104 - Valley Planet

Transcription

104 - Valley Planet

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
#052109061009
READ THE PLANET, IT’S FREE!
WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM
May 21 - June 10, 2009
IN THIS ISSUE:
Music for Meds Keep On Trekkin’ The Invisible City Macbeth
To Yuno from Yunohoo The Jazz Lounge Huntsville’s Art Scene
Party of One News of the Weird Unchained Maladies
Tennessee Valley’s Biggest & Best Live Music & Events Calendar
(256) 533-4613
On the Cover: Patricia Eldridge
I
have been drawing and doodling my whole life and took private art classes from local
teachers in Ft. Walton Beach. I then began my art career by majoring in art at the
University of West Florida in Pensacola. I was a technical illustrator for Eglin AFB for
several years before moving to Huntsville.
I prefer a loose whimsical style that portrays a moment in time rather than an actual portrait.
The relationship between people and catching people in the act of living are my favorite
subjects to paint. I use watercolors with pen and ink and some acrylic metallic paint for
embellishments. Recently, I’ve been adding collage elements, including musical notes and
Japanese papers. On some of my Island women, I make watercolor batik papers that I then
cut out and collage on for their clothing – sort of like dressing a paper doll. When it feels
appropriate, I add stamps; some that I have carved myself.
My newest project is illustrating a children’s book about being kind to animals that will
hopefully be finished in the next few months.
Music for Meds: The Sweet
Healing Power of Rock n’ Roll
InThePlanet
O
Letter From
the Publisher
May 21 - June 10, 2009
he last three weeks has been packed
full of adventure and entertainment
and there is still much more to come
in the following weeks here in the Tennessee
Valley! A very rainy WhistleStop festival, a
drenching Bluebird Café at the three Caves
and what is promising to be a very soggy
Sugarland Concert at the Arsenal tonight
have made some of us unwilling to take the
risk at outdoor events where the rain chance
is 60% or more! But there are loads of cool
outdoor and indoor events in the next three
weeks…and as the publisher, I would feel
remiss if I did not mention a few! The Daikin
Japanese Festival on May 22 in Decatur
,Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll continue
thru May 23rd at the Renaissance Theatre,
Concerts at Bridge Street start May 26 on
Tuesdays , Macbeth at the VBC begins on
the 29th of May, Concerts by the River in
Decatur start on June 1 and are on Mondays,
Madison Gazebo Concerts begin June 4,
Music for Meds is on June 7 at Crossroads,
Concerts at the Park (Big Spring) start on
June 8 on Mondays, Sweeney Todd at Lee
High School begins June 10, Beer, Bratz and
Beatles will be on June 12 at the Botanical
Garden, June 14th the Kaffeeklatsch is
celebrating their 25th Birthday and I am
sure there will surprises, , , hikes, bikes, art
strolls, patio parties and planetarium shows
as well as awesome live music are also going
on everywhere!
THE VALLEY PLANET
by Sonny Edwards
ne of the largest, single day Rock n’ Roll
parties in the valley’s history is going to
take place on June 7th at The Crossroads
Music Hall, 115 Clinton Ave. E., in downtown
Huntsville. “MUSIC 4 MEDS” is the “Concert
to Benefit The Community Free Clinic”. Doors
open at 1:30PM, and music begins at 2:00PM,
and will continue nonstop until the wee hours. A
minimum donation of $10.00 is requested, but
if you feel more generous you are encouraged
to act on your emotions. The growing line
up of confirmed artist at this time includes
5 0’ CLOCK CHARLIE, THE ALABAMA
BLUES BROTHERS, DAVE ANDERSON,
ANGRY NATIVE, BACKWATER, THE
BREAKERS, MICROWAVE DAVE &
THE NUKES, SONNY EDWARDS, ROBB
& MARY EZELL, DAVE KRANTZ,
SANDY LANE, PLASTATION, MICHAEL
BUFFALO SMITH,TOY SHOP and DONNIE
WINTERS. You may go online and visit
http://www.myspace.com/music4meds
for
continuous updates.
The Community Free Clinic, located at 410
Sivley Rd. in Huntsville, is in the business of
helping people, many who simply can’t afford
to get medical attention and life saving and
sustaining medications anywhere else. The
Clinic and its volunteers do this all year long.
They help people, and they never fail to do
it with respect and professionalism, always
leaving the patient’s dignity intact. Lately the
number of people seeking help at the clinic
has been steadily growing. The economy sure
isn’t helping. When people lose their jobs
they usually lose their medical insurance as
well. When people don’t have insurance,
they often fail to get early treatment of many
illnesses that could be easily managed, but left
undiagnosed often become much more serious,
even resulting in death.
When I learned the Clinic itself needed
help, financial help to continue to serve the
community, I talked to a few of my fellow
musicians. The result was the decision to do
a benefit concert one evening to help the folks
who are working to help others all year long.
Jamie Hunter, Jeff Goltz, and David McLain
volunteered their venue, Crossroads Music
Hall, with its great stage, sound system and light
show, and the folks who run it. All of the artists
are donating their time and talents. The Valley
Planet is volunteering and is another sponsor
which will certainly help to get the word out in
the community. The Holiday Inn Downtown is
providing rooms for our out of town artists. Our
logo was created and donated by Scott SandersAccuImaging. The folks at Datatek-USA have
provided print services. The Cochran Firm
of Huntsville is sponsoring us. The City of
Huntsville is allowing us to use the multi level
parking complex directly across the street, so
there will be ample free parking. Everyone I’ve
spoken with has been so amazingly generous,
helpful, and enthusiastically supportive.
At times like these, I imagine we all wish we
were wealthy enough to write a huge check to
solve the problems that arise, but for most of
us, the best we can do is pitch in a little, and try
to get the job done. If you can afford to show
up and donate a few bucks, we promise to play
our hearts out for you and make it worth your
while.
Won’t you plan on coming out and being a part
of this celebration? Together we can do a lot
to help our community, and have a great time
doing it. Hope to see you there! Thanks so
much for your help and support.
203 Grove Ave., Huntsville Al, 35801, phone 256.533-4613
Boss Lady
Jill Wood
Sales
Elaine Nelson
Shawn Bailey
Michelle Hilbert
Calendar
Sara Jo Taylor
Joanie Williams
Distribution
Charlotte Griffin
Lay-Out Queen
Ari
Contributors
Sonny Edwards
Brad Posey
Joseph Margetanski
D.S.Price
Diana LaChance
Billy Joe Cooley
Jim Zielinski
David Daniels
Allison Gregg
Auntie Jen
Jackie Anderson
Jennifer Roberts
Sherri Carlee
Bonnie Roberts
Ricky Thomason
Ron Marlar
Mike Rosenberg
All our dreams can come true...if we have the courage
to pursue them.
~Walt Disney
Congratulations to the Class of ‘09!
Especially A.S. and D.T. - love you guys!
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
NEXT ISSUE June 11, 2009
#052109061009
2 On the Cover: Patricia Eldridge
2 Music for Meds: The Sweet Healing
Power of Rock n’ Roll, Sonny Edwards
3 Doing It The Callaway, Diana LaChance
3 Chattanooga Billard Club, Ron Marlar
3 Folk Artist & Southern Swing Band in Town May 22
5 To Yuno from Yunohoo “
the Completely Anonymous Personals”
5 Gossip, Billy Joe Cooley
6 News of the Weird, Chuck Shepherd
8 The Jazz Lounge, Jackie Anderson
9 Keep on Trekkin’, Joseph Margetanski
10 Get Lost: Notes from the Underground, D.S.Price
10 Huntsville’s Art Scene: Marcia Freeland, Grace Billiter
11 Party of One, Allison Gregg
13 MUSIC CALENDAR BEGINS
16 Macbeth
16 Listings: Pubs, Taverns, & Clubs
16 REGIONAL CONCERTS
16 CALENDAR OF EVENTS BEGINS
18 Free Will Astrology, Rob Brezsny
19 The Naked Vine, Mike Rosenberg
20 Stretching the Creative Envelope, Bonnie Roberts
20 zee’s rocket city bEAT, Jim Zieleinski
21 Unchained Maladies, Ricky Thomason
21 The Way I See It, David Daniels
22 Dr. Anarcho’s Rx for Old Stuff That Don’t Suck
23 Keep on Trekkin’ Cont.
23 Auntie Jen’s Animal Crazy, Auntie Jen
23 The Invisible City, Brad Posey
24 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
24 What Then Must We Do?, Bonnie Roberts
25 Listings: Restaurants
26 Spotlighting the Arts AND the Artistes, Jim Zielinski
26 Listings: Galleries, Attractions
27 Music Exchange, Real Estate & All That Jazz
T
Check out the Biggest and Best Live Music
and Events Calendar in this issue or online
at valleyplanet.com and get out and have
some fun!
Jill E. Wood, Drowned Rat
Thank you for reading the fine print of
the Valley Planet. The Valley Planet and
valleyplanet.com are published every three
weeks by J W Publications in Huntsville,
AL. You can pick up the paper free all
over the place or get it free on the web.
Copyright 2003 by the Valley Planet, Inc.
All rights reserved. You can contact me at
[email protected]
Reproduction or use without our permission
is strictly prohibited. The views and opinions
expressed within these pages and on the web
site are not necessarily those of the Valley
Planet or its staff. The Valley Planet is not
responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or
art. Back issues are available for viewing
on our web site www.valleyplanet.com in the
archives section. You may reach the Valley
Planet office @ 256.533.4613 or by mail at
Valley Planet 203 Grove Ave. Huntsville, AL
35801.
Subscriptions to the Valley Planet are now
available for $50 a year in the USA.
256-533-4613
2
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
3
Doing It The
Callaway
Folk Artist &
Southern Swing
Band in Town
May 22
by Diana LaChance
M
y husband and I have competing
agendas when it comes to vacations.
I like to sleep in late and then spend
the rest of the day relaxing poolside with a
good book and a cold drink. He, on the other
hand, is up with the sun, itinerary in hand,
ready to fit in as many attractions as possible
before the day’s end. So we invariably argue
about where to spend our free time; I say the
beaches of the South Pacific, he says the sites
of Paris, and it only ends when we realize we
can’t afford either.
Fortunately, there is one get-away we can
afford that meets both our needs, and that’s
Callaway Gardens. Just an hour southwest of
Atlanta, Callaway’s 13,000 acres are nestled
at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
For the adventurous, outdoor recreation is
the name of the game, whether it’s biking,
hiking, bird watching, or hitting the links
on Callaway’s two 18-hole golf courses,
Mountain View Golf Course and Lake View
Golf Course. For those, like me, who prefer
a slower pace of life, the options are just
as abundant. Top of the list is the resort’s
nature-inspired Spa Prunifolia, perfect for
a relaxing massage or facial infused with
herbs, fruits, flowers, and plants. And just as
indulgent are the free-form pool and outdoor
fireplace tucked into the greenery behind
the 150-room Lodge and the one-mile-long
beach fronting Robin Lake.
Perhaps the most impressive thing
about Callaway Gardens, however, is its
commitment to sustainability. Much of the
resort was designed and built to accommodate
the natural layout of the woodland. The
Lodge itself is a certified leader in energy
and environmental design and the rooms are
devoid of the usual array of plastic toiletry
bottles; instead, refillable shampoo and soap
dispensers are used, reducing the amount
of waste produced by more than 200,000
containers. Meanwhile, the resort’s Gardens
Restaurant offers “Southern Nouveau”
specialties made with fresh produce from
Callaway’s own 7.5-acre garden. A popular
local ingredient is the muscadine grape,
which flavors everything from salad dressing
and preserves to ice cream. And all that
electricity the resort uses? It’s offset by wind
power credits that serve to reduce the resort’s
carbon footprint. The only thing missing is
the on-site collection of recyclables, and
even that’s in the works.
So whether you’re like my husband and you
relish a vacation packed with activities or
you’re like me and would prefer to spend
your time catching up on R&R, Callaway
Gardens is an ideal destination – and one you
can feel good about from an environmental
point of view. Just take it from the sign that
welcomes you to the resort: “Remove nothing
from the Gardens except: nourishment for
the soul, consolation for the heart, inspiration
for the mind.”
Chattanooga
Billiard Club
by Ron Marlar
untsville is a great place to spend
your weekends, but sometimes you
just want to get away from it all.
You realize that you’re tired of the same old
restaurant or clubs, but you don’t feel like or
can’t spend the whole weekend away from
home either. Well, I have a great solution
for you. Take a wonderful day trip to the
Chattanooga Billiard Club.
H
Established in 1982 and located at 725
Cherry Street in Chattanooga Tennessee, the
Billiard Club is worth the trip. Janice and Phil
Windham rented the second story of the 81
year old building and created a real roaring
twenties type pool hall with over 20 full size
slate tables. In 2006, Mrs. Windham was
able to purchase the building from the family
who had owned it since 1883 and expanded
to the first floor where they have a wonderful
restaurant on one side and the AVO lounge
which is a bar and humidor on the other.
When I first arrived there with my wife, it was
like I had walked in to my long lost aunt’s
home. Everyone one was so friendly and just
made my wife and I feel as if we belonged
there. Chi Chi, who works the afternoon shift
behind the first floor bar is just as sweet as
strawberry wine and will be happy to serve
you a nice cold beer from their wonderful
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#052109061009
selection of domestics, micro brewed or many
imports. She also has use of all your top shelf
liquors and spirits for those of you that prefer
stronger refreshments. Don’t worry wine
drinkers they definitely have a grand selection
of nectar from the vine. My favorite thing is
the wonderful humidor for cigar aficionados
and pipe smokers. They have many 90 plus
rated cigar brands including AVO, Gruka and
Cohiba. The humidor which is managed by
Burns Tobacconist also stocks many exotic
blends of pipe tobaccos. They also sell many
fine pipes from briarwood to ivory.
M
iss Tess and Christabel & the
Jons are performing at the Flying
Monkey in Huntsville beginning
at 8pm. Christabel & the Jons is a southern
swing band based in east Tennessee that
blends familiar standards with modern
vintage sounding originals. Their music is
acoustic and colorful, a blend of Appalachian
mountain music and vintage swing. The group
saunters and sways together with ease. Lead
singer Christa DeCicco steals hearts with her
come-hither delivery and charismatic stage
performance. Her songwriting is heartfelt
and nostalgic, and her distinctive, sultry
voice brings it all home. Old suitcases and
dressy vintage costumes from the 1920s1950s give the performance a torch singer,
speakeasy feel.
Miss Tess is a young, Boston-based
songwriter, whose “Modern Vintage” sound
bridges eras and genres. True to the tradition,
her vocals can soar or caress as she strums
and picks her way through an array of styles,
from ragtime, to blues; country, to swing.
Tess writes songs with the folk sensibilities
of a troubadour that engage roots-devotees
and newcomers alike. A typical set conjures
a cast of dreamers and lovers, as she croons
through her original material, as well as an
occasional jazz standard.
Miss Tess has been performing amidst
the roots scene in Boston for over 3 years
and has released 4 albums thus far in her
recording career: Home (2005 - original
songs, accompanied by her mom and dad
on upright bass & sax), When Tomorrow
Comes (2007 - jazz standards & 2 originals
w/6 DC-based jazz musicians), Modern
Vintage (2007 - original songs with Bostonbased Bon Ton Parade), and Live on the
Road (2009).
For more information on these artists
or to listen to their music, check out the
following websites which is where the above
information was gathered.
www.myspace.com/christabelmusic
www.reverbnation.com/christabelmusic
www.myspace.com/misstessmusic
www.misstessmusic.com
The Flying Monkey is located at 2211
Seminole Way in Huntsville.
To Yuno from Yunohoo Send in your random encounters today. Its FREE!!
Choice 1.
Choice 2.
Choice 3.
Choice 4.
I Saw you, but you didn’t catch my name
You saw me or you think you were seen
Cheers: Pay your respect to those who deserve it
Jeers: Frustrated? Tell us all about it
To send in your FREE ad
1. Pick a category, word limit is 40 words. No names, just initials if you want.
2. Meet the deadline: Next deadline is May 29 for the June 11 Issue.
3. Get it to us: Put “To Yuno from Yunohoo” in the subject line of an email and send to
[email protected]
I Saw You
I saw a beautiful arc of pee sailing through
the darkness amid my car’s headlights.
Thanks for the wash, when can i expect
the wax?
You lost your wallet at my work. I found
you and we ended up talking for a few
hours. It was great talking to you and
I was surprised that I could have such
an intelligent conversation with such an
attractive man. I hope we can get together
sometime.
C - Hope to see you again at the next
Athen’s wife-swap.
Hey co-worker, do you have to put
everything in your mouth? No one in the
office will EVER use your pens, borrow a
paperclip, or loan you anything! Get some
help.
You did a mudslide fall at Whistlestop fest
and were sooo embarrassed…I thought
you were so cute!
I saw you at the bowling alley Friday
night, hitting strikes in beat with the music
videos. You have the cutest little butt
wriggles.
I see you strutting down the halls of HH
and you lure me in with your Latina
curves and the barely visible butterfly
tattoo peeking through your sheer shirts.
Awaiting the day you will life your eyes
and acknowledge me.
To our coworker at the liquor store who
is out late. We have one word for you:
Massengill.
L, Why do you call me Leo when we have
sex? I’m Capricorn.
Do not go here and forget to try the fine
cuisine prepared by John or Gator. Let me tell
you these two men are as fine chefs as they are
characters. The food ranges from flavor filled
Po Boys to French Dip sandwiches, from light
seafood apps to complete full steak dinners. I
think you will find their prices as reasonable
as any franchise style restaurant.
To the lady the spoke to me @ Publix on
Winchester Rd. You complimented my hat
and the way I was dressed. I beleave you
had your daughter with you. If you are
single or divorced. I am interested. U are
very impressive!
The conversation was engaging and
punctuated with laughter. You rubbed
my shaved head, giggled and enjoyed a
bourbon. When I mentioned the scar on my
head was due to recent cancer surgery you
went to the ladies room and disappeared.
It’s okay. It’s scary for me too.
To Mr. Happy Hour, When I said it would
be nice if we could stay in touch, that was
not an invitation for you to put your hand
on my ass. But thanks, for loaning me
your Blackberry, I always wanted to know
if they could float!
Showering together is suppose to be
romantic…do you really think hocking
up flim and watching it swirl around fits
that description? Save it for you private
shower time!
Cheers
You must be very proud. You work hard,
you workout, and your daughters are
getting some amazing awards. You are so
very special!
Jeers
To the idiot electrician who never showed
up, what goes around comes around! You
can’t do people like that and expect to keep
a job.
To the jerk who parks the large vehicle at
Harmony Sound every day and blocks the
view of traffic…can you not park in front?
Someone is going to get seriously hurt at
that intersection.
The food at the Beerfest was not supposed
to be all you can eat Piggie! You were even
wearing it on your shirt. Was that your first
meal in days???
A certain chef needs to get his act together
before he loses it all. Good God, you are
suppose to be a professional!
Too the lady in the Apr30-May 20 issue
I wear a white button down shirt and
blues,Please approach me!
CBC also sponsors many pool tourneys
where many of the greats have played. Janice
hopes to expand to a third floor by the end
of the year. I can hardly wait to see what this
wonderful proprietor has in store for us.
My God. Ch. 48’s C. I. is smokin’ hot -- and
knows it. When she holds that microphone
like an ice cream cone she’s about to lick,
and slowly closes those eyes when she says
her name, I want to call and ask if it was
good for her, too.
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
My friend Del is upset by unsolicited phone
calls. He was about ready to get involved in
something called a tea party, but got soured
when they started hustling him at home with
phone calls.
Welcome to town Scottsboro author Timothy
Edward Jones, who has joined the sales staff
at our CW TV station.
It was a nice day when New Yorkers Ray and
Bobby Jean Regnault settled in Huntsville.
They told us about it the other night as Patsy
Trigg and I watched Cirque du Soleil at the
Civic Center.
A night or so earlier we had crossed paths
with the Scrabble playing Landers family of
Gurley while cooling off with ice cream at the
Dairy Queen on Max Luther Drive.
Dave Todd, who has guided The Arts Council
in recent years, has died of heart failure. He
will be sadly missed.
Peggy G. Bevels, mayor of Lincoln County,
joined us at that classy symphonic/fiddle
The Windham’s have a second location at 110
Jordan Drive in Chattanooga!
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
by Billy Joe Cooley
While sitting in the rain Saturday night
watching the Charlie Daniels Band my legs
went to sleep. Thanks to Woody Anderson’s
lovely widow, Cathy, for getting me on my
feet again. Us older folks sometimes need a
helping hand.
Among the 400 or so of us packed into the
jazzfest at Roberts Hall (UAH) the other
night were trumpeter Dr. Carolyn Sanders,
orchestra leader Charlie Lyle, and wordsmith
David Copland. Guest soloist Kathy Kosins
sang rousing renditions of several favorites,
including “Cry Me a River” and “Days of
Wine and Roses.”
There’s a pervert in Five Points who needs
to close his blinds if he aims to keep doing
that disgusting thing with that poodle and
the peanut butter.
If you want to do get out of town then take
a short little day trip to the Chattanooga
Billiard Club. You can get on their mailing list
and take a tour of their facilities by visiting
www.cbcburns.com. When you go, be sure to
tell them Ron and Gail sent you.
Gossip
concert in Fayetteville the other night.
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
Floyd Hardin’s annual community picnic
at his Jackson Way Barber Shop attracted a
couple thousand last week. Politicians always
do the serving and it was fun to watch Mayor
Tommy Battle and ex-mayor Loretta Spencer
working side by side. Between them was State
Rep. Randy Hinshaw. At our table were
retired caterer Bobby Beale, Commissioner
Bob Harrison. Becky Hardpole and Travis
Jackson. Our pal Jim Green introduced his
banker friend Greg Perkins around, then came
County Attorney Julian Butler with a covey
of young lawyers from his office, including John
Baggett, Richard Morris and Micheal Pillsbury
(the general’s son).
Harriet Lawrence is off to North Carolina to
spend the summer in the Blue Ridges.
Ron Florence strutted as he walked two fancy
dogs along Clinton Avenue the other day.
The amazing Amy Simms has returned from
two weeks of visiting the Florida beaches around
Pompano. Now she’s ready for the big Monday
night (7 o’clock) Scrabble games at Books-aMillion, corner Parkway and University.
Ron and Marilyn Greene of Coldwater,
Tenn., brought their neighbors Jon and Linda
Freeman to that dinner affair the other night at
Patsy Trigg’s Fayetteville home.
Brice and Mary Ellen Marsh have moved to
Trussville to be near friends and kin.
Good morning to my boyhood friends
Lawrence Roberts and Bob Hookey, who
showed me through the Princess Theater, which
is being restored in my hometown of South
Pittsburg, Tenn. Bob is a city commissioner
there now days.
The Monday night Concerts in the Park begin
June 1 and end on Sept. 7. Mark your calendars
for 6:30 each week.
5
Chuck Shepherd’s
must work quickly, for her skin usually returns
to normal after about an hour.
The Continuing Crisis
Be Wary of Discount Funeral Services:
A 2004 burial in Allendale, S.C., is just now being
investigated after relatives learned that the
deceased, a 6-foot-7 man, was somehow laid to
rest in a 6-foot-long coffin that was part of his
prepaid plan.
Police Report
LEAD STORY
Convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator
Terry Nichols, now serving a life sentence in
the Florence, Colo., “Supermax” prison, filed
a 39-page federal lawsuit in March alleging
unconstitutional “cruel and unusual punishment”
because the refined-food, low-fiber meals give
him “chronic constipation (and) bleeding
hemorrhoids.” He demanded fresh raw vegetables
and other high-fiber foods, necessary to “keep
one’s body (i.e., God’s holy temple) in good
health.” Nichols was joined in the lawsuit by
fellow Supermax resident Eric Rudolph (the
convicted abortion-clinic and Atlanta Olympics
bomber), who claimed “gas and stomach cramps”
and observed that “our bodies” are “sacred and
should be treated as such.”
