Video, Arkansas Times

Check out this vintage Cate Brothers performance

Robert Bell — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:00 -0500

Here's a very tasty jam from Fayetteville's Cate Brothers, performing in 1976 on the BBC's "Old Grey Whistle Test." This tune, "In One Eye and Out the Other," is the title track of the band's second album, released on Asylum Records.

I am heavily digging that funky clavinet, and the playing is just beyond tight. Truly one of the great under-heralded bands of the era. You can still catch Earl Cate playing with Earl & Them. They gig all the time, and they're set to play at Stickyz June 8.

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UPDATE: Gun control group to spend $350,000 against Pryor

Max Brantley — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:54:41 -0500

Politico reports that the gun control group backed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is following through with plans to buy TV time — $350,000 worth — criticizing U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor for helping defeat some modest gun measures recently, particularly universal background checks.

The irony, of course, is that they'll be contributing to damage of Pryor that will accrue to the benefit of the Club for Growth's Tom Cotton, a nominal 4th District representative who plans to take the Club for Greed's money to go after Pryor. Cotton is rarely depicted in his material without a gun in his hand. He's a gun absolutist. In his view, there is NO law that should be passed relative to gun regulation.

Pryor has been disappointing on the issue, no doubt. But ...

UPDATE: The ad is hard-hitting. See it above. It brings up the shooting death of former State Democratic Party Chair Bill Gwatney in as senseless an act of gun violence as I can imagine.

The ad features Angela Bradford Barnes, chief financial officer of the Arkansas Democratic Party at the time.

When my dear, innocent friend was shot to death, I didn’t blame guns. I blamed a system that makes it so terribly easy for criminals or the dangerous mentally ill to buy guns. That’s why I was so disappointed when Mark Pryor voted against comprehensive background checks. On that vote, he let us down.

Gun violence has personally affected my life in a tremendous way. I have spent years working for Arkansas’ Democrats and was at work with Bill Gwatney the day he was senselessly taken from us,” said Bradford-Barnes in a press release. “The pain of that experience will always be a part of me. Like 84 percent of Arkansans I support universal background checks. Thus, I was heartbroken to see that Senator Pryor opposed the bi-partisan bill because it will save lives. This bill may not be perfect, and it cannot undue my tragic loss, but if it stops even one person from causing this pain to another family, it’s worth it. I hope that if Senator Pryor is given another chance to lead on this issue he thinks first about Arkansas voters like me.

Pryor responded sharply:

“New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg didn’t know Bill Gwatney. I knew Bill Gwatney. He was my friend and he was killed by someone with severe mental health issues. The Mayor’s bill would have done nothing to prevent his death because it fails to adequately address the real issue and common thread in all of these shootings — mental health.

“That’s why I voted for separate legislation that strengthens funding for mental health programs; requires states, courts, and agencies to report mental health records to the background check system; increases penalties for straw purchases; reauthorizes and funds the COPS program to improve safety in schools; holds the Department of Justice accountable by forcing them to prosecute cases where individuals tried to purchase firearms illegally; and conducts a study on violence in the media. This legislation would have done all of this while protecting people’s 2nd amendment rights.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s attack ad politicizes the death of my friend by misleading people into thinking that his bill would have prevented Bill Gwatney’s tragic death. The fact is it wouldn’t have, which makes Mayor Bloomberg’s ad even more disgusting.”

The Democratic Party followed with this from Candace Martin:

“Bill Gwatney was a friend and inspiration to all Democrats. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about his tragic death and miss him. We don’t believe it is right for any organization to politicize this tragedy.”

I'm just about fed up with the "politicizing tragedy" cliche used to avoid talking about tough issues. Guns are an issue precisely because of tragedies. Pryor himself brought up storm aid votes the other day — a clear and deserved jab at Rep. Tom Cotton — in advocating help for Oklahoma. That wasn't politicizing tragedy, either, though Republican shills tried to call it that to stop references to Cotton. Actions have consequences, past and future. A death need not be provably preventable by background checks to mention it as another senseless gun death that underscored the ready availability of instruments of death without much meaningful impediment.

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Buddy Flett at White Water Tavern

Lindsey Millar — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:39:00 -0500

Here's the latest in our music video series collaboration with Greg Spradlin and Camp Friday Films. It features Buddy Flett, the legendary Louisiana guitarist, live at White Water Tavern. A founding member of A-Train and the The Bluebirds, Buddy's forthcoming album on Honeybee Records was produced by Jason Weinheimer at Fellowship Hall Sound.

