of which, the Big Dipper is making its annual spring appearance standing on its handle of three stars as darkness sets in around 8:30 pm. The rest of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear, is sprawling ahead of the hindquarters “asterism” of the famous seven stars, called the Plow in Great Britain. Thurs. March 10 On this 2006 date in space history, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at the Red Planet and has been working ever since. Armed with the most powerful camera system in the Solar System, MRO not only helps
guide the paths of rovers Opportunity and Curiosity, but also is a vital communications link from the surface to Earth. Fri. March 11 On this 2008 date in space history, Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched with seven astronauts. They brought to the International Space Station the first module of the Japanese lab Kibo and the Canadian special purpose remote arm named Dextre. Sat. March 12 The Sun enters the constellation Pisces; at least that’s what the facts are, contrary to the fake science of astrology— which erroneously has the Sun entering the Fishes on Feb. 23. Sun. March 13 Spring forward as Daylight
Saving Time begins when 2 tronomer to just use his eyes, am becomes 3 am. Daylight discovering thousands of doulasts until about 7:30 pm, but ble stars, nebula, galaxies and star clusters—though the exact nature of these objects would await photography, pioneered by his son, John. Mon. March 14 Happy 82nd birthday to the last man on the Moon, Gene Cernan, who is the subject of current 2016 movie documentary called “The Last Man on the Moon.” He climbed the ladder of his moonship Challenger to join moon mate Jack Schmitt on December 13, 1972, leaving the last human footprints so far on an alien world. its dark in the morning again until 7:45 am. Remember, a 23-hour day today! On this 1781date in space history, William Herschel discovered the sixth planet Uranus from the backyard observatory in his mansion in Bath, England. He was the greatest telescopic as-
Page 18 | The Loafer | March 8, 2016
IN THEATRES NOW Box Office Top 10
In Theaters Now
“Zoolander no. 2” The tagline for the 2001 comedy “Zoolander” was “3% body fat, 1% brain activity”. The tagline referred to the title character, everyone’s favorite male model, played by Ben Stiller. Stiller and his character Zoolander have returned in 2016 in the new film “Zoolander 2”, also referred to “Zoolander No. 2” and “2oolander”. It seems hard to believe the first film was released so long ago. The first film featured “walk off’s” and various other fashion battles between Zoolander and rival Hansel (Owen Wilson), along with a thwarted assignation attempt. At the end of the first film the two male model rivals had become friends. As the new film begins, we discover Zoolander is living as a recluse in “extreme northern” New Jersey and Hansel is living in “uncharted Malibu territories” with his orgy mates. Zoolander is living the life of a recluse due to the tragic death of his wife, which has resulted in Zoolander losing custody of his son Dereck Zoolander Jr. (Cyrus Arnold). Hansel has also retired from modeling due to an accident that left his face scarred, and and wears a fashionable patch over his right eye. The two are reunited when they are convinced by fashion maven Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig) to attend her latest show and make a guest appearance. Zoolander was also convinced to be in the show by actor Billy Zane (playing himself) in order
Deadpool (2016) A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool. Gods of Egypt (2016) Mortal hero Bek teams with the god Horus in an alliance against Set, the merciless god of darkness who has usurped Egypt’s throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict. Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) Continuing his “legendary adventures of awesomeness”, Po must face two hugely epic, but different threats: one supernatural and the other a little closer to his home. Risen (2016) In 33 AD, a Roman Tribune in Judea is tasked to find the missing body of an executed Jew rumored to have risen from the dead.
to regain custody of his son he must return to a regular life. The fashion show ends in unexpected humiliation for the duo, but all is not lost as Interpol agent, Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz), of the fashion division(!), helps Zoolander find his son, who has been residing in an orphanage in Rome, Italy. While Zoolander is dealing with his son, he has been recruited to help find who has been killing the beautiful
How to Be Single (2016) There’s a right way to be single, a wrong way to be single, and then...there’s Alice. And Robin. Lucy. Meg. Tom. David. New York City is full of lonely hearts seeking the right match, be it a love connection, a hookup, or something in the middle. And somewhere between the teasing texts and one-night stands, what these unmarrieds all have in common is the need to learn how to be single in a world filled with ever-evolving definitions of love. Sleeping around in the city that never sleeps was never so much fun. The Witch (2015) A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession. Race (2016) Jesse Owens’ quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy.