Government in Action!
Recently the Washington Supreme Court ruled
that Seattle had for two years improperly
charged water customers for servicing hydrants
when the city should have covered the service
from general tax funds, and it ordered customer
refunds averaging $45. However, Seattle then
discovered it had insufficient general funds to
pay for hydrant service and thus imposed a
water surcharge of $59 per customer, according
to a February KOMO-TV report. The most likely
reason the surcharge was higher is that the city
had to pay $4.2 million to the attorneys who filed
the account-shuffling lawsuit.
After three years of providing worker-training
grants to a San Francisco-area multimedia
coalition that includes a maker of sexualized
torture videos, the California Employment
Training Panel cut off funding in April, claiming
that it had not realized the nature of what an
outfit called “Kink.com” does. The coalition
protested the panel’s decision, pointing out that
Kink is a law-abiding, tax-paying entity that
employs 100 local people and keeps California
adult video “competitive in the international
marketplace” by training employees in video
editing, Photoshop and other multimedia skills.
A typical Kink.com production may feature paid,
consenting women bound, gagged and supposedly
electrically shocked.
Great Art!
In April at a gallery in London, Mexican artist
Raul Ortega Ayala’s exhibit opened with the
customary hors d’oeuvres for visitors. However,
since Ayala’s work specializes in the roles that
food play in our lives, he served cheese made
from human breast milk, to “explor(e) our first
encounter with food emphasizing its territoriality
and boundaries.” He said his next piece would
go the other way, with 10 menus showing what
“presidents, public figures, mass murderers and
cave men” ate just before dying.
A pedestrian bridge over Interstate 80 in
Berkeley, Calif., opened late last year, decorated
with $196,000 in public art by sculptor Scott
Donahue. At each end of the bridge are 28-foot
structures to honor the “history” and “daily
life” of Berkeley, notably its tradition of citizen
protests, but smaller sculpted medallions feature
street scenes such as dogs romping playfully in
city parks. However, as initially noted by a Fox
News reporter in February, one of the medallions
shows a dog defecating and another displays two
dogs mating. Said a local art program official, “I
think they’re just, you know, natural science ...
what dogs really do.”
New York artist Ariana Page Russell has a
dermatological disorder that makes her skin
puff up immediately at the slightest scratch
(which renders her, she says, the “human Etch A
Sketch”). She now scratches herself in deliberate
patterns, to create artistic designs, which she
photographs and offers for sale. Russell says she
6
East St. Louis, Ill., policeman Kristopher Weston
apprehended a murder suspect about 20 minutes
after the crime in April, which was such a
nice piece of police work that the mayor called
Weston before the city council to commend him.
Five minutes after Weston left the room, the
council got down to regular business, the first
order of which was to approve a list of police and
firefighter layoffs due to budget shortfalls, and
on the list because of low seniority was Officer
Kristopher Weston.
Authorities in Houston are investigating a
funeral home that handles burial of paupers on
contract from the county after, somehow, a 91year-old male (who was supposed to be preserved
for viewing) was cremated instead of the female
who was scheduled.
Lobbying Pays:
Just Can’t Stop Themselves
In March, a judge in Jefferson County, Texas,
probated the 90-day DUI sentence for Jeffrey
Latham, 37, on condition that he not drink
alcohol, and he ordered Latham to report to the
probation office. Two hours later, Latham showed
up as scheduled, drunk, and was promptly
shuttled back to court.
A man and woman in their early 30s were
arrested in April after they stripped naked and
began having sex in front of tourists on the
lawn at Britain’s Windsor Castle. The queen was
in residence, but her living quarters are at the
opposite end of the castle, and she missed the
spectacle.
Creme de la Weird
Shreepriya Gopalan filed a lawsuit in U.S. District
Court in San Diego in April against Microsoft,
Google, Apple, Saks Fifth Avenue, McDonalds,
Starbucks, Subway, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Chase Bank,
Verizon, AT&T and 47 other U.S. corporations,
claiming that he actually owns the companies
based on the Chinese divination system I Ching,
which he said he invented when he was “15 or
16” years old. “These companies were I Chinged
in through a metaphysical layer created and
owned by me,” he wrote, but he added that,
“unfortunately,” he lacks paperwork to document
his claims and asks the court’s help.
Least Competent Criminals
Questionable Judgments:
Remo Spencer, who works at the Wal-Mart in
Great Falls, Mont., was arrested in April and
charged with stealing eight laptop computers
and seven iPods from the store’s inventory. He
aroused suspicion when he offered those items
for sale on Wal-Mart’s employee bulletin board.
A 22-year-old man was hospitalized in
Wilmington, N.C., in December after stiffing a
taxicab driver. The man had bolted from the cab
without paying, but the driver simply drove after
the fleeing thief and rammed him.
Recurring Themes
Victor Harris was pouring an additive into his
SUV’s fuel tank in March in Saginaw, Mich.,
when he got his index finger stuck. These
situations are often inexplicably difficult, and it
took firefighters four hours to remove a section
of the tank and transport Harris to a doctor, who
pried his finger loose and stitched it up.
Another careless pistol-whipping took place in
April in Upper Darby, Pa., when, according to
police, Jamiyl Muhammad, 17, was beating up
on a street punk, and the gun accidentally fired,
shooting Muhammad’s 19-year-old brother in the
arm.
Now, Which One Is the Brake? (all-new)
Elderly drivers’ recent lapses of concentration,
confusing the brake pedal with the gas (or
“drive” with “reverse”): An 89-year-old man
accidentally crashed into his wife in a parking
lot in Greenville, S.C. (April). An 88-year-old man
accidentally drove through the front window of
a restaurant in Redondo Beach, Calif., injuring
five (March). An 85-year-old woman, on her way
to take her driver’s test, accidentally crashed
into the building that houses the licensing office
in Schram City, Ill. (February). An 82-year-old
woman accidentally drove into the Indulgence
Salon in Prescott Valley, Ariz., while trying to
park (May). A man in his 80s, arriving at a
Subaru dealer in Town of McCandless, Pa., for
service, accidentally crashed into the showroom
(April). An 80-year-old woman, backing out of
a parking space, accidentally sped out, instead,
#052109061009
hitting six cars and ramming a building, in
Indianapolis (February).
A News of the Weird Classic (February 1999)
According to a January 1999 Boston Globe
feature, Mr. Wai Y. Tye, 82, a chemist who
retired a while back after 32 years’ service with
Raytheon Corp., has lived continuously, without
complaint, in the same 200-square-foot room
in the downtown Boston YMCA for the last 50
years. “When you’re busy working and playing
tennis,” he told a reporter, “when you come
home, you don’t have much time to take care of
an apartment.” The bathroom, as in 1949, is still
down the hall to the left, and Tye said he does
not mind the exposed pipes, the linoleum floor or
having food preparation limited to a hotplate.
LEAD STORY
“Consensual Living” parenting, which was
developed in 2006 and now has many
hundreds of followers, supposes that every
family member’s needs are equally valid and
respectworthy. Even pre-adolescents are
assumed able to understand their own needs and
respect those of others. When little Kiernen, 3, of
Langley, British Columbia, hits another child, his
mom told Toronto’s Globe & Mail in March, she
does not invoke authority but instead asks about
his feelings and whether he’d like to express
himself differently. If Kahlan, 18 months old, of
Nanaimo, British Columbia, is grumpy at a time
when her mother has made plans, Mom says she
is obligated to consider other plans. And when
Savannah, 6, insisted on wearing her Halloween
cat costume every single day for several months,
her mom in Burlington, Ontario, just shrugged,
since she recalled how contentious the morning
dressing rituals were, pre-Consensual Living.
Building a Risk-Free Society
Safety First in Britain:
Recently, 118 local government councils
conducted formal tests on their cemeteries’
gravestones to see how susceptible they are to
toppling over and hurting people, according to an
April Daily Telegraph report.
In April, a circus clown performing in Liverpool
was ordered not to wear his classic oversized
shoes because he could trip and injure someone.
BBC producers, wielding a “telephone-book-size”
set of safety precautions while making a recent
adventure documentary, ordered Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston (the first person to sail singlehandedly and nonstop around the world) not to
light a portable stove unless a “safety advisor”
supervised.
University of Kansas researchers, reporting
in April, disclosed that a single tax provision
in a 2004 law (allowing U.S. multinational
corporations to avoid federal tax on foreign
profits) gained a typical company $220 for every
$1 the company had spent lobbying Congress
to enact that provision. Among the big winners
was the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company, which
disclosed spending $8.5 million to lobby for the
law and gaining a tax break of more than $2
billion. (The lobbying emphasized that the lower
tax would enable the companies to create more
jobs, but the Congressional Research Service
found that most of the tax savings went to pay
dividends or buy back company stock.)
In a study of the last six years’ admissions
at hospital emergency rooms in the Austin,
Texas, area (reported in April), 900 people were
identified as using ERs six or more times in the
previous three months, and nine specific patients
had made a total of 2,678 visits in the six-year
period.
Mixed Signs From the Middle East:
In March, at a soccer match in Hilla, Iraq,
between two local teams, as a player with the
ball approached the goal to attempt a tying kick
late in the game, an overenthusiastic spectator
drew his gun and shot him dead.
In more hopeful news, authorities in Ramallah
said that the March 24 bank robbery by armed
gunmen who snatched the equivalent of $30,000
was pulled off by five Palestinians and an Israeli
Jew, working together.
The Miracle Drug That Changes Everything
A 44-year-old intoxicated man was arrested in
Ann Arbor, Mich., in March, blocking traffic by
approaching an officer and requesting a big hug
(and then cursing the officer when he declined).
A 22-year-old tipsy soccer fan celebrating on a
chartered bus after a match in West Bromwich,
England, in January, was run over by a motorist
after he fell out the back door of the bus,
believing it led to the restroom.
Family Values
Not “Consensual Living”:
An Oregon, Wis., man was arrested in February
after his 9-year-old son wrote a school essay
about the time his dad shot him in the buttocks
with a BB gun because he was blocking his view
of the TV set.
A 58-year-old man was arrested in Baltimore in
February for allegedly stabbing his 19-year-old
son after an argument over the son’s refusal to
remove his hat during church service.
Oops!
For 15 years, police in southern Germany have
been futilely tracking a female “serial killer”
whose DNA (but little other matching physical
evidence) was found at 40 crime scenes,
including six murders. Only in 2007 did they
begin to consider alternative theories, and in
March 2009, a state justice minister announced
that the case had been solved: The DNA matched
up in the tests because the cotton swabs used to
collect it had been contaminated at the factory
(but authorities still have not determined which
female factory worker inadvertently supplied the
DNA).
Send your Weird News to [email protected]
or P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL 33679.
COPYRIGHT 2006 CHUCK SHEPHERD
DISTRIBUTED BY
UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111;
(816) 932-6600
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
7
population.
Jackie: I’ve spoken to several artists who come
from musical families. I understand you do also.
W
elcome to The Jazz Lounge. I’m Jackie
Anderson, and it’s always great to have
you along. Hopefully, everyone has been
well. Thanks to all who’ve reached out to me by
way of email and phone ([email protected]).
Please let me know which artists from the world
of jazz – both smooth and traditional – you’d like
to have joined us in The Jazz Lounge, and anything
else you’d like me to know. We got to hear from
Eric Essix the last time. Our guest this time is also
a smooth jazz guitarist, who’s also a composer and
producer. He’s not a household name yet, but that
will change. Joining me in The Jazz Lounge is
David P. Stevens. He’s got a new album out called
David: Yes! My father started it all. He started a
Christian funk band in the late 60’s/early 70’s, and
recorded an independent album. This was unheard
of at the time. He employed my brother on bass,
sister on piano, and later in life (much later) me on
guitar. My mom and other sister play as well. They
were more classically trained.
“The Shedd”.
Jackie: Hi Dave! Welcome to The Jazz Lounge.
David: Hi Jackie, and thank you so much for this
opportunity!
Jackie: I’d like you to tell everyone about yourself.
Let me start by asking where you’re from.
David: I was born and raised in Philadelphia. I now
live in West Philadelphia, and still love it. Philly is a
very musical city, with so many amazing musicians
– young and old. There’s also a very strong jazz
Jackie: What peaked your interest in music and
when did you start with the guitar?
David: I was always interested in music! I was one
of those kids that couldn’t sleep unless the radio
was on. My son is that way now. However, my
musical story started in church. One Sunday, Darryl
Johnson, the guitar player in my father’s band, was
jamming like I had never heard before. He’s still
a monster! I stared at him the entire service and
finally got up enough nerve to ask about his guitar.
I was so interested. He let me hold it and I couldn’t
put it down. That began a beautiful mentor/teacher
relationship that is still in effect today. By 15, I was
playing for choirs, gigging on weekends, and playing
in church. I also started a junior jazz band and began
recording in the studio. It’s been a long but fun ride.
I was also heavily influenced by Norman Brown’s
music at the time. I’m a huge fan!
Jackie: So you began performing, composing, and
recording professionally at the age of 15?
David: This is true! My jazz band tried out for the
high school battle of the bands. We smashed the
audition so hard they made up some reason for us
not to be in the competition. We were all 15 and
went to different high schools. My recordings were
more-so ideas that later, in life, became songs. All
through my teenage years I saved every dime, went
into the studio, and brought in countless musicians
(those who were in my league and those who were
seasoned). They came in as a favor to me. I used
every opportunity to record my ideas to play.
Jackie: What was next in the succession of things
for you?
David: By the time I entered college, I began
playing on a much higher level. I studied jazz,
jammed with musicians who were significantly
better than me, and began recording solo jazz
projects more frequently in the recording studio.
I became more interested in the production and
writing side of music. Eventually, I attended Umass
in Boston, and played until graduation. I moved to
Nashville, Tennessee where I played professionally
for gospel groups, major artists, and for the Trinity
Broadcasting Network, as their house band guitarist.
After Nashville, I moved back to Philly, married my
beautiful wife, and moved to Detroit. I played there
also, but spent more time honing my writing and
production chops. We moved back to Philadelphia
and literally hit the ground running. I opened a
recording studio and started recording “Timeless”.
During this time, I also worked in two major studio
houses as an engineer. I began performing with the
most amazing band ‘Change Of Pace’! We’ve been
together five years.
Jackie: How did “Timeless” come about?
David: While owning my first recording studio,
I would hold the longest jam sessions ever with
‘Change Of Pace’. We would begin at 9 PM and
play straight until 4 AM. It was incredible! The
ideas began to flow. As they came, I would call in
the musicians. Before I knew it, three years had
passed. I was in a new studio facility and working
at a commercial studio on the side. At night when
all the sessions were completed, the owner would let
me bring in anyone I wanted, and I’d record until the
wee hours of the morning - thus “Timeless”!
Jackie: Tell us about the new CD “The Shedd”.
David: This album was so much fun to make! In
Philly, when musicians say “We’re going to The
Shedd tonight”, that means we’re going to a jam
session. One of the ways guys here hone their
skills is to call in the best musicians, get together in
a room, and play jazz on the highest level possible.
The older guys usually share their chops with the
younger guys, and it just becomes an amazing music
experience! My album is filled with musicians just
jamming. I got to witness Gerald Veasley playing
bass on my song “The Jujack Hustle”. He is so
animated and such a good musician. I was just
absolutely blown away. Also featured on this
project are: Steve Cole, Carol Riddick, Change Of
Pace, Evelyn Keene, and platinum producer and
pianist Donald Robinson. The session musicians
included: Alex Al, Donnell Spencer Jr., D-For, and
Adam Blackstone.
8
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
(“Timeless” and “The Shedd” are available on
iTunes and at cdbaby.com. Just type in David P.
Stevens.)
Jackie: I know you write and produce at your own
recording studio. Where is it located?
David: It’s in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, which
is a suburb of Philly. The studio is in a gorgeous,
woodsy area. It’s very scenic and laid back.
Many of the artists I have worked with and for are
independents and not known. One amazing project
completed last year was from Nneka Best. I wrote,
produced, and performed on it.
Jackie: The magic you work with the guitar helped
you pick up some special endorsements.
David: YES! I had an endorsement with ESP guitars
when I lived in Nashville. That was wonderful. I’m
currently with Zion guitars. They’re incredible,
and my guitar was custom made to fit all of my
specifications – best guitar I ever played. My other
poor guitars are all white from dust these days! I’m
also open to other endorsees if there’s an interest.
Hint!
Jackie: You really seem to have it together, and it’s
good to see that things are working out for you.
David. Thank you, Jackie. I don’t sleep. I pray a lot
and hang with my family every chance I get. Those
seem to be the keys to my life and success.
Jackie: I read a statement you made, regarding
if you could change anything about music, that I
thought was interesting. Would you please share
this?
David: Yes, my quote was “If I could change
anything about music, it would be to bring back
real musicians and change the tide from instant
microwave hits to actual thoughtful individual
expression.” I tend to jump on a soapbox about
this issue! When smooth and contemporary jazz
began, what made the art form so unique, was that
really solid musicians were playing a poppy type
of music. The music appealed to a vast audience,
but the musical expression, though palatable, was
still intense and expressive. Lately, the genre has
turned into “Music in a box”! Everything is done
on a keyboard, and then the solo artist comes in
and plays. It’s really turning into muzack (elevator
music)!! I don’t want to down what anyone is
doing, but I just long for the days when the genre
was untainted by commercialism.
Jackie: Any plans for a promotional tour?
David: I would love to tour. Please send all emails
to [email protected], if you’re interested in
having me in your town. My official websites are:
www.davidpstevens.net and www.myspace.com/
davidpaulstevens.
Jackie: Dave, what advice do you have for that next
12 year old who picks up a guitar with a vision
similar to yours?
David: Wow! Practice, play as much as you can,
and always play with people who are better than
you. Challenge yourself and remember that you
NEVER stop learning. I still take lessons. Also, sit
down with CDs and try to play melodies that you
hear. Eventually, copy their solos and then branch
out and do your own thing. All in all, DON’T GIVE
UP!
Jackie: In closing, would you like to add anything?
David: I just thank you so much for this opportunity.
I really want to connect with fans and friends. The
hardest thing for an independent artist is having the
exposure and being able to connect with people. If
you like my music, or want me to come play for
you, please shoot me an email. I don’t bite! I look
forward to hearing from you all.
Jackie: I thank you for being my guest, Dave. It’s
been a pleasure.
David: I thank you for inviting me here.
Jackie: All the best with “The Shedd”.
David: Thank you so much! I hope to keep in touch
with you often.
I think we’re going to be hearing much more from
Dave in the future.
On a personal note, there are some birthday
greetings. I want to send out a great big HAPPY
BIRTHDAY to: Tara, Marques, Rozie, Ricky. Also,
I send belated birthday greetings across the miles to
Harry, in New York.
Until next time, stay cool, and keep it jazzy!
THE VALLEY PLANET
Keep on
Trekkin’
by Joseph Margetanski
A
fter 43 years, 11 movies, and five
series (OK, six, if you count the
animated version,) the phenomenon
called Star Trek has boldly gone where
it’s never gone before: back to its very
beginning. The untold story of how Kirk,
Spock and McCoy met and shaped the future
of the science fiction genre has at last been
revealed.
On May 8, the movie “Star Trek” premiered.
This prequel reveals how a certain brash
young captain, stoic Vulcan and passionate
doctor found themselves on a ship called
Enterprise—and how they became the primal
force that launched a franchise still going
strong after more than two generations.
But even the most die-hard Trekkies (or
Trekkers, as they prefer to be called) may
have a little trouble (or is that Tribble?)
navigating through the massive Star Trek
galaxy. So, a little Star Trek primer might
help us navigate the temporal currents.
And, maybe help us better understand just
why Star Trek, in any of its incarnations,
has held such an appeal through multiple
generations.
A Gaggle of Galactic Characters
The USS Enterprise, its designation “NCC
1701” boldly plastered on its white hull, first
sailed into our living rooms on September
8, 1966. On this episode appeared Kirk,
Mr. Spock (this time as first officer,)
Dr. McCoy, communications officer Lt.
Uhura, and helmsman Hikaru Sulu. Chief
Engineer Montgomery Scott (better known
as “Scotty”) and navigator Pavel Chekov
were introduced within the next month. The
show was unique, not only in the impressive
special effects and futuristic gadgets it
displayed, but in the level of ethnic diversity
and interracial cooperation it emphasized. In
a time when much of the country was roiling
in racial divisions and tensions, Star Trek
showed a crew with an African, an Asian, a
Russian, and even an alien, working together
for a common goal.
That goal, exploring the galaxy, takes place
in the late 23rd Century. The Enterprise
is one of several ships in an organization
called “Starfleet.” In that time, Earth is
part of the United Federation of Planets,
sort of an interstellar United Nations. The
show features several prominent alien races,
among them the Vulcans (the species that
Spock is a member of,) the hostile and
warlike Klingons, and the equally unfriendly
Romulans. While the show often reflects
the Cold War tensions prominent in the
real world at that time, the main theme
of cooperation and friendship is always
emphasized.
That drive to find common ground is
sometimes a challenge on the show. While
some of the aliens encountered by the
Enterprise crew are similar to humans, many
of them take bizarre forms. One species, the
Horta, is based on silicon. Another one takes
gaseous form, and some aliens even have the
ability to mimic other races and objects. One
of the most prolific life forms encountered on
Star Trek is the Tribble, a ball of fur about
the size of a hand. The Tribble is a prolific
animal, producing thousands of offspring (as
the Klingons unfortunately discover.)
Generation Gap
Star Trek’s “five year mission” ended after
only three years, when NBC cancelled the
show. This led to a groundswell of support
THE VALLEY PLANET
among ardent Star Trek fans (already known
as “Trekkies.”) The power of that massive
fan base led to the creation of a Star Trek
animated series in the mid-1970s. Talk
began to swirl about a second series, and
in 1979, Star Trek came to the big screen.
This first movie, “Star Trek: The Motion
Picture,” brings back the original Enterprise
crew to a refit ship, and features Kirk as an
admiral. Three years later came “Star Trek
II: The Wrath of Khan.” Hailed by many
as the best of the series, this sequel brings
back an original series villain, Khan Noonien
Singh. Khan’s maniacal quest for vengeance
against Kirk leads to epic space battles and
the shocking death of Mr. Spock.
spends most of the next film, “Star Trek IV:
The Voyage Home” in a captured Klingon
ship, and stranded out of their own time as
well
As with many other fictional characters,
Spock doesn’t stay dead. He’s revived in
the next movie, “Star Trek III; The Search
for Spock.” In this film, the Enterprise crew
confronts the Klingons, which leads to the
destruction of the ship itself. The crew
But on the small screen, fans were once
again getting a full course of Star Trek. On
September 28, 1987, a new show called
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” premiered
on television. It takes place about 100
years after the first series, and features the
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At the end of the movie, Kirk gets two things
he wants—a demotion back to Captain
(for stealing the Enterprise in the previous
movie,) and command of a new Starship:
the Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The crew
works the kinks out of the new ship in “Star
Trek V: The Final Frontier,” while under the
control of Spock’s half-brother (who is never
mentioned again.) By then, hints of a thaw
with the Klingons began to be seen, a sample
of things to come.
