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September 30, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 3
Volume 28 Issue #43
Jonesborough, TN
October 3rd - 5th, 2014
Publisher - Bill Williams • Editor/Graphic Arts Director - Don Sprinkle • Office Manager - Luci Tate Cover Design - Bill May 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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Tickets on Sale Now for the 42nd Annual National Storytelling Festival concerts are on both Friday and Saturday nights, at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., respectively. Intimate Storytelling Studios will also run during the daytime. Guests will include featured tellers, as well as Piper Kerman (of Orange is the New Black fame) and Larry Smith (author of the Six-Word Memoir book series). Two special events have been arranged for the days leading up to the Festival. Storytelling icon Donald Davis will christen the grounds of the festival with a nighttime show, “Stories I Almost Forgot to Tell,” on Wednesday, October 1. Then on Thursday, October 2, Grammy Award-winner Suzy Bogguss will host an exclu-
Preparations are underway for the 42nd National Storytelling Festival, an annual celebration of oral traditions from all over the world. The 2014 Festival will run October 3 – 5, with regular programming scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. More than two dozen masters of the craft will perform beneath bigtop tents that have been raised across downtown Jonesborough. From folk tellers to Grammy
Award-winning musicians to contemporary humorists, the thoughtful line-up includes a wide variety of entertainment. This year’s featured tellers include NPR personality Kevin Kling, mythologist Megan Wells, Japanese traditionalist Kuniko Yamamoto, and First Nations teller Dovie Thomason. New voices like Wales teller Daniel Morden and Southern folksinger Kate Campbell will be joined by fan favorites like Bil Lepp, Carmen Deedy, and Donald Davis.
In addition to regular programming, special activities throughout the weekend include the festival’s third annual Story Slam, Exchange Place (a showcase for new talent), and the Swappin’ Ground, where anyone can tell a story. Snacks and meals are available at the food court and libations will be sold in the wine and beer garden. A few separate ticketed events are available throughout the weekend, including Ghost Stories and Midnight Cabaret. These popular
sive concert sponsored by CrestPoint Health. All tickets are sold separately and advance purchase is recommended. Tickets for the National Storytelling Festival — as well as all special events throughout the week — can be purchased online at www.storytellingcenter.net, at the International Storytelling Center (ISC) in downtown Jonesborough, or on the Festival grounds. The National Storytelling Festival is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Tennessee Arts Commission. For more information or to make reservations, call ISC at (800) 9528392, ext. 221.
------------------ www.storytellingcenter.net -----------------Photos by: Tom Raymond, Fresh Air Photographics.
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National Storytelling Festival
Pre-Festival Concerts Wed., Oct. 1, 7:30 pm, Jonesborough
Donald Davis • Storytelling Concert
This special event featuring one of America’s most popular storytellers takes place on the grounds of the National Storytelling Festival in the Library Tent. Admission is $15 for all ages. Tickets will be sold in advance at the International Storytelling Center or at the door. For more information or to purchase tickets call (423) 753-2171 or visit www.storytellingcenter.net.
Thursday, October 2, 7:30 pm, Jonesborough
Suzy Bogguss
Start your festival experience early with this kick-off event featuring Grammy award winner, Suzy Bogguss, and sponsored by CrestPoint Health and Carnegie Hotel. It takes place on the grounds of the National Storytelling Festival in the Library Tent. Admission is $20 for all ages. Tickets will be sold in advance at the International Storytelling Center and at the door. For more information or to purchase tickets call (423) 753-2171 or visit www.storytellingcenter.net.
Photo by: Tom Raymond, Fresh Air Photographics.
Have an event coming up? Email a press release and photos to:
editorial@theloaferonline.com
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National Storytelling Festival
Stories, Concerts & Cabarets! National Storytelling Festival, October 3-5, 2014, Jonesborough, Tenn. Come hear America’s favorite storytellers at this nationally-acclaimed, three-day outdoor festival. The program features thrilling ghost story concerts, late night programs for adults, a Story Slam, and more. On Friday and Saturday, stories begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at midnight. Performances continue on Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Festival goers can choose from several combinations of weekend, single day, and special event tickets. Weekend family rates, group discounts, and senior citizen discounts are available. Tickets are available on-site. For more information, call (423) 753-2171 or visit www.storytellingcenter.net.
STORYTELLING SHOWCASE
Sunday afternoon event is $20 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets go on sale at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, The 42nd National Storytelling October 5, the day of the event, at Festival will draw to an end with the Historic Jonesborough Visia Storytelling Showcase of per- tors Center. Tickets are general formances. The two-hour family admission only so arrive early for The National Storytelling Fesevent begins Sunday, October 5 at best seating. For more information tival’s wildly popular Ghost Story 2:30 p.m. and features individual about the Sunday Showcase or the Concerts will take place Friday, performances by award winning National Storytelling Festival, call October 3 and Saturday, October 4 storytellers from across the world. (800) 952-8392 or (423) 753-2171 or at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for all ages Admission price for this special visit www.storytellingcenter.net. and can be purchased in advance at the International Storytelling Center or on the day of the event. Tickets are general admission only and it’s ground seating so be sure to bring your blanket and arrive early! For more information about Ghost Story Concerts or the National Storytelling Festival, call (800) 952-8392 or (423) 753-2171 or visit www.storytellingcenter.net.
GHOST STORY CONCERTS
MIDNIGHT CABARETS
Stay up late at the National Storytelling Festival and enjoy a night of rollicking, grown-up fun at the ever-popular Midnight Cabarets. The adult-only stories begin at 10:30 p.m. and tickets are $20. John McCutcheon will take the stage with a tribute to Pete Seeger on Friday, October 3, while Antonio Sacre will entertain audiences on Saturday, October 4. For more information about Midnight Cabarets or the National Storytelling Festival, call (800) 952-8392 or (423) 753-2171 or visit www.storytellingcenter.net. Photos by: Tom Raymond, Fresh Air Photographics.
