planet weekly 467

SEPTEMBER 4 + SEPTEMBER 182 >>> PLANETWEEKLY • tuscaloosa's souRcE foR EntERtainmEnt, music, spoRts & tHE aRts

Hole Sponsorships Offered for AAS Golf Tourney

The four-man scramble is set for Sept. 11 at Ol Colony Golf Complex. A variety of sponsorships are available but the $150 hole sponsorship is an especially good and easy marketing oppor-tunity! Get a sponsor form here. For more info, contact Loo Whitfield, mailto:[email protected] or 391.0563.

Teams Needed for Bama Brew & QueGot the best BBQ around? Here's your chance to prove it! Register for the 2nd Annual Bama Brew & Que in Tuscaloosa, a KCBS Sanctioned Event being held Sept. 12-13. There will be a Professional Division and a Backyard Divi-sion. Event is sponsored by Young Profes-sionals of Tuscaloosa or YP(t). Click here for an entry form. For more info, email [email protected] or call 633.0279 or 469.2410.

>>> N E W S | t H E c H a m B E R o f c o m m E R c E

NEWSFORMER GOV. JIM FOLSOM HEADLINES N'PORT CITIZEN DINNER

Limited Rooms Still Available for Washington Fly-In

Our schedule while in the nation's capital will allow time for interaction with our members of Congress as well as engage-ments with other elected officials. It's also an opportunity, unlike any other, to net-work with fellow Chamber members. This year, the agenda will include some fun time at a Washington Nationals baseball game. Join us Sept. 24-26! Email [email protected] for details. Sponsors this year are D.T. & Freight Co., Inc., Lewis, Smyth, Winter & Ford, Mercedes Benz, Merrill Lynch, Rosen Harwood, PA and TTL.

Start Up Weekend Planned for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching suc-cessful ventures. Backed by Google and supported by your Chamber and other local entities, a Tuscaloosa event will be held Sept. 26-28 at the South Engineering

Research Complex on the UA Campus. Visit tuscaloosa.startupweekend.org to register and learn more here.

Northport Citizen Dinner Tables Available,

The Northport Citizen Dinner will be held on Oct. 9 at 7p.m. at Five Points Baptist Church with former Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr. serving as the guest speaker. Re-served tables of 8 are available for $275, which includes the company name on the program and table. Individual tickets are $25/person. This dinner will honor a citizen of Northport for their service, as well as individuals in categories such as religion, business, education and others. Make your reservation for this event today and join us as we recognize outstanding citizens for their contributions. Contact Stacey Gann at mailto:[email protected] or 391.0559.

Chamber Launching Innovative 4th Quarter Drive Program

The Chamber is launching its inaugural 4th Quarter Drive program, under the leadership of Co-Chairs Dr. Judy Bonner

of The UA and Shane Spiller of Spiller Furniture & Mattress. This volunteer-driven initiative will give our members the opportunity to market their businesses by purchasing sponsorships of 2015 Cham-ber events and programs. This exciting 8-week effort kicks off on Sept. 17 and runs through mid-Nov. with two simple goals: helping local businesses market products and services while also helping support our mission of providing top-quality events and programs. Teams are currently forming for the Drive. Contact Kimberly Adams at 391-0327 for details.

Got Jobs?As a Chamber member, you have the abil-ity to post your company's job openings on our website. We're proud to offer this as a benefit and hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to promote your business. Please visit our website to post a job or contact LeNa` Powe, Director of Workforce Development at [email protected] or 205-391-0331 for more info.

3>>> Visit us on tHE WEB @ THEPLANETWEEKLY.COM SEPTEMBER 4 + SEPTEMBER 18

STORIES4 ALABAMA'S SCHOOL SYSTEM // WILLIAM BARSHOPRanked 3rd from lowest, but there's some hope

