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        We Americans love our lists, and we love to keep track of all sorts of things.
        Recently, I have seen rankings of the latest top grossing movies, the most successful movies of all time, vehicles which use the most gas, vehicles which use the least gas, communities with the highest foreclosure rates and those with the  cheapest, 10 things to do to vacation in one’s own home and our nation’s colleges and universities with the toughest admission standards.
        I am sure I have seen others as well, but those came readily to mind.
        We also love anniversaries of all sorts, and 2008 has a wealth of them. Because 1968 was such a pivotal year in American history and American culture, we have already commemorated the lives and deaths of American icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy along with cultural markers like the Broadway musical Hair and the marriage of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis.{mosimage}
        All of which got me thinking of a sad anniversary looming in the Dickson household.
        We lost our almost 15-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Nicky, last July, and I know I will be thinking of him often over the next several weeks. Nicky was a smart, independent and feisty little dog who generally got his own way and who, unfortunately and embarrassingly, bit several of our friends. In his old age with his sight and hearing fading, he mellowed into the sweetest fellow, loved by everyone in the household and beyond, at least among folks who had not suffered his snapping displeasure.
        Thinking about Nicky inspired me to do the natural American thing — I made a list of all the dogs in my life since my sister and I were little girls growing up in the Fayetteville of the 1950s and 60s.
    Sam.
        Sam was a gun shy Weimaraner, given to our father by a friend who hunted and who had no use for a dog terrified of loud noises. Sam was wonderful with children, though, standing patiently while my sister and I and our neighborhood friends tried to ride him like a horse. I remember him sleeping in the backyard shrubbery in his old age.
        Angel.
        Angel was a present on my ninth birthday. He was a Pekingese, who had no idea he was not a German Shepherd. In the days before leash laws, Angel, his pale hair dirty and sometimes matted as my mother let me learn the responsibility of dog ownership, led the pack of neighborhood pets including Sam and another Weimaraner named Blitz, a black German shepherd named Mr. Henry, a Dalmatian named, yes, Domino, and assorted others. I think my father took considerable ribbing from his friends about Angel.
        Joshua.
        Josh was a bouncy and none too bright terrier who often escaped from the fence installed in our back yard to contain him. My father spent a good bit of time chasing him or searching for him, until one day Josh bounced out of our lives altogether.
        Toto.
        Toto was my mother’s West Highland Terrier, whom she adopted when his first family could no longer care for him. Large for his breed, Toto was originally named Hoss after one of the Cartwright brothers on the then-hit television program Bonanza. I inherited Toto after my mother’s death, and he lived out his years in relative quiet with only one major incident. He bit our first child in the face when the baby crawled over to the snoozing old critter.
        There have been others, as well.
        Fanny, the high-strung Schnauzer who once ate half a buttery pound cake and suffered for it as did we. Brownie, the chocolate Lab who will forever be remembered in our family as the Best Dog Ever. She defined our children’s young lives, and her ashes are in our living room today. Maggie, the faux Lab we adopted after Brownie’s death, whose hips were those of a Greyhound and whose astonishing speed took her through the electric fence one day, never to be seen again.
        And now, Lilly, a yellow Lab whose sweetness and enthusiasm for life may give Brownie a run for her title as Best Dog         Ever.
        In true American fashion, I have also made a list of some of my favorite quotations about dogs,
        In no particular order, here goes.
        “The average dog is nicer than the average person.” Andy Rooney.
        “No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.” Christopher Morley.
        “There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.” Ben Williams.
        “Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” Ann Landers.
        “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you, that is the principle difference between a dog and man.” Mark Twain.
        Aldous Huxley really nailed it, though.
        Said Huxley, “To his dog, every man is Napoleon, hence the constant popularity of dogs.”

       

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        I love the Fayetteville Museum of Art’s Fayetteville After Five concert series and, as one of the original sponsors, I know the recipe being used to nurture its success. However, this past event which featured the local and talented musical group DL Token and legendary national artists Nantucket fell flat as if someone or something was left out of the “original” recipe.
        Something was left out. Matter of fact, two somethings were left out. Intimacy and a relevant venue. Let me explain. The FMA not actually having a facility at Festival Park strips this event of its personality and excitement. After all, it was created as an “art” venue. Even though it was well attended, the people were spread out over the vast, treeless greenscape making it nearly impossible to socialize and get that traditional contagious “party” feeling.
        {mosimage}Now, concerning lack of relevant venue, consider the following: What would Fourth Friday be without the Arts Council; the Singing Christmas Tree without Snyder Memorial Baptist Church; Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s River Show without the river; or Dickens’ Holiday without downtown Fayetteville? The reality is that without the Museum of Art actually being on site in Festival Park the event falls flat. As wonderful as it is, Festival Park is not the “be all” and “end all” of downtown Fayetteville and Cumberland County entertainment. This was evident with the Dogwood Festival and the International Folk Festival.
        The FMA is the venue and destination point. So what Fayetteville After Five and Festival Park need is a “new” $15 million dollar Fayetteville Museum of Art. This will breathe life and excitement into its grassy knolls and bring relevance and pride to every event held there.
        With no intention of criticizing Councilman Ted Mohn’s position on the park or our municipal leadership and their positions or opinions on where the FMA should be built, I have to ask, why do these civil servants think they know more than the industry experts we hire and pay to do the job? And, to what end? Let’s review some past decisions on building locations our city and county officials passed judgment on:
    Crown Coliseum? Wrong place.
    J.P. Riddle Stadium? Wrong place.
    Cumberland County Jail? Wrong place.
    Festival Park Building? Not only is it in the wrong place, it serves as a visible and blatant obstruction to Festival Park.
    Parking Deck? Pending with 50/50 change of it being built in the … you guessed it, wrong place. Note: There is a very “right” place but may be too conspicuously correct.
        Festival Park is not a Regency Park of Cary, nor will it ever be. It is what it is. And, it needs the $15 million dollar Fayetteville Museum of Art to secure and anchor its success. Up & Coming Weekly recognizes Festival Park as the newest jewel of our community, and we support it. We also support it as the new home of Fayetteville Museum of Art. This structure will bring meaning, art, culture and vitality to our community and be a very important gateway into the city.
        Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Also check us out online. If you have something to say concerning this or any other issues, pro or con, send them to editor@upandcomingweekly.com. We welcome all opinions and points of view. I can be reached at bill@upandcomingweekly.com.

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        Three artists who interpret their individual environments open at Gallery 208 and the McLeod Gallery at Up and Coming Weekly on Rowan Street, June 26. The outdoor sculptures by Wilmington artist Paul Hill are installed in front of the business; inside the gallery hosts Raleigh printmaking artist, Ashley Worley. Local artist Noreda Hess opens in the McLeod Gallery with an exhibit of photographs.
        The work of all three artists can be enjoyed by visitors to Gallery 208 during the opening reception, each artist will be introduced and talk briefly about their work. All three will briefly reflect on what inspires their work and ways they individually interpret personal themes. The gallery opening is free and open to the public.
        {mosimage}Paul Hill is exhibiting a series of life-size fabricated sculptures. Visitors to the gallery will see selections from his animal series. Made from a mixture of fabricated metals and found objects, Hill’s sculptures result in seemingly fanciful interpretations — until one reads the titles! 
        In the sculpture titled Insatiable, a goat fabricated out of metal, carefully balances on a decaying and bent barrel. Hill shared with me how Insatiable is a mixed-media sculpture that addresses the oil crisis. Knowing the artist’s intent puts a whole new spin on the meaning.
        Natural Progression is a giraffe-like animal, somewhat zany, and stands 11 feet tall. Hill said it “originated from my many sketches that I do when thinking about works to create. The giraffe is a direct representation of my sketch.” Natural Progression is a superb example of the way Hill can integrate many different types of metals and found objects into a seamless work.
        Hill says on his Web site: “As a metal sculptor who works primarily in steel, stainless steel, bronze and copper. I prefer to engage the direct-metal approach to sculpture. In this particular discipline of work, steel, found objects, etc., are added, piece-by-piece, moving the sculpture to its final form. Working this way lets me and the work become spontaneous, exciting and boundless. In my mind, there is a decisive idea of what the completed piece will represent, but I am constantly amazed and thrilled at its final outcome.”
        A full time artist and owner of Paul Hill Sculpture Studios, Hill explained most of his sculptures arrive through “private commissions and are in homes, businesses, corporations and public forums from New York to Florida.” (To see more of Hill’s sculptures, visit his Web site at www.absolutearts.com/metalforms/)
        Like Hill, Ashley Worley is another artist who has exhibited quite extensively in the region and nationally.  Worley, a printmaker from Raleigh, has shown her figurative works in a group exhibit at the Fayetteville Museum of Art. Those who have seen Worley’s work will remember this artist — the one who created exaggerated figures in an interior, interactions between women friends in a moving car — all her figures were extremely foreshortening to evoke the an unnerving state of tension.
        For the Gallery 208 exhibit, Worley has included a series of urban scenes. Large in scale, her relief prints have shifted from the more direct way of involving the figure in space to an inference, the figure is present by its absence in the stark black and white large relief print.
        In one of Worley’s relief prints, a series of utility poles are set against a lit sky background; the tops of trees balance the open space, a tower looms to the left side of the print. We are reminded of the function of the telephone lines, the pattern of the distant tower competes with utility poles — by absence, human-ness is present.
        Worley states her intent clearly in her artist’s statement: “Over time, my inspiration has shifted. Rather than interactions with other people, I have found inspiration in the interaction with my physical environment. My neighborhood, like many urban neighborhoods, is comprised of residential and industrial properties side by side. On outings, I pass beautifully manicured lawns directly next to noisy businesses. I am inspired by the diversity in my neighborhood and I begin to imagine the stories that take place all within the buildings or streets around me. So my works, which are specifically landscapes, have a subtle narrative component.”
        Like Worley, Noreda Hess’s photography focuses on finding new meaning in the overlooked. Hess, a local artist who has exhibited her photographs in local and regional galleries, is exhibiting a series of photographs of the overlooked places and exterior still lifes in her surroundings. Paint and rusted boxes become abstract compositions, decaying paint on the front of a building’s doorway becomes a reminder of time, ever present and creating its own pattern of passage. The mundane, something we would pass by without a second glance becomes an abstract painting for Hess — painted by the eye of a photographer.
        Whereas Gallery 208 is coordinated by the Fayetteville Museum of Art to predominantly bring in artists from out of the local area, the McLeod Gallery, considerable smaller, highlights only local artists. Hess is only the second photographer who has been invited to exhibit in the McLeod Gallery since Up and Coming Weekly relocated to its Rowan Street location.
    Showing the photography of Hess, the sculpture of Hill and the prints of Worley is a testimony to the variety of mediums an artist can explore to express themselves.
        Up and Coming Weekly welcomes the community to Gallery 208 and the McLeod Gallery to attend the reception, meet the artists, see their work and celebrate the arts in Up and Coming style, Thursday, June 26, between the hours of 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