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“Meet the Artist”
Reception for Jarata A local artist whose captivating and popular work is based in emotions and desires will be featured at a reception hosted by the Town Square Center for the Arts in Glade Spring on Friday, Oct. 3. The reception featuring the artist Jarata, which runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., is the first in a series of events showcasing the resident artists of TSCA. Visitors to the reception will have the opportunity to tour the facility and speak with Jarata about his work, which will be on display throughout the center. Other resident artists will be on site as well. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. Working primarily with acrylic, Jarata often uses vibrant colors to highlight images filled with light and action. In his “New Orleans” series, for example, intense hues help to animate the actions of musicians and dancers, even in his intriguing work, “Rainy Night Blues,” which portrays musicians at work against a dark sky. In his works of realism, the colors, as the action, are more muted but nevertheless are vibrant, such as the waterfall of “Star,” an acrylic painting of a Native American woman serenely poised before a background of water and mountains. “We are fortunate to have an artist of Jarata’s caliber at TSCA,” says director Leslie Peterson. “He offers a variety of artistic styles that run the gamut from the more traditional to the visionary. There’s something for everyone, and we’re delighted he’s headlining our first artist reception.” Jarata prefers his work to speak about him as an artist, as those pieces say more than he may. He believes the art is about the artist - rarely being about itself. He says, “Being creative was and is the breath of life for me the artist.” Jarata’s work constantly evolves, as early on it was realism, then moved to abstract and hard-edge works. Now, after many years, he has “matured” into a combination of surrealism, impression, fauvism and op art. He stresses that all of
his work is based upon emotions, feelings and desires. Keen powers of observation and inner sensitivity portray line, form, and color in a stunning way that allows for visual growth through intelligent placement and technical ability. TSCA’s Meet the Artist receptions are part of a new town square-wide First Fridays initiative in Glade Spring. Other participants include Central Café Glade with their “Colonel Campbell’s Ceilidh” Celtic jam, Old Glade
Brewery and Fiddlehead Junction and Glade Green Grocer with special evening hours. Town Square Center for the Arts is a resident artist community featuring studios, classes and retail. It seeks to provide a bridge between artists and patrons and an outlet for the creative economy of Southwest Virginia. For more information, call 276429-1276 or email townsquarecenter@gmail.com.
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A New Life
Artist to share her transformational vision for found objects When shoes, skates, chairs, suitcases and toys get old, rusted and battered, most people throw them away. This is when North Carolina artist Janet Orselli finds objects the most beautiful and inspiring. Wooden shoe molds attach to violin heads and rusty metal roller skates, creating something else entirely. Chicken wishbones become adornments for old leather suitcases. Mattress springs, bird and wasp nests, wooden crutches and dress form mannequins find new lives and purpose in Orselli’s carefully staged installations and studio. While sculptors start with a lump of clay or a painter with paint and a blank canvas, Orselli begins with items that have al-
ready had one life and are poised for another. She finds her raw materials, she says, in “dark spider webby attic corners, inside boxes hidden in the basement, or in the junk pile down the street.” “For me, these found objects are very precious – especially today when less and less of these older items are around to be found,” she says. “There are so many things being sold that are plastic, that don’t have a history, that have not been passed down from generations that weren’t made by hand ... “Part of the history of the objects is that they have been handled by so many people and that they were cherished. They have an energy within them that was instilled by the maker of the object, as well as the people that used it.” While she won’t be toting her usual trove of creations, Orselli will bring her “reverence for cast-off objects” to ETSU to share in a lecture Oct. 6 as part of The
DeVault Tavern Exhibition series of events. She will show slides of her installations and found object work in a wide variety of venues. Orselli’s talk, “Lost or Found? Giving Found Objects A New Life,” will start at 7 p.m. in ETSU’s Ball Hall, Room 127, with a reception to follow in Slocumb Galleries. The DeVault Tavern Exhibition features photographs by Paul Kennedy, a former Jonesborough native and now-New York artist, and items found in the two-story brick tavern, a historic landmark on the old stagecoach route that ran through Leesburg, Tenn., about 5 miles west of Jonesborough. “We thought Janet Orselli would be the perfect person to speak to the value and possibilities of the many found objects in The DeVault Tavern Exhibition that is on display in Reece Museum through December,” says Randy Sanders, interim director of Reece Museum. “The exhibi-
Photo by: Rimas Zailskas
tion includes not only photos, but furniture, ledgers, letters, census forms and maps. We have invited Janet to help us understand how important these kinds of memorabilia can be.” Installation art is a genre that
isn’t as familiar to people as other types of art, says exhibition cosponsor Anita DeAngelis, director of Mary B. Martin School of the Arts. “Janet Orselli’s work invites the audience to step into and exNew Life .. continued on next page
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New Life .. continued from page 8 perience first-hand, and she uses found objects to evoke a particular sense of space,” DeAngelis says. “The kind of work she completes is closely related to the manner in which the DeVault Tavern exhibition was conceived, curated and installed.” Orselli’s installations and smaller pieces – which have been exhibited in the Carolinas, New York, Arkansas, Illinois, Montana and as distantly as Germany – have been called “whimsical, haunting” and “surprising.” There is no surprise there for Orselli, who also teaches art at Spartanburg Community College, across the border in South Carolina. There is, however, a lot of fun and discovery – even with something as ordinary as a well-worn chair. “I collect a lot of chairs,” she says. “Chairs are perfect. I’ve attached all kinds of things to them. A chair doesn’t have to remain a chair if we can be open in how we look at it and be aware of how our perception guides and creates the ‘meaning’ we find. I attempt, through my work, to create
a wider perspective on the world and how we interpret things in the world … “The real thing I hope people will get from my talk – is a way to get in touch with whatever they are passionate about, whatever has real meaning for them and what they can bring of themselves to join with others to create a better world,” she says. “My way of doing it – no doubt – will be very different than theirs, but we have to begin with what we love! “Hopefully talking about what I love will connect with others and bring awareness as to what they love – not that it has to be art, found objects or anything remotely like that.” For more information about The DeVault Tavern Exhibition and its events, visit www.etsu.edu/cass/ reece or call 423-439-4392. For information about the ETSU Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, call 423-439-TKTS (8587) or visit www. etsu.edu/martin. Please “Like” ETSU Mary B. Martin School of the Arts on Facebook and follow it on Twitter and Instagram @ArtsAtETSU.
History of the National Storytelling Festival Over 40 years ago, a high school journalism teacher and a carload of students heard Grand Ole Opry regular Jerry Clower spin a tale over the radio about coon hunting in Mississippi. And the teacher, Jimmy Neil Smith, had a sudden inspiration: Why not have a storytelling festival right here in northeast Tennessee? On a warm October weekend in 1973 in historic Jonesborough, the first National Storytelling Festival was held. Hay bales and wagons were the stages, and audience and tellers together didn’t number more than 60. It was tiny, but something happened that weekend that forever changed our culture, this traditional art form, and the little Tennessee town. The Festival, now in its 42nd year and acclaimed as one of the Top 100 Events in North America,
sparked a renaissance of storytelling across the country. To spearhead that revival, Smith and a few other story lovers founded the National Storytelling Association. The founding organization became the center of an ever-widening movement that continues to gain momentum to this day. Storytelling organizations, festivals, and educational events have popped up all over the world. Teachers, healthcare workers, therapists, corporate executives, librarians, spiritual leaders, parents, and others regularly make storytelling a vibrant part of their everyday lives and work. The story of how it all started is one that many northeast Tennesseans are familiar with. As news of the Festival and of the movement aired on national television and in magazines as diverse as Los An-
geles Times Magazine, Reader’s Digest, People, and Smithsonian, the story of how a happenstance hearing of a folktale on a car radio ignited a national movement. Did the story get told again and again because people like stories about innocent beginnings, or because they like to marvel at what can happen with the serendipitous timing of a good story and a carload of receptive listeners, or simply because it’s a colorful tale? No matter the reason, it’s a classic example of how a simple story breathes life into information people want to share with each other. As millions of story lovers all over the world already know, there is no substitute for the power, simplicity, and basic truth of the welltold story. www.storytellingcenter.net.
