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READ THE PLANET, IT’S FREE! VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406 WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM

May 25 - June 14, 2006May 25 - June 14, 2006

IN THIS ISSUE

Testify

Ars Nova

Off the Deep End

Letter to the Planet

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In The PlanetTHE VALLEY PLANET VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406

May 25 - June 14, 20006NEXT ISSUE June 15, 2006

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406

The Valley Planet is printed for you by the good folks at Pulaski Web

in beautiful & sunny Pulaski, Tennessee.

203 Grove Ave., Huntsville Al, 35801, phone 256.533-4613

Letter from the Publisher

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.

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. Email us at [email protected] or [email protected]

256-533-4613

Publishers

Frankie Glassco

Jill Wood

Editor

Billy Joe Cooley

Distribution

Charlotte Griffin

Graphics & Layout

Frances Damian

Contributors

Ricky Thomason

Allison Gregg

Steve Moulton

Jennifer Roberts

Roy Thomas

Tina Rochester

Tony Ferrari

James Spagnola

LL

Fifi Bordeaux

Nan Cunningham

Leslie Parks

Max Cantu

Shelly Estill

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Gossip, On the Cover

Unchained Maladies

Word on The Street, Summer Dining in HuntsvilleA night of Green Milk and Daikaiju, Noth-ing to Do?“A Night with Puccini”

Letter to the Planet

Time to get hot and bothered again, Bro-ken FlowersTestify, Music Calandar

Off the Deep End

Classic Movies in the Park 2006, Calendar of EventsDr. Anarcho’s

So do you want yur Dream Job now?

Single & Fabulous

Party of One

Letter to the Planet; Tropical Nights

Listings

News of the Weird

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Dear Everybody!!!!

My head is spinning right now. As Charlie Brown’s teacher would say, Waa, Wa Waa, Waa,

Waa! That is about how I am feeling. This past weekend I have bartended at Home Port International Bar & Grill, manned the tent at the 1st Annual UCP Bike Rally, did the Tim’s Cajun Kitchen Crawfish Festival and helped Devon Ford celebrate her birthday. Wow! Was your schedule as tight as mine? I hope not!!!

I would like to congratulate Jeff English and Jen Martin on the up and coming nuptials. They’ll be tying the knot on June 10th. Their engagement party was the bomb!! It was held at Olde Towne Brewery (thanks Don Alan), Toy Shop, Marge, Lacey, Dave and Linda entertained throughout the evening. I’m telling you, that was a celebration.

Thanks to everyone for your support!!!!!

Peace and Happiness,Frankie

THE VALLEY PLANET WWW.VALLEYPLANET.COM 3 #052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7

GossipBy Billy Joe Cooley

This is “Be Nice to Mallery Parker Week.” She’s a beauty from Madison and is a biology major at UAH.

And it is also ‘hats off’ time for Ivan Westmoreland in his barbershop on Thomas Road, off Drake Avenue. Last week he gave the Critelli brothers, Kyle and Chris, their summertime buzz.

We had a fun conversation with sax great Boots Randolph prior to his Expo show at VBC the other day. He knows a million funny stories about show people. And loves to tell ‘em. Our topics included Ace Cannon and pianist Hargus “Pigg” Robbins. Pigg lives in Brentwood and is mending from bypass surgery.

A handsome collegiate couple from Huntsville -- Alex Westen and Summer Smith -- attended the big National Cornbread Festival a couple weeks ago in South Pittsburg, Tenn. Famous Chattanooga glamour photographer T. Fred Miller busily snapped pictures for a half-hour.

Farewell to our friend Steve Citrano, who died a few weeks ago while doing what he loved. Attending a big car race.

Another note of sadness. Our buddy Ray Perry had to have his beloved black Lab, Bama, put to sleep (cancer). They were a familiar sight each day. Strolling from Haynes Avenue down to Chapman school.

As of this writing I have returned from my annual Tennessee retreat where I join a bunch of my Korean War pals in terrorizing Music City. The head of this aggregation is retired Texas banker Louis Boatright, Joining us for dinner one evening was my daughter Conni and her husband Dan Heard who brought along my grandkids: Andrew, Sarah and Henry.

Several of us had a pleasant evening last week dining on Arabic-style food and watching a bunch of Light

of Christ Center people belly dance and such. They included cute writer Gaillen T. Hope and Jeanette Gallagher (Jeanette was trying out her new hip),

Then, Our Gal Gail went gallivanting. She reports the following:

We visited Bishop’s Eastside Pub & Grill (Winchester Road) and found Terri Walrath discussing the Talladega race with bartender Joanie Satterly.

Cami Myhand had her birthday celebration last week at the Thirsty Turtle. Barkeep Miranda Couch was busy keeping up with celebrants Brian Stoltz, Flo Deleese and Brian Edwards.

Bartender Chris Nightinggale at O’Charley’s (on Balmoral) deserves a special “Hello,” so “Hello.”

Things are happening at a local Cheers-type establishment Pinhook CreekYacht Club. Barkeep Shaunnah Scott says they have cheap buckets of beer everyday and live bands on Saturday. Luckily the Auburn Mens Auxiliary Club was meeting while I was there. Their members include nice guys Jerrod

Mcintyre, Aaron Scott, Eric Pollard and their infamous leader Haywood Ja’boalne. Other patrons included Jessica Townsend and the number one Greg Maddoux fan Daniel Stone.

I met the owners of Rocket City Investigations, Ultimate Fighting Champion Roger Parton and Roland Putzier, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers 88-89 Super Bowl Championship teams. Those Super Bowl rings are very large and so is Roland.

The AAC fundraiser “Dining With Friends” was successful this year. Jeff Slaton, Clark Jones, David Beddingfield and Margart Johnson co-hosted a dinner that included guests Tyler Hawkins, Cole Loughridge, Michelle McCoy, Dee Watts, Billy Helms and Dennis Haney. A dessert and champagne citywide reception was held afterwards at the home of Ray and Peggy Frambrough.

My book ‘Away Down South’ makes a fine birthday gift.Autographed and mailed for $16.115 W. Clinton, Suite 805, Huntsville AL

My name is Susan Blair Truex and I live in Murfreesboro, TN with my husband, Don.

I majored in Fine Arts and Biology at M.T.S.U and worked as a cartoonist and illustrator in my early twenties. I later worked as a lab analyst until I established my own studio, where I teach and continue to paint and create clay sculptures. I have studied pottery and sculpture with Lewis Snyder and Megan Kieffer. I have also been fortunate to study with David LeDoux and portrait artist John De La Vega and Connie Erickson.

The Shepardess, by Susan Blair Truex

On the CoverThe Shepardess

Some of my paintings are painted in a style call Abstract Expressionism. Natural forms are not rendered in a representational way, but instead, are simplified or distorted to some extent, often in an attempt to convey the essence of the form. This style of painting is an excellent vehicle to convey emotional content. Although some of my paintings are quite realistic, I am seldom content to simply render an image as it may appear in the natural world.

The catalyst for my creativity generally begins by taking an ordinary thought or image and allowing something unique to move from it, forcing us to examine other aspects of a form, or the environment, other than the obvious. It allows us to take a second look at the commonplace and redefine it’s value. My intention is that the image will speak to the viewer. Ideally there should be something that interests the viewer enough that they pause to become involved in the discovery of a new vantage point.


Ricky Thomason is a freelance writer from Huntsville. Email Rick at [email protected] Ricky know what you think at our forums at www.valleyplanet.com.

artwork by Debbie West

UnchainedMaladies

Ricky ThomasonWrites



203 Grove Ave. Huntsville, AL 35801

We recently enjoyed a trip to Sandestin, Fl., though I haven’t trusted the ocean

since the tsunami. The power and fury of Mother Nature never ceases to amaze. Even normal waves inspire awe. The day we arrived, the gulf was so wind-whipped that the red flags were flying. Still, a few of the bulletproof tempted fate.

I believe my wife could live by the sea, but it doesn’t take me long to get caught up on beach time. I get sand in places I don’t even know I have until the sandpaper effect starts. In the few hours I spent there, I saw 150 Natalee Holloways, with 450 Joran van der Sloots circling them like sharks.

I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m almost as tired of that story as I am of Tom Cruise. (They know the baby was his because it jumped up and down on the furniture in the delivery room.) If she hadn’t been white, pretty and rich, she’d be just another dead tourist.

And If I hear, “Like, you know, like…whatever” one more time, I’m going to go postal. Did we act that goofy at that age? Probably, except the irritating phrases were “Kewel,” and “far out.”

Still it’s fun to watch the young kids play, and to see the old couples hold hands, and watch a sunset together from the gloaming of the sunset years.

You’ll be glad to know they are rebuilding the hurricane ravaged beaches all along the gulf coast. At the rate they are going they will probably have them done just in time for the first hurricane of the 2006 season. Like New Orleans, it’s just a matter of time before it happens again. Still, they build more, and more and, and much of the labor is supplied by – guess who?

I was In Florida on Monday, May 1st – the great “don’t take your immigrant to work” day. If any were AWOL on the golf course I was on, I couldn’t tell it. I did notice there were no Mexicans at Taco bell – but there never is. Why do you reckon that is?

It was interesting to watch the debate on this immigration thing from inside a stronghold of the retired. Just like the rest of us, opinion was divided. Not surprisingly, most of the more angry talk was directed at the immigrants not learning to speak English.

Why so? Most Americans can’t even speak English. And don’t ax me what I’m talking about.

Another point of irritation is the demand illegal immigrants place on social services, like food stamps, WIC, and every hospital emergency room in the country. One woman said her brother was almost killed in a car accident and lost almost everything they had. These are six generation, hard working, taxpaying Americans. Could they qualify for food stamps? No. Jump the border and have a kid over here and you’re signed up free. What’s wrong with this picture?

The dichotomy in the ‘send’m all back” argument lies in the fact that while the American economy couldn’t function without them, the very birds squawking loudest about them being here are the business owners who profit from the cheap labor. Much would have more at the expense of the poor, as always. Say what you will, few Americans are going to do what the illegals do for that kind of money. We won’t even gut chickens for our own dinner, much less everyone else’s. You want a stoop labor job, like finishing concrete, or digging up plants at a nursery? You can have one before sundown with little effort. Knock yourself out.

Then there’s another one I don’t understand. Why the hurrah hullabaloo over a Spanish language version of America’s National anthem? Who

cares? It might not be the best thing for their cause to demand rights in America while they carry the Mexican flag, but I can see little harm in it – except you get boneheads like the KKK stirred up in that bastion of North Alabama enlightenment, Russellville.

The Hispanic immigrant Star Spangled Banner went over so well, I thought we should have a go at rewriting it yet again, just for them, but a version in English. Why not? No one can just sing it anymore, everyone has to put on the dog, add all kind of flourishes and generally butcher the entire thing when they sing it.

Jose can’t you see,what’s just dawned on the right?Why you proudly raise hell, while their toilets you’re cleaning.Trim the lawns and shine cars,for the querulous white.O’er our borders you pour,and no English you’re speaking.So the necks of red glare,unless they need an au pair.Then they pay you half-price -- and claim unaware.So y’all gut those chickens,pick that fruit and behave.For this land isn’t free – if you’re hireling or slave.

Director Jim Zielinski announces auditions for the opening show of Theatre Huntsville’s Tenth

Season, the hilarious British farce, “NOISES OFF!”

Auditions will be held on Sunday, 4 June at 6:00 p.m. and Monday, 5 June at 7:00 p.m. at the Arts Council Meeting Room next to the Von Braun Center Playhouse, Clinton Avenue (at 700 Monroe Street). Parts are available for five men and four women; English accents are required. Loaner scripts - note this is the 2004 Revised Version - are available by contacting Zielinski at [email protected] or by telephoning (256) 536-0807. For more in-depth information, visit http://www.theatrehsv.org/auditions.htm. “Noises Off” opens on Friday, 8 September in the VBC Playhouse.

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Summer Dining in Huntsville

By Roy ThomasRedstone Federal Credit Union

How do you write an article about summer dining and put in a good word for the place you work?

In my case, it’s Redstone Federal Credit Union, a financial institution.

The two don’t have a real connection…or do they?

The next issue of the Valley Planet is about “Summer Dining.”

After Memorial Day, many consider it to be summer…and summer activities often include dining out with friends or family.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about summer dining…is what restaurants will we go too.

What’s new? What’s good? What’s trendy?

I’ve lived in Huntsville nearly all of my life and have seen restaurants come.

One thing is for sure, people who live here love to dine out…especially during the summer months. But that is the case in any city.

Overall, we’ve got a lot of choices when it comes to dining out in Huntsville and I’ve heard that some new restaurants are coming soon.

So, when you decide to go out to eat this summer, take your Redstone Federal Credit Union credit card with you.

I do use my credit card when I dine out and it’s very convenient; rather than carrying around a lot of cash.

Also when I think about summer dining, I think about grilling out. There are a lot of things I like to cook on the grill…and some foods just don’t taste right if they’re not cooked that way.

There are several opportunities this summer to do some grilling out, and if you don’t have a grill, here’s your chance to use your Redstone Federal Credit Union credit card to buy one. Summer dining in Huntsville. There are lots of choices and using a Redstone Federal Credit Union credit card when you dine out this summer is another good choice.

Enjoy the summer…and Bon Appetite!

What exactly are the streets? What is meant by “The mean streets” or “Street Life?”

As we find ourselves driving more and more to this place and the other, we are on the streets, roads and paved byways seemingly meant only for motorized vehicles.For the people who do not have cars, how do they get from place to place? This article will touch on the importance of asphalt and concrete and the interactions we have with each other on it.

First we have sidewalks, meant for walking and pedestrian traffic only. We don’t see motorcycles or cars driving on sidewalks because people know sidewalks are used exactly what they are named for…walks on the side. We know pedestrians belong on the sidewalks, but there is some confusion as to where bicycles belong; bicycles belong on the road.

Homeless folks, bike commuters and people like me who ride a bike daily have a right to ride on the road with our non-motorized machines. The streets are dangerous because people in vehicles do not know bicycle rights and common rules of the road concerning bicycles in traffic.

Driver or cyclist, visit Alabike.org for more information on safety classes and events concerning bicycles and the people on them or consult your local bike shop to personally speak to a fellow Bike Nazi. Who knows I might see you out there peddling away one day!

The busy streets often are full of drivers unaware of people that are not enclosed in big protective metal cages (cars). A pedestrian has a right to be in

the roadway as well. Crosswalks are meant for a safer crossing but some people need to use the shoulder due to Huntsville’s lack of safe sidewalks next to the high traffic roads (like Oakwood, Drake, and Bob Wallace).

Homeless people on foot often need to use the shoulders to get from place to place because it is the only thing resembling a sure footing that is devoid of hazards. Next time you are going down these roads, just take a gander of what people without cars have to endure, but be sure to be looking at the road as well when you do this.

The point of this article was to ask drivers to be on the lookout for those kind souls that aren’t contributing to the war on terror, smog and global warming. Whether they are homeless, poor, or just choose to use foot power over petroleum, be aware that the roads are public space and governed by public laws to make it safe for everyone.

I promote foot power daily in my involvement with the Alabama Bicycle Coalition and with my Life Cycles program. I advocate kids walking and biking to school (Safe Routes to School) and I provide bicycles to the homeless, poor and the kids I work with through Life Cycles. SWOOP volunteers help me every Wednesday at Manna House from 5pm-7pm repairing and distributing donated bicycles.

If you have some old bicycles lying around you would like to donate or want to volunteer for SWOOP, don’t hesitate to call me at 256-348-5189.

WORD ON THE STREET BY JAMES SPAGNOLA

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Nothing to Do??By Leslie Parks

Sometimes I wonder if John Hunt had any idea that the little spring he built his cabin next to

back in 1805 would turn out to be the centerpiece of the city and the site of so many events over 200 years later. One of my favorite places in Huntsville has always been Big Spring Park downtown. I can remember hopping on my trusty 10-speed bike (I never knew how to use any of those speeds but it sure sounded cool) and peddling down there to dangle my feet off the red bridge while throwing bread at all the ducks. How long has it been since you’ve been down there? June is a great month to visit Big Spring Park for any number of reasons…

The Art’s Council’s Concerts in the Park shifts into their regular weekly schedule at Big Spring Park on Monday, June 5th, with “Reunion” playing oldies rock-n-roll music at the gazebo. The concerts last from 6:30 – 8:00pm and are free for everyone. Bring a chair and a snack and an eye for people watchin cause there’s plenty of that going on for sure. June is a great month to go to the concerts… it’s not as hot as July and not nearly as hot as August… it’s juuuuuust right. If oldies rock-n-roll isn’t your style you could wait a week and go listen to celtic band SlipJig on June 12th when they’ll be joined by the Brass Band of Huntsville. There’s a variety of music all summer long… something for everyone. You can see the complete schedule by checking the Arts Council’s website at www.artshuntsville.org.