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        I’m a 46-year-old woman who just started seeing a 55-year-old man. He’s always telling me how excited I get him, how he’s your typical horny male, and how I’m asking for trouble if we make out at the door after lunch. Frankly, he seems all talk. For example, on our much anticipated weekend away in San Francisco, we had two hours to kill at the hotel before dinner. He suggested window shopping. I suggested we “make out on the bed.” (I wanted to say “have wild sex.”) We kissed, and when things started heating up, he said we should head out. When we returned, he said, “So, should we get to it then?” It was so crass, I suggested a movie. He seemed relieved, and we watched “Juno.” Afterward, we started fooling around, but it was bland — as was sex the next morning. I’m frustrated but hoping things will improve over time. Am I too focused on sex? I should say something, but it’s so awkward, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings.
                                               — Lustbucket

        Here you are on a weekend getaway with a guy you just started seeing, and all he can think to do is get away from the bed: “Shall we totter down to Neiman Marcus and stare at the displays?” Now, there is that chance he’s freezing up out of performance anxiety or because he sees sleeping together as an I.O.U. for commitment. But more than likely, his favorite sex positions are spooning, snoring, and doggie-style — as in, rolling over and playing dead.
        This sort of bedroom bait-and-switch — the dud billing himself as a dynamo — is pretty common with older guys who are embarrassed that they don’t want sex like they used to. Perhaps this guy’s had a drop in his testosterone level (as men do, usually after 40), or perhaps there never was much “T” to go around.     What’s especially worrisome is that this a brand new relationship — the time when you should be having trouble making it out of the elevator with clothes on. “In The Truth About Love,” Dr. Patricia Love explains, “During infatuation, with the help of PEA (phenethylamine), dopamine, and norepinephrine, the person with the low sex drive (the low-T person) experiences a surge in sexual desire.” Uh-oh. What’s he experiencing, a surge in window shopping?
        As for whether you’re “too focused on sex,” you are what you are — probably too focused on it to be satisfied with a guy who’d rather watch “Juno” than...you know...but who finally blurts out, “So, should we get to it then?” What, clean the hog pen? Yeah, let’s get this chore over with. You can hint a guy into expressing himself more appealingly, but what matters is whether that’s how he really feels: if he’d really rather be napping.
        You hear people say stuff like, “Sex is best in the context of a loving relationship.” No, sex is best when the two people having it are sexually compatible. You can ask a guy to do more of what you like, but you can’t get him to be more of what you like. Go ahead, hang around a little longer, maybe try initiating, and see whether he’s just a bit slow to come out of hibernation. Ultimately, the person in need of your honesty is you: whether the man for you is one who’s always got Mr. Happy at the ready, or whether you can make do with a guy who should probably pet-name his entire sex drive Nuclear Winter.

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        Austrian director Johann Kresnik’s re-interpretation of the classic Verdi opera “A Masked Ball” opened for a limited engagement in Berlin in April, aimed at America’s “war and the excesses of American society today,” he said. In one scene, against a backdrop of the ruins of the World Trade Center, 35 naked senior citizens danced, wearing Mickey Mouse masks.
        “Art is no longer just a painting on the wall,” said the curator of the Museum of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, Israel, in April. “Art is life; life is art.” He gave that as an explanation for why he had accepted, as a live exhibit, seven young people from Berlin whose art is merely to live in the museum for three weeks with lice on their heads. The artists denied they intended a Holocaust expression based on Nazis’ references to Jews as “parasites.”
        Worth Every Penny: At an April auction in Beijing, artist Liu Xiaodong’s large (8 feet by 30 feet) oil painting, part of his Three Gorges series, brought the equivalent of about $8 million. The work, “Breeding Ground No. 1,” depicts 11 men in their underwear playing cards.
        In May in New York City, a buyer spent $15.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction to acquire sculptor Takashi Murakami’s “My Lonesome Cowboy,” which is of a naked man holding his penis and creating a long, curly lasso out of his ejaculate.

    The Continuing Crisis
        In May, eighth-grader Michael Avery of Thousand Oaks, Calif., told the hometown newspaper “The Acorn,” that he was undecided which area high school he would attend next fall. This was a matter of interest in that Avery, 15, is a basketball prodigy and, though undecided on high school, he knows exactly where he will go to college because he had just accepted a full scholarship at the University of Kentucky beginning in 2012. The following week, Kentucky offered another one, to ninth-grader Jeremiah Davis III, to enroll in 2011.

    Fetishes on Parade
        Martin Turner, 39, of Blackpool, England, pleaded guilty to four counts of harassment in May, specifically, pestering several workmen by telephone over a three-year period to please come by and stand on his face, his fingers and his genitals while wearing their heavy boots. [His lawyer said it had something to do with “domination.”]

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        So the Fourth of July is coming up and gas prices are coming up as well. What is there to do? Fayetteville residents have only to travel 15 miles for one of the rockingest Fourth of July festivals around — Freedom Bikefest.
        Freedom Bikefest, sponsored by the corporation that owns The Doghouse, will bring motorcycles and music together for a three-day festival that will rock your socks off. Now, you might be wondering why we’re talking about concerts in this space — well that’s simple, as the name of the festival points out, bikers and their bikes will be at the center of the event.
        Throughout the course of the event bike shows will be held on a daily basis. In addition to the shows, the event will include a vendor city with more than 100 vendors on hand to sell their wares, a biker Olympics, an FMX Stunt Riders Demonstration, Food Vendors, Extreme Skydivers, celebrity bike builders and daily benefit rides. The event will also bring a reality star to the area in the form of a real artist — a tattoo artist. Ami James is an Israeli-born American tattoo artist. He is the co-owner (with Chris Nuñez) of the Miami, Fla., tattoo parlor known as LoveHate, and is the subject of the TLC reality television program Miami Ink. {mosimage}
        If all of that isn’t enough to entice you, how about the fact that the festival is being held on more than 30 acres of land outside of Parkton (in between I-95 and U.S. 301.) The property is open for camping; however, campsites are on a first come, first served basis. Staying at Freedom Bike Fest at Southern Comfort Campgrounds gives you and your friends the best of both worlds: Enjoy the ease of accommodations right next to the action and still surrounded by the natural landscaping of the great outdoors. Campground space is still available — call Dave at 1-843-267-3477 to reserve your spot today.
        And, of course, there’s always the music. Fourteen bands will perform over the three-day period, including some top national acts and some great local acts. On July 4, the entertainment will kickoff at 7 p.m., with the sounds of D.L. Token and will wrap up at midnight with the rocking sounds of Molly Hatchett.
        On July 5, music will start at noon and will run throughout the day, featuring On Tap, Crush and Run, Aftershock, Peacepipe, D.B. Bryant, The Fifth, and Blackfoot. To wrap up the night is a fabulous fireworks show.
        On July 6, the festival goes a little bit country, welcoming some of country’s big names, as Dixie Highway, Daryle Singletary and Sammy Kershaw light up the stage.
        Tickets for the event are $25 for one day and $50 for the full three days. Tickets do not include camping. For more information, visit www.freedombikefest.com or purchase your tickets at Ticketmaster.