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
Enterprise NCC-1701-D (three incarnations
after the Enterprise seen in the movies.) The
new show’s crew includes Captain Jean-Luc
Picard, first officer Commander William
Riker, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Security Chief
Tasha Yar, an android officer named Data,
a blind engineer named Geordi LaForge,
and even a Klingon named Worf. From
having an alien officer to employing a
former enemy, the show advanced the idea
of cooperation even further. The Klingons
are now Federation allies…for the most
part. The Romulans are still bitter enemies.
But the mission of the new Enterprise crew
remains much the same as its predecessor.
The show even has a few visits from the
earlier generation. Though not specifically
named, a certain Admiral who was obviously
an aged Dr. McCoy sees the new ship off.
Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek, makes
a few appearances, as does Spock himself,
ContinuedonPage23
9
Huntsville’s Art Scene:
Marcia Freeland
by Grace Billiter
M
Get Lost:
Notes from the Underground
by D.S.Price
I
f you are reading this, then you
survived Round 1 of the pandemic.
Congratulations.
As society marches toward the brink of the
post-apocalyptic age, which begins promptly
on December 21st, 2012 according to the
Discovery Channel, we must be prepared for
the worst. You can’t predict the unpredictable
of course, but you can be ready for it. Here
is a quick checklist of things you and your
family should do now to get ready.
Build a bomb shelter. Stock it with 6 months
emergency supplies, including the following:
Spam
Condoms
Big Bob Gibson’s Red Sauce
Nicholas Sparks chick-lit collection
Revolver (for use with Nicholas Sparks
collection)
Self-medicate. A vigorous regimen of antidepressants, blood thinners, vitamin C, herbal
tea, and liquid grain (from Kentucky) will
protect you from most illnesses. If you do
contract a flu-like virus, it is important to get
treated. Panic is not a course of action.
Make amends for past misdeeds. If you
are like me – and pray that you are not – your
past resembles a burned swath of hurt feelings
and broken hearts like Sherman’s march to
Savannah (Historians believe he was looking
for Rock City). No time like the eve of
doomsday to call up that kid you tortured
in junior high and say you are sorry. You’ll
feel better about yourself now, and you won’t
hesitate to murder him for food in a survival
situation later. It’s a WIN-WIN!
Take care of your soul. Don’t let your distaste
for say-one-thing-do-another socialites keep
you from the fundamental truth that drives the
universe. We are the creatures, not the creator.
Get right with God.
Prepare for Cave Living. Imagine if you
can what life will be like with no drive-thru
service, no pizza delivery, and no call-ahead
seating at Bridge Street. Bottom line: it’s
going to suck, and most of your food will
come from whatever you can find and beat
to death with a rock. You will likely need
permanent shelter in a cave to protect yourself
from the elements, wild animals and the IRS
(they will come for you – apocalypse or not).
Cave living is a time-honored tradition of
peoples that were completely eradicated.
These people lived simple lives, had the
painting skills of kindergarteners, and
suffered from extremely poor immune
systems. (Moral: never make out with a
10
Spanish sailor if you cannot cope with a little
Syphilis or Small Pox.) While foreign to
us now, cave living is a practice that can be
enjoyable and fulfilling if you know what to
expect. To get an idea of what it will be like,
visit Cathedral Caverns State Park, just 30
miles from downtown Huntsville.
arcia Freeland is a local artist, who will
win you over with her big eyes, quick
smile and wonderful art. Marcia will
be the first artist to have a show on Lowe Mill’s
rd
3 floor, which is opening the same night as her
show. Lowe Mill will be welcoming 34 new
artists to the community and hosting Marcia
Freeland’s show on Friday, May 8th from 5 – 8
pm. Come out and see Marcia’s art, visit the new
3rd floor and then hang out on the grass to listen
to Nashville’s “The Golden Ticket” playing on
the back dock from 6-9 pm. It’s going to be a
big night! There is much excitement in the air
at Lowe Mill and Marcia’s work is sure to add
to it!
left a while ago and told me to do my homework.
Homework was to go to museums, study
paintings and ask,” What is this artist trying to
telling me?”
Marcia did me the honor of answering my fairly
routine questions with witty, creative answers:
3. Will you describe the different mediums you
use and do you have a favorite medium?
I like to assemble different mediums. Bronze,
paper and paint are the three things I love to
work with. Bronze, because it is metal and it
is masculine for me. Paper is so versatile it can
be manipulated in so many different ways. And
finally paint because I lose myself in the process
of painting.
1. Will you describe your background in art and
what got you into it?
I was grounded in window displays for retail
at a very early age. Display now referred to as
visual merchandising is a process that releases
creative energy. I find challenge in combining
elements that generally would not work together
and designing them to act as one. Creation
that changes with the season and working in 3
dimensions with human forms comes natural to
me now.
2. What influences you when painting? Is there
an artist that has particularly influenced your
work?
The two voices inside my head influence me
when painting. They are constantly talking to
me, “General to specific Marcia”, “How would
you explain that to the aliens?” and my latest
favorite, “Where is the bleeding heart of Jesus?”
Jack Dempsey was the artist that influenced
me and helped me in the translation from a 3
dimensional space to a 2 dimensional surface. He
I credit Jill Johnson as the artist and instructor that
pushed me to paint again. In the crowded studio,
she would say, “Marcia when I make my way
back around the room to you, your entire white
canvas should be covered with something”. She
makes me laugh. It’s okay with her as long as I
am creating, whether it is my comfortable way
of painting with sun thickened linseed oil and all
my pigments lined up just so or whether I want to
use pumpkin guts scattered on a canvas.
4. Will you give us the story behind the piece of
art you’ve included with this interview?
Rhythm is a painting that combines my
analytical visual merchandising process where
I lay the canvas on a work table to draw and
paint patterns horizontally. Then I place it on an
easel and use intuitive reasoning to paint about
sunflowers and apple pies.
5. Will you make up a question yourself and
answer it?
My friend Larry asks his kindergarten class,
“What is art?” they all scream in unison, “The
study of aesthetics!”
Lowe Mill is located at 2211 Seminole Drive in
Huntsville. Visit www.lowemill.net
The cavern itself is the main attraction at
this 461 acre state park, which offers basic
facilities and a snack and gift shop at the
entrance. Entry into the mouth of this
cave is truly impressive. An archaeological
excavation of the cave opening identified
an ancient Native American dwelling there,
similar to the famous Russell Cave National
Monument. Cathedral Caverns are most
impressive for the sheer size of everything.
The cave mouth is huge, the internal rooms
are huge, and the Stalagmite named Goliath is
the world’s largest.
Open Letter(s) from Allison
D
ear Rain: “Go away, come again
another day” hardly captures the way
I feel about you right now. Rain, I
hate you. You crashed WhistleStop, making
the Depot into a mud pit. It took four days,
but I think I finally got the last of the dirt and
grime off my feet. Without great foresight, I
didn’t stock up on cute rain boots like most
of the girls had. Oh no! You forced me
to buy plastic neon green imitation crocs,
which by the way I didn’t pull out until after
dark. Enough with the rain induced fashion
disasters. Let’s talk real tragedies. You’ve
made trees fall on homes, cars, and offices.
The ground is so saturated that my grass has
decided to grow. The nerve! Sure, this time
last year it was extreme drought. But there
has to be a medium. I left Seattle because
of the rain, but I’ve been more waterlogged
here in the last month than I remember
during my years in the Pacific Northwest.
Rain, please stop. Just for the weekend? Is
that too much to ask? I thank you for your
consideration. – Allison “Wet Behind the
Ears and Everywhere Else” Gregg
The walk through the cave is guided by a State
Park Ranger, who leads groups 3/4 mile into
the mountain, spinning all sorts of facts about
the cave. In the great Southern tradition, few
of these facts are accurate, the rest only mildly
grounded in truth and enhanced as needed for
the sake of the story. The rangers point out
strange highlights that you would only notice
if you spent way too much time in there. A
tiny bat. A shark’s tooth in the roof of the
cave. A shadow cast by a rock formation that
could look like Abe Lincoln lying in state.
Weird.
This cave is a cool 60 degrees year round, and
is a great summer day retreat. It is quite large
and unlikely to make you feel claustrophobic.
Many of the sights inside, such as the
Cathedral Room, Stalagmite Forest, and
flowstone formations are truly stunning
– absolutely worth the visit.
I’ve got my eye on it for 2013.
Hours: 10:15 am – 4:00 pm
Admission: $10 Adult, $5 Kids (age 6-12).
Stroller / wheelchair accessible.
Directions: From downtown HSV, Hwy
72 East, 24 mi. R on Hwy 63, 3mi. L
on Cathedral Caverns Rd – follow signs.
www.alapark.com/CathedralCaverns/#
#052109061009
Dear Match.Com: Really? We’ve been
in a relationship for a full week now and I
have to ask you: really? Where can I get my
money back? While I truly appreciate your
match-making efforts, I think you have a lot
to learn. Simply put, you are no Patti from
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
The Millionaire Matchmaker. As a 35-yearold professional woman/homeowner/dog
lover/runner, I am not looking for a 19year-old student still living with his parents.
Thanks for that suggestion. In addition, I
made it very clear that I’m unclear if I want
kids. This does not mean I’d like to date
someone with three or more kids who live at
home. Match.com, please come to my house
and you’ll see that domestication is not my
forte. Laundry always sits on the couch,
dirty dishes hang out in the sink, and the bed
doesn’t know what “made” means. I am not
the ideal person for that family. I thought I
made that clear. One thing that is unclear:
some of the pictures these would-be suitors
post. I’ll deal directly with them next. I’ve
invested very little in you financially. Our
relationship will be over before these words
are inked on newsprint. I have ventured out
and searched on my own. I’ve found some
great potentials. I’ll let you know what
happens. – Allison “Giving up on Finding
Love Online” Gregg
Dear Men on Match.Com Who Post Pictures
of Themselves Topless: This is inexcusable.
I know you want to put your best foot
forward when wooing a potential mate.
However, the following items should not
appear in a profile picture: your bedspread,
nipples, a toilet, the cell phone you used to
take the picture of yourself in the bathroom
mirror, nostrils, camouflage, children, and
#052109061009
exes of any form (especially when you black
out their faces). I have seen more man boobs
in the past week than I did during spring
break on the cruise ship. There is something
unsettling when I know what your teats look
like before we meet (which by the way, will
never happen). I know you’re looking for
a great girl you can spoil, but spoil yourself
first with a shirt and a decent picture. I
promise you, it’ll get you much closer to
love. – Allison “Slightly Shaken by the Sight
of your Breasts” Gregg
Fun at the
Blue Parrot/
Valley Planet
Cinco de Mayo
Party!
Dear Jake Ryan and Poncho Charles: I love
you. You’re the best men a girl could hope
for. Sure, you’re DOGS. But in recent days,
I’ve come to see how lucky we are to have
found each other. You are two fellas I look
forward to coming home to every day. I miss
you when I’m at work (except when you’re
eating my shoes). You don’t wince when
you see my naked body patter across the
house. Your puzzled look when I’m doing
P90X encourages me to get the jab, cross,
hook, uppercut move even more precise.
Now, if I could have just waved a magic
wand and turned you into real-life Princes
Charming and Even-More-Charming, I
could have saved myself $34.99. However,
keep your muddy paws off my kitchen floor.
It was just cleaned last year. And understand
the reason I put you in shirts – I don’t want to
see your teats. – Allison “Your Mom Loves
You” Gregg
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
11
The Valley’s Most Complete
MUSICCALENDAR
Thursday
May21
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Dave Anderson (6-9)
Benchwarmer, Karaoke
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Sandy Lynn Lane
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke
Club Ozz, Karaoke w/ Brandon
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Moose
El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia
Finnegan’s Pub, Slip Jig
Furniture Factory, Chuck and Christina
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Chad Reeves
Halftime Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/Jimbo
Hog Wild II, Karaoke w/ David (8pm-1am)
Hooters, Bike Night w/ The Breakers
Hopper’s, DJ Justin (8-12)
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Marge at Large
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Dave Anderson
Lee Ann’s, Crush
Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Open Mic Night
Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur),
Karaoke with JD Pollard
Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm)
Partner’s, Karaoke and Dance w/DJ Sweet T
Philby’s Pourhouse, Rob Aldridge
Sammy T’s Music Hall, Lady’s Night w/ DJ Keibot (9pm)
Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke
Sportspage, 5ive O’Clock Charlie
The Brick (Decatur), Jason Speegle
The Docks (Scottsboro), Trey
The Station, Dusty French (Acoustic)
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill,
Open Mic Night w/Ben Trussell
Friday
May22
11th Frame Bar, Karaoke
801 Franklin, Pete and Rush
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Ben Trussell Band
Benchwarmer, Live Music
Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green),
Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close)
Black Water Hattie’s, Big Daddy Kingfish
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Bonafied
Boondock’s (Guntersville), The Travis Posey Trio
Cafe 113 (Decatur), Tim Tucker
Carson’s, Live Music
Casa Montego, Reggae & More with DJ Roger
Club Ozz, Divas of Illusion w/DJ Shell
Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5),
Mohr 4 Celtic Fiddlers
Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Local Orbit
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Wrong Way
El Herradura, Edgar
Elk’s Lodge, Marge Loveday (7pm)
Furniture Factory, 65 South
Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Rodeo Truckers
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Barefoot
Hog Wild II, Backwater
Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30)
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, FreeWorld
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Marge Loveday
Lee Ann’s, Christian Bradley
Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am)
Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, DJ Chris Slaton
Sounds of Silence
Moody Monday’s, Karaoke
Partner’s,
Cabaret Show and Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (10:30pm)
Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music
Sportspage, Full Circle
The Brick (Decatur), Cheesebrokers
The Docks (Scottsboro), Kenny Barry, Butch, and Courter
The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am)
The Station, Kosmic Mama
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, The Crackerjacks
Saturday
May23
801 Franklin, Jim Cavender
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Marge (8-12)
Benchwarmer, Down Home Fire
Benchwarmer Too, DJ
Black Water Hattie’s, Reno Roberts
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), StraightForward
Boondock’s (Guntersville), 5ive O’Clock Charlie
Cazadeores, Live Music
Open Mic Night (7pm)
Elk’s Lodge, Dos De Mayo Party on the Patio w/ Live Music
Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman
Furniture Factory, Rob Aldridge
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Stop the Car
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Hot Rod Otis
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Dikki Du and The Zydeco Krewe
Indigo Joe’s, Karaoke
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Live Music
Lee Ann’s, Hot Mixx
Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Live Music
Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), 46 Hush
Sammy T’s Music Hall, Another Hero
12
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
Sportspage, The Abrahams and Lauderdale
The Brick (Decatur), C.O. Jones
The Docks (Scottsboro), Kenny Barry, Butch, and Courter
The Station, Trip Kase
Sunday
May24
Black Water Hattie’s, South Street
Casa Montego,
Live Jazz featuring Devere Pride Trio and Friends (7-10:30)
Club Ozz, DJ Matt Play
Hopper’s,
Ricky Fargo (Brunch, 11-2)/Karaoke with Lee Kearns (8-12)
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Sunday Blues Jam hosted by
Freddy Earl and the Blues Mercenaries
Karaoke w/ DJ Brandon Mac
Monday
May25
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy),
Christian James and the Coyotes
Black Water Hattie’s, Karaoke w/ Howie
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/DJ Jeff
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill,
Open Mic Night w/ Ant and Andrew
Kaffeeklatsch @Night,
Acoustic Open Mic hosted by Greg Rowell
Sportspage, Dave Anderson
Tuesday
May26
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Bike Night w/ Travis Posey
Bridge Street (See Ad pg. 11), Jason Albert Band
Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), HDK Karaoke with Howie
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Wild Ride
Hopper’s, Karaoke with Lee Kearns (8-12)
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Pete Whitfield Band
Lee Ann’s, Rudy Mockabee
Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Karaoke w/Doc Rock
Partner’s,
Karaoke w/Contest hosted by DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am)
Philby’s Pourhouse, Chad Reeves
Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest
Sportspage, Jonathan Carter
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Dave Anderson
Wednesday
May27
3rd Base Grill, David Anderson 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
Microwave Dave, solo (6-9)
Top Tunes Karaoke w/ Brandon (8pm-12)
Black Water Hattie’s, Open Mic w/ Opie
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Kevin and Kyle
Cazadeores, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Morgan
Songwriter’s Jam (7pm)
Furniture Factory, Pete and Katrina
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/Louis
Hopper’s, Lil’ Ed (8-12)
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, John Nemeth
Lee Ann’s, Sandy Lynn Lane
Lisa’s Lounge,
Karaoke w/Jimbo (7pm)/TalentQuest Contest (8pm)
Partner’s, Dance w/DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am)
Sportspage, Pla’ Station
The Brick (Decatur), Tim Tucker
The Station, Bone Dry
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, James Irvin
Thursday
May28
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Polar Opposites
Boondock’s (Guntersville), John Harper and Mason
Flying Monkey Arts Center, Shortwave Society (7pm, $5)
Halftime Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/Larry
Hooters, Bike Night w/ Hot Rod Otis
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Hashbrown
Lee Ann’s, Pot Luck Band
Philby’s Pourhouse, Ant and Andrew
Sammy T’s Music Hall, Lady’s Night w/ DJ Keibot (9pm)
Sportspage, 5 O’Clock Charlie
The Brick (Decatur), Live Music
The Docks (Scottsboro), Tony Brooks
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
13
MUSIC
ContinuedfromPage13
The Nook, Larry Woellhart (6-9)
Friday
May29
801 Franklin, The Don Henderson Project
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), The Breakers
Black Water Hattie’s, Shawna P and the Earthfunk Tribe
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Jason Albert Band
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Triple X
James Smith (The Autoharp Man)
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Rollin in the Hay
El Herradura, Edgar
Flying Monkey Arts Center, The Dean Martinis (8pm, $5)
Furniture Factory, Sidewinder
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Room 240
Hog Wild II, Trey Morgan Band
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, 5ive O’Clock Charlie
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Adam Hood
Lee Ann’s, Full Circle
Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), The Letters
Partner’s,
Cabaret Show and Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (10:30pm)
Sportspage, Radio Tremors
The Brick (Decatur), Bishop Black
The Docks (Scottsboro), Rob Aldridge
The Station, Crush
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Toy Shop
Saturday
May30
801 Franklin, Chuck and Christina
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Tim Tucker
Benchwarmer, Stiff
Benchwarmer Too, DJ
Black Water Hattie’s, Note to Self
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Alleyway
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Spare Change
Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Stiff
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Hells Bells
Elk’s Lodge, Fiesta on the Patio w/ Boogafunk (7pm)
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Two Days Gone
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), The Breakers
Hog Wild II, Trey Morgan Band
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Blackeyed Susan
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, C.O. Jones
Lee Ann’s, Gryphon
Lowe Mill, Paper Route Gangstaz, White Noise, Ghost Rock
& the Disco Gunshow (9pm, $7)
Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Last Call
Partner’s,
Betty Roulette Burlesque Show w/DJ Refried (9pm-2am)
Sammy T’s Music Hall, Down Stroke (9pm)
Sportspage, Live Music
The Brick (Decatur), Black Label
The Docks (Scottsboro), Kenny Barry
The Station, Handshake Promise
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Bob Walters Banned
Sunday
May31
Black Water Hattie’s, Liz Brown and the Tomcats
Casa Montego,
Hopper’s,
Monday
June1
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Christian James and the
Coyotes
14
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke
Open Mic Night w/ Marge Loveday
Sportspage, David Anderson
Tuesday
June2
Blue Parrot (Guntersville),
Bike Night w/ Mike and Catherine
Bridge Street (See Ad pg.11), Brent Morgan
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), MayDay
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, David Bradley
Partner’s,
Wednesday
June3
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Tim Jennings Carr
Flying Monkey Arts Center, Hurray for the Riff Raff, The
Dreaded Firefly and Sweet Lucy, and Posey Peep Show
(8pm)
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, The Ray Brothers
Lee Ann’s, Proton Joe
Lisa’s Lounge,
The Brick (Decatur), Pat and His Peeps
The Station, Susan’s Crush
Thursday
June4
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Johnny Walker 3
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Live Music
Flying Monkey Arts Center,
Chicken Little, Cody Geisser (8pm, $5)
Halftime Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/Jimbo
Hooters, Bike Night w/ JD and the Badboys
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Kozmic Mama
Philby’s Pourhouse, Rob Aldridge
The Brick (Decatur), Live Music
The Nook, Microwave Dave (6-9)
Friday
June5
801 Franklin, Live Music
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), The Deltones
Black Water Hattie’s, Hot Soup
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Flyin Monkey’s (Dr. Hook)
Boondock’s (Guntersville),
Wake Boarding Competition w/Mix Tape
Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Live Music
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Shooter Jennings
El Herradura, Edgar
Elk’s Lodge,
Scottie R. and Tommy Tingle (from Boogafunk)
Furniture Factory, Full Circle
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Straightforward
Hog Wild II, Goldrush Band
MUSIC
ContinuedfromPage14
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Scott Holt
Lee Ann’s, Ben Trussell Band
Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Live Music
Partner’s, Cabaret Show (10:30pm) w/ Special Guest
Franchesque Richards Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am)
The Brick (Decatur), Plato Jones
The Docks (Scottsboro), Dave Anderson
The Station, ReddLetters
Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Live Music
Saturday
June6
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Dave Anderson
Benchwarmer Too, Salsa Party w/DJ
Black Water Hattie’s, Ricky Carden
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Hot Rod Otis
Boondock’s (Guntersville),
Wake Boarding Competition w/Ugli Stick
Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Live Music
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Live Music
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Stop the Car
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Pla’ Station
Hog Wild II, Bonafied
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Toy Shop
Lee Ann’s, Four Door Ramblers
Partner’s, Prom w/DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am)
The Brick (Decatur), Side Effects
The Docks (Scottsboro), Burt David Newton Band
The Station, Naked Eskimos
Wednesday
June10
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Robert Keele
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/Louis
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin
Malcom
Lee Ann’s, The Deltones
Lisa’s Lounge,
The Brick (Decatur), Blagburn
The Station, Crush
Thursday
June11
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Sandy Lynn Lane
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Cooper and Pope
Furniture Factory, Live Music
Halftime Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/Larry
Hooters, Bike Night w/ Fat Mamma
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Juice Trio
Lee Ann’s, Crush
Philby’s Pourhouse, Ant and Andrew
The Brick (Decatur), George and Friends
The Nook, Microwave Dave (6-9)
Friday
June12
Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Silver Streak
Black Water Hattie’s, Fat Mamma
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Eric and the Idols
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Radio Tremors
Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Holly Helm
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Discoasis
El Herradura, Edgar
Elk’s Lodge, Keroeke (7pm)
Furniture Factory, Scratch Band
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Group 6
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Crush
Lee Ann’s, Full Circle
Partner’s, Cabaret Show (10:30pm) w/ Special Guest
Franchesque Richards Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am)
The Brick (Decatur), Tim Boykin Band
The Docks (Scottsboro), Dave Anderson
The Station, Blackeyed Susan
Saturday
June13
Benchwarmer Too, DJ
Black Water Hattie’s, Donnie Cox
Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Eric and the Idols
Boondock’s (Guntersville), Sons of Sanchez
Club Ozz, Male Strippers
ContinuedonPage16
Sunday
June7
Black Water Hattie’s, Travis Posey Trio
Casa Montego,
Flying Monkey Arts Center, Rolling Jazz Revue (7pm, $5)
Hopper’s,
Monday
June8
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/DJ Jeff
Open Mic Night w/ Marge Loveday
Sportspage, David Anderson
Tuesday
June9
Blue Parrot (Guntersville),
Bike Night w/ Ricky Ray and Sapphire
Bridge Street (See Ad pg. 11), Rudy Mockabee
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Wild Ride
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Pete Whitfield
Partner’s,
ContinuedonPage15
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
15
Macbeth
May 29 - 31
U
nder the direction of Dr. Ginger
Beazley, Ars Nova has continued
to flourish and provide wonderful
opportunities and experiences for students
and community alike. Started in 1998,
Ars Nova’s programs encompass musical
styles ranging from Broadway to opera
and children’s musical theater. Ars Nova
is always looking for new ways to continue
nurturing the art of excellence.