The Huntsville Museum of Art (www.hsvmuseum.org) begins their 2006 Classic Summer Movies in the Park series on Friday, June 9th, with The Great Gatsby. Movies start at about 8:00pm and are shown larger than life on the side of the museum. You know the drill: bring your blankets, chairs, snacks, and of course tons of friends or family to watch it with you. Admission is free and even if the movie isn’t action packed there’s plenty of people watching you can do to pass the time. I’m especially excited about June 23rd when they’ll be showing “Charlotte’s Web.” What can I say? I’ve always had a soft spot for Zuckerman’s Famous Pig. Grab your friends and come to the movies… all the cool kids are doing it!

If you like jazz music pull out those same lawn chairs and blankets and head back to (where else?) Big Spring Park for Jazz-n-June weekend on June 10th and 11th.. Sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Jazz Society this is one of the largest jazz and music festivals in state

of Alabama, growing larger and better each year! Hours on Saturday are from 12n – 7pm and from 1-7pm on Sunday. Admission is (say it with me now) free! You can get more info or check out the line up on their website: www.tvjs.orgIf you like movies but prefer to watch them in air conditioned splendor you can always go down to the Huntsville Public Library (www.hpl.lib.al.us) for their free (starting to notice a pattern here?) “Evening Movies at the Library.” I wish I knew who the mastermind was behind the June line-up because I want to kiss him or her. Johnny Depp all month long - now that’s good planning! You can Find Neverland on June 6th, figure out What’s Eating Gilbert Grape on June 14th, rediscover Buster Keaton with Benny and Joon on June 20th and sail off with the Pirates of the Caribbean on June 27th. After seeing Pirates on June 20th you can start counting down the days to the release of Pirates of Caribbean 2: Dead Men’s Chest on July 7th. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait for a new heapin helpin of Captain Jack Sparrow. Shiver Me Timbers indeed!

If you’re planning on checking out Pirates or one of the other summer releases make it a point to go to the new Rave movie theatre (www.ravemotionpictures.com) behind the Target store in Jones Valley. It’s awesome! Every theatre has stadium seating with 48 inches of legroom between each row. Digital sound, high back rocking chairs, arm rests that can be raised for snugglin…. this is the perfect place for a movie date for sure. We went there

for the Da Vinci Code a few weeks back and couldn’t get over how nice the theatre was… not a bad seat in the house. Oh yeah, they have 3 concession stands, too. No more waiting in line for a $14 bucket of popcorn… now you can get it at the speed of digital sound!

Father’s Day is coming up soon and The Land Trust (www.landtrust-hsv.org) will be hosting a free (imagine that!) Three Caves Father’s Day Tour at 1pm and again at 2pm on Sunday, June 18th. I’ve lived in Huntsville for 38 years and never saw or even heard of Three Caves until just last fall. Now I’m fascinated by this manmade limestone quarry that is slowly developing into a natural cave! My dad has lived here for over 60 years and I don’t think he’s ever been up there… maybe I can talk him into going with me.

Speaking of dads, Clarence Kelland once said “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” I’m one of those people who has been blessed in life by being born to an extraordinary man. Make it a point to remember your dad on June 18th and and let him know how much he means to you. If your name is William Parks, you work at Dynetics, and you can practically quote Slingblade line for line…. consider yourself remembered right here and now. I love you dad! Thanks for taking me kicking around Huntsville and showing me lots of cool things to do back when I was just a little kid who thought there was Nothing To Do.

A night of Green Milk and Daikaiju

By Jennifer Roberts

Green Milk from the Planet Orange and the beloved masked men of Daikaiju will take over the Flying Monkey stage on Sunday, June 28 at 9 pm. Admission is $5.

For the presumed minority of Valley Planet readers who are not familiar with Daikaiju, they are a must-see. Check out the latest rave reviews and electrifying sounds they have to offer at www.daikaiju.org or.

Green Milk from the Planet Orange is currently on their Portland-to-Portland tour. Gary Hill of Music Street Journal believes “the band has created a very unique sound by marrying classic prog song structures, timing changes and the like with punk, energized garage rock, psychedelia, jam band elements, old school jazz (the harder edged stuff), and power rock trio music.” He goes on to write that “there is a very real possibility that ten years from now people will be looking at [City Calls Revolution] as the album that launched a whole new subgenre.”

Check out more reviews, history, mp3 samples, and pics at.

Keep current on other cutting-edge performances and events by checking out the calendar at www.flyingmonkeyarts.org and by signing up for the mailing list.

The Flying Monkey is located at Lowe Mill, 2211 Seminole Dr.

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Ars Nova presents “A Night with Puccini” featuring the two classic operas: Gianni Schicchi,

directed by Ginger Beazley, and Suor Angelica, directed by Robert Baker. Performances are at the Renaissance Theatre in downtown Huntsville on June 2, 3, 9, 10, and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and June 4 and June 11 at 2:30 p.m. Performances on June 11 and June 12 will be in the downstairs theater, which is Handicap accessible. Seats are general admission and prices are $18 and $15 for Seniors and students. There are three ways to purchase your tickets: By phone: 256-883-1105, at the Ars Nova, Inc. office: 7908C Charlotte Dr. (Next to the Eleanor Murphy Branch Library), or visit us online at www.arsnovahsv.com. Tickets are on sale now! “A Night with Puccini” begins with the comedy, Gianni Schicchi, starring Hank Lay. This opera, sung in English, tells the story of a family’s quest for their dearly departed relative’s inheritance. Gianni Schicchi is known for one of

Ars Nova presents “A Night with Puccini”

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opera’s most famous arias “O! Mio babbino caro.” Suor Angelica, starring Karen Young, is a divine tragedy. This opera, sung in Italian with English subtitles, tells the story of Angelica’s grief stricken life in a convent and her love for a son she never knew. Come laugh and cry with Ars Nova’s “A Night with Puccini.”

Of course, no Italian evening is complete without great food. Ars Nova and Renaissance Theatre are offering an Italian dinner before the Saturday, June 10th performance at 6:00 p.m. and a delicious brunch before the Sunday, June 11th matinee at 1:00 p.m. Tickets are $38 and include a reserved seat, the meal, and a beverage. Call 256-883-1105 for more information. Don’t miss a chance to enjoy great opera and Italian cuisine or a special brunch. Both meals are provided by Wild Rose Café! A Night With Puccini is made possible by grants from The Alabama State Council on the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts.


Those liberals are at it again, George Bush and cronies are at war for oil, that’s an out right lie.

They blame high oil prices on his administration, face the facts liberals. Thru out history our presidential administrations have been spreading democracy, and freedom all over the world.

Why do liberals always have to imply that it is an ulterior motive for our dealings with the rest of the world.

As Americans and Christians it is our duty to give other people of the world

There is no conspiracy.By Max Cantu

Sugar, United Fruit, Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, but hey the locals benefited.

Look at Cuba and the Platt Amendment, it states that Cuba is free and that the U.S. Navy would operate a base in Cuba forever that the U.S. Marines would intervene at will, and that Washington would determine Cuba’s foreign and financial policies. Now what would you rather have Platt Amendment or Castro, let freedom reign my friend.

So let’s fast forward to today.

Sure Bush Sr. has vested interest with U.S. Defense, and big oil along with partners the Saudi’s and the Bin-Ladens.

Sure Cheney has ties with Halliburton and oil companies, heck he was Halliburton’s C.E.O. Sure the current President has been an oil man for years, Sure Condi Rice was a Board Director with Chevron for 10 yrs., heck Chevron once named an oil tanker after her. Sure the Secretary of the Army is an Enron man; sure the Ambassador to Afghanistan is an oil man from Houston, so what liberals? Ok so all these people have a blind trust with these companies and when they leave office will reap the rewards of the current record oil profits. It’s Capitalism and freedom.

It’s about freedom and democracy. It’s about Iraqi’s being able to do as they please, sure right now its rough, but aren’t they better off. Yes they are. (Cue Music) From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli. Let freedom reign, let it reign that Red, White and Blue.

Liberals give it up there is no conspiracy, just coincidences.

the same opportunities we have whether they like it or not.

And here is why. Lets take a look at our recent history around the 1890’s. Take Queen Liliuokalani, who is Queen Liliuokalani? She was the Queen of Hawaii, and a very good Queen according to the island locals, also she is held in very high regard to this day. But our government thought a monarchy just won’t work.

So with Wall Street chomping at the bit, our government went in and spread

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Letter To The Planet

democracy, freed those Hawaiian’s of that Queen Liliuokalani, sure Del-Monte and Dole ended up with pineapple and sugar cane plantations. Plus as a bonus the U.S. government got a Naval Base it always wanted. Sure a few innocents died, but freedom reigned, and as a bonus Wall Street made a killing.

Lets take a look at the Indians, After we freed them of their wondering ways we showed them what democracy for all can do. Like Sir Walter Raleigh said,” You know Tonto, these past years you showed me how to plant, and grow tobacco, I think I got it. Why don’t you and your family go west and live in peace with your own people, and Godspeed my friend.”

Its all about Manifest Destiny, if you don’t know what Manifest Destiny is then look it up and see for yourself its freedom and democracy.

In 1848 we freed California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico from Mexico.

Well we seized it, that’s why we went to war with them. All those states belonged to Mexico, but our government needed a place for the Indians to live in peace and freedom. Sure there was a gold rush, sure it was a lot of land, but it was about democracy. Besides as a bonus we got a lot of hard working Mexicans to help our economy that were already living in those states.

Between 1898 and 1934 the U.S. helped spread Democracy by invading Cuba 4 times, Nicaragua 5 times, Honduras 7 times, Dominican Republic 4 times, Haiti twice, Guatemala once, Panama twice, Mexico 3 times, and Columbia 4 times. With our big stick policy as well we planted freedom all over the western hemisphere. Sure Anaconda Copper made off well, and Domino



203 Grove Ave. Huntsville, AL 35801


It’s the Year of the Dog, and the Yard Dogs Road Show is coming back to tantalize thrill seekers on Saturday, June 3, at 9 p.m.

The show is for mature audiences only.

The entertainers proclaim themselves as being “born from the saloon vaudeville that toured the Wild West in the late 1800’s, slammed into the underworld of modern American road culture.” They go on to describe themselves as “[combining] the elements of vaudeville and burlesque, creating a timeless space for the union of ancient theatrical alchemy and modern pop culture.”

The SF Weekly writes the following: “The Yard Dogs offer much more than entertainment. They peddle adventure and soulful abandon...a wild electrifying sense of freedom...written by the light of campfires with the hand of wine, music, lust and dust.” Performer Magazine also sings their praises, comparing them to a carnival ride that “spin[s] madly from ecstatic moment to ecstatic moment.”

This national tour will highlight Black and Blue Burlesque, Zoe Jakes, Eddy Joe Cotton, Eenor, Tobias the Mystic Man, and Guitar Boy. Black and Blue Burlesque promise delicious things that will “drive you crazy.”

Expect “tales of near death and happy sunsets” from Eddy Joe Cotton, the author of the best-selling book entitled Hobo—A Young Man’s Thoughts on Trains and Tramping in America, which was published by Random House in 2003. Guitarist Eenor, the show’s newest member, has performed with the likes of Flying Frogs Brigade, Adrian Belew, Stuart Copeland, Bernie Worrell, Frank Zappa, Trey Anestasio, Mike Gordon, Mike Watt, Buckethead, and Jerry Cantrell. Sword and neon tube swallower Tobias the Mystic Man can be seen on Alkaline Trios’ latest video, Burn. Last but not least, the show will feature Guitar Boy, a man

Time to get hot and bothered again

By Jennifer Roberts

the troupe “found in [their] Las Vegas bathtub drowning in a pool of pills” and describe as being “born of the streets, a true rock-and-roll experience.” These and other performances will be accompanied by the Yard Dogs’ cartoon gypsy band, The Golden Wings of Glory.

The Yard Dogs are unquestionably a delight to the visual cortex; they also have a stimulating history that is new in some regards yet rooted deeply in the counterculture of figures like the late Ken Kesey.

The Flying Monkey is located at Lowe Mill, 2211 Seminole Dr.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 the day of the show.

ABOUT THE FILM:

Bill Murray stars in this comedic story of an aging womanizer who hits the road on a revealing and humorous cross-country journey.

When a mysterious pink letter informs Don Johnston (Murray) that he may have a 19-year-old son, he visits four former lovers, where he comes face to face with the errors of his past and the possibilities of the future.

“Broken Flowers” co-stars Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton, Frances Conroy, and Jeffrey Wright.

This 2005 film is by acclaimed director/writer Jim Jarmusch (“Stranger than Paradise” and “Dead Man”).

Jarmusch is not a mainstream director, and he has never pretended to be. Some in the indie world regard him as a pioneer and a demi-god. The French especially love him.

This may be his most accessible film to date. It has enough heart and humor to reach those who don’t always appreciate art films, and Murray’s star power.

AWARDS: Won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes International Film Festival; won Audience Award at the Cambridge Film Festival; nominated for Best Supporting

Actor by the Independent Film Awards; nominated for Best Foreign Film by the British Independent Film Awards, and many others.

REVIEWS: Murray has the uncanny ability to invite us into his performance, into his stillness and sadness. I don’t know how he does it ... Bill Murray in one of his best performances.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times. (Ebert gives this film 4 stars!)

“This is a remarkable film ... “Broken Flowers” is Jarmusch’s most conventionally entertaining film, but it’s still visually rigorous, swimming in pregnant silences, and un-filled-in in a way that’s tantalizing.” -- David Edelstein, “Slate”

Broken Flowers” may be too low-key for laugh junkies, but Jarmusch fills his sharply observed comedy with wonderful mischief. -- Peter Travers: Rolling Stone.

“Broken Flowers” is certainly beautiful, as lilting and seductive as the music, by the Ethiopian jazz artist Mulatu Astatke, that accompanies Don on his trip. Mr. Jarmusch’s frames are full of odd, lovely details, and he has a rigorous visual wit reminiscent of classic cartoons and silent comedies. -- A.O. Scott, „The New York Times”

“Broken Flowers”Friday, June 9 @ 8 pmCoffee & conversation will follow the screeningAdmission: $5 / $3 Film Co-op membersRated: R for language, some nudity and brief drug useLocation: Flying Monkey Arts Center, 2211 Seminole Dr. More info: www.filmcoop.org or 256-489-3884

Film Review: “Broken Flowers”

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7


M U S I C

Continued on Page 11

music calendarMay 04 - 24, 2006

If you have a venue with Live Music or Karaoke that you would like for us to list please email to [email protected]

ThursdayMay 25, 2006

3rd Base Grill, EdgarBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/CraigBenchwarmer, Too, Karaoke ContestBlack Water Hattie’s, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, Southern Rock 3Crossroads, The Snake DoctorsFreddy’s, Pla’ StationHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Double Open Mic Night(Musicians, Poets, Comedians all are Welcome!Hopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and

the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, The FiddlewormsKaffeeklatsch @Night, Dave AndersonPhilby’s Pourhouse, Toy ShopSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Bike Night w/The CrawlersSports Page, Pla’ StationThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Jim CavenderThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Lacey Atchison

With their Fourth Atlantic records release, San Diego Multi-platinum rockers

P.O.D. are ready to Testify. Testify to the power of rock and the power of faith; to the sway of perseverance and sweat; to the valor of hard work; to the might of unity; and to the importance of remaining true to your convictions.

Atlantic records gave me the opportunity to interview P.O.D. recently and review their live performance. When I arrived at their tour bus for the interview I was impressed to see lead singer Sonny Sandoval and Drummer Wuv hanging with their families outside of their tour bus. A grill was going and had tons of food on it. Their tour manager introduced me to the band and then Sonny and I got on their very plush tour bus for the interview.

I admire and respect you. It’s really cool how you bring a positive message through your music and deliver it in a way that appeals to some people that wouldn’t necessarily listen to the message delivered any other way.

Thank you.

Can you give me some insight as to why you chose to present yourselves and your music with a Christian influence?

TestifyI don’t think we ever chose that. I didn’t even listen to that kind of music. I went through a time in my life when my mother passed away and long story short, I gave my life to Christ. They asked me to be in the band. I was familiar with how they were as a band and I thought “You know what, I’m making this change in my life, so why not”. We just started playing and I

thought that this kind of music was reaching people in my neighborhood, people in my community and I thought if we could speak good things through this crazy music that maybe my friends would listen, maybe the people in my neighborhood would listen. People started realizing that we’re an open book and would ask “You guys are Christians?” and I would tell them we were. I didn’t know that that would keep us segregated, or help us, hurt us, whatever. We just wanted to go out and reach people through our music. We could be an example and try and show them “Hey look here, this is what I believe, it changed my life, and if it can do that for you then we’re an open book”

That’s exactly what I’m talking about, that’s what’s so powerful about your band and your music is that you’re that kind of person, you’ve been there, people can relate to you. So you’re getting through to them. You’ve inspired a huge generation of bands with that positive message.