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    Finally, Shyamalan bounces back (Rated PG-R)

    Rated Five Stars

        OK, M. Night Shyamalan, we used to have a good relationship. I trusted you. I paid good money to see The Village, and even though that sucked, I invested my time in Lady in the Water. I was this close to breaking up with you completely, but I decided to give you one more chance. I admit, after so many bad experiences with you, I was worried. Before The Happening(91 minutes), I crossed my fingers, held my hands out to the big screen, and pleaded with the world itself for your film not to disappoint me and break my heart for the last time. Despite the people sitting in front of us making fun of everything that made your movie great, I am happy to say that this didn’t suck. Good job. You may have gotten drunk with star power for a few years, but you seem to have gotten over it.
        The film opens in New York. People are acting funny, although animals seem unaffected. I am instantly struck with intense dread that at some point, a sweet little kitty or puppy is going to be mauled and devoured. As shown in previews, people begin dying. We switch to high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) discussing how useless science is for explaining the world around us. Eventually, Elliot and a large, blue-eyed china doll named Alma (Zooey Deschanel) head for a train, along with Elliot’s friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez). I am now concerned that at some point Jess will be kidnapped or poisoned.  {mosimage}
        Throughout the movie, Elliot’s group composition changes as various ideas about the causes of the increasing human mortality are advanced. Eventually, Elliot and his considerably reduced number of followers arrive at the home of everyone’s favorite gramma, Betty Buckley, who plays Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Crazy represents the kind of loony common to rural Pennsylvania (I grew up there and I would know). Of course, if Shyamalan wanted to really capture the essence of the Pennsylvanian hermit he would have given her a shotgun and a jar of moonshine. While she serves our survivors a nice homemade meal, the viewers are offered a series of newscasts that reveal the parameters of the event that they are attempting to escape. Unfortunately, Mrs. Crazy doesn’t have a TV or radio, nor does she have any interest in hearing about the event currently taking place in the outside world.
        If this were another kind of movie, more plot details might be welcome. This, however, is a Shyamalan movie. Any more plot description is only going to ruin it. Suffice to say that this is indeed the great comeback we have been waiting for. While it is true that the dialogue was a little bit ripe, and buying Mark Wahlberg as some kind of science genius who figures out what is going on requires a little bit more suspension of disbelief than I am prepared to offer, I don’t care. The plot doesn’t disappoint, the pace is just right, and the shocks are placed for maximum effect. As always, the cinematography is moody, the use of color is carefully planned, and the ending comes way too soon for a spellbound audience. Finally, If I might be allowed one moment of self-congratulation, I totally spotted Brian O’Halloran (Dante from Clerks) based only on his puffy-faced profile seen on screen for approximately 10 seconds.

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        I hope The Factory (Sunday, 10 p.m., Spike) doesn’t get overlooked in the middle of the cable dial. It’s a working-class answer to The Office, featuring four regular Joes who run the machines in a dreary factory. They banter in the break room, hash out their marital problems and attend the occasional wake for a coworker ground up in the gears.
        These guys aren’t the brightest bulbs, but “The Factory” doesn’t make the mistake of looking down on them. Like  The Office, it finds the perfect tone of deadpan absurdity, so that our heroes are ridiculous without being objects of contempt. The cast is attuned to the script’s eccentric comic rhythms, which get you smiling without the aid of a laugh track.
        I plan to clock in at The Factory at 10 p.m. sharp every week.

    “The Baby Borrowers”
    Wednesday, 8 p.m. (NBC)
        In this reality series, five teenage couples are shown what the future may hold. After being set up in a home, they’re asked to care for an infant, then a toddler, then an adolescent, then a senior citizen. They stumble through every challenge and learn about the responsibilities associated with adult life.{mosimage}
        Interesting. But one can’t help wondering what happens to the infants, toddlers, adolescents and senior citizens once The Baby Borrowers is through with them. Are they simply returned to the prop shop and made available to other reality series?

    “AFI Lifetime Achievement Award”
    Wednesday, 9 p.m. (USA)
        Every time you turn around, Warren Beatty is picking up a lifetime-achievement award. He gets another one here, despite the fact that he hasn’t directed a film in 10 years or acted in one in seven.
        Maybe if Beatty skipped a few lifetime-achievement ceremonies he’d actually have time to achieve something again.

    “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”
    Tuesday, 8 p.m. (ABC Family)
        This family series from the creator of 7th Heaven is set in a high school obsessed with sex. Good girl Amy has shocked her friends by getting pregnant at band camp. Meanwhile, the football star lusts after his cheerleader girlfriend, but both are Christians committed to abstinence … for now. The new nerdy kid has his eye on Amy, but so does the cad who knocked her up. The adult characters can only stand around and wring their hands, including one time teen-sex-movie star Molly Ringwald as Amy’s mom. (The fact that Ringwald is now tormented by her own screen daughter can only be called poetic justice.)
        I’d welcome a series that offered insight into adolescent sexual activity, but this isn’t the one. Oddly, none of the teenage actors comes across like a real teenager. Blame a script that makes the nerd too nerdy, the slut too slutty, the jerk too jerky, etc. Nothing rings true, and the tone veers awkwardly from earnest to satirical.
        The only line delivered with real passion comes from a friend of Amy’s, speaking to another friend: “You’d better not be suggesting she get an abortion!” This is clearly something the filmmakers feel strongly about, since an abortion would spoil their trumped-up scenario.

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        {mosimage}Tha Carter III has finally arrived. After months of pushing back release dates, numerous mixtapes, dozens of cameo appearances (over 70 in the past year or so) and braggadocio from one of hip-hop’s biggest stars, the long awaited record is finally here. Tha Carter II was a platinum selling disc and critically acclaimed which caused fans to vault Lil’ Wayne into the upper echelon of hip hop’s elite superstars. With all of the excitement and promotion over Tha Carter IIIexpectations are that it will make a big splash commercially and take him to an even higher level. Ever the cocky superstar, Lil’ Wayne aka Weezy F. Baby (please say the Baby) has insisted that he is the “best rapper alive“ over the past few years, and his latest project hopes to support his claim.
        On the opening track, titled “3 Peat,” Wayne states “they can’t stop me, even if they stopped me.” Of course, this might sound like an absurd, redundant statement from anyone else, but Wayne and his infectious delivery and charismatic personality allow him to spit crazy lines such as this and make you listen. “3 Peat” features Wayne at his fiery best and starts off the album with a bang. The next track features Jay-Z on the epic “Mr. Carter,” where the two flaunt their rap heavyweight status, over some pounding keys and a smooth sample provided by Drew Correa. “Got Money” with T-Pain and the lead single “Lollipop” featuring Static Major are also definite hits.
        Lil’ Wayne also throws listeners a curveball by venturing outside his usual musical realm, and offering crooners Robin Thicke and Bobby Valentino a chance to shine on “Tie My Hands” and “Mrs. Officer,” respectively. The two songs are typically laidback and slow down the momentum of the album from the pounding drums and hard basslines of some of the earlier tracks but they are welcome additions that grow on you after repeated listens.
        However, the true gem of the album is “Dr. Carter,” featuring Wayne playing the part of a doctor trying to heal patients from various “ailments” rappers suffer from such as lack of concepts, weak flow, lack of style, etc. Swizz Beatz laces the track exquisitely by flipping a sample from David Axelrod’s “Smile” and allowing Wayne to perform his “surgery.” The concept is so well developed that there is even dialogue from Wayne and his nurses in between the verses, and the music even takes an upward tone when he appears to be “saving a victim.”
        This track is simply Lil’ Wayne at his best, and is one of those songs driven by a concept that a rapper like Nas or Ghostface would bless us with on their album. As great as Lil’ Wayne claims to be all too often, he would truly be timeless if he offered more memorable tracks such as this, but Tha Carter III has its downsides as well.
        As creative as it was for him to play a doctor on the aforementioned track, Wayne falls flat on another concept song “Phone Home,” where he plays the role of a Martian. As stated, “Mr. Carter” is a great song, but unfortunately Jay-Z steals the show with a stellar verse, and guests Fabulous and Juelz Santana also outshine Weezy on “You Ain’t Got Nuthin.” The latter track features a trademark sinister, brooding beat from the Alchemist, but Weezy wastes the heat and comes in third place providing better support on the song’s hook than his actual verse. Truly, the best rapper alive shouldn’t get shown up repeatedly by his featured guests on his own album right?
        He also falls flat on the Kanye West track “Let the Beat Build,” but thankfully, Lil‘ Wayne he finds his niche on “Comfortable,”  a melodic serenade also produced by West featuring R&B legend, Babyface
    Fortunately, for all of the flaws that Tha Carter III suffers from, the bonus disc that many received when purchasing the album make up for some of Wayne’s miscues on the main disc. The bonus disc features seven songs with our hero at his best going back to his usual musical backdrop and swagger of hard basslines, braggadocio lines and crazy metaphors that we are familiar with from his past efforts. No crooning singers or lackluster hooks on this one. Not saying that Wayne trying to stretch his creative boundaries should be frowned upon, but songs such as the pulsating “Gossip” where he spits “I graduated from hungry and made it to greedy,”  and the moving “Love Me or Hate Me,” are what make Lil’ Wayne a star. If some of the songs from the first disc were cut and replaced with a few of the bonus cuts it definitely would have fared better for him.

