Recently received my digital TV converter box. Ordered a $40 coupon from the Feds which took several weeks to receive. Then ordered the box from Radio Shack which cost me $25 additional and took a week to receive by mail. The setup was very easy. The rabbit ears plug into the box, then the box plugs into the tv through a video cable (yellow, red, white). The box does a channel search and automatically sets up an array of stations it can pull in. Everything works well (except channels 39.1 and 39.2) and the picture is gorgeous, about the quality of a DVD image. The tv automatically formats for what is being broadcast (standard format, 16:9 or 14:9). I'm now getting channels 6, 8.1, 8.2 (jewelry), 10.1, 10.2 (weather), 15.1, 15.2 (PBS), 43.1 and 43.2 (blank, for the moment). And it all comes across the airwaves, as it should. Free, almost.

Calvin Chappelle
Untitled - Bird
Transfer and acrylic on canvas

‘Staff Influxion’ closes this Sunday, August 24 at the UT Ewing Gallery. Visit the Ewing page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). This exhibition features the work of UT staff members past and present who are actively involved in artmaking.

Support your local museums and galleries! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Ridley Howard
Untitled, 2007
Oil on canvas
5 x 7.5 inches,
courtesy of private collection (New York)

The exhibition, Size Matters: XS – Recent Small-Scale Paintings, closes Sunday August 24, 2008, at rhe Knoxville Museum of Art. Visit the KMA page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...)

The exhibition includes 42 works by some of America’s most important painters including Thordis Adalsteinsdottir, Justin Allen, and Francis Alÿs.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

With permission from the author who is a student at South- Doyle High School in Knoxville, TN. This was a class writing assignment. Content has not been altered in any way. These are his words. What are your thoughts?

Peace of Nations

What does it take to bring forth peace of nations? Loyalty from the people and from one nation to another is a necessity. Confidence, a nation needs confidence and pride in itself, to not back down to a stronger nation, for peace of nations to work, one nation can not push another around. Humanism, people must remember that though we may look different and sound different, everyone is a human, all the same.

A following of the people is necessary in order to maintain a stable nation and a healthy time of peace.

People who are loyal to their nation not only strengthen it, but also provide a safe melting pot for other nations. Loyalty is not only a thing for followers to show to the nation, it shows an allied nation that it can be trusted as well as supported in future efforts. A collaborated effort united by loyalty is one of the most influential groups of people around the globe. This virtue is one of the most important for any man or nation, having this virtue is a most for global peace.

Faith in a nation’s power or people is needed for a sense of belonging among other things. As a nation progresses forward to make itself more predominant in a growing world. Confidence brings forth a feeling of strength and power, yet for a smaller country of the world give it a sense of pride to project to a larger country that may be trying to break a world peace of sorts.

Without the confidence to stand up for a nation you believe in it may secretly fall from the inside. A virtue that many aspire to have, confidence is that which would prove difficult to a nation.

Humans, all humans are just that, humans, yet many wish to believe that all humans are different. In a world without violence, a peace among nations, there would, above all no racism. A world without racism, in itself would make all peaceful. Racism is the heart of all violence in humans, but at heart a human is just the same as another human. As a nation without racism all things violent would become shut out, from the nation.

Peace within nations is possible, but only with a few select qualities. Virtues such as confidence and loyalty make a nation strong, yet compassionate. Without racism, the world itself, all the world, would be free from the grip that is violence. Peace among the nations of the world is a possible feat, yet only at the will of the people throughout the world.

Note: I am proud to be a part of this young leaders life. He inspires me daily. The gene pool doesn't fall from the tree. Thank you for the forum to express young American's thoughts and dreams.

Jake Jost at Knoxville Talks has the details...

Isaac Hayes has passed on leaving many of us with great memories.

He was born in Covington, TN, and began recording at Memphis' Stax Records.

He later wrote a string of hit songs with songwriting partner David Porter, including "You Don't Know Like I Know", "Soul Man", "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", and "Hold On I'm Comin" for Sam and Dave. Hayes, Porter and Stax studio band Booker T. & the MGs served as the main production team for much of the label's output during the early and mid-1960s.