5 VAPE COMESTO NORTHPORT // JUDAH MARTIN Kick the cigarette habit

6 DEMAND FOR AUTOMOTIVE WORKERS // CHAMBERNine companies seeking candidates

8 HEADBANGERS HAIR SHOW // REGGIE ALLENIt's more than hair styles

20 TOP 5 TOUGHEST GAMES FOR 2014 // STEPHEN SMITHInteresting take on the season's future this year

22 WHATCHA WATCHIN'? // CARA BRAKERandom reviews from our readers

27 LOCKN' MUSIC FESTIVAL // TREY BROOKSReimagining a music festival

ENTERTAINMENT10-12 RESTAURANT GUIDE / WINE & BEER

13 MOVIE REVIEW

16-17 EVENTS CALENDAR

18 ROAD TRIP

19 TUSCALOOSA MUSIC

22 THE FLAT SCREEN

23 HOROSCOPES // SUDOKU

24 CROSSWORD PUZZLE

HIGH TIDE SPORTS21 SABAN // "I LIKE OUR TEAM'S ATTITUDE"By Gary Harris

PUBLISHERlinDa W. JoHnson

MANAGING EDITORBER t paulsEn

ASSISTANT EDITORWilliam BaRsHop

COVER DESIGNl au R a l i n E B E R R Y

EVENTS / SOCIAL MEDIAJ u Da H m a R t i n

ROAD TRIPtREY BRooKs

DESIGN/PRODUCTIONH E R B n E u

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license unless otherwise credited.

p l a n e t W e e k l yp. o . B o x 2 3 1 5t u s c a l o o s a , a l 3 5 4 0 3p h o n e : 2 0 5 . 7 9 2 . 7 2 3 9 | 2 0 5 . 7 6 5 . 8 0 0 7

E m a i l : p u b l i s h e r @ t h e p l a n e t w e e k l y . c o mplease direct correspondence to: [email protected] planet Weekly is a proud member of the West alabama chamber of commerce.

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planet Weekly is published every other thursday. no part of this publication including editorials may be reproduced, in whole or part, by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the publisher’s prior expressed written consent. one copy of each issue of tHE planEt WEEKlY is free to each of our readers. any reader who takes more than four copies without expressed permission of the publisher shall be deemed to have committed theft. the views and opinions of the authors of articles appearing in this publication may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

>>> www.theplanetweekly.com >>> planetweeklyissue467

5 inside 22

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERSR E G G i E a l l E nW i l l i a m B a R s H o pc a R a B R a K Et R E Y B R o o K sa lY X c H a n D l E RR ac H E l D o B s o nG a R Y H a R R i scinDY HuGGinsKEVin lEDGEWooDJ u Da H m a R t i nl E s l i E p o s sJim REEDBREtt REiDJ o n R o G E R sVa n R o B E R t sstEpHEn smitH

8

FEATURE26 THE AMERICAN STRING QUARTET //CHAMPIONS OF NEW MUSIC

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4 >>> Visit us on tHE WEB @ THEPLANETWEEKLY.COM SEPTEMBER 4 + SEPTEMBER 18

Continued on page 25

ALABAMA SCHOOL SYSTEM RANKED LOW // BUDGET STILL CONTESTED // THERE'S HOPE

>>> I S S U E S | W I L L I A M B A R S H O P

AlAbAmA schools Are fAr from hav-ing a good reputation. While the South has been stereotyped as uneducated for generations, the teachers and students of Alabama in particular have been perma-nent fixtures in the narrative of Bible belt poverty. A recent study by WalletHub piles more evidence against Alabama, ranking the state’s school system as third worst in the country.

WalletHub is a leading personal finance network that aims to provide

up-to-date information to consumers and small businesses.

The study, conducted by Richie Bernardo, aims to measure a student’s chance at academic success in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using metrics like test scores, dropout rates and library access as well as indicators like bullying rates and financial literacy. Only Mississippi and D.C. schools ranked lower than Alabama overall.

“Quality isn’t just determined by test scores,” Bernardo said. “We have to consider safety of the students. Are they learning in a stable environment?”

Test scores were the weakest area: Alabama ranked 49th in math scores and 40th in reading.

Alabama also ranked 34th in teacher-to-pupil ratio, showing large class sizes that put each student at a disadvantage.

State House Representative Marcel Black, the ranking minority member on the education policy committee, noted this imbalance as one of the most impor-tant points to address.

