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 jill@valleyplanet.com 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 THE VALLEY PLANET THE VALLEY PLANET #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 4 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #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 Classifieds@valleyplanet.com 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. #052109061009 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. WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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, WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #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 WeirdNewsTips@yahoo.com 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 #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 (teekynyc@yahoo.com). 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #052109061009 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 sanctifly@gmail.com, 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 #052109061009 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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/# WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia 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 Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Sounds of Silence Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Cabaret Show and Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (10:30pm) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke 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 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, Jim Cavender Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Marge (8-12) Benchwarmer, Down Home Fire Benchwarmer Too, DJ Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Reno Roberts Blue Parrot (Guntersville), StraightForward Boondock’s (Guntersville), 5ive O’Clock Charlie Carson’s, Live Music Cazadeores, Live Music Club Ozz, Divas of Illusion w/DJ Shell Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), 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 Hog Wild II, Backwater Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Dikki Du and The Zydeco Krewe Indigo Joe’s, Karaoke Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Live Music Lee Ann’s, Hot Mixx Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Live Music Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), 46 Hush Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Karaoke and Dance w/DJ Sweet T Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sammy T’s Music Hall, Another Hero 12 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 THE VALLEY PLANET THE VALLEY PLANET Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, The Abrahams and Lauderdale The Brick (Decatur), C.O. Jones The Docks (Scottsboro), Kenny Barry, Butch, and Courter The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) 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 Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/ DJ Brandon Mac Monday May25 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Christian James and the Coyotes Black Water Hattie’s, Karaoke w/ Howie Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke 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 Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Dave Anderson Tuesday May26 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Marge (8-12) Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Bike Night w/ Travis Posey Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Bridge Street (See Ad pg. 11), Jason Albert Band Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), HDK Karaoke with Howie Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman 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 The Station, Dusty French (Acoustic) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Dave Anderson Wednesday May27 3rd Base Grill, David Anderson 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Microwave Dave, solo (6-9) Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Top Tunes Karaoke w/ Brandon (8pm-12) Black Water Hattie’s, Open Mic w/ Opie Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Kevin and Kyle Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Cazadeores, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Morgan Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Songwriter’s Jam (7pm) Furniture Factory, Pete and Katrina Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/Louis Hog Wild II, Karaoke w/ David (8pm-1am) 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) Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Karaoke with JD Pollard Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Dance w/DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am) Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest Sportspage, Pla’ Station The Brick (Decatur), Tim Tucker The Station, Bone Dry Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, James Irvin Thursday May28 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Dave Anderson (6-9) Benchwarmer, Karaoke Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Polar Opposites Boondock’s (Guntersville), John Harper and Mason Club Ozz, Karaoke w/ Brandon El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia Finnegan’s Pub, Slip Jig Flying Monkey Arts Center, Shortwave Society (7pm, $5) Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Chad Reeves Halftime Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/Larry Hooters, Bike Night w/ Hot Rod Otis Hopper’s, DJ Justin (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Hashbrown Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Dave Anderson Lee Ann’s, Pot Luck Band 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, Ant and Andrew Sammy T’s Music Hall, Lady’s Night w/ DJ Keibot (9pm) Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest Sportspage, 5 O’Clock Charlie The Brick (Decatur), Live Music The Docks (Scottsboro), Tony Brooks ContinuedonPage14 #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 13 MUSIC ContinuedfromPage13 The Nook, Larry Woellhart (6-9) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Open Mic Night w/Ben Trussell Friday May29 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, The Don Henderson Project Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), The Breakers Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Shawna P and the Earthfunk Tribe Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Jason Albert Band Boondock’s (Guntersville), Triple X 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), James Smith (The Autoharp Man) Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Rollin in the Hay El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia El Herradura, Edgar Flying Monkey Arts Center, The Dean Martinis (8pm, $5) Furniture Factory, Sidewinder Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Rodeo Truckers Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Room 240 Hog Wild II, Trey Morgan Band Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, 5ive O’Clock Charlie Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Adam Hood Lee Ann’s, Full Circle Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, DJ Chris Slaton Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), The