Yeah, I don’t think we necessarily have any examples to follow, we’re not trying to do it textbook style, I’m just saying, “hey, I’m just as real as you, but I know something that’s changed my life and it would be selfish of me not

to be open with it”. I don’t think we’ve ever tried to exploit our faith and try to use it as a selling tool, because it really isn’t. That was never our goal, our intention was more like, “Hey, let’s be a rock band that has something to say, and be positive in our music.” Once people find out, you’re a Christian group, it tends to hurt you. So I think for us, we’ve had to be ten times as good, ten times as up front, we had to go out with that authority and say, “I really don’t care what you think, we’re not going to shove it down your throat because you’re already standoffish, because that’s what you expect this Christian band to do. So we’re just going to come and play our music”. We’ve always been one of those bands that speak from the heart. We don’t get up there and just try to rock the crowd. Hey we love rocking the crowd and we do it, but at the same time, we go in with that power and that authority and that humility that just says, “Hey, we’re here because we love you guys, we do believe in love.”

One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in all these shows is that you guys brought your family. You’re a family man, that’s so cool.

My daughter has been on the road since she was six weeks old. Now she’s in kindergarten so we’re all on the school schedule. But she’s off for a week and she was able to come out. It’s a little hard, because for these last two tours

she’s been in school. Normally, my wife and she are such road warriors, they get on anywhere and they’ll stay on for a few weeks. But we still try not to go out so much at a time. We never book ourselves too much, we want to stay busy and keep rocking but at the same time after a while everybody gets homesick.

How do you balance your immense fame and your family?

Man, sometimes I don’t’ even think that we’re famous, I try not to even go there, I’m just trying so hard just to be me. I try to keep my family out of that stuff; they are my peace of mind, my quiet time. We’re so real with everybody and with other bands that we never really set ourselves out like that. I mean, it’s nice, I’m not going to lie, the perks and stuff are nice. When our label takes us out to dinner and they’ll send a limo to pick us up to take us here and there and we get to go to the coolest spots. But when it’s all said and done, I don’t think any of us really desired to be famous.

Did you expect Satellite to do so well? Did you expect it to be such a huge groundbreaker for the rock world?

I didn’t expect it to be as big as it was. Once Fundamental Elements of Southtown went multi-platinum. I did expect it to do as well as that record. We worked for that and we recruited a loyal fan base. We didn’t have radio play. It was the small families that we had that started to get us noticed. It was the relentless touring...getting out there with our live show and doing our thing. Everybody who came to see

P.O.D.’s Sonny Sandoval comes alive with his faith, his love, and his musicArticle and pictures by Tony Ferrari

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406


Continued From Page 10

M U S I C


The Warehouse, Tom Cremeens

DecaturThe Brick, Angela & Katie

GuntersvilleAdrian’s, Stan MarchSandy’s Roadhouse, Karaoke

ScottsboroThe Docks, Trey, Kenny & Coach

FridayMay 26, 2006

801 Franklin, Greg ChambersAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/CraigBenchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBlack Water Hattie’s, Live MusicBobby G’s, HeatClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCoffeetree Books & Brew, Harmony Lane TwinsCrossroads, DiscOasisEsquire Lounge, ChaosFlying Monkey Arts Center, SandiaFreddy’s, Black Label/Blood River

P.O.D. thought, “Hey, I Iike that band.” They went and bought a record. We earned every single record. I knew at least those people would buy Satellite. Before 9/11 the song “Alive” was already big on radio. It was number one on MTV. Then 9/11 happens and people are looking for answers. Music was the strongest force within people at that time...it’s soothing...it’s comforting, people started recognizing their emotions and how they were feeling and how the music was making them feel. A lot of these other pop bands and rap bands...people weren’t searching for that, they weren’t looking for that vibe. Then here’s P.O.D. with a positive message. There were a lot of other bands at the time with songs that meant something who were connecting too. People were looking a little deeper into the lyrics feeling something because of what was going on in the world. “Alive” just happened to be that song that was written long before 9/11. The message was, “Hey look everyday is precious let’s be grateful for the things that we have. Life is short.

It ended up being a message of hope for people.

It did and we didn’t even know that that was coming. All of a sudden people were coming in masses to our shows saying, “Your song “Alive” that really meant something to me. I went and bought your record. It’s awesome. It’s what I need right now.” So people were feeling it.

“Youth of a Nation” was also on Satellite. It was even bigger than “Alive” and was an anthem for young people everywhere.

Yeah, that one too. There was a segment of that year where everyone was searching and we tried to be one of the many bands that were trying to promote love in our music and provide some answers.

You were our voice at a time that we needed one and you did that through your music. Do all of your songs have an underlying message to them?

I don’t think that is always intentional it just kind of happens. But mostly even if it’s only in a line or a couple of words or a small s t a t e m e n t , we try to say, “Hold on” or “Take care of each other” or “Be Good” or “Love one another”. You know what I mean? There’s always that little bit in there but it’s not always in your face. A lot of times we leave the lyrics open, it could mean one thing to us and then I will get a lot of people who read the lyrics or hear the lyrics and they will have a whole different meaning to them. That is amazing. That is awesome. But that’s their situation. You and I may go to a museum and look at a painting. It’s the same thing. Whatever you are going through in your life, or whatever character you are, I might be different. We see it and we might get something out of it that neither one of us saw individually. I think that we can do that with music. They might listen to it and say, “He’s just talking about God.” or “He’s just talking about whatever”. It doesn’t have to be that way. What does it mean to you?

Say anything. Give me some advice, talk to me like a friend, just say anything.

Man, I’m just grateful, I’m grateful to be here fourteen years later, almost fifteen. I’m grateful for the things that we have. I have a family that I love and I can support at this moment, you know. There’s countless people out there that tell us that our music has affected them and it means something to them, whether it’s stopping them

from committing suicide, whether it’s getting them off drugs, whether it’s just straightening them out, whether it’s having them question things in life. I’m grateful for that. I don’t need to be famous, I don’t need to tour, I don’t need to be on the road. We’re just as normal as the next man and we just believe in something that’s real, a love that we’ve found. And that’s something that we just want to share with people. But at the same time I’ll never force that on anybody. I’ve found something that’s real, that’s changed my life, if you want to know about it or maybe that’s something that you need in life, then here it is. But I’m not going to argue my faith, I’m not going to fight for my faith because in all my years of being a Christian that’s what made me realize, is that God has already fought for me, that God has already won the battle for me. That’s why I’m here. Now I’m just here to live it, I’m here to bask in it, to accept it, and to raise and protect my family and people around me. At the same time P.O.D. needs to go out there and be a light that smiles on people. You don’t have to say a word man. I go on stage and I just smile on people, I smile and I hope that in some way shape or form that God will take the smiles on stage, the music, the passion on stage and just put that in somebody’s heart and say “I love these guys; I love you, and don’t run from my love”.

You’re just a really cool, down to earth dude.

(laughing) Man, people don’t get that sometimes.

I’m trying to reconcile the fact that you’re a multi million CD selling

artist and you’re music has inspired me and lots of people I know and I’m sitting across the table from you like you’re my friend.

That’s right, man, we are friends now.

He gives me a hug and then we got off of the tour bus. Sonny walked over to his wife and daughter. I start to walk away and he stops me. “Hey man, you’re one of us now. You’re family. Stay and hang with us. Get you a drink out of the coolers. Stick around, Jesse’s cooking steaks San Diego style. Come over here let’s see how they are coming.” We walk over and Sonny cuts us both off a piece of steak. “Good isn’t it? Yeah man!!” He starts laughing and puts his arm around me, “Stick around man”.

I left to take pictures of another band that went on while we were doing the interview. I got backstage again just before P.O.D. was scheduled to go on. Their tour manager raced up to me. “Sonny is looking for you dude.” I look around me and there is a huge gathering of people at the P.O.D. tour bus eating. I saw members of several bands there. Several of the members of Live had just gotten there and were eating. Everyone was a big family, it was so cool. A little while later Sonny comes out with a plate of food. “You took off man, I made this for you. Eat it and be well.”

A few minutes later P.O.D. went on stage. Their performance was awesome. They were the crowd favorite at that festival by far. They played all of the favorites from Satellite. They started off with “Roots in Stereo” from the new CD Testify. They also played the new single, “Goodbye for Now” which in my opinion sees the band maturing as songwriters. They played the crowd favorite “Boom” which definitely set things off. Sonny is another singer who likes to get up close and personal with his fans and the fans love it. He jumped off the shoulder-high stage and jumped over the barrier right into the crowd. The security guards didn’t like it but the crowd loved it. He stayed for an entire song then he allowed the guards to help him back on stage. They played their huge smash “Alive” and the crowd went nuts. They played “Youth of a Nation”, “Satellite” and most of their other popular songs. They were amazing live. The energy was almost spiritual. I raced backstage to thank the guys and congratulate them after their performance. As soon as Sonny saw me he came up to me and gave me another hug and told me, “God is in control of all things my brother. Take care.” Then he got on to the tour bus.

In the end P.O.D. were very real people with a very real faith in God and a very real love for people in general. I left the show feeling very alive.

P.O.D.’s new CD Testify is in stores now. For more information go to: www.payableondeath.com

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7


Huntsville’s two-time Pulitzer Prize nominated poet Bonnie

Roberts has been featured in the award-winning, international

anthology Only the Sea Keeps: Poems of the Tsunami. Her poem, “Phantom Waves,” appears in the collection,

which is the recent recipient of two awards. Skipping Stones

Magazine recently named Only the Sea Keeps one of the top 25

books in the world for promoting cultural and social understanding

and education, increasing awareness of nature and the environment, and endorsing

the never-ending importance of human relationships. PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association, also named the

anthology one of three finalists for the PMA 2006 Benjamin Franklin

Award for poetry and literary criticism.

Only the Sea Keeps was published by Bayeux Arts, France. Copies are available in stores or online. All sales go to tsunami and flood

disaster victims worldwide.

How Shall I Regard Thee?

How should I regard thee?Through gossamer sheets of naivety alight with the gentle glow of silver

laden stars?Or rather through eyes open to the

harshness of the day’s reality uplifted to the brightness of the sun itself as it chariots its way through the fiery

heavens above?

How should I consider thee?Through the melodic meanderings of my heart as it choruses a drumbeat

through my being reverberating my very soul’s desires? Or rather with

a clamoring of voices echoing upon one another a meaningless barrage of sounds without meaning or harmony?

How should I touch thee?With tender promises of unyielding

faith and exposed devotion resounding the ecstasy of a lover’s warmth? Or rather with unresponsiveness born of a lack of faith or belief that the sun

will ever rise upon our adjoined bodies intertwined in a devoted embrace?

How should I recognize thee?As I know the distinctiveness of my own body instinct born of familiarity a knowing known by the very desire

to be realized. Or rather from a remoteness created by a necessity to

preserve my spirit from the cruelty that oft visits upon my soul by others less

meaning than I?

I shall see thee through my own eyes.Eyes not blinded by the starkness of

the light nor dimmed by the night’s soft glow, but rather a melding of the two.

I shall hear thee through my own two ears.

Ears listening to the melody and harmony among the bellowing voices

of the world around me.

I shall touch thee with my own two hands.

Hands full of affection and desire to feel and pleasure with the feeling of

touching and being touched in return.

I shall recognize thee with the naturalness as I recognize my own

soul.Open to life and the living of life.

Shelly Estill

Love / Hate By Allen Berry I love you. I love you like fire loves wood, like rain loves the sea, like bodybuilders love reps, I love you like Republicans love to make war and democrats love to whine. I love the way your voice sounds in my ear and the warmth of your body when you come near, I love the way your pronounce supposedly with a b and the way I feel when you’re a lone with me, But like my Juice Newton 45 record of “Loves Been a Little Bit Hard on Me” There’s a B side ... Because I HATE you!

AWARD The Poet

Alfred Ward, better known as “AWARD The Poet” will be representing the Huntsville area in the Southern Fried Regional Poetry Slam in Birmingham on June 8th through the 10th. Participating heavily on the local open mic scene, as well as in Nashville, Birmingham, Mobile and Atlanta, Award published his first book “Paradox Lost” in 2004. He says his next book “The Poem or The Pistol” is “helping reshape how many view poetry and our local literature.” He writes, “I hope that you can find it in your heart to follow my story and support my cause. “ Fear is a luxury I cannot afford to own.” Quote me on that!

Peace, AWARD The Poet

Off The Deep End

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406

I hate you the way kids hat naps, the way Sid hated Nancy, I hate you the way the truth hates lies, and the way Marionettes secretly hate puppeteers. So when I finally cut the strings you held and picked myself up from the floor Every payment I made on the diamond that became NOBODY’s best friend, Felt like I was buying back my life! But the thing I hate most ... Is that 15 years later... I’m still looking for someone I can love so much I hate.


M U S I CContinued on Page 11


Furniture Factory, Voodoo DogzHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, RambisHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Funk Bus (formerly Short Bus)Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Glen and LibbaMoody Mondays, HDK KaraokeNikko’s, EdgarOlde Towne Coffee Shoppe, MajestikaPhilby’s Pourhouse, Jay McGinnis & CompanySammy T’s Music Hall, Beach Bash featuring DJ DSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Mike RobertsSports Page, Big Daddy KingfishThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Jim CavenderThe Warehouse, Lacey Atchison(5-7pm) Happy Hour The Warehouse, Marsha Morgan

Madison11th Frame Bar, Karaoke w/Jim NelsonThe Station, Blackeyed Susan

DecaturHard Dock Café, Blue FlameThe Brick, Ahead of the Wake

GuntersvilleAdrian’s, Brown’s CreekSandy’s Roadhouse, Karaoke

ScottsboroThe Docks, Dan Hardin

SaturdayMay 27, 2006

801 Franklin, Ben TrussellAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, A Lower DeepBenchwarmer, Too, Sister LuckBlack Water Hattie’s, Eric Rhodes BandBobby G’s, HeatClub Ozz, Surprise Entertainment!Coffeetree Books & Brew, Open Mic NightCrossroads, Live MusicEsquire Lounge, ChaosFlying Monkey Arts Center, Barnstormer, Crackerjacks, MajestikaFreddy’s, BlacklandFurniture Factory, Roger Dale with JuiceHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Live MusicHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Pla’ StationKaffeeklatsch @Night, Marge LovedayNikko’s, Gem

Philby’s Pourhouse, 4 Door RamblersSammy T’s Music Hall, HeartlandSports Page, LipstickThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Donnie Cox & Lisa MaloneThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Live MusicThe Warehouse, Tom Cremeens & Jeff Everett

Madison11th Frame Bar, Karaoke w/Jim NelsonThe Station, PUSH

DecaturHard Dock Café, Hot MixxThe Brick, Black Label

GuntersvilleAdrian’s, Bishop BlackSandy’s Roadhouse, Karaoke

ScottsboroThe Docks, Live Music

SundayMay 28, 2006

Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCrossroads, 40 Oz. MidgetsFlying Monkey Arts Center, Green Milk from the Planet, DaikajuHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Sunday Jazz Jam w/Devere PrideHopper’s, Brunch w/Edgar and Evening with Janice’s KaraokeKaffeeklatsch @Night, Blues JamSports Page, Tunes KaraokeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Sunday Evening Jam Sessions with Scott Morgan

MondayMay 29, 2006

Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCrossroads, Open Mic NightHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Marge LovedayKaffeeklatsch @Night, Acoustic Showcase/Open Mic Sports Page, Tunes Karaoke ContestThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Jerry PearsonThe Warehouse, Tim’s Krazy Karaoke

GuntersvilleSandy’s Roadhouse, Karaoke

TuesdayMay 30, 2006

3rd Base Grill, DJ w/Live TriviaBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/Craig Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, HDK “Jackpot” KaraokeCrossroads, Toy ShopHopper’s, Janice’s KaraokeHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Motor City JoshKaffeeklatsch @Night, Marge Loveday

Philby’s Pourhouse, Mike RobertsSports Page, Tunes KaraokeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Scott MorganThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Ben Trussell

GuntersvilleSandy’s Roadhouse, Karaoke Contest

WednesdayMay 31, 2006

3rd Base Grill, Mike & GabeAmerican Legion Post 176, HDK “Jackpot” KaraokeBenchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoffeetree Books & Brew, Songwriter’s Open Mic NightCrossroads, Dave AndersonFlying Monkey Arts Center, Can Kickers, O’Haste Annihilation, Rise UpFurniture Factory, The Scratch BandHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Motor City JoshNikko’s, EdgarPhilby’s Pourhouse, Donnie CoxSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Patio Party w/Live MusicSports Page, Pla’ StationThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Ben TrussellThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Reese RushtonThe Warehouse, Marge Loveday(5-7pm)Happy HourThe Warehouse, DJ Whirl

DecaturThe Brick, Anderain


ThursdayJune 1, 2006

3rd Base Grill, EdgarBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/CraigBenchwarmer, Too, Karaoke Contest

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7



M U S I CPhilby’s Pourhouse, Toy ShopSammy T’s Music Hall, Blackeyed SusanSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Bike Night w/Microwave Dave & the NukesSports Page, 5 O’Clock CharlieThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Marge LovedayThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Lacey AtchisonThe Warehouse, Tom Cremeens

DecaturThe Brick, Wes & Rodney


VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406

Black Water Hattie’s, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, Southern Rock 3Crossroads, Will HogeFreddy’s, Pla’ StationHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Double Open Mic Night(Musicians, Poets, Comedians all are Welcome!Hopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, The Dempsey’s Kaffeeklatsch @Night, Dave AndersonNikko’s, Larry Woelhart

All dates, acts and ticket prices subject to change without notice. A service charge is added to each ticket.

