A tragic loss for one of our neighbors

If your a regular reader of other Knoxville-centric blogs, you may have heard that one of our city's blogging superstars, Katie Allison Granju, today is dealing with the tragic death of Henry, the oldest of her four children, at age 18. Katie is an author, maintains several blogs on parenting (her main one, Mama Pundit, appears to have crashed with the news of Henry's passing) and works for Ackermann PR.

You can read Katie's own honest account of her son's struggles with drug addiction and the brutal assault which left him with serious head trauma for the past few weeks.

Some of Katie's friends in the community have set up a fund to help her and her family manage the costs of Henry's care. Her coworker Shane Rhyne says you can donate by doing the following:

Simply write a check made out to Katie Allison Granju.

Mail it to:

Crystal Cardwell
c/o Ackermann PR
1111 Northshore Drive, Suite N-400
Knoxville, TN 37919

We’ll handle it from there and deposit the funds raised into an account for the family.

At the very least, please keep Katie and her family in your thoughts. I cannot even begin to fathom what she's going through right now, and yet I know that I or any of us could be faced with the same heartbreaking situation at any point in our lives. We love you, Katie.

web stuff

So, despite being on the interweb the Wigshop is not chock full of web savvy people. We're writers, artists, and wannabe politicians. It was a big deal for us to even get our own domain name.

Well, we done got claim jumped on that one (see? writers.) http://wigsphere.com accidentally expired and was snatched up by a fella named Zach in Ft. Lauderdale. Be sure check out his awesome website. Assuming he wants to profit from our misfortune, and that we don't make any money doing this, it's time to move on to a new domain. We're having an internal Wigshop debate about where to go, but feel free to chime in on the comments below.

In related news, we've ventured into the popular social media site Facebook with our very own page. If you feel like elevating your status from "casual observer" to "fan" feel free to check it out.

Things should be back to normal in a few days. If you're voting in the Best of Knoxville poll (and would like to vote for us) be sure to put "wigsphere.com" for the sake of consistency. Thanks for all your votes!

Coming up, we have BBQ Quest returning, the inside scoop on the Biscuit Fest, Cades Cove is reopening, and a rant against the concept of the One Way Street. Come on back!

Happy golden memories

It's hard to believe my first post for the Wigshop was a little over a year and a half ago. I've recently been reminiscing over the good times I've had as a Wigshopper and the spiciness it's added to my life. Not to get tooooo sentimental, but we don't really ever say it, so I will. Thanks for reading. Thanks also for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. It's been a delight for me. It really has.

In light of my recent mushiness over this blog and our readers, I wanted to share with you just a handful of our most memorable posts. We've had a lot of great discussions, but these posts have stuck out in our minds, mostly because of your comments. So thanks from the bottom of our Knoxville loving hearts. Even if you hate us and say so, at least you're reading, and that's all that matters.

Graffiti in Knoxville: Some of the most colorful comments ever.

Fellini of my heart :

great comments:

Benjamin : "...last time I was there, I saw 3 women sporting bushy mustaches and an old white man carrying a bicycle down the dairy aisle."

Anonymous: "I once saw a guy shoot himself in the foot in the parking lot at the Fellini Kroger."

Knoxville's own Wizard: Wigshoppers are called "faux hipsters" by a dissenter on this one.


















Review: Trio Cafe: ck stirs up some dissension, I assume mostly because of this quote, which is one of my favorites: "The whole place gave me the impression that Trio is what would happen if Panera Bread had a wild fling with Chuck E. Cheez and had a baby."

Burn!

No Mow: A discussion on if it's proper to mow on a Sunday.


great comments:

Discordia: "if it truly bothered someone, I would simply point out the sabbath is on saturday and blow their minds."

Anonymous: "If you get any static, just tell the neighbors that you're a wiccan - that should keep them from bothering you."

Lord von Lord: "Voodoo. Works everytime. They'll beg for you to mow on Sunday after you bury livestock in your yard a couple of times."

Teddy Bears: Please stop the insanity: This post was before my time, but apparently Clifford Clark (the guy who shot out the red-light camera on Broadway with a gun) actually commented on this post, under the alias Up Yours: "Where were you assholes when I was in jail? Blogging for your rights? What have any of you done for anyone? You're a collection of cowards. You can't even withstand counter comments because your arguments (and intellect) are so weak."