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Arts Array presents
“The Railway Man” The Arts Array Film Series presented by Virginia Highlands Community College is in its 44th year. All films are presented at the Abingdon Cinemall on Mondays and Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and again at 7:30 pm.
The Railway Man
(October 6 and 7) Outstanding performances from Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, and Stellan Skarsgard highlight this true story of wartime torture and peace time reconciliation. Based on a 1995 memoir by Englishman Eric Lomax, a World War II soldier in the Far East, this film intercuts between the 1980 version of a shell-shocked Lomax and his younger self. Highly-charged scenes from a Thai POW camp frame this deeply personal film. “Wrenching, profound, and beautifully-made,” says the New York Observer. 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 Southwest 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 at-
tend 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.
Chris Austin Songwriting Contest Redesigned for 2015 Entries Accepted Beginning October 1 MerleFest, presented by Lowe’s, is proud once again to host the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. Beginning October 1, aspiring songwriters may submit entries to the contest using the online entry form (www.merlefest.org/ChrisAustinSongwritingContest/) or by mailing entries to: MerleFest/ CASC, PO Box 120, Wilkesboro, NC 28697. Early birds take note: during the month of October and November, all entries for the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (CASC) will receive an early entry discount price of $25 per entry. Submissions received in December and January will require a $30 fee per entry. The deadline to enter the CASC will be February 1, 2015.
Beginning this year, applicants should make note that all lyrics must be written in English and no instrumentals will be accepted. To read more about the contest rules and how to enter, visit http:// www.merlefest.org/cascrulesandentry/. Now in its 23rd year, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest is an extraordinary opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of Nashville music industry professionals, under the direction of this year’s volunteer contest chairperson, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale. MerleFest takes place from April 23-26, 2015. The first round of the CASC
competition takes place in Nashville, Tenn., and is narrowed down to 12 finalists representing four categories: bluegrass, country, general and gospel/inspirational. Finalists are then invited to the final round of the competition, which takes place April 24 during MerleFest on the campus of Wilkes Community College. Net proceeds from the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest support the Wilkes Community College Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship. Since its inception the scholarship has awarded over $38,000 to 79 deserving students. To learn more details about the contest, visit www.merlefest.org/ ChrisAustinSongwritingContest.
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“Abingdon Revival” Opening October 2, 2014 • Arts Depot, Abingdon, VA Beginning on Thursday, October 2nd the Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA will feature the artwork of Asheville, NC Artist, Lynne Harty. Lynne’s will present a dynamic photographic exhibition titled “Abingdon Revival.” Her show will continue through November 15th in the Depot’s Juried Spotlight Gallery. There will be a Meet-the-Artist reception on Thursday, October 2 from 6-8 pm in conjunction with Abingdon’s “First Thursday” gallery hop. This Exhibit is sponsored, in part by Joe Pippin, in Honor of Appalachian Sustainable Development whose mission is to “create, promote and expand economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible opportunities to help improve the lives and the health of our local communities and ecosystems.” There is no admission fee and everyone is welcome. Lynne Harty grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to Asheville, North Carolina in 2000. She is quick to say, “I love it here!” She entered college as an International Business major but lived with two Art Majors during her sophomore year and says, “They gave me the nudge to consider art school.” Lynne went on to earn her BFA from University of Georgia. In 2011 she served as co-chair of the photography section of HATCH, a four-day multi disciplinary seminar and innovation incubator held in Asheville for creative professionals serious about transforming their ideas and talents into action. Lynne is currently both a commercial photographer, where she shoots cookbooks, how-to books and various advertising jobs, and a fine art photographer. She says she enjoys being involved in those two “very different worlds...both require a lot of problem solving, creativity and experimentation.” Harty says that Digital photography was, at first, “incredibly challenging to adapt to” but it has “opened up many options” and given her much more “freedom to experiment.” In her spare time Lynne runs a rental business
Asheville, NC Photographer: Lynne Harty • Steeple - Asheville Urban Nests and adds, “I’m never bored!” When we asked Harty what inspired her to create her “Abingdon Revival” photographic series she recalls that she first visited Abingdon at the request of Hugh and Julie Belcher. The Washington County, VA couple had seen her show, “Asheville - a Contemporary View,” at Mobilia, a European design store in downtown Asheville. They asked her to photograph some of Abingdon’s landmarks that were near and dear to them. She was then inspired to create the “colorful and quirky” images that you will see in her show at the Arts Depot. Lynne says “the idea was to capture historic icons
and give them a contemporary slant.” Harty says she “loves making photo-graphics seem less like photographs.” She enjoys manipulating textures and colors and is experimenting with stop motion videos as a way to tell stories. Exhibits are free to the public. For further information about the exhibits, classes, or other offerings and activities of the Arts Depot, Abingdon, VA, call (276) 628-9091 or e-mail abingdonartsdepot@eva. org, or visit the web site a www. abingdonartsdepot.org. The Association is supported in part by grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Tourism Corp.
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New archaeological curation center now at Valleybrook A large collection of artifacts discovered during various Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) federal highway projects is now part of a special collection at the ETSU/Eastman Valleybrook Campus. The ETSU Valleybrook Archaeological Education and Curation Center was made possible through a competitive grant by TDOT and is now open to students and faculty at East Tennessee State University as well as visiting scholars. The 2,500-square-foot-center contains thousands of items, such as tools, pottery, ceramics and metals, including mostly artifacts dating back to prehistoric times. “This is a tremendously rich resource for students and researchers,” said Dr. Jay Franklin, an archaeologist and associate professor at ETSU. “Many of these artifacts had been in storage for
years, and only contract reports have been completed in most cases. Through this curation process, our students in ETSU’s minor degree program in archaeology have bagged and boxed most of the collections to bring them up to federal curation standards. They have done a fantastic job.” Franklin added that the archaeology minor program at ETSU has a new course in cultural resource management, and that 85-90 percent of employment in the archaeology field within the United States is in the area of resource management. “The center will provide our students with a learning environment that will give them competitiveness in the job market,” he said. Funding for the curation center was made possible through two grants from TDOT. Most of the artifacts were dis-
covered during local and regional TDOT projects in Unicoi and Carter counties. Large collections were also recovered in Claiborne and Blount counties. In 2010, Eastman Chemical Company donated 144 acres of its Valleybrook property to the ETSU Foundation, and that property was leased to ETSU for research and
educational purposes. The donation includes a 72,000-square-foot research and office complex and a 30,000-square-foot warehouse and storage facility. The property is located near Eastern Star Road. In conjunction with the collection and labs at Valleybrook, the site also includes the Stanley A. Ahler Archaeology Library
which houses numerous archaeology volumes, contract reports and journals. To make arrangements to view the archaeological collection, contact Franklin at 423-439-6653 or franklij@etsu.edu. For more information, visit http://faculty.etsu. edu/franklij/valleybrook/valleybrook.htm.