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        Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard that there are plans to build a large repository for nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but that plans have been slow and are very controversial. Where is our nuclear waste kept now and what dangers does it pose?              — Miriam Clark, Reno, Nev.

        Plans to store the majority of our nation’s spent nuclear fuel and other highly radioactive waste at a central repository underneath Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert 80 miles from Las Vegas were first hatched in the mid-1980s. But the project has languished primarily due to opposition from Nevadans who don’t want to import such dangerous materials into their backyard. Critics of the plan also point out that various natural forces such as erosion and earthquakes could render the site unstable and thus unsuitable to store nuclear isotopes that can remain hazardous to humans for hundreds of thousands of years to come.
        But the Bush administration is keen to jump-start the project and recently submitted a construction license application to develop the facility — which when completed could hold up to 300 million pounds of nuclear waste — with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In announcing the filing, Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said that the facility being proposed can “stand up to any challenge anywhere,” adding that issues of health safety have been a primary concern during the planning process.
        {mosimage}But the administration has still not submitted a crucial document declaring how protective the facility will be with regard to radiation leakage. Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency concluded that the facility needs to prevent radiation leakage for up to 10,000 years. But a federal judge ruled that to be inadequate and ordered the administration to require protection for up to 1 million years. The White House argues that the NRC should press on with its review process and that the standard can be settled on later.
        Currently, without any central repository, nuclear waste generated in the U.S. is stored at or near one of the 121 facilities across the country where it is generated. Nevadans like Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, who has doggedly opposed the Yucca Mountain repository, say it makes more sense to leave such waste where it is than to risk transporting it across the nation’s public highways and rail system, during which accidents or even terrorist attacks could expose untold numbers of Americans to radioactivity.
        But others say that the current system, or lack thereof, leaves Americans at great risk of radioactive exposure. The nonprofit Nuclear Information and Resource Service concluded in a 2007 report that tons of radioactive waste were ending up in landfills and in some cases in consumer products, thanks to loopholes in a 2000 federal ban on recycling metal that had been exposed to radioactivity.
        As with all issues surrounding nuclear technology, where and how to dispose of the wastes is complicated. While some environmental leaders now cautiously support development of more nuclear reactors (which are free of fossil fuels) to help stave off climate change, others remain concerned that the risks to human health and the environment are still too high to go down that road. Whether or not the NRC approves plans for Yucca Mountain won’t resolve the larger debate, of course, but perhaps the greenlighting of other promising alternative energy sources could ultimately make nuclear power unnecessary altogether.
        CONTACTS: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, www.nrc.gov; Nuclear Information and Resource Service, www.nirs.org.
        GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

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        Today I went grocery shopping and got to watch quite a few families go by with their grocery carts or checking out in front of me. Let me tell you — not only was I stunned at the reality of the “standard American diet” (SAD for an ironic acronym), but just how dangerous our stores have become — simply by carrying foods designed to kill us.
        The scenario — not uncommon at all as most everyone I saw here shops the same way, unfolds with a family and their two children checking out in front of me. All of them had some measure of dangerous weight problems but the cart was laden with frozen foods, sweets, soda and two giant bottles of Hawaiian Punch. The only real food was a small bunch of bananas. Everything was full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats! All addictive and all poison to our body.{mosimage}
        Summer is probably one of the most crucial seasons for healthy eating. Why you might ask? Well, for starters, we are finally out of the multiple holiday seasons that bombard us with sugars and fats. We are all thinking about the pool or beach as well as swim suits and have more skin exposed (making us self-conscious).
        This means that with the increased activity — and increased heat — our body is going to demand more water and good fuel to make it through the day. If we don’t give it that, we are making our bodies work on nothing but sugar and bad fats — we are actually starting to force it to break down.
        A great way to face this is just like our finances. What we are really doing is writing checks our body can’t cash (yes, I remember the old saying). We’re going into health bankruptcy. The difference is there’s no starting over — you HAVE to make changes or ultimately the body breaks down to a point of no return. As our state of health declines, we go further into debt — sometimes even financially as now we have to pay for medications.
        So to start reversing this, we need to look at two things: exercise and nutrition. Let’s start with exercise. JUST START MOVING! It’s that simple when you are starting out. All you need to do is carve out two 20-minute periods during the week where you make yourself move. In the beginning, it might be simply walking, which is fine until it becomes easy (once it’s easy, walking is no longer an exercise. Sorry, but it’s true). However, what you must add to your walk is some body weight squatting (I’ll have an article on that soon), push-ups and shoulder presses. Let’s make our workouts improve our lives, not just work up a sweat in some air conditioned gym. By that, it needs to be functional and those exercises will improve every aspect of your physical activity. Mix them up — walk for two minutes and then do 10 repetitions of each exercise. Do that repeatedly until 10 to 20 minutes are up. For many of us, that’s more than we’ve ever done before.
        Nutrition? CrossFit founder Greg Glassman, recommends meat (protein), vegetables (low-glycemic carbs), nuts and seeds (good healthy fats), some fruit (more good carbs), and NO SUGAR. It really is that easy. The problem is we are conditioned to eat sugar laden starches which our bodies are not capable of readily metabolizing. Yes, I know what the food pyramid tells us, but how well is it working? Take a look around. Next, eat several times a day consisting of small quantities of the good foods above, starting with breakfast. That truly is the best way to rev up the metabolism. From there, make sure you’re getting in all three nutrients — protein, fat and carbohydrates — at every setting, regardless of snack or meal.
        Remember though, as the metabolism slows down and the body stores more and more fat, it will take time to lose the weight in a healthy manner. STICK WITH IT! Let’s start making “aggressive” health deposits in the bank and get ourselves out of health and wellness bankruptcy.
        E-mail your questions to John Velandra at: designsinfitness@att.net. Or call him at (910) 306-3142. John is a certified personal trainer and the owner of CrossFit Cape Fear and Designs In Fitness Personal Training Services in Fayetteville. You can visit online at www.designsinfitness.net or www.crossfitcapefear.com

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        In the Bible, we see a man who did it all. A man with great riches, great houses, great women and great wisdom…but in the end he questioned its meaning. Solomon was both wealthy and famous. In Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 (NIV), he writes, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ What does a man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?”
         Solomon claimed at least four areas were “utterly meaningless.” First, wisdom is meaningless. In 1:13, Solomon says “I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven…all of them are meaningless.” Wisdom (by itself) is meaningless.
         Secondly, pleasure is meaningless. He tried to find meaning in everything from fine wine to laughter, from large homes to sex (having 700 wives and 300 concubines). Solomon said, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…everything was meaningless” (2:10-11).{mosimage}
         Third, work is meaningless. He poured his efforts into hard labor. Even as king, he did not find meaning and purpose in life. Solomon said, “a man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work…but this too is meaningless.” (2:26).
         Fourth, money is meaningless. He turns to earning the almighty dollar. Solomon said, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income,” only to say, “This too is meaningless” (5:10).
         Will you be known for your wealth, wisdom or wishes? When it is all over…what will you have done for eternity? King Solomon, having tried it all, said, “Here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13, emphasis added).
         A Danish fable tells of a spider which descended on a single thread from the loft of a barn. It attached the thread to a corner of the barn and there began to weave its web. The spider began to prosper as the bugs were caught in its web. Then one day, the spider looked up at that single thread leading to the unseen loft and forgot why it was there. In an instant, the spider reached up, clipped the thread, and the web came crashing down.
         There was a time in Solomon’s life, when he had a vital link with heaven. But when he was prosperous, Solomon reached up and clipped that relationship with heaven…and when he did, his whole world came crashing to the ground. In the end, Solomon finally realized that it was all meaningless apart from God.
         Solomon asks, “What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?” If all we have at the end of our life is what we did “under the sun,” we have missed it. We must decide to live for what is “above the sun.” Are you living life under the sun…or are you living life for what is above the sun…for Jesus?