“It’s a difficult task to be on your toes in a room full of 30 kids,” Black said. “Any time I’ve been in a classroom I’ve noticed that. I don’t think anyone could refute that we need more teachers.”

Alabama Department of Education’s Director of Communications, Michael Sibley, said Alabama schools certainly have a long way to go to be up to par, but these scores don’t reflect the improve-ments that are already gaining momen-tum.

“The graduation rate in Alabama is the highest it’s been in history,” Sibley said. “We’ve seen a great increase in just the past few years. There’s a great upward trajectory to the students we’re keeping in school.”

Last year’s rate was 5 points lower at 75 percent, and the year before that it was 72 percent. While Alabama ranks 37th among all states, the graduation rate is climbing faster than any other state’s.

Few metrics showed Alabama ahead

of the curve, but the state has fewer in-cidents of bullying with an overall rank of 12 and a rank of 7 for cyberbullying.

Learning on a BudgetWhile there are many factors that

determine a school’s success, a lack of funding in rich and poor areas alike is the most prominent issue to be tackled in the Alabama legislature.

Black pointed to the Alabama Ac-countability Act as the kind of legislation that does more harm than good. The 2013 law gave tax credits to families with students in failing schools to attend a pri-vate school or a public school with better performance.

“That legislation drained a lot from the education trust fund,” Black said. “We have made some steps backward in try-ing to improve our schools.”

The Alabama House Republicans website addresses this popular criticism:

“Taxpayers deserve to spend their tax dollars in a place that best serves their student. If that student isn’t being well-served in the school they are zoned for, parents deserve to send their child to a school that addresses their child’s educational needs as they see fit.”

Black also condemned the Responsi-ble Budgeting and Spending Act, known as the Rolling Reserve Act, which bases the education budget on past revenue

trends. The bill was passed in 2011 with objections from Democrats, only for the spending cap to be exceeded in the bud-get passed in February of this year.

“You can’t adopt a rolling reserve when you’re at the bottom or the top [of the economy],” Black said. “You have to set these rules when the economy is stable. When the economy is bad, schools are hit.”

Black explained that while Alabama property taxes are relatively stable, sales and income taxes generate less revenue in a bad economy, and schools receive less funding.

While Bernardo agreed that school resources are important, he said the WalletHub study showed no correlation

between spending per pupil and overall ranking.

“It’s smart spending that counts,” Bernardo said. “Each state needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.”

D.C. schools, for example, receive a relatively huge amount of funding, yet ex-perience extremely high rates of violent crime. Students in Texas receive even less funding than their Alabama peers, yet Texas is ranked 12th by Bernardo’s findings, higher than Connecticut and Maryland.

Sibley said schools are barely able to operate on the funding they currently have.

“What teachers are asking for isn’t the extra stuff,” Sibley said. “Not the fluff and fat, but the bare essentials. And we’re still seeing significant cuts.”

Although resources are low, six Ala-bama schools were named Torchbearer schools in 2014 for displaying high-performance education to a high-poverty student body. These schools, four in Mobile County and one each in Monroe and Talladega Counties, have at least an 80 percent poverty rate and came out among the top 20 percent in statewide tests. 20 schools made the list in the previous school year.

“These schools are made by people who work tirelessly with some excep-tional students,” Sibley said. “We know it’s doable. There’s a staggering number of kids who start out doomed to fail. We see them as inherently inferior … as if their circumstances are any indication of potential.”

Math ProblemsThe most severe figure for Alabama

in the WalletHub study is the state’s math scores: Alabama ranks 49th, only surpassing Mississippi and the District of Columbia. After years of underper-forming on the National Assessment for Education Progress, or NAEP, Alabama did away with the statewide test that had been proved inadequate.

“One of the things we have realized was that our assessments were not on par with the rest of the country,” Sibley said. “What we considered proficient—the exact same level was below basic for national standards. It was below, below basic.”

Alabama students are often met with rude awakenings in college math courses, Sibley said. Being taught less advanced math through their whole lives left them falling behind students from around the country.

“You could graduate high school, step outside state lines and take remedial classes your first year of college,” Sibley said. “They were doing everything we asked them to do, and it wasn’t enough.”

Sibley explained that if he asks his Michael Sibley

Richie Bernardo

Rep. Marcel Black

5>>> PLANETWEEKLY • tuscaloosa's souRcE foR EntERtainmEnt, music, spoRts & tHE aRts SEPTEMBER 4 + SEPTEMBER 18

>>> B U S I N E S S | J U D A H M A R T I N

WHERE THERE'S NO SMOKE... // VAPE COMES TO TUSCALOOSA

on mcfArlAnd boulevArd eAst in Northport, Nu Way Vape and a discount tobacco store are positioned side-by-side like a fork in the road, taunting smokers like a nagging inner voice to choose once and for all if they want to quit.

For now, the Vape shop is the road less traveled, but a path is quickly being forged as more folks herd in to hear the good news of electronic cigarettes.

“We believe fully that this is a thou-sand times less harmful than smok-ing cigarettes,” said Rob Roberts, one of the store's founders, who speaks with the heavy drawl one might expect from a Southern man from Columbus, Mississippi,who wears a fedora reminis-cent of Bear Bryant with every outfit. He wears it so often that customers fail to recall his name and just refer to him as "the man with the hat."

“We already know cigarettes kill you," Rob continued, tracing to a spot behind the counter where signs listing tobacco statistics decorate the wall.

"Tobacco smoking kills one person on this planet every six seconds," he recited, pointing to the sign. "[Vaping] has killed no one to date.”

The words fell casually, earnestly from his tongue, with an ease that suggested the fulfillment he gets from sharing his ideas. After all, he has plenty reason to believe in vaping. He and his wife, Tina Roberts, and his sister-in-law, Debra Gruwell, all quit smoking with the vaping products that replace traditional smoke with water vapor. Who knew they would all end up going into business together?

It has been a little more than five years since Tina, quit smoking, thanks to her son's prodding. She had been smoking since her teen years and had never suc-cessfully quit. But five years ago she and Rob became grandparents. One way or another, it was time to stop smoking.

"We didn’t want to raise the next generation smoking," Tina said. "My son came up to me and he said 'hey mom, have you ever tried electronic cigarettes?' and I said 'no,' but the more I started look-ing at it, the more I realized that it really kind of mimicked smoking."

She finally tried one and, honestly, she wasn't impressed. There weren't very many flavors at the gas station. In fact, there weren't very many products avail-able in general. She and Rob looked into it and realized that vapor cigarettes had only been around since 2006. The technology was there but the investment wasn't.

“When we started this business we had no idea how big it would get,” Tina said. “Our goal was to keep the three of us working. The idea that we would have em-ployees and multiple stores never crossed our mind. We just wanted to open a store in Florence and help those people where we live quit smoking and do a job that we had a passion to do.”

The business they began two years ago, Nu Way Vape, now has four loca-tions. They opened the first store in Florence, Alabama, where they now live. Soon the folks across the river in Muscle Shoals started contacting them, so they opened a store there, as well, and in Rob's hometown, Columbus. A little less than a month ago, they came to Tuscaloosa.

"I think that there was one vape store we knew about so we saw a real need here," Tina said. "My husband is born and raised in Columbus, Mississippi and we were researching the Tuscaloosa market around the time we opened the store there and we saw the need."

One person they met in Tuscaloosa was Leigh Ann Ashmore. Ashmore was a pack-a-day smoker when her daughter talked her into trying vaping. She was skeptical about it at first. It was the next morning, when she went onto her porch

to have her coffee and morning cigarette, that she realized vaping had ruined smok-ing for her.

"I took two drags and put [the ciga-rette] out," she recalled. "It tasted like the bottom of an ashtray."

It's been almost a year since she quit. Now she works with Nu Way Vape in Tuscaloosa to share her success story.

“I’ve had tremendous health problems all my life, and smoking made it worse,” Ashmore said. “I was doing three breath-ing treatments a day. Now [with vaping] I’m doing three treatments a year.”

Now she is the woman behind the bar at the new location on McFarland. A smoker can come into the store and sam-ple any of their products for free. Ashmore asks them questions about what kind of cigarettes they smoke and how many they smoke in a day.