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Grand Opening Reception of Flying Pig Gallery & Studios on October 2, 2014 at 246 and 255 Broad Street in Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport Office of Cultural Arts and Engage Kingsport announce the Grand Opening and Opening Reception for Flying Pig Gallery & Studios on October 2, 2014 from 5 pm to 7 pm. Flying Pig is an exciting new Arts Space located in two adjacent buildings located on the corner of Broad and Center streets in Downtown Kingsport, TN. The Gallery & Studios will be open Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm. The gallery side will feature Fine Art and Fine Craft by several nationally-acclaimed artists & craftspeople. All artwork is for sale. There will be a series of art classes offered to the public over the next few months. There will also be professional artist studios
located in the space where the public will be able to see the actual production of art work as well as interact with the artists. Spaces are still available. The Flying Pig Studios will feature several exhibits and working artists. Finished animals, rounding boards, and bird paintings for the Carousel Project will be on display. Carousel Carvers and painters will be present to demonstrate and explain processes. In addition to Carousel merchandise, remaining sponsorships opportunities will be on display including the band organ, angel panels and light boards. Friends of the Carousel First Rider tickets will also be available. “We hope to finish out Campaign 2014 with at least 1000
Friends of the Carousel First Riders,” explained Carousel Chairman Reggie Martin. Construction has begun on the Roundhouse and the working Carousel should be open for rides in April 2015. “We have several large grants pending but are depending on the final sponsorships and Friends of the Carousel First Riders to provide funding for the connector building and gift shop/welcome center.” Through November, the Studios will also feature an exhibit from the Levine Museum of the New South on “John Nolen: Neighborhood-Maker” about the work of Cambridge landscape designer John Nolen who is considered the father of modern city planning. Nolen was influential
on the plan of Kingsport, Tennessee and worked with several other notable cities including: Madison, WI, Montclair, NJ, Reading, PA, Roanoke, VA, San Diego, CA, New London, CT, Savannah, GA, and Schenectady, NY. The Kingsport Carousel store (future gift shop) will be located within the studios until the construction of the Carousel’s Roundhouse next to the Farmer’s Market is complete next year. Beautiful Tshirts, notecards, posters & more will be for sale. The opening reception of Flying Pig Gallery & Studio is free and open to the public.
From 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct.15, Memorial Park Community Center, 510 Bert St., will offer a one-time Zumba Pink class with all proceeds going toward the support of breast cancer awareness. Class fee is $5 per person. Do something for your health while supporting a worthwhile cause. The person who brings the most guests will win a prize. Participants are asked to wear pink. For more information call (423)461-4851 or email rensor@johnsoncitytn.org.
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Space Week 2014 Around the World Let’s get some gratitude for our hi-tech world and have some fun celebrating Space Week 2014. Space Week 2014 is observed around the world from Oct. 4-10 as the focus of the 57th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 that ushered in the Space Age. The theme for 2014 is “Space: Guiding Your Way,” and you can check out the events at on the Internet at worldspaceweek.org. Around the world, science centers, planetariums and schools will be full of Space Week activities. Veteran astronauts will share their experiences in outer space and planetary scientists will relive their successful missions. And, of course, the Space Week website has all the information you need to share the love vicariously around the world. All the social media networks will feature Space Week posts and tweets. So log on and enjoy the space adventures that have created a true global society on Earth. Oct. 4, 1957 is a date that forever changed the world when the Communist Soviet Union shocked everyone with the launch of the first artificial satellite, a 200-pound, basketball-sized metal sphere that broadcast a radio beeping signal from its four trailing antenna. Here’s where the state of the Space Age stands after nearly15 years in the 21st Century: • Only three nations have placed a human in space; Russia, America and most recently China. And that total number of space travelers is just 540 individuals from 38 countries—many of the foreigners flown by Russia as political favors or paid space “tourists.” • Thirteen of the world’s 196 countries have launch facilities and have placed satellites into earth orbit. They are, with the year of their first launch: 1) Soviet Union (Russia), 1957; 2) United States, 1958;
3) France, 1965; 4) Japan, 1970; 5) China, 1970; 6) United Kingdom, 1971; European Space Agency (ESA is 20 member nations), 1979; 8) India, 1980; 9) Israel, 1988; 10) Ukraine, 1991; 11) Iran, 2009; 12) North Korea, 2012; 13) South Korea, 2013. • Nations like Canada, Brazil and Australia actively participate in the space adventure by building satellites and components that are launched by other countries. • There have been 24 American men on three orbital and six landing missions to the Moon with 12 men setting foot on the surface— the last being in December 1972. No manned mission has gone farther than the 240,000 mile distance to the Moon. • Interplanetary missions in the Solar System total in the hundreds, with two Pioneer and two Voyager spacecraft leaving the influence of our Sun and now in interstellar space. Every aspect of your life is now influenced by a spin-off of the Space Age. One of the greatest accomplishments has been the miniaturization of computer circuitry, allowing complex instruments and cameras to be taken into space as an extension of our eyes and hands. But the foundation of all space travel are the rockets that pack the punch to blast objects off Earth, overcoming the clinging bond of gravity to escape into the weightless void of outer space. The rocket scientists have figured out how to make their powerful space missiles reliable at a cost of $200-400,000 million dollars a launch, depending on the mission destination. Space progress is all about the money. And lots of it. The 2014 cost per pound of launching anything to the required orbital speed of 17,500 mph var-
ies from $3,000-$10,000 depending on the height of the orbit and rocket type. Private space carriers are aiming for an orbital price per pound in the low hundreds, not thousands of dollars. It’s money, not technology that dictates the space missions of today. Given the resources of say the $58 billion 2015 budget of the US Department of Defense, what NASA could do would be amaz-
