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Heart Murmurs
Naturally they asked me to deliver a line about end-of-life stories. Janene Satterfield and I recorded a promo for SMOMOtv last week. In it, we asked viewers to submit their Valentine’s Day stories. They might be about Smoky Mountain Sweethearts or Not-So Romantic Confessions of the Jaded. The final category is for tear-jerking stories about the elderly or those who have passed away. Call toll-free 855-SMOMOTV ext 105 to tell your story.
Sunday, Monday, Happy Trails
The 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade ended with a dead horse! The finale was a float sponsored by RFD-TV to honor the late Roy Rogers. It had the actual Trigger (and the dead dog Bullet) mounted on it. The taxidermied Trigger and Bullet were purchased by RFD-TV a year and a half ago. The parade rolled through Pasadena today instead of yesterday due to their “never on Sunday” rule.
Living in California made me appreciate the Rose Parade. Living in Knoxville made me appreciate the television coverage of the parade. I had already moved to Los Angeles when my family finally joined me on New Year’s Eve many years ago. The next day we watched KTLA’s all-day repeats of the parade in an apartment with no furniture.
As always, I skipped ABC’s and NBC’s coverage and opted for the commercial-free broadcasts from HGTV and KTLA (via the Hallmark Movie Channel). HGTV’s coverage is far superior but I still watch the KTLA telecast for nostalgic reasons. It was obvious that KTLA gave short-shrift to HGTV’s Dream House float. It got barely any screen time while the too-numerous equestrian entries were each on camera much longer.
Prior to the parade, HGTV aired an excellent hour-long special on the making of their float. As a result, I knew what details were missing from KTLA’s coverage. Over on HGTV, they even showed the far side of their float as it passed by. Back when my family and I volunteered to help decorate Burbank’s floats, we noticed that more attention was paid to the “TV side.” They even had it marked as such during the building and decorating process. Speaking of Burbank, I was a little disappointed that US Bank’s Idea Factory was basically the same idea as the City of Burbank’s Dream Machine. I thought that the parade committee discouraged those similarities.
The “Surf’s Up” float from Natural Balance Pet Foods included a huge wave pool. HGTV got lots of great shots of a bulldog named Tillman and other canines surfing in the pool before the float turned the corner onto Colorado Boulevard. Tillman was supposed to surf again while the float paused in front of KTLA’s cameras. Perhaps the turn or the slight downhill grade caused a problem. Either way, the wave pool didn’t work, which necessitated several minutes of awkward ad-libbing by Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards. Later, Bob had no problem ad-libbing about horses when a delay caused the Roy Rogers Palomino riders to stop.
I was impressed with KTLA’s Micah Ohlman, who graciously played third-banana and seemed unflappable, especially compared to Bob and Stephanie. In the past I couldn’t get over the resemblance between Micah’s voice and that of his uncle, long-time Los Angeles anchorman Paul Moyer.
On HGTV, the Avon Marching Black & Gold played Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.” On KTLA, they turned the corner and played Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You,” although without words it sounded like the original R-rated version of the song. Another great musical performance came from the Crestview High School Big Red Machine, which stopped and turned toward the TV microphones to play the James Bond theme.
Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band got a huge response from the crowd. On HGTV, they did “Bad Romance” and the “Super Mario Bros. Theme.” On KTLA after the turn, they played “Sing Sing Sing,” which happens to be one of my all-time favorite big-band songs. Unfortunately Hallmark interrupted every marching band with a loud voiceover promoting their upcoming movies. However, if Hallmark hadn’t ruined the musical performances, I wouldn’t have been motivated to search for the band online and I wouldn’t have found a video of them from the 32nd Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Saturday. They’re great.
Nifty Fifty
Is there any point in creating a map of the states I’ve visited now that I’ve been to all 50? The whole map would be one color. My “final four” states were Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. In addition, my wife and I routed our trip through parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota because she had never been to those two states. Her total is now 47: all but Alaska, Michigan and Oklahoma. Some places exceeded our expectations and others fell short. We had hoped to do more in Wisconsin and Minnesota but found that more than a few small-town places were closed Sundays and holidays. We were in those states on Sunday July 3 and Monday July 4.
Before we left, one of my wife’s co-workers saw a theme in our destinations that we hadn’t realized. Our trip was about the movies. In the days ahead, I’ll give you the details of our journey and how it related to “Field of Dreams,” “Fargo,” “North by Northwest,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Boys Town.”