"Once we determine the nicotine level they need we can set them up with a prod-uct," Ashmore explained.

At the bar, a variety of "juices" are available. When Rob, Tina and Deb decided to open Nu Way Vape, Tina and her daughter collaborated to open a lab to make the juices for their devices.

The juices are made from propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, pharmaceutical grade nicotine and food-grade flavoring. Ashmore likes to recall a story about the juices.

“There was a professor who came here from [the University of Alabama] and he bought random bottles and didn't tell us what he was doing with them. Well, he'd went to other stores and he tested the juices and then he came back and told us that our juices were the only ones that contained the same nicotine levels that it said on the label. The [other places] were all over the charts."

For now, Deb, Rob and Tina spend much of their time travelling back and forth between stores. Each one is equipped with a juice bar, a display case where customers can pick out their equip-

ment, a repair station and a lounge area. "People come out and they learn

something every day just by watching the customers and listening to us and what we teach the customer,” Gruwell said. “They learn to rebuild, they can compare builds."

They hope to develop their stores and their brand and to spread the message of vaping further but there is just one small problem. Vaping is still so new that the Food and Drug Administration can’t seem to make up their mind about how to regu-late it. If Big Tobacco is making money off of vaping, things could get bad for small business owners like them

"They can possibly make becoming FDA-approved so expensive that the small business man can't even afford it, even though they might have great equipment or great juice," Tina said.

Rob worries that more cities will make a decision like the one in Tupelo, Missis-sippi, where vaping is banned in most public spaces except for businesses that earn 50 percent or more of their revenue from tobacco or vaping products.

“Basically, [vaping products] are regulated the same as [cigarettes], so no vaping in public, not in-doors, not in restaurants,” Rob said. “In other words, you’ve got to go out to the smoke-pit to vape. I think that’s wrong.”

“Once the FDA makes a regulation you either abide by their regulation or you can’t continue the business as you’re doing,” Tina added. “And, unfortunately, some of those rules are being made out of ignorance, meaning they don’t know enough about vaping and how vaping af-fects a person to make a regulation on it.”

Rob Roberts, Tina Roberts, Leigh Ann Ashmore, Jake Woods (blowing the vapor) and Deb Gruwell.

“Rather than the unattainable stan-dard of ‘safe’ we should be thinking in terms of ‘safer’. Despite the risks associ-ated with soccer, I would, for instance, prefer my children play soccer rather than play with live hand grenades.”

~ David Sweanor: Former Advisor to the WHO on Tobacco Control ~

Photos by Judah Martin

30-foot tasting bar where patrons may sample "juices" for free.


>>> N E W S | S TA FF R E P O R T

WEST ALABAMA ASKS JOB SEEKERS // "ARE YOU READY TO WORK?"

since the mercedes-benz plant an-nouncement 20 years ago, the State of Alabama has seen tremendous growth of automotive suppliers moving into the area. Alabama now ranks 5th in the U.S. in car and light truck production and the state exported nearly $7.1 billion in vehicles and vehicle parts in 2013.

More importantly for Alabamians and for West Alabama, the auto industry means jobs—jobs at the Mercedes-Benz plant, and also opportunities for thousands of jobs at its suppliers. And now, job-seekers will get a chance to interview and be hired by the “Family of Companies” supporting the Mercedes-Benz auto manufacturing plant.

The Region 3 Workforce Develop-ment council/ West Alabama Works, Inc. are hosting an Automotive Hiring Fair on Saturday September 13, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Tuscaloosa Career & Technology Academy, 2800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.

At least nine companies will be on-site seeking candidates for entry level positions that will pay up to $14.00 an

hour. The participating companies col-lectively have from 200-400 open posi-tions in three areas: 1) Production, 2) Service and 3) Material Handling. Many of these jobs need to be filled immedi-ately or within the next three months.

“West Alabama is home to some of the nation's most dedicated workers and we are proud to be able to provide this opportunity to them as well as support many of the companies that contribute to our company’s success," said Jason Hoff, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., the pre-senting sponsor of the event. Economic developers estimate that for every one job at the Mercedes-Benz plant, it cre-ates a multiplier effect of seven jobs cre-ated by suppliers and service providers – translating into more than 20,000 jobs statewide.

"The automotive industry has played a large part in the economic develop-ment and growth of West Alabama and the State of Alabama as a whole,” said Larry Taylor, Chair of the Region 3

Workforce Development Council. “We feel that this unique opportu-nity will not only benefit some of our region’s largest employers, but will more importantly benefit the citizens of West Alabama who comprise our dedicated workforce."

West Alabama Works, a new workforce development system housed at the Chamber, that works with other groups in the community to bring basic skills and literacy training to job candidates to get them hired. In June, West Alabama Works hosted a similar event for the

University of Alabama’s BAMA Dining, which resulted in 250 applicants being of-fered jobs on the spot. Organizers hope to have similar results on Sept. 13th and participating companies have committed to streamlining the process so they can also hire on the spot. "We are excited to be a part of this unique event that will revolutionize the way job and hiring fairs are conducted throughout the country,” said LeNa` Powe, Director of Workforce Development for the Chamber.

Anyone attending the fair on Septem-ber 13th will be asked to fill out an applica-tion. Based on experience, qualified indi-viduals will interview for potential jobs with some or all of the following companies:

ABM IndustriesARD LogisticsBLG LogisticsBroseClean HarborsEberspaecherIntevaMacClellanMetalsaQuality Vehicle Processing

Some of these positions are on-site at the Mercedes-Benz plant, while

others are at off-site locations. All are critical to the operations at the plant, say job fair organizers.

Although pre-registration is not required, job seekers planning to attend the Fair can reduce their time in line by pre-registering for the event and receiv-ing a FAST PASS at www.tuscaloosa-chamber.com/jobs. Job interviews will be granted on a first-come/first-served basis. Candidate requirements are as follows:• High School Graduate or GED • Willing to work various and/or rotating shifts that may include nights and week-ends as required• An ability to lift up to 50 pounds• Must be able to pass a security and drug screening

For more information concerning the Hiring Fair, please visit The West Ala-bama Chamber of Commerce website: www.tuscaloosachamber.com/jobs.


>>> M U S I C | LESLIE POSS

the internAtionAlly AcclAimed AmericAn String Quartet will perform Sun-day, September 21, 3:30 PM in the Moody Concert Hall located on the University of Alabama’s School of Music, Tuscaloosa campus. This will be the first concert in the String Quartet Society of Tuscaloosa’s 2014-2015 season. The American String Quartet will perform Joseph Haydn’s: Quartet in D, op.76, no.5; Dimitri Shosta-kovich’s Quartet in F, op.73; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quartet in E minor, op.59, no.2.

Tickets are $25 for the general public with free admission for persons eighteen years of age and younger or for persons with valid students IDs. Tickets may be purchased from String Quartet Society members or at the box office the day of the concert.

Internationally recognized as one of the world's finest quartets, the American String Quartet has spent decades honing the luxurious sound for which it is famous. The Quartet will celebrate its 40th anniver-sary in 2014, and, in its years of touring, has performed in all fifty states and has appeared in the most important concert halls worldwide. Their presentations of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Mo-zart have won widespread critical acclaim,

and their MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets, performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius, are widely considered to have set the standard for this repertoire.

Resident quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974 and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1984, the American has also served as resi-dent quartet at the Taos School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The Quartet's diverse activities have also included numerous international radio and television broadcasts; including a record-ing for the BBC in May 2012; tours of Asia; and performances with the New York City Ballet, the Montreal Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Highlights of the Quartet’s 2013 -14 season include per-formances of an all-sextet program with Roberto and Andrès Díaz, a tour of South America, and performances of the com-plete Beethoven cycle of string quartets in Israel—the ensemble’s fourth visit to the country in as many years.