Eddie the Eagle (2016) The story of Eddie Edwards, the notoriously tenacious Brit- The Revenant (2015) A frontiersman on a fur tradish underdog ski jumper who charmed the world at the 1988 ing expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being Winter Olympics. mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own Triple 9 (2016) A gang of criminals and cor- hunting team. rupt cops plan the murder of a pop stars of the world. This police officer in order to pull IMDb.com quest leads Zoolander, Hansel off their biggest heist yet across (03/05/2016) and Valentina to cross paths town. with dastardly fashion wiz Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell), tally unexpected. It was really ous self-important model All. who is being held in an isolated fun seeing Stiller and Owens There are also appearances by prison due to his crimes in the portraying these characters plenty of real life fashion defirst film. Due to his 1% brain again, and as Zoolander states signers, which proves they are power, Zoolander accidentally he “really missed not knowing not above poking fun at their releases Jacobim from prison things” with Hansel. industry. “Zoolander No. 2” is The film also features some a great film in which to turn off and the real fun begins. The story also involves the legend- great cameos from the likes of your brain, ala the title characary Fountain of Youth, which Sting, Justin Bieber, and Bene- ter, sit back and give your best turns out to be something to- dict Cumberbatch as the hilari- “Blue Steel” look. (PG-13) B+
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March 8, 2016 | The Loafer | Page 19
A Sign of the Times
The path that Interstate 40 cuts through Knoxville, TN, is not a particularly pleasant one to travel. Those passing through are treated to harrowing interchanges, brutal traffic, and some of the most polluted air that this nation has to offer. It’s not much to look at either. Aside from the mile or so where you can risk a glimpse south to see the Sunsphere and the few tall buildings that almost make Knoxville look like a big city, it’s mostly big box retailers and chain restaurants. And while nobody likes a trip out to Best Buy and Chili’s more than I do, it’s that brief view of downtown – and specifically the highly visible Regas Restaurant sign - that captures my interest. The Regas Building, atop which the old sign sits, dates to the 1890’s while the eponymous restaurant can be traced back to 1919. At the time, the two-story building you see today was five stories, containing a fancy hotel (the Watauga) above numerous retail establishments. Those included a barbershop, a pool hall, and a small café with a lunch counter and twelve tables owned by the Regas brothers. Over the next ninety-some years, the building saw several radical changes, including a number of façade redesigns and the demolition of the top three stories. Through it all though, the restaurant remained. By the 1950’s, the café had grown into
a full service eatery, eventually solidifying itself as the cornerstone of Knoxville’s fine dining scene. It was there that a young Dave Thomas got his first start in the restaurant business, clearing tables before moving up to the position of server. His tenure there didn’t last long though – a dispute with his manager led to him getting sacked. But it was at the Regas where the eventual founder of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers first began to dream of one day owning his very own restaurant. I guess he was really inspired. The Regas sign is still there despite the fact that the restaurant closed up shop in 2010. The building beneath it was eventually purchased by the
Knoxville Leadership Foundation to be part of an urban development called Regas Square. Nowadays, the place where Dave Thomas bussed tables and where Knoxville’s power players enjoyed their three-martini lunches serves the community as a home to various non-profits. Tenants such as Big Brothers / Big Sisters of East TN, the Compassion Coalition, the Urban Alliance, and an arm of UT’s Haslam College of Business serve the community with an eye toward the future. And though the word ‘Restaurant’ has been removed from the old sign, it will continue to stand as a nod to an earlier era. Ponder that the next time you’re crawling past in rush hour traffic.