Like Lewis & Clark, we used St. Louis as a launching point for our trip. We intended to get there in time for a 5:00 p.m. Saturday evening Mass but some holiday traffic in Nashville and Paducah slowed us down. While on Interstate 64, I used my Amazon Kindle as if it were a smart phone to look up masstimes.org. I found a church in Mascoutah, Illinois called Holy Childhood of Jesus, where we were able to enjoy Mass without rushing. As usual when we visit a new parish, the people sitting near us asked my wife if she wanted to join the choir.
On our return trip, we went to a Saturday evening Mass at Mary Queen of Peace in Webster Groves, Missouri. After Mass, we drove past a restaurant called Farotto’s that looked popular. We decided to try it and were happy with the results. They served some outstanding toasted ravioli, which is one of the signature dishes in St. Louis.
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Except for a rain delay, my Father’s Day played out as I had hoped. I went for a swim and enjoyed smoked chicken and grilled peaches for dinner, which I anticipated in a guest post about Father’s Day for Food City’s Power Shopper Blog. Although I have a business relationship with Food City, the blog post was done as a favor for The Tombras Group.
Earlier in the day, my daughter called to sing the Father’s Day song that I had learned from an old Groucho Marx album and passed along to to my kids. My wife and son joined in the serenade. My son started plunking out the tune on a keyboard, trying to guess what note I meant to sing.
My wife wanted to buy me a cake for my upcoming birthday but I told her I would rather defrost a slice of the banana walnut cranberry cake from Touch of Love Catering that has been in our freezer since February. My wife doesn’t like banana-flavored things, which may be why she bought a chocolate Father’s Day cake for us to share. At first glance, I thought the decoration on top said “Hi Dad!” but it actually says “#1 Dad!”
Spotted Dog
A big rack of Irish Soda Bread was the first thing I saw upon walking in to Giant Food yesterday. My wife and I decided to buy one and have it for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day. The bread (or at least the frozen dough) came from Wenner Bread Products. The loaf looked as good as the ones my mother used to make, using an old family recipe.
My Great-Grandmother’s Irish Soda Bread
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
- 2 to 3 cups buttermilk
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter, dough becomes like pebbles. Coat caraway seeds and raisins with flour and add to mix.
Mix baking soda into 1 cup of buttermilk. Slowly add to flour mix, a little at a time. Continue adding buttermilk slowly, until the dough is moist and forms a ball (or pulls away from bowl). The amount of buttermilk needed depends on the weather.
Put a tablespoon of flour on a board and coat hands with flour. Knead dough a little and shape it into a loaf. Cut an X into the top.
Bake in two greased and floured 8 inch pans (or as one loaf on a cookie sheet) at 375° for 45 to 50 minutes, again depending on the weather. Test with a cake tester. Cool on a rack. Enjoy.
Cloudburst Night
The rain started shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve. Hours earlier, my wife and I left our umbrella in the car when we arrived for First Night Knoxville. To make matters worse, I was wearing my favorite suede jacket, a souvenir from Warner Bros. Studios. We raided some trash cans to improvise rain ponchos for ourselves.
Like last year and the year before, our two Einstein Simplified shows went well. During the late show, I found myself off my feet in several of the games. Two kids from the audience volunteered to play Animatronics. They controlled Paul Simmons and me as if we were action figures. In the scene, we were having a paintball battle.
There was a capacity crowd for the 10:45 p.m. show and an overflow crowd for the 8:30 p.m. show. Between the two shows, we performed for almost 1,000 people. Our challenge is to get them to come to our weekly shows at The Square Room. We’re there Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m.
Three-peat
First Night Knoxville held a press conference on Wednesday to announce the schedule for this year’s festival. For the third consecutive year, Einstein Simplified has been asked to appear at the family-friendly event. I feel the best compliment a performer can get is to be invited back to perform again. Our New Year’s Eve shows to ring out 2008 and 2009 were possibly our best of each year. We found it energizing to perform in front of a big crowd, most of whom had never seen us before. Once again we will do two shows in the TVA Auditorium, alternating with ventriloquist Gene Cordova. Gene performs at 7:15 and 9:45. We go on at 8:30 and 10:45. We have to finish by 11:45 so everyone can get out to Market Square for the fireworks and ball drop.
KNOXVILLE Ring in the New Year with First Night® Knoxville, an exciting all-ages celebration of the arts held at a dozen venues in vibrant downtown Knoxville. Now in its fourth year, First Night® Knoxville presents entertainment by some of the best singers, musicians, artists and dancers East Tennessee has to offer.
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“There’s truly something for everyone,” says John Craig, president of the Market Square District Association. “Whether you live in the Knoxville area or are visiting from out of town, First Night® Knoxville is a great way to spend New Year’s Eve with friends and family.”