which takes about one-fourth of its annual budget in updating air control facilities, conducting safety programs and testing new equipment. It’s incredible that every morning over America there are up to 6,000 passenger aircraft flying the skies from coast to coast. NASA has been without human access to space since the mothballing of the three Space Shuttle orbiters in 2011, relying on the Russian three-person Soyuz spaceship for trips to the International Space Station. The new, four-man Orion spaceship is scheduled to have its maiden, unmanned voyage in December 2014. And that brings us to the International Space Station, one of the greatest technological achievements of mankind. Continuously occupied for 11 years by at least two people, the ISS has witnessed the cooperation of the one-time space rivals America and Russia. There are another 14 countries that have science and space engineering projects aboard the complex, including the Europeans and Japan. Built with 34 Space Shuttle flights and 200 spacewalks, the $100 billion “Station” has been the outer space oasis to almost half of all space travelers, 216.With four, box car-size laboratories, an array of wing-like solar panels and weighing nearly one million pounds, the complex is a true science center 220 miles above Earth. Millions around the world have seen the ISS pass overhead as it is extremely bright and predictable. What’s the future of space exploration? The future of the 21st Century Space Age is probably in the hands of China. As American apathy leads to poor funding for any space vision, China is boast-
ing. Instead, our once prideful space agency is floundering with a $19 billion a year budget that has changed only for inflation during the last 20 years. That’s only one-half cent of every tax dollar—and look at the impact on society and our minds. One important mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been making passenger airlines extremely safe, Stargazer .. continued on next page
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Stargazer .. continued from previous page ful that they plan to build their own space station and then go to the Moon and Mars in the next 2030 years. They may partner with Russia, who has supplied China with technology for their manned program. Indeed, the Shenzhou manned spaceship is a threeperson knock-off of the Russian Soyuz space vehicle. Definitely private industry will be getting involved in advancing space travel and even tourism. Private space entrepreneur Virgin Galactic has flown a reusable spaceship on several suborbital missions, achieving 15 minutes of weightlessness. When regular flights from their New Mexico spaceport to the suborbital limits begin maybe within 2-3 years, hundreds of passengers—in-
cluding many celebrities—have booked flights at $250,000 a seat. And another private company, SpaceX, is building a two-person spaceship that hopefully will be a shuttle to low earth orbit and future space stations—and maybe even an orbiting hotel or two! When you look at the progress in just five decades of venturing into outer space, the changes in our everyday life are amazing. In fact, I fact-checked this “Stargazer” column by googling items on my Smart Phone! One lesson of the Space Age is that science facts have turned out to be more incredible than science fiction. And the next 50 years are likely to be beyond our current imagination. Let’s hope so.
Skies This Week Celestial events in the skies for the week of Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2014, as compiled for The Loafer by Mark D. Marquette. 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke. He and John Young, 84, enjoyed three days in the lunar mountains, putting almost 20 miles on the Lunar Rover. Duke came back from the Moon in December 1972 and became a born again Christian. He has been an advocate of space exploration and is very involved in prison ministry. Duke was the mission control capcom talking to the Apollo 11 astronauts on the historic July 20, 1969 landing, saying he was “about to turn blue in the face” waiting for the landing confirmation.
Sat. Oct. 4
World Space Week celebrates the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, and the progress in exploring the Universe since that amazing event 57 years ago. Space Week will be especially sweet with India orbiting Mars on Sept. 24th with their first interplanetary spacecraft, Magalyaan. And also slipping into Mars orbit last week is NASA’s newest space success, MAVEN, which will spend a year analyzing the Martian atmosphere.
Saint Francis Day Blessing of the Animals and Benefit Concert for Holly Help Spay & Neuter Fund Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 700 Cumberland St. will host a Saint Francis Day Blessing of the Animals and Benefit Concert on Saturday, October 4. The blessing of the animals will be at 11:00 am at the Knickerbocker Farm, 11201 Oak Grove Rd. in Bristol, Virginia The benefit concert will begin at 3:00 pm at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 700 Cumberland St., Bristol, Virginia. All proceeds will go to the Holly Help Spay & Neuter
Fund. This concert will feature local musicians performing pieces depicting animals and nature. Guests will receive an informational packet about Holly Help that will include a dog treat and bandana. A reception will follow the concert. For additional information please contact Emmanuel Episcopal Church at 276-669-9488, emmanuelbristol@gmail.com, or emmanuelbristol.org.
eries on Mars, the Moon, Saturn and the Universe. But our manned space efforts are on hold as the new Apollo-style, 4-person spaceship called Orion is finally ready for an unmanned test flight in December 2014.
On this 1957 date in space history the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in Earth orbit, Sputnik 1.
Sun. Oct. 5
On this 1984 date in space history, Space Shuttle Challenger was launched on the STS-41G mission. This was the first seven person Thurs. Oct. 2 crew in outer space, and included First Quarter Moon was yes- Kathleen Sullivan becoming the terday, Oct. 1, and what a beautiful first woman to walk in space. sight in our autumn skies! Waxing Mon. Oct. 6 to full phase next Wednesday, Oct. In 1990, Discovery was rocketed 8th, the Moon will be a gorgeous into space from Cape Kennedy on sight over outdoor football and a mission that deployed the Ulyssbaseball games. Use those sports es spacecraft, the first to orbit the Tues. Sept. 30 Mars is directly south at dark, binoculars on our celestial neigh- Sun’s poles. In 1992, NASA and which is around 8 pm, and above bor and see craters, mountain the Russian Space Agency signed its rival, Antares. The two have ranges and those dark, ancient an historic agreement to share asa similar ruddy red color—Mars seas of lava. tronauts and cosmonauts in the from its oxide deserts and Antares Fri. Oct. 3 construction of the International because it’s a bloated, old star. Happy 79th birthday to Apollo Space Station. On this 1994 date in space history, Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on this STS-94 mission. During a 10-day mission, six astronauts used the Space Radar Laboratory in the cargo bay to study Earth’s geology, hydrology, oceanography, and agriculture.