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        {mosimage}On Monday, June 9, Dr. William C. Harrison, superintendent of Cumberland County Schools, was named the eighth recipient of the Jay Robinson Leadership Award given by the Public School Forum of North Carolina. The award honors the extraordinary leadership and service of Dr. Jay Robinson, former school superintendent, vice president of the University System and Chair of the State Board of Education.
        Dr. Harrison has served as a public school educator in North Carolina for more than 30 years. State Board of Education Chair Howard Lee said of Dr. Harrison in his endorsement letter, “Dr. Harrison’s dedication to education has extended beyond the school setting and into professional organizations, universities and public service. His service to each of these settings has been in the best interest of the rights of all children to a quality education. He has had a very public opportunity to demonstrate his courage while serving as superintendent of Hoke County Schools by supporting the filing of the now famous Leandro case (originally known as the Hoke County Lawsuit). Knowing the implications of such a suit regardless of the outcome, he never backed down from the position that all children need a level playing field to have an equal chance at success.” Dr. Randy Bridges, nominator, worked under Bill Harrison in two school systems and said of him, “Dr. Harrison is dedicated to all students and is a man of integrity and commitment.”
        Former Representative Gene Arnold, chair of the Jay Robinson Leadership Award Committee, commented that Dr. Harrison, like Jay Robinson, was deeply committed to helping all children achieve higher levels of performance. He said of Dr. Harrison, “Bill has persevered as Jay would have done to see that all children have equal opportunities and that resources, both instructional and financial, are provided to assist them as they strive to do their best. Having served as a mentor to Bill, Jay would have been very proud of him.”
        Outgoing Chair of the Forum Board, Senator Katie Dorsett added, “Dr. Harrison has remained singly focused on very ambitious instructional goals for all students in every district that he has been in. He has also been a role model and mentor to numerous other educators on their leadership journeys.” 
        In addition to Dr. Harrison, the other finalists for this year’s award were William R. McNeal Jr., and William A. Shore. McNeal is currently executive director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators. Prior to this position, McNeal was Wake County Schools Superintendent and the Regional, State, and National Superintendent of the Year. Under his leadership, Wake County became known as a school system of exceptionally high standards. William A. Shore, director of U.S. Community Partnerships for GlaxoSmithKline, was for many years the manager of administrative services with the company. The award was created to honor Dr. Jay Robinson, a distinguished educator, University of North Carolina vice-president, and former chairman of the State Board of Education, best remembered as the architect of the state’s ABCs accountability plan. Previous award winners include Laura Bilbro-Berry, 2000 N.C. Teacher of the Year, a N.C. Teaching Fellow and currently coordinator of the Northeast Consortium for the Wachovia Partnership East at East Carolina University; Dr. Tom McNeel, former superintendent of Caldwell County Schools, now retired; Dr. Jim Causby, former superintendent of Johnston County Schools, executive director of the NCASA and currently executive director of the N.C .School             Superintendents’ Association; Dr. Bob Bridges, former superintendent of Wake County Schools and former chair of the Closing the Achievement Gap Commission, now retired; Judge Howard E. Manning, Jr., Wake County Superior Court Judge presiding over the Leandro case; Dr. Ann Denlinger, former superintendent of Durham Public Schools, now president of the Wake Education Partnership; and Phillip J. Kirk Jr., former president of NCCBI and now vice-president for External Relations for Catawba College.

  • Details
        On Monday, June 9, Dr. William C. Harrison, superintendent of Cumberland County Schools, was named the eighth recipient of the Jay Robinson Leadership Award given by the Public School Forum of North Carolina. The award honors the extraordinary leadership and service of Dr. Jay Robinson, former school superintendent, vice president of the University System and Chair of the State Board of Education.
        {mosimage}Dr. Harrison has served as a public school educator in North Carolina for more than 30 years. State Board of Education Chair Howard Lee said of Dr. Harrison in his endorsement letter, "Dr. Harrison’s dedication to education has extended beyond the school setting and into professional organizations, universities and public service. His service to each of these settings has been in the best interest of the rights of all children to a quality education. He has had a very public opportunity to demonstrate his courage while serving as superintendent of Hoke County Schools by supporting the filing of the now famous Leandro case (originally known as the Hoke County Lawsuit). Knowing the implications of such a suit regardless of the outcome, he never backed down from the position that all children need a level playing field to have an equal chance at success." Dr. Randy Bridges, nominator, worked under Bill Harrison in two school systems and said of him, "Dr. Harrison is dedicated to all students and is a man of integrity and commitment."
        Former Representative Gene Arnold, chair of the Jay Robinson Leadership Award Committee, commented that Dr. Harrison, like Jay Robinson, was deeply committed to helping all children achieve higher levels of performance. He said of Dr. Harrison, "Bill has persevered as Jay would have done to see that all children have equal opportunities and that resources, both instructional and financial, are provided to assist them as they strive to do their best. Having served as a mentor to Bill, Jay would have been very proud of him."
        Outgoing Chair of the Forum Board, Senator Katie Dorsett added, "Dr. Harrison has remained singly focused on very ambitious instructional goals for all students in every district that he has been in. He has also been a role model and mentor to numerous other educators on their leadership journeys."
        In addition to Dr. Harrison, the other finalists for this year’s award were William R. McNeal Jr., and William A. Shore. McNeal is currently executive director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators. Prior to this position, McNeal was Wake County Schools Superintendent and the Regional, State, and National Superintendent of the Year. Under his leadership, Wake County became known as a school system of exceptionally high standards. William A. Shore, director of U.S. Community Partnerships for GlaxoSmithKline, was for many years the manager of administrative services with the company. The award was created to honor Dr. Jay Robinson, a distinguished educator, University of North Carolina vice-president, and former chairman of the State Board of Education, best remembered as the architect of the state’s ABCs accountability plan. Previous award winners include Laura Bilbro-Berry, 2000 N.C. Teacher of the Year, a N.C. Teaching Fellow and currently coordinator of the Northeast Consortium for the Wachovia Partnership East at East Carolina University; Dr. Tom McNeel, former superintendent of Caldwell County Schools, now retired; Dr. Jim Causby, former superintendent of Johnston County Schools, executive director of the NCASA and currently executive director of the N.C .School Superintendents’ Association; Dr. Bob Bridges, former superintendent of Wake County Schools and former chair of the Closing the Achievement Gap Commission, now retired; Judge Howard E. Manning, Jr., Wake County Superior Court Judge presiding over the Leandro case; Dr. Ann Denlinger, former superintendent of Durham Public Schools, now president of the Wake Education Partnership; and Phillip J. Kirk Jr., former president of NCCBI and now vice-president for External Relations for Catawba College.

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        Fayetteville is a city on the move. Everywhere you look people are on the move, and in a lot of cases, they are using their feet to get where they are going. Being the home to oen of the United States Army’s premier fighting forces, it stands to reason that a lot of those people are on the run. And, as Fayetteville is also known as a city where art lives, combining running and art seems to be a match made in heaven. Or so, that’s what the Fayetteville Museum of Art thought when it started the Museum Miles 5K.{mosimage}
        On Saturday, June 21, runners will again hit the streets to celebrate art and health – all in support of the museum. Since its inception, the quarterly run/walk has drawn quite a following. Some runners come for the T-shirts, some come for the prizes, but most come for either their love or running or their love of the arts.
    “This is our fourth run, and the event has really picked up a lot of steam,” said Erica Gilbert, of the museum staff. “We’ve garnered quite a following.”
        Gilbert said runners in the event are not only from Fayetteville, but come from areas surrounding our city. She noted that quite a few of the runners come from Fayetteville. The run averages about 100 people, but she hopes that number will increase with Saturday’s run. She noted that the last run had only 60 runners, but added that it was extremely cold.
        The first run was held at the Cape Fear River Trail, but the size of the run forced the museum to move it to its current home at Honeycutt Park. The run begins at 8 a.m., and will wind through the rolling hills of Skye Drive and the Summertime neighborhood. There will be a turn around point, with a watering station at the 1.55     mile marker.
    Gilbert said the run is a way for the museum to not only raise money, but also showcase what it has to offer to those who may not have visited the museum yet. It’s a way to introduce people to the FMA. “It’s a great event that allows us to reach out to everyone in the community,” she said.
        Gilbert noted that while Fayetteville is a community of runners, not everyone who hits the pavement will be running. “People can either walk or run,” she said. “We have some very serious runners who go full speed; but we also have some people who come out and walk the route just to support the museum.”
        Funds raised from the run go directly into the museum’s operating funds and help to pay for programs and events. Participants in the run will receive T-shirts, goodie bags and prizes. Registration fee is $20.
        For more information, visit the museum Web site at  “http://www.fayettevillemuseumofart.org” www.fayettevillemuseumofart.org, or call 485-5121.