Page 20 | The Loafer | March 8, 2016
The Ginger & Julia Christian Interview
No parent wants to be told there is anything “wrong” with their child. All too often, parents feel they are being told that very thing when a child is diagnosed with a learning disability. Here is the story of two wonderful friends of mine who have dealt with this issue head on as mother and daughter. If you or anybody you know is looking for inspiration on this topic, here it is. BRIAN: Education and literacy are very important to both of you. We will get in to more specifics about your family story in a minute. But first, why does each of you place such a high value on education? DR. CHRISTIAN: I was raised by a family of educators. My grandmother served as a teacher and school administer and my mother taught school for over thirty years. As one of nine children, my father was the first member of his family to graduate from college. One of my earliest memories is of my father telling me, “You will go to college. You will not get married until you graduate from college!” Those words defined my future but school was very difficult for me. I struggled to learn how to read and I never could sit still in class. I transposed numbers and letters and as a child the normal school routine was extremely challenging for me. I was in the fifth grade before I began to read fluently. Due to the challenging experiences I had in school, I declared that I would never teach school. I graduated from high school and started college and I had no idea what I wanted to study. I made a decision to quit college and get a job until I figured out what to do next. When I went home and told my father that I had decided to quit school, he quickly responded, “You will have to live on your own if you don’t go to school and you can’t afford to live on your own so turn around and go
right back to school!” Those words set a course for my life. My parents refused to recognize my struggle as a sign of limited intelligence. The summer following that conversation, I worked with students that had special needs and fell in love with education. This was a turning point in my life’s work. I not only graduated with a degree in special education but also regular education. From the moment I realized I had a call to teach, I studied day and night and was on the Dean’s List until I graduated from ETSU. I love to learn. Struggle does not indicate intelligence. In fact, often the reverse is true. Children who demonstrate learning difficulties require different approaches to instruction. When we get to the heart of the student, we will always unlock the mind. I am passionate about teaching and learning. I have the best job in the world because every day I get to go to school and learn from my students and colleagues. JULIA: For me education is my ticket to do everything I want to do
with my life. My passion to learn has allowed me to travel, serve in missions, and help others along the way. Education is important for me because it opens so many doors and brings new opportunities, but most importantly it has given me confidence in myself. I now have confidence and I understand what I have learned and that I can help others who also struggle. BRIAN: Now, there is a part of your family story that is particularly remarkable when it comes to education. Julia, you have faced learning with a diagnosed disability since you were young, but you have not faced it alone. Tell us what it is like being dyslexic and how it has shaped your relationship with your mom. JULIA: As a third grader, it was difficult to understand at first. I never understood why the world around me never made sense. But when my parents explained dyslexia to me and how it changed the way I see things it helped me begin to understand why I was different. But being dyslexic did not just shape
my relationship with my mom, but rather every relationship that I have. My mom and my dad both made it clear that while I am Dyslexic, I am NOT disabled, but rather had a very unique view of the world and can use that to my advantage. Both my parents encouraged me, pushed me and reminded me every single day that I am smart and that I am capable of the work in front of me. They became my biggest cheerleaders, my defenders, and my greatest allies. As I grew up they taught me to fight for myself, because while they can help me, when I address being dyslexic I feel that I gain more respect from my teachers, as well as me peers; and that I make a subject that is often looked on as taboo more accessible and understood. My parents helped me become the person I am today, and I am thankful for everything they did for me. But it was not always an easy relationship. There were days when I was tired of trying so hard only to feel like I was perpetually failing. Days when just giving up seemed like the better option. I am positive that there were days when I would give them a run for their money by testing their patience. I would push to quit and they would push back to try one more time. They reminded me that I am smart, that I am capable, and to use my view of the world to my advantage. They taught me to not let the feelings of doubt, inadequacy and failure not to dictate what I did because those feeling did not and do not make me who I am. Doing my best, giving my all, and being comfortable in the outcome because I knew I did my best was all that mattered. My parents are the reason I do not consider myself to have a learning disability, but just an exceedingly unique view of the world that I have come to love. BRIAN: And Dr. Christian, lots of people would let a learning disability be their excuse to enable that child to settle for less in their life in terms of education. That was never an option for you. Why not? DR. CHRISTIAN: I remember the day with clarity, almost as if time had stopped, when my Julia’s second grade teacher told me, Julia is a gifted child who has dyslexia. As a special education teacher, I knew instantly that would mean years of struggle and hard work. I also realized it would mean many conversations with teachers and new interventions for my sweet second grade daughter. But Diane Zoellner was absolutely correct. Julia Christian is a dyslexic learner and she has a brilliant mind.