Wed. Oct. 1
On this 1958 date in space history, the U.S. Congress officially formed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration— known round the world as simply NASA. On this 57th anniversary, our unmanned space program is doing wonders making discov-
Page 18, The Loafer • September 30, 2014
Wilson Phillips
Saturday, October 4th at Niswonger Performing Arts Center
The vocal trio Wilson Phillips will perform at Niswonger Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 4th at 7:30 pm. With singers bound by a rich musical heritage, this harmony-driven trio became a sudden success with the release of their selftitled album in 1990. The members of the trio grew up together in California. Daughters of Beach Boys bandleader Brian Wilson, sisters Carnie and Wendy Wilson had often made appearances on their father’s albums. Meanwhile, Chynna Phillips’ parents were John and Michelle Phillips, famed singers from the Mamas & the Papas. Wilson Phillips quickly rose to stardom, becoming the best-selling female group of all time. Their debut album sold more than five million copies, with the hit song “Hold On” soaring to the number one spot on Billboard charts. Chynna Phillips recalls writing “Hold On” at the age of 19. “When I wrote that song”, says Phillips, I was really at a crossroads in my life. I knew that if I didn’t make some really significant changes, I’d end up being another Hollywood statistic.” Other number one hits followed, including “Release Me” and “You’re in Love”. The group’s sophomore album, Shadows & Light, achieved platinum status. With a mix of adult contemporary ballads and midtempo pop/rock, Wilson Phillips received five Grammy nominations and an American Music Award nomination. The trio also received a Billboard Music Award. Over the years, Wilson Phillips has paid tribute to a number of other artists. In fact, the group released an album entitled California, in honor of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. This album was followed by the
holiday-themed Christmas in Harmony. In 2012, the group released the album fans had been dreaming about for years. Dedicated features a collection of songs made popular by the Beach Boys and the Mamas & the Papas. Building from the success of Wilson Phillips, each member of the group has found favor as a solo artist. In addition to musical projects, Carnie, Wendy, and Chynna have each appeared on various television programs and movies. Now more than twenty years after their initial breakthrough, Wilson Phillips is together again, and performing in full swing. “It really is still surreal”, says Carnie Wilson. “We do this because we love music and we love each other and we love singing together, and the beauty of it is that that love transmits through the music to the listener… the music represents something in their life… something special to them.” Wilson Phillips performs at Niswonger Performing Arts Center (NPAC) in historic downtown Greeneville, TN on Saturday, October 4th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $50 for orchestra level seating, $45 for mezzanine seating and $40 for balcony seats. Tickets may be purchased online at www.npacgreeneville.com, in person at the NPAC box office, or by calling 423-638-1679. NPAC offers online seat selection and nofee ticketing. The box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am until 5 pm. The 1130 seat performing arts center is located adjacent to the campus of Greeneville High School in Greeneville, TN. For venue information, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.npacgreeneville.com.
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ETSU, Milligan to present
“Men in Song”
The music departments of East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and Milligan College are collaborating to present “Men in Song,” a free, two-day festival and concert to celebrate male singers from throughout the region. The festival starts Saturday, Oct. 4, at 9 a.m. and culminates with a public concert on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Johnson City. The concert will feature performances by Milligan’s Heard Mentality, ETSU’s BucsWorth Men’s Choir, Appalachian Men’s Express, Appalachian Men’s Ensemble (AMEn) and MECCA Men (Mountain Empire Children’s Choral Academy). Male singers of all ages are invited to join a mass choir that will rehearse five songs together and perform the public concert on the second day of the festival. “The goal for this festival is to inspire men of all ages—from students to retirees—to sing together,” said Dr. Alan Stevens, associate director of choral activities at ETSU. “We want men in the region to be aware of the outstanding singing opportunities available in the TriCities.” The mass choir will be led
by four different conductors: Dr. Thomas Jenrette, ETSU professor emeritus; Noah DeLong, Milligan assistant professor of music; Dr. Matthew Potterton, ETSU director of choral activities; and Stevens. The combined chorus will perform “The Last Words of David,” by Randall Thompson; “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” arranged by Fenno Heath; “Loch Lomond,” arranged by Jonathan Quick; “Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit,” arranged by Moses Hogan and James Rodde; and “America the Beautiful,” arranged by Kevin Memley. “Milligan is excited to partner with the ETSU Music Department to create this celebration of male singers from around our region,” said DeLong. “It’s a great experience for our participating singers to perform with such a large group of men and to work with a number of talented conductors. We hope to continue this festival for years to come.” For a complete schedule and to register for this free event, visit www.etsu.edu/meninsong. For more information, contact Stevens at stevensae2@etsu.edu or 423.439.4725.
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Storytelling Live! Welcomes
Leeny Del Seamonds Leeny Del Seamonds, a dynamic storyteller who moves effortlessly between personal stories and traditional folk tales, will be the next performer in the International Storytelling Center’s artistic residency program. Del Seamonds, who has been a storyteller for decades, comes from a long line of hyper talented performers. “My mother’s parents were performers in vaudeville,” she says. “My grandmother was a concert pianist. And eventually she married my grandfather, who was a standup comic in addition to singing in a quartet. He had this tremendous ear, not only for music, but also for voices. I inherited his good ear.” While Del Seamonds credits her grandfather for her comedic timing, her musicality, and even her penchant for spot-on impersonations, she never had the opportunity to hear him in person. “I feel like I have followed in my grandfather’s footsteps in so many ways, but he died while my mother was carrying me,” she says. “As the story goes, my grandfather was sitting with my mother on one knee and my twoyear-old sister on the other. My mother said, ‘Look, Daddy, you have your two girls.’ And he said, ‘I have all three of my girls.’ That was before my mother even knew she was pregnant. “I always said I was sorry I never got to meet him,” she continues. “But my mother said, well, you actually did. I’ve always admired him from afar for his greatness. I have some of his old pictures and I know he was just phenomenal.” In the grand tradition of American vaudeville, Del Seamonds plans to share a little bit of everything during her weeklong storytelling residency in Jonesborough. She’ll perform daily matinees, October 7 – 11, 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.
Photo by: Susan Wilson
In addition to personal stories, Del Seamonds will perform a wide range of folk tales. While her specialty is bilingual stories—Spanish-language pieces from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Argentina—she’ll also tell tales from other parts of the world, including China and Russia. A gifted troubadour, she plans to pepper each performance with song. “Storytelling is like music in a way, because the audience always has favorites,” Del Seamonds says, noting that she’ll share her popular stories as well as new material during her residency. “When you go into those stories or songs, you almost hear a sigh of joy from the audience. It’s like their tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich.”
Del Seamonds is one of the final performers in the International Storytelling Center’s Storytelling Live! series, which will host a new performer every week through October. Information about all TIR performers, as well as a detailed schedule for 2014, is available at www.storytellingcenter.net. 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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Contra Dance and Marimba Concert in Jonesborough!
The Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will host the next Contra Dance of the season on Saturday October 4, 2014 at the Pavilion at Serenity Knoll, 542 Bacon Branch Road, Jonesborough. The featured band is Gold ‘n Light from Asheville. The caller us Susan Michaels from Los Angeles, CA. Admission is $7, $5 for HJDS members and $5 for full time students. The evening will begin at 5:30pm with a potluck dinner and a concert by Asheville based Zimbabwean style marimba band, Chikomo Marimba. Admission to the concert is $10 suggested donation. Chikomo Marimba is a group that plays contemporary and traditional Zimbabwean music. Their mission is to share and celebrate the joy of the music that they play among themselves and with others. The interweaving parts and expressions that come together through their music creates synergy, celebrates the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and encourages audience participation, celebra-
tion, and dance. This upbeat percussive performance will definitely get everyone prepped up for contra dancing at 7:30pm. Roger Gold plays guitar and is joined on fiddle by Laura Light. This duo performed for a Jonesborough contra dance back in March and thrilled a room full of dancers. Susan Michaels will teach a contra class for beginners at 7:00 PM and the dance will run from 7:30-10:30 PM with a waltz and Klondike Bar break at 9:00pm. No partner is necessary. It is customary at contra dances to change partners after each dance. As always, our dances are smoke, alcohol and fragrance free. Families, students and singles are welcome. All dances are taught by the caller. No previous dance experience is necessary. For more information, contact David Wiley at 423-534-8879, or email to david@ historicjonesboroughdancesociety.org. Also visit the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society on FACEBOOK.
