flying biscuits, fast feet and wild and wonderful whites

Today is First Friday, so there's bound to be a bunch of fun stuff going on in and around Downtown. And out in Bearden. I stopped trying to keep up with First Friday a long time ago, since it has grown so much in the past year or so. I just go with the flow; and that way I don't feel pressure to follow an itinerary.

But there is one very fun event I'm planning to attend this evening, and that's the City People Second Annual Downtown Dash. If you haven't heard of City People, it's "a group made up of residents, business people, elected officials, preservationists, activists, and artists working together to address issues concerning Knoxville's center city." It's a group of conscientious citizens who work to make downtown a better, more fun place. Key word: fun. If there's one thing I know about City People, it's that they know how to have fun. (You should consider joining. Membership fees are really low, and benefits are listed at their website).

The Downtown Dash is a very fun 1 mile race that takes place, obviously, downtown. If you haven't already registered, you can still do so. Just show up at Pete's restaurant at 540 Union Ave. between 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The race begins at 7pm for elite runners, and then the rest of us will get started at 7:35. After the race, there is an awards ceremony in Krutch Park. Now hold on to your hats...If you dress in your best biscuit related costume and run the race, you are eligible to win an award for the best biscuit bolt costume! Because, that's right, this weekend is also the highly anticipated International Biscuit Festival!

We mentioned the Biscuit Festival a while back and sure are excited that it's finally here. So Biscuit Festival gives you extra incentive to head downtown for either First Friday, or a fun Saturday, or both. You can visit the website I linked above for a full list of events.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention the East Tennessee premier of The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. That's tonight, Friday, at 8:30 at The Shed out in Maryville. If you don't know anything about Dancing Outlaw Jesco White and his wacky family, then you sure are missing out. Dancing Outlaw is a cult classic documentary about Jesco and his family, and this new documentary, produced by Storm Taylor, looks to be awesome. You can get ticket information, directions, and view a film trailer from our buddies Knoxville Films. I think that after I do my dash, I am going to dash on over to Maryville to catch the premier.

Happy weekend, y'all.

Update: Lo has just informed me that his lovely wife is showing biscuit-inspired art at Coffee and Chocolate as a part of the International Biscuit Festival art competition. After you run or stuff your face with delicious biscuity treats, head over to Coffee and Chocolate to check it out!

This really takes the cake, or biscuit rather

Not long ago, Knoxville had 20 textile mills around town, and, as a result, was known as the Underwear Capital of the World. As sad as it has been to lose this incredible identity, it seems we may have something just as bizarre but much more classy to help put us back on the map.

"What's that?" you sit and think. Biscuits.



On June 5, 2010, Market Square is putting on the first annual International Biscuit Festival. I conducted my first Wigshop interview last week with John Craig, president of the Market Square District Association and founder of the festival. I will share with you what he told me about this festive occasion.

He admits the biscuit idea was not originally his. For at least a decade, there has been talk about creating a biscuit festival in Knoxville because of White Lily Flour's presence, which, some believe, make the best biscuits. But it takes a man like John Craig, aka Mr. Biscuit, to make this kind of thing a reality.

It started with a revolutionary moment when John's biscuit brain cells kicked into high gear. During First Night, the downtown-wide New Year's Eve event he created, he and others were working out in the cold when they came up with a great idea: "Let's do something like this but warm."

I can envision them out in the Square, conjuring up ideas about biscuits and biscuit related events. What better to warm the soul?

After that, the party planning committee formed, known as the Biscuit Brain Trust. Here's a quick rundown of things they foresee happening on June 5. As you read them, think biscuit-themed:

•  music and bands performing at the Square Room, WDVX, and the Market Square stage
• improv performance by Einstein simplified
• a song writing contest
• VIP breakfast
• a film festival, including a documentary
• Biscuit Boulevard (a boulevard of biscuit taste-testing samples)
• a Biscuit Bake off
• a Biscuit Bazaar (where you can buy biscuit accoutrements, i.e. honey)
• the Biscuit Bolt, a 1 mile run (which Mr. Biscuit says will be carbo loading in reverse)
• an art exhibit

and my favorite:

• a Miss Biscuit pageant with an apron fashion show and biscuit baking contest

A little something for everyone. I propose they have a biscuit war, kind of like Spain and their tomatoes.

The underlying goal, as always, is to create something Knoxvillians can enjoy and that potentially draws biscuit enthusiasts from around the globe. Biscuit Mecca. It's definitely something to think about.


The International Biscuit Festival
Downtown Knoxville
June 5, 2010
9am to 7pm

Movies on Market Square

Y'all know I love me some movies and some Market Square. So I'm thrilled that Movies on Market Square, sponsored by the Knox County Library is making its return for another year. Movies will be shown every Friday night from Sept. 11 through Oct. 16. What movies? That's where you come in.

photo by max.

Follow this link to the Metro Pulse and choose your six favorite films to be shown during Movies on Market Square. I'm having a hard time narrowing the list down because there are some ridiculously good options. The official lineup will be announced Sept. 3.

Speaking of movies and Knoxville, has anyone seen Inglourious Basterds yet?

Downtown movie mania

I'm a huge, huge movie nerd when it comes to classic films. It's not uncommon for me to stay in on a Friday night to catch something on AMC or TCM. But even better than staying in to see a classic flick is to see it on the big screen in a grand theatre the way God intended.