As a parent I can also relate to the daily challenges of homework that takes three hours when it should require thirty minutes. I remember many nights when Julia would cry and cry because she wanted to do well at school and she studied for days to only fail the spelling test yet again. When she was in the second grade Julia was required to write a two-page research paper on the Tasmanian devil. The school SST team and I had agreed to a scribe strategy for her to complete this assignment. This intervention strategy required an adult to read orally to Julia and transcribe her exact interpretation for the research paper. As you might imagine, it took days to complete this project. We read multiple research-based articles together and then Julia would interpret the research. She was then required to rewrite the entire sentence and paragraph and correct her spelling errors with the pattern provided. She worked very hard on the project and the night before it was due, the twopage paper was complete. I walked into the kitchen as Julia took a pink magic marker and wrote her name across the top on the paper. Her action was a normal action for a second grade student. She was proud of the paper and she loved to write with color. My reaction was not positive. I could not believe she had “ruined” all of that hard work and envisioned her writing that paper again to meet the requirements. I am embarrassed to say Julia realized how frustrated I was with her that night. After she went to bed, I sat for a long time and reflected upon my reaction to her normal second grade behavior. I made a decision on that night to never lose my temper again with her while we worked on homework. Julia already demonstrated so much anxiety about school and when I was frustrated her emotions intensified greatly. It is important to note here that research has taught us that when a student becomes stressed or angry they are unable to process new information correctly. It is not that our students do not want to do a good job or understand the concepts. When the stress levels rise the brain goes into an emergency mode and they can’t process new information. It is called an amygdala hijack. Attitude matters! We worked with specialists in the area of reading and dyslexia and after Julia was formerly diagnosed, her daddy and I researched everything we could read. We taught her why she struggled and explained to
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Movers ... continued from page 20 her that her mind did not process information correctly but that she was very intelligent. We told her she had a gift because she could see letters, words, and information through a different perspective. But we also told her she would have to learn strategies to self-correct how she viewed text so that she could learn to read effectively. We always worked with the school as a partner in this process and educated teachers how to use research based strategies to strengthen her reading skills. Julia’s teachers quickly became our heroes. Her third grade teacher, Mrs. Julie Allen, told me one day. Julia just needs to love to come to school. As long as she loves school we can teach her what she needs to know. That was the year Julia began to love going to school. Mrs. Allen sent Julia a gift when she graduated from high school. Teachers have such a powerful positive impact on students. I thank God for the teachers that loved Julia enough to change the way they taught so she could learn. We always believed she was brilliant and never gave up learning how to help her realize her dreams. BRIAN: Julia, I would honestly never guessed you have a learning
disability because you are very intelligent and obviously doing well in higher education. What do you want every little kid out there who has been told they have a learning disability to hear from you? JULIA: Honestly, most people don’t always catch on to it. As I have gone through school I have learned different strategies that helped me immensely and still do today. Because I know where I started and where I am at now, I want them to know to never, under any circumstance, listen to the person who tells you that you are not smart enough, good enough, or special enough to do the things you want to do. I want them to know that, they are brilliant and that no one has the right to tell them that they do not have potential. The only thing that matters is that they put their best work forward and always give their best, and the rest will work out. We have to remember to never give up because the glass ceiling is not real. If I had listened to the people who told me that I was not good enough or smart enough to succeed I would not be where I am today. Instead of letting the words from people who did not believe I was intelligent enough to succeed, I
used their words to remind me why I am. The belief of limitations from others means nothing to me as long as I believe I am able. There is always a way to go further, do better and enjoy it at the same time. BRIAN: Dr. Christian, if anybody can tell parents and educators how to get more resources in their hands regarding literacy and learning disabilities, it is you. Where do you tell folks to begin their search? DR. CHRISTIAN: Thank you Brian. Response to Intervention and Instruction or RTI2 is a powerful resource for teachers and students. School districts are working tirelessly to ensure to train teachers in research-based instructional approaches to close reading and math gaps. I encourage parents to view the school as their partner and ask questions. I also encourage parents to use homework strategies that provide a calm and consistent support to students every day after school. Students who struggle often experience a great deal of stress. It is important to remember that our students have already worked for hours at school. I suggest the following: • Designate a quiet area in the home for homework.
• Plan homework at the same time each night and turn off the TV while the student works. • If your child works on homework after school, take a 15minute break and eat a snack. • Recognize if stress levels elevate and provide an opportunity to stretch and calm down. • Use positive self talk. “ I am smart.” “ I can learn.” When students say, “I can’t, add the word yet to the statement. “I can’t yet.” • Teach children that learning challenges are not negative but rather learning how to persevere and never give up is a positive part of life. • Let your child read out loud to you at least 4 times a week. Spend 10 to 15 minutes reading with your student and coach him how to correct mistakes. Julia and I use to take turns. She would read a sentence and then I would read a sentence. We must teach our children how to build stamina with reading just like we would coach an athlete. • The use of colors is an effective strategy for students. Use a piece of colored paper and block out the extra text. This allows the brain to focus as
students are processing letters. Julia uses color and highlighters consistently in college to differentiate the information she studies. Finally, remember that learning to read is a process and it takes time to teach new strategies and incorporate them every day. We used Orton-Gillingham strategies with Julia and I have taught students of every age to read with this approach. The brain is a complex and amazing organ. When we introduce multi-sensory strategies to students who struggle we activate new areas of the brain and long term learning can and will occur. It is never too late to learn how to read or learn how to teach reading in new and innovative ways. Julia has inspired our work and speaks to teachers and students about the power of effective strategies for students who struggle. She inspires me every day. This sweet child who could not read in the fourth grade, graduated with honors and 15 hours of college credit and she has finished her Associate’s Degree and is now pursuing her Bachelor’s degree. Brian, we encourage students to never give up and remember every day brings us a new opportunity to learn.