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House begins videos of state representatives

Max Brantley — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:39:00 -0500

Would you like to spend 2:22 listening to Republican Rep. Doug House of North Little Rock? If so, click the YouTube above.

House happens to be the first video biography online at the House website. The House communications staff will add them one at a time until all are done. A news release explains:

As part of an ongoing effort to increase communication between members and constituents, the Arkansas House of Representatives will soon be releasing video biographies of its members.

“The public may know that a member serves on a particular committee or how he or she voted on a hot-button issue. But unfortunately, the public may know very little about the district that individual represents or why that member got involved in public service in the first place,” said House Speaker Davy Carter. “Partisanship is at its lowest when members know one another personally. We hope when members share their personal story with the public, it will have the same impact.”

The House Communications Office purchased the video and editing equipment in 2009 as part of its public transparency initiative to broadcast its proceedings. There is no additional cost for the production of the video biographies.

The House will release the videos one at a time throughout the remainder of the 89th General Assembly via our social media and website arkansashouse.org. Once released, the videos will be made available on the member’s individual bio section on the House website.

You can follow the House on Twitter at @ArkansasHouse or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArkansasHouse.

I dunno. I'm glad for Doug House that he has some cute grandkids and reads "voraciously". Doesn't make me like his partisan voting record very much.

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ZZ Top to Fayetteville

Robert Bell — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:43:06 -0500

Get out your cheap sunglasses, 'cause "that little ol' band from Texas" is headed to Fayetteville's Arkansas Music Pavilion for an Oct. 4 concert. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 30 and they're gonna run you $37-$102. Here's where to go to get 'em. Or you could call 479-443-5600.

The 'Top recently got the Rick Rubin treatment with last year's "La Futura," a gettin'-back-to-their-roots collection with real drums and a gritty, mean guitar tone.

After the jump, one of my favorite ZZ Top tunes, from 1973's "Tres Hombres." No, not "La Grange" (though that one is totally the jam).

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Escaping traffic in America: The remotest place in Arkansas

Max Brantley — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:22:00 -0500

From up East comes a link from a former Arkie about a website, Remote Footprints. What is it?

Remote Footprints is an idea rooted in our concern that the remoteness of the natural landscape is still continually diminishing despite America’s best efforts to preserve its public wildlands. We have discovered that the U.S. road network fills the national landscape so fully, that it is no longer possible to be more than 5 miles from a road within the vast majority of the conterminous 48 United States. The number of roads continually increases, even within many conservation lands. Opportunities for humans to “get away from it all” are all but gone outside Alaska. The roaring sound of roads, light pollution on the horizon, or line of sight views of civilization are next to impossible to avoid. The mental and physical health of a culture farther and farther removed from the natural world is at stake and worth saving. We have developed a unique and exciting approach to preserving remote and roadless areas, called Project Remote, and we invite you to browse our website to learn more about the problem and solutions for preserving America’s famed remoteness.

OK, that's all touchy feely. Here's the specific angle. Project Remote is aimed at identifying the most remote spot in each of the 50 states. Arkansas has already been visited. The remote spot is in the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in South Arkansas. (My cousin Jewell, late of Huttig, Ark., would be thrilled. He loved to take any and all fishing down in the wetlands.)

In addition to the YouTube of a trip to the spot, there's an extensive post with more photos, including this from a visit by canoe to the putative remotest Arkansas spot in November 2011:

The river floodplain swamp forest comes alive at night. Barred owls ”who-aw” back and forth. A coyote pack yelps wildly. A few arboreal insects are still calling despite the onset of winter. All night, we enjoy the sounds of Southeastern wildness. However, there is one unwelcome sound. US 82 roars constantly through the night, and dominates the other sounds, despite being nearly 3 miles away. This blows our minds. We had no idea that one could hear a road, and quite loudly, from such a distance. This is an eye-opener for us and provides further motivation for conducting Project Remote.

I'm thinking the website's standard for remoteness, distance from a road, doesn't fairly take into account some spots in the vast timbered stretches of both the Ouachitas and Ozarks. They may be right by a forest road, but traffic doesn't come along too often. Still, food for thought. Quietest place I ever traveled by road was the vast desert along the so-called Extraterrestrial Highway (for its proximity to Area 54) between Las Vegas and Carson City. You could hear nothing but wind. Below is their road coverage map of the state.

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Watch Sens. Boozman and Pryor talk about the Internet econmy

Lindsey Millar — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:25:23 -0500

Roby Brock will moderate the Google+Hangout on how Arkansas's faring in the Internet economy. The video conference starts streaming at 3:30 p.m. It's part of the Internet Association’s Internet on Main Street tour.