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        When Bo Thorp decided to pull an all-star lineup together for the final show of the Cape Fear Regional Theatre’s 2007-2008 season, she knew what she was doing. The ensemble cast in "Company" is stellar. The production is a fitting end to a successful season.
        "Company," on stage at the CFRT through July, is a sophisticated, witty tale of relationships. The good, the bad and the ugly. The cast tells those tales through a series of vignettes and songs — all from the perspective of Bobby, a single 30-something guy with commitment issues. Don’t we all know a Bobby?{mosimage}
        In this instance, Bobby is brought to life by Greg King. King’s portrayal of Bobby was both comical and thought provoking. On the night we saw the play, he was in fine voice, his comedic timing was on the money and his connection with the character and the rest of the cast flowed easily from laughter, to despair to hope without missing a beat.
        I have to say it was odd watching a play that didn’t move from one sequence to another. The whole story is told from Bobby’s perspective, all during the few moments before he blows out the candles on his birthday cake. After each vignette, we wind up in his living room waiting for the candles to be blown out. For some the idea might be hard to follow, but just remembers — it’s non-linear. You aren’t going from A to B. Keep that in mind and you won’t get lost.
    While there is a chance that Bobby could have come off smug and egotistical, King brought his humanity to lifesize. We saw, through King’s eyes, Bobby’s desire to belong to someone. We saw his loyalty to his friends, his need for their acceptance. We saw a tenderness that keeps Bobby just this side of being a jerk. And King nailed it.
    His friends, a group of married couples whose one overarching theme is their desire to see Bobby happy, are played beautifully by another group of veterans of the CFRT. This cast is a veritable who’s who of local theatre, and it was a delight to see them all on stage at one time.
        One performer who literally grew up on the CFRT stage, Jenny Beaver, has a special place in our hearts at "Up and Coming Weekly." Beaver spent a summer at the paper as an intern. We were delighted to see her put another of her many talents to use in this play. Her comedic timing was flawless, and her connection with her on stage spouse was priceless.
        The audience was delighted with her portrayal of the wife who is obsessed with food, but who won’t eat it; who spends her days in the gym — and later demonstrates her skills in an impromptu wrestling match with her husband. Physical comedy can be bit difficult, but she managed it in fine style.
        Cassandra Vallery, has brought a special light to the stage in several shows this season: "Oliver!," "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and "Good ‘Ol Girls," were among some of her finest work. In "Company," Vallery plays a self-described "square," and when the square decides to let her hair down by smoking a little wacky weed — you can’t help but laugh.
        Of all of the performances in the show, and this is a hard call to make, I have to say that Libby Seymour’s performance as Bobby’s boozy, multi-divorced, wise-cracking friend stole the show. Seymour is a force of nature in this production. Her performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch" was dramatic and poignant. If you go to the play for no other reason than this, it is well worth the price of your ticket. She brought the house down.
    Company has an all-star cast, and in this case all the stars shone bright.

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        Take a ride with me now on the Wayback Machine to the late ‘70s: a time of platform shoes and mood rings and the Fonz; a time when bands such as Foreigner and Boston and Cheap Trick ruled the FM airwaves; and a time when a little old band from North Carolina called Nantucket launched itself onto the charts and into the national consciousness with a song called Heartbreaker — a rock monster that rumbled through the God-awful age of disco like a sledgehammer smashing a mirror ball.
        Well, squeeze into those bell bottoms and dust off the Pet Rock, because Nantucket is coming to Fayetteville on June 19 for the Fayetteville After Five series of free performances held at Festival Park.{mosimage}
        And before you head to festival Park, make sure you leave behind your visons of potbellied old rockers attempting to relive the glory of their past by stumbling out of retirement with maybe one or two members of the original lineup, shuffling across the stage as if sleepwalking and spitting out rock oldies to former groupies who recently signed up with AARP — this is the original Nantucket, rocking out with the same spirit of ‘78, albeit with a few new twists.
        "It’s still fun and we still kick ass," said Mike Uzzell, the band’s manager and keyboardist. "It’s great to look into the faces of our fans and watch them remember the old days. You know, they say you can’t go back in time, but when we’re playing and I look out into the audience, I see all these people suddenly going back 25 years to when they were in high school listening to Heartbreaker on the eight-track."
        Despite their past glories, Nantucket won’t just be performing 20 different versions of Heartbreaker and Born in a Honky Tonk. The band — which has toured with such rock heavyweights as AC/DC, Ted Nugent and the Atlanta Rhythm Section —  adds a new, often humorous angles to some old standards.
        "We do a very popular takeoff on Rocky Top called Hawgater Top, as in halter top," said Uzzell. “And since we have such an outstanding saxophone player (Eddie Blair) we do a cover of Junior Walker and the All-Stars’ Shotgun which just knocks people out. Folks who have never heard a saxophone come up to Eddie after the shows and tell him how impressed they are with his playing."
        And it’s not just the old guard — the 40- and 50-somethings — who come to the shows and root on one of the best rock bands to ever hail from the Tar Heel state; Uzzell says the band is also popular with a younger crowd that is rediscovering why Nantucket was so popular in the ‘70s and early ‘80s.
        Known for their dynamic live shows, Nantucket is fronted by lead singer and brother of Mike Uzzell, Larry Uzzell, who also plays the harmonica and trombone. Back in the band’s heyday, he also played the heartstrings of female fans as a true, long-maned rock ‘n’ roll heartthrob. He was the face of Nantucket when it was featured in countless newspaper and magazine article, including such iconic publications from the ‘70’s and ‘80s as Hit Parader, Grooves and Rock Scene.
        Other band members include the aforementioned Blair on sax; Mark Downing and Tommy Redd on guitar; Thumbs Johnson on bass; and Kenny Soule on drums. Soule, who joined Nantucket in 1972, is nationally known for his chops: in 2000, Soule was invited to participate in the Experience Music Project in Seattle as part of the museum’s first Innovator’s Series — a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. There, he played alongside such notable musicians as Johnny Reznick (Goo Goo Dolls), Kenny Wayne Shepard, and Double Trouble. Soule left Nantucket in 1981 to form the legendary rock trio PKM, which was a top attraction at North Carolina clubs in the early ‘80s, and went on to tour with Blue Oyster Cult and Ozzy Osbourne before the band sparkled out and faded away in 1988.
    While some of the sparkle may be missing, the old magic hasn’t completely faded away from Nantucket — the members just a grew a little older, a little wiser, and took day jobs.
        "We don’t tour nationwide like we used to," said Mike Uzzell. "We do maybe 15-16 select shows a year. We don’t really leave the state much, except for a show in South Carolina now and then, because we all have regular jobs and business interests. One of our members is a realtor in Raleigh, and my brother Larry and me run a cable business. Besides, it’s pretty tough standing on stage for an hour and 45 minutes."
        Though Nantucket has released just a handful of albums — the last being 1995’s "Still Live After All These Years" — you can order the band’s recordings, including a Nantucket box set, from the Myspace page, www.myspace.com/nantucketband. You can also book the band for a performance at this site and purchase Nantucket T-shirts with the famous lobster album cover from their first LP, as well as posters and even a Nantucket calendar magnet — the latter especially appropriate for a band that takes its listeners back in time.
    Fayetteville After Five is a free event held at Festival Park, starting at 5:30 p.m. and ending at about 9:30 p.m. It is a fund-raiser for the Fayetteville Museum of Art.

    Tim Wilkins, Associate Editor
    COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 105 or tim@upandcomingweekly.com

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        If you’re a fan of the piano but have a pair of left hands when it comes to tickling the ivories, ride on over to Festival Park for a free show on Saturday, June 21, and watch how the experts do it as a pair of pianists from The Keys Piano Bar in downtown Fayetteville perform as part of the free concert series sponsored by the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, Reed-Lallier Chevrolet and the City of Fayetteville.
        {mosimage}Tim Buie, house pianist at The Keys Piano Bar will perform along with fellow pianist Craig Kerr; they will be accomnied by a drummer and saxophonist, playing music guaranteed to keep you boogying.
        "It’s all upbeat stuff they’ll be performing," said Chrissie Tanner, who opened the piano bar six months ago. "It’s pretty much what we have here at our regular shows — classic rock, beach music, party music. We’re extremely excited about this — it’s a great opportunity for us."
        The concert series is designed to introduce local art novices to the Fayetteville scene, as well as entertaining certified arts and music lovers.
        While the show is free, money from concessions goes to the Arts Council, some of which is passed down to the  Cape Fear Regional Theater, which is helping host the June 21 show.
        Leslie Roraback-Flom, marketing director for the CFRT, says she expects a great show and it’s all for a great cause. In addition to the musicians from The Keys Piano Bar, the cast of the CFRT musical “Company” will show up at Festival Park after its performance to sing selections from the play and other standards.
        "The cast from 'Company' will have an early show at 7 p.m. so they can make it out to Festival Park," said Roraback-Flom. "They’ll also be encouraging audience participation when they sing, which should be lots of fun. This is really a great way for you to go out and support the local arts, as well as hear some great music."
        The show begins at 8 p.m. Blankets and lawn chairs are allowed, but no coolers and no pets.

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        In what would be a new modern record for the lapse of time between a death and its notice, neighbors found the mummified body of a Croatian woman in her Zagreb apartment in May, and police said no one remembered seeing her alive after 1973. (A Croatian news organization said the last sighting was in 1967.) She missed no maintenance payments because her building, which was state-owned when she was last seen, has since become a cooperative, and aggregate charges were paid for collectively by the other residents.

        News of the Weird informed you in 2007 of camel beauty pageants in Saudi Arabia, but the obsession with the animal runs deeper, based in part on nostalgia for the days when camels were important for transportation. Breeders cuddle and nuzzle them, and at the country’s largest camel market near Riyadh in March 2008, they bought and sold based, one breeder told The New York Times, on the standards of “judging a beautiful girl. You look for big eyes, long lashes and a long neck.” Said another, “See this one? She isn’t married yet, this one. She’s still a virgin. Look at the black eyes, the soft fur.... Just like a girl going to a party.” He added (after kissing the camel on the mouth), “My camels are like my children, my family.” (In January, a prominent cleric issued a decree condemning the pride people take in their camels.)

        March is the season for Shinto religious fertility festivals in Japan at which symbolic phalluses are offered to the gods for business fortune as well as good sexual and marital luck. In the small town of Komaki, a 2-meter-long phallus is carried through town every year and presented to the local temple. The best-known celebration is the Kanamara Matsuri (“Festival of the Iron Penis”) in Kawasaki, where colorful phallus floats abound and delight the children of all ages who line the streets.