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The Maze Runner Movies based on YA novels, that’s Young Adult novels, for those out of the loop, are continuing to hit the big screen in an effort to begin the next big franchise. The latest YA novel adapted to film is “The Maze Runner”, a science fiction/action/thriller. The film features a group of young actors, the only ones of which you may be familiar with are Dylan O’Brien of “Teen Wolf” fame, and Will Poulter from “We’re the Millers.” The story begins as 16-year-old
Thomas (O’Brien) awakens in a rusty rising elevator that eventually opens up to reveal a group of young men standing around staring down at the puzzled teen. Thomas has actually been delivered to the middle of a maze, where the others have lived for the past three years. During the three year period the other boys, led by Gally (Poulter), have tried to escape through the maze to the outside world with no success. The maze itself, is very imposing
with huge gray walls and several entrances, one of which opens in the day and closes in the evening. During the day when the maze is open, several of the boys, called Runners, run through the maze in an attempt to find a way out. The Runners always return just before dusk with no success. Why does the entrance to the maze close at night? Oh, that’s because the maze becomes populated with creatures called Grievers, who are animal/ machine hybrids, and they are deadly. Just imagine a huge spider with a bad attitude and a scorpion
tail and you will get the idea. When Thomas arrives, he is immediately drawn to the maze and is determined to find an escape. His efforts cause a major conflict with Gally, who advises the group to stay put. After a Runner is injured, Thomas is able to rescue the wounded teen from the maze, and eventually is named a Runner. As the attempts to find a way to escape the maze continues, the elevator, nicknamed the box, delivers the first girl to the group, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), who says she recognizes Thomas. Teresa has ar-
rived with two syringes containing a mysterious substance, that will eventually save a life. Meanwhile, during one of his runs in the maze with a fellow Runner, an escape route is discovered. Apparently, those in charge of the maze are not happy with the efforts of Thomas, and the actions of the keepers of the maze is not pleasant. Eventually, several of the characters escape the maze only to make a shocking discovery in the outside world, setting up the sequel coming in 2015. The film is often dark in tone, but is filled with action and thrills, and features wonderful special effects. I was impressed with the reason behind the teens being placed in a glade in the middle of the maze, of which I will not reveal here, lest you have not read the novel. The performances by the leads are great, with O’Brien conveying the same restless urgency he does on the television show “Teen Wolf”. “The Maze Runner” is one of the best adapted YA novels since “The Hunger Games”, and will hopefully produce more sequels after the 2015 follow up. I encourage you to see “The Maze Runner” for a thrilling time at the movies. (Rated PG-13) B+
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Musician Battles Nature, Weather and Mind To Create Unique and Original Compositions When Kevin Michael Winterfield moved from the almost always sunny San Francisco Bay Area to New York’s Hudson Valley he nearly died. “I was driving from Connecticut to New York in a nasty rain storm when a tree fell down and crushed my car. The tip of the tree, a sharp point, grazed my right ear as I decelerated from 35 mph to 0 instantly. My glasses flew off and I thought I was a goner.” Miraculously, Winterfield survived that near fatal accident. But mentally he was a mess. He’d come out with a finance who left him after 6 months. “She was the smart one! The winters and lifestyle change were brutal.” He was left to fend for himself. In the winter of 2010, living in a small cottage in the hills near the Hudson River, with more trees cracking and crashing all around him, he nearly went insane. He’d fallen into a depression. “My fam-
ily was out West, my friends were 3,000 miles away, and I was here completely isolated with hurricanes turning my street into a rushing river and blizzards cracking down trees.” Winterfield ordered a keyboard, a computer and software and started composing songs and sounds. “It was heaven. It allowed me to put my feelings into something creative and positive.” It had been year’s since he’d played but he found that he picked it up swiftly again, composing songs for a local Shakespeare festival first and then diving into writing his first album, DISCONTENT SNOWMAN. A suitable title given his experience. “I found music again. It saved me.” He called himself MERWIN (he’s not sure why), started a Facebook page, and quickly started to get fans who liked his sound - a kind of electronic rock, pop, folk featuring both songs and instru-
mentals. “I got a great response.” Since that first album, he’s now put out two others, IN A PERFECT WORLD and LISTEN, and is working on his fourth, REALM - a collection of instrumental compositions that take the listener through several realms. “I’ve always been a fan of artists who tell a story through their albums, like Pink Floyd or Genesis. On the new album, I’m going to take you on a journey - an adventure. It’s going to be fun.” Winterfield coined the hashtag #musicfuelsme to represent his presence in social media. “It really does fuel me. It gave me the strength to move forward. I’m forever grateful for that.” You can check out MERWIN at the Acoustic Coffeehouse on Saturday, October 4 at 8 pm. Follow him on Facebook at https://www. facebook.com/MerwinSongs and on Twitter at @MerwinSongs.