Then, of course, there is Shaft, for which he won an Academy Award and two Grammys.

He'll be missed.

Today's Second Saturday Sensations concert at the Cove at Concord Park will feature the The 572nd Air Force Band. The last time I heard them they were really good, but then, I love big band jazz.

It's free

It's from 6 to 8 this evening

Bring a cooler and a folding chair

The weather will be beautiful

Did I mention it's free?

Listen to and/or download free samples of their heroes, the USAF Airmen of Note, here.

UPDATE: A few pictures.

It is not surprising Rush's Music has been providing services to the community for Fifty Years. The Rush family's knowledge and kindness was appreciated by so many. It appears the more recent owners have carried on their values well.

Congratulations! Fifty years!

Don't let your child be robbed of their "Total" education.

Support your local Band, Chorus and Art Teachers!

ANCIENT BRONZES OF THE ASIAN GRASSLANDS closes Sunday at the McClung Museum. Visit the McClung page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands is a traveling collection of steppe art from the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, curated by Trudy Kawami, Ph.D. The exhibit has on display works illustrating the decorations and equipment of the ancient steppe dwellers.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Blount Mansion Visitors Center will host an Art exhibit entitled Dog Show by Sally Ham Govan, August 1-31. Visit the Blount Mansion page on Art Museum Touring.com for details (Link...). Friday, August 1 from 5pm to 8pm, BlountMansion will host a reception for artist Sally Ham Govan. Live music by Barrelhouse.

For those quilt lovers,remember today is the silent auction of Georgia Bailey quilts at the Emporium! (Link...).

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Ode to a Summer Garden
Georgia Bailey (1922-2008)
quilt

The Arts & Culture Alliance presents "Legacy: The Quilts of Georgia Bailey", a new exhibition celebrating 40 creative quilts by Georgia Bailey (1922-2008). The quilts will be displayed for sale at a silent auction at the Emporium Center on August 1. Visit the Emporium page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...), or the Events page (Link...) for details.

The quilts will be on exhibition Aug. 1 - 29 at the Emporium Center.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

We in south Knox county are so proud of Commissioner Victoria DeFreese. I especially want to thank the Commissioner for making me laugh my, umm, head off on what had so far been a crappy day.

McNutt parody here. Sorry, Scott, this is one of those cases where the original is the parody.

Knoxville Museum of Art

The Knoxville Museum of Art invites children and parents to celebrate summer at Family Fun Day on Saturday, July 26 from 11am to 3pm. All events at Family Fun Day are free thanks to the generous sponsorship of Anderson News, LLC, First Tennessee Bank and Regal Entertainment Group/Regal Foundation. Visit the KMA page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...)

Children of all ages have the opportunity to create art at one of the many art-making booths inspired by the current exhibits. Families can tap their feet to one of the many musical and entertainment acts that are performing all day, as well as listen to the gallery talks given by the docent guides.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Flowers In Morning
Mary Ann Valvoda
Loudon, TN

The 2008 Tennessee Watercolor Society Biennial Exhibition is closing Friday at the Emporium Center in Downtown Knoxville. Visit the Emporium page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). The 31st statewide juried exhibition showcases representational and experimental paintings in watermedia by some of the most prominent artists from across the state. Sixty paintings from over 200 entries were selected for the exhibit by the juror, internationally known artist Cheng-Khee Chee, including 17 artists from the East Tennessee area.

Go see the show before its gone!

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

This year's Chocolate Rain?

Link...

Read this New York Times article and tell me you don't want a chocolate chip cookie.

Tips: They're better warm. The dough should be chilled 12-36 hours. Make them big. For something extra, use really good chocolate.

Belmar, NJ, just south of Asbury Park, is an apparent party town in the summer. The mayor has been blogging in order to get the word out to renters "about what is and isn't allowed in Belmar".

He included "humorous" comments about specific incidents:

like the group who left their marijuana-smoking water pipe out on the table while police responded to a noise complaint at their address.