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Answers found on page 24
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Pets Of The Week
March 8, 2016 | The Loafer | Page 23
Bella is an approximately 3 year old spayed female rat terrier mix. She is up to date of all vaccines. She is a sweet dog but will do best in a home without small children
Piper is a male chihuahua mix who is neutered and up to date on all vaccines. He came to the shelter because his owner is homeless and couldn’t care for him. He is such a sweet and snuggly boy! The Bridge Home has an ongoing aluminum can can collection in front of the shelter at 2061Hwy 75 in Blountville,TN 37617. The cans are collected by a volunteer and the money from the aluminum goes towards badly needed food and supplies for the animals The Bridge Home No Kill Animal Rescue recently moved in to their new 7,300 sq foot building @ 2061 Hwy 75 Blountville, TN,37617. The Bridge Home is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 2002 dedicated to the welfare of homeless or abandoned animals. They provide care and compassion for stray and unwanted cats and dogs until they can be adopted into a forever home. Every animal in their care is spayed or neutered and fully vaccinated before being adopted. Being a non profit the shelter is funded entirely by membership dues and private donations. They always need volunteers or monetary donations. Other always needed items:pet food, cat litter & cat toys dog treats & dog toys,paper towels, cleaners, office supplies,Purina weight circles. Phone: 423.239.5237 Hours are Mon-Fri 12pm-6pm Sat 12pm-3pm and Sun 2pm-4pm. Website is www.bridgehomerescue@gmail.com or like them on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/bridgehome?fref=ts.
SELL .... YOUR .... STUFF
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Page 24 | The Loafer | March 8, 2016
THINGS TO DO . . . . . Academy Application Available
The Johnson City Police Department is accepting applications for the 45th session of the Citizen’s Police Academy. The first session is scheduled for Monday, April 25,2016. The nine-week academy is designed to develop a better understanding and awareness of the police role in the community through a hands-on approach. Participants must be at least 21 years old, physically able to meet training requirements, available to attend nine three-hour weekly sessions and one eight-hour Saiurday session, available to ride with a patrol officer for two eight-hour shifts, sign required waivers and agreements, and have no criminal history. Applications may be obtained from the Johnson City Police Department Community Services, 601 East Main Street. After 5 p.m., applications may be obtained from Johnson City Police Records at the same address. Applications can also be accessed on Johnson City’s website at www.johnsoncitytn.org/police. Deadline for registration is April 15, 2016. Applications must be returned by that date for processing. For more information, call Glenda Aschenback at 434-6170.
Power Squadron to offer TWRA Safe Boating Class at March Boat Show The Johnson City Sail and Power Squadron announced today that they will offer TWRA’S Tennessee Safe Boating Course on Saturday March 12, 2016 at the ETSU Mini Dome. The class will be offered in conjunction with the TriCities Boat Show March 12/13 at the Mini Dome. Class hours are 10am to 4:30 pm. Cost is $10.00 and includes your book, instruction and test administration. Pre-registration is not required, but is suggested due to limited seating. The Tennessee Safe Boating Course covers: Your Boat, Getting Underway, Operating Your Boat Safely, Legal Requirements of Boating, Boating Emergencies – What To Do, Enjoying Water Sports With Your Boat. Contents are approved by TWRA, NASBLA and rec-
ognized by the U.S. Coast Guard. Test Review will precede administration of test. Individuals who pass the test will be issued TWRA’s Boating Safety Education Certificate which is required by the State of Tennessee of all boat and personal watercraft operators born after Jan 1, 1989. For More Info, Contact : Clarke Lucas at (423) 538-4643 The JC Sail and Power Squadron will also have a booth at the Boat Show for any one interested in learning more about boating in the Tri-Cities area and how the Squadron can help you and your family safely enjoy your boating experience. Web Site: www.TriCitiesBoating.org. E-Mail: TriCitiesBoating@ gmail.com
S.H.O.U.T.!® Youth Leadership taking applications for two summer sessions The Kingsport Chamber announced today its youth leadership program S.H.O.U.T.!®(Students Helping Others Understand Tomorrow) - is accepting applications for its two summer classes. Two different classes are offered. The first class will be Monday, May 23 through Friday, May 27 and the second class will be Monday, June 13 through Friday, June 17. Students will meet from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. each day with graduation at 6 p.m. on the final day. Each day will consist of developing leadership skills and community awareness through interactive programs, speakers and other activities while having fun and making new friends. The deadline to submit an application for either class is Friday, March 18. To receive an application, contact Vanessa Bennett, director of operations & Kingsport Leadership Programs, at(423) 392-8813 or vbennett@kingsportchamber.org
Celebrate Red Cross Month by giving blood in March Make an appointment to become a hero to patients in need by downloading the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Arts Array presents
“WHAT OUR FATHERS DID: A NAZI LEGACY”
The Arts Array Film Series presented by Virginia Highlands Community College is in its 45th year. All films are presented at the Abingdon Cinemall on Mondays and Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and again at 7:30 pm. What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy (March 14 and 15) Three men travel together across Europe. For two of them, the journey involves a confrontation with the acts of their fathers, who were both senior Nazi officers. For the third, the eminent human rights lawyer and author Philippe Sands, it means visiting the place where much of his own Jewish family was destroyed by the fathers of the two men he has come to know. It is an emotional, psychological exploration of three men wrestling with their past, the present of Europe, and conflicting versions of the truth. The Arts Array Film Series is part of the comprehensive cultural outreach program of Virginia Highlands Community College. The series is co-sponsored by the Abingdon Cinemall, the South-
west Virginia Higher Education Center, Emory& Henry College, and King University. Admission to the films is free for the faculties and students at the supporting institutions. Members of the general community may attend for $7.75. For a brochure on the series or more information, please contact Tommy Bryant at 276-739-2451 or email him at tbryant@vhcc.edu.