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Franchise City I’ve been thinking about franchise films lately. I don’t hate the concept, but I do think that Hollywood is getting carried away trying to turn EVERYTHING into a franchise. It makes sense in some places, particularly when done well (Marvel Studios). Yet a recent article talking of the long rumored “Ghostbusters 3” had Dan Akroyd quoted saying he’d like to turn “Ghostbusters” into a Marvel Universe-esq type film series. I grew up on “Ghostbusters.” My childhood sustenance was based on a steady stream of Ecto Cooler and Slimer toothpaste. The first film I ever saw in a movie theater was “Ghostbusters 2!” Yet, I’m not so sure I want to see an epic “Ghostbusters” saga universe. Despite it being the be all end of all of Hollywood today, the concept of a long reaching franchise isn’t anything new. If anything from Hollywood’s past mirrors of the modern conceits we’re seeing now, it’s Universal’s classic Horror and Monster movies that span the early 1930s to the early 1960s. It’s a term in the annals of filmdom “Universal Horror,” as even with their worst efforts, every single one Universal’s classic monsters and horror films all have a distinctive style and look. The prime period of the franchise would be the 1930s and 1940s, when Universal concentrated all their efforts into making many films with Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolf Man, Dracula, and The Mummy. Don’t underestimate the impact that these films have had on our cultural world. I’d go so far as to say that the Universal Monster Movies are not only the backbone of every modern horror film, but the foundation of modern day Halloween décor as we think of it. Granted, modern eyes might not quite find as much delight in the films as others, but there is clearly a reason why these films
have endured for nearly 80 years. Now with Fall fully established and Halloween right around the corner, this is the kinda perfect time to dive head first into a pool of moody black and white images. One really could see a protoconnection in the Universal Monster films being the archetype for the multi-layered cinematic universes we see today, that Marvel Studios does so well. For Universal, their monster and horror films quickly became their bread and butter. It’s not a lie to say that some of these films saved the studio from going bankrupt time and time again. How is this connection established? Simple. Universal maintained a—and I stress the following term—loose continuity throughout the series. They began with establishing each monster in their own solo film, and later would combine the monsters together in a couple of films. Sound familiar? It might be hard to think about the early 1930s in modern movie terms, but on a success level Universal’s original “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” films were the “Star Wars” of their day. They were, pardon the term, monster
hits. Their successes spawned the type of sequels and follow ups that are common place today. From “Dracula” came “Dracula’s Daughter,” and “Son of Dracula.” “Frankenstein” gave us one of the truly great American films ever made “Bride of Frankenstein,” which in turn birthed “Son of Frankenstein,” then “Ghost of Frankenstein,” and after that “House of Frankenstein.” Though the Universal brand of horror and monster films would charge right along through the early 1960s, with the 1950s giving us such greats as “Creature from
the Black Lagoon,” “Tarantula,” and the immortal “Monster on the Campus,” the classic cycle is generally considered to have ended in 1948 with the simply irresistible “Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein.” That is a film that is a Halloween staple in Casa de Ross. During the golden age of Hollywood studios all had their own identities. MGM was home to the outlandish MGM music, beaming bright with glorious Technicolor. Warner Brothers was home to the gangster film. Universal was simply known as “The House of Horrors.” Universal did all they could
to get the most out of their Monster investments. Boris Karloff only played the Frankenstein monster in three films, and was replaced by other actors. How is that familiar to today? How many men have been Batman on the big screen? As much as superheros are a part of the American fabric, the same can be said for the lovely black and white world that Universal gave us decades ago. Worth your time too, if you’ve never seen any of the great films from America’s first “house of horrors.” Delight films that only the most dead inside could say no to. See you next week
Page 26, The Loafer • September 30, 2014
Rock and Roll History in Ten Songs:
The World According To Greil Marcus I have been a fan of Greil Marcus ever since the Bicentennial year of 1976, when I read his first book, Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n’ Roll Music (now in its fifth revision). Up until I read his book, I had always thought of pop music as just another diversion not worth a great deal of serious contemplation, but from Marcus I learned that it is really a form of literature, a key to unlocking many cultural secrets that remain hidden from (or scorned by) most historians. Marcus taught me that it is indeed possible to compare The Band’s inaugural album Music From Big Pink to Herman Melville’s greatest hit Moby Dick and not worry or care what literary snobs might say about this perfectly understandable pairing. Of all the cultural critics I’ve read (and I’ve read lots of them), Marcus has the most comprehensive and quirky (i.e. much-needed) vision of how music fits, not always comfortably, into a much larger historical dialogue. I am constantly in awe of his ability to cast a very wide net over the cultural landscape, catching just about everything and everyone from the Puritan William Bradford and the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten to novelist Phillip Roth and The Flamin’ Groovies’ signature song, “Shake Some Action.” The Greil Marcus Bookshelf contains intriguing titles like Lipstick Traces: A Secret History Of The 20th Century, Dead Elvis: A Chronicle Of A Cultural Obsession, The Doors: A Lifetime Of Listening To Five Mean Years, The Shape Of Things To Come: Prophecy And The American Voice, The Old Weird America: The World Of Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes, and When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening To Van Morrison. In between all this furious activity
(the preceding is just a partial listing) he has found time to write a stimulating guide to the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate and to edit two of my very favorite books, A New Literary History Of America (“literary” being defined as including just about everything
Alternative History Of American Popular Music (2009) comes very close, but Marcus’ new book steals the show. Perhaps only Marcus can get by with the audacity of calling his book “The” history of rock ‘n’ rather than the more modest “A”
fabric of our existence, with songs functioning as touchstones of our experience. In Marcus’ vision, when we listen to songs we are removed from traditional historical chronology and united with a host of voices and influences that move backwards and forwards in time
but the kitchen sink), and the sacred text of pop music journalism, Psychotic Reactions And Carburetor Dung (an anthology of pop culture commentary by the late Lester Bangs) Well, now Mr. Marcus has outdone even himself with his latest meditation on American pop and literary culture, The History Of Rock ‘N’ Roll In Ten Songs (published by Yale University Press). In so many ways, this book is where all of his other books were leading—to nothing less than a new way of envisioning the history of American popular music and culture. Elijah Wald’s How The Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll: An
history of rock ‘n’ roll, but after reading it I can agree that this is “The” history that will stand for some time—at least among those who favor a new vision of what that history means rather than just another cobbling together of facts and dates from Bill Haley To Beyonce (best represented by Bob Stanley’s dull and completely unimaginative new book, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story Of Pop Music From Bill Haley To Beyonce). Rather than taking the wellbeaten path of covering the history of American pop music in a chronological fashion, Marcus asks us to learn a new language—one that sees music as embedded in the
like the plots and cinematography of a Christopher Nolan movie. Music connects us with both the distant past and the immediate present in a way that sometimes seems outside the normal time and space continuum. Akin to religious communions and Japanese tea ceremonies, listening to music serves to bring together disparate elements in ways that often seem timeless and even removed from contextual thinking. The ten songs he chooses to use as touchstones to this larger history are “Shake Some Action” (The Flamin’ Groovies), “Transmission” (Joy Division), “In The Still Of The Nite” (The Five Sat-
ins), “All I Could Do Was Cry” (Etta James), “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” (Buddy Holly, including a thought-provoking analysis of The Beatles), “Money” (Barrett Strong), “Money Changes Everything” (Tom Gray), “This Magic Moment” (Ben E. King and The Drifters), “Guitar Drag” (Christian Marclay), and “To Know Him Is To Love Him” (The Teddy Bears as presented by Phil Spector). In a very interesting and diversionary chapter, “Instrumental Break: Another History Of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Marcus gives us an unforgettable portrait of Robert Johnson and the history of the Delta blues. In case you are wondering, Marcus’ book offers a lot more than just the history of the aforementioned ten songs, because he uses these songs as jumping-off places for considerations of and ruminations about the emotional and intellectual history of America in the 20th and 21st centuries. You’ll have to read it to see what I mean. And by all means read it, if you read no other book this year or during the year to come. This is not meant to be a spoiler alert, but Marcus concludes his book with a moving tribute to Amy Winehouse and the tragic series of events that cut her promising and talented career so short. After considering how her story is in so many ways the story of American popular music, Marcus concludes, “That was only one version of the story, and there is an infinity of stories that tell this tale.” Indeed, the story of popular music in America can be told in infinite ways, but for now let’s be grateful Greil Marcus has chosen to tell it his way. See you next week with Part One of my annual “Halloween Horrors” series.
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September 30, 2014 • The Loafer, Page 27
Page 28, The Loafer • September 30, 2014