JUNE 28ON SALE NOW!

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS · TICKETMASTER.COM · 715-6000 OR 800-277-1700


FridayJune 2, 2006

801 Franklin, Jim CavenderAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, Second Hand LincolnBenchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBlack Water Hattie’s, Cracker JacksBobby G’s, Live MusicClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCoffeetree Books & Brew, Karen NewsomCrossroads, Perpetual GrooveEsquire Lounge, ChaosFreddy’s, Redd LettersFurniture Factory, Pla’ StationHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Marge LovedayHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Yes No MaybeKaffeeklatsch @Night, Marsha MorganMoody Mondays, HDK KaraokeNikko’s, EdgarOlde Towne Coffee Shoppe, Drum CirclePhilby’s Pourhouse, CaddleSammy T’s Music Hall, Saliva with Desciple and Black Stone CherrySammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Mike RobertsSports Page, Duane Walker and the Desperado Band



2005

The Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Live MusicThe Warehouse, Lacey Atchison(5-7pm) Happy Hour The Warehouse, Scott Morgan

DecaturHard Dock Café, Big Daddy KingfishThe Brick, Fiddleworms


Madison11th Frame Bar, Karaoke w/Jim Nelson


SaturdayJune 3, 2006

801 Franklin, Toy ShopAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, Live MusicBenchwarmer, Too, Government WarningBlack Water Hattie’s, Electric VoodooBobby G’s, KaraokeClub Ozz, Surprise Entertainment!Coffeetree Books & Brew, Open Mic Night

Coppertop, Live MusicCrossroads, Perpetual GrooveEsquire Lounge, ChaosFlying Monkey Arts Center, Yard Dogs Road ShowFreddy’s, Blood RiverFurniture Factory, Slightly DamagedHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Hot SoupHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, JuiceKaffeeklatsch @Night, Toney RobertsNikko’s, GemPhilby’s Pourhouse, 5 O’Clock CharliePinhook Creek Yacht Club, J D & the Bad BoysSammy T’s Music Hall, Az-IzZSports Page, Third PersonThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Lisa BuslerThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Dave AndersonThe Warehouse, Jerry Fordham


DecaturHard Dock Café, Hot Rod OtisThe Brick, Microwave Dave & The Nukes!


ScottsboroThe Docks, Taft

SundayJune 4, 2006

Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCoppertop, The CrawlersCrossroads, Live MusicHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Sunday Jazz Jam w/Devere PrideHopper’s, Brunch w/Edgar and Evening with Janice’s KaraokeKaffeeklatsch @Night, Blues JamPinhook Creek Yacht Club, J D & the Bad BoysSports Page, Tunes KaraokeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Sunday Evening Jam Sessions with Scott Morgan

MondayJune 5, 2006

Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCrossroads, Open Mic NightHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Microwave Dave, soloKaffeeklatsch @Night, Acoustic Showcase/Open Mic Sports Page, Tunes Karaoke ContestThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Jerry PearsonThe Warehouse, Tim’s Krazy Karaoke


TuesdayJune 6, 2006

3rd Base Grill, DJ w/Live TriviaBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/Craig Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, HDK “Jackpot” KaraokeCrossroads, Toy ShopHopper’s, Janice’s KaraokeHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Ron Jeffries & Dan HardinKaffeeklatsch @Night, Marge LovedayPhilby’s Pourhouse, Mike Roberts

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7


Continued From Page 15M U S I CPinhook Creek Yacht Club, Open Mic Night w/Dorvin PaulSports Page, Tunes KaraokeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Irish Night w/Maple Hill BandThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Ben Trussell


WednesdayJune 7, 2006

3rd Base Grill, Mike & GabeAmerican Legion Post 176, HDK “Jackpot” KaraokeBenchwarmer, Too, Male RevueBobby G’s, KaraokeCoffeetree Books & Brew, Songwriter’s Open Mic NightCrossroads, Dave AndersonFurniture Factory, Rockin’ Acoustic DuoHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, The CrawlersNikko’s, EdgarPhilby’s Pourhouse, Dan HardingSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Patio Party w/Live MusicSports Page, Pla’ StationThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Ben TrussellThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Marge LovedayThe Warehouse, Marge Loveday(5-7pm)Happy HourThe Warehouse, DJ Whirl

DecaturThe Brick, Tim Tucker



3rd Base Grill, EdgarBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/CraigBenchwarmer, Too, Karaoke ContestBlack Water Hattie’s, Karaoke

Bobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, Southern Rock 3Crossroads, Live MusicFreddy’s, Pla’ StationHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Double Open Mic Night(Musicians, Poets, Comedians all are Welcome!Hopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Free WorldKaffeeklatsch @Night, Dave AndersonPhilby’s Pourhouse, Toy ShopSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Bike Night w/The CrawlersSports Page, 5 O’Clock CharlieThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Jim CavenderThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Lacey AtchisonThe Warehouse, Tom Cremeens

DecaturThe Brick, Live Music



FridayJune 9, 2006

801 Franklin, Dave McConnell “That Sinatra Guy”American Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, HeatBenchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBlack Water Hattie’s, The Scratch BandBobby G’s, Second Hand LincolnClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCoffeetree Books & Brew, Lowery RiethmeierCrossroads, Adam HoodEsquire Lounge, ChaosFreddy’s, DV8Furniture Factory, PUSHHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Live MusicHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Toy ShopKaffeeklatsch @Night, Tommy Womack

Moody Mondays, HDK KaraokeNikko’s, EdgarOlde Towne Coffee Shoppe, Live MusicPhilby’s Pourhouse, Toy ShopSammy T’s Music Hall, TantricSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Mike RobertsSports Page, Live MusicThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Live MusicThe Warehouse, Lacey Atchison(5-7pm) Happy Hour The Warehouse, Steph Taylor and Lacey Atchison


DecaturHard Dock Café, Booty ShakersThe Brick, Highly kind


ScottsboroThe Docks, Stranded


801 Franklin, JazzanoveAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, Dirty DiablosBenchwarmer, Too, Dusty WinsettBlack Water Hattie’s, Hot Rod OtisBobby G’s, KaraokeClub Ozz, Surprise Entertainment!Coffeetree Books & Brew, Open Mic NightCoppertop, Tony Joe Scott BandCrossroads, RehabEsquire Lounge, ChaosFlying Monkey Arts Center, The Rudy Banes Shutdown, The Thomas Function, PartisanFreddy’s, Red ClayFurniture Factory, Jerry FordhamHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, D J AzucarHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, All Streets BetweenKaffeeklatsch @Night, Live MusicNikko’s, GemPhilby’s Pourhouse, Donnie Cox & Lisa MalonePinhook Creek Yacht Club, 4 Door RamblersSammy T’s Music Hall, Bishop BlackSports Page, Ben Trussell & CompanyThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Adonis BlueThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Live MusicThe Warehouse, Marge Loveday


DecaturHard Dock Café, Mo Joe MixersThe Brick, Trinity Mountain Boys


ScottsboroThe Docks, Live Music

SundayJune 11, 2006

Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCoppertop, The CrawlersCrossroads, Lacey Atchison(5-7pm) Happy Hour Home Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Sunday Jazz Jam w/Devere PrideHopper’s, Brunch w/Edgar and Evening with Janice’s KaraokeKaffeeklatsch @Night, Blues JamPinhook Creek Yacht Club, Dan HardingSports Page, Tunes KaraokeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Sunday Evening Jam Sessions with Scott Morgan

MondayJune 12, 2006

Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCrossroads, Open Mic NightHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Chad ReevesKaffeeklatsch @Night, Acoustic Showcase/Open Mic Sports Page, Tunes Karaoke ContestThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Jerry PearsonThe Warehouse, Tim’s Krazy Karaoke


Tuesday June 13, 2006

3rd Base Grill, DJ w/Live TriviaBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/Craig Benchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, HDK “Jackpot” KaraokeCrossroads, Toy ShopHopper’s, Janice’s KaraokeHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Terry EvansKaffeeklatsch @Night, Marge LovedayPhilby’s Pourhouse, Mike RobertsPinhook Creek Yacht Club, Open Mic Night w/Dorvin PaulSports Page, Tunes KaraokeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Scott MorganThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Ben Trussell


VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406


WednesdayJune 14, 2006

3rd Base Grill, Mike & GabeAmerican Legion Post 176, HDK “Jackpot” KaraokeBenchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoffeetree Books & Brew, Songwriter’s Open Mic NightCrossroads, Dave AndersonFurniture Factory, The Scratch BandHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Mike RobertsNikko’s, EdgarPhilby’s Pourhouse, Donnie CoxSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Patio Party w/Live MusicSports Page, Pla’ StationThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Ben TrussellThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Reese RushtonThe Warehouse, Marge Loveday(5-7pm)Happy HourThe Warehouse, DJ Whirl

DecaturThe Brick, Tom Cremeens



3rd Base Grill, EdgarBenchwarmer, Karaoke w/CraigBenchwarmer, Too, Karaoke ContestBlack Water Hattie’s, KaraokeBobby G’s, KaraokeCoppertop, Southern Rock 3Crossroads, The Legendary Shack ShakersFreddy’s, Pla’ StationHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Double Open Mic Night(Musicians, Poets, Comedians all are Welcome!Hopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Chris DuarteKaffeeklatsch @Night, Dave AndersonPhilby’s Pourhouse, Toy ShopSammy T’s Music Hall,

Splendid ChaosSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Bike Night w/Live MusicSports Page, 5 O’Clock CharlieThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Marge LovedayThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Lacey AtchisonThe Warehouse, Tom Cremeens

DecaturThe Brick, Angela & Katie



FridayJune 16, 2006

801 Franklin, Jimmy ReevesAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, MindsizeBenchwarmer, Too, KaraokeBlack Water Hattie’s, The CrawlersBobby G’s, Live MusicClub Ozz, Enchanted IllusionCoffeetree Books & Brew, Fred RobertsCrossroads, Stars BelowEsquire Lounge, ChaosFreddy’s, FiddlewormsFurniture Factory, Room 240Home Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Latin RhythmsHopper’s, Rudy Mockabee and the Music FactoryHumphrey’s Bar & Grill, Bookem DanoKaffeeklatsch @Night, Eric Rhodes BandMoody Mondays, HDK KaraokeNikko’s, EdgarOlde Towne Coffee Shoppe, Live MusicPhilby’s Pourhouse, Booga FunkSammy T’s Music Hall, 17th FloorSammy’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse, Mike RobertsSports Page, Reunion of Lonesome MoeThe Corner (Bailey Cove), Dave AndersonThe Corner (Hampton Cove), Live Music

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7

The Warehouse, Lacey Atchison(5-7pm) Happy Hour The Warehouse, Scott Morgan


DecaturHard Dock Café, JuiceThe Brick, Bishop Black


ScottsboroThe Docks, Dan Hardin


801 Franklin, Ben TrussellAmerican Legion Post 176, Square OneBenchwarmer, Live MusicBlack Water Hattie’s, Local FunkBobby G’s, KaraokeClub Ozz, Surprise Entertainment!Coffeetree Books & Brew, Open Mic NightCoppertop, Live MusicCrossroads, The Carnaby Loafers & Hot SoupEsquire Lounge, ChaosFlying Monkey Arts Center, Gong Show (9pm)Freddy’s, BlacklandFurniture Factory, 4 Door RamblersHome Port Int’l Bar & Deli, Marge Loveday

Student Exposure & Opportunity:• Classes in Art (the relationship between art & music)• Exposure to Blues, Country, Jazz, R&B and Classical

• Learn to Play Violin, Piano, Guitar and Various Instruments• Perform and Interact with Professional Artist

Students Ages 4-18, Sign Up Today!Come Catch The Beat!!

™

VC Music & Arts Campat the

Oakwood ADVENTIST Academy (Oakwood College Campus)

7000 Adventist Blvd., Huntsville, Alabama 35896For more information: (256) 534-3131 Visit www.valleyconservatory.com

“Print and fill out the VC online form.”


Calendar of EventsMay 04 - 24, 2006

Continued Page 20

Through July 23The Huntsville Museum of Art’s “View of the Collection: Art Tells a Story. The HMA is located on Church St. For more information contact the Museum at 535-4350.

Through January 21, 2007A Silver Menagerie: The Betty Grisham Collection of Buccellati Silver Animals opens at the Huntsville Museum of Art on Church St.

Through August 6As a part of Huntsville Museum of Art’s year-long salute to American Masters, the will celebrate American Women of the South By showcasing artworks from our permanent collection of contemporary Southern Art.

Through May 30Artist Terri Shows will exhibit her works in oil, acrylic, and watercolor

at the Huntsville Times Gallery May 1 – 30. The gallery is located at 2317 South Memorial Parkway and is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. Admission is free. For further information, please call the Times at 532-4494 or HAL at 534-3860.

Through June 113rd Annual Southern Shutters Photo Exhibit set for July 6-9th at the Clay House Museum in Madison encouraging Area photographers, professional and amateur, 14 years old and older to participate. Participants can find an application online at www.clayhouse.com or call Robin Brewer at 325-1018. There is a $25 entry fee and all applications must be received by June 11th.

Through June 16Alabama Filmmaker Co-op will offer Movie Makers: A filmmaking workshop for kids on Saturdays in July from 9am-2pm. This workshop gives kids basic instructions in filmmaking. The deadline for applications is June 16th and application forms are available at www.filmcoop.org. For more information contact Don Tingle at 256-837-4359.

Through June 18Richard Jolley; Sculptor of Glass-this is the first retrospective exhibition of this Southern artist who is America’s foremost figurative sculptor of glass. A slide presentation will be at 2pm in the great hall.

Through June 30Butterflies in the Garden at the Hsv Botanical Gardens on Bob Wallace Ave. The walk-through structure will house 500-1,000 butterflies at a time, giving visitors a chance for an up-close look. M-F 9-5pm and Sun. 1-5pm. Admission charged.

May 25Fiction Writers’ Workshop at the Coffeetree Books & Brew beginning at 7pm. Writers, aspiring writers and maybe want to be writers meet and discuss their work from the discipline of writing daily, to tips on publishing and critical/technical collaboration on works in progress. If you write or think you’d like to, come join in.

May 25The Huntsville Traditional Music Association meets in the Old Country Church on the Burritt Museum grounds to enjoy playing and listening to a variety of Traditional

The Art Krewe and the Huntsville Museum of Art announces its new movies for this year’s

Classic Moves in the Park:

June 9 – The Great GatsbyJune 23 – Charlotte’s WebJuly 14 – Citizen KaneJuly 28 – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?August 11 – SabrinaAugust 25 – A Streetcar Named Desire

Classic Movies in the Park are free and open to the public. Moviegoers are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and a picnic. All movies will be shown at sundown on the west wall of the Huntsville Museum of Art in Big Spring International Park.

This event is presented by the Art Krewe and brought to you by several sponsors, including Comcast, White, Fleming & Company, P.C., Triad

Properties Corporation, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Westar Corporation and UAH Huntsville Regional Medical Campus.

The Art Krewe is a supporting organization of the Huntsville Museum of Art which brings people and art together by fostering art awareness to young professionals through social activities. Classic Movies in the Park is just one of the many events planned by the Art Krewe throughout the year.

To learn more about the Art Krewe, please visit www.hsvmuseum.org and click on Supporting Organizations. You can also find membership information and ways to join the Art Krewe on our web site.

A one-year membership to the Art Krewe costs $30. You must be a member of the Museum in order to be a member of the Art Krewe. A one-year membership to the Museum is also $30.

Art Krewe membership entitles members to free invitations to various social events throughout the year, including exhibition preview parties and members-only parties.

For more information, contact [email protected] or call the Museum at 535-4350 ext. 219. You can also visit www.hsvmuseum.org/artkrewe

Museum Hours:Monday-Saturday -10 am-5 pm Thursday – 10 am-8 pmSunday – 1-5 pm

Admission:$7 – Adults, non-members

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406

Classic Movies in the Park 2006$6 – Seniors (60+), military, and students (age 12 and up)$5 – Per person for groups of 10 or more$3 – Children age 6 to 11FREE – Museum members and children under 6

Huntsville Museum of Art300 Church Street SouthHuntsville, AL 35801(256) 535-4350www.hsvmuseum.org


DR ANARCHO’sRx for Old Stuff That Don’t Suck

[email protected]

SPOTLIGHT ON MUSIC

It was probably Cream with Wheels Of Fire who broke the ground for extended “live” albums that

allowed bands to elongate their more popular numbers.

Cream may have done it first, but The Allman Brothers proved the cream of the crop.

By 1970 the band had completed two marvelous studio albums but hadn’t been able to translate their live reputation into cash. The Brothers were a melting pot of styles stewed together to produce something the BBC called “incredibly sophisticated while retaining the requisite ‘jamming’ looseness needed to entertain the free-thinking audiences of the time.”

During the Muscle Shoals (Ala.) Fame Studio sessions with the immortal Swampers and Wilson Pickett, the definitive cover of The Beatles “Hey Jude” was born at Duane Allman’s behest. He was ever-afterward recognized as a session player without peer. He loved all styles of music as did (later) co-lead of the Allman Brothers Dickie Betts. They battled it out on their Les Pauls, the bottom was added in an inimitable way by Berry Oakley and the – unusual at the time -- twin percussionists, Jaimoe and Butch Trucks drove them over the top.

Add growling brother Gregg’s Hammond B-3 and magic happened, particularly in live performances.

Together, they did what many bands of the time tried and flopped at; they played 30-minute versions of songs and never repeated licks or leads. Instead, they pushed the boundaries further and inspired, challenged, and fed off of each other to make music history. “Whipping Post” was already a masterpiece of soloing, and grew to what the BBC again described as “an exploration on a par with anything Miles (Davis) was attempting. Indeed the other monster, ‘’In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed’’ is Bett’s homage to Miles”.

This issue’s Dr. A Rx For Old Stuff That Don’t Suck is: The Allman brothers band, “Live at Fillmore East.’

Recorded in two nights in March of 1971, the Fillmore East album became what many consider to this day to be the best live recording ever made. The energy and fire almost melted the vinyl, and despite the protestations of their record

company, the band refused to shorten their jams on the numbers. The two CD set contained only seven cuts, something unheard of at the time.

Capturing the incendiary effect of their live shows proved to be the thing that sent the ABB over the top. The previously lackluster sales of their first two LPs took off, and they became the band to see in person, packing concert venues wherever they played. “Jam Bands,” and “Southern Rock” were invented by the ABB, though they never laid claim to either title. They played music for the love it. Their amalgamation of Rock, Country, Blues, Jazz, Gospel and Soul remained true to the South in every way while expanding the appeal of all the individual components to audiences who had never heard such.

Many bands followed their Southern roots lead, Marshall Tucker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Black Oak Arkansas and others owe their success to the trail blazed by the Abb. All the Allmans ever wanted to do was play the music they loved in the manner they felt. The band

transcended the racial boundaries of music and the nation to become a shining example of racial harmony and cooperation, something they were unaware of at the time.

The music felt and sounded good, and they did it better than anyone ever. And they never did it better than “Live at Fillmore East.”

For true audiophiles, there is a remastered / remixed Dolby 5.1 surround sound version of the CD available now, and it includes bonus tracks.

The seven pieces of magic on the original LP were:

1. Statesboro Blues2. Done Somebody Wrong3. Storm Monday 4. You Don’t Love Me5. Hot ‘Lanta6. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed7. Whipping Post

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7

Museum Store

has new ownership, new look!

The Museum Store at the Huntsville Museum of Art has a new look! Under new ownership,

Karen Corp and her staff from Signature Gallery have transformed the space to become the new Museum Store.

This gift shop features fine art crafts by more than 70 artists including popular gift items and American, hand-made crafts.

Shoppers will find glass art from Josh Simpson and his well-known planets plus signed books and DVD’s from his collection. There is also an assortment of Storypeople matted prints and note card gift boxes by another favorite artist, Brian Andreas.

Other gift items include Mad Art, colorful, blown glass created by a husband and wife team, plus dog head clocks by F.B. Fogg.

The Museum Store features a local artists section with pottery from Arch Pike, Ursula Vann and Timothy Weber. There is also an extensive children’s section offering educational and arts-related children’s games and books, plus unique gift items such as jewelry, pens and watercolor paintings.

Store manager Karen Corp also owns Signature Gallery on Whitesburg Drive.

The Museum Store is located off the Museum lobby. Its hours are Monday-Saturday -10 am-5 pm, Thursday – 10 am-8 pm and Sunday – 1-5 pm. For more store information, call 535-4350 ext. 212.


Steve Moulton hosts The Pressbox every weekday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. on ESPN 1400 in Decatur, Ala. You can email him at [email protected].

If you have an event that you would like for us to list, send information to [email protected]


So do you want your Dream Job now? By Steve Moulton

Music. The public is welcome. The purpose and objective is to preserve and perpetuate traditional music, instruments, and styles of rendition.

May 26Lunch concerts in the park from noon-1pm. Come enjoy your lunch and the music of Rob Aldridge at the Arbor area of Big Spring Park downtown.

May 26801 Franklin presents “Uncorked and Unwined” from 5-7pm. Come and enjoy complimentary noshing, great drink specials and live music. Check out the music calendar for entertainment,

May 27Swing Dance with The Clay Swafford Band playing jump blues at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Leeman Ferry Rd. Free swing dance lessons at 7:15 and the music will be from 8-11pm. Come join the fun! Admission is $`12 for non members and $10 for HSDS members and $6, students. For more info go to www.huntsvilleswingdance.org.

May 27Free walking tour in Historic Huntsville will start at 10am and

there is no admission charge. The tour will begin at Alabama Constitution Village on Gates. Enjoy an hour or more walking by some of Alabama’s most beautiful antebellum mansions. Guides share stories about the homes’ owners as well as recognizing each site’s distinctive style.

May 27Come join Madison Mayor Sandy Kirkindall in a free guided walking tour of historic Madison beginning at 10am. The tour begins at the Clay House Museum.

May 27Down Home Blues Festival is being held at the Jaycees Fairground on Airport Rd beginning at noon. Enjoy the biggest, baddest blues festival with Marvin Sease, Willie Clayton, Reggie P., T.K. Soul, Denise LaSalle, J. Blackfoot, Roni, Jeff Floyd, Mel Waiters, Dave Mack, Simone De, Sergio Davis & special guest Stacy Mitchart.

May 27Old School Music Festival will be held this year at Sportsman Enterprise Park on Old Railroad Bed Rd in Harvest. Showtime is 1pm featuring KGI & JOJO, Lakeside, Cherelle & Barkay’s. For ticket information contact 539-7247.

May 28Meet the Artist reception for Johnny Hinkle, known for his historic buildings and realistic prints at Clay House Museum in Madison from 1-3pm. For more information contact 325-1018.

May 30-August 3Sci-Quest is offering science programs for children ages 4-12.Forty-three hands-on programs and sixteen different camps are beingoffered through August 3. For more information on any of thehands-on programs or camps or to receive a catalog, please call theSci-Quest Education Department at 837-0606, ext. 227 or visitwww.sci-quest.org.

June 1Thursday Evening Concert at the Huntsville Public Library begins at 6pm and is Free Admission.

June 2Huntsville Museum of Art’s Free First Friday. The museum is located on Church St., downtown.

June 2Monkey Speak is spoken word open mic. Readers of poetry, short stories and more are invited to participate. Admission is $5 and will be at the

Flying Monkey Art Center in the Lowe Mill on Seminole Dr. *For Mature Audiences*

June 2801 Franklin presents “Uncorked and Unwined” from 5-7pm. Come and enjoy complimentary noshing, great drink specials and live music. Check out the music calendar for entertainment,

June 2The Burritt on the Mountain’s hosts the City Lights Concert with the Huntsville Jazz Orchestra. Music to be held form 7:30-10pm on the museum grounds. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Tennessee Valley at Burritt on the Mountain as fine nationally known and local musicians perform under the stars at this series of casual outdoor concerts. Admission charged, and fancy picnic suppers are available. For more info contact 512-5570

June 2-4Ars Nova presents “A Night with Puccini” featuring two one-act operas Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica at the Renaissance Theatre on Meridian St. General admission price is $18.

We all believe that there is a dream job. You know it’s the one you’ve always wanted.

The one dream job that above all you keep hoping beyond hope for. My dream job is to be a play-by-play guy for a Division I College Team. Be the “Voice of a Team.”

For Dennis Franchione his dream job was in College Station, Texas. He always wanted to be the head football coach at Texas A&M.

An old wise tale comes to mind, “Be careful what you wish for.” Coach Fran began coaching in 1973 at Miller High School in Missouri.

His first collegiate head coaching experience came at Southwestern College in Kansas (1981-1982). While he was the head coach at Texas Christian University he had written in his contract that one of the schools that was exempt from a buy out of his contract was Texas A&M.

Coach Fran was a good coach, a winning coach. Everywhere Franchione went the team ended up winning. Southwestern College (14-4-2), Pittsburgh State (53-6), Southwest Texas State (13-9), TCU (25-10). The only blemish was at New Mexico. Franchione was 33-36.

Bottom line was the man knew how to win. After the 2001 season at TCU, Dennis Franchione received interest from The University of Alabama. Alabama was looking for a new direction after the ill fated 3-8 season under Coach Mike Dubose. Alabama for the first time was looking “outside the family.”

Dennis Franchione came to the rescue. The very next season as Alabama’s head football coach the Crimson Tide went 7-5 with an Independence Bowl

win over Iowa State. Then after NCAA penalties crippled the Crimson Tide Football Program the team responded under Franchione. Alabama went 10-3 in 2002. Bama could not go bowling, but it was clear who was the best in the west. It was November 27, 2002 and all was well with Bama Nation. Alabama was preparing to play Hawaii in their makeshift bowl game because of the two-year bowl ban handed down by the NCAA in February of 2002.

A rumor began to run like wild fire. Texas A&M was looking for a new head coach after firing R.C. Slocum. Slocum was fired after 14 years with more wins than any other Texas A&M head football coach in history. Coach Fran was being lured by Texas A&M. At Alabama’s stop over on the west coast reporters asked Coach Fran about the rumors.

Coach Fran denied the rumors. Bama Nation breathed a sigh of relief. After a 21-16 win over Hawaii, Coach Dennis Franchione signed a deal with Texas A&M. He left Tuscaloosa and headed to Texas A&M without even talking to his Crimson Tide team. On Dec. 6, 2002, Dennis Franchione got his dream job. He became the head football coach at Texas A&M.

This story does not have a happy ending (so far). Since his dream became a reality Coach Fran has had only one winning season (7-5 in 2004). He is 0-6 against Texas and Oklahoma. This reminds me of another saying, “Karma is a bitch.”

I am by no means an Alabama fan but I can’t help but wonder if Bama Nation unleashed “the curse of The Bear” on what many now call Coach Franphony.

Coach Dennis Franchione is 16-19 as Texas A&M head football coach.

Now he begins his fourth season with a new quarterback after the Reggie McNeal experiment failed. He is trying to catch up with their biggest rival, Texas, coming off a Bowl Championship Series National Championship. He wonders if his Defensive Coordinator would serve better as the offensive coordinator because of the amount of points the defense has given up. A&M Fans are now beginning to wonder if RC can come back?

Having a dream job is great, but to attain that dream at all cost will end up biting you in the end.

Karma is a bitch and be careful what you wish for Franphony!

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406



E V E N T S

SINGLE & FABULOUSIn the Rocket CityBy Fifi Boudeaux

Continued Page 22

Freedom: From Philadelphia to the Rocket City

About face, ladies! Here’s some advice passed to you as relayed to Fifi by her best straight guy

friend, “Sadat..” Straight from Philly, where liberty rings for those who listen well in the beginning, instead of writing their own relationship constitution based on misplaced hopes and dreams of marriage.

Having survived the termination of a two-year committed relationship that almost went to the aisle; Sadat. found himself needing to recoil. Eventually dating again, he simply wanted to enjoy the company of ladies for friends, while getting on track with both career and creative goals. An extremely interesting person and a stand-up guy, Sadat displays a cool demeanor with great intelligence, artistic genius and unique hotness. During this epoch, enter “Sophia”; professional in a similar field as his, relatively attractive, seven years his senior, and a single mother of a six- year -old daughter. Sophia saw in Sadat what many single women see: availability, the desire to pursue, instant father for child, an ultimate challenge.

She went in for the kill. To establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility, Sadat was clear with Sophia in the beginning, resounding :“ I am not ready for a relationship, I just want to hang out”.

Like a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it, the question remains whether that key sentence was ever heard by Sophia. Numerous incidences later would indicate that the bell never rang for her to process what Sadat attempted to establish from the jump: friendship. The rest (if anything) would have to age and mature; it was much too early in the game to place future bets. Not engagement, not marriage, not any sort of responsibility for her happiness or unhappiness-simply being. The situation became a python attack scenario. The more he struggled to escape and claim free space, the tighter she squeezed. The last suffocating blow came when Sadat’s cell rang at work, a hysterically crying Sophia blaming him for not being “emotionally available” for her because he didn’t acknowledge the date that her best friend was

tragically moving across country. WHAT? All he could say to that was, “I told you in the beginning I did not want a relationship, I just wanted to hang out”.

A faithful reader and supporter of this column, Sadat wishes to convey a few points from the male perspective to the ladies in the single and fabulous audience:

1. Listen. Good guys will be honest and eventually tell you what they are all about.

2. Take it at face value. Don’t project what you want onto what a guy says or does. Put the crystal ball away, Dearest.

3. He is what he is. You can’t rotate the planets; what makes you think you can change a man?

4. Be yourself. If he does love you later, he doesn’t want to be asking Sybil to return the personality he originally was attracted to.

5. If it’s not right, you can’t make it work. If it’s right, it’s easy. No smoke and mirrors, please.

6. There are two types of Anaconda squeezes, and the forced emotional one is just not cool.

So ladies, there you have it. We know you are single and fabulous, you love men and we love you for it. Ease up. You have the freedom to leave if unhappy with the situation. These truths hold to be self-evident; we all appreciate our freedom and to what capacity we want it will depend on how free we are in the establishment of relationships. Thank you, Mr. Kirkwood, for your insight.

Look for Fifi’s column, exclusively in the next issue of The Valley Planet.

For more info contact the Ars Nova Office at 883-1105.

June 3Contra Dance is to be held at the Faith Presbyterian Church at Airport and Whitesburg. Live Music by Free Range Turkeys of Chattanooga & Brasstown, NC with calling by Jane Ewing. All ages are welcome. Introductory workshop is 7-7:30 and the dance is 7:30-10:30. For more info contact 837-0656.

June 3Youth Fishing Rodeo-8:30am-10:30am at Brahan Spring Park Saddle-up & ride out to the Youth Fishing Rodeo. Young fishermen 6 to 12 will be casting for pride & prizes. One fish will be tagged with $5,000 in cash & prizes.

June 4The Gorham’s Bluff Institute presents “Bluegrass on the Bluff” with two time grammy-nominee The Claire Lynch Band. Music begins at 3pm at the amphitheater. For more information contact 256-451-ARTS(2787), Ext. 42 or go to www.gorhamsbluff.com

June 5The North Alabama Media Reform groups next meeting will be held at 6pm at Tai Pan Palace on the corner of Governor’s & the Parkway. Attendees are not required to eat. North Alabama Media Reform is a group of concerned individuals working to ensure that area citizens have access to relevant, fair and accurate news and commentary. For more information contact 256-489-3884.

June 9The Alabama Film Coop presents “Broken Flowers”(Rated R). The film will be shown at the Flying Monkey Art Center on Seminole Dr. in Lowe Mill. Film begins at 8pm and admission is $5. A coffee & conversation will follow the screening. For more info contact 25-489-3884 or go to www.filmcoop.org.