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Following the “Home for the Holidays” theme, First Night® will be the scene of multiple reunions of artists who once called Knoxville home. Mark Lamb acclaimed dancer, choreographer and founder of Circle Modern Dance and beloved singer-songwriter Jodie Manross both live in New York City, but they return this year to perform with an array of special guests. This year’s festival also hosts a reunion of Sara Schwabe and the Yankee Jass Band, bringing together vocalist Sara Schwabe of Arizona and Phil Pollard of Virginia for a dose of swing music. Nashville-based singer-songwriter Louise Mosrie lived in Knoxville when she started writing songs. Last year she won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition.
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Asheville’s Runaway Circus is back by popular demand, as is Knoxville’s own improv comedy troupe Einstein Simplified.
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Festivities begin early with the Children’s Festival, from 3:15 to 6:30 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center, featuring music, puppets, face-painting and arts activities.
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Live entertainment continues at 7:15 p.m. in various downtown venues with a wide selection of singer-songwriters, modern dance, jazzy crooners, Americana bands, international acts, circus performers, hip-hop/spoken word artists and more. In addition, the works of local painters will be displayed in several of the venues. Please see the attached schedule for a complete list of artists, venues and performance times.
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The night concludes with a countdown to midnight, ball drop and fireworks in Market Square!
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First Night® Admission Buttons are only $15 in advance, $20 on the day of, a cost-efficient way to experience every exhilarating minute of this unique New Year’s Eve celebration! Buttons go on sale December 1 at several Market Square businesses, Pilot locations and online at Firstnightknoxville.com. Additional announcements will be made throughout the month.
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About First Night® Knoxville
First Night® is a family-friendly, alcohol-free New Year¹s Eve community celebration of the arts. The celebration began in Boston in 1976 and has grown to an event that attracts hundreds of thousands of celebrants each year. Since then the event has expanded to over 100 cities in 30 states across the country, as well as internationally into Canada and New Zealand.
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The Market Square District Association held its inaugural New Year¹s Eve celebration in 2007 to great success. In 2008, the event expanded to multiple venues throughout downtown, and 2009’s festival welcomed visitors from eight states. Thousands are expected to christen the New Year at First Night® Knoxville! For more information, visit FirstNightKnoxville.com.
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Current Schedule of Events and Performances ~
(more will be announced!)
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CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
East TN History Center
3:15-3:45pm Gene Cordova
4:15-4:45pm Sean McCullough & Friends
6-6:30pm One World Circus
Activities between entertainment
• Crafts with Rachel B. Travis
• Balloons with Balloonacy
• Face Painting with Making Faces
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ECHO
Miller’s Atrium
7:15-8pm Greg Horne
8:15-9pm Mark Lamb Dance
9:15-10:15pm Levon Walker
10:30-11:45 The Lonetones
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PASSPORT
East TN History Center
7:15-8pm SalsaKnox
8:30-9:30pm Laith Keilany
10:00-11:45pm Four Leaf Peat
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Y-NOT
YWCA Lounge
7:15-8pm Sara Schwabe
8:15-9pm Louise Mosrie
9:15-10:15pm Rachel Pearl
10:30-11:45pm Jodie Manross with special guests Mark Lamb Dance, Laith Keilany, and Greg Horne
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BAZAAR
YWCA Gym
7:15-7:45pm Shadhavar Bellydance
8:45-9:15pm Runaway Circus
9:30-10pm Shadhavar Bellydance
11-11:45pm Runaway Circus
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LAUGH
TVA Auditorium
7:15-8:15pm Gene Cordova
8:30-9:30pm Einstein Simplified
9:45-10:30pm Gene Cordova
10:45-11:45pm Einstein Simplified
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PERFORM
TVA Room 2
7:15-7:45pm Knoxville Opera
8:00-8:30pm Circle Modern Dance
8:45-11:45pm Black Sunshine
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STREET FIRE PERFORMANCES
Market Square, Krutch Park
Shadhavar Bellydance with fire!
One World Circus with fire!
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RUMPUS
The Square Room
7:15-8:30pm Johnny Astro & the Big Bang
9:00-10:15pm Taylor Brown & Company
10:30-11:45pm Those Darlins
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SWING
15 Market Square
9:00-10:15 Sara Schwabe and her Yankee Jass Band
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HAYSEED
Morelock Music
7:15-11:30pm Old Time Jam
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PICK
Knoxville Visitor’s Center with WDVX
7:15-11:30pm Old Time Throwdown
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