In addition to Boozman and Pryor, participants include...

· Michael Beckerman, President and CEO, The Internet Association

· Susie Marks, Sr. Vice President, Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce

· Mike Abbiatti, Executive Director, Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network

· Lee Renniger, Owner, Rock Appliances and Services

· Jeffrey Hall, Associate Director of National Affairs, Arkansas Farm Bureau

· Matt Price, Founder, Bourbon and Boots

· Ellie Keffler, Vice President of the Associated Student Government, University of Arkansas

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Johnny Cash mashed with Jackson 5, Steve Miller

Lindsey Millar — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:04:00 -0500

Here's what you get when you combine "Rockin' Robin" with "Folsom Prison Blues" and "The Joker." What say you — abomination or finger-snapping good time?

The mash comes courtesy of DJ Faroff.

H/T: egotripland

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It Could Happen to You: the open line

Max Brantley — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:11:40 -0500

The day's not done, but I've seen two excellent films at the Little Rock Film Festival. "Muscle Shoals" was a tuneful history of the large and talented personalities behind the recording industry in that seemingly unlikely place. Even better was "Bridegroom," a love story that I wish somebody would put in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court soon.

Here's the Facebook page for "Bridegroom," the story of Shane Bitney Crone, who lost Tom Bridegroom, the love of his life, in an accident. It is a story about the travails of a same-sex couple deprived of rights others enjoy (visiting a loved one in a hospital, for example), along with the simple hazards of being gay in some families and some places. Hard to see how this story wouldn't touch just about anyone, though Tom's family erased Shane from their son's life, preventing him from attending the funeral.

The movie is the work of Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, who was inspired by the 10-minute YouTube above. "It Could Happen to You" was produced by Crone after his partner's death. I hadn't been aware of this viral phenomenon (3.8 million views) until today. The movie takes the story much farther, in a sensitive and complete way, fair even to the hard-hearted in their lives. Truth hurts, of course. Crone was at the screening this morning and talked about his life today and the movie — an audience winner at Tribeca Film Festival, where it was introduced by Bill Clinton. It was another occasion to be grateful for the LRFF.

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Video blogger Joseph Birdsong teaches you about Arkansas

David Koon — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:26:14 -0500

Arkansas is full of talented people, and we ran across yet another one of them last night: the thoroughly-hilarious writer and video blogger Joseph Birdsong. In the video seen above, Birdsong, who was born in Arkansas, schools out-of-staters on some skewed facts about the Natural State, including: "People in Arkansas are born with the ability to recognize 30 different kinds of roadkill based on scent alone," and "The first gay person to ever come to Arkansas was George Takei, and that was because he was forced here to live in an Arkansas Japanese internment camp during World War II." Just remember, he's laughing WITH us, not AT us. Okay, he's laughing AT us as well, but a great sense of humor covers a multitude of sins.

If you're looking for a good laugh, you can check out almost 200 of Birdsong's quirky videos on his Youtube site, cupofjoeshow.com. He's also got a site where he blogs, a very funny Twitter account. and a video blog for My Damn Channel's Answerly page where he talks about sex and relationships.

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'Short Term 12' folks are really good at Vine

Lindsey Millar — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:32:19 -0500

If your first reaction to Vine, the new-ish Twitter app that allows users to post 6 second video clips, was, "This is worthless," you need to check out the Vines "Short Term 12" director Destin Cretton and actor Keith Stanfield did while they were in town for the Little Rock Film Festival. So good. They're on the jump. (Click the box on the top left of each one to un-mute the sound.)

If you missed 'Short Term 12,' the opening night film at the Little Rock Film Festival that's the heavy favorite to win the festival's Golden Rock Narrative Award, you blew it. Maybe it'll play here when it opens in August.

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OA's SoLost goes behind-the-scenes of 'Mud'

Lindsey Millar — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:42:00 -0500

The latest from the Oxford American's SoLost series is from footage series director Dave Anderson got last year during the shoot for Jeff Nichols' "Mud" in south Arkansas. Good interviews with Nichols, Paul Sparks (who plays main bad dude Carver in the film and Mickey Doyle on "Boardwalk Empire") and Sarah Paulson (who plays Mary Lee, Ellis' mother).

Paulson, in particular, has nice, insightful things to say about Nichols.

He has a real old soul...He's very gentle, but specific. Very much in command. He's very self-possessed, which I think is an interesting quality for a man so young and a relatively new filmmaker. All that does, for me anyway, is inspire great confidence that I can trust whatever he's wanting or needing in a scene from me and trust that it is the exact right thing... I'd do anything for Jeff Nichols. He could ask me to do any part — big, small, toothless, peg-legged — I'd do it.

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Michigan pipeline whistleblower John Bolenbaugh visits Mayflower

David Koon — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:15:00 -0500

Citizen journalist John Bolenbaugh, the Michigan oil-spill-clean-up-worker-turned-whistleblower-turned tar-sands gadfly, spent the last week in Mayflower, chatting with residents, documenting what he saw on video, and attempting to see the ongoing spill clean-up himself.

Bolenbaugh worked on cleanup following a July 2010 rupture of an Enbridge pipeline near Marshall, Michigan that sent over a million gallons of heavy tar sands oil flowing into the Kalamazoo River. He was fired in October 2010 by Enbridge subcontractor SET Environmental after, he says, he refused to hide and cover up evidence of oil contamination. He later filed a whistleblower lawsuit over his firing, and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum in April 2012. Since then, Bolenbaugh has become an activist against tar sands oil, visiting spill sites and documenting what he sees while doing follow-up reports on the Kalamazoo River clean up. Bolenbaugh said he has spent over $35,000 of his own money traveling and documenting pipeline spills.

"This is my calling," he said. "This is what I feel my purpose in life is now: to travel around and give speeches and document tar sands spills. I've seen the devastation first hand of what tar sands oil can do to a community."

During his time in Arkansas, Bolenbaugh said he was followed several times by local police, something he managed to capture on video on at least one occasion, confronting an officer in a Faulkner Country Sheriff's Department patrol car who tailed him into a parking lot. As seen in the video, the officer in the car refused to roll down his window or talk to Bolenbaugh when Bolenbaugh confronted him to ask why he was being followed.

Bolenbaugh, who said he has several relatives currently working on pipeline projects, said that he isn't an anti-oil.

"I'm not against oil. People need to understand that. I'm a Union member, that works on oil pipelines. I'm not against oil, and I'm not against working on an oil pipeline job. I'm against tar sands."

Bolenbaugh said Mayflower residents he spoke with are upset, and don't believe that ExxonMobil has been telling them the truth about the spill cleanup or the potential health effects.

"The residents are pissed," he said. "Exxon, of course, is doing their little PR campaign that everything is fine. One lady was really mad because all the kids were sick and puking at school, and they didn't evacuate the school." Bolenbaugh said he has been diagnosed with migraines, dizziness, headaches, blood in his urine and kidney dysfunction, all of which he attributes to his time as a tar sands oil cleanup worker. He added that residents of the area should consider seeking legal representation, and should avoid signing any settlements with ExxonMobil, even if they're feeling fine now.

"People have to realize that these chemicals sometimes take up to a year before you'll even see signs that you are getting sick," he said. "What Exxon and Enbridge and all these companies do, they'll have people sign off, they'll give them two or $3,000 dollars or less, and then they say: 'sign this document that clears us from all future lawsuits. Basically you have settled with us.' The issue with that is, people will have major medical bills in the future, or maybe the kids who breathe these chemicals in, maybe ten years in the future, they get cancer."

To see more video shot by Bolenbaugh during his time in Mayflower, visit his Youtube page or his HELPPA.org Facebook page.

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Ashlie Atkinson will be in the new Fox series 'Us & Them'

Robert Bell — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:19:00 -0500

Little Rock native Ashlie Atkinson has a role on the upcoming Fox comedy "Us & Them" (it's a de-Anglicized version of the Brit series "Gavin & Stacey").

It's a rom-com-type program in which two super attractive people finally get up the gumption to meet in person after making goo-goo eyes at each other over the internet. Naturally, they each recruit their respective weirdo siblings (Atkinson and Dustin Ybarra) to come along as wingmen.

The two main characters are played by this guy and this woman who were in some other stuff, but who cares about them, because Atkinson and Ybarra look to be way more interesting and funny. Also: small roles for Kerri Kenney and Michael Ian Black!

Check out the trailer after the jump. And oh yeah, "cobra basket."

H/t to Vulture, which reports that "Us & Them" will air mid-season sometime.

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Tuesday To-Do: Kvelertak

Robert Bell — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:05:00 -0500

KVELERTAK
7 p.m. Downtown Music Hall. $13 adv., $15 day of.

Dudes, y'all, this band Kvelertak? Have you heard them? For real, it's like this crazy mix of blistering, balls-to-the-wall hardcore, black metal, anthemic soccer-stadium rock, punk, classic rock, power-metal, pop-metal ... is there any genre of rock that this band is not ready and willing to throw into its ADD insanity blender? I think not.

You know what I like about them, besides the fist-pumpingly badass songs? They're sung in Norwegian. Because hell yes. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I hear more than enough people screaming at me through my headphones in English. Is it time for some Norwegian screamin'? You know it is! Dig it! Get on board the train to Kvelertak (which means "chokehold" in Norwegian). Check 'em out after the jump.

Also on this bill: Savannah, Ga., sludge titans Black Tusk, Canadian bruisers Cancer Bats and Little Rock prog-metal act Enchiridion.

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Morning report: Prescription drug watch

Max Brantley — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:52:09 -0500

The morning again begins slowly. But among others:

* MONITORING DOCTORS' PRESCRIPTION PRACTICES: Pro Publica has published with the Washington Post a deep look at doctors' prescription practices under Medicare.

But an investigation by ProPublica has found the program, in its drive to get drugs into patients' hands, has failed to properly monitor safety. An analysis of four years of Medicare prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs that are potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive. Federal officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns.

But here's the locally interesting thing. You can plug in the name of an Arkansas doctor and review their prescription record for 2010. It shows prescription claims filed and the percentage filled for narcotics and antipsychotic drugs, two areas of particular interest in the article.

* WHEN RELIGION AND HEALTH CARE MIX: The New York Times focuses on the state of Washington where hospital takeovers by Catholic health care organizations are raising concern not only about access to abortion and other reproductive health services in a state that is legally pro-choice, but about end-of-life care as well. It is another issue not yet fully explored in the discussion of a UAMS-St. Vincent merger of clinical services.

“It’s a collision course,” said Suzanne Holland, a science and values professor in the department of religion at the University of Puget Sound, referring to the potential of constriction in health care options from economic change, and at the same time restricted choice on moral grounds at hospitals operated through a lens of religious doctrine.

Professor Holland, a Catholic and a lesbian, said she already tried to avoid going to a Catholic hospital near her because she was concerned that administrators there would not recognize the rights of her civil union partner.

...Washington’s assisted suicide law, passed by the voters in 2008, gives all hospitals and individual caregivers the option to participate. And that creates a very mixed, complicated picture on the merger front, with physicians and pharmacists, even in secular hospitals that back the program, able to decide for themselves whether to be involved.

The question at formerly secular hospitals under new Catholic control is therefore not whether helping terminal patients die would be allowed on the premises — clearly not, church authorities said — but what kind of private, confidential advice a physician would have the authority to give about end-of-life options under the state law, including where legal services to ease death might be obtained.

* ROAD RAGE: Fox 16 has more reporting on that road rage shooting, including interviews with family of victim and shooter. Never know when you might need to carry a gun on a journey to shoot somebody who cut you off in traffic, right NRA?

* SCREENING OF FILM ON LGBT POLITICIANS: Former state Rep. Kathy Webb sends notice of local screenings of "Breaking Through," a movie about LGBT elected officials that features Webb among others. It will screen at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Argenta Community Theater as part of the Little Rock Film Festival and Webb and filmmaker Cindy Abel will talk after the movie. It is also to be shown at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Vince Insalaco's home as part of a fund-raising event for the movie. A brief clip follows.

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The worst Mother's Day gifts

Lindsey Millar — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:26:00 -0500

If by chance, you're calendar ignorant, a head's up: Mother's Day is Sunday. In anticipation, we asked Arkansas Times staff and Facebook followers the worst Mother's Day present they'd ever given or received. Consider these cautionary tales, though many of those who wrote to us echoed what Bob Ketchum said below — it's impossible to give a bad Mother's Day gift because a mother's love is unconditional.

I had a five-year run of giving my mother Enya albums every year. I think my mom likes Enya, although in retrospect it’s fuzzy to me whether there was any evidence of such. “Orinoco Flow” perfectly captures what a 13-year-old boy thinks his mother would like. I wasn’t alone—Enya is now worth more than $150 million. I assume, but cannot confirm, that this is largely via crappy Mother’s day gifting. David Ramsey

Got a very tiny dried up dead lizard in a little box...... I still have it. Jamie Gibson

When I was about six I gave mom a very early morning Mother's Day breakfast in bed. I made liverwurst sandwiches. Somehow she managed to eat them. I am sure it was a chore at that time of the morning. I think it was around 5 am or so. Ardee Eichelmann

I once gave my mother an ash tray (I was 16). I just found it the other day! There are no "bad" MD gifts. A mother's love is unconditional. Bob Ketchum

I got a weed eater. And I already owned a weed eater. Amy Ruple Jordan

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On the big screen: The Jim Lindsey story

Max Brantley — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:07:00 -0500

Word comes in today of completion of a documentary on Jim Lindsey, the Razorback star who became a successful real estate developer and behind-the-scenes political power.

