here's another example of what a downtown movie theater could offer. but instead, we get this ..

Opening night at Three Flights Up this last Friday was cool. I met a lot of people and had a great time showing my artwork, and watching and listening to people as they examined the pieces at this show. It's so nice to be able to get feedback on my work. I was surprised at how many people knew my work was Fractals. And the highlight of the night was a young lady named Charlie, who asked if my work had been hanging at World Grotto a few years ago, because I had my first show there, and she remembered my work. That made my night.

First Friday info around here has been impossible to find. Web sites for the different galleries sometimes aren't updated, even the web site for First Friday by the market square district has zero information, it hasn't been updated in over a year. Being an artist, it's frustrating not to be able to find out who even participates, aside from a few places on Market Square.

So, I took it upon myself to do something. This is the first public announcement of a brand new web site that I've built and launched. Link...

Eventually, it'll have a place for local artists to be listed, as well as the different galleries and businesses that participate.

If there's a business that participates that I don't have listed, please use the contact form Link... and drop me a note with the name, so I can add it. I've googled until I can't see straight, trying to find out who else might be participating, and I find it bizarre that you can't find this info anywhere, so I took it upon myself to put this site together.

Eventually, this town will finally have one place with everything you need to know about First Friday- galleries, as well as artists in the area.

Spread the word- Link...

This from Bob Grimac:

Knoxville Police today effectively shut down our peaceful, anti-war protest today by forcing us to take down all signs except the ones we were holding, at about 11:30 AM. They threatened to have my car towed, saying it was parked in a dangerous place, which was not true at all. The three of us protesting (myself, Rich Henigen, and a woman named Vivian), complied with the two officers, packed up our signs, and stayed for only another 30 minutes, completely soaked at that point anyway.

Just picked up the post card for the upcoming show:

If you're out and about on First Friday in May, I'll be showing at Three Flights Up. I've got a lot of brand new pieces that will be on display and for sale. I've also got a large selection of matted and sleeved pieces that will also be available, all very reasonably priced I might add.

Here's a sneak peek at the pieces on exhibit in May.
Link...

This will be my first opening in a real gallery, so if you're out on First Friday, stop in and see my latest work, and introduce yourself. I'm easy to spot in a crowd, I'm the tall, dark, and goofy looking guy.

I hope to see you there!

Steve Lareau
Unquiet Visions

Your Voice Is Key to Improving Healthcare
The Tennessee Health Care Campaign (Link...) is holding a town hall meeting This Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Is it beautification or camouflage? The photo is completely unretouched, and was shot from Redflex Junction (Henley and Summit Hill), itself the product of one of the most ill-conceived urban "improvements" in downtown: the tunneled on/off-ramp to/from I-40.

World Grotto on Market Square is hosting a benefit concert tonight (Sunday) to raise money towards paying pedal steel player Tom Pryor's hospital bill. (Tom sustained head injuries several weeks ago in a freak accident.) Some of the best musicians in town will be playing. Of course, if we had universal health coverage in this country, the benefit wouldn't be necessary, but ..

Proceedings begin around 7 pm and continue into the night. The Grotto is a non-smoking venue.

Earth Day (Oak Ridge) Saturday, April 12 @ Bissell Park in Oak Ridge 12-5 PM.

Hector Qirko Band, R.B. Morris, Todd Steed and The Suns of Phere, Carl Snow's Summer of Love, Lonetones, BFT. For the younglings: Hominy Mammas, Sean McCullough and Phil Pollard, Nancy Brennan Strange and Joni Lovegrove.

Organic Foods, Educational Booths, Environmental Speakers and lots of activities for the younglings and their elders (animals, bugs, outdoor games, prizes).

Zero waste event. Check website for updates. Rain or shine

Link...

In spite of the pouring rain and cold temperature, about 50 people attended the rally today to protest the war and continued occupation of Iraq. Passionate speeches, great music and satirical theater stirred and entertained the crowd, which contained many new faces this year. The event was covered by Channel 8.

Because of the skies opening up around noon, the protest scheduled for West Town today was postponed until tomorrow.

EVENT: Protest the war and continued occupation of Iraq
WHEN: Sunday, March 16, 2008 from 12 noon - 2 pm
WHERE: West Town, corner Kingston Pike and Morrell Road

There will be plenty of signs to go around, as well as pastries courtesy Panera Bread.

McDonald's, and just about every other server of coffee "cream", have gone over in the last few months to a new product marked "no refrigeration needed." According to the label, it contains milk, cream, datem, sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, sodium citrate and carrageenan. Datem, which I assumed comes from dates, is an acronym for Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride, an emulsifier. Sounds like something I want to avoid. Tomato Head, on the other hand, offers organic cream with their coffee.