        Because Japan’s suicide rate is so high, there is sometimes collateral damage. In April 2007, News of the Weird reported yet another instance in which a despondent person leaped off of a building (a nine-story edifice in Tokyo), only to land on someone else (a 60-year-old man, who was only bruised). These days, chemical ingestion is the trendy method, and in May 2008, a despondent farmer drank a chlorine solution and was rushed to Kumamoto’s Red Cross Hospital, but as doctors tried unsuccessfully to save him, he vomited, and the fumes sickened 54 workers, including 10 who had to be hospitalized.

        With rising prices paid for scrap metal come the increased threat of theft, and metal dealers are on alert, as well as power companies, which use valuable copper wire. However, as the number of thieves increases, so does the number of clumsy ones who fail to respect that electrical substations are live. In May, at least three men were killed and three others badly injured in attempts to steal wire from substations in Lancaster County, Pa., Somerset County, Pa., Savannah, Ga., Chicago and Edmonton, Alberta.

        There was yet another fight in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre this past Easter (celebrated in mid-April by Orthodox Christians). This time, Armenians (one of the six Christian branches that share management of the holy site) believed that a Greek Orthodox priest had encroached on their part of the church and tried to eject him, leading to a brawl in which some in attendance used Palm Sunday fronds as weapons. It usually falls on Jerusalem’s Muslim police officers to restore order.

    COPYRIGHT 2008 CHUCK SHEPHERD

  • Details
        It took me two years to get a divorce from my husband, a jerk I was married to for only 13 months, after knowing him for just nine weeks. (I was 38 and increasingly desperate to get married and have a baby.) I basically gave up on “equitable distribution” because I ran out of steam, but he agreed in our divorce decree and in court, under oath, to give me $7,000 of his retirement monies. Two years and numerous legal letters later, he has yet to comply. Meanwhile, he just published his first novel and is doing readings at local bookstores. I’d like to show up at the last one, and when he’s done, stand up and ask when he plans to pay me. So...out of curiosity, what would you do? Looking forward to a pithy response!
        —Plotting

        Oh, are you?
        Let’s start by talking about my writing process. Much as I’d like it to involve afternoons spent in a silk dressing gown in a canopy bed dotting witticisms on vellum with a big quill pen, the reality is rather different: long sweaty hours crawling under furniture looking for better verbs — when I’m not too busy trying to unzip my skin and run away screaming. 
        This guy just wrote his first novel, a feat on par with climbing Mt. Everest in a motorized wheelchair. I don’t care if he snacks on kittens, if you’re looking for justice, you have 8,758 other hours in the year to make your case. Of course, if this really was about getting what you’re owed, you’d go about it in the most pragmatic way: dragging him back to court and garnishing his wages or bringing in a collection agency. Instead, you’re about to make him hate you so completely that he’ll probably do anything to avoid paying you, including ditching fiction writing (an endeavor typically less lucrative than picking lettuce) for a career in the fast-paced world of haiku.
        As for your plan to hijack his reading, will you just be reciting your grievances, or should the bookstore put out a table for you so his friends, relatives and groupies can line up to have you autograph copies of your divorce decree? If you weren’t so deluded with rage, you might see that the person who’s likely to come out of this the worst is you. At the moment, he’s yet another first-time novelist clamoring for shelf space. Cue the cut-rate Heather Mills McCartney (that would be you), and he and his book might even make front-page news. Meanwhile, you’ll have established a permanent resume for yourself as a vindictive, mouth-foaming shrew — possibly endangering your current source of employment, almost certainly impairing yourself in gaining future employment, and surely making you the last woman any guy with Google will ever date.
        “Equitable distribution” after 13 months and no kids? To me, it’s a wave goodbye. But, he signed off on giving you that $7K, so he should pony up. And sure, try to get it, but factor in how much that’s costing you, and maybe shift your focus to having a future of your own instead of destroying his. If you ever loved him, how do you behave this way? For real resolution, look to yourself: If he’s such a bad guy, why did you marry him? What did you refuse to see? Hmmm, perhaps that the correct answer to “How do I love thee?” isn’t “I’m 38 and increasingly desperate to get married and have a baby.”

        Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA  90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)
    (c)2008, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.

  • Details
        I grew up in East Tennessee. It is a beautiful place and a draw for  motorcyclist. It has recently become famous for the Snake. The start of the run, the Snake’s eyes, is located in Shady Valley in the northeast portion of the state. This is where U.S. 421 and Hwy. 91 cross and Hwy. 133 intersect. There is only an intersection and no red light. There are three stores, one of which is geared to motorcyclists.
        The Snake consists of 489 curves in 12 miles. Hwy. 91 goes east and west from Elizabethton, Tenn., and onto Hwy. 133 Damascus, Va. U.S. 421 goes from Boone, through Mountain City Tenn., towards Bristol, Tenn. Everyone seems to find some part of the road suited for their particular riding style. The road conditions are well maintained surfaces. Beware, there is some loose gravel from gravel roads that connect to the Snake. This is also a commercial vehicle road so it is possible to go around a corner and encounter an 18-wheeler hogging the entire road. Wildlife is another concern.{mosimage}
        There is little room for error here. You will find mountain on one side and a 100-foot drop on the other. There are guard rails on some parts of the road but this serves to be a “Vegematic,” slicing and dicing motorcyclists with no mercy. Keep focused on your drive, because the drops are unforgiving.
    The highway is heavily patrolled by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. I was there recently and counted three patrolman in a very short time.
        The road from Mountain City to Shady Valley is the curviest. The average posted speed is 20 mph. To me this is the most enjoyable part of the ride because I like sharp curves going uphill. The most scenic part is the ride from Shady Valley to Damascus
        Along the way is Backbone Rock, a beautiful area in the Cherokee National Forest and a good place to stop and enjoy the mystic peacefulness on a hot summer day. In the town of Damascus you will find a lot of little shops, restaurants and coffee shops. You will see many hiking shops because the Appalachian Trail passes through the town.
        From Shady Valley north towards Bristol is South Holston Lake. Not far after the lake the road turns into a four-lane highway without much scenery. However, if you cut off and go over to the South Holston Dam, you’ll find a great experience. At the dam, you will find spectacular views as you drive across the 1,600-foot top and look down 285 feet into the beautiful blue green, ice-cold waters of South Fork Holston River.
        From Shady Valley west towards Elizabethton is a nice curvy road over Iron Mountain. If you are looking for a quick hike and swim you can visit the Blue Hole. After the road flattens out, continue down into Stoney Creek until you see the brown sign on the road which will have you turn up toward Holston Mountain. About a couple miles up you will find a gravel parking lot to the left. The trail is less than a mile long to a beautiful waterfall and nice swimming hole which constitute the Blue Hole. There is plenty of nice riding in this area, so take some time and go on an adventure.

  • Details
        Don’t let the pedigree fool you. Even though critical darling Judd Apatow receives a writing credit, he hasn’t put pen to paper for You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (113 minutes) since 2000. Unfortunately for the viewing audience, Apatow’s absence left Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel to muddle through material that was just a tad out of their reach. Neither man is noted for subtly or sensitivity. The idea is funny enough, and maybe eight years ago when Sandler and company first began working on it, he could have pulled it off.             However, watching Sandler limp through this material with his scary dead eyes, massive codpiece, and tired expression is next to painful. Sure, it’s an amusing concept for a Saturday Night Live sketch, but the laughs are few and far between, and the joke wears thin before the movie is even half over. Die hard Sandler fans will love it, but everyone else should consider themselves fairly warned. {mosimage}
        Zohan (Adam Sandler) is living the good life on an Israeli beach, hacky-sacking and discoing, until the Israeli army comes to claim him for a special mission. He heads out to capture a Palestinian terrorist (John Turturro, and what was he thinking?). During the ensuing Matrix-inspired slugfest, Zohan quits it all to go on the lam in New York, where he will fulfill his lifelong dream of cutting and styling hair.
        Bored yet? At this point, I sure was. As Zohan struggles to find his styling niche, he has relations with many older women, including Gail (Lainie Kazan). It is about this time that Zohan meets his true love, Dhalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a sweet window ornament who doesn’t get a lot to do in the movie beyond looking gorgeous. Did I mention the revoltingly simplistic subplot about the evil developer who wants to destroy the neighborhood in favor of big business? It’s like the writers saw Be Kind, Rewind and thought padding out their bad movie with some bits and pieces of an original movie would help somehow.
        Amidst all this unremarkable dreck enters Rob Schneider, playing a Palestinian cab driver named Salim, and Mariah Carey playing an aging, botoxed, self-centered singer named Mariah Carey. 
        If you want to see a movie that intelligently uses racial, ethnic, and gender stereotypes to make a political statement, go see Borator Blazing Saddles. Do not look to Zohan for sly political quips — every joke in the movie is just malicious and mean spirited. The entire script is homophobic, (and, after seeing Chuck and Larry, one supposes that Sandler is as well). Women are objectified, mocked, and as much as I love to think that Mrs. Garret (Charlotte Rae from Facts of Life in a cameo) is still out there, the slaps she delivers to Zohan after the midway point were well deserved. The character of Zohan, and many of the bit players are walking talking stereotypes…and nobody is laughing.
        P.S.  If you are looking for clear signs of the Apocalypse, the trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua is attached to Zohan.   