Letters Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Cabaret Show and Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (10:30pm) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Radio Tremors The Brick (Decatur), Bishop Black The Docks (Scottsboro), Rob Aldridge The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) The Station, Crush Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Toy Shop Saturday May30 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, Chuck and Christina Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Tim Tucker Benchwarmer, Stiff Benchwarmer Too, DJ Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Note to Self Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Alleyway Boondock’s (Guntersville), Spare Change Carson’s, Live Music Cazadeores, Live Music Club Ozz, Divas of Illusion w/DJ Shell Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Open Mic Night (7pm) Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Stiff Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Hells Bells Elk’s Lodge, Fiesta on the Patio w/ Boogafunk (7pm) Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman Furniture Factory, Rob Aldridge Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Two Days Gone Hard Dock Café (Decatur), The Breakers Hog Wild II, Trey Morgan Band Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Blackeyed Susan Indigo Joe’s, Karaoke Kaffeeklatsch @Night, C.O. Jones Lee Ann’s, Gryphon Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Lowe Mill, Paper Route Gangstaz, White Noise, Ghost Rock & the Disco Gunshow (9pm, $7) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Live Music Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Last Call Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Betty Roulette Burlesque Show w/DJ Refried (9pm-2am) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sammy T’s Music Hall, Down Stroke (9pm) Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Live Music The Brick (Decatur), Black Label The Docks (Scottsboro), Kenny Barry The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) 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, 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 Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/ DJ Brandon Mac Monday June1 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Christian James and the Coyotes Black Water Hattie’s, Karaoke w/ Howie Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke 14 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Open Mic Night w/ Marge Loveday Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Acoustic Open Mic hosted by Greg Rowell Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, David Anderson Tuesday June2 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Marge (8-12) Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Bike Night w/ Mike and Catherine Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Bridge Street (See Ad pg.11), Brent Morgan Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), HDK Karaoke with Howie Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), MayDay Hopper’s, Karaoke with Lee Kearns (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, David Bradley 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 The Station, Dusty French (Acoustic) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Dave Anderson Wednesday June3 3rd Base Grill, David Anderson 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Microwave Dave, solo (6-9) Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Top Tunes Karaoke w/ Brandon (8pm-12) Black Water Hattie’s, Open Mic w/ Opie Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Tim Jennings Carr Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Cazadeores, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Morgan Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Songwriter’s Jam (7pm) 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 Hog Wild II, Karaoke w/ David (8pm-1am) Hopper’s, Lil’ Ed (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, The Ray Brothers Lee Ann’s, Proton Joe Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (7pm)/TalentQuest Contest (8pm) Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Karaoke with JD Pollard Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Dance w/DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am) Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest Sportspage, Pla’ Station The Brick (Decatur), Pat and His Peeps The Station, Susan’s Crush Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, James Irvin Thursday June4 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Dave Anderson (6-9) Benchwarmer, Karaoke Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Johnny Walker 3 Boondock’s (Guntersville), Live Music Club Ozz, Karaoke w/ Brandon El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia Finnegan’s Pub, Slip Jig Flying Monkey Arts Center, Chicken Little, Cody Geisser (8pm, $5) 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/ JD and the Badboys Hopper’s, DJ Justin (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Kozmic Mama 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 Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest Sportspage, 5 O’Clock Charlie The Brick (Decatur), Live Music The Docks (Scottsboro), Trey The Nook, Microwave Dave (6-9) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Open Mic Night w/Ben Trussell Friday June5 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, Live Music Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), The Deltones Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Hot Soup Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Flyin Monkey’s (Dr. Hook) Boondock’s (Guntersville), Wake Boarding Competition w/Mix Tape 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), Live Music Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Shooter Jennings El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia El Herradura, Edgar Elk’s Lodge, Scottie R. and Tommy Tingle (from Boogafunk) Furniture Factory, Full Circle Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Rodeo Truckers Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Straightforward Hog Wild II, Goldrush Band Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) MUSIC ContinuedfromPage14 Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Scott Holt Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Live Music Lee Ann’s, Ben Trussell Band Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, DJ Chris Slaton Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Live Music Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Cabaret Show (10:30pm) w/ Special Guest Franchesque Richards Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Live Music The Brick (Decatur), Plato Jones The Docks (Scottsboro), Dave Anderson The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) The Station, ReddLetters Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Live Music Saturday June6 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, Live Music Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Dave Anderson Benchwarmer Too, Salsa Party w/DJ Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Ricky Carden Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Hot Rod Otis Boondock’s (Guntersville), Wake Boarding Competition w/Ugli Stick Carson’s, Live Music Cazadeores, Live Music Club Ozz, Divas of Illusion w/DJ Shell Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Open Mic Night (7pm) Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Live Music Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Live Music Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman Furniture Factory, Rob Aldridge Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Stop the Car Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Pla’ Station Hog Wild II, Bonafied Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Toy Shop Indigo Joe’s, Karaoke Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Live Music Lee Ann’s, Four Door Ramblers Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Live Music Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Live Music Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Prom w/DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Live Music The Brick (Decatur), Side Effects The Docks (Scottsboro), Burt David Newton Band The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) The Station, Naked Eskimos Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Live Music Wednesday June10 Open Mic Night w/Ben Trussell 3rd Base Grill, David Anderson 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Microwave Dave, solo (6-9) Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Top Tunes Karaoke w/ Brandon (8pm-12) Black Water Hattie’s, Open Mic w/ Opie Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Robert Keele Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Cazadeores, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Morgan Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Songwriter’s Jam (7pm) Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/Louis Hog Wild II, Karaoke w/ David (8pm-1am) Hopper’s, Lil’ Ed (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcom Lee Ann’s, The Deltones Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (7pm)/TalentQuest Contest (8pm) Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Karaoke with JD Pollard Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Dance w/DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am) Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest Sportspage, Pla’ Station The Brick (Decatur), Blagburn The Station, Crush Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, James Irvin Thursday June11 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Dave Anderson (6-9) Benchwarmer, Karaoke Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Sandy Lynn Lane Boondock’s (Guntersville), Cooper and Pope Club Ozz, Karaoke w/ Brandon El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia Finnegan’s Pub, Slip Jig Furniture Factory, Live Music Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Chad Reeves Halftime Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/Larry Hog Wild II, Karaoke w/ David (8pm-1am) Hooters, Bike Night w/ Fat Mamma Hopper’s, DJ Justin (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Juice Trio 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, Ant and Andrew Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Contest Sportspage, 5 O’Clock Charlie The Brick (Decatur), George and Friends The Docks (Scottsboro), Trey The Nook, Microwave Dave (6-9) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Friday June12 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, Live Music Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Silver Streak Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Fat Mamma Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Eric and the Idols Boondock’s (Guntersville), Radio Tremors 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), Holly Helm Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Discoasis El Dorado Mex Grill, Raul Mejia El Herradura, Edgar Elk’s Lodge, Keroeke (7pm) Furniture Factory, Scratch Band Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Rodeo Truckers Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Group 6 Hog Wild II, Backwater Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Crush Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Live Music Lee Ann’s, Full Circle Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, DJ Chris Slaton Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Live Music Moody Monday’s, Karaoke Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, Cabaret Show (10:30pm) w/ Special Guest Franchesque Richards Dance w/ DJ Sweet T (9pm-2am) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Live Music The Brick (Decatur), Tim Boykin Band The Docks (Scottsboro), Dave Anderson The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) The Station, Blackeyed Susan Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Live Music Saturday June13 11th Frame Bar, Karaoke 801 Franklin, Live Music Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Christian James and the Coyotes Benchwarmer Too, DJ Billy’s Sports Bar (Hazel Green), Karaoke w/ Larry (9pm-close) Black Water Hattie’s, Donnie Cox Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Eric and the Idols Boondock’s (Guntersville), Sons of Sanchez Carson’s, Live Music Cazadeores, Live Music Club Ozz, Male Strippers ContinuedonPage16 Sunday June7 Black Water Hattie’s, Travis Posey Trio Casa Montego, Live Jazz featuring Devere Pride Trio and Friends (7-10:30) Club Ozz, DJ Matt Play Flying Monkey Arts Center, Rolling Jazz Revue (7pm, $5) 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 Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Karaoke w/ DJ Brandon Mac Monday June8 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Christian James and the Coyotes Black Water Hattie’s, Karaoke w/ Howie Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Geno’s Pub (Decatur), Karaoke Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Karaoke w/DJ Jeff Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Open Mic Night w/ Marge Loveday Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Acoustic Open Mic hosted by Greg Rowell Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, David Anderson Tuesday June9 Bandito Burrito (South Pkwy), Marge (8-12) Blue Parrot (Guntersville), Bike Night w/ Ricky Ray and Sapphire Boondock’s (Guntersville), Karaoke Bridge Street (See Ad pg. 11), Rudy Mockabee Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), HDK Karaoke with Howie Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Wild Ride Hopper’s, Karaoke with Lee Kearns (8-12) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Pete Whitfield 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 The Station, Dusty French (Acoustic) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Dave Anderson ContinuedonPage15 THE VALLEY PLANET THE VALLEY PLANET #052109061009 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 7 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 Coffeetree Books & Brew (See ad pg. 5), Open Mic Night (7pm) Coppertop (See Ad pg.14), Live Music Crossroads (See ad pg. 13), Live Music Finnegan’s Pub, Dave Merriman Flying Monkey Arts Center, Toy Shop, Dawn Osbourne Trio Furniture Factory, Rob Aldridge Glass’s Cocktails and Grill (Decatur), Two Days Gone Hard Dock Café (Decatur), Live Music Hog Wild II, Backwater Hopper’s, Peter and the Wolf (8:30) Humphrey’s Bar & Grill, Dova Grove Indigo Joe’s, Karaoke Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Lucky (Lucky and the Hot Dice) Lee Ann’s, Hot Mixx Lisa’s Lounge, Karaoke w/Jimbo (8pm-1:30am) Mac’s Sportsbar and Steakhouse, Live Music Maria Bonita Grill and Cantina (Decatur), Live Music Moody Monday’s, Karaoke 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 BBBPromos@aol.com. 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 aparker@madison.k12.al.us. 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. Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Partner’s, King Show (10:30) Dance (9pm-2am) Philby’s Pourhouse, Live Music Sandy’s Roadhouse (Guntersville), Karaoke Sportspage, Live Music The Brick (Decatur), Roosevelt Franklin The Docks (Scottsboro), The Tony Brooks Band The Horse, Karaoke w/ Super Dave (8pm-1:30am) The Station, Black Label Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, Live Music Sunday June14 Black Water Hattie’s, 4 Door Ramblers Casa Montego, Live Jazz featuring Devere Pride Trio and Friends (7-10:30) Club Ozz, DJ Matt Play Kaffeeklatsch @Night, 25th Birthday party w/ Sunday Blues Jam hosted by Freddy Earl and the Blues Mercenaries (3pm-close) Olivia’s Sports Bar and Grill, Karaoke (9pm) Voodoo Lounge Bar and Grill, 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 jpoff@panoply.org. 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 amber@casamadisoncty.org. 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 111 Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-512-5858. 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 1909 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-536-2234. 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 jlane@hsvmuseum.org. 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 TheBookmark 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 BBBPromos@aol.com. Monday, May 25 RUGGBY’S 4820 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-895-0795. 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 gatorcindy@aol.com. 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 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) 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 GMH228@aol.com. 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 stbrewer@redfcu.org 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 csyphuntsville@gmail.com. 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 admin@carnegiearts.org 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 lcking246@aol.com 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 csyphuntsville@gmail.com. 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 ent@gethyp.net. 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) 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #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 specialinterest@gethyp.net. 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 writers@valleyplanet.com. 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 cfar@knology.net, 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. WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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. WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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. WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #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 listings@valleyplanet.com Cont.from17 Dining 801 FRANKLIN 801 Franklin Street, Huntsville, 256-519-8019. 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) 4925 University Drive, 256-722-9620 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 103 Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-536-7993. 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) 6125 University Drive, 256-922-1001 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 4800 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-880-8883 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 8580 Madison Blvd, Madison, 256-772-0990 FURNITURE FACTORY BAR & GRILL 619 Meridian Street N, Huntsville, 256-539-8001. 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 4730 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-722-0166. 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 4925 University Dr., Huntsville, 256-489-9050 PAPOU’S 110 South Side Square, Huntsville, 256-534-5553 Burgers,Deli,&Pizza BELLACINO’S PIZZA & GRINDERS 8572 Madison Blvd, Madison, 256-774-1918 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) 5000 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-885-3700 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 2357 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-512-9776 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 2720 Carl T. Jones Dr., Huntsville, 256-650-1367 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 4275 University Dr., Huntsville, 256-971-8989 8572 Madison Blvd.,, Madion, 256-774-8028 2750 Carl T. Jones Dr., Huntsville, 256-880-8246 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 3991 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-534-3000. 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 1851 University Dr., Huntsville, 256-535-0840 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 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 classifieds@valleyplanet.com 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 sharlabe@hotmail.com. 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 sharlabe@hotmail.com. 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 dj_krayola@yahoo.com. 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 almurphyii@hotmail.com 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 1214 Meridian Street N, Huntsville, 256-536-3434. 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 801 Franklin Street, Huntsville, 256-519-8019. 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 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM #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 theravenfliesnorth@gmail.com 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 @ pink_zepp@hotmail.com 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: asparks@tvrllc.com 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; Simoneisgone@yahoo.com 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 ay@bellsouth.net. 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 runningtherisk@yahoo.com 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 bonnierpoet@yahoo.com 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: Gretschman66@aol.com Church Looking for Musician Morris Chapel Church Desperately seeking a musican for Sunday Services Contact: Mozella Davis 256-852-8844 Email: cmd_2425@knology.net 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 info@ivsmusic.com 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 andywells2@knology.net 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 leadguitar@knology.net 714-5089 Bass player needed for rock - metal band contact doom_ popguitarist@yahoo.com or 227-2562 Bass player needed for rock - metal band contact doom_ popguitarist@yahoo.com or 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 johnnymack7@mindspring.com. 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 leadguitar@knology.net Lead Singer wanted for southern/ classic rock band. Call Keith 256.286.3466 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 27