The music and sound are great, so if you're a U2 fan, drive the 36-mile roundtrip and enjoy! As a professional 3D photographer, I had some issues with the special effects, though. It's not easy adjusting your interocular from close-up to distance and back within seconds. And a further word of caution: prepare to shell out an extra $3.50 for the 3D glasses. Mine came with a fingerprint on the left lens, suggesting that someone else may have worn them. Sure enough, at the end of the show, the ushers asked us to "Please leave your glasses here!" Not a healthy policy, Regal.

Here's a further example of ridge removal, this time to provide flat land for Turkey Creek East, another of those "retail meccas."

I don't know if the topic has been discussed here, but there has been serious vandalism of automobiles parked at the Third Creek Greenway entrance on Sutherland Avenue. I was taking a walk several weeks ago and returned to find three parked vehicles with their side windows shattered and contents of the auto stolen. My old car somehow got a reprieve and was untouched.

Thinking the problem had been tackled by the police, I returned to the park on Wednesday, only to find another vehicle with its window shattered. Lots of glass on the ground suggested that other cars had been victimized as well.

It's interesting that the vandals seem to have worked out a perfect system for doing this in broad daylight with plenty of traffic moving past on Sutherland.

The year's not quite over yet, but it's close enough and I'm not sure we can take much more excitement. (I'll update and bump if there are significant new developments).

So without further ado, here's the KnoxViews Year in Review with a few random arbitrary awards thrown in by our crack panel of judges (me). I'm sure there's lots of great stuff I've missed, so feel free to add your own awards and observations in comments.

Reminder that a planning meeting for the March 2008 local anti-war protest will take place on Thursday, Novermber 29 at 7 pm, Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Kingston Pike.

Sponsors so far: People for Peace, Veterans for Peace, Knoxnet, Moveon.org, Mothers for Peace

For more info contact Bob Grimac at 546-5643 or check knoxnet discussion group.

Films & Dates

September 18
You Got to Move
Discussion leader: Pam McMichael, director of the Highlander Research and Education Center

October 2
Uprising of '34
Discussion leader: Anne Mayhew, UT emeritus professor of economics

October 16
We Shall Overcome
Discussion leader: Tufara Waller Muhammed, cultural program coordinator of the Highlander Research and Education Center

October 30
Morristown
Discussion leaders: Bill Troy and Luvernel Clark

November 13
Up The Ridge
Discussion leader: Amelia Kirby, Up the Ridge documentarian

November 27
The Telling Takes Me Home
Discussion leaders: Guy and Candie Carawan, activists, musicians and educators, with their son, hammered dulcimer player Evan Carawan. A reception will follow this event in the Mary E. Greer room of Hodges
Library. All are welcome to attend.

For additional information about each film and/or the discussion leaders check out the web at:

Link... or you can
contact Highlander at 865-933-3443.

The University of Tennessee Library is located on Melrose Avenue between Cumberland Avenue and Volunteer Blvd. You can get to it by turning directly onto Melrose off Cumberland (in between the Smothie King and some University building construction) or by taking Volunteer off of Cumberland (other side of Sixteenth Street) and then turning onto Melrose off of Volunteer.

UT does not give tickets at night so if there is space available you can park in the lot next to the library by the International House. If that lot is full you can continue up Melrose and take a right onto Andy Holt Avenue. There will be a parking lot, where there are usually spots available, immediately on your left at the back side of the Clarence Brown Theater.

Gaye Evans
Executive Director
Appalachian Community Fund
107 West Main Street
Knoxville, TN 37902
865.523.5783
Link...

The following is from the Introduction by Rufus M. Jones to "The Power of Non-Violence" by Richard B. Gregg, Lippincott, 1934:

There is a remarkable story about Moses in ancient Hebrew legends. It tells how when Moses was going up the mountain to his death on Pisgah he asked Jehovah why it was not possible for him to be allowed to enter the Promised Land which he could see stretched out before his eyes. "You doubted me," Jehovah said to him, "but I forgave you that doubt. You doubted your own self and failed to believe in your own powers as a leader, and I forgave that also. But you lost faith in this people and doubted the divine possibilities of human nature. That I cannot forgive. That loss of faith makes it
impossible for you to enter the land of promise."

It is only a legend, but it suggests a profound truth. It is only those who believe in man and have faith and hope in the new and better world which man in co-operation with G-d can build here on earth that help to lead us toward the lands of promise.

With a bit of creativity, imagination, and community involvement here's what a downtown cinema could be.

Somebody wrote: "Seems to be the sort of guy who will not only point out that the glass is half empty, but also will complain that he really doesn't like the glass, either."

