“When I was a kid, I made a puppet show with my Raggedy Andy doll,” reveals Chicago-based theater director Blair Thomas. “There wasn’t a movie theater or anything in the town I grew up in,” he slyly adds. To be fair, most kids pick up a puppet at some point, no matter where they happen … Read more
Who can talk about puppetry for any age group without drifting to that most delightfully acerbic of all marionettes, that comical ne’er-do-well Punch? Not that the hook-nosed buffoon has ever, by any means, offered “family-friendly” entertainment. In fact, with his spew of curses, Punch surely embodies an early foray into adult entertainment, especially when joined … Read more
Introducing tourists to authentic New Orleans cooking probably makes downtown restaurateur Chris Jones pretty happy. However: “If we have Vassar Clements jamming on a Parliament tune by the end of the [BlueBrass finale show], I’ll be really happy!” declares the Thibodaux Jones Creole Kitchen co-owner and head instigator of the BlueBrass Project. Veteran fiddler Clements … Read more
The next — and last — show of the Stephanie Morgan Quartet really ought to be a poignant thing. But you wouldn’t know it from the band’s excitement. Their farewell gig is scheduled for Tressa’s Downtown Jazz & Blues, the downtown venue that SMQ front woman Morgan credits for nurturing the group into something no … Read more
On a recent visit to Western Carolina University’s new Fine and Performing Arts Center, I find the 12 students in the school’s first M.F.A. program working in spacious, airy studios. But not all students are enjoying an atmosphere of such well-lit comfort. Right now, some are enduring relentlessly tough critiques from teachers brought down from … Read more
Of note Second time around: According to Senatobia‘s Web site, these locally based alt-rockers will be taking the rest of the summer off from touring to complete work on their first full-length follow-up to Surprise, their 2001 debut. No word yet on a release date or the new album’s title. See www.senatobiamusic.net for more info. … Read more
It’s enough to make your head spin: the southeastern Ultimate Frisbee Hodown, Throwdown, Showdown VIII; three Home Trust Bank Cycling Classic races; and the mountain boarding 2004 RIDE international championship, all here the same weekend (July 30 to Aug. 1), with all events free to spectators. Ultimate Frisbee showdown Ultimate Frisbee and fencing just might … Read more
Eryngium yuccifolium, known as rattlesnake master or button snakeroot, is an unusual and interesting flowering plant that’s native to the Southeast. Its range runs from the northern border of Florida west to Texas and up to Pennsylvania (USDA zones 5 to 10). Other common names include yucca leaf and snake button. The genus name is … Read more
If you have a backyard garden, you’ve undoubtedly found by now that squash plants are too darn big. Zucchini and other summer squashes that are cute and manageable in June become Godzillas later in the summer, overshadowing everything within three feet. And the winter varieties make like Woody Guthrie and ramble “from California to the … Read more