It's the work of a young filmmaker, Clint Fullen, and includes narration by Lindsey's old teammate Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Fullen tells me this about opportunities to view the film:

The film is scheduled to release this coming football season. We are currently in the process of organizing the premiere. Public screenings will be held in Fayetteville, Little Rock and Forrest City. If there is demand, additional locations will be added. DVDs will be available upon the film's release.

Lindsey's brief fling with electoral politics was a victim of the story editing process, Fullen tells me. The news release follows.

NEWS RELEASE

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones headlines upcoming documentary “The Jim Lindsey Story.” The film covers the career of Jones’ one-time teammate and business partner. Emmy Award winners Larry Foley and Dale Carpenter executive produced the project. The official trailer is available online.

Jones and Lindsey played together during the University of Arkansas’ 1964 national championship football season. Between 1963 and 1965, the Razorbacks captured 22-straight victories. That streak remains a school record. According to Foley, Lindsey helped lead the Hogs to the championship.

“Jim Lindsey has been one of the most important people and contributors in my life,” Jones said.

Jones said he first became “sold” on Lindsey while traveling to games. “He was my bus riding partner. We would talk about our dreams, our ambitions,” Jones said. “I remember his insight into life was amazing at such a young age.”

In 1965, the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings drafted Lindsey in the 2nd round. The Razorback competed as a running back for seven seasons in Minnesota. Coach Bud Grant named Lindsey a team captain. In 1969, the Vikings won the NFL title.

During offseasons, Lindsey bought and sold real estate in Northwest Arkansas. According to Lindsey, he started making more money selling property than playing football. After retiring from the NFL, Lindsey began developing homes and apartments. Lindsey now owns and operates more than 37,000 apartment units and 42 golf courses.

“The documentary shows how he evolved from a child to the influence he is today,” Jones said. “It depicts his will, desire and ambition to achieve.”

“Lindsey is an influential business leader whose story needs to be told,” Foley said. “This film is a must-see for Arkansans.”

“The Jim Lindsey Story” features interviews with College Football Hall of Fame coach Frank Broyles, former Arkansas head coach Ken Hatfield, former NFL players Fred Cox and Dave Osborn, and Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bud Grant. The film is scheduled to release fall 2013. For more information, visit jimlindseystory.com.

About “The Jim Lindsey Story”
The history of the Arkansas Razorbacks is composed of legends, and without a doubt, Jim Lindsey is one of its most successful players—on and off the field. Lindsey won a national championship, became an NFL captain and built a thriving real estate empire across the South.

Narrated by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, “The Jim Lindsey Story” begins in the Arkansas Delta. Back then, Lindsey was simply a small boy who dreamt of playing ball. Weekdays were spent in the cotton fields, and weekends were used for cow-pasture baseball. In time, that boy grew up to be a very big man.

With the Razorbacks, Lindsey contributed to one of the most dominant winning streaks in college football. As a Minnesota Viking, the athlete captured the 1969 NFL title. Lindsey was never the fastest or the strongest. Still, he is one of the most remarkable players to put on pads. Lindsey possessed two traits that are often overlooked in sports: intelligence and determination.

At 21-years-old, Lindsey wagered his $75,000 signing bonus on a tract of land in Northwest Arkansas. He bet on a winner and found a new profession. During the NFL offseasons, the former Razorback continued to buy and sell property. Over time, he transformed his opportunities in athletics into a sizable fortune. After retiring from football, Lindsey established a real estate operation that flourishes today.

This film is an Southern success story. It is about a delta boy who went from the henhouse to the penthouse. Using his available talents, Lindsey seized victories in both business and athletics. He may have not been the fastest or the strongest, but with intelligence and determination, Lindsey has become one of the most accomplished athletes in Arkansas history.

About the filmmaker
Clint Fullen, producer and director, was raised on the Razorbacks. He may have been born in Texas, but he was brought up by Arkansans. Transplanted to Little Rock, Fullen nurtured a love for football and film in the Natural State. Attending the University of Arkansas, the young filmmaker received degrees in broadcast journalism and creative writing. In 2013, he was awarded a master’s in documentary filmmaking. Throughout his academic career, Fullen freelanced as a commercial and documentary director. His short films have toured more than 100 locations across the United States, and his work has been broadcast nationally through "PBS Frontline" and "PBS Planet Forward." “The Jim Lindsey Story” is Fullen’s largest and most ambitious project to date.

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Expand-o-meter: Signed, sealed, delivered

David Ramsey — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:37:00 -0500

Chances of expansion passing, final reading: 100 percent
See here for previous entries on the Expand-o-Meter.

All good things (and beaten-to-death gimmicks) must come to an end, and so after 14 long weeks, the Expand-o-meter retires. Last week, the governor signed healthcare expansion bills into law. After our temperature fluctuated wildly up and down, the heat was on in the homestretch, and against all odds, expansion is coming to Arkansas. That’s something worth dancing about.

Lowest reading: Feb. 8, 35 percent

Highest reading: Mar. 29, 85 percent

The final days: The Expand-o-meter viewed expansion as a 50/50 shot the weekend before the big votes, and then veered down to 25 percent and all the up to 90 as things changed rapidly. You can look back at the crazy swings in the House vote here and on the Senate side here.

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The Body releases 'Master, We Perish' EP, signs to Thrill Jockey

Robert Bell — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:18:44 -0500

The Body has a new three-song EP out this week called "Master, We Perish." Reviews have been positive, with Popdose noting that the three songs "aren’t just punishing but incredibly unique as well." CVLT Nation called the EP "clearly an example of the band revving their engine for the next full-length and it certainly lays down a haunting and invigorating gauntlet for things to come."

Its run of 500 CD copies sold out in probably about nine seconds. The vinyl version will be available soon. They'll have it with them on their upcoming two-month tour.

In other Body news, the duo signed to the Thrill Jockey label, which will release their new album this fall, which, right on. That's a good label.

Also, they've released two ultra-creepy videos, both directed by Richard Rankin, for songs from the new EP. After the jump, check out "Worship" and "The Ebb and Flow of Tides in a Sea of Ash." Probably you'll want to skip that last one of you're easily upset by imagery of awful things such as, say, a mass-suicide crime-scene investigation. Oh, The Body. Where will your fascination will all things horrific and gruesome take us next?

Tour dates are posted after the jump as well.

THE BODY — 2013 TOUR DATES

05-07 Boise, ID- Red Room
05-08 Salt Lake City, UT- The Salt Haus
05-10 Kansas City, MO — PUA Gallery
05-11 Iowa City, IA- Gabe’s Oasis
05-12 Lincoln, NE- Bourbon Theatre
05-13 Dubuque, IA- Eronel
05-14 Chicago, IL- Empty Bottle
05-15 Cleveland, OH- Now That’s Class
05-16 Harrisburg, PA- Grindlab Skatepark
05-17 Philadelphia, PA- Heaven’s Gate
05-19 Pawtucket, RI — Machines with Magnets
06-09 Brooklyn, NY — The Acheron
06-10 Brooklyn, NY — The Acheron
06-30 Berkeley, CA — This is Not a Step Fest
07-03 Seattle, WA — Black Lodge *
07-04 Oakland, CA — 1234 Go Records *
07-05 La Puente, CA — Bridgetown *
07-07 Riverside, CA — Blood Orange *
07-08 San Diego, CA — Che Cafe *
* w/ Subservient Fuck

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Bloodworth Thomason has a documentary winner

Max Brantley — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:38:00 -0500

It's a quiet Sunday morning, but here's a winning note of someone with an Arkansas connection.

Linda Bloodworth Thomason ("Designing Women" and more) was a winner in the Tribeca Film Festival for best documentary.

UPDATE FROM LINDSEY: The movie is screening at the Little Rock Film Festival in three weeks.

Bridegroom chronicles the emotional journey of Shane and Tom, two young men in a loving and committed relationship. Unfortunately, their love is cut short by Tom’s accidental death, and his partner finds himself facing the failure of same sex marriage protections that leave him completely shut out and ostracized. Linda Bloodworth Thomason sheds light on the often-overlooked struggles that same sex couples face as a result of marriage inequality. As the United States Supreme Court deliberates this issue, Bridegroom is poised as a timely and moving documentary about love and perseverance through loss.

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Mark Pryor: Stooge of the Night on Letterman show

Max Brantley — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:46:31 -0500

As several have noted, David Letterman made Mark Pryor his stooge of the night last night for his vote with the NRA to defeat legislation to expand gun purchase background checks to gun shows.

Hey, Alan, what time is it?

ALAN: “It’s time for ‘Stooge of the Night!’ Tonight’s stooge of the night is Democratic Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas.”
We stay on a photo of Senator Mark Pryor.