Which is why it is SO AWESOME that both the Tennessee Theatre and the Bijou are showing films these days.

Tennessee Theatre's offerings are part of its Summer Movie Magic series. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for kids. The same film is shown Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. As part of your admission, you are treated to a mini concert by Bill Snyder, the resident organist, on the Mighty Wurlitzer. It's well worth the price of admission, and they've got some good offerings. Check the calendar here. I cannot wait for Robert Redford in The Sting and Elvis weekend (which just happens to coincide with Elvis week in Memphis).

Movies at the Bijou has been ongoing for a few months now. Some friends of the Wigshop and I caught The Big Lebowski there a while back, which came complete with patrons dressed as the Dude. Tickets are only $5, and the same film is shown Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. And in many cases, you'll get a double feature, like Easy Rider and Two Lane Blacktop in middle July and Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club (you'll find me there) at the end of July. Schedule is here.

No word yet if the Knox County Library is doing Movies on Market Square this year. Does anyone know?

some cheese for my data dog, please

I watched this the other day at the kiosk itself, and was trying to figure out how to get it here, then I found out that KNS had an embeddable version. So here it the video in all it's ridiculousness:



"Unleashing Knoxville's Bow WOW!!!!!!!!"

How much did the Tourism Board spend on this?
Who is their intended audience, 5 year olds?
How much disposable income does the average 5 year old have?
Where was I when they were filming a dog exploring downtown?!

omg! hsm 4 is coming here?! srsly? that is 2 kewl !!!!

According to here and here, High School Musical 4 is to be filmed in Knoxville at Vine Magnet School. The script is a "closely guarded secret." Heh. I can tell you now that it will involve many choreographed dance numbers loosely tied to a story with "lessons about true friendship". Yes!!!!! Troy UR the 1 4 me! lol!

blatant filler post

The Wigshop is running on a skeleton crew this week, so here goes.
This might be one of the Greatest B Movies of All Time, one that deals with racism in a thoughful, sensitive manner:

The Thing With Two Heads!


"Why you guys gotta do this to me?!"
I love the funky music that cues in at 0:50.

rootclip.com

These guys contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me to help promote their new website/concept: Rootclip.com. The idea is this: they film a short intro clip that sets up a plot, and then anybody can film and submit a continuation clip, furthering the plot. Think "Choose Your Own Adventure" meets YouTube. After uploading the clips, the user community votes on which one should further the story. This continues until the sixth and final chapter, when only the previous winners of a plot line can upload their resolution for consideration. Oh yeah, and the winners get cash prizes- $250 for each chapter and $2500 for the finale. So expect the see "film crews" of college students all over town in the near future.

The quality of the clips is mixed, but I expect it to get better as the pool of would-be-filmmakers grows. Go vote and support this creative endeavor. We all need to support creative culture in Knoxville, and Rootclip.com is a great way to get started.

graffiti in knoxville film

Knoxville Graffiti

The word around Market Square today was that the police had caught a graffiti [artist?] suspect. I didn't find any news reports on it yet, but it did lead me to an article on two guys who got caught last year: Christopher "Bantr" Jones and Seth "Mind" Calehuff. On the same google search the above video came up on MySpace video (wth?) and it's interesting. It brings up some of the same points made by our commenters.

Is graffiti art? Is it a crime? Is it both at the same time? Is there "art graffiti" and just mere tagging? Is urban blight fair game for artistic expression? "Mind" and "Bantr" (the guys interviewed in the film) got the smack down from the powers that be for expressing themselves as they saw fit. They knew the risks. Mayor Haslam has basically declared war on graffiti.

It's good to see some other Knoxvillians examining these issues and producing a pretty decent documentary about it. Get out of MySpace world, though, where the rest of us are. 
My personal position is more ambiguous. For the time being I'm looking at it like a war photographer: I want to record and document something that i think is interesting and noteworthy, yet I don't condone nor condemn what I'm documenting.
Let's keep the dialog going. What do you think?

lights, camera, knoxville?

The other morning on my way into work I saw a professional film crew set up on Market Square. I didn't get to take a picture because someone has my camera (ahem). They had all the light reflectors and even one of those railroad tracks with a cart for the cameraman. I don't know what they were filming for but I got the feeling it was for a cable channel show.
What a lot of people don't realize is that Knoxville has a growing television industry. Why? I don't know. But a lot of cable channels and their shows are coming out of East Tennessee. I've been meeting more and more people associated with it around town- producers, crew, editors, ect. This leads me to two cool aspects of the strange convergence of TV and our city:
1. Lots of the creative class are being drawn to Knoxville for the jobs offered here. They're the kind of people that will buy lofts and shop downtown, and so on. In essence the fuel for our urban revival.
2. Knoxville will be getting a higher profile on TV. Many of these shows need footage and don't have huge budgets- so they'll shoot locally when they can. Case in point: the film crew on Market Square. Knoxville will probably pop up in these shows more often. Even if it's just generic footage.
Something to think about when you consider the positives of Knoxville. As the new cable TV market grows, the traditional centers (LA and NY) of industry are shifting, new places will emerge as the new cool places to be. Why not here?