Another entry regarded a fight between two ladies, one from Staten Island who kept holding her drink while fighting.

"Now, we're not sure if the glass was stuck to her hand cause of all the hair spray, or if this is a technique Staten Island girls learn in Brownies, but we are thankful she left her brass knuckles and straight razor in her other purse."

The mayor will be blogging no more. He has issued an apology, sort of. Guess he needed Rodney Dangerfield's help writing the jokes.

When picking numbers for the Tennessee Powerball lottery game, there are 42 possible powerball numbers, 1 - 42. Scroll down to see a picture of a Powerbal lottery playslip. I recently purchase three quickpick Powerball lottery tickets. The Powerball numbers were 10, 38, and 42.

Out of the last 162 Powerball drawings (January 3, 2007 through July 16, 2008 ), numbers below 20 were picked 92 times (56.8%) and numbers 20 and above were picked 70 times (43.2%). There are 19 numbers below 20 (45.2%) and 23 numbers 20 and above (54.8%). Prior to 2007, powerball picks of numbers 20 and above were picked more often, as you would think they might be as there are more numbers. In 2007 and so far in 2008, powerball picks of numbers less than 20 have been picked more often (see counts after the Read more). Did something change in 2007 or is this just a phenomenon that happens with lotteries?

Also, how is that in the last 7 powerballs, three of them were 17? In 2008, the most picked powerball number was? 17, picked 5 times.

Do they still pick powerball numbers with the ping pong balls or do they now use a computer?

Does any of this really matter?

My morning for shameless self-promotion.

I'm doing two Journaling for Teens workshops this week at branches of the Knox County Public Library. At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, we'll be at the Halls Branch (4518 Emory Rd, 922-2552). Same time on Thursday, at the Cedar Bluff Branch (9045 Cross Park Dr., 470-7033).

The sessions are a free one-shot deal and last about an hour. They are for any teenager who is interested in getting thoughts out of their head and onto the page (or screen). I get paid the same whether there are two teens or twenty, but these things are always better with some number in between. Refreshments will be available.

Here's what the library website says about it: "Keeping a journal is a great way to capture your innermost thoughts and feelings and learn about yourself and the same time. Local author Pam Strickland will show you how to use journaling to get thoughts out of your head and onto paper--you might be surprise by what you discover about yourself."

I meant to post something before the Knoxville Writers' Guild Summer Workshops got started, but -- alas -- I didn't. There are still two weeks of classes available. This week's sessions include:

--The ABCs of Marketing Poetry by Carole Ann Borges
--Creative Nonfiction for Beginners by Pam Strickland
--Three sessions on fiction writing by Cyn Mobley
--Poetry for Beginners: Letting Go by Carolyn Scarbrough
--Tell the Story Only You Can Tell by Ina Hughs
--Inner Pilgrimage by Doris Ivie (Magnolia Street Campus)
--Performance Poetry by Kali Meister

Next week's sessions include Katie Allison Granju on our favorite topic: blogging.

The Foothills Fall Festival and WIVK are conducting a poll to nominate a replacement for Willie Nelson, who canceled as the headliner. One of the available artists is the Allman Bros. Band. Please go here and vote for the Allman Bros. Band. Thank you.

Maryville Daily Times:

Country music icon Willie Nelson has canceled his performance at the 2008 Foothills Fall Festival, leaving the festival at least temporarily without a closing headliner.

No word if Led Zeppelin will be available to fill in. AC? (Also, the article makes it sound as though there was never an actual, you know, booking contract. Wonder what gives?)

P.S. Seriously, if they're in a jam, I wonder why they don't give AC a call? I'm guessing that one of the top promoters in the U.S. could probably help them line up an awesome headliner. Maybe even Led Zeppelin!