  • Details
        {mosimage}Morgan Spurlock’s 30 Days (Tuesday, 10 p.m., FX) invites participants to immerse themselves in a world very different from their own. It’s a daring social experiment that delves into topical issues, sometimes with painful results.
        In this week’s episode, a conservative religious woman named Kati spends 30 days with Tom and Dennis, two gay men raising adopted sons. To understand where they’re coming from, she’s required to work for a same-sex-parents advocacy group and attend meetings of a lesbian-mothers networking group. Will the experience soften her militant opposition to gay and lesbian adoption?
        The episode offers fascinating insight into the homophobic brain. At every turn, Kati is confronted with evidence that Tom and Dennis are a model couple and caring parents for former foster kids who otherwise wouldn’t have a home. She is forced to admit as much, but she refuses to let the truth get in the way of her conclusions. “My belief is that the gay and lesbian lifestyle is not correct,” she keeps saying, with no proof other than that it’s “her belief.” When gays and lesbians gently ask her why she would deny them their humanity, she screams, cries or stomps away rather than offering a rationale. She accuses them of disrespecting her rights — in other words, her right to deprive them of their rights.
        Clearly, 30 days are not enough to open such a locked-tight mind as hers. Maybe if Spurlock produced a series called “1,000 Years….”

    My Boys
    Thursday, 9:30 p.m. (TBS)
        Other critics liked this sitcom more than I did, so I thought I’d give its new season a chance. But My Boys didn’t seem any better this time around, with its dud jokes and humor-challenged cast. The wafer-thin premise finds a Chicago singleton (Jordana Spiro) hanging out with a group of guy friends. That means we have to hang out with them too — an unappetizing prospect, given that they’re horny, boozy, grungy, lazy and stupid. And not in a good way.
        I was struck by the lack of a laugh track, until it occurred to me that there might actually be one and even it doesn’t find My Boys funny.

    Camp Rock
    Friday, 8 pm (Disney Channel). Saturday, 8 pm (ABC). Sunday, 8 p.m. (ABC Family)
        Teenybopper heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers star in a TV movie set at a summer music camp for aspiring young artists. The only way poor girl Mitchie Torres (Demi Lovato) can afford the camp is if she earns her keep in the kitchen. A troubled superstar happens to hear her singing and absolutely must find out who she is. She helps him rediscover his passion for music, while he helps her believe in herself.
        You’re sure to enjoy Camp Rock — that is, unless you turn from 11 to 12 just before the airdate.

    I Survived A Japanese Game Show
    Tuesday, 9 p.m. (ABC)
        In this reality series, 10 Americans travel to Japan and compete in one of their nutty game shows. They must eat food attached to someone’s head while he’s running on a fast-moving treadmill. They must collect stuffed animals while dangling from a crane operated by a blindfolded teammate. And they must smash huge goo-filled eggs with their butts while wearing a chicken suit.
        Now you know why the series isn’t titled I Survived a Japanese Game Show With My Dignity Intact.

  • Details
        For those about to rock, the Rock Shop salutes you... and for free, no less.
    One of the best kept secrets in town is the free concerts offered during the work week by the nightclub located at 106 S. Eastern Blvd., in downtown Fayetteville.
        Founded about a year and a half ago by Shawn Adkins and then business partner Dave Johnston, owner of the Huske Hardware House, the duo opened the club to meet a demand for a live rock facility.
        “I was doing shows all over Fayetteville, and I was renting out places to throw bands and the turnout was so good that Dave approached me and was like, ‘You know man, you could open a club.’ And I was like, if you want to go in with me, let’s do it,” said Adkins. “And the next day we were looking at this building and it happened that fast. I bought him out seven months into it. He helped me out tremendously.”
        Shawn says business has been gangbusters on the weekend, drawing in nationally known acts as well as top local bands, such as Gasoline, Scarred for Life and Falling in Two.
        “We do have incredible local bands; we do have touring bands coming in all the time,” said Adkins. “Weekday shows are always touring bands. Some of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life are these free shows. People are just mind-boggled at how good these bands are and they keep coming and coming.”
        Adkins adds that the Rock Shop is gaining quite a reputation nationally, as he receives mountains of tapes and requests to play the club from all across the country — many of whom will wind up playing the free shows.
        {mosimage}And to further increase the interest in the free shows, Wednesday features $3 for any drink and “the cheapest beer prices in town,” said Adkins.
        In a more intangible shot at increasing the quantity and quality of it’s audience, the Rock Shop is trying to create a “good vibe” for live music — a term Adkins uses so often that the theme song for the club should be the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.”
        “We have a very artistic vibe,” said Adkins. As if to prove his point, kids with spiked hair and blue hair, all covered in menacing black leather and chains, traipsed peacefully and good-naturedly through the Rock Shop, awaiting punk band Private Radio, one of the four free bands playing that night.
        “We’re really trying to bring a good vibe to Fayetteville, it’s not all about making money, we just want to bring a good vibe to Fayetteville,” said Adkins. “If you walk through the door trying to be all hard, you don’t belong here. We want stand for it. You need to just be yourself. And also, good music brings culture to Fayetteville.”
        While Adkins admits the Fayetteville music scene is dominated by metal and hard rock — the night of this interview featured punk metal — he does want to bring diversity to the club. He wants artists from all genres: bluegrass, blues, rockabilly, country, rock.
        Some of this diversity will be on display June 20, which will be a night of rockabilly and straight-ahead rock when the Bo Stevens and Tater make the scene.
        “Good music is good music, no matter what the genre,” said Adkins.
        In the meantime, Adkins hopes music fans of all ages and tastes will visit the Rock Shop for one of its weekday live shows. Upcoming free shows include back-to-back performances on June 26 and June 27, featuring Endway and The Future Kings of Nowhere, respectively.
        “It’s really some of the best live music you will see,” said Adkins. “And you can’t beat the price.
        The Rock Shop is located at 106 S. Eastern Blvd. You can check out what bands are playing when at www.therockshoplive.com, or www.myspace.com/huskehardware.

  • Details
        Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that the DEET used in most mosquito repellents is toxic? If so what problems does it cause? And what are some non-toxic alternatives for keeping mosquitoes at bay?     
    — Tom Pollack, Oakland, Calif.

        DEET is commonly known as the king of mosquito repellents, though not everyone is keen to slather it on their skin. A study conducted in the late 1980s on Everglades National Park employees to determine the effects of DEET found that a full one-quarter of the subjects studied experienced negative health effects that they blamed on exposure to the chemical. Effects included rashes, skin irritation, numb or burning lips, nausea, headaches, dizziness and difficulty concentrating.
        Duke University pharmacologist Mohamed Abou-Donia, in studies on rats, found that frequent and prolonged DEET exposure led to diffuse brain cell death and behavioral changes, and concluded that humans should stay away from products containing it. But other studies have shown that while a few people have sensitivity to DEET applications, most are unaffected when they use DEET products on a sporadic basis according to the instructions on the label.
        The upside of DEET is that it is very effective. A 2002 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that DEET-based repellents provided the most complete and longest lasting protection against mosquitoes. Researchers found that a formulation containing 23.8 percent DEET completely protected study participants for upwards of 300 minutes, while a soybean-oil-based product only worked for 95 minutes. The effectiveness of several other botanical-based repellents lasted less than 20 minutes.
        {mosimage}But a number of new concentrations of botanical repellents that have hit the market since are reportedly better than ever. In 2005, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) granted approval to two healthier alternatives to DEET — picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus — for protection from mosquitoes. Picaridin, long used to repel mosquitoes in other parts of the world, is now available in the U.S. under the Cutter Advanced brand name. Oil of lemon eucalyptus, which is derived from eucalyptus leaves and is the only plant-based active ingredient for insect repellents approved by the CDC, is available in several different forms, including Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, OFF! Botanicals, and Fight Bite Plant-Based Insect Repellent.
        Some other good choices, according to the nonprofit National Coalition against the Misuse of Pesticides, include products containing geraniol (MosquitoGuard or Bite Stop), citronella (Natrapel), herbal extracts (Beat It Bug Buster) or essential oils (All Terrain). The group also gives high marks to oil of lemon eucalyptus, such as that found in Repel’s Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent.
        Another leading nonprofit, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), likes Herbal Armor, Buzz Away and Green Ban, each containing citronella and peppermint as well as various essential oils (cedar wood, lemongrass, etc.). PANNA also lauds Bite Blocker, a blend of soybeans and coconut oils that provides four to eight hours of protection and, unlike many other brands, is safe to use on kids.

        CONTACTS: “Comparative Efficacy of Insect Repellents against Mosquito Bites,” http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/347/1/13; National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP), www.beyondpesticides.org; Pesticide Action Network North America, www.panna.org.

        GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

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