June 9The Art Krewe and the Huntsville Museum of Art holds the Classic Movies in the Park. The first will be The Great Gatsby and will begin at sundown on the West wall of the Museum. Classic Movies in the Park are free and open to the public. Moviegoers are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and a picnic.


June 9-10Ars Nova presents “A Night with Puccini” featuring two one-act operas Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica at the Renaissance Theatre on Meridian St. General admission price is $18. For more info contact the Ars Nova Office at 883-1105.

June 10Come join the Flying Monkey Art Center with their Artist Market. This begins at noon at the center on Seminole Dr. Free Admission.

June 10Songwriter’s Showcase hosted by Jim Parker will be held at the VBC featuring Victoria Banks, Todd Cerney and Casey Kelly. For times and ticket information contact the VBC ticket office.

June 12Burritt on the Mountain 22nd Annual Silver Tea. This year’s theme will be “Fans” with an eclectic display of ladies fans from around the world. Every lady will receive a colorful fan

of her own. This event’s mission is to support the Museum financially and through volunteer service, the Burritt Museum Guild offers the Silver Tea each year as its major fundraiser. There will be a fabulous assortment of teatime delicacies and musical entertainment found at different sites throughout the park. The event is from 1-4pm. For reservations and information please contact Burritt on the Mountain at 536-2882.

June 12Ars Nova presents “A Night with Puccini” featuring two one-act operas Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica at the Renaissance Theatre on Meridian St. General admission price is $18. For more info contact the Ars Nova Office at 883-1105.

June 15The Huntsville Museum of Art will have a docent-led tour of Southern Women Artists exhibition. Contact 535-4350 for more details.


#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7


Allison Gregg is an eternal optimist who has never had it so good. Email Allison at [email protected].

Continued From Page 21E V E N T S

Do you hear what I’m saying?

...you have to learn how to turn off

the inner voice...

My friend and I were encouraging another friend to apply for a new job when

the would-be applicant came up with a laundry list of why she wouldn’t get the job, so why even bother applying. Of all the excuses she offered up, none of them had legs. As I explained that she had everything the new employer was looking for and that she had nothing to lose by throwing her name into the ring, and as I was talking in a quite passionate tone, my co-persuader goes, “Pot, Meet Kettle.” I stopped and looked at her, dumbfounded. “Pot? Me? That’s what I sound like? Oh. Dear. God. Really?” She nodded, “Totally.”

A few weeks earlier, I was watching a reality show in which a woman had talked herself scared and wasn’t able to dive to the bottom of a pool. “Shut up,” I yelled at the television. “SHUT UP and just do it.” After this came out of my mouth, I paused, sat back down, and looked around to make sure I was alone.

I began to wonder, when it comes to limitations, why do we talk ourselves out of great possibilities? When it comes to self-talk, are we our worst enemy? Do we even have a clue how we sound? If we can hold a mirror up and look ourselves in the eyes, what can we do to hear what we’re saying? Do we know what we sound like? If my friend can talk herself out of applying for a job, if some reality show star can talk her way out of diving to the bottom of a pool, what’s to stop the rest of us from setting ourselves up for meritocracy?

Inside each of our hearts and heads sit two self portraits: the good one and the bad one. Perhaps the good one shows a poised, refined, well-spoken adult who doesn’t recall the faults, flaws, and flubs of the past. Fortunately, the other self-portrait is quick to bring those to the surface. That picture is very aware of the image of perfection. A little voice speaks from it, reminding you you’ll never measure up. “Don’t you remember failing that test in high school? Remember in college when you’d show up to class half asleep, wearing pajamas? How come you can’t get a date? Have you seen how the south side of a northbound Allison looks these days?” When this little voice speaks to us, taunts us, inevitably those words come out in a different form from our mouths: “You know, maybe I shouldn’t apply for that job, there’s no way anyone would hire me…”

The rest of the world sees you completely differently. They don’t see the mistakes; they see something you

never will. It takes the voices of the outside world to truly point you in the right direction.

Friends and family will encourage you to aim for greatness. But sometimes, it’s the voice of complete strangers that will set you straight. Random words from practical strangers say what no one else could. A friend was in the middle of ending a relationship when out of nowhere, from a passing car came the shout, “Don’t cry girl!” She didn’t. Recently, I was facing a difficult decision. The most encouraging person wasn’t someone I’d shared hours of conversation with. Instead, it was an acquaintance who I’d spoken with three times before. Not only did she believe in me, but also she saw in me something greater than I could. She immediately hushed all my self-doubts.

In the end, you have to learn how to turn off the inner voice. Tell it to shove it and listen to what the rest of the world is saying: don’t cry, aim higher, and dive deeper. Eventually that inner voice will stop saying “No you can’t!” and start saying, “Told you I could.” How exactly this miracle is done is a mystery to me. I do know once you throw self-doubt and fear out the window, there truly is no limit to our potential

June 17The Huntsville Traditional Music Assoc. is sponsoring a concert with Italian guitarist/singer, Beppe Gambetta. The concert is being held at The Unitarian Univeralist Church on Governors Dr at 7:30.

June 17Contra Dance is to be held at the Faith Presbyterian Church at Airport and Whitesburg. Live Music by Whistlin’ Rufus with calling by Doug Singleton of Atlanta. All ages are

welcome. Introductory workshop is 7-7:30 and the dance is 7:30-10:30. For more info contact 837-0656.

June 17Come join the Flying Monkey Art Center with their Artist Market. This begins at noon at the center on Seminole Dr. Free Admission.

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406


Shopping at Target the other night and it took well over two hours to buy the ingredients of a Reuben.

The reason being, I bumped into several people I knew. They weren’t the ones that I would call to make sure they’re still breathing (hey, some people you just don’t invade, man), but there are various people that have settled into the back of my mind, showing up in a random dream, I don’t know, eating a hot dog, or throwing marbles or something.

You know the people I speak of. You think about them from time to time and low and behold chance puts you in need of some sauerkraut and Peter in need of some Milwaukee’s Beast.

Before you know it you are standing in the parking lot discussing the lost gospel of Judas. Or running into The Littles is always supreme. Then there was David to share his latest online conquest, and sweet sweet Marilyn came on the scene. She is about to retire, travel with Big Bad Bob for few minutes- see some sights.

Someone I will never bump into at the store is my high school friend Theresa. This is purely because I do not shop in Fort Collins, Colo.

Theresa was in town for a visit recently and yet again, we missed each other- only to resort back to emails and promises. I wrote in my last email of my attempt to spread some blue around this red place, and she rallied around my effort but responded that she will never again live in the south. (Don’t fret, my point is coming soon).

We lose some good ones. Pam is in New England, Corbin Seattle (or New York, hell I can never keep up, she’s not here though). Ah! Seattle. I used to want to move there. I thought-now here is a city that is as dedicated to coffee as I am, the music scene is smoking and it rains constantly. Coffee, music rain, these are a few of my favorite things.

Nevertheless, some people get out. Say they can’t hack the south and never will. Too religious-y? Too fried? Too republican? Too humid? Whatever it is, I have heard it said too many times not to address- so here goes- Can’t say that I blame you, dude. (There is a ‘but’ coming now and soon to follow that ever elusive point).

But, I’m staying. And here are several reasons why.

I can’t imagine getting to get on a plane to hug my grandmother. If I had to pay

outrageous airfare just to check on my mom and make sure she’s cool.

Well, I couldn’t afford to check on my mom and make sure she’s cool. (Actually, I could stop here. I think this alone is reason enough, but because I like to listen to myself talk (read to myself my writing?) I will continue…

I’d rather stay in my hometown and help it progress forward instead of moving to a city full of like-minded people, who all say ‘dude.’ Yes, my blood pressure would be lower, but I would grow tired of head nods. Plus, being a radical would be an option, not a necessity.

I have said “Huntsville has potential” for as long as I can remember. I want to see it through.

It’s slow here. A kind of medium-slow. It’s not the kind of slow where there isn’t running water, but it isn’t the kind of town in which everyone is a stranger and a cab can be hailed on every corner. I like that. Everything about Huntsville, screams in the middle. I’m friggin’ Goldilocks and this city is just right.

There are quite a few reasons to call this city home. This is where you, dear reader, need to think of your own. Why are you here? Why do you stay? Friends? Family? The smell of honeysuckle in May? You sleep with your windows open as well? Do you have a special someone you bump into at Target? (I smell a future anti Wal-Mart article, how bout you?)

Which brings me to the spot where I tie it all in, my friend. If I moved away, I would never see those random people that bring a smile to my day. Just this morning, I ran into Dustin at Olde Towne. Dustin! Every trip is an excursion of “how ya been?” and “send me an email!” For lack of a better word, that’s just….special.

Like it or not, Huntsville, you are stuck with Liv. And if all goes well, I am going to make a ruckus. Anyone else want to join me or are you going to bail, too?

A Tale of Two SoapboxesBy Liv Lanier

It’s time heat up the dance floor once again with the hottest Latin Dance Event of the Summer, “Tropical

Nights”, presented by the Alabama Hispanic Association (AHA).

“Tropical Nights” will be on Saturday, June 3rd, starting at 8:00 pm at the Seniors Center Auditorium on 2200 Drake Avenue in Huntsville. The always-popular FREE Merengue and Salsa group dance lesson will be given from 8:00pm to 9:00pm. Music will be provided by “DJ Azucar” (Signey Hernández), with a eclectic selection of the best salsa, merengue, cha cha, rumba, cumbia, bachata and Latin ballroom. Admission is $8 per person in advance and $10 per person at the door. Advance tickets are available at La Michoacana Grocery Store until Friday, June 2nd. La Michoacana is located at 2007 University Drive in Huntsville and they open daily from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm. (256-532-0266). Tickets are also available through members of AHA. If you feel like hot salsa dancing or just having a good time while enjoying the company of great people listening and dancing to the hottest Latin music in the Tennessee

THE HOTTEST LATIN DANCE EVENT OF THIS SUMMER:

“Tropical Nights!”

Valley, then you don’t want to miss “Tropical Nights” on Saturday, June 3rd starting at 8:00 pm at the Seniors Center Auditorium in Huntsville. Everyone is encouraged to wear a colorful shirt or dress.

The Alabama Hispanic Association, founded in 1999, is a charitable, non-profit, tax-exempt organization committed to assisting the northern Alabama Hispanic community with information and resources for education, medical guidance, legal advice, translation, and assistance with various social issues. AHA also promotes Hispanic heritage awareness through its social activities, which bring together Hispanics and welcome members of all other ethnic groups who make up our community. As part of the efforts to raise the funds needed to fulfill its goals and mission, AHA hosts Latin Dances throughout the year featuring live bands and local Latin DJ’s. For additional information on AHA, visit our website at www.alabamahispanicassociation.org or contact our President, Margaret Rotger, at 256-325-4242.

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7

Letter To The Planet


[email protected]

Continued On Page 25

801 FRANKLIN 801 Franklin Street, Huntsville (Downtown by Medical Center), 256-519-8019. Lunch: M-F 11-2, Dinner: M-W 5-10 pm & Th-Sa 5 pm-1 am. Lounge opens 4 pm M-F. Full Bar & Extensive Wine List. www.801franklin.com

BEAUREGARD’S (3 Huntsville locations) 1851 University Dr. , 256-512-0074 511 Jordan Lane, 256-837-2433 975 Airport Rd. SW, 256-880-2131

BENNIGAN’S1009 Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-534-6141www.bennigans.com

BISTRO LA LUNA Covenant Cove Lodge & Marina, 7001 Val-Monte Drive, Guntersville, 256-582-0930. www.covenantcove.com

BONEFISH GRILL 4800 Whitesburg Dr. , 256-883-0643

BUFFALO WILD WINGS2750 Carl T. Jones Dr. 256-650-4115

CHEF GREEN’S ON THE FOUNTAINFountain RowHuntsville, Al 35801

CHILI’S (2 Huntsville locations)4925 University Drive, 256-722-9620 2740 Carl T. Jones, 256-882-1230

CRAWMAMMA’S 5000 Webb Villa, Guntersville, 256-582-0484

D&L BISTRO7500 SW Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-881-7244, located in Main St. South

THE DOCKSGoosepond Colony, 417 Ed Hembree, Scottsboro, 256-574-3071.

EDEN’S EAST2413-B Jordan Lane, Huntsville, 256-721-9491Vegetarian fare, M-Thu: 11am-6 pm; Fri: 11am-3pm

FURNITURE FACTORY BAR & GRILL619 Meridian Street N, Huntsville (just north of Downtown), 256-539-8001.

GREEN HILLS GRILLE5100 Sanderson Street NW, Huntsville (corner of Wynn and University), 256-837-8282.

HUMPHREY’S BAR & GRILL109 Washington Street, Huntsville (Downtown, corner of Washington and Clinton), 256-704-5555. 11 am – 2 am everyday. www.downtownhuntsville.comLive music almost every night – SEE CALENDAR

JAZZ FACTORY109 North Side Square, Huntsville (Downtown on the Square), 256-539-1919.

K C’s COYOTE CAFE410 Old Town St., Guntersville, 256-582-1676

LE BISTRO DU SOLEIL300 Franklin Street, Huntsville (Downtown on the Square), 256-539-7777

LOGAN’S ROADHOUSE (2 Huntsville locations)4249 Balmoral Drive, Huntsville, 256-881-0584 University Drive NW, Huntsvile

2315 Beltline SW, Decatur, 256-432-2746

MAIN STREET CAFE101Main Street, Madison, 461-8096

MAMA ANNIE’S4550 Meridian Street N, 489-3275

THE PALATTE’ CAFÉHuntsville Museum of Art300 Church St.Huntsville, Al 35801

PAULI’S BAR & GRILL7143-C Hwy 72 W, Huntsville (corner of Slaughter Road & Hwy 72), 256-722-2080. www.downtownhuntsville.com

PAULI’S CHOPHOUSE109 Washington Street, Huntsville (Downtown, corner of Clinton and Washington), 256-704-5555. M-Th 5 – 10 pm, F-Sat 5 – 11 pm, Sun 11 am – 2 pm. www.downtownhuntsville.com

PRINCETON’S CEDAR MILL GRILLE1208 Beltline SW, Decatur, 256-351-6247

SILVER POINT RESTAURANT7840 Hwy 72 Madison, 856-895-3343

STARFISHCorner of Pratt & Russell, Huntsville, 256-327-5555www.downtownhuntsville.com

T-BIRDS CAFE1792 Hwy. 72 East, Huntsville, 256-852-9191.

TGI FRIDAY’S4935 University Drive NW, Huntsville 256-830-2793, www.tgifridays.com

TOP O’ THE RIVER7004 Val-Monte, Guntersville, 256-582-4567

WILD FLOUR BISTRO600 Jordan Lane NW, Huntsville (shopping center, corner of Holmes and Jordan). 256-536-0939.

WINGS SPORTS GRILLE4250 Balmoral Dr. SW, Huntsville, 256-881-8878.www.wingssportsgrille.com

ALABAMA BREAD COMPANY975 Airport Rd., Huntsville, 256-882-2010.

CAFE BABA 5000 Whitesburg, Huntsville, 256-519-2323.

CAFE DOMAIN 6585 Hwy 431 S, Ste. C, Huntsville, 256-882-6747

COFFEE CREATIONS616 HWY 31, S ATHENS, AL 35611

COFFEE AND TEA COMPANYMadison Square Mall University Dr. Huntsville 256-837-7085

COFFEE TREE BOOKS & BREW, THE 7900 Bailey Cove Rd., Huntsville, 256-880-6464

HIGHLANDER COFFEE SHOPPEBob Wallace AveHuntsville, AL 35805

JAMO’S CAFÉ413 Jordan Lane NW, Huntsville, 256-837-7880.

JAVA JAAY CAFE1713 6th Ave. SE, Decatur, 256-351-8555.

KAFFEEKLATSCH103 Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-536-7993.

KENNY MANGO’S COFFEE SHOP & GALLERY119 N Side Square, Huntsville, 256-755-6559.

LAGNIAPPES COFFEE CAFE119 East Moulton, DecaturCoffee, Espresso, Bakery & Deli.

OLDE TOWNE COFFEE SHOPPE511 Pratt Ave NE, Huntsville, 256-539-5399

SEATTLE SOUTH2113 Whitesburg Drive S, Huntsville,(Whitesburg Medical District), 256-534-0513

WEST SIDE COFFEE PLACE & CAFE2699B Sandlin Rd., SW, Decatur, 256-353-2025

WILD ROSE CAFE121 North Side Square, Huntsville, 256-539-3658CAJUN CAFE704 Hwy 231 Lacey’s Spring 256-650-5586

PO BOY FACTORY815 Andrew Jackson Way, Huntsville (in Five Points) 256-539-3616.