DAVE: “Senator Mark Pryor voted ‘NO’ on gun reform legislation even though as a state legislator in Arkansas he authored four gun control bills that included background checks.

‘Hi, please call me ‘Mark.’ What can I do to put you in a LeSabre?’

It’s Mark Pryor, and he is our Stooge of the Night.

So what do you think? The conventional wisdom in the Arkansas legislature and among the gun nut class is that you may not support a single measure, no matter how innocuous, that might require even a bit of paperwork from a gun lover. So wouldn't it be solid gold for Mark Pryor to vote down the line with the NRA? Or what if the polls are right? That a solid majority favor universal background checks? That Mark Pryor's position is a discentive for voters? (Forgetting, of course, that the only other likely viable candidate is even nuttier on guns.) That being labeled a "stooge" on a leading national TV show is not a good thing? Tom Cotton would proudly claim the label, presumably.

And speaking of guns, this was a bangup segment on the subject on the Daily Show, about how conservative politicians in wild and woolly Australia passed tough gun control legislation following a massacre and lived politically to talk about it.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Australia & Gun Control's Aftermath

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Indecision Political Humor

The Daily Show on Facebook

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The flown-the-coop line

Max Brantley — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:42 -0500

The Thursday line is open. My apologies again for a long absence today. We've been honoring our Academic All-Stars a brainy bunch of A+ students with bright minds and futures. Otherwise:

* CONGRESSIONAL HYPOCRISY: Congress made themselves subject to Obamacare as a ploy back in the day. Now, it appears, some are trying to find a way to wiggle out of it.

* CONGRESSIONAL EQUALITY: Bipartisan groups of sponsors introduced legislation today in both the House and Senate today to prohibit discrimination in employment against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers. Of course no Arkansas member of Congress is on the list of co-sponsors.

* LOUISIANA HAS A TECH PARK IN IT: News release today touts the Louisiana Technology Park in Baton Rouge. You might have heard Little Rock is making a hash of getting one of these off the ground. This is what struck me. They're not splitting atoms, curing cancer or making testtube quarterbacks. No, they're doing something that's probably instantly more profitable. They've opened a "digital media incubator." It is going to encourage companies that create games, mobile apps and other digital content for the digital media marketplace. Bret Bielema Football anyone?

* GUN NUTTERY: Ad below targets one of the four Democratic senators, including Sen. Mark Pryor, who went wobbly on universal background checks despite opposition mostly from extremists.

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Oxford American's SoLost receives NEA grant

Lindsey Millar — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:56:00 -0500

Oxford American's National Magazine Award-winning video series, SoLost, has received a $75,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, the magazine announced today. Above, check out the latest from the series, featuring famed Little Rock architecture photograph Tim Hursley rhapsodizing about a broken-down silo in Hale County, Ala.

See the full release on the jump.

[Little Rock, Ark.]—National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced today that The Oxford American is one of 817 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant.

The Oxford American is recommended for a $75,000 grant to support production of SoLost, an award-winning series of online video episodes that is accessible via www.OxfordAmerican.org and YouTube (www.youtube.com/oxfordamerican).

SoLost won the National Magazine Award for Video in 2011 and is currently among five finalists for this year's award, which will be presented by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) on May 2 in New York. SoLost also was among the finalists for the award in 2010.

Dave Anderson's SoLost series takes viewers on off-kilter video journeys through the side roads, backrooms, cellars and psyche of the modern South. Each episode is an artful, online video short that explores the complexity and vitality of the American South.

"The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support these exciting and diverse arts projects that will take place throughout the United States," said NEA Acting Chairman Shigekawa said. "Whether it is through a focus on education, engagement, or innovation, these projects all contribute to vibrant communities and memorable opportunities for the public to engage with the arts."

"The Oxford American is grateful for this generous support from the NEA, as well as for their recognition of the unique contribution that The Oxford American makes to the artistic and cultural life of our nation," said Warwick Sabin, publisher of The Oxford American.

In August 2012, the NEA received 1,547 eligible applications for Art Works grants requesting more than $80 million in funding. Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. The 817 recommended NEA grants total $26.3 million and span 13 artistic disciplines and fields. Applications were reviewed by panels of outside experts convened by NEA staff and each project was judged on its artistic excellence and artistic merit.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit: http://nea.gov/news/news13/Grant-Announcement-April-2013.html.

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The story of Hillcrest Artisan Meats

Lindsey Millar — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:28:00 -0500

The latest in our regular food series — a collaboration between the Times and Camp Friday Films — takes on an Eat Arkansas favorite, Hillcrest Artisan Meats (H.A.M.). Check it out.

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