Necklace
Linda McLaughlin
Category - Metal

The Cumberland Valley Tennessee Association of Craft Artists opens Friday, July 11, their juried exhibition at the Metro Parks’ Centennial Art Center gallery in Nashville. Visit the Centennial Art Center page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...) and view info about the opening reception on the Events page (Link...). It is a juried, group exhibit by twenty-nine members of the CV-TACA on display July 11 through July 31. The Centennial Art Center has just recently joined Art Museum Touring.com.

In Knoxville, the Blount Mansion (Link...) has the artists reception Friday for their current exhibition Unfound, a two man show featuring the works of Calvin Chappelle and Ryan Kelley that started on July 1. the Events page (Link...) will let you know the time if you are interested in going.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Strips and Strings, 2005
Mary Lee Bendolph

Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts and Beyond opens Thursday, July 10 at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Visit the KMA page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). Twelve dramatically designed, richly colored, improvisational quilts created by Mary Lee Bendolph and her family members—her mother Aolar Mosely, her daughter Essie B. Pettway, and her daughter-in-law Louisiana P. Bendolph—are presented alongside complex and evocative found object sculptures by noted African American self-taught artist Thornton Dial and visionary “yard art” artist Lonnie Holley. Both of these Alabama-based artists have been influenced by the quilts and the quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

The Front Page Follies is an annual roast in which a cast of journalists, community members and a sprinkling of cameo appearances poke fun at newsmakers and events that amused us during the previous year. All ticket sales benefit journalism education through scholarships.

The Thirtieth Annual Front Page Follies will be staged July 19, 2008, at the Knoxville Convention Center. The honorees are “Sunshine Boys,” News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy and first amendment attorney Richard Hollow, caricatured at left. Please see “2008 Honorees” page for more about why they are our choice for this year’s honor.

Tickets are available at $100 each or a pre-reserved table of ten for $1,000. Your ticket proceeds go toward an endowment fund at the University of Tennessee, which is growing to a point where it will become self-perpetuating, generating funds for the scholarships in perpetuity. Our goal is to fund two endowments of $25,000 each and we are halfway there. Income from the Follies also funds a scholarship for a student at Pellissippi State Technical Community College who plans a career in journalism. We are excited to have come so far and hope you’ll join us in making this year’s show a success!

More info: Link...

Two Links in a Long Chain
Jerry Taliaferro
From Women of a New Tribe exhibtion

The exhibition Women of a New Tribe closes Sunday July 6 at the KMA. Visit the KMA page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). It is a striking photography exhibition honoring African-American women, their strength, beauty, and their role in American culture. In 2004, sixteen women from Knoxville and the surrounding area were selected from community nominations and photographed by artist Jerry Taliaferro to join the Women of a New Tribe. This exhibition organized by the Literacy Imperative features fourteen of these portraits.

Just a reminder, the KMA is charging no admission through December 31 as part of a special promotion.

Support your local museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Anvil Shoot yes that little tiny thing towards the top of the picture is the anvil, not a big bird!

4th of July Activities!
The Museum of Appalachia's July 4 Celebration & Anvil Shoot is a truly nostalgic, old-fashioned, and family-oriented way to celebrate Independence Day and to experience summertime in Old Appalachia. Visit the Museum of Appalachia page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...) and the Events page (Link...) for more information about all their 4th of July activities.

The dramatic anvil shoot is the highlight of the July 4 event. Several times during the day, excitement builds as crowds gather to watch as gunpowder is packed under the anvil and ignited. With a loud boom, the hunk of iron bursts from a cloud of smoke, catapulting as high as the treetops some 125 feet into the air. The earth literally shakes, and the deafening boom, it is said, can be heard as far away as 15 miles.

Support your local museums and galleries! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Trust me, this is the funniest thing you will see today.

(By way of fortsanders.net)

Details at BlountViews...

Unfound exhibition

Blount Mansion Visitors Center-July 1-30. Unfound, a two man show featuring the works of Calvin Chappelle and Ryan Kelley. Visit the Blount Mansion page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). There will be an opening reception for the artists with live music by Stonetree, check the Events page for time and details (Link...).

Blount Mansion known as the Birthplace of Tennessee is nestled in the center of Downtown Knoxville's government district.

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie