In Arkansas, Fiddlers Try To Preserve Local Tunes

Fiddlers in Mountain View, Ark. hold a weekly jam session. David Gilkey/NPR

All Things Considered, August 28, 2008 · In the small Ozarks town of Mountain View, Ark., everyone looks back to the touchstone moment when residents decided to hold an annual folk festival in 1963.

Mountain View resident Glenn Morrison remembers that the town had just one motel when the festival first started.

"Thousands of people, nowhere to eat, nowhere to sleep," Morrison says. "That's what it amounted to — and nowhere to go. But they seemed to be happy because they were there."

The folk festival is now an annual tradition, and Mountain View has grown into a destination for music. But the mountain community is also a place where local musicians are leading the effort to preserve the type of music that connects them.

Morrison — a fiddler himself — is one of the residents leading this charge. Spend a few hours with fiddlers like Morrison, 74, and it's easy to see how music is the life force in the town.

It's what keeps the hotels and inns busy, and residents say it's a tradition that needs to be nurtured.

Every Tuesday, a group of fiddlers try to do this by leading a jam session on the town square, where fiddlers can be as young as 8 years old.

Martin Darell, one of the Tuesday fiddlers, has a flowing gray beard that all but hides his mouth. He says that these jam sessions are a small way of making sure that these songs live on: Some even predate the Revolutionary War.

"A lot of [the songs] are strictly the oral tradition that's just passed along," Darrell says. "Some of this music is written — you can find it in a number of books. But a lot of it isn't written at all."

After a few minutes, a small audience gathers, eating ice cream and listening. If you walk around the court square, there are four or five groups of musicians offering impromptu jam sessions — like any typical night in Mountain View.

Produced by Thomas Pierce

Posted by Hoglawyer at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 10:38:09

The Anti-adoption Amendment -- Full Text

Here is the full text of the amendment put on the ballot this week, and will be voted on in November unless successfully challenged in court, that will prevent co-habitating adults from being foster parents or adopting. To be clear, it means if you are in a sexual relationship with someone not your spouse and they live in your home - you cannot be a foster parent or adopt a child.

As has been pointed out - it applies equally to straight and gay couples. It also means, even if this passes, there are no rules anywhere that prevent single people from adopting or being foster parents, whether they are straight or gay.

Posted by Hoglawyer at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Things I Should Have Know But Didn't: Part 1435 -- Felons Are Eligible To Vote In Arkansas

I thought convicted felons could not vote in Arkansas. That is not true. Once a felon has completed his parole, he has "discharged his sentence" and is again eligible to vote.

Posted by Hoglawyer at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 09:44:38

Lipstick Vandals

The Smoking Gun reports an Arkansas burglary in Fort Smith.......

Posted by Hoglawyer at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 14:28:48

How To Get Surplus State of Arkansas Property

You want a great deal on lost of items ? Go to the DFA Auction Web Page - get your fill of old chairs, desks, computers, and even cars.

Posted by Hoglawyer at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Monday, August 25, 2008 - 14:03:19

The strange, strange world of the internet troll

If you read enough blogs, you will quickly realize that there are some people out there who delight in posting the most provocative, insulting, and insensitive comments they can imagine for the sheer purpose of causing emotional pain. In the best article I have read this year, the New York Times explores the world of these so-called "trolls." I had no idea that some people spend all their time trying to wreck havoc online for the sick pleasure they derive from getting a reaction to their twisted comments. Anyone who has ever posted something they consider to be thought provoking, only to be insulted and mocked, will appreciate this article.

Internet Trolls

Posted by Hoglawyer at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 17:08:48

Prison Nation

According to the Justice Department, we now have 2.3 million people locked up in our nation's prisons and jails. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of inmates in custody in prisons or jails increased by 367,200. Male inmates (315,100) accounted for 86% of the increase to the custody population.

I saw an interesting quote by a progressive Sheriff in Colorado, something like "the best jail is an empty jail." I suppose that is right if he means that he would prefer there be no crime. What he really meant was that jail should be the last resort.

The sad thing to me is - we have so few options. What good is assessing a fine if someone was stealing because they were broke in the first place.

I agree that we need a bigger jail here in Pulaski County -- but there has not been enough emphasis on reducing the number of people sent to jail in the first place. Remember when Judge Flemming held Sheriff Johnson in contempt for letting people out? It's not like the sheriff was letting out violent criminals -- Judge Flemming is the traffic judge and presumably everyone he sends to jail is sent for non-violent crimes ( although some might argue getting a 3rd DWI is worse than some violent crimes) I liked this quotes, "Jail should only be for separating those who prey on the innocent." Maybe, but what good is giving a fine instead of jail time --- when people could simply refuse to pay their fines. I think there should be two jails -- one for rapists, felons, and "real criminals" and then another for the rest - the people who refuse to pay fines, refuse to get car insurance, who shop lift, or write hot checks. The main purpose of the jail should be to promote public safety -- if we have any room left over we can worry about the non-violent offenders then.

Posted by Hoglawyer at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]