Bonus points!!


















Bzzz: Spelling bee for Grownups: I love that Joe Ossenmacher-Bedford actually ended up going. You're probably the only one that has ever taken us up on anything we've written about. And you had fun, didn't you?

That is all for now. To many more great discussions.

blogging and holidays

Hey guys- holidays really cause a lot of havoc for our schedule here at the Wigshop. Many of us are out of town and, you know, we have real jobs and stuff that keep us busy. So posting will be sporadic this month- but don't give up on us! Holiday time means lots of great stuff to do in Knoxville, and we'll do our best to bring it to you here.

As a heads up, this Friday is one of the best First Fridays of the year. Local artists (including one Wigshopper) will be out in full force to meet your creative shopping needs. Make sure to go out and spread some wealth in the local economy instead of corporate chains, or at least go see some good art.


The Christmas Parade is happening that night too- maybe one of the Knoxvillest things that happens in town. The floats show a cross section of our culture: basically, if you have a tractor and some tinsel, you're in the parade. So come on downtown, watch some funky floats, roast marshmallows on an open fire, and go to some galleries. It makes for a great evening! (More info will probably follow later this week).

Cheers, CK

heck yeah !

The Wigshop is the best blog in Knoxville:

"The whippersnappers at wigsphere.com (“The Sunsphere is NOT a wigshop”) aren’t cynical and jaded about Knoxville like some of the rest of us. Most of the eight contributing bloggers aren’t natives; for them, alternative transportation, sushi, movies on Gay Street, and downtown as a destination aren’t the newfangled trends that some of us expect to disappear any day now. They think this is what Knoxville is really like. And they’re enthusiastic about all of it, holding forth on local restaurants, concerts, and downtown development with an effervescent charm that doesn’t always present itself around here."

Thank you, dear readers, for all your votes. Everybody here at the Wigshop writes as a (strange) labor of love, with no compensation except for the occasional day like today. We're glad we've contributed in some way to life here in Knoxville. Hopefully the information we've put here has helped show you what a cool town Knoxville is.

Yours with Effervescent Charm,

The Wigshop

follow us... even more!

Heads up to all you dear readers: The Wigshop is twittering (tweeting?)... uhh, we're on Twitter!

If you also like putting 140 character or less thoughts out on the interweb, maybe you like to see our thoughts too. Click here to start following us! This is hyperblogging, ladies and gents. Just think of it as hooking jumper cables to the Sunsphere. That's how awesome it is. Trust us.

it's that time again

The Best of Knoxville Ballot for 2009 is up now at Metro Pulse for voting. As our faithful readers may remember, we came in second last year, which may or may not have been listed that way because of alphabetical order. We choose to believe we were second.

In the past year a bazillion people started up 'Knox-centric' blogs. What makes us deserve your vote? That's a good question....
and we don't have a good reason. This is the one time we can tell ourselves that 'we're making Knoxville a better place' and 'blogging is cool' and 'people actually read our crap.' Basically we crave accolades from internet strangers.

Just tell us what you want. Back rub? Money? The Pol will personally see to it that your wishes are granted. Go to the ballot and type http://wigsphere.com in the 'Best Local Blog/Blogger" category. The Pol will make sure YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE (if reading this blog everyday wasn't already doing that for you). Happy voting!

help us

As our avid fans (which I call "wigsters" in my mind) may have noticed, the Wigshop has been running on fumes lately. It not that Knoxville has nothing to write about (because it doesn't) but that somehow between the eight of us we can't seem to find anything to write about. But don't worry, Wigsters! The Wigshop will continue to document urban life in Knoxville (becoming less and less of an oxymoron) in 2009. We were just getting started in 2008! Now that we've become the blogging powerhouse of Knox Vegas, it's time to start really blowing the lid off this town with stories like:

True Confessions of a Market Square Hotdog Cart

Word Grotto: Not Just for Hippies?

The Glamorous Life of a Marie's Olde Towne Tavern Barfly

Drinking on Patios: Official Sport of Knoxville in Spring 2009

"Tear Them Buildings Down": Bringing Desperately Needed Parking Lots to Downtown

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Seriously, help us. What would you like to see this year? We know there's lots of interesting stuff going on, so help us out and leave a comment. As the USS Wigshop steams ahead, we look forward to continuing the dialogue that's developed at this little blog about life in Knoxville.

XOXO

ck

merry christmas from the wigshop

Sorry we didn't get you anything! But since we haven't gotten any gift baskets from our adoring fans, I guess we'll call it even. Thanks for all the encouragement (and condescension, smoochie) over the past year. We hope you stick with us as we explore the highs and lows of Knoxville life in 2009. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

happy thanksgiving!

I'm pretty sure all the little Knoxvillians will be too busy with holiday festivities to post anything here, so the Wigshop will be on break the rest of the week. It's time to eat turkey and be with loved ones. So get off the computer and stop checking blogs!

B. A. Pol-acus

In 2007, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Knoxville underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as bloggers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...


Things tend to get weird around here when we run out of ideas.

subscribe to wigshop

It's hard to believe, but the Wigshop will be one year old on the 19th. In some ways, it seems like we just started this thing, in others, it's hard to remember life without it. TSINAWS has gone from a little project started by a bored guy at work (our Illustrious Founder) and has grown into the juggernaut of the Knoxville blogosphere we know it as today.


Want to give the ol' Wigshop a present for turning 1? We track hundreds of people who come through here every day, and have built up a core of readers who follow our shenanigans via RSS. For months now we've hovered just below 100 readers (right now we're at 92). So help us push it to triple digits! Hit the subscribe button in our sidebar. Don't know what RSS is? Google it. It's easy, and even if you never use it, you'll have given the Wigshop the gift that keeps on giving- a Statistical Ego Boost.

fame at last

i know i've moved away, now a foreigner to knoxville. but last weekend i was once again one of you. there's a lot of things i miss about knoxville and it was good to be back.

also, i'm still an administrator on this blog. so i can do pretty much whatever i want. in fact, ck's probably having a conniption right now because i'm not on the posting schedule for today. yes, the wigshop has a posting schedule.

on friday night, i went up into the wigshop with some fellow bloggers to see if they knew anything about gin. the skybox pours a generous martini and we had a good time. but the best part of the experience was the notoriety. they know us!...or, this blog anyway.


also, i only had one drink, so don't let that 6.50 fool you. you still have to pay full price for martinis inside of the sun.

rip, knoxville talks

Knoxville Talks used to be an everyday web stop for me. Katie Allison Granju built it up into one of the better local news blogs in the Knoxville blogosphere, constantly updating with viewpoints of life in our city. But now she's gone, and Knoxville Talks is no longer talking. In her last post, Katie said that she was "leaving us in the capable hands of WBIR." Well, it seems that WBIR and can't even keep up one of its flagship blogs. Despite KAG's boosterism, WBIR's blog efforts seem half-hearted and are easily being outclassed by both the community that the News-Sentinel has built and the style of Knoxville Voice. Knoxville Talks was easily the best part of WBIR's web presence- I think it's a real shame they've let it lapse.

Update: Looking around a little more, I found Granju's new blog at, you guessed it, knoxnews.com.

A Night Out With the Wigshop (At the Wigshop itself)

Time for some fancy graphics to grab your attention:


















That's right you're invite to the First Semi-Bi-Quarterly Wigshop Meet and Greet.

WHEN: Thursday, September 18th 7:00PM
WHERE: Where else? The Skybox in the Sunsphere
Who: If you're reading this... YOU.

Come on down and meet some of the Wigshoppers and experience the majestic new beershop that is our giant disco ball. Hopefully Most of the Wishop crew will be there, we might even have some of the awesome stickers to give out. (I say might, CK can we PLEEEEASE??!!)

We'd love a chance to meet some of our readers, get to know why it is you waste your precious time on us, and what it is you like/ love/ get really frustrated with about our little city.