Coming up May 29 – 31, 2009 Ars Nova will
be performing Verdi’s opera “Macbeth” at
the VBC Playhouse with live orchestra. From
the omnipresent witches to Lady Macbeth’s
eerie sleepwalking scene, Macbeth is one of
Shakespeare’s most compelling tragedies.
The prophecies that compel Macbeth forward
are like a double-edged sword, and he soon
finds himself entangled in a power struggle
awash in blood. Ars Nova has teamed up
with Jeff White to have the opera interspersed
with actual Shakespearean scenes. Tickets
are available online at www.arsnovahsv.com
or by calling 883-1105.
Don’t miss out on the wonders of Mozart’s
“Magic Flute” coming in August 2009! The
MUSIC
ContinuedfromPage15
Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Live Music
Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Live Music
Flying Monkey Arts Center,
Toy Shop, Dawn Osbourne Trio
Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Two Days Gone
Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Live Music
Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Dova Grove
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Lucky (Lucky and the Hot Dice)
Lee Ann’s, Hot Mixx
Calendar of
EVENTS
May 19-22
NJCAA National Golf Championship will be at Goose Pond Colony
in Scottsboro. Come see the newest and best of the up-and-coming
golfers and teams from around the nation compete for national
honors on Goose Pond’s Championship Course. This is Goose
Pond’s fourth time to host this prestigious tournament. Admission
is charged. For more information contact the Chamber at 256-2595500 or Goose Pond at 256-259-2884.
Thursday, May 21
The Huntsville Young Professionals will host a Downtown Wine
Cruise from 5:30pm-9:00pm. Hop on the trolley and take a cruise
downtown enjoying several wine tastings on your way! There will
even be a guitarist on the trolleys to keep the party going. Support
our local downtown restaurants and a local charity!A portion of
proceeds go to benefit The Downtown Dog Park. The cost is $15 in
advance, $20 the day of the event. For more information go to
www.gethyp.net/wiffleball2009.htm.
The Carnegie Arts will have Arts Aflutter, Outdoor Exhibit
Trail through August 14th. 63 butterfly sculptures are on exhibit
throughout Downtown Decatur and Historic Districts. Go to
www.CarnegieArtsTrail.org for more information.
The Huntsville Art League will have local artist Glennis O.Black
as this months featured artist exhibiting at the Huntsville Times
Gallery until the end of May. Harriet Dobbins and Malinda McCleary
are the featured artists at the Heritage Club for the months of April
and May. The Heritage Club is located at 111 Washington Street. For
more information call 532-4494 or HAL at 534-3860 or go to www.h
untsvilleartleague.org.
The Senior Center Gazebo Concert will be at the Senior Center,
2200 Drake Avenue. It will be from 6pm-8pm. The concert will
feature Millie Bonham and Friends, The Joymen Quartet, and The
Jems. Admission for this event is free. For more information call 256457-3169 or [email protected].
A “Community Connections on the Catwalk- Changing the World,
One strut at a time,” will be presented at 6 pm at Buckhorn High
School. This debut Fashion event will benefit Girls Inc. of Northern
Alabama. In addition, there will be a silent auction featuring gift
certificates and gift baskets donated by local businesses. Regular
Admission is $5 and VIP Admission is $10 includes exclusive seating
and refreshments and SWAG Bags. Reserve a ticket by calling 256379-2123 or email [email protected].
May 21-23
The Renaissance Theatre presents s musical, Batter Up! This is a
musical about baseball. The performance times are at 7:30pm and
Sunday at 2:30 pm. The tickets are $14. For more information about
this event call 256-536-3117 or go to www.rennaissancetheatre.net.
16
Queen’s ferocious arias, Pamina’s desperate
lament, majestic choruses, light-hearted
comedy – The Magic Flute has it all!
Mozart’s final operatic masterpiece comes
to Huntsville – in English! - in a magical
production for young and old alike.
Summer Program - Drama & Creative
Writing Combo Class
Join Lana Austin in this unique Convergence
Arts Class where she will be incorporating
both a Drama AND Creative Writing
overview. Classes are available for students
in grades 1 – 12.
The
DRAMA
facet
will
include
characterization, acting games/techniques,
stage makeup, elocution, projection,
breathing techniques, and visualization tools,
etc. The CREATIVE WRITING overview
will incorporate basic creative writing
techniques applicable to all genres, but also
includes some specialization in the genres
of playwriting, character enhancement
(building biographies for their acting/singing
selections), poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction/essays, and even songwriting. Other
programs include private voice, piano, and
strings.
For more information on these upcoming
operas or about our upcoming summer
programs, please call Ars Nova at
256-883-1105 or visit our website at
www.arsnovahsv.com.
Partner’s, King Show (10:30) Dance (9pm-2am)
The Brick (Decatur), Roosevelt Franklin
The Docks (Scottsboro), The Tony Brooks Band
The Station, Black Label
Sunday
June14
Black Water Hattie’s, 4 Door Ramblers
Casa Montego, Live Jazz featuring Devere Pride Trio and
Friends (7-10:30)
Kaffeeklatsch @Night, 25th Birthday party w/
Sunday Blues Jam hosted by Freddy Earl and the Blues
Mercenaries (3pm-close)
Karaoke w/DJ Brandon Mac
TheEnd
The Renaissance Theatre presents Eric Bogosian’s Play, Sex Drugs
Rock and Roll on the Alpha Stage, 1212 Meridian Street at 8pm. The
tickets are $12. Special price for the Thursday night performance is
$10. For more information call 256- 536-3117 or go to www.renaissa
ncetheatre.com. (See ad pg)
The Arts Council (TAC) of Huntsville is sponsoring a workshop;
open to attendees from Madison, Morgan, Limestone, Marshall, and
Jackson counties and covering the Alabama State Council on the
Arts’ (ASCA) grant-writing process. The workshop takes place from
10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Von Braun Center Ballet Room next to
the TAC offices (700 Monroe Street, SW in downtown Huntsville).
Attendance for TAC members is free for up to two participants from
each organization. The fee for all others is $15. Pre-registration is by
needed by Monday, 11 May 2009 and includes a free pizza lunch. For
further information and to register, call The Arts Council at 256-5192787 (ARTS), ext. 206 or e-mail [email protected].
Friday, May 22
The Huntsville Art League announces a class taught by Dr. Frances
Church it will be teaching sculpture with free and inexpensive
materials. The class will be from 4-5:30pm. For more information
contact www.huntsvilleartleague.org or call 256-534-3860.
The Daikin Festival will be held from 6:30pm-9:00pm at the
Morgan County Fairgrounds in Decatur. Enjoy Free Japanese
Cuisine, Japanese Folk Dancing, Games, Live Music, and More. For
the 15th year, Daikin America is providing a Japanese-style festival
for the communities in North Alabama. Admission is free. In addition
to free parking around the fairgrounds, free shuttle service will be
provided to the fairgrounds from Decatur Mall and Austin High
School. Around 8:45 p.m., the grand prize drawing will be held
where one lucky person will win a new large screen, high definition
LCD television. For more information on the Daikin Festival, contact
Forrest Keith at 256.306.5000. May 22-23
The Huntsville Art League announces Egg Tempera Class by
Marcia Leonard. The class will be from 7-8pm and Saturday from
9am to 3pm. The method used before oil mediums were utilized the
most known artist in this medium was Botticelli , American artists
Robert Vickrey and Andrew Wyeth are fine examples of craftsman’s
that searched for the unique luminosity and transparency that such a
medium will make possible. For more information go towww.huntsv
illeartleague.org or call 256-534-3860.
Friday, May 23
CASA Community Garden Plant Days will be from 8 am to 2 pm
at the CASA Community Garden, located at 4725 Bob Wallace
Avenue. Come help CASA of Madison County kick off the garden
season. Volunteers will be preparing beds, planting, and prepping
the garden. Plant Day is open to individual and group volunteers.
Please bring gloves, sunscreen, and insect repellant. All of the
produce harvested from the garden is delivered to our elderly and
homebound clients. For more information or to sign up call Amber at
533-7775 or email at [email protected].
ATLANTA
May 24, Heart and Joan Jett, Chastain Park
Amphitheatre
May 27, The National, Variety Playhouse
May 28, Kenny Chesney, Verizon Wireless
Amphitheatre at Encore Park
May 29, Yo-Yo Ma, Symphony Hall Atlanta
June 3, The Decemberists, Tabernacle
June 5, No Doubt with Paramore, Lakewood
Amphitheatre
June 15, Andrew Bird, Cobb Energy Performing
Arts Center
June 26-27, Beach Boys, Frederick Brown Jr.
Amphitheatre
June 28, Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd,
Lakewood Amphitheatre
July 1, Beyonce, Phillips Arena
July 15, Aerosmith with ZZ Top, Lakewood
Amphitheatre
July 28, Vans Warped Tour, Lakewood
Amphitheatre
July 28, Paolo Nutini, Variety Playhouse
July 31, Rascal Flatts with Darius Rucker,
Lakewood Amphitheatre
MEMPHIS
June 12, Keith Urban with Sugarland, FedEx
Forum
June 18, Doobie Brothers, Memphis Botanical
Gardens
Listings
Pubs&Taverns
&Clubs&Bars
#052109061009
July 2, New Kids on the Block, Mud Island
Amphitheatre
BIRMINGHAM
June, 17, Rain—The Beatles Experience, BJCC
Concert Hall
June 19-21, City Stages 2009 Festival, Linn Park
(Downtown Birmingham)
June 25, Sugarland with Special Guest Billy
Currington and Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers,
Verizon Wireless Music Center
June 29, Steely Dan, NIA Academy
August 11, Def Leopard with Poison and Cheap
Trick, Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 16, Jonas Brothers, BJCC Arena
HUNTSVILLE
May 30, Keith Urban, Von Braun Center Arena
NASHVILLE
June 6, Coldplay, Sommet Center
June 11-14, CMA Music Festival, LP Field (Fan Fair)
June 11-14, CMA Music Festival, L P Field
June 14, George Jones, Ryman Auditorium
June 19, Fleetwood Mac, Sommet Center
June 21, Plain White T’s, The Cannery-Mercy Lounge
July 22, Judas Priest, Nashville Municipal Auditorium
July 31, Green Day, Sommet Center
HOG WILD SALOON
2407 Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-533-7446
HOMEPORT
20076 N. Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-852-8800
HOPPER’S
5903 University Drive, 256-830-0600
HUMPHREY’S BAR & GRILL
109 Washington Square, Huntsville, 256-704-5555.
INDIGO JOE’S
7407 Hwy 72 W, Madison, AL 256-489-9393
2nd STREET MUSIC HALL
208 2nd Street, Gadsden 256-547-0010
JESTERS
373 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, 256-293-4307
3rd BASE GRILL (2 locations)
1792 Hyw 72 E, Huntsville, 256-852-9191
7904 S. Memorial Parkway 256-882-9500
KAFFEEKLATSCH @NIGHT
103 Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-536-7993.
801 FRANKLIN
801 Franklin Street, Huntsville, 256-519-8019.
KICKERS
8716 Madison Blvd, Madison, 256-772-0701
ALLEN’S GRILLE & GROG
9076 Madison Blvd, Madison, 256-772-8514.
LEEANN’S
415 Church St, Huntsville, 256-489-9300
THE BARN
2510 Ready Section Road, Toney
LISA’S LOUNGE
2313 N. Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-534-9520
B.B. PERRINS SPORTS GRILLE
608 Holly St. NE, Decatur, 256-355-1045
MAC’S SPORTSBAR AND STEAKHOUSE
1733 S. Jefferson Street, Athens. 256-232-6161
BENCHWARMER FOOD & SPIRITS
2998 University Drive, Huntsville 256-539-6268.
MASON’S PUB
115 Clinton Ave., Huntsville 256-704-5575
BENCHWARMER, TOO!
3000 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-489-9600.
MOODY MONDAYS
718 Church St, Huntsville, 256-533-4005
BLACK WATER HATTIE’S
10000 S. Memorial Pkwy. 256-489-3333.
MOONDOGS
2002 13th St. SW, Huntsville, 256-534-8844
BLUE PARROT MARTINI & CIGAR LOUNGE
7001 Val-Monte Drive, Guntersville, 256-582-0930.
NETWORKS LOUNGE
2140 Gunter Ave., Guntersville
BOGEY’S
412 Main St. Guntersville, 256-582-2860
THE NOOK
3305 Bob Wallace Ave. 256-489-0911
BOOMERS
125 Albert Mann Rd., New Hope, 256-723-3029
OLIVIA’S
1009 Henderson Rd, Huntsville, 256-837-4728
BOONDOCKS
Hwy 69, Guntersville, 256-582-3935
OTTER’S
5 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, 256-830-2222.
BUFFALOS CAFE
8020 Madison Blvd., Huntsville, 256-772-4477
PARTNERS
627 Meridian St. , Huntsville, 256-539-0975
CACTUS JACKS
1117 Jordan Ln, Huntsville, 256-721-6384
PHILBY’S POURHOUSE
CAHOOTS
114 WestMarket Street, Fayetteville, 931 433-1173
PORT OF MADISON
9035 Hwy 20 W, Madison, 256-772-7170
CASA MONTEGO
Jonathan Dr, Huntsville, 256-858-9187 or 714-0155
CD’S PUB AND GRILL
107 Arlington Dr, Madison, 256-773-4477
CHIPS & SALSA CANTINA
10300 Bailey Cove Rd SE Huntsville, 256-880-1202.
CLUB MIRAGE
4701 Meridian Street, Huntsville, 256-851-2920.
RUSS T’S
Hwy 79, Scottsboro, 256-259-0641
SAMMY T’S MUSIC HALL
116 Washington Street, 256-539-9974.
SANDY’S ROADHOUSE
12740 Hwy. 431 S, Guntersville, 256-571-0450.
SCOOTER’S
Willow St, Scottsboro, 256-575-0800
COPPER TOP BAR & GRILL
200 Q Oakwood Ave., Huntsville, 256-536-1150
THE SHACK
105 Swancott Road, Triana 256-461-0227.
CRICKETS
3810 Sullivan St., Madison, 256-464-3777
SPORTS PAGE LOUNGE & DELI
9009 Memorial Pkwy S, Huntsville, 256-880-9471.
CROSSROADS, THE
115 Clinton Ave, Huntsville, 256-533-3393.
SPORTS ZONE
3429 Hwy 31, Decatur, 256-350-9702
END ZONE, THE
ESQUIRE CLUB
3701 Governors Dr., Huntsville, 256-534-7303
FINNEGAN’S PUB
3310 Memorial Pkwy S, Huntsville, 256-881-9732
FOCUS BAR & GRILL
2020 Country Club Ave., Huntsville, 256-534-4441
FURNITURE FACTORY BAR & GRILL
619 Meridian Street N, Huntsville, 256-539-8001.
STEM AND STEIN WINE CELLAR AND BAR
1087 County Line Rd. STE. B, Madison, 256-325-3779
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
Sci-quest will have an Open House will be from 10am to 6pm.
There will be no admission charge. There will be special activities
for children. Sci-Quest is located at 102 D Wynn Drive. For more
information go to www.sci-quest.org.
The Cajun Zydeco Connection (CZC) of Huntsville will have Lil
Malcolm and the House Rockers –with some hard rocking Zydeco
from 8 to 11 pm at the Southern Elegance Dance Studio. The cost
is $12 for members and $15 for non-members. The Zydeco lesson at
will be at 7:15 pm. It is sponsored by Cajun Zydeco Connection (CZC)
of Huntsville. For more information go to http://czdance.com<http:
//czdance.com/> or call 534-2840.
The Downtown Home Blues Festival will be at the Jaycees
Fairground on Airport Road. Gates will open at noon and the show
will begin at 1pm. Advance tickets are $26 or $30 at the gate. For
more information go to www.brimstoneentertainmentinc.net.
The Dixie Derby Girls vs. Mississippi Rollergirls will be at the
VBC South Hall. Doors will open at 6:30 and the bout stops at
7:30. Advance tickets are $10 and $12 at the door. The first 50 to
come in on bicycles get in free and kids 6 and under are free. Go to
www.dixiederbygirls.com for more information.
The 12th Annual Old School Music Festival will be at Sportsman
Enterprise Park, off Highway 53, to Railroad Bed. The gates will open
at 11am and the show will begins at 1 pm. For more information call
770-383-2557 or go to www.oldschoolfestival.com.
Sunday, May 24
The Huntsville Museum of Art presents the 50 Years of Exploration
Exhibit now through August 16. Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell,
Annie Leibovitz, William Wegman and more fantastic American
artists will be on view as part of the upcoming exhibit. Experience
NASA’s storied history, its historic triumphs and tragic accidents,
through drawings, photographs, sculpture, paintings and other
media. This is your chance to see some of America’s greatest artists
all in one convenient location! Don’t miss the Warhol Moonwalk
silkscreen made famous by MTV! For more information contact
[email protected].
Huntsville Artist Elaine Nelson will be doing a demonstration of
her painting technique at a new store in Huntsville, the Rug and Art
Bazaar in Madison Square Mall. The demonstrations will take place
the first Sunday of each month, starting in May between the hours
of 2 and 4pm. For more information about this event or the artist,
please call June at 727 709-5086.
A Round Dance Class with all rhythms: waltz, foxtrot, jive, two-step,
cha, and swing. It will be from 7 pm to 8:30 pm at the Ballroom, 427
Nature’s Way. The cost is $5.00 per person each week. Call Cindy
Hadley 256-642-1024 for additional information.
The Cotton Row Run will be Downtown Huntsville beginning
at 7am. There will be a 5K, 10K, and a mile fun run/walk. For more
information call 256-650-7063.
The Coffee Tree Books and Brew, at 7900 Bailey Cove Road, will
have Chess Club at 6pm. For more information about this event
contact the Coffee Tree at 256- 880-6121. (See ad pg 5)
The Coffee Tree Books and Brew, at 7900 Bailey Cove Road, will have
Woodcarvers at 6pm. For more information about this event contact
the Coffee Tree at 256- 880-6121. (See ad pg 5).
Huntsville-Madison County Public will begin the Summer
Reading Program of 2009. This summer, the Readers to the Rescue
program will be raising money to purchase a library mascot: the
Library Lion! For every two hours read, generous library sponsors
will donate funds to purchase the professional library mascot. Each
child who signs up to read for the Library Lion will receive a button
that says, “There’s a Lion at my Library!” Kids of all ages can register
for all of the summer reading fun and surprises at their local library
beginning Tuesday, May 26. Registration and all activities are free
of charge thanks to generous grants from Wachovia and the Junior
League of Huntsville. More information can also be found at http:
//hpl.lib.al.us.
Tuesday, May 26
The Westin Huntsville Courtyard will have live music and great
food with free admission from 6-8pm.Visit the Customer Service
at Bridge Street or go to www.bridgestreethuntsville.com, for the
concert schedule. (See ad pg.11)
Wednesday, May 27
STEVE’S BILLIARDS & LOUNGE
2322 Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-539-8919.
Thursday, May 28
THE HORSE
2021 Golf Rd, Huntsville, 256-881-8820
THIRSTY TURTLE
4800 Whitesburg Dr, Huntsville, 256-881-5079
VOODOO LOUNGE BAR AND GRILL
110 Southside Square, Huntsville 256-534-6116
HARD DOCK CAFE
3755 U.S. Hwy. 31, Decatur, 256-340-9234
The Von Braun Astronomical Society will host a Constellation
Mythology at the Planetarium at 7:30 pm. There will be telescope
observing after the show when weather permits. The admission
is $5 adults and $3 for students and members are free. Go to
www.vbas.org for more information.
THE STATION
8694 Madison Blvd., Madison, 256-325-1333.
VISIONS
6404 University Dr. NW, Huntsville, 256-722-8247
THE GREEN ROOM
Jordan Lane, Huntsville,256-837-2232
The Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day will be at
TheBookmark at 11220-J South Memorial Parkway and Haven
Comics at 1871-S Slaughter Rd., behind Heritage Florist & Gifts. There
may be more stores in the area may participate so visit the official
website, dndgameday.com, for a complete list.
A Zydeco class will be sponsored by the Cajun Zydeco Connection
of Huntsville. This event is free and will be at the Eagles on
10th Street off Bob Wallace. It will begin at 7pm followed by a
dance practice session until 8:30 pm. For more information go to
czdance.com<http://czdance.com/> for more information.
THE CREEK
2704 Johnson Rd SW, Huntsville, 256-489-4379
VINOTINI’S
7143 University Dr., Huntsvile, 256-722-2080
GENO’S PUB
1015 6th Ave. SE, Decatur, 256-355-9998
Lil Malcolm and the House Rockers - Hard rocking Zydeco Band,
will be at the Southern Elegance Dance Studio located at 3005 L&N
Drive. The time is from 8-11pm. The cost is $12 for members and $15
for non-members. There will be a Zydeco lesson at 7:15. This event
is sponsored by Cajun Zydeco Connection (CZC) of Huntsville. Go to
http://czdance.com for more information, or call 534-2840.
Tuesday, May 26
ROSEBERRY PUB & GRILL
Hwy 67 Scottsboro, 256-574-4231
CLUB OZZ
1204 Posey St. NW, Huntsville, 256-534-5970
EMBER CLUB
10131 Memorial Parkway, Huntsville, 256-881-0057
The Fourth Friday Night Gospel Concert Series will be at the
Downtown Rescue Mission Chapel at 1400 Evangel Drive. The
concert will begin at 7pm and will feature The Kent Smith Family, The
Jems, and Congregational Singing. Admission is free, but donations
are requested with all proceeds will going to the Downtown
Rescue Mission. For more information call 256-457-3169 or go to
[email protected].
Monday, May 25
RUGGBY’S
CHARLOTTE’S PLACE
1117 Jordan Ln. wHuntsville, AL 35816
EVENTS
Saturday, May 23
11th FRAME BAR
8661 Hwy 27, Madison, 256-722-0015
HALF TIME BAR AND GRILL
8873 Highway 72 W, Madison, 256-430-0266
ContinuedonPage17
RegionalConcerts
Calendar of
WINGS SPORTS GRILLE
4250 Balmoral Dr. SW, Huntsville, 256-881-8878.
The Huntsville Traditional Music Association will have their May
Coffeehouse at 7pm at the old church at Burritt on the Mountain.
The opening will be the Quinn Family Old Time Singers, consisting
of Melinda and David, their three daughters: Lucy, Rachel, Charlotte,
and son-in-law Shawn. A rare treat for HTMA will be the appearance
of Ervan James (Jim) Parker, a fantastic songwriter and performer
who is widely known in Huntsville as the driving force behind the
Songwriter Showcases at the Von Braun Center. There is no charge for
this event, but donations will be accepted. For more information go
to huntsvillefolk.org.
The Coffee Tree Books and Brew, at 7900 Bailey Cove Road, will
have Fiction Writer’s Group at 7pm. For more information about
this event contact the Coffee Tree at 256- 880-6121. (See ad pg 5)
Friday, May 29
The Huntsville Art League announces a class taught by Dr.
Frances Church. It will be a sculpture class at 9am-11am. For more
information contact www.huntsvilleartleague.org or call 256-5343860.
A Critical Mass Bike Ride will meet at 6:30pm at the SE corner of the
Downtown Courthouse in Huntsville. Bring Noisemakers, Laughter
and Lights! For more information go to http://www.bellovelo.com.
There will be a Recession-Proof Income Opportunity Seminar at
the Best Western at 6200 Torok Circle. It will be from 7pm-9pm. For
more information or to RSVP call Cathy (256) 457-0812 or Anthony
(770) 780-8143.
The Carnegie Arts will have Embracing Art VII: A Coming Together
of Area Amateur & Professional Artists Exhibit May 29th - June
27th. This exciting show will be presented for the seventh year and
features artists from the North Alabama area as well as other invited
guests. Go to www.CarnegieArtsTrail.org for more information.
May 29-30
The Freedom Creek Festival will be at 791 Old Memphis Road in
Aliceville. Tickets for Friday’s show are $10, with performances by
Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcoln and others. Saturday night will
feature Kenny Neal, Jerry “Boogie” McCain, The Liberators, and others.
Tickets will be $12 for Saturday night. For more information call 205752-6263.
May 29-31
The Ars Nova presents the Opera, Macbeth at the Von Braun
Center Playhouse. It will be Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and
Sunday at 2:30 pm. For more information call 256-883-1105 or go to
www.arsnovahsv.com. (See ad pg.12)
Saturday, May 30
The Von Braun Astronomical Society will host a Constellation
Mythology at the Planetarium at 7:30 pm. There will be telescope
observing after the show when weather permits. The admission
is $5 adults and $3 for students and members are free. Go to
www.vbas.org for more information.
An Introduction to Jive Clinic will be at the Ballroom, 427 Nature’s
Way from 10 am until 2 pm. It is $10 per dancer with a lite lunch
included. There is an advance registration required. No experience
or partner required. Call Cindy Hadley 256-642-1024 or Tim Eum 256457-7875 for additional information or email [email protected].
Sunday, May 31
The Friends of Music at Nativity presents the Nativity Choir
Spring Concert, featuring music by Benjamin Britten and Arvo Pärt.
It will be at 4 pm at the Church of the Nativity, 208 Eustis Avenue.
The concert is free and all are welcome and it is handicap accessible.
For more information, call 533-2455.
Huntsville Artist Elaine Nelson will be doing a demonstration of
her painting technique at a new store in Huntsville, the Rug and
Art Bazaar in Madison Square Mall. The demonstrations will take
place the first Sunday of each month, starting in May between the
hours of 2 and 4pm. For more information about this event or the
artist, please call June at 727 709-5086.
Monday, June 1
Burritt Museum is offerering Kids’Camps June 1- August 5th for
children who have completed grades kindergarten through 12th
grade. Campers will pan for gems, visit a coal mine, dig for rocks,
learn about wildlife, explore the woods, discover farm life, greet
animals, play fun games and create cool crafts. For times, fees, any
other information or to register, please call (256) 512-0146, (256) 5362882 or visit burrittonthemountain.com.
A Round Dance Class with all rhythms: waltz, foxtrot, jive, two-step,
cha, and swing. It will be from 7 pm to 8:30 pm at the Ballroom, 427
Nature’s Way. The cost is $5.00 per person each week. Call Cindy
Hadley 256-642-1024 for additional information.
Rhodes Ferry Park in Decatur will have a band from 6-8pm. Bring
a picnic, blanket, or lawn chair and enjoy the free entertainment. Call
341-4818 or go to www.decaturparks.com for more information.
The Arts Council, Inc., and The City of Huntsville are pleased
to announce the kickoff of 2009’s “Concerts in the Park!” This
annual series provides free “serenade under the stars” at Downtown
Huntsville’s Big Spring International Park, near the Williams Avenue/
Church Street intersection, in the area of the gazebo and eternal
flame. It all begins 1 June with Hot Soup and the DiscOasis at 6:30
pm. For more information contact The Arts Council at (256) 519-2787
(ARTS), ext. 205 or go to www.artshuntsville.org.
The Madison Public Library will have Madison Movie Madness
featuring Gattica at 6pm. This event is free to the public. For more
information call 256-461-0046 or go to www.hpl.lib.al.us/madison.
The Huntsville Museum of Art welcomes a new cafe concept from
the masterminds behind Huntsville’s Cotton Row. The new cafe, Pene
e Vino, will be located on the plaza level of the Museum, overlooking
Big Spring Park. Enjoy Chef Jimmy Boyce’s signature salads, pizzas
and pastas made with some of the regions freshest ingredients. Don’t
miss the fabulous wine list! This will be from now until June 30th.
Tuesday, June 2
concert schedule. (See ad pg 11)
Thursday, June 4
The Madison Arts Council will have Madison Gazebo Concerts
from 6:30pm-8pm. The Moon Dust Big Band will be performing
with no admission charge. The concert is at Wall Triana and Main
Street. For more information go to www.madisonartscouncil.net
Sidewalk Arts Stroll 2009
M
ark your calendars for the evenings
of the 2009 Sidewalk Arts Stroll—
downtown Huntsville’s summer
arts event! This is the Arts Stroll’s fourth
year—and downtown Huntsville will be
‘the place to be’ on the third Thursday of the
month, June 18, July 16, and August 20—as
the sidewalks become stages for the arts.
We are pleased to announce a new addition
to the 2009 Arts Stroll. In addition to our
great mix of artists and performers, this year
the Stroll will offer a broader selection of
merchandise, including vendors who will
offer fresh produce, flowers, baked goods, and
select handcrafted items. So, in addition to
picking up a great painting, piece of jewelry,
pottery, or sculpture—visit the Sidewalk
Marketplace and shop for handcrafted paper,
fresh flowers, homegrown tomatoes and
other produce, desserts or other gourmet
food items.
With the sidewalk reconstruction around the
courthouse square, we are also pleased to
announce that we have a new, temporary,
‘borrowed’ location for the 2009 Arts
Stroll. Constitution Village has graciously
offered to host the 2009 Arts Stroll. The
Village is immediately adjacent to the
Courthouse square, so the event stays in
the heart of downtown Huntsville. Artists
and performers will be placed both in the
Village and the surrounding sidewalks—and
we will close Gates Avenue so there is even
more space for everyone to spill out and
about. The Village will be free and open to
the public on Stroll nights. This is a great
opportunity for everyone to come down and
experience the beautiful music that is made
when Alabama arts are combined with
Alabama history!
If you or your organization would like to
participate this year, please visit our website,
www.sidewalkartsstroll.com and download
an application. You can also contact us
directly! Donna Castellano, 508-5372 or
Dianne Burch 776-2864.
Friday, June 5
The Arts Council presents Art Ventures Summer Day Camp, “2009
An Art Odyssey.” It will be Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm (bring a
sack lunch) and Friday from 9am-1pm (lunch will be provided. This
camp is for ages 10-12 and the cost is $150 with a limited number
of scholarships available. It will be at First United Methodist in
downtown Huntsville. Must be registered by June 5th. For more
information call 256-519-2787 or go to www.artshunstville.org. (See
ad pg 10)
Saturday, June 6
The Tennessee Valley Tigers will have their final home game of the
season is “Military Appreciation Night” when the team takes on
the Shreveport Aftershock at Milton Frank Stadium at 4:00 p.m. This
game is sponsored by Avion, Inc. The Tigers will show appreciation
to the men and women who serve or have served our country by
donating free tickets to local military personnel for this game. So
fans, break out you camouflage and show your support for our
troops. For more information on the Tennessee Valley Tigers, please
visit www.tigersIWFL.com
The Athens Grand Old Opry presents, Razzy Bailey and Roni
Stoneman with the Pure Country Band at 7pm. Tickets are only
$10 at the door. The Athens Opry is located at 24861 Airport Road.
For more information about this event call George Hill at 216-1151 or
go to [email protected].
The Valley Planet is printed on recycled paper!
ContinuedonPage18
ContinuedonPage25
THE VALLEY PLANET
The Huntsville Art League will host artist, Peter Grant. This is for
professional artists and will free up your style. C lasses designed
specially for the professional artist. This class will be held from 6:
30-8:30pm. For more information go to www.huntsvilleartleague.org
or call 256-534-3860.
THE VALLEY PLANET
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
17
Free Will
Astrology
by Rob Brezsny
May 21-June 10
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The fleas infesting
dogs’ skin have greater leaping power than the
fleas on cats. Why do you think that is, Aries?
Maybe you should use your waxing brainpower
to get to the bottom of this great mystery. Just
kidding! While it is true that in the coming
weeks you will have unusual skill in deciphering
enigmas and clarifying ambiguities, I think you
should direct that skill to really important matters
that will improve your life for months to come
-- not to trivial questions like fleas’ jumping
abilities.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Studies show that
when most people take a shower, they lather the
upper part of their bodies first and make their way
down. I recommend that you take the opposite
approach in the coming weeks, Taurus. In fact,
I think a similar strategy would be wise in just
about everything you do. Start at the bottom
and work your way up. Establish yourself at the
ground level and then take care of the higher
stuff. Pay respect to the roots and then tend to
the branches.
Calendar of
EVENTS
ContinuedfromPage17
There will be Youth Fishing Rodeo at Braham Springs Park
Lagoon from 8:30-10:30 am. There is no admission charged for this
event. Young fishermen 6 to 12 will be casting for pride and prizes.
One fish will be tagged with $5,000 in cash & prizes. All children must
register to be eligible for prizes and money. Pre-registration deadline
is May 30. Kids can register on the day of the event under the tent
from 7-8:30 am. For more 256-883-3728.
The Madison Arts Council will sponsor Art on Main from 10am2pm. It will be in historic downtown Madison. Stroll the streets to
view or buy art. For more information call 256-461-8938.
The Lookout Mountain Art Expo presented by the Mentone Area
Arts Council in Mentone will be on the lawn of the Mentone Inn in
Town Center from 9 am until 5pm. More than 20 artists from across
the region were selected to show in the Lookout Mountain Art Expo.
It is free to the public. For more information about the show, visit
www.mentonearts.org.
Join the Huntsville Young Professionals (HYP) and The Land Trust
of Huntsville & North Alabama to celebrate National Trails Day.
We will be volunteering to help clear and maintain hiking trails for
The Land Trust. The Land Trust will provide tools and plenty of water.
For more information contact Stacey Brewer at 256-508-2328 or at
[email protected] or go to www.landtrust-hsv.org.
The Christian Single Young Professionals (CSYP) will have a lunch
at the Sakoa Japan Grill, at Piazza del Lago Food Court at Bridge
Street Towne Center, on Old Madison Pike. It will be from 11:30-12:
30. For more information email [email protected].
The Von Braun Astronomical Society will host Star Clusters at
the Planetarium at 7:30 pm. There will be telescope observing after
the show when weather permits. The admission is $5 adults and $3
for students and members are free. Go to www/vbas/org. for more
information.
A Contra Dance with live music by Maple Hill will be in gym of Faith
Presbyterian. All ages welcome singles, couples and families. The
dance is from 7:30 to 10:30 pm with a workshop at 7 pm. The cost is
$7.00/$4.00 students and admission is free for ages 12 and under. Go
to secontra.com/NACDS.html or call 837-0656 for more information.
A Free Walking Tour in Historic Huntsville will begin at 10 am
from Alabama Constitution Village on Gates Street. There will
be no admission charge for this event. For more information call
256-533-5723.
Sunday, June 7
The Crossroads Music Hall at 115 Clinton Avenue, in Huntsville will
host Music for Meds, benefiting the Community Free Clinic. Doors
will open at 1:30pm, and music begins at 2:00pm, and will continue
nonstop until the wee hours. A minimum donation of $10.00 is
requested. Some of the performers will be 5’Oclock Charlie, The
Alabama Blues Brother, Dave Anderson, Angry Native, Backwater,
The Breakers, Microwave Dave and The Nukes, Sonny Edwards, Robb
and Mary Ezell, Dave Krantz, Sandy Lane, Plastation, Michael Buffalo
Smith, and Toy Shop and Donnie Winters. Visit www.myspace.com/
music4meds for more information. (See ad pg 22)
Monday, June 8
Rhodes Ferry Park in Decatur will have Sophisticated Swingers
and Rocket City Chorus perform from 6-8pm. Bring a picnic,
blanket, or lawn chair and enjoy the free entertainment. Call 341-
18
4818 or go to www.decaturparks.com for more information. After
the concert, the movie The Music Man will be shown.
The Arts Council, Inc. & The City of Huntsville’s Department of
Recreation Services, will present concerts in the park, held at Big
Spring International Park and will feature, Cristina Lynn & Chuck
Rutenberg at 6:30 pm. Lynn (vocals) and Rutenberg (acoustic guitar,
vocals), performing modern country songs, including original music
and the beloved hits of Patsy Cline. Reunion will play at 7:20 pm.
This popular eight-piece group specializes in oldies (50’s-60’s-70’s)
and has been a Panoply and CitP mainstay for years. This event is
free and open to the public. Bring blankets, lawn chairs, & picnics.
For more information call (256) 519-2787 (ARTS), ext. 205, or go to
www.artshuntsville.org.
The Carnegie Arts will have Camp Carnegie this summer June 8
- July 9 in five separate sessions, M - F, 9:30am - 1:30pm or M - TH 9:
00am - 2:00pm. Each week of this year’s camp schedule will provide
a child with a different experience and study of multiple mediums
and artists. Registration deadline is Saturday, May 30th at 4:00 pm.
Please call the Carnegie Visual Arts Center at 256-341-0562 or email
[email protected] for more information. The cost is $110
members / $135 non-members and a $20 supply fee per child per
week.
June 8-10
The Hartselle Fine Arts Center will be having a camp for Junior
High and High School Students. There will be a group of talented
teachers coming in from New York for three days for students who
have a love for musical theater. This is a very exciting opportunity.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 256-6121208.
Tuesday, June 9
The Christian Single Young Professionals (CSYP) will have an
Ice Cream Social at 7pm at Baskin Robins, located on the corner
of Whitesburg and Airport Drive. For more information about this
event email [email protected].
The Huntsville Young Professionals in partnership with UAH
Huntsville’s Alumni Association will host a workshop, “Food &
Fitness: Dealing with Stress in the Workplace”. Presenters will
speak on the topics of healthy eating, exercises to do at your desk
and home exercises. The class will be taught at Willowbrook Baptist
Church and attendees will have the option of attending a workout
training at D1 across the street. The cost is $15 with dinner will be
provided. The time is from 6-8 pm. Please RSVP; there is a limit of 40.
For more information about this event go to ProfessionalDevelopm
[email protected].
concert schedule. (See ad pg 11)
June 10-27
Independent Musical Productions presents Sweeney Todd: The
Demon Barber of Fleet Street, in its original (1979) Broadway
version. All performances are held at Lee Lyric Theater located
at Lee High School - 606 Forrest Cir. Huntsville, AL 35810. Evening
performances June 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 at 7:30 p.m. There is one matinee
on June 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets and information available online at
www.imphuntsville.org. (See ad pg. 24)
Thursday, June 11
The Huntsville Art League will host artist, Peter Grant. This is for
professional artists and will free up your style. The class is designed
specially for the professional artist. This class will be held from 6:308:30pm. For more information go towww.huntsvilleartleague.org or
call 256-534-3860.
ContinuedonPage19
#052109061009
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A couple I know
planned to have their second baby delivered
at home with a midwife’s help. The father is a
physician who assisted with childbirths during
his residency, so he and his partner felt confident
about conducting their rite of passage outside of
the hospital. But once the mom’s water broke and
labor began, everything happened faster than
expected. The dad gave the midwife an urgent
phone call, but the kid was already crowning.
“Don’t cut the umbilical cord right away,” the
midwife advised. “It will minimize the shock of
transition if the baby can get the hang of breathing
while still being nurtured as she has for the last
nine months.” That’s exactly what they did. And
I hope you will do the metaphorical equivalent,
Gemini. Keep getting fed the old way for a while
as you learn how to be fed in the new way.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): I swerve to avoid
running over spiders that cross my path when
I’m riding my bicycle. While at home, I prefer
to shepherd flies out through an open door or
window rather than swat them. I’m still not
sufficiently enlightened that I’ve stopped trying
to squash mosquitoes that dive-bomb me while
I’m falling asleep, however. I’m working on it,
but may need a few more years of meditation
before I bring my reverence for all insect life up
to the highest level. The way I see it, my fellow
Cancerian, you’d benefit from working on a
similar project in the coming weeks: improving
your relationships with influences you don’t have
a natural affinity for.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Never doubt that a
small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world,” wrote anthropologist
Margaret Meade. “Indeed, it’s the only thing
that ever has.” An excellent example of that
occurred during America’s Revolutionary War
against England from 1775 to 1783. Of all the
men in the 13 colonies who could have fought for
freedom, only 16 percent did. I hope that gives
you encouragement as you seek to fix a glitch in
the status quo. You and your band of allies have
more power than you know.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Up to one-tenth of
the population is left-handed. Yet for centuries,
even as late as the 1950s, there were social
stigmas against left-handers -- similar in some
ways to the perverse prejudice that has been
directed toward homosexuals. So strong was
the taboo that many parents tried to convert
their naturally left-handed children into righties.
Thankfully, this absurd form of repression is
now defunct. (Five of the last seven American
presidents have been left-handed.) But it’s a good
reminder that there are countless other ways in
which our culture still attempts to coax us or
force us into not being who we really are. But
here’s the good news: It’s an excellent time for
you Virgos to reject the pressure to be someone
else and get back to where you once belonged.
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
Reunite with the person you were destined to
be!
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Tower of Terror
is a thrill ride at Disney World. Riders are yanked
up and down as they travel along a 199-foot
pillar. A Florida woman named Denise Mooty
believes this form of amusement is essential to
her health. She says the extreme G-forces she’s
exposed to on the ride help dissipate the fibrous
adhesions in her belly. I recommend a similar
kind of therapy for you, Libra. Not to break
up fibrous adhesions, since you probably don’t
have any, but rather to jostle your mental blocks,
repetitive fantasies, and obsessive habits. They
might just break into pieces and dissipate if you
shake them in the right way.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): It’s your choice,
Scorpio. You could be a creative dynamo who
changes the course of local history -- or you
could be a plain old boring sex maniac. What’ll
it be? We here at the Free Will Astrology
Libido Management Center encourage you to
at least partially sublimate your unruly mojo
into beautiful works of art, innovative business
solutions, and brilliant strokes of collaboration.
You don’t have to stop boinking altogether; just
make it the second most important thing you
rather do than your raison d’etre.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The planets
are conspiring to unleash energies that will touch
you in ways you didn’t realize you needed to
be touched. Any minute now you may begin
to feel a pleasurable burning sensation in your
soft underbelly, or a prickly wake-up call in
your willpower, or a ticklish electricity running
through your funny bone. What does it all mean?
Maybe nothing. Or maybe it means so much that
you can’t possibly analyze its meaning. What a
valuable gift that would be! When is the last time
you felt free of the need to have to understand
everything?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A long-time
Capricorn reader named Allison wrote me an
apologetic email. She said that she has always
loved my horoscopes, and still loves them, but
for the foreseeable future she’s got to stop reading
them. “Please don’t take it as an insult, because
it’s not,” she wrote. “I just need to be less subject
to outside influences for a while. Maybe that will
help me get better at paying attention to my own
intuition.” I understood exactly what she means.
According to my analysis, this is one time when
you may have to shield yourself from the noise
around you -- even the good and interesting noise
-- in order to hear your own inner voice better.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Rolling Stone
magazine has said that sixties folk singer Tom
Rush (born February 8) was a major force in
launching the era of the singer-songwriter. He’s
been lying low for a while, though. Recently
he came out with his first new studio album in
35 years. I’m guessing that, like him, quite a
lot of other Aquarians will also be climaxing
new creations as 2009 unfolds -- perhaps even
works that are long overdue or that have been
extraordinarily slow in the making. And what
happens in the next few weeks will be crucial in
that process.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “All the problems
we face in the United States today,” said
comedian and presidential candidate Pat Paulsen,
“can be traced to an unenlightened immigration
policy on the part of the American Indian.” With
that as your inspiration, Pisces, I urge you to take
inventory of your own “immigration policy.”
It’s an excellent time to do so, astrologically
speaking. Here are some questions to guide you.
What influences do you allow to pour into your
sphere? Are they beneficial for your long-term
mental health? What people do you invite to
share your resources? Do they bring out the best
in you? Do you have smart boundaries that keep
out the bad stuff and welcome in the good?
Homework: What other name would you give
yourself if you could take a vacation from your
present name? Why? FreeWillAstrology.com.
THE VALLEY PLANET
Calendar of
EVENTS
maneuvers, parachute jumps, and air racing. The Courtland Air Show
will be at the Old Courtland Air Base located at 1390 Sanderson
Lane in Courtland, Alabama. In addition to the Air Show, there will be
a Car Show. Registration will be from 8:00 am till 12:00 pm. The cost is
$20 per entry. For information on the Car Show, contact Roger Dyer at
256.637.2255. Hours are 8 am to 5 pm. Admission for the airshow is $5
per person with proceeds to benefit the Courtland Airport Authority.
For more information on the Air Show, visit www.tvacenter.com.
The Madison Arts Council will have Madison Gazebo Concerts
from 6:30pm-8pm. The Madison Community Band & the Olde
Towne Brass will be performing with no admission charge. The
concert is at Wall Triana and Main Street. For more information go to
www.madisonartscouncil.net
There will be a Night Eco Hike with Soos Weber, a city ecologist. It
will begin at 7pm at the Hays Nature Preserve. It will be a short
1.5-mile hike around the Preserve at night. Be ready to learn about
nocturnal creatures and listen for beavers slapping their tails. This
event is free. For more information go to www.huntsvillepreserve
s.com.
ContinuedfromPage18
Friday, June 12
The American Red Cross Association presents the 6th Annual
A Touch of Red Gala. It will be at the Von Braun Center North
Hall at 6pm. There will be a silent auction, accompanied by
David McConnell’s rendition of Frank Sinatra tunes. Individual
tickets are $100. For more information call 256-535-0084 or go to
redcrossrelief.org.
Beer, Bratz, and Beatles will be at the Huntsville Botanical Garden
at 7pm. The cost is $20 advance purchase and $25 at the door. The
BeatLads, Birmingham’s Beatles Tribute Band, will be on hand to
transport Garden guests back to the 1960’s. Beer, soda and other
beverages will also be available for purchase to complete the night.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Huntsville Botanical
Garden gift shop or at the night of the event.
The Huntsville Young Professionals (HYP) will meet at the Rocket
City United Soccer Event at John Hunt Soccer Stadium from 7 pm10pm. The tickets are $7 each and you must state you are with HYP.
For more information contact Lindsay at [email protected].
Sunday, June 14
The Huntsville Museum of Art will host a docent led gallery tour
of NASA|ART: 50 Years of Exploration. Come learn interesting and
little known facts about the artwork, artists and NASA events. The
docent led tour is free with paid admission to the museum. For more
information go to hsvmuseum.org.
The End
Saturday, June 13
The Tennessee Valley Air Center is pleased to announce the return
of the Courtland Airshow, featuring aerobatic demonstrations and
Temecula
“A red rose is not selfish because it wants
to be a red rose. It would be horribly
selfish if it wanted all the other flowers
in the garden to be both red and roses.”
-- Oscar Wilde
Turning east off “The 15” about an hour north
of San Diego onto Rancho California Road
leads you into the Temecula Viticultural Area
-- one of the few relatively undiscovered wine
regions left in California. A number of my
wine biz compatriots either had never heard
of the place or had never tried the wine from
there. Heck, *I’d* never heard of the place
until the Sweet Partner in Crime suggested it.
Temecula, as we learned, was largely a ranching
town until about 25 years ago. Old Town
Temecula is largely constructed and restored
to give the ambience of what “used to be.”
What’s there now is a lot of grapes. Temecula
is a Pechanga word for “Sun shines through
the mist.” The city is allegedly the only one in
California to retain its Native American name.
Temecula Valley is a desert. Seriously. The
average rainfall there, we learned, was about
eight inches a year. It’s also brutally hot,
especially in summer. Temecula is both blessed
and cursed. As an “up and coming” wine region,
there’s a rapidly growing market for these wines.
But I found that many of the wineries grow
grapes that aren’t the best match for the climate.
It’s understandable that the growers would
pepper the hillsides with cabernet sauvignon,
merlot, etc. – because that’s what everyone
was drinking when these wineries opened.
Looking at other wine growing regions with
similar climates around the world, places like
Italy and Spain seem to match best. So does the
Rhone, which has the hottest, driest growing
season in France. Twenty years ago, however,
the average American wine drinker would have
said, “Tempranillo? Isn’t that a little armored
hedgehog looking thing from Texas?”
Thankfully, the American palate is broadening.
The wineries in Temecula that had the foresight
to get some Italian, Rhone, and Spanish varietals
in the ground are seeing real dividends. I’ll be
interested to see the development in Temecula
over the next several years. Vineyards take
a long time to produce mature fruit, and
Temecula’s only been planted widely in the
last 20 or so years. The next 5-10 years will
probably tell the tale for the region, and we’ll
start seeing the full potential of what you can
THE VALLEY PLANET
get from there. If developed correctly, Temecula
could easily become “America’s Little Tuscany.”
Here are some thoughts about some of the
wineries we had the good fortune to check out.
Temecula’s price point is a little out of the range
of the Vine, but hey -- it’s a special occasion:
Palumbo Family Vineyards -- A small, familyrun operation that we were told not to miss.
Their tasting room, a cozy room overlooking
the vineyard (and their daughter Sophia’s
miniature pedal-powered tractor) was home to
some extremely tasty selections. Their Viognier
was light, fragrant, and crisp with a hint of mint
on the finish. Their meritage -- tasted like an
excellent Sangiovese (which is also grown on the
property). A small winery with a big future.
Frangiapani Winery -- A low-slung building
with the tasting room set amidst the barrels
-- a common setup for many of our favorite
wineries in this valley. We spent a long time
talking to Don, the owner and vintner. His
late harvest zin was a wonderful dessert wine,
and the real star of the show was his Cabernet
Franc. I generally don’t care for Cab Franc. I
find it to be too tannic and heavy on its own.
The climate in Temecula thinned the wine out a
bit, leaving a lighter-styled, fruity, well-balanced
wine that almost seemed like a tannic pinot noir.
Cougar Vineyards & Winery -- Our tastress,
Jamie, told us about the many visits the winery
gets from “Cougar Clubs” on the prowl for
young men. What they found instead were some
excellent, reasonably priced wines. Cougar
focuses almost entirely on Italian varietals. They
did a semi-sweet “Sparkling Cougar” of Muscat
grapes that had a wonderful nose of honeysuckle
and tasted wonderful. Their rose of Sangiovese
was full of fruit, and both their Sangiovese
and Primitivo were well on their way to being
excellent wines -- probably needing a year or
two. We also got a bag of kumquats and an
avocado with our purchase. How can you argue?
Robert Renzoni Winery -- Another Italianheavy winery with a fun vibe. Unpretentious
and easy to get to know. They had a nice list of
offerings -- our favorites were the Concerto, an
“oops” blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Merlot
with a spicy, slightly minty flavor and a long
finish; their Rose of Sangiovese called “La
Rosa,” a fruity, light, easy accompaniment to our
lunchtime sandwiches; and their “Fiore de Fano”
-- a “Super Tuscan” style blend of Sangiovese,
Cab Franc, Cab Sav, and Merlot that blew us
away with flavors of leather, cherry, and plums.
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
19
Unchained
Maladies
Ricky Thomason Writes
The Valley Planet’s older Americans issue,
huh?
I
f you’re up Fayetteville way, drop by the
Elk River Coffee Co. (just off the Square
at 117 Main Avenue North). They’re
now offering lunch specials every day and
are adding to their sandwich selections.
This includes a new Italian Ciabatta Sub
lunchbox (Wednesdays) and the town’s
“first Cuban Sandwich” on Thursdays. And
I love a good Cuban sandwich. We also
noticed a reference to Earl Grey shortbread
cookies…?…well, I’m game if you are!
Find out more by calling (931) 438-9388
or check out www.elkrivercoffee.com. You
can also sign up for their e-mail newsletter,
offering coupons, general news, and updates
regarding their offered items. Neat idea…
have a sammich here for lunch, check out
the town, and visit Honey’s or Bill’s on the
square and take home a bag of “poolrooms”
for supper. That’s a hamburger with a sweet
mustard slaw atop, for the uninitiated, and it’s
something you should initiate at once.
CAVEAT PIPER: The North Alabama
Scottish Festival is back…and it’s MOVING!
Stretching the
Creative
Envelope
by Bonnie Roberts
E
verything is “grist” for the poet’s mill.
Indeed, I have written and read poems
based on every possible subject in the
universe (that’s quite a lot--whoa, there,
Hyperbolic Bonnie!). I have read poems
about an heirloom glass broken in a rusty
sink; a fall from a coconut tree in which
a monkey’s brains were dashed out; the
glimmer of sticky stuff on the end of a pig’s
snout--okay--snout snot; the very moment of
the birth of love; a moment of near-insanity;
one’s mother’s private parts; cleaning one’s
teeth; the knotches in a zipper caught
around. . . ; a woman’s leap from a building
and the halo moon of blood around her head.
. . Enough! Poets are, in ways, like little
buzzards, yellow journalists or muckrakers,
junk and jewel collectors, grave maurauders,
spies on wine glasses, rimmed in black
ants; voyeurs on other people’s moments
of deepest sorrow; grub seekers and peach
skin peelers; microbiologists, who take
great samples from life, put all of it under an
inexplicable microscopic eye, and come up
with another dadgum poem.
As horrible as that sounds, the material for
poetry is everywhere, in everything, in every
experience, in everyone, and in ourselves.
In 1996, I found out a frightening fact. I
had a crooked artery in my heart. Of course,
being a poet, what did I do?
20
is a little crooked.
Others have called this by name.
She’s original.
Crazy.
She’s sort of
twisted.
I myself haven’t been able to name it.
Just a feeling
that sometimes I am side-stroking
on the earth instead of walking,
bending
at all the wrong place,
cheating God,
or someone,
of a bit of my heart.
Or maybe my roads
don’t seem to have ends,
and I, like the earth,
am round,
traversed by the feet,
knees, and hands
of seekers.
Like me,
any traveler
must look carefully
around my more
illusive curves,
imagine
the colors of the rivers
on my horizons,
prepare for the unexpected,
a flow or
a pounding.
or stay tethered to that bungee
endlessly catapulting you back
to a dead past
and give up savoring
the wild amazing experience
we call
life?
--copyright, Duke Way
Mr. Wellington Duke Way found his grist for
this poem about forgiveness--of all things!-in a column called “What Then Must We
Do?” Mr. Way has not only made a wise,
challenging comment about the virtue of
forgiveness, he has also shown that “grist”
for the poet’s mill can come from some of
the most unusual places!
Thank you.
Please send original poems of 40-70 lines;
short fiction of no more than 400 words to
[email protected]. Keep stretching
that creative envelope!
or would you rather go on
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
Britches should be worn as high as possible,
taxes should be cut as low as possible, black
coffee is good, and black president is bad.
Some of it is pretty personal, and First Lady
Michelle is fair game. “Looks like she’s
got a dip of snuff. Her mouth looks like
a bottom dresser drawer somebody didn’t
quite close.”
Seems the kids have been spared - so far
- but “there’s been far too big a deal been
made about that ugly dog, like anybody
gives a damn.”
Most of these guys are old enough to
remember the 16th Street Church Bombing
in Birmingham like it was yesterday. The
problem is, some wish it were yesterday and
they’d helped.
They said then we’d have a black president
when pigs fly; well, this year, we have a
black president and swine flu - everywhere.
I overheard a few of them holding court the
other day at Java Jay’s. They proclaimed this
swine flu deal is a hoax, a fixed deal. Obama
and Hillary used this patriot act thing to
panic the people and make them support this
socialist health care deal they’re cooking up
to force socialism down our throats. They
know they’re right about this because Rush
told them so.
What Rush says is written in red. They think
as much of him as he does, and that’s saying
a lot.
Politics and “the gubmint”, fixed incomes,
social security, and “entitlements” are
always hot topics and never get old. Another
perennial subject is their health. Never
ask “how you doing?” because they’ll tell
you. They toss tests, terms and diseases,
Ekg’s, MRI’s and myriad unpronounceable
diagnoses and medications around like team
members on “House.”
artwork by Debbie West
How many realize that Medicare and Social
Security are both socialism and that they are
the prime beneficiaries?
Not many.
How many sets of dentures are clattering
across cafe tables right now?
Many.
“Hot damn, George. Did you see what this
fool went and wrote in this here magazine?
He said... he said...”
What I am saying is this: if you are on
Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, or
Social Security Disability, I want you to
think long and hard before you run your head
about universal healthcare and Obama trying
to turn this country into a socialist utopia. It
already IS a utopia socialist for YOU - but I
bet that’s different, right?
What I said was many of these old coots have
no compunctions about bitching and biting
the hands that feed and doctor them.
Let’s put this analogy in the form of cars.
Healthcare for the young is like spending a
few bucks on a late-model used car to keep
it in top-notch condition. It might even save
money further down the road.
Healthcare for us old farts is like spending
$100,000.00 to put a transmission in a ’47
Ford that has a worn-out body and a motor
that’s due to jump time, sling a rod and quit
just any day. In many cases, we are simply
reanimating corpses.
If you are already a chief beneficiary
of socialism, I don’t want to hear your
ungrateful gripes about someone else getting
a piece of the pie, too. As Ray Carver put it,
“Would you please, be quiet, please?”
It’s like the big hogs with their heads in the
trough squealing because the little pigs want
slop, too.
Incidentally, if you are eligible for and have
refused Social Security Disability, or Social
Security, or Medicaid, or Medicare, gripe all
you want. We’ll be glad to hear it.
That said, only my respect for my elders
keeps me from asking if they realize exactly
what Medicare is. I’d just like to know how
many of them are aware that Medicare is
socialized medicine at its finest.
Another poem, from one of my favorite
Valley Planet readers:
The doctor says the artery in my heart
Countless covens of contentious codgers
convene to carp in cafes and coffeehouses
countrywide; it’s something more than a
daily ritual. It’s their job. They rarely agree
on anything, but there are a few things
on which ninety percent of them do the
jackbooted hobble in lockstep.
It’s obvious that they have some of the best
healthcare modern medicine has to offer, and
I’m glad. Medicare is a good thing. Many are
veterans and earned and are entitled (there’s
that word again...) to all the respect and care
that we can give them. You don’t have to
be a veteran to deserve the best we can give
you; quality of life in the golden years is and
should be a priority of any civilized society.
--copyright, Bonnie Roberts, Expressions,
1996
to err is human
to forgive
liberating --
#052109061009
dragging around that grudge
like a ball & chain
A bent artery is not so bad.
I bless it as my prayerful walking stick
for all those turns
I must finally
travel,
my way and guide into those
catherized or sealed unknowns
which I, secretly,
above all else,
treasure.
There Is A Crooked Poet Who Will Walk a
Crooked Mile
On Saturday, 20 June 2009, you’ll find the
Tennessee Valley Scottish Society and their
clans at Goose Pond Colony, nestled on
the banks of beautiful Loch Guntersville.
They’re heralding the fact with “The Scots are
Coming to Scottsboro!” It’s quite the event
and yours truly, accompanied by various and
sundry groupies and xenophiles, has waded
through many a herd of Scotties (and chewed
through many a platter of bridies) for years
now. Gates open to the public at 9:00 a.m.
and you can visit for a wee $6 for adults or
$3 for children. For information on the fest,
the Patron’s Reception, and more, contact
Chip or Cathy Pharr at (256) 883-1274
or [email protected], or you can visit the
website at www.tennesseevalleyscottishsoci
ety.org. You won’t want to miss the music,
merriment, or menu…and you may even
be amazed to discover you can be part of a
haggis toss without actually eating it first.
So grab your HP Sauce—and anything else
you feel like grabbing—and GO!
I was raised right, to respect my elders, and I
do -- but that doesn’t keep me from realizing
a number of them are full of sheets. In the
right frame of mind, I can even enjoy their
peccadilloes in small doses.
Not many, I’d bet.
THE VALLEY PLANET
THE VALLEY PLANET
The Way I See It
by David Daniels
Album: In A Perfect World
Artist: Keri Hilson
Keri Hilson’s “In a Perfect World” may not be
perfect - too many lackluster songs toward the
end of the record prevent that from being the case
- but there is a ton of good music here. This album
has been several years in the making, and her fans
have been waiting a long time for this. Many of the
club-oriented dance jams hit the mark, including
the Timbaland collaboration “Return the Favor,”
as well as the bouncy jam “Get Your Money
Up,” which features the talents of Keyshia Cole
and Trina. The hit singles “Turnin Me On” and
“Energy” are also winners. Several of the ballads
recall neo-80’s tributes to Prince (Slow Dance) and
Janet Jackson (Make Love), while others stick to
the basic formula of Polow/Danja. Two things hold
this album back from being a five-star affair, the
first being that several of the album’s latter tracks
fail to pick up any steam (as hard as it tries, the track
“Tell Him the Truth” and the Akon collaboration
“Change Me” never develop a killer hook), and
particularly the album’s closing track, “Where Did
he Go” is just tacked on filler. In addition, Hilson
tries to project two different images on the album’s
artwork. By the looks of the photo on the back cover
(which features a sports-bra-wearing Hilson draped
in bling featuring a dirty south necklace) one might
be inclined to think the songs would sound like
Rasheeda or Foxy Brown. But that is far from the
case; this is strictly a pop record in which the songs
follow a basic pop formula. At its finest, the album
would compare favorably to many others released
in this genre this year. It only comes up short due
to a lack of consistent songs. But there is more than
enough here to make it well worth repeated listens.
Hilson’s voice is sugary-sweet and she comes
across as seductive without trying too hard to be.
And those are qualities of a veteran recording artist,
so the sky is the limit for this young talent if she can
come up with a few more songs next time around
that hit immediately and leave a lasting impact. The
way I see it, this is a very good pop/r&b record,
nothing more and nothing less.
Album: Epiphany
Artist: Chrisette Michelle
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
I bought Chrisette’s first album having heard her
sing the hook on both Jay-Z and Nas records. I
was very impressed with that album in the sense
that it provided something different to what I was
used to with R&B/Soul music. I really love this
chick’s jazzy feel and her voice is incredible. Songs
like “Let’s Rock”, “Best Of Me” and “Mr Radio”
were amongst my favorites. Epiphany is an album
whereby she has completely switched it up, still
having that funk and jazz vibe from her previous
album but with a more contemporary feel. I actually
think this will appeal to a wider range of listeners as
its very young, hip and fresh. Unlike the previous
album, I like every single song on this album, and in
my opinion each song has single potential. First and
foremost, “On My Own” is sure to give you chills,
because of the lyrical content (so many people feel
this way) or because of the way she expresses how
she feels with her voice. “Mr Right” will have you
bopping like your listening to some funk or 80s rap
music. I love the vocal harmonies on this song.
Very impressive. “Notebook” gives the old school
vibe soul music, very relaxing and her voice really
shines here. I can see the video for this being set
in the 1920s. “Blame It On Me” is absolutely heart
warming, the fact she’s singing about wanting a
relationship to be over regardless of the reason is
touching; the same goes for “I’m Okay”. Hands
down “Epiphany” will be the reason people buy this
album, if it wasn’t for this single, I would not be
aware of the album’s existence (the truth). Working
with Ne-Yo was a great decision on Chrisette’s
behalf. He is a great writer and sometimes his
songs go to waste with ‘certain’ artists. For some
reason “Another One” has a type of country vibe
going on, I like the hook, but the first verse had my
face twisted up because I really do not like country
music. I think it’s just in the way she sings the
song. “Porcelain Doll” is a feisty song, and a lot of
women will be singing this guaranteed. “All I Ever
Think About” is a good slow jam and the vocals yet
again are of a high standard. Finally, a bangin’ song
on the album has to be “Fragile”. The hook on this
song is crazy and will definitely stick in your head
afterwards.
Generally, her voice brings out the emotions of this
album extremely well. The songs are very real, her
voice is raw which makes the songs believable.
Very consistent throughout, great voice, great songs
and great melodies. What more could you ask for.
21
s
’
O
H
C
R
A
N
DR A Rx for Old Stuff That Don’t Suck
D
r. Anarcho’s recommendation for this issue’s Rx For Old Stuff That Don’t Suck is: The
Marshall Tucker Band -- Stomping Room Only. (Unreleased Live Recordings)
For many Marshall Tucker Band fans, the band died with founding member and
songwriter, Toy Caldwell. Little Feat faced much the same situation when band founder
Lowell George checked out early. It’s not that the bands weren’t any good without them
- they were - but many fans refused to give them a chance and resisted all change.
MTB, in the post-Toy years has had so many personnel changes that the list makes you
dizzy. For the most part, the changes were seamless and the band kept rocking along.
The Marshall Tucker Band has always been acknowledged as one of the founding fathers
of the Southern rock movement. They celebrated their 30th anniversary as a recording
group with a catalog restoration and release program.
According to the MTB website, Stompin’ Room Only, was part of this collection, and was
the long rumored and highly anticipated album of live material recorded between 1974
and 1976.
It was recorded in London, Manchester (during their only European tour), in Milwaukee,
and at Charlie Daniels’ annual “Volunteer Jam” in Murfreesboro during the years 19741976. The album was originally prepared for release in 1977 by producer Paul Hornsby
and included the original lineup.
The album’s release was first delayed by Capricorn Records and, ultimately, never released,
as the master tapes could not be found for more than a quarter century. They were
discovered in pristine condition and that long-awaited album, the virtual “holy grail” of
jam band music is available.
The purists had / have “new” MTB music. In a sense, Toy Caldwell was resurrected.
How you lose master tapes for an album, I’ll never know for sure. I suspect it had
something to do with short-term memory impairment substances, plus recording studios
aren’t always the neatest places in the world.
I should talk, I’ve lost my car keys only to find them days later in the refrigerator. Some
of us have a gift; stuff isn’t really “lost,” we just don’t know where they are. They show up
eventually.
Keep on
Trekkin’
by Joseph Margetanski
ContinuedfromPage9
now also an ambassador. Scotty, too, meets the
next generation, after getting rescued from a
transporter he was preserved in for 75 years! The
fates of the other original crew, alas, remains a
mystery. All except one…
Meanwhile, back in the 23rd Century, the passing
of the generational torch is also an overriding
theme in the next Star Trek movie, “Star Trek
VI: The Undiscovered Country.” In this movie,
the last one to feature the entire original crew,
the long hostility between the Federation and
Klingons begins to melt. Kirk has to face his own
bitterness and hatred toward the Klingons, but in
the end is able to overcome these prejudices, and
help ushers in a new era of peace toward the two
cultures. This movie is the swan song for the
original series actors; at the end, Kirk remarks
that a new generation will soon be carrying on the
tradition of exploring the stars.
But that isn’t the last we see of the gallant
captain. He comes out of retirement in the next
movie, “Star Trek: Generations” (the first Trek
film to stop using numbers.) Kirk joins Scotty,
Chekov, and Sulu’s daughter to help launch the
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B. Kirk laments at
the passing of time when he realizes that Sulu’s
daughter is a grown woman, and the EnterpriseB’s captain unintentionally but painfully reminds
the three men of their advancing years when he
recalls hearing about their five-year mission in
grade school.
A deadly accident on board the new ship
apparently kills Captain Kirk, but audiences learn
later that he’s still alive in an inter-dimensional
nexus. Kirk is brought back in the physical
universe by Captain Picard. But he doesn’t get
much of a chance to explore the 24th Century.
Kirk is killed toward the end of the movie, but not
before saving the lives of millions and ending his
days as a hero.
Assimilate This!
And while the new Enterprise continues to make
interstellar friends (and enemies,) the threat of the
Borg looms ever present in the second series. It
even casts a shadow over the next two Star Trek
movies. In “Generations,” the Enterprise-B
rescues survivors of a Borg attack (although the
refugees conveniently wait 75 years to reveal the
Borg’s identity.) The Borg are the main villains
in the eighth Star Trek film, “Star Trek: First
Contact.” In this movie two central themes are
explored, and a bit of the Federation’s history is
revealed. The Borg attempt to alter history by
preventing “First Contact,” the initial meeting of
Vulcans with humans, which led to the formation
of the Federation. Picard and his crew, now on the
Enterprise-E (the D was destroyed in Generations)
chase the cybernetic villains back to the mid-21st
Century, and are able to defeat the Borg. Picard
also defeats the long-held trauma and thirst for
vengeance against his Borg captors.
But the Borg continue to plague the Star Trek
universe in two spin-off series, “Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine,” and “Star Trek: Voyager.” DS9, as
it’s affectionately called, centers around a space
station by the same name. It’s run by Commander
(later Captain) Benjamin Sisko. Sisko, too, has a
grudge against the Borg. His wife is killed in a
Borg attack, and even as Picard harbors ill feelings
against the Borg, Sisko is resentful toward Picard
(who, while controlled by the Borg, led the attack
that killed Sisko’s wife.)
The Borg theme is gradually replaced in the Deep
Space Nine interstellar soap opera, in favor of a
war against a group called the Shape-shifters and
the Dominion, the Empire it controls. But it plays
a major role in Voyager. In that series, the USS
Voyager is Star Trek’s version of “Lost in Space.”
The vessel is stranded on the other side of the
galaxy, a long stretch even with warp drive. The
ship finds itself in the middle of Borg space. It’s
commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the first
leading female captain of the Trek series.)
But in this show, the Voyager crew makes a
deal with the Devil, by forming an alliance with
One of the album’s highlights is the ten-minute-plus “The Thrill Is Gone” from the 1975
Volunteer Jam, featuring guests Dickey Betts, Chuck Leavell and Charlie Daniels. I first
heard the cut on Satellite radio and wished I had it, but Serious-XM has access we mere
mortals do not. At least I thought we didn’t at the time.
Sound quality varies among the tracks, but most of the performances are amazing.
You may have any number of Marshall Tucker Band albums, both studio and live
performances, most of which you’ve heard, but if you don’t have these live performances
you are missing out on some bonus tracks. Besides that, Jam bands rarely play any song
the same way twice; sheer boredom and improvisation makes each performance unique.
Stompin’ Room Only Tracks are:
1. Long Hard Ride
2. This Ol’ Cowboy
3. Fire on the Mountain
4. Searchin’ for a Rainbow
5. Take the Highway
6. Can’t You See?
7. Blue Ridge
Mountain Sky
8. Thrill Is Gone
9. Ramblin’
24 Hours at a Time
Hillbilly Band
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
T
General admission tickets for all ages are now
on sale for $20 at Tallulah’s Salon, In Bloom,
Marie’s Hallmark at Five Points, and other fine
local businesses. Wedding packages are $75 at
auntiejenpetsitter.com.
The stars were captured by the pup-arazzi as they
gave fans their pawtographs.
Doors open at 12:30 pm. Ceremonies are from 1:
00-4:00 pm.
“Doggie Engagement Party” also featured
demonstrations by How To Talk Dog,
entertainment for kids, and door prizes, including
a night for two from the Westin Huntsville.
At 6:30 pm, the doors re-open for Pound Puptials, a formal benefit for the animals of Huntsville
Animal Services.
This May event was the first of a series of fund
raisers for Spay/Neuter Action Project (SNAP)
and Huntsville Animal Services.
Next up is a day of dog wedding for animal
charity—Bow Wow Vows and Pound Pup-tials
on Saturday, July 11 at the Jaycee Community
Building off Airport Road.
Bow Wow Vows is your chance to get your dogs
married at a Vegas or Hawaii themed chapel—and
the money goes to help low income families in our
community get their pets spayed or neutered.
THE VALLEY PLANET
Star Trek: Enterprise, the last Trek series, suffered
the same fate as the first incarnation: low ratings.
But the Star Trek galaxy train wasn’t out of steam
yet. Two more Star Trek movies appeared: “Star
Trek: Insurrection” and “Star Trek: Nemesis.”
Insurrection finds the Enterprise crew in a
confrontation that forces them to disobey Starfleet
to protect a planet. In Nemesis, Picard battles a
clone of himself. The conflict, echoing the epic
struggle in The Wrath of Khan, nearly destroys
the Enterprise-E. And like Kirk in the second
Trek movie, Picard loses one of his officers when
Commander Data is killed.
THE VALLEY PLANET
Pound Pup-tials features a wedding of adoptable
shelter dogs by an ordained minister and lovely
floral arrangements, hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and
coffee by local small business sponsors.
Enjoy a silent auction, featuring generous
donations from Bridge Street Town Centre, local
businesses, artists, Impulse Gift Baskets, Stretch
Your Dog Healthy author Raquel Wynn, and
more.
In order to make Pound Pup-tials open to all ages,
this event will be alcohol-free.
Proceeds from this event will provide medications,
shelter amenities, low income spays and neuters,
funds for off-site adoptions and humane education
programs, and more.
VIP tables are now booked for this event. General
admission tickets for wedding-style seating are
available for $35 at the above small business
locations.
Bow Wow Vows is casual dress, but Pound Puptial guests are asked to dress in wedding attire to
show respect for the bride and groom to be. So
ladies—be sure to wear your “Sunday best,” but
#052109061009
Me Up, Scotty,” appears on numerous license
plates. Ironically, none of the crew members
ever actually used this phrase. So, too does the
comment “He’s dead, Jim!” used by Dr. McCoy
bring a chuckle even to those who have never seen
Star Trek. Scotty’s accent and cries of dilation
crystals degenerating have been parodied in a
number of television shows and movies. Even
William Shatner, the actor who brought James
T. Kirk to life, now makes light of his character’s
over-dramatic voice.
And it’s the flawed, human qualities (even in Mr.
Spock, who is, after all, half-human) of these
characters, who have endeared themselves to
millions of fans, that the new movie fully explores.
It reveals to us what drove a young James Kirk to
seek his answers in the great void of space. It
gives us a wide-eyes youthful Scotsman, gazing in
wonder at the first engine room in his command.
It hints at the grim pessimism that shapes the gruff
personality of Dr. McCoy.
As much as Star Trek fans of all the generations
thrill at the strange new worlds discovered,
the aliens encountered, and the awe-inspiring
special effects, it’s the chance to delve deeper
in the complex and sometimes troubled psyches
of Captain Kirk and his crew that no doubt will
draw much of the audience to explore the final
frontier—a journey that, like Star Trek itself,
will continue long after the movie leaves the last
theater.
But while spectacular space battles, high tech
tools like phasers and transporters, and warp
drive wow the serious Star Trek fans, it’s often
the most humorous moments in Trek history that
resonate in the pop culture. The phrase “Beam
Remember, all dogs at Bow Wow Vows must be
current on shots, spayed or neutered, and kept on
a leash!
ennessee Valley celebrity canines Zip and
Sharky celebrated their engagement at
dog-friendly Bridge Street Town Centre on
Saturday, May 16 with a limo ride from Apollo
Limousine and a walk down the red carpet.
Wedding clothing—including leis and a doggie
Elvis costume—will be provided.
Bringing it All Back
Be the first caller to say Bow Wow and win a
wedding package at Bow Wow Vows for two
dogs and two owners, plus four general admission
tickets to give to friends and family!
Wedding packages include admission for two
adult dog handlers and the dog bride and groom,
dressing and primping by Tallulah’s Beauty Pawlor, two 5x7 photos from Perfected Perspectives,
gelato from Sam & Greg’s, dog bar refreshments
and “puppy fours” from Auntie Jen’s Pet Services,
and two paw-stamped marriage licenses from
Huntsville Friends of Rabbits. (Dogs must have
an official marriage license to marry!)
22
The Borg even briefly make an appearance in “Star
Trek: Enterprise,” the last Star Trek series (but the
first chronologically.) The setting for this show is
a century before the original series, and also has
a ship named Enterprise. The show focuses on
the early years of interstellar exploration by Earth
vessels. The ship is both futuristic and retro:
no deflector shields, primitive “phase pistols,”
again-unfriendly Klingons, and a still-tense early
relationship between Humans and Vulcans (who
play the disapproving mentors toward the infant
Starfleet.) Several Borg drones are discovered,
though not mentioned by name. At the end of
the encounter, the ship’s captain, Jonathan Archer
(played by “Quantum Leap” star Scott Bakula)
finds out that the drones have sent a message to
the other side of the galaxy, but notes that Earth
won’t have to deal with it for another two hundred
years (just in time to be Picard’s headache.)
please refrain from overshadowing the bride.
That track alone makes it worth the price, especially if you can pick up a used copy, or
download the MP3 version from Amazon.com
Also included from the Volunteer Jam are “Ramblin’” and “24 Hours At A Time” from 1974
(and previously released on “Where We All Belong”).
the Borg collective. It doesn’t last, but it does
add a new crew member to the show. Seven
of Nine, a human who had been assimilated as
a child, becomes an individual. Even as she
struggles to adjust to humanity, she plays a key
role in protecting her crew mates from her former
collective—and helps them at the end of the series
find their way back to Federation space.
I welcome your ideas and comments about my
column. Send them to “Auntie Jen” at writers@v
alleyplanet.com.
The
Invisible City
by Brad Posey
T
he world is full of weird people, but there’s
weird and then there’s Will Oldham. Will
Oldham is from Louisville, Kentucky.
He started out back in the early 90’s recording
under the name Palace. Palace quickly morphed
into Palace Brothers, then Palace Songs and
even Palace Music. Oldham has only put out
one album under his own name and in the last
few years he has been releasing music under the
name Bonnie Prince Billy. Unlike David Bowie
who once changed personas with every album,
jumping off into new musical directionsBonnie Prince Billy seems to be sharpening
and polishing himself over time. Becoming, as
if he were a statue covered in dirt and grime, a
thing we have to clean to see its face as it once
was. Oldham’s music has more or less always
been the same. Some songs are just acoustic
guitars and voice, a voice that seems southern
and alien, wild, naked and almost broken.
Other songs are fuller with banjo, drums,
backing vocals and other instruments. His is
music of the old country, songs that came down
from the hills, songs that may have been here
before there were people to sing them… ghost
songs, ancient harmonies, looking for a vessel,
looking for a body to lift them up. However,
Bonnie Prince Billy is not simply some hillbilly
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
revivalist, he is something far stranger, his
songs work just as well in our new concrete
wilderness. Lately, he seems to be making his
own version of 70’s outlaw country. On his
new album Beware, he sings, “you are hello
and I am goodbye”. As Bonnie Prince Billy,
Oldham continues to distort perspective and try
on different masks, often he is observer, stalker,
lover, soldier, wanderer and wonderer but
always an enigma. There is a lot of darkness
in this music but also unexpected fragments of
sweetness, light and humor. One line from a
lyric may ponder doom and death and yet the
next reads like some playful vulgarity you
might find in an issue of Penthouse. These
songs are made of sand, constantly shifting,
making sense, confusing you and then maybe
making sense again. Will Oldham is a man
possessed of many spirits-Ralph Stanley,
Jandek, Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt,
Bob Dylan, Sherwood Anderson, and Cormac
McCarthy. Johnny Cash covered Oldham’s “I
See A Darkness”. Oldham was a main character
in a Kanye West video. He has been praised by
everyone from Bjork to The New York Times.
In photographs Oldham looks like a man out
of time, his hair thin and uncombed, a wild
Civil War beard and still wilder eyes, eyes set
on some pink mountaintop, some sinking ship,
some coming wave. His eyes look through you
and his songs, too. The world is full of weird
people, but there’s weird and then there’s Will
Oldham.
THE INVISIBLE CITY with Brad Posey airs
every Friday night at 7pm on 89.3 FM WLRH.
Brad Posey is watching the watchmen.
23
S
ometimes, we are saved in the most
unexpected ways.
Many years ago when I was dating a nowfaceless-man (he didn’t lose his face; my
mind lost it), we went together to a Palm
Sunday service with my teenage daughter
and his young son. The church happened to
be Catholic, which is important to my story,
in that there is much getting up and down-kneeling, sitting, and standing.
Because we were late, we sat in the very back
pew. Along the pew were varying lengths of
palm fronds, which parishioners were to take
to Communion to lay on the altar. We were
not members, but there as witnesses to a
friend’s confirmation.
In the pew before us, standing for a hymn,
were several older women, “matured”
(as “polite” women say in the South),
especially in the derriere. (“Derriere” is
acceptable because it sounds pretty.) They
wore brightly patterned dresses of a silky,
sometimes, clinging nature.
Disclaimer: Never, at any point, was one
of these ladies the object of our laughter.
We never even saw her face. In fact, it was
her reputation and feelings we struggled to
defend--although, yes, we were laughing.
Sweeney Todd:
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Independent Musical Productions presents Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street, in its original (1979) Broadway version, June 10th through 27th. Stephen Sondheim’s
Tony-award winning musical score and a fabulous cast of characters highlight the tale of the
murderous barber bent on revenge.
With this production of Sweeney Todd, IMP is reprising its premier show and celebrating 16
years of presenting award-winning musical theatre to the Huntsville community.
All performances are held at Lee Lyric Theater located at Lee High School - 606 Forrest
Cir., Huntsville, AL 35810. Evening performances June 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 at 7:30 p.m.
There is one matinee on June 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets and information available online at
www.imphuntsville.org.
After the hymn, everyone sat for the
announcements. But, we were soon asked
to rise to begin the liturgy. As we rose, so
did one of the palm fronds in the pew before
us. It rose, stuck, along with some fabric, in
the derriere crack of one of the ladies. And,
as some power would have it, be it God or
the Devil--it was stuck by its tip, so that the
rest of it waved through the air, much like
a rat’s tail. It moved as the lady moved her
body. Now to the right, now to the left, now
standing still in the middle, now vibrating,
only slightly.
Of course, church is the place in which you
always laugh inappropriately because it’s
the place in which you’ve been whipped
for laughing as a child. Poe would call it
“the imp of the perverse”; the reason people
sometimes giggle at funerals or roadside
accidents. This was much worse than a
funeral.
The harder my daughter and I and the faceless
man’s son tried to stop laughing, the more we
laughed. And you know how that hurts. We
laughed the silent, killer laugh that shook the
whole back pew, from end to end. Faceless
man wanted to whip everybody, even though
he thought it looked pretty funny, too.
My daughter kept reaching forward and
trying to snatch it out when it waved in her
direction, but would just miss. I pulled her
hand down.
She and I had a hysterical whispering
conference: “I am NOT going to let that
woman go to Communion like that, Mom!”
“Well, I’m NOT, either. But I don’t think
you ought to just SNATCH it out like that!”
Faceless man was giving us bad looks. His
son was almost crying he was laughing so
hard. Other parishioners down the back pew
now saw our heinous dilemma.
24
#052109061009
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
About that time, we kneeled for prayer.
And, of all things, the rat’s tail managed to
lie out still as a stone on the pew. It was
one of the few times in my life I truly could
not say “The Lord’s Prayer.” I kept asking,
“How and when do we get this out?” And
when we rose to sing, the tail came to life,
as ever, like a metronome, keeping time to
the music. Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. By now,
the whole back pew was coughing, and faces
were soaking wet. Faceless man began to
elbow me, saying, “The priest is noticing.”
I whispered back, “He’ll notice THAT a lot
more if we don’t do something!”
I thought about tapping the lady on the
shoulder, whispering in her ear, “Excuse me,
M’am, but you have a palm frond in your
______. . . “but then I couldn’t think of the
proper word to say to an elderly woman. Or
I thought I could just point. I’ve had people
point out things on me, and though it has
been ever so appreciated, the embarrassment
has lingered for days and days and days. The
whole idea was to avoid embarrassing this
woman, openly. She did not know she had
already been embarrassed in secret.
When we sat down for the sermon and the
rat’s tail--hallelujah!--disappeared, the priest
could clearly see us--the perpetrators of the
rumbling pew. We all looked guilty as sin.
We were.
Listings
[email protected]
Cont.from17
Dining
801 FRANKLIN
APPLEBEE’S
3150 N. Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256 859-4200
11331 Hwy 72 E., Athens
BEAUREGARD’S (3 Huntsville locations)
1009 N.Memorial Pkwy , 256-512-0074
511 Jordan Lane, 256-837-2433
975 Airport Rd. SW, 256-880-2131
1421 H.Paramount Dr., Huntsville, 256-489-5380
BISTRO LA LUNA
7001 Val-Monte Drive, Guntersville, 256-582-0930.
BISTRO LA VILLE
7914 South Memorial Pkwy, STE E16, Huntsville 256 489-1515
B&J RESTAURANT
Hwy 231 S., Lacey Springs, 256-880-0521
THE BLUE PARROT
7001 Val Monte Drive, Guntersville, 256 582-0930
BONEFISH GRILL
4800 Whitesburg Dr. , 256-883-0643
BUFFALO WILD WINGS
2750 Carl T. Jones Dr., Huntsville, 256-650-4115
CAFE 113
113 Grant St. SE, Decatur, 256-350-1400
CAFÉ MICHAEL
5732 HWY 431 S, Huntsville, 256-539-9113.
And it was difficult not to laugh, still. But,
we cleared our throats as though we had just
gotten over a fresh bout of life-threatening
pneumonia, wiped beneath our eyes, and
tried to straighten ourselves. Faceless man
was already straightened, but he was not
without sin, either.
CAHOOTS
114 WestMarket Street, Fayetteville, 931 433-1173
Each time the woman rose, we prayed
it had fallen, but, alas, our prayers went
unanswered. There the tenacious tail would
wave, flaunting a defiant will of its own.
CUES STEAKHOUSE
12361 U.S. Hwy 431, Guntersville,
But thank God--truly--not more than a few
moments before my daughter was ready to
save a life from public humiliation by the
quickest of snatches, the frond fell of its
own. And the lady, perhaps feeling that slight
motion, reached down to straighten her dress,
thereby, pulling remaining material back into
its proper place.
The whole back pew, made of the four of
us, and a line of people we did not know, all
breathed a collective sigh of relief. A few
moments more and the next-to-the-last row
made its way to Communion. As far as we
know, the woman never knew she had had a
palm frond tail for at least forty-five minutes.
As far as I remember, that is the only church
service through which I laughed myself onto
another spiritual plane. One could think of
the whole event as a miracle.
By way of asking this woman’s forgiveness:
When I was fourteen and fell while skiing
on Wilson Lake, both of my foam rubber,
bathing suit breast inserts bobbed happily on
the surface, out of my reach. I wanted to dive
down to the bottom to live among the rotten
corn stalks and never come up again, but a
ski held me to the surface; and when the boat
of mostly boy cousins came back to pick me
up, “What are those?” yelled Norman, just to
be mean
THE VALLEY PLANET
CHILI’S (2 Huntsville locations)
2740 Carl T. Jones, 256-882-1230
CHOPHOUSE, THE
109 Washington Street, Huntsville, 256-704-5555.
CLAYSVILLE SNACK BAR
21192 U.S. Hwy 431, Gunterville
CRAWMAMMA’S
5000 Webb Villa, Guntersville, 256-582-0484
D&L BISTRO
7500 SW Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville,
256-881-7244, located in Main St. South
THE DOCKS
417 Ed Hembree, Scottsboro, 256-574-3071
DOLCE
365 The Bridge Street, Huntsville, 256-327-8385
SCHLOTZSKY’S DELI (3 locations)
4319 University Drive NW, 256-830-6400
11120 Memorial Pkwy SW, 256-650-6300
8969 Hwy. 20, Madison, 256-464-5300
WEST SIDE COFFEE PLACE & CAFE
2699B Sandlin Rd., SW, Decatur, 256-353-2025
WILD FLOUR BISTRO
501 Jordan Ln., Huntsville, 256-722-9401
WINGS SPORTS GRILLE
4250 Balmoral Dr. SW, Huntsville, 256-881-8878.
SOUL BURGER
2900 Triana Blvd. SW, Huntsville, 256-534-8585
Breakfast,Coffee&Lunch
STANLIEO’S SUB VILLA (2 Huntsville locations)
605 Jordan Lane, 256-837-7220
602 Governors Drive, 256-536-6585
ALABAMA BREAD COMPANY
975 Airport Rd., Huntsville, 256-882-2010.
TOMMY’S PIZZA
325 The Bridge St. STE 101, Huntsville, 256-327-8600
ANGEL’S ISLAND COFFEE
7538 S.Memorial Pkwy., Huntsville, 256-319-3424
TONY’S ITALIAN DELI (2 Locations)
119 James Madison Drive SW, Huntsville, 256-772-4448
Airport Rd., Huntsville
ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFE
2750 Carl T. Jones Dr., Huntsville
BB PERRINS
608 Holly St, NE, Decatur, 256-355-0980
COFFEE AND TEA COMPANY
Madison Square Mall, Huntsville 256-837-7085
BIG BOB GIBSON’S BBQ
2520 Danville Rd. SW, Decatur, 256-350-0404
COFFEE TREE BOOKS & BREW
7900 Bailey Cove Rd., Huntsville, 256-880-6464
CLEM’S BBQ & FISHERY
3700 Blue Spring Rd., Huntsville, 256-852-6661
CRACKER BARREL (2 Locations)
2001 Drake Ave, Huntsville256-881-4177
120 Cleghorn Blvd., Madison,256-461-7670
DREAMLAND
3855 University Dr., Huntsville 256-539-7427
ELK RIVER COFFEE COMPANY
117 Main Avenue North, Fayetteville, 931- 438-9888
JAMO’S CAFÉ
413 Jordan Lane NW, Huntsville, 256-837-7880.
JAVA JAAY CAFE (2 Decautr Locations)
1713 6th Ave. SE, Decatur, 256-351-8555
1801 Beltline Rd. (Colonial Mall), 256-350-6700.
KAFFEEKLATSCH
LAGNIAPPES COFFEE CAFE
119 East Moulton, Decatur
LITTLE DINER (across form Chuckee Cheese)
1219 Jordan Lane Suite A, Huntsville, 256 837-6971
MAMA ANNIE’S
4550 Meridian St. N, Huntsville, 256-489-3275
O’HOULIHAN’S
101 East Market Street, Fayetteville 931 433-0557
OLDE TOWNE COFFEE SHOPPE
511 Pratt Ave NE, Huntsville, 256-539-5399
STEARNS COFFEE
2113 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-534-0513
SUBWAY
14450 hwy 231-431 STE A, Hazel Green
WILD ROSE CAFE
121 North Side Square, Huntsville, 256-539-3658
Cajun
ROSIE’S MEXICAN CANTINA (2 locations)
7540 S. Memorial Pkwy, 256-382-3232
TERESA’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT
1906 Gunter Ave., Guntersville, 256-582-5673
TORTORA’S
182 Old Hwy 431 Suite B, Hampton Cove, AL 35763, 256-536-6100
Italian
CARRABAS
Parkway Place Mall Huntsville, Al 35801
BBQ
COFFEE CREATIONS
616 HWY 31, S ATHENS, AL 35611
DAILY BREW
2941 St. Mallard Pkwy, Decatur, 256-355-0330
PHIL SANDOVAL’S MEXICAN RESTAURANTE
6125 University Dr., Huntsville, 256-489-5711
LA STRADA
524 Gunter Ave., Guntersville. 256-582-2250.
RICATONI’S ITALIAN GRILL
107 N. Court St., Florence, 256-718-1002
ROMANO’S MACARONI GRILL
5901 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-722-4770
TELLINI’S CAFE & GRILL (2 LOCATIONS)
1515 Perimeter Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-726-9006
TERRANOVA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT
1420 Paramount Dr., Huntsville, 256-489-8883
GIBSON BBQ (4 locations)
3319 Memorial Pkwy., Huntsville, 256-881-4851
8412 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, 256-882-0841
735 Hwy 72 E, Huntsville, 256-852-9882
1715 6th Ave., SE, Decatur, 256-350-6969
TONY’S LITTLE ITALY(2 LOCATIONS)
7 Town Center Drive, Huntsville 256-721-7629
4800 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256 881-2147
Asian
MERIDIANVILLE BBQ
11537 Hwy. 231N., Meridianville, 256-828-3725
ASIAN CITY
10871 County Line Rd. STE C, Madison, 256-772-8282
OLE HICKORY PIT BBQ
5061 Maysville Road New Market, 256-859-2824
CHINA MOON
11700 S Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-880-2626
SIMMON’S BBQ
10099 SOUTH MEMORIAL PARKWAY, 256-882-5030
DING HOW II
SMOKEY’S BARBEQUE
8073 Hwy 72, W, Madison, 256-721-0300
EDO JAPANESE RESTAURANT
104 N. Intercom Drive, Madison, 256-772-0360
TAILGATER’S BBQ
5638 Hwy 53, Huntsville 256- 852-3388
HYUN’S KOREAN GARDEN
Main Street South Shopping Village
7500 Memorial Pkwy South,Huntsville, 256 489-8888
THOMAS PIT BBQ
Hwy 72 ,W, Madison, 256-837-4900
I LOVE SUSHI
2000 Cecil Ashburn Dr. ATE 102, Huntsville, , 256-885-1818
HomeCooking
MIKATO JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE & LOUNGE
4061 Independence Dr. NW, Huntsville, 256-830-1700.
BILL’S CAFE
111 East Market St., Fayetteville, 931 433-5332
MIKAWA RESTAURANT
1010 Heathland Dr, Huntsville, 256-837-7440.
BLUE PLATE CAFE
3210 Governors Drive, Huntsville, 256-533-8808
MISO HOUSE
404 Jordan Lane, Huntsville. 256-489-7766
DUFFEY’S
5125 Moores Mill Rd., Huntsville, 256-859-6003
MIWON JAPANESE RESTAURANT
404 Jordan Lane NW, Huntsville, 256-533-7771
G’S COUNTRY KITCHEN
2501 Oakwood Dr., Huntsville, 256-533-3034
MIYAKO
10013 South Parkway, Huntsville, 256-880-9879
MAMA ANNIE’S
4550 Meridian St. N, Huntsville, 256-489-3275
NEW CHINA
FURNITURE FACTORY BAR & GRILL
CAJUN CAFE
704 Hwy 231 Lacey’s Spring 256-650-5586
GAME DAY GRILL
10871 County Line Rd. STE E, Madison, 256 461-8082
PO BOY FACTORY
815 Andrew Jackson Way, Huntsville, 256-539-3616.
MULLIN’S
607 Andrew Jackson, Huntsville, 256-539-2826
PANDA
5000 Whitesburg Dr., Suite 128, 256-880-3220/880-1395
GRILLE 29
445 Providence Main, Huntsville, 256-489-9470.
TIM’S CAJUN KITCHEN
114 Jordan Lane, Huntsville, 256-533-7589.
ROLO’S CAFE
505 Airport Rd., Huntsville, 256-883-7656
PHUKET
Providence Town, Huntsville, 256-489-1612
SKILLET
1605 Pulaski Pike NW, Huntsville, (256) 533-5734
ROYAL BUFFET
2003 Drake Ave. Huntsville, 256-883-8998
HAZEL GREEN FAMILY RESTAURANT
13903 Hwy 231-431 N, Hazel Green 256 828-7959
HOOTERS
HUMPHREY’S BAR & GRILL
109 Washington Street, Huntsville, 256-704-5555.
INDIGO JOE’S
7407 Hwy 72 W Madison, AL 256-489-9393
K C’s COYOTE CAFE
410 Old Town St., Guntersville, 256-582-1676
KETCHUP
Bridge Street Town Center, Huntsville, 256-327-8390
LOGAN’S ROADHOUSE (3 Huntsville locations)
4249 Balmoral Drive, Huntsville, 256-881-0584
University Drive NW, Huntsvile
2315 Beltline SW, Decatur, 256-432-2746
MAIN STREET CAFE
101Main Street, Madison, 461-8096
MAMA ANNIE’S
4550 Meridian Street N, 489-3275
MARKET STREET CAFE
475 Providence Main Street, Huntsville, 256-489-6273
NEWK’S EXPRESS CAFE
4925 University Dr, Huntsville, 256-430-9662
PAULI’S BAR & GRILL
7143-C Hwy 72 W, Huntsville, 256-722-2080.
THE RESTAURANT
2167 Winchester Hwy, Kelso, TN, 931-433-9946
SCENE AT BRIDGE STREET
370 The Bridge Street, Huntsville,
SHEA’S EXPRESS
415 E Church St, Huntsville AL, 532-5277
TGI FRIDAY’S
4935 University Drive NW, Huntsville, 256-830-2793
TOP O’ THE RIVER
7004 Val-Monte, Guntersville, 256-582-4567
THE VALLEY PLANET
Mediterranean
JAMO’S CAFE
413 Jordan Ln., Huntsville,
PAPA GYROS
PAPOU’S
110 South Side Square, Huntsville, 256-534-5553
Burgers,Deli,&Pizza
BELLACINO’S PIZZA & GRINDERS
BIG ED’S PIZZERIA
903 North Parkway Huntsville 256-489-3374
C.F. PENN HAMBURGERS
121 E. Moulton St., Decatur, 256-553-1903
CHEEBURGER, CHEEBURGER (3 locations)
300 Hughes Rd, Madison, 256-464-9990
Providence Main, Huntsville, 256-830-4222
DALLAS MILL DELI
500 Pratt Ave. Huntsville, 256-489-4240
Mexican&Southwestern
BANDITO BURRITO (3 locations)
3017 Governors Dr SW, Huntsville, 256-534-0866
208 Main St., Madison, 256-461-8999
11220 S.Parkway, Huntsville, 256-489-3232
SAM & GREG’S GELATO CAFE
119 North Side Sq. , Huntsville, 256-533-9030
#052109061009
THAI GARDEN RESTAURANT
800 Wellman Ave. NE, Huntsville, 256-534-0122
TOKYO JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE & SUSHI BAR
1105 Wayne Road, Huntsville, 256-217-1719
German
HILDEGARD’S
EL CAMINO REAL
41782 Hwy 231, Meridianville, 256 828-2942
OL HEIDELBERG CAFÉ
6125 University Drive NW E14, Huntsville, 256-922-0556.
EL MARIACHI (3 locations)
14450 Hwy 231/431 N Hazel Green, 256-828-1466
1836 Winchester Road, Huntsville 256-851-7255
7193 Hwy 72 W, Madison, 256-890-0900
GUADALAJARA MEXICAN RESTAURANTS
11208 S. Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville 256-882-7311
8572 Madison Blvd, Madison 256-774-1401
RED ROBIN GOURMET BURGERS
365 The Bridge St., Huntsville, 256-327-8530
TAI PAN PALACE
2012 Mem. Pkwy, S, Huntsville, 256-539-5797
CASA BLANCA MEXICAN RESTAURANT (4 locations)
7830 Hwy 72 W, Ste 230, Madison 256-864-0360
140 Browns Ferry Rd, Madison 256-464-6044
7900 Bailey Cove Rd, Huntsville 256-883-4447
1802 Hwy 72 E, Ste D, Athens 256-771-0130
FIREHOUSE SUBS
3022 S.Mem.Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-885-2257
8572 Madison Blvd.,, Madion, 256-774-8028
McALLISTER’S DELI (2 Huntsville locations)
4800 Whitesburg Drive S, 256-880-1557
1480 Perimeter Pkwy, 256-425-0034.
SURIN OF THAILAND (2 locations)
975 Airport Rd SW, Huntsville, 256-213-9866
Hwy 72 ,Madison
CASA OLE
13989 Hwy 231-431 Hazel Green,, 256 828-6000
EL PALACIO
2008 Memorial Pkwy SW, Huntsville 256-539-6075
HOTDOGGIT
6610 Old Madison Pike, Huntsville
SHO GUN JAPANESE STEAK & SUSHI BAR
CANTINA LAREDO
300 The Bridge Street, STE 100, Huntsville, 256-327-8580
DUFFY’S DELI
2324 Whitesburg, Huntsville, 256-533-4179
SAIGON VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT
8760 Madison Blvd. Ste. # P and Q, Madison, AL 35758 ,256-772-0202
SCHNITZEL RANCH
Caribbean
ISLAND JERK
2501 Jordan Ln, Huntsville,. 256-489-4774
CASA MONTEGO INTERNATIONAL LOUNGE
2117 Jonathan Drive, Huntsville, 256-858-9187.
LA ALAMEDA
3807 University Drive NW, Huntsville, 256-539-6244
LITTLE ROSIE’S TAQUERIA
4781 Whitesburg Dr S, Huntsville, 256-882-0014
LOS MAYOS
322 Sutton Rd. Suite J, Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763, 256-536-1041
MARIA BONITA GRILL & CANTINA
125 E. Moulton St., Decatur, 256-552-1903
PEPITO’S
3508 Mem. Pkwy. S, Huntsville, 256-858-0059
ContinuedonPage26
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
25
Spotlighting the Arts
AND the Artistes. . .
H
untsville’s Blake Nix is a singer/
songwriter/guitarist who, for over
twenty years, has performed across
the country and internationally in bands
such as the New York-based Sticky Fingers
band, a Rolling Stones tribute band, and
Hells Bells, an AC/DC tribute group from
Nashville. He’s played clubs, coffee shops,
frat houses, choirs, and has appeared in local
theater productions and on festival stages
nation wide.
Recently, Blake completed an album entitled
Mr. Adams’ Blues, recorded at Riverland
Recording Studio in nearby Valhermoso
Springs. It is a full-band nod to some of his
favorite artists, “the product of years of life,
love, longing and heartbreak…as recorded
on cassette tapes, reams of notebook paper,
and a veritable grocery aisle of restaurant
napkins,” per the songsmith.
Adds he, “…I try to soak up the lyrical
approaches of the great songwriters whom I
admire, but use the arranging techniques of
the rock bands that I recognize as primary
influences.” As a result, his album recalls
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Simon
and Garfunkel, a touch of AC/DC, and the
acoustic side of Led Zeppelin. The songs,
guitar, bass playing, and singing are all
by Jim Zielinski
Blake, while the drums are the work of local
pal and multi-instrumentalist James Irvin
and Nashville’s Tom Drennan.
“The songs,” he continues, “are products of
love, longing, and regret, as well as a need to
share stories—but with a good beat. I find
Jack Kerouac another influence in the desire
to experience life and to share the experience
with as much honesty as possible. I’ve been
around the world (and hope to travel and
experience more) and believe a song should
be created from real life, not vice-versa. I
often rearrange and reinvent my own songs
and the works of those that inspire me, much
like the unplugged artists of the 90’s and
00’s…and sometimes on the fly. This keeps
the shows fresh and fun.”
Blake has taught music privately for years,
currently teaching students out of his home
and at the Fret Shop, a renowned local
music store. As instructor, he emphasizes
variety and an open-minded approach to the
learning process; sound music fundamentals
are taught (and the importance of music in
enriching each student’s life is addressed),
but in a context that reflects the student’s
background, interests, and goals.
In addition to juggling several ongoing
projects, Blake keeps busy promoting both
album and band. You can catch him hosting
Wednesday’s “Open Mike Night” at Sam
and Greg’s Gelateria/Pizzeria on the Square.
Don’t be timid…he won’t hurt you. Just fuel
yourself with some java and step on up!
The Valley Planet Music Exchange is FREE to any individual looking to buy, sell, trade or find bandmates. You get a headline and 3 lines of text for the low, low price of nothing. If you
wish to embellish your ad further, say, with a small photo (add $5) or more words (add $1 per line), it’s up to you. Now, if you are a business, you gotta pay a little something, $12 per
column inch. Please call Jill Wood at (256) 533-4613 if you would like to put your business in the Exchange. Email your ads to [email protected] or send them by snail mail to
Music Exchange,203 Grove Ave. Huntsville AL, 35801. NO AD WILL RUN UNTIL PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED!
MUSIC EXCHANGE
Classical Flute and Voice Lessons – BA in Music graduate from
UAH seeking serious students 10
yrs-adult. I have 19 years experience. $75.00 monthly for 1 hr
lesson per week. Contact Sharla
Grable @256.532.3966 or email
[email protected].
Classical Flute and Voice Lessons – BA in Music graduate from
UAH seeking serious students 10
yrs-adult. I have 19 years experience. $75.00 monthly for 1 hr
lesson per week. Contact Sharla
Grable @256.532.3966 or email
[email protected].
Mr. Adams’ is a diverse debut—folksy and
“poppish” at times and, at others, edgy and
rocking. The lyrics are delivered in a tenor
that’s drawn favorable comparisons to the
Violent Femmes, among others. Blake’s
music résumé encompasses a variety of
genres: church choir, acoustic folk, classical
guitar, heavy metal, and rock and roll, topped
with orchestral and onstage forays in musical
theatre. Check out www.blakenix.com for
more info!
Guitarist and Drummer looking
for a bass player and singer/
guitar player for a rock/reggae/
funk type band. Must have own
equipment. Style closely related
to 311 and Sublime. Contact
AJ at 520-8352 or email at
[email protected].
Piano Tuner, woman, thirty yrs,
experience, $80 cash to tune any
piano. please call 783-7267
Fun at the
Blue Parrot/
Valley Planet
Cinco de Mayo
Party!
For sale: Hartke Bass Amp,
200 watts, tube pre amp, on/e 15”
speaker, aluminum cone, great
performance amp. paid $650
new, will sell for $325 or best
offer, please call 783-7267
Voice and Piano Lessons – By
note, number and ear. Adults and
children. 16 years experience.
Huntsville area. 318 491-1995
Looking for a drummer for a
band that has been established in
Huntsville for the past 8 years and
still plays regularly. Jazz/Rock/
Jam, open to much else. Aim
to write and record originals
soon. Contact Ben Davis 256-694-2363
Producer looking for rapper/
keyboard to partner up with Email
[email protected]
Listings
MoreListingsCont.from25
Attractions
MAYES BLACK DANCE THEATRE (M.B.D.T.)
2419 Oakwood Ave. NW Suite #F Huntsville, 256-489-5903
LOWRY HOUSE
1205 Kildare St.,Huntsville, 256-489-9200
RENAISSANCE THEATRE AT LINCOLN CENTER
MONTE SANO STATE PARK
5015 Nolen Ave., Huntsville, 256-534-3757
THEATRE HUNTSVILLE
1701 University Dr, Suite 1, Huntsville, 256-536-0807.
SCI-QUEST
102-D Wynn Drive, Huntsville, 256-837-0606.
THE WHOLE BACKSTAGE THEATRE
1120 Rayburn Avenue, Guntersville, 256-582-7469.
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER
1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, 256-837-3400.
ALABAMA CONSTITUTION VILLAGE
109 Gates Ave., Huntsville, 256-564-8100.
AMERICAN INDIAN MUSEUM
2003 Poole Drive NW, Huntsville, 256-852-4524.
BURRITT ON THE MOUNTAIN:
3101 Burritt Drive SE, Huntsville, 256-536-2882.
Galleries
VON BRAUN CENTER
700 Monroe St. Huntsville, 256-533-1953.
801 FRANKLIN
THE WEEDEN HOUSE
300 Gates Avenue SE, Huntsville, 256-536-7718
ARS NOVA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
7908C Charlotte Drive, Huntsville, 256-883-1105.
CATHEDRAL CAVERNS STATE PARK
637 Cave Road, Woodville. 256-728-8193.
EARLYWORKS MUSEUM COMPLEX
404 Madison Street SE, Huntsville, 256-564-8100.
GORHAM’S BLUFF
Pisgah, 256-451-ARTS.
HARMONY PARK SAFARI
431 Clouds Cove Road, New Hope. 1-877-7ANIMAL.
HARRISON BROTHERS HARDWARE
124 Southside Square, Huntsville, 256-536-3631. Alabama’s oldest hardware store.
HUNTSVILLE BOTANICAL GARDEN
4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, 256-830-4447.
HUNTSVILLE STARS
Joe W. Davis Stadium, 3125 Leeman Ferry Rd, Huntsville, 256-882-2562.
HUNTSVILLE HAVOC
700 Monroe Street. Huntsville, AL (256) 518-6160.
INTERNATIONAL VOCAL STUDIOS
2358 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-512-5571,
26
THE LAND TRUST TRAILS
Bankhead Pkwy., Huntsville, 256-534-LAND
ARTS COUNCIL, THE
700 Monroe street, Suite 2 Huntsville AL 35081, 256-519-2787
ATHENS ST. STUDENT UNION ART GALLERY
300 N. Beaty St., Athens, Athens State University,
800-522-0272
ART@TAC GALLERY
Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe St., Huntsville, 256-519-ARTS (2787)
BROADWAY THEATRE LEAGUE
700 Monroe St. Suite 410, Huntsville, 256-518-6155.
ARTISTIC IMAGES
2115 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, 256-534-3968.
FANTASY PLAYHOUSE CHILDREN’S THEATRE
3312 Long Avenue SW, Huntsville, 256-539-6829
CALVERT STUDIO
627 Gunter Ave., Guntersville,
FLYING MONKEY ARTS CENTER
2211 Seminole Drive, Huntsville, 256-489-7000
THE CARNEGIE
207 Church St., Decatur,
FOOTLIGHTS COMMUNITY THEATER
302 Hoffman St. Athens, 256-216-0903
CAROLE FORET FINE ART
206 West Market St., Athens, 256-232-2521.
HUNTSVILLE BALLET COMPANY
800 Regal Drive SW, Huntsville, 256-539-0961
CORRON STUDIOS
8006 Old Madison Pike #15, Madison, 256-325-7622
HUNTSVILLE COMMUNITY CHORUS
3312 Long Avenue, Fantasy Arts Center, Huntsville, 256-533-6606
FOOTLIGHTS COMMUNITY THEATER
302 Hoffman St., Athens, 256-777-0822.
HUNTSVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
North Side Von Braun Center, Huntsville 256-539-4818.
HUNTSVILLE ART LEAGUE GALLERY
3005 L&N Drive, Suite 2, Huntsville, 256-534-3860.
LOWE MILL
2211 Seminole Dr., Huntsville,
HUNTSVILLE MUSEUM OF ART
300 Church Street So., Huntsville. , 256-535-4350
#052109061009
LIVING ART WATER GARDENS
220 Old Hwy 431, Hampton Cove, 256-288-0003
MUSCLE SHOALS SOUND STUDIO
3614 Jackson Highway Sheffield Al.
MAYES BLACK DANCE THEATRE (M.B.D.T.)
2635 Bonita Cir.,Huntsville, 256-489-2635
MERIDIAN ARTS
370 Little Cove Road, Gurley, AL, 256-776-4300.
MONDO DE TATUAGE GALLERY
Corner of 6th Ave. and 7th St., Decatur, 256-306-9099.
MVAC FINE ARTS GALLERY
300 Gunter Ave.,Guntersville, 256-582-1454.
PARSONS ART GALLERY
3rd Floor Railroad Station Antiques
315 Jefferson St., Huntsville, 256-520-2360
SIGNATURE GALLERY
2364 Whitesburg Drive S, Huntsville, 256-536-1960.
THE STUDIO
1219 C Jordan Lane, Huntsville, 256 318-0169
UNIVERSITY CENTER ART GALLERY
University of Alabama in Huntsville, 256-824-1000
WILLIS GRAY GALLERY
211 2nd Ave. SE, Decatur, 256-355-7616
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
TheEnd!
THE VALLEY PLANET
Ordo, progressive rock band, is
looking for the best bass player in
Huntsville. Paid position! Call 256
479-8415 or 256 227-6490.
FOR SALE Tama 7pc Drum Set
Amber Gold w/all HDWE & cymbals $1300.00 256-430-0598
Local Artist seeking folk/indie
band or similar. Play intermediate guitar and keyboard; vocals
and songwriting. Email
[email protected]
Aria Pro Bass for sale: Cherry
Woodstain Red, small gouge on
back from belt buckle. Includes
Epiphone Hardshell case. $200
obo Sharon Grant (256) 734-7129
THE VALLEY PLANET
Do you have talents as a
musician?
Do you have a heart for worshiping God?
Then...you need to be playing
in our Praise and Worship band
at First Baptist in Gurley, AL
(www.fbcgurley.org) Our worship
team is looking for
gifted members with these talents:
-electric guitar
-bass
-percussion
-other (synth/wind instruments)
We practice once a week on Wed.
nights (7-8PM). Please email Norman @ [email protected]
For Sale:
Refinished Wurlitzer Upright
Piano, Tropicalized-(256)7774072, $750
Gibraltar Road Series
Multiclamp(sc-grsmc) $12.00,
(256)777-4072
Gibraltar SC-GPRMC Power
Rack Multi-Clamp $10.00,
(256)777-4072
Carbonlite 33” bar $45.00,
(256)777-4072
DW 5000 HiHat Stand in Good
Condition $100.00 (256)777-4072
DRUMMER NEEDED ASAP!!!
Working band looking for versatile
drummer. We play blues, rock,
and folk covers, and some originals. Currently writing material.
Gigs available, just need a
drummer to get it tight!! Call
(256)898-4075 April/Derix Email:
[email protected]
For sale: 15.5 inch Viola. Case,
bow, & headrest. great condition.
$700.00 or best offer. 701-6413
Goth, Metal, Pop Band seeking
female singer
Contact;
[email protected]
Lead singer/rhythm guitar and
keyboard player needed for
established Decatur Christian rock
band Paul Says Hello. Youth,
talent and experience a plus,
but spiritual maturity a must.
Will require reference from your
church pastor. Call Cameron at
256-227-5377 or email uncloudyd
[email protected]. View band at
www.myspace.com/paulsayshello.
Band seeking guitarist. Must be
willing to do gigs . Stlyles Hard
rock, Metal. Contact mark @ (256)
616-4275
Rhythm guartist seeking to join/
form alternative/rock band
ask for dave 256-682-7663
Multi-range metal vocalist
who’s creative and fun and open
for suggestions needed for local
thrash metal band Konflyct. Call:
256-694-1055
Singer seeking band: Female, wide range; into alternative or modern rock, open
to other genres. Contact at
[email protected]
Wanted someone for banjo
lessons 5 string. Call 652-3791.
Need a pet sitter? “If
you’re not home to play
Mommy or Daddy, Auntie
Jen will take care of your
furry family.”
Detailed info at
auntiejenpetsitter.com,
or call (256) 566-2020,
5am-9pm, 7 days/wk.
MUSIC LESSONS
Looking for an English
tutor or editor?
Reasonable Rates
Bonnie Roberts
[email protected]
Drivers: P/T. Home every night.
Madison, AL. Shuttle driver CDL-A
3-YRS Exp.
Clean MVR Call Mon-Fri 8 to 4.
Mark: 256-990-9209
Piano, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Pedal
Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Voice/Singing
Lessons.
256 534-1497
Guitarist forming instrumental
Surf band. Need drummer,
bassist, 2nd guitarist/
keyboardist for show on 4/19.
Other gigs to follow. Mix of covers
and original material. Vintage
or reissue gear a plus. email:
[email protected]
Church Looking for Musician
Morris Chapel Church Desperately seeking a musican for
Sunday Services Contact: Mozella
Davis 256-852-8844 Email:
[email protected]
Pianist - Looking for restaurant/
lounge gig in Huntsville with a
piano - oldies, jazz, blues, new
age. 931-433-0565 or
931-625-5101
Violin Teacher Wanted to teach
music classes, contact Ann at
[email protected] or
256-512-5571
Singer wanted for original
rock band. Visit myspace.com/
seekingasinger for details.
Professional Drummer Versatile
Styles Chris @ 227-6490
OLDIE SEEKING OLDIES AARP Bassist looking for AARP
drummer to form Prog Rock/
Fusion Jazz cover band. Contact
Andy at [email protected]
or 256-885-3746.
Rock band needing bassist in
Decatur, 227-2562
Authentic Reggae Band
looking for drummer and
other musicians (keyboard/
back up singer). Contact
[email protected] 714-5089
Bass player needed for rock
- metal band contact doom_
227-2562
Bass player needed for rock
- metal band contact doom_
227-2562
#052109061009
Lead GUITARIST / SINGER:
Searching for experienced female
vocalist/musician or male/female
guitarist that sings or Keyboardist
that also sings for high-tech TRIO
Band. Prefer baby-boomer era
artists with roots in the 60’s, 70’s,
Blues, Motown, Rock, Country
etc., genre. Must be professional,
dependable, focused, reliable
transportation, pro equipment, no
drugs, no alcohol, willing and able
to commit to the mutual goals of
the band. Not a “bar band”, per
se. Will be doing predominately
wedding receptions, Corp. party’s,
special occasions, etc. Rehearse
2X a week. I am a veteran of the
HSV club scene, owed booking
agency and have played in many
Bands. Much equipment & lights
John, 256-468-4233
[email protected].
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7
For Sale:
1985 Fender MIJ Stratocaster,
white, gigbag, ding on bottom.
$600 obo. 2005 SX SPJ-62
Sunburst Bass (Fender P/Jazz
copy) w. T-I strings. $125 obo.
2005 Stellar Mercury 001 (Les
Paul Standard copy) Sunburst.
$150 obo. 2005 Peavey JF1
EX (ES-335 copy) Dark wine
red. $150 obo. 2005 Tech21
Trademark 10 guitar amp $200
obo. 2005 SWR LA10 bass amp
$150 obo. Please call 256-4688136 for more info.
Veteran, professional guitarist
and singer looking to start a
Band or join a Band with mature,
experienced players. Duo, trio or
full band? Prefer Classic Rock,
Blues, Motown, Hard Rock but
not medal. Influences: Clapton,
Hendrix, Allman Bros., Skynyrd,
Led Zeppelin, Grandfunk RR,
Santana, Bad Company, Eagles,
Joe Walsh, Gary Moore to
name a few. I am dependable,
drug free, alcohol free, nonsmoker. Pro equipment and gear.
35 plus years experience. Veteran
of local club
scene. 256-461-2903. John
Musician looking for local working band...
I am a professional guitarist looking for a working Band. I can sing
lead or backup, play rhythm or
lead guitar. I have lots of equipment and know the local club
scene. I’m in my 50’s. I prefer the
classic stuff best... 60’s, 70’s, 80’s,
Motown, Blues and Rock.
Call me. Johnny Mack 772-8037.
BASSIST NEEDED
IMMEDIATELY! for show on
4/27/07 256-431-5130/278-0343/
374-9110 Everyone welcome to
audition.
Studio band - Keyboard
player needed. Contact
[email protected]
Lead Singer wanted for southern/
classic rock band. Call Keith
256.286.3466
27

104 - Valley Planet

Transcription

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