TIM’S CAJUN KITCHEN114 Jordan Lane, Huntsville, 256-533-7589.

PAPOU’S110 South Side Square, Huntsville, 256-534-5553Greek Restaurant, Lunch & Dinner, Full Bar.

SAZIOCorner of Pratt & Russell, Huntsville, 256-327-5555Mediterranean Cuisine, Full Bar, Patio Dining

BELLACINO’S PIZZA & GRINDERS (3 locations) 4851 Whitesburg Dr, 256-880-8656 8572 Madison Blvd, Madison, 256-774-1918 11700 N So Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-650-4648

BIG ED’S PIZZERIA721 Clinton Avenue, Huntsville, 256-536-2872

CHEEBURGER, CHEEBURGER (3 locations)5000 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-885-3700300 Hughes Rd, Madison, 256-464-9990Providence Main, Huntsville

DUFFY’S DELI2324 Whitesburg, Huntsville, 256-533-4179

McALLISTER’S DELI (2 Huntsville locations) 4800 Whitesburg Drive S, 256-880-1557 and1480 Perimeter Pkwy, 256-425-0034. Appetizers, Salads, Sandwiches, Spuds & Desserts. Kid’s Menu.

TONY’S ITALIAN DELI119 James Madison Drive SW Huntsville, 256-772-4448

SCHLOTZSKY’S DELI (2 Huntsville locations)4319 University Drive NW, 256-830-640011120 Memorial Pkwy SW, 256-650-63008969 Hwy. 20, Madison, 256-464-5300

SOUL BURGER2900 Triana Blvd. SW, Huntsville, 256-534-8585

STANLIEO’S SUB VILLA (2 Huntsville locations) 605 Jordan Lane, 256-837-7220 602 Governors Drive, 256-536-6585

TERRY’S PIZZA (3 Huntsville locations)9034 Memorial Pkwy S, 256-881-59873612 Governors Dr, 256-536-3389 and2514 Memorial Pkwy N, 256-539-3467

BB PERRINS608 Holly St, NE, Decatur, 256-355-0980

CLEM’S BBQ & FISHERY3700 Blue Spring Road NWHuntsville, 256-852-6661

DREAMLAND3855 University Dr., Huntsville 256-539-7427

GIBSON BARBECUE (3 Huntsville locations)3319 Memorial Pkwy., Huntsville, 256-881-48518412 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, 256-882-0841735 Hwy 72 E, Huntsville, 256-852-98821715 6th Ave., SE, Decatur, 256-350-6969

MERIDIANVILLE BAR-B-QUE11537 Hwy. 231N., Meridianville, 256-828-3725

OLE HICKORY PIT BBQ5061 Maysville Road New Market, 256-859-2824

SMOKEY’S BARBEQUE8073 Hwy 72, W, Madison256-721-0300

THOMAS PIT BBQHwy 72 ,W, Madison256-837-4900BLUE PLATE CAFE 3210 Governors Drive, Huntsville, 256-533-8808

ERNEY’S1605 Pulaski Pike NWHuntsville, (256) 533-5734

G’S COUNTRY KITCHEN2501 Oakwood Dr., Huntsville, 256-533-3034

MULLIN’S607 Andrew Jackson, Huntsville, 256-539-2826

ROLO’S CAFE505 Airport Rd., Huntsville, 256-883-7656

BANDITO BURRITO (2 locations) 3017 Governors Dr SW, Huntsville, 256-534-0866208 Main St., Madison, 256-461-8999

CASA BLANCA MEXICAN RESTAURANT(4 locations) 7830 Hwy 72 W, Ste 230, Madison 256-864-0360140 Browns Ferry Rd, Madison 256-464-60447900 Bailey Cove Rd, Huntsville 256-883-44471802 Hwy 72 E, Ste D, Athens 256-771-0130

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

EL PALACIO2008 Memorial Pkwy SW, Huntsville 256-539-6075

GARIBALDI’S2107 Old Blue Spring Rd. Hsv 256-851-7394

GUADALAJARA MEXICAN RESTAURANTS11208 Memorial Pkwy S, Huntsville 256-882-7311 &8572 Madison Blvd, 256-774-1401

LA ALAMEDA3807 University Drive NWHuntsville, 256-539-6244

LITTLE ROSIE’S TAQUERIA4781 Whitesburg Dr S, Huntsville, 256-882-0014

PEPITO’S3508 Mem. Pkwy. S, Hsv256-858-0059

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406


Continued From Page 24LISTINGS

Calling all Artists!

If you would like to submit your Art Work please email as

an attachment to jill@

valleyplanet.com

QDOBA MEXICAN GRILL4800 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville 256-489-1367

ROSIE’S MEXICAN CANTINA (2 Huntsville locations)6125 University Drive, 256-922-10017540 S. Memorial Pkwy, 256-382-3232

CARRABASParkway Place Mall Huntsville, Al 35801

ITALIAN PIE5000 Whitesburg Dr, Huntsville, 256-883-9112

LA STRADA12824 Hwy 431, Guntersville. European cuisine. 256-582-2250. www.lastradabama.com

LUCIANO964 Airport Road SW, Huntsville, 256-885-0505

RICATONI’S ITALIAN GRILL107 N. Court St., Florence, 256-718-1002

ROMANO’S MACARONI GRILL5901 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-722-4770

TELLINI’S CAFE & GRILL4855 Whitesburg Dr. Hsv256-881-9155EDO JAPANESE RESTAURANT104 N. Intercom Drive, Madison, 256-772-0360

MIKATO JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE & LOUNGE4061 Independence Dr. NW, Huntsville, (one block N. of University on Jordan Ln.), 256-830-1700.

MIKAWA RESTAURANT1010 Heathland Dr, Huntsville, 256-837-7440.

MIWON JAPANESE RESTAURANT404 Jordan Lane NWHuntsville, 256-533-7771MIYAKO10013 South Parkway256-880-9879

NIKKO JAPANESE RESTAURANT6565 Hwy. 431, Hampton Cove, 256-536-3690

SHO GUN JAPANESE STEAK & SUSHI BAR3991 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-534-3000.

TOKYO JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE & SUSHI BAR 1105 Wayne Road, Huntsville, 256-217-1719

MAMA FU’S ASIAN HOUSE6920 University Dr. Huntsville, 256-830-4433SURIN OF THAILAND975 Airport Rd SW, Huntsville, 256-213-9866

THAI GARDEN RESTAURANT 800 Wellman Ave. NE, Huntsville, 256-534-0122

CHINA MOON 11700 S Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-880-2626

DING HOW II4800 Whitesburg Dr., Huntsville, 256-880-8883

JADE PALACE 4925 University Drive NW, Huntsville, 256-830-2458

TAI PAN PALACE2012 Mem. Pkwy, S, Hsv256-539-5797

DEUTSCHE KUCHE418 Jordan Lane, Huntsville, 256-534-4807. Authentic

HILDEGARD’S2357 Whitesburg Dr., Hsv256-512-9776

OL HEIDELBERG CAFÉ6125 University Drive NW E14, Huntsville, (shopping center next to Rosie’s), 256-992-0556.

TASTE OF D’ISLANDS 2105 Mastin Lake Road, Huntsville, 256-851-9262.

CASA MONTEGO INTERNATIONAL LOUNGE 2117 Jonathan Drive, Huntsville, 256-858-9187. 2ND STREET MUSIC HALL208 2nd Street, Gadsden 256-547-0010

3RD BASE GRILL7904 Memorial Pkwy S, Huntsville, 256-882-9500.

ADRIAN’S1405 Sunset Drive, Guntersville, 256-582-3106

ALLEN’S GRILLE & GROG9076 Madison Blvd, Madison, 256-772-8514.

THE BARN2510 Ready Section Road, corner of Pulaski Pike, Toney

BENCHWARMER FOOD & SPIRITS2998 University Drive, Huntsville 256-539-6268.www.benchwarmersportsbar.com.

BENCHWARMER, TOO! 3000 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-489-9600.

BILLIARD STREET CAFE2703 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-539-6268.

BLACK WATER HATTIE’S10000 S. Memorial Pkwy. 256-489-3333.

BLUE PARROT MARTINI & CIGAR LOUNGE 7001 Val-Monte Drive, Covenant Cove Resort, Guntersville, 256-582-0930. www.covenantcove.com/parrot.htm

BOBBY G’S PLACE1009 Henderson Road, 256-837-4728

BRICK DELI & TAVERN, THE209-A 2nd Ave. SE, Decatur256-355-8318.

CHARLOTTE’S PLACE1117 Jordan Ln.Huntsville, AL 35816

CHIPS & SALSA CANTINA10300 Bailey Cove Rd SE Huntsville, 256-880-1202.

CLUB MIRAGE4701 Meridian Street, Huntsville, 256-851-2920.

COPPER TOP BAR & GRILL200 Q Oakwood Ave., Huntsville, 256-536-1150Formerly Zesto’s in Five Points. Appetizers, sandwiches & more. Karaoke & Live Music

CORNER GRILL & PUB, THE (2 Huntsville locations)10300 Bailey Cove Road SE, 256-880-2103. 129-A Old Highway 431,Hampton Cove

CROSSROADS, THE 721 Clinton Ave, Huntsville, 256-533-3393. Live Music 7 nights. www.crossroadsmusic.biz

END ZONE, THE 1909 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-536-2234.

FINNEGAN’S PUB 3310 Memorial Pkwy S, Huntsville, 256-881-9732

FREDDY’S4070 Mem. Pkwy South Huntsville 35802256-880-2590Corner of Golf Rd. & The PaekwayNew Restaurant with a New Attitude!

FURNITURE FACTORY BAR & GRILL619 Meridian Street N, Huntsville (just north of Downtown), 256-539-8001.

HARD DOCK CAFE3755 U.S. Hwy. 31, Decatur, 256-340-9234

HALF TIME BAR AND GRILL8873 Highway 72 W, Madison, 256-430-0266

HOG WILD SALOON 2407 Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-533-7446

HOOTERS4730 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-722-0166.

HOPPER’SHoliday Inn-Research Park, 5903 University Drive, 256-830-0600

HUMPHREY’S BAR & GRILL109 Washington Square, Huntsville, 256-704-5555. Beef, seafood, sandwiches. Come for the food – Stay for the Fun. Best Patio in Huntsville. Happy Hour every day 11 am – 6 pm. Live music every night, no cover. Open 11 am – 2 am everyday.

INSOMNIA6402 Hwy 72, WHuntsville, AL 35806

JEMISON’S EATERY & PUB350-A Market St. NE, Decatur, 256-351-0300.

JUDGE CRATER’S PUB & GRILL110 Southside Square, Huntsville 256-534-6116

KAFFEEKLATSCH @NIGHT103 Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-536-7993.Live Music nightly.

THE MAIN OFFICEHwy 231/431, Hazel Green, 256-829-9100

MARTINI’S OF MADISONRamada Inn, 8716 Madison Blvd, Madison,256-772-0701.

MOODY MONDAYS 718 Church St, Huntsville, 256-533-4005

NIKKO JAPANESE RESTAURANT6565 Hwy. 431, Hampton Cove, 256-536-3690

OTTER’S Marriott Hotel, 5 Tranquility Base, Huntsville256-830-2222.

PADDY’S3305 Bob Wallace Ave.256-489-0911

PHILBY’S POURHOUSE 111 Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-512-5858.

PINHOOK CREEK YACHT CLUB2704 Johnson Road, Huntsville, 256-880-3714.

ROSEBERRY PUB & GRILLHwy 67 Scottsboro256-574-4231

RUGGBY’S4820 University Drive, Huntsville, 256-895-0795.

SAMMY’S LIVE2322 Memorial Parkway, SHuntsville, AL 35801

SAMMY T’S MUSIC HALL116 Washington Street, 256-539-9974. www.sammytsplace.com

SANDY’S ROADHOUSE12740 Hwy. 431 S, Guntersville, 256-571-0450.

THE SHACK105 Swancott Road, Triana 256-461-0227. The bar that never closes!

SPORTS PAGE LOUNGE & DELI 9009 Memorial Pkwy S, Huntsville, 256-880-9471.

THE STATION8694 Madison Blvd., Madison, 256-325-1333.

STEVE’S BILLIARDS & LOUNGE2322 Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-539-8919.

TABU & THE VIP ROOM7200 Governors West, Huntsville, 256-830-1233.www.theentertainmentcomplexhsv.com

TWILIGHT ZONE 2140 Gunter Ave. in the Holiday Inn,Guntersville, 256-582-2220

UPSCALE 2021 Golf Rd, Huntsville, 256-881-8820www.clubupscale.com

VISIONS 6404 University Dr. NW, Huntsville, 256-722-8247

WINGS SPORTS GRILLE4250 Balmoral Dr. SW, Huntsville, 256-881-8878.www.wingssportsgrille.com

5 POINTS GALLERY401 Pratt Ave. NE, 256-539-9658

801 FRANKLIN801 Franklin Street, Huntsville, (Downtown by Medical Center), 256-519-8019. Dine with fine art. www.801franklin.com.

ATHENS ST. STUDENT UNION ART GALLERY 300 N. Beaty St., Athens, Athens State University, 800-522-0272

ARTISTIC IMAGES2115 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, 256-534-3968.www.artisticimagesgallery.com

CAROLE FORET FINE ART206 West Market St., Downtown Square, Athens256-232-2521. www.caroleforet.com

DRAGONFLY GALLERY & DESIGN125 Main Ave. S., Fayetteville, TN, 931-433-3024

HUNTSVILLE ART LEAGUE GALLERY3005 L&N Drive, Suite 2, Huntsville, 256-534-3860. Monday-Saturday 10 am - 6 pm; Sunday 1-4 pm.www.huntsvilleartleague.org.

HUNTSVILLE MUSEUM OF ART300 Church Street So. in Big Spring International Park, Huntsville. Gen. admission fee is $7 for non-members. Discounts for seniors over 60, military, students with a valid ID, and groups of 10 or more. Admission is half-price for non-members on Thurs nights. Members & children <6 free. Hours 1-5pm. Sunday; 10am-5pm. Mon-Sat; extended hours on Th 5-8 pm. Call 256-535-4350 or 1-800-786-9095, or visit www.hsvmuseum.org.

LADAGE ARTISTRY321 S. Jefferson, Athens,256-216-0039. http://ladage.dews.net.

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7


Send your Weird News to Chuck ShepherdP.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679or [email protected] go to www.NewsoftheWeird.com.)COPYRIGHT 2004 CHUCK SHEPHERDDISTRIBUTED BYUNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111;(816) 932-6600

Chuck Shepherd, photo Bob Baggett Photography

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 #052506061406

The National Health Service office in Dundee, Scotland, has recommended toilet techniques for the estimated one-third of the population that suffers from bowel and bladder dysfunction, according to an April report in The Times of London. The pamphlet, “Good Defecation Dynamics,” lists preferred breathing habits and describes the proper, upright, seated posture for effective elimination (“Keep your mouth open as you bulge and widen”), and encourages support for the feet, perhaps “a small footstool.”

The Entrepreneurial SpiritEarlier this year in separate incidents, two physical education teachers at Ernest Ward Middle School in Pensacola, Fla., were arrested and charged with bribery for allowing students to avoid gym classes by paying the teachers money. Tamara B. Tootle, 39, charged in April, allegedly gave students credits at $1 per student per class, and Terence Braxton, 28, arrested in February, pleaded guilty in May to a similar scheme, admitting to making at least $230.

More Side Businesses: (1) A highly publicized attraction of the Isdaan restaurant in Gerona, Philippines (according to a March Reuters dispatch) is its “wall of fury,” against which diners can vent frustrations by smashing things (with fees ranging from the equivalent of 30 U.S. cents for a plate up to $25 for an old TV set). (2) In July, according to BBC News, British farmer David Lucas will be forced by European Commission rules to give up his lucrative sideline of building gallows for Zimbabwe and other governments that still employ hangings. Lucas’ single gallows sells for the equivalent of $22,000, and the Multi-Hanging Execution System, mounted on a trailer, goes for about $185,000.

Science on the Cutting Edge In April, noted surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub and a team at Ormond Hospital in London re-started and re-inserted the original heart of a 12-year-old girl after it had been in storage for 10 years while she lived with a donated heart. Because the donated heart was finally showing signs of rejection, Dr. Yacoub decided that the original, which was removed because of acute inflammation, might have repaired itself enough to work again.