Give us a shout out if you can come... and of course you'll be able to recognize us by our special event dress, Imo-causal.

see you Thursday

the state of the wigshop

You may have noticed a lot of changes going on here at the Wigshop. We've had to say goodbye a few times this year: to our venerable founder, and a few slackers looking for cheap fame and glory. Don't worry- the turmoil is over! We've gotten together a writing lineup with a diverse set of Knoxvillian viewpoints, who will hopefully take this little blog deeper into Knoxville life than it's ever gone before. Please give a warm welcome to The Modern Gal, Big B, and Lo. They've all gotten off to a good start (even if they did accidentally post on top of each other on Friday). Remember to comment on their posts and encourage them as they spread their shaky wings and learn to soar on the winds of the internets!

So, dear readers, keep coming back and see what the Little Knoxvillians are up to.

It's where it all begins... and ends

OK so I saw this on KnoxTube which everyone should check out and start using.

Well, the clip is short and a bit campy, but the point is good. I mean Knoxville is where the world begins and ends isn't it?

See the video here

Oh and school is back in session which mean everything from Henley St. to Concord St. is standstill traffic. Good Ol' Rocky Top Whew.

B

Knoxville

I like long walks on the Neyland Drive Greenway, winding along the Tennessee River, the smell of Calhoun steaks in my nostrils.

I like riding my bike from home to work to downtown and all the places in between. I like that just about anywhere I go, I'll see someone I know who will wave and smile. I like that if I don't want to be known, I can drive out west. I love the thrift stores here, the seedy parts of town- Magnolia, Broadway, Central. I love the fact that going out hasn't become old, even though downtown is comprised of only a few blocks. I like that I can dress up or dress down for almost every occasion.

I love that Ijams Nature Center, The Knoxville Botanical Gardens, and greenways galore are a stone's throw away. I love that I can see the Smoky Mountains if I stand on the hill by my home.

I love the alleys in 4th and Gill, the square dancers, the old time players, the banjos, the bikers, the artists, the patios on Market Square.

I love when people move away from here and come back because they realize it's better, or at the very least, affordable.

I love that I can make art here, that I can go out on a limb and see my ideas (thoughts, dreams) come true.



To learn a little more, visit my portfolio or my very own blog.

a wigshop freshman

The writer line up is shifting at the Wigshop. We say farewell to Lucas, though we hope he will stop by and post occasionally from his new city. Reginold has been put out to pasture as a occasional contributor, though I suspect we haven't seen the last of his nonsensical ramblings here.

You may notice a new face in the sidebar: Robert, recently of Nashville, has unwittingly volunteered to the time-consuming obsession that is this blog. Not knowing the fame and legions of blog fans that will soon be his, he has foolishly chosen his real name as his handle. So be kind if you see him on the sidewalk. We hope that Robert will bring the fresh insight of a person new to Knoxville life, unstained by the cynicism that countless Vol football seasons induce. I'll let him tell more about himself in his upcoming debut post.

Unfortunately, Wigshop fans, the winds of change have not stopped blowing. We'll keep you updated as we plod along, figuring things out.

blogging professionals

i'm sure most of you were as taken aback by the tumultuous shift on this blog yesterday morning as i was. in an era where change is the only inevitability, it's nice to have at least one constant in my life. the sunsphere is not a wigshop is my rock.

every morning, i stumble into work half-awake and flip on the computer. the caffeine may have my blood moving, but my brain typically remains stubbornly asleep, fending off reality to the bitter end. the first site of the day? you guessed it. in spite of the fact that i write for this blog and that we rarely get up more than one post a day, it is essential that i get my wigshop update AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. what if an entire productive hour went by without my knowing the exact time of the last post? the answer is too damaging even to comprehend. afterward, i spend the better part of my day burning the refresh button. you never know and firefox just takes too long...

but that is all backdrop. yesterday morning, i typed in the address (surprisingly, this blog is not my homepage. not surprisingly, it is for other contributors) and look what i found!


it was nearly catastrophic for me. i thought "some hooligan and his friends have undoubtedly loaded one of their blog-viruses on here and it's all over now."

but then i took a closer look.

we have a personalized icon. ck, our hats are off to you for having time, wherewithal, and keen insight into the needs of this blog.

so that's all this overblown, windbag of a post was about. enjoy our icon.