It's politicians and poseurs who ask the question, "Is the glass half full or half empty?" It's half full for their friends, and half-empty for their critics. Rationalists might counter, "It's a 12-ounce glass, and it contains 6 ounces of water."

For those who are always asking "Who's going to pay for it?" here's a continual accounting of the cost of the military action in Iraq.

Peaches from Georgia (available at most produce stands), organic rhubarb from Boston (carried on the plane), and some wild blackberries sprinkled in for local content.

For those on the KnoxViews "VIP" ticket list, we'll be there around 6PM for you to claim your tickets. Everyone on the list should have received a confirmation e-mail.

Click "read more" for important info...

UPDATE: All tickets have been spoken for. Thanks for the tremendous response. See y'all Friday!

Want to see Sicko this Friday night courtesy of KnoxViews? OK, then, here's the deal:

• RSVP to this email address, put "Sicko Tickets" in your subject, and tell us how you want to be listed on the VIP list.

• Show up at the Regal Downtown West Cinema 8 by 6:30 PM, Friday, June 29th to claim your ticket. We'll be out front with the VIP list and the tickets. Tickets not claimed by 6:30 PM subject to be given away to random passersby.

• We have 30 tickets 25 more tickets, first come first served. Limit two tickets per request. Valid while supplies last, void where prohibited by law or Dick Cheney. No scalping, must stay and watch the movie!

The showing is at 7:00 PM, Friday, June 29th. Hope to see you there!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I have sent confirmations to everyone who reserved tickets. If you have not received a confirmation, it means I did not get your e-mail for some reason.

Hi everyone,
I'm Steven Lareau, a digital artist living in Clinton. I've got a Gallery Opening coming up in July, at Abode in Market Square, and will be part of First Friday. I work with an odd type of fractals, Flame Fractals, and have fine art prints available. I had my first show at World Grotto in April of 2006, a showing currently at Stir Fry Cafe in Turkey Creek. and a show in July.

Partly due to a large influx of Mexicans and other Latinos, there has been a Latino baby boom in Knoxville. Like it or not, these children are Americans, and they will grow up speaking English and Spanish. Although I was not born in Tennessee, my bicultural family moved here in the 1980s from Miami, Florida. For me, growing up in East Tennessee, a mono-cultural region, has created challenges that this new generation is sure to face. Healthy integration will be partly based on the liberal community and partly on the political unity of Latino-Americans.

Cultural differences that translate into subtle discrimination practices permeate the conservative South and are sure to face a head-on collision with first generation Latinos. On the whole, Latinos tend to be very community oriented and not rugged individualists that embrace the outsider- prevention version of familism. Keep in mind that the first generation will not have to cower in hiding since they are not illegal. These Latinos have the same constitutional protections as those individuals with families who have been established here for generations. In my opinion, this will be the first time since the civil war and desegregation that the deepest parts of the South will face a threat to its monocultural identity.

We are seeing only the beginnings of a cultural clash right now. This trend toward a conservative nationalism, including rebel flags in monocultural areas, like East Tennessee, will create conflict in the years to come. Right-winged conservatives are cognizant of the minority threat to its current exclusionary hold on white power and white values--particularly protestant Christianity. This is why, on a national level, right-winged opinion leaders are no longer able to sweep the matter under the carpet. They are scrambling for a way to keep minority exploitation alive while carefully not politically isolating themselves from the Latino voting block. The timing couldn't be better with the 9/11 anti-foreigner climate. The liberal community, which has embraced me more than conservatives, is going to be a deciding factor as to the unification or fragmentation. This is an opportunity to finally move this nation toward the democratic integration envisioned by the enlightened forefathers.

The liberal community is an extension of the enlightenment era that can reverse the current trend of fragmentation. It will take liberal political leadership on all levels, national and local, to move us from the trend of intolerance and identity confusion. There will be a cost to you, but it will be worth the fight to defend democratic values that can only be upheld through tolerance. In my opinion, this is critical juncture for East Tennessee.

Bump for tonight's show detailed here. This was loads of fun last year and it started with a great meetup at the Downtown Brewery.

Don't know if I can make it much earlier than the show, but if others want to meet up again I will try to join.

USPS has come up with a long list of changes in its services and pricing. It has also trademarked the term Post Office (TM). Most curious is the change in cost of a Post Office (TM) Box -- the rentable metal mail cabinet that carries the POB number. Read this:

"Prices have been adjusted up or down to reflect the commercial real estate value of each location."

Next we'll likely have the cost of a First Class Mail (TM) stamp based on the zip codes of the sending and receiving Post Offices (TM).