Upcoming blood donation opportuni- 8:00 am - 1:00 pm • Munsey Memoties: Tuesday, March 8: American Red rial United Methodist Church, 201 East Cross, 818 Sunset Drive, Johnson City, Market Street, Johnson City, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm - 7:00 pm • Mountain City 7:30 pm, call Priscilla Sarvadi at (423) Community at Johnson County EMS 461-8070 extension 213 Rescue, 203 Vandilla Street, Mountain Friday, March 11: Erwin Community at City, 1:00 pm - 5:30 pm the First Christian Church, 307 South Wednesday, March 9: American Red Main Avenue, Erwin, 12:00 - 5:00 pm Cross, 818 Sunset Drive, Johnson City, DROP QUOTE: “To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind.” CRYPTOGRAM: No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right - a single experiment can prove me wrong
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March 8, 2016 | The Loafer | Page 25
RIP Ammo
Last week we looked at the difference between JHP’s and SJHP’s this week we’ll look at the RIP round from G2 research. You might have heard the whispers and rumors about this round, yes it is real and yes you can buy it, the real question is should you? As we discussed last week what makes JHP and SJHP’s so effective is their ability to retain their shape and density while penetrating a soft target (person) but not penetrate a hard target (wall). This is due to their being designed with a lead core and metal jacket. The RIP round is not designed for density as it is made from solid copper. The bullet has a pronged appearance with a solid base and six prongs forming the sides. Once it enters the target these prongs separate from the base resulting seven points of exit. That is the selling point of this round, it “deci-
mates” your enemy. There are several problems with this round, the first being the issue with density, which remember is responsible for knocking your attacker down. While with seven points of exit this round is most certainly going to kill your attacker, they likely won’t die immediately, which could be bad if they’re coming at you, or heaven forbid armed with a firearm themselves as they could get a shot off before you can shoot again. The second problem with this round is a two part problem, legal and ethical. Many states are in the process of outlawing this round because as before mentioned this round is almost certainly going to kill your attacker, keep in mind the law only allows force that reasonably appeared necessary to stop the threat. Therefore this round can be considered excessive force. Ethically speaking
RESCUE RAINIA’S RACK The Rainia Winegar Cancer Benefit
Come out and show your support for Rainia Winegar who has breast cancer, and needs financial help to assist with her mounting medical costs. H.B. Beverly, along with Broke & Busted will be performing. H.B. Beverly will be hosting the show which will start at 3 pm, and go for the next 11 hours until 2 am. H.B. is mostly known for his vast repertoire of Jimmy Buffett songs, and anything that is close to that in musical content. He’s opened for CHICAGO, MARY CHAPIN-CARPENTER,
GOOSECREEK SYMPHONY, MICHAEL JOHNSON, KEVIN WELCH, and many other award winning artists and songwriters in Nashville. Also joining H.B. Beverly that night for a reunion performance will be his former keyboard player, Don Eanes, who may be better known for the national touring Gospel Rock bands UNSPOKEN, and the J.J. WEEKS BAND, who won a Dove Award last year. This will be their first time playing together since 2007, and for fans of their older shows in the early
your goal when using deadly force should be to stop the threat using whatever force is necessary up to death, but killing the person should be your absolute last resort, therefore using this round can be deemed unethical as it will likely kill the person. Is it a bad round? No, in fact if you want to buy a box and pick up a few watermelons and watch as they blow the backs out that’s okay. However, it is not recommended that you use these rounds for personal protection or home defense. Also at $55.00 for 20 rounds you’re much better off buying yourself a box of Gold Dot and you can use the rest to buy yourself a nice dinner somewhere. As always I hope you enjoyed this article, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me, I look forward to your feedback.