Workplace Traumas (1) In Miami, actress-dancer Alice Alyce, 29, sued the owners and managers of the musical “Movin’ Out” for $100 million in March after they fired her, allegedly because they believed her breasts are too large for her role. (2) Schoolteacher Sue Storer, 48, filed a lawsuit against the government in Bristol, England, in March, asking the equivalent of $1.9 million for having fired her when she complained of, among other things, never getting a replacement for her classroom chair, which she said emitted a “farting” noise every time she sat down.

Politicians: Only the Best and the Brightest Unclear on the Concept: (1) Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate (and football hall-of-famer) Lynn Swann, who says state taxes are too high, was revealed by the Allentown Morning Call in March to have been neglecting to collect legally required state sales tax from the Pennsylvania customers of his football memorabilia Web site. (2) Arizona gubernatorial candidate Mike Harris donated $100,000 of his own money to his campaign in April, six months after successfully begging a judge to cut his $2,000-per-month child-support payments in half (and conceding that he had not disclosed that he owed his ex-wife $44,000 more from a property sale). Harris said even paying $1,000 a month was “pretty darn generous” of him.

(1) Pasco County, Fla., candidate John Ubele, 28, a proud member of the white separatist National Alliance, said he’s more concerned with runaway government expenses than with race as he campaigns for a seat on the county’s Mosquito Control Board. (2) New York state Sen. David Paterson, running for lieutenant governor, said in March that he now regrets introducing unsuccessful legislation for 14 straight years (until 2001) to make it legal for suspects to physically resist police.

People With Too Much Money Women’s handbag designers, uncertain about the effect of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana’s alligator habitats, spent the winter searching for new supplies of hides, according to a March Wall Street Journal report. The fall gator harvest saw prices rise 50 percent from two years earlier, forcing Ralph Lauren, for example, to raise the price of its most prestigious alligator purse to $14,000, and hide prices were expected to rise another 50 percent this summer. (Alligator shoes, shirts and coats have also soared in price, and the alligator-paneled piano sold by Giorgio’s of Palm Beach now costs $950,000.)

People With Issues In April, Michael Theleman, 45, finding true love hard to come by in the isolated town of Bray, Okla. (pop. 1,035), posted a yard sign offering to pay $1,000 for help in finding a “virgin” bride between the ages of 12 and 24. Offended neighbors convinced him to take it down, but he replaced it with another, stating that his future wife must not be “pig-worshipping, heathen (or) white supremacist.” Theleman said he couldn’t understand the neighbors’ furor, recalling that his grandmother was married at 14 to “a much older man.”

Least Competent People (1) Salt Lake City high school student Travis Williams was bitten by a baby rattlesnake in May, even though a companion had warned him to avoid it.

Said Williams, “(E)ven though she told me not to ... I picked it up anyway. I’m not too bright that way.” (2) Chesterton, Ind., high school student Michael Morris was hospitalized in May with a broken leg and broken arm after being run into by a friend driving an Acura at about 25 mph, but it was consensual. The friend described Morris as an adrenaline junkie who had had the friend run over him before, but Morris told the Times of Northwest Indiana, “I won’t do this no more.”

Recurring Themes News of the Weird reported in 2001 that a bulimic woman in Toyoda, Japan, had been caught illegally dumping about 60 pounds a week of her own vomit in remote locations and, in 2003, that another bulimic woman had been caught discarding similar quantities near Madison, Wis. (perhaps, say health professionals, to assist their denial process by keeping their own homes untainted). In April 2006, sheriff’s deputies reported a similar spree, ironically near an Iowa town called Mount Pleasant, that has now totaled about 50 bags’ worth over a three-year period, but at press time, the vomiter was still at large.

The Classic Middle Name (all new) Arrested recently and awaiting trial for murder: Bruce Wayne Potts, 34 (DeSoto, Texas, February); Oral Wayne Nobles, 71 (arrested in Kingman, Ariz., on a Massachusetts warrant, April); Ronald Wayne Spencer Jr., 19 (Richardson, Texas, April). Arrested and suspected of murder: Darrell Wayne Lewis, 32 (Tempe, Ariz., March). Sentenced for murder: David Wayne Hickman (Dallas, May); Anthony Wayne Welch, 27 (Viera, Fla., March). Committed suicide while serving life in prison for murder: John Wayne Glover, 72 (Sydney, Australia, September 2005).

God’s Will More than 90 people were killed while observing their religion in three incidents in April. A stampede by thousands of women at a religious gathering in downtown Karachi, Pakistan, resulted in 29 deaths; a packed bus speeding home from a religious festival went out of control and plunged into a ravine near Orizaba, Mexico, killing 57; and a few days later in Santa Maria del Rio, Mexico, five were killed by lightning, which struck the large metal cross before which they were praying.

Just after classes let out at Callaway High School in Jackson, Miss., on April 28, Mayor Frank Melton, riding down Interstate 220 with his police escort, motioned to the drivers of four school buses to pull off the road so that Melton could board the buses and shake hands with and hug the students, apparently just because, as he later told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, recent weeks had been “stressful.” Melton told the newspaper that he’s just “passionate” about kids and education. “I didn’t do anything stupid or illegal,” he said, but a state education official said that it was improper to interfere with the operation of a school bus except in an emergency.

Compelling Explanations Stacy Steel, 38, the former executive director of the Humane Society in Oceanside, Calif., was arrested in April

and charged with fraud for using the organization’s authority to buy 3,600 Vicodin tablets (a prescription pain-reliever), which she said were for her dog.

Not My Fault: (1) Ms. Tyler Bauer, 18, sued TGI Friday’s in Frederick, Md., in March, asking $200,000 for serious facial injuries from falling out of a moving pickup truck. Bauer, who registered a .238 blood-alcohol reading, was given beer and liquor by an adult patron of TGI Friday’s and claims the restaurant should have found out and stopped him. (2) In March, a jury in St. Louis awarded Gretchen Porro $100,000 for the loss of two fingers at the City Museum’s Puking Pig attraction. Although the exhibit was closed, Porro nonetheless crossed a railing and stuck her hand inside the machinery to get it to release a vat full of water. (The jury valued the injury at $500,000 but said Porro was 80 percent at fault.)

Yes, My Fault: Michelle Srun, 34, testifying for leniency for her accused-rapist husband in a Montgomery County, Md., court in March, said she must be partly responsible for his attacks on several underage girls, in that she belittled and abused him for years with her overbearing personality and had multiple affairs during their marriage (six simultaneously during one stretch). (Unimpressed, the judge gave Mr. Pov Srun 27 years.)

Simon Hamilton, 35, admitted in Canterbury (England) Crown Court in April that he took furtive “upskirt” photos of women standing in public places and even acknowledged having an extensive collection, but he denied that the pictures gave him sexual gratification. Rather, he said, he was merely a habitual collector of things and spent his time cataloguing the photos rather than looking at them. “It was the sort of gratification of a job well done,” he explained, telling the judge that he came from a long family line of collectors. (Besides, Hamilton said, his upskirt days ended around 2001, when he decided to re-enter the practice of law and realized that upskirt photography was “no longer ... appropriate.” (At press time, no verdict had been reported.)

The Litigious Society Outsized Payoffs: (1) The family of an 8-year-old boy in Espanola, N.M., won an award of $221,000 in April, payment for a bad half-hour experience for the boy when he was improperly booked, outfitted in an orange jumpsuit, and jailed after throwing a tantrum in his principal’s office. (2) In March, a 10-year-old boy in Torquay, England, was awarded the equivalent of almost $2,800 following his expulsion from school for selling marijuana. The local government agreed that his school had acted too slowly in fulfilling its duty to find the expelled boy alternate schooling.


The Valley Planet Music Exchange is FREE to any individual looking to buy, sell, trade or find bandmates. You get a headline and 3 lines of text for the low, low price of nothing. If you wish to embellish your ad further, say, with a small photo (add $5) or more words (add $1 per line), it’s up to you. Now, if you are a business, you gotta pay a little something, $12 per column inch. Please call Jill Wood at (256) 533-4613 if you would like to put your business in the Exchange. Email your ads to [email protected] or send them by snail mail to Music Exchange,203 Grove Ave. Huntsville AL, 35801. NO AD WILL RUN UNTIL PAYMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED!

MERIDIAN ARTS (2 locations)305-A Jefferson Street, Huntsville, 256-534-7475. M-F: 10 am – 6 pm, Sat: 10 am – 4pm; and 370 Little Cove Road, Gurley, AL, 256-776-4300. Tu-F: 10 am – 6 pm, Sat: 10 am – 4 pm. www.Meridianarts.net.

MONDO DE TATUAGE GALLERYCorner of 6th Ave. and 7th St., Decatur256-306-9099.

MVAC FINE ARTS GALLERY300 Gunter Ave.,Guntersville, 256-582-1454.Hours: Mon-Fri 9-4, Sat 10-3.http://mountainvalleyartscouncil.org

SIGNATURE GALLERY2364 Whitesburg Drive S, Huntsville,256-536-1960.

TWO FEATHERS NATIVE AMERICAN GALLERY7529-A S. Memorial Pkwy, Huntsville, 256-882-0078.

UNIVERSITY CENTER ART GALLERYUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville, 256-824-1000

UPTOWN GALLERY1220 South Memorial Parkway, Huntsville 256-880-2044. www.uptowngallery.com

WHITNEY DAVIDSON GALLERY501 Church Street NW, Huntsville, 256-539-0063

WILLIS GRAY GALLERY211 B Second Ave. SE, Decatur, 256-355-7616

Continued From Page 25LISTINGS

Wanted, exp. lead guitarist Call George @ 337-9856

Professional DrummerVersatile StylesChris @ 227-6490

Torin AsunderDeath Metal BandJay @ 783-3176

Wanted, members for aChristian BandContact 256-716-3731 [email protected]

CLASSICAL GUITAR AND LUTE New to Huntsville; exp teacher/performerMichael Poulos, BM, MM 539.6838

DRUMMERLooking to start or join open minded musicians to play prog. Alt-rock 232-7505 & [email protected]

Bassist & drummer for accoustic/electric bandRod @ 759-1919

MUSIC EXCHANGEWanted, free ads to put here, send to [email protected]

Guitarist Looking For A Band Classic Rock From A-ZNew Music Toocall Mike@603-7937 orLeave Message@776-9749

For saleAudio-Technica Headset Mic, Model ATM 75-$125, 881-0755

1983 Tama Imperialstar drumkit Contact Adam Jackson @ 256-233-2118/431-5130 [email protected]

WANTED: Upright bass player for Rockabilly Trio. I have the bass if you can play it. Slapping a must. We al-ready have gigs waiting. Call Matt @ 256-566-6330.

Billy Joe Cooley

Call Now:(256) 534-8888

Email:[email protected]

Billy Joe Cooley, 115 W. Clinton Ave., Suite 405,

Huntsville, AL 35801

America’s StorytellerBanquet Speaker, Humorist

Dates Available forChurch Groups, Civic Clubs

Theatre Huntsville’s Play-Reading Committee is now soliciting ideas and titles for its 2007-2008 season. The committee will meet regularly throughout 2006 to consider a wide range of titles and genres which will be pared down to a list of fourteen presented for TH Board approval in December 2006. In turn, the membership will choose seven titles in January 2007 to com-prise the 2007-2008 Season. TH is also accepting sugges-tions for play-director projects from interested directors for the committee’s consider-ation. Suggestions should be submitted by calling (256) 536-0807 or by contacting Play-reading Chair Sam Marsh at [email protected].

ALABAMA CONSTITUTION VILLAGE109 Gates Ave., Huntsville, 256-564-8100. Open daily, 9 am - 5 pm, except Sundays.

AMERICAN INDIAN MUSEUM2003 Poole Drive NW, Huntsville, 256-852-4524. www.american-indian-museum.com

BURRITT ON THE MOUNTAIN: A LIVING MUSEUM3101 Burritt Drive SE, Huntsville, 256-536-2882.Summer Hours (April - Oct): Tues- Sat 9am to 5pm Sun noon to 5 pm. Regular Adm. fee is $5 adult, $4 senior, military & students, $3 child (children under 2, free). www.burrittmuseum.com

CATHEDRAL CAVERNS STATE PARK637 Cave Road, Woodville. 256-728-8193 Open daily at 10 am.CLAY HOUSE MUSEUM16 Main Street, Madison 256-325-1018. Tour this antebellum home with “A Walk Through Time”, 100 years of decorative style from 1850 - 1950 featur-ing Noritake Porcelain.

COVENANT COVE RESORT & MARINA7001 Val-Monte Drive, Guntersville256-582-1000 or 888-288-COVE. www.covenantcove.com

EARLYWORKS MUSEUM COMPLEX404 Madison Street SE, Huntsville, 256-564-8100.

GORHAM’S BLUFFPisgah, 256-451-ARTS. The Gorham’s Bluff Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing arts and cultural activities to Jackson County and Northeast Alabama.

HARMONY PARK SAFARI431 Clouds Cove Road, New Hope. 1-877-7ANIMAL. Drive through animal exhibits. Open March through November.

HARRISON BROTHERS HARDWARE124 Southside Square, Huntsville, 256-536-3631. Alabama’s oldest hardware store.

HUNTSVILLE BOTANICAL GARDEN4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville,

256-830-4447. The 110-acre garden is open year-round. Summer Hours, Memorial Day through Labor Day: M-Sat, 9am-8pm; Sun, 1–8pm. $8 Adults, $6 Senior or Military, $3 Children ages 3-18.www.hsvbg.org.

HUNTSVILLE STARSJoe W. Davis Stadium, 3125 Leeman Ferry Rd, Huntsville, 256-882-2562.

HUNTSVILLE HAVOCProfessional Hockey, Eastern Hockey League. 700 Monroe Street. Huntsville, AL 35801 (256) 518-6160.

THE LAND TRUST TRAILSBankhead Pkwy., Huntsville, 256-534-LAND Year-round hiking on 547 acres of Monte Sano preserve. www.landtrust-hsv.org

MONTE SANO STATE PARK5015 Nolen Ave., Huntsville, 256-534-3757

SCI-QUEST102-D Wynn Drive, Huntsville, 256-837-0606. An exciting hands-on science center. www.sci-quest.org

TENNESSEE VALLEY VIPERSArena Football, American Conference Southern Division. 700 Monroe St, Huntsville, VBC, 256-551-3240. www.vipersaf2.com

THREE CAVESDirections: Off California St., turn onto Hermitage, left onto Kennemer Dr. Call The Land Trust at (256) 534-5263 to reserve your spot on a public cave tour or to arrange a private tour for your group.

US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER1 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, 256-837-3400. Open 9am-5pm year round except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Eve and Day. Admissions: Museum only – Adults $12 & Child 3-12 $8, www.spacecamp.com

VON BRAUN CENTER700 Monroe St. Huntsville, 256-533-1953. Check calendar for events. www.vonbrauncenter.com

THE WEEDEN HOUSE300 Gates Avenue SE, Huntsville, 256-536-7718

ARS NOVA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS7908C Charlotte Drive, Huntsville, 256-883-1105. www.arsnovahsv.com

BROADWAY THEATRE LEAGUE 700 Monroe St. Suite 410, Huntsville (all performances held at Von Braun Center) 256-518-6155. www.btleague.org

FANTASY PLAYHOUSE CHILDREN’S THEATRE3312 Long Avenue SW, Huntsville, 256-539-6829 FLYING MONKEY ARTS CENTER2211 Seminole Drive, Huntsville, 256-489-7000Flying Monkey Arts Center is a not for profit community arts collective that encourages, supports and promotes the arts. www.flyingmonkeyarts.org

FOOTLIGHTS COMMUNITY THEATER302 Hoffman St. Athens, 256-216-0903www.footlightstheater.orgFootlights@footlightstheater.org

HUNTSVILLE BALLET COMPANY800 Regal Drive SW, Huntsville, 256-539-0961

HUNTSVILLE COMMUNITY CHORUS3312 Long Avenue, Fantasy Arts Center, Huntsville, 256-533-6606

HUNTSVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRANorth Side Von Braun Center, Huntsville 256-539-4818.

LOWE MILL2211 Seminole Dr., Huntsville, Art, Music, Film and Poetry. See Calendar for Event Dates

RENAISSANCE THEATRE AT LINCOLN CENTER1214 Meridian Street N, Huntsville, 256-536-3434.www.renaissancetheatre.net

THEATRE HUNTSVILLEBusiness Office. 1701 University Dr, Suite 1, Huntsville, 256-536-0807. www.theatrehsv.org.CARMIKE CINEMAS1359 Old Monrovia Road, Huntsville,256-430-0770. 607 Fourteenth Street, Decatur, 256-350-0935www.carmike.com.

FUNTASIA FAMILY FUN CTR.2016 N. Mem. Pkwy Huntsville256-536-0676

#052506061406 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7

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