March 19th @ Just One More Bar and Grill Millenium, this show is not to be missed! All three members of THE BAND PERRY has personally autographed a new Takamine acoustic sunburst guitar, which will be auctioned off that evening to the highest bidder. All proceeds from this event will benefit Rainia Winegar beating cancer! Come out and show your support. Open to the public. For more information visit contact Rick Maupin at (423) 609-0676.
Page 26 | The Loafer | March 8, 2016
TATTOO YOU, BASS AND TREBLE
Yes, my title is a tribute to the Rolling Stones and Meghan Trainor, but this week’s column isn’t really about either of them specifically. It is, however, about music in general and about two tattoos that have recently appeared on my forearms (see picture). About a month ago, I entered the Now or Never tattoo salon in Kingsport at 4:30 p.m., and thanks to the expert artistry of Hank King and the moral and photographic support rendered by two former students (and, of course, the loving and sometimes skeptical urgings of my wife and daughter), I emerged from the salon about thirty minutes later with the two tattoos you see in the picture. I am very happy to report that the pain was very bearable, that both are now healed, and that I haven’t had even one second of buyer’s remorse since these two masterpieces became a permanent addition to my anatomy. Things have certainly changed since the time I was my daughter’s age, when tattoos were viewed as the mark of the devil, a sure sign that the person displaying them was the lowest of the low and a disgrace to the human race. My, how time flies when you’re having fun. I realize that choosing a tattoo (or tattoos) is a serious decision, but choosing a bass clef for my left arm and a treble clef for my right arm was a no-brainer, given the fact that I have a pas-
sion for playing music. Playing treble notes with my right hand and bass notes with my left symbolizes the harmony and creativity that we should all strive for in life. And every time I see my tattoos I am reminded of just how important and influential music has been in my life. Had I not made certain musical choices I would never have moved to Johnson City, met my wife, been blessed with my daughter, or become the author of “Kelly’s Place”. And I doubt I would have made the choice to get tattooed. Interestingly enough, at the time I got the two clefs inscribed on my arms, I was reading an eye-opening new book by Ben Ratliff, EVERY SONG EVER:
TWENTY WAYS TO LISTEN IN AN AGE OF MUSICAL PLENTY (2016). Now that I have finished reading this book, I look at my tattoos and the way I perform and listen to music with new eyes and ears. Ratliff, who has also written a provocative book on the music of John Coltrane, invites us to think of the history of music in a whole new way now that we live in an era that allows us to listen to “every song ever.” We are now literally immersed in music, and have within our grasp the ability to hear anything we want anytime we want. According to Ratliff, this dramatic change in the way music is accessed and processed means that the old ways of classifying music into
genres is now longer relevant or useful. He proposes that instead of thinking about music the way record stores and radio DJs did “back in the day” before the advent of digital streaming and mobile playlists, we should classify music according to its characteristics rather than its market niches. For instance, rather than thinking about music as being subdivided into categories like “classical,” “pop,” “rock,” “country,” and “jazz,” we should envision the history of music as being represented in one big playlist, where categories are stripped away so we can think of what we are listening to in terms of its loudness, speed, intimacy, virtuosity, sadness, audio space, improvisation, density, repetition, discrepancy, and connection to space and time. Just take a look at Ratliff’s playlist and you will find fascinating examples of world music, familiar, unfamiliar, vocal, instrumental, and other genredestroying characteristics. I am in the process of adding Ratliff’s examples to my playlist and look forward to embarking on a new and sometimes radical musical education. And, I am pleasantly surprised that I am using Ratliff’s ideas in my teaching of history and humanities. In studying history, for example, we have labored far too long with the traditional presentation of history as a decadeby-decade account of what happened. Instead, why not imagine history as a story of experiences that can’t be confined to neat little ten-year periods or tidy little classifications, replete with bullet points? Maybe it’s time to destroy the box rather than trying to think outside it. Ratliff’s book belongs on a shelf alongside four others that have also changed my ways of thinking about music and other topics. Anyone who wants to think in different ways about music should start with Elijah Wald’s essential HOW THE BEATLES DESTROYED ROCK AND ROLL: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF AMERI-
CAN POPULAR MUSIC (2009), a thought-provoking and mindbending argument for seeing and hearing music with new eyes and ears. And, don’t worry, Wald is a Beatles fan and insists on their significance, albeit in new and interesting ways. A closely related book is Abe Vigoda’s THE B-SIDE: THE DEATH OF TIN PAN ALLEY AND THE REBIRTH OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SONG (2015), an account of how and why pop music has been passed down to a whole new generation of songwriters and performers. Anyone who believes that the best American popular music died with Gershwin, Porter, and Sinatra should read Vigoda’s fresh new interpretation of how music constantly reinvents itself by adopting new disguises. Who do you think the “B” in B-side refers to? One of my favorite pop culture commentators, Greil Marcus, has written a somewhat audacious little book entitled THE HISTORY OF ROCK ‘n’ ROLL IN TEN SONGS (2014) which succeeds remarkably well in giving us a refreshingly different crash course in the history of rock ‘n’ roll through the lens of ten familiar (and not-so-familiar) songs that represent the convoluted and unconventional evolution of American pop music from roughly he 1920s to the present. Last, but not least we have John Seabrook’s THE SONG MACHINE: INSIDE THE HIT FACTORY (2015) that presents us with a nifty overview of how pop music is being made today, and in the process makes us think in new and different ways about recent and contemporary performers like Taylor Swift, The Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and Pharrell Williams. And who would have thought that Abba is a key ingredient in this story? It’s amazing where two little tattoos can lead, isn’t it? Here’s hoping your week is filled with curiosity and creativity. And maybe a little Abba. See you next week.
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March 8, 2016 | The Loafer | Page 27 PLACING A CLASSIFED LINE AD:
Go to: www.theloaferonline.com, create an account, and enter your classified. Call 423282-1907 or email: classifieds@theloaferonline.com if you have any questions.
01 General Items
70 Real Estate
85 Jobs
50 Farming
ing, crown molding, new roof in Regional, Teams, Owner Opps.
Phone: 423-943-3608 Price: $ 80.00 Tuff Stuff Heavy Duty Oval a110 gallon tank, approximately 8 months old. In excellent condition. Allied Precision 2002DP Universal Drain Plug Deicer, that fits the above tank. Deicer is brand new, still in box, never used. Will sell separately. Tank $50.00; Deicer $30.00. Both purchased at Tractor Supply.
outside the home, ADT pulse se- ing.com curity system with motion sensors 107 Services and video cameras. Contact David Fletcher - Caldwell Banker 423612-1367 121 General Services
LIVESTOCK WATER TANK 2010, multi zone surround sound Morristown Drivers Service, Inc. system wired to every room and 844-MDS-Jobs. www.MDStruck& DEICER
137 Transportation 141 Motorcycle/Scooters 2004 Honda XR50
Phone: 423-383-3553 Price: $ 600.00 Great running bike
107 Services
107 Services
115 Construction
115 Construction
129 Legal
Join us at Piney Flats United
to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay Nothing! Contact Bill Gordon & Associates at 1-800-864-9032 to start your application today!
community wide Easter Egg Hunt. Saturday, March 19th at 12:00pm. Games, crafts and Easter Egg Hunt for all ages. For more information, contact Luci Tate at 423-416-0446 or Piney Flats United Methodist Church 423-538-6937.
85 Jobs
103 Sales/Marketing
Account Representative
Phone: 423-283-4324 The Loafer is seeking motivated account representatives to service various territories throughout TriCities. Must be enthusiastic, hardworking, positive, successful. Part time - Full time. Flexible hours. Must have reliable transportation, smart phone & self-motivated. Join The Loafer team today! Email
SOCIAL SECURITY DIS- Methodist Church, 225 Methodist ABILITY BENEFITS. Unable Church Street, Piney Flats, for a
63 Community
175 Church Announcements Community Wide EASTER EGG HUNT
70 Real Estate 72 For Sale
***Condo for sale ***
resumes to info@theloafeornline. com
93 Drivers/Delivery
You’re important. Let us show Price: $ 99,900.00 you how! Hiring Drivers: OTR, Woodstone Condos. 2 bedroom / 1.5 bath. Remax Checkmate. Contact: Wayne Bartley 423-292-2595, Deborah Bartley 423-686-6180
Homes like this don’t come available often!
Phone: 423-612-1367 Price: $ 132,000.00 306 Mockingbird Place, Blountville, TN. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath 1,080 sqft. Completely remodeled with features including hardwood floors throughout the home, updated bathroom, recessed light-
146 Mind, Body & Spirit 147 Counseling Services
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