The American’s additional extensive discography can be heard on the Albany, CRI, MusicMasters, Musical Heritage Society, Nonesuch, and RCA labels. Most recently the group released "Schubert's Echo," which pairs Schubert's monumen-

tal last quartet with works bearing its influence by Second Viennese masters Al-ban Berg and Anton Webern. This reper-toire posits that the creative line from the First to the Second Viennese Schools is continuous – and evident when these works are heard in the context of each other. The CD is on the NSS Music label, a new enterprise by Nadja Salerno-Son-

FAMED AMERICAN STRING QUARTET TO PERFORM IN TUSCALOOSA

nenberg devoted to intellectual projects that are frequently overlooked by major labels.

The Quartet’s innovative approach to concert programming has won them a number of notable residencies in recent years, including "Beethoven the Contem-porary" at the University of Michigan, “The Six Mozart Viola Quintets” at the Aspen Music Festival with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree (broadcast live nation-ally via Chicago superstation WFMT), and a four-year cycle entitled “4-5-6…” at Princeton University, where the Quartet performed the complete quintets and sex-tets of Mozart and Brahms, joined in each concert by renowned guest artists.

As champions of new music, the American has given numerous premieres, including Richard Danielpour's Quartet No. 4, commissioned by Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, and Curt Cacioppo's "a distant voice calling," com-missioned by Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. In January 2009, the Quartet pre-mièred Tobias Picker’s String Quartet No. 2 in New York City in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Manhattan School of Music, and in May 2011 the Americans premiered Glen Cortese’s Four Dances for String Quartet and String Orchestra, a work commissioned by the Oregon Mozart

Photo: Peter Schaaf

Players. Formed when its original members

were students at The Juilliard School, the American String Quartet’s career began with the group winning both the Coleman Competition and the Naumburg Award in the same year. Individually, the members devote additional time outside the Quar-tet’s active performance and teaching schedule to solo appearances, recitals, and master classes. While in Tuscaloosa the members of the American String Quartet will conduct a master class for students at the University of Alabama.

This performance and residency are co-sponsored by The University of Ala-bama's School of Music and The String Quartet Society of Tuscaloosa.

The American String Quartet per-forms Sunday, September 21, 3:300 PM in the Moody Concert Hall located on the University of Alabama’s School of Music, Tuscaloosa campus. The American String Quartet will perform quartets by Haydn, Shostakovich, and Beethoven.

Tickets are $25 for the general public with free admission for persons eighteen years of age and younger or for persons with valid students IDs. Tickets may be purchased from String Quartet Society members or At the Door the day of the concert.


take the time to be a part of it [the hair show], Grant said. "...Different stylists that come together, the different looks. Very creative and great advertising to showcase talent."

But it did not happen overnight. Only a year younger than the salon's senior, Headbangers has grown significantly since its beginning in 2007. Though the first show brought in a staggering 500 attendees, in later years the numbers would only increase.

Throughout the show, seven local competitors will take to the stage , each

>>> E V E N T | R E G G I E A L L E N

for eight yeArs, grAnt has owned and operated Charming Kreations, a small manifestation of her fifteen years in the hair business. But for the past 6 years, she has also served as founder of the Headbangers Hair Show, an annual fashion show dedicated to the art of all things hair. As an entrepreneur, she em-braced the idea of displaying her craft for the public eye. But In her opinion, the show's purpose goes beyond that.

" I visualize it as bringing the com-munity out to see all the talent. I do competitions, but all are winners that

HEADBANGERS HAIR SHOW // CULTURE AND LIFE

showcasing their own individual talents in the art of hair. While it may be a hair show, other factors such as clothing and accessories are also considered during the judging process. This year, Grant decided to add a make up category to highlight an element always in the show but never showcased.

For years, Tiffany Flowers, or Cindy Leway, as many clients know her, has been doing make up behind the scenes. But now she is excited to finally step out of the shadows and begin market-ing herself on stage. Flowers said that even before this category was added, make up was still a crucial element to the show.

"This is the first year make up has been showcased in the show, but we cannot have hair without some ex-travagant make up. It is super showing," Flowers said before listing the differ-ent acts she has witnessed in the past. "Blow dryers on people's hair, scissors on people's hair made of hair. Someone set the stage on fire as part of their set on stage so you have to have some great make up to go along with it."

Grant believes that her talent is prod-uct of a lifetime of following her passion. She does not go without crediting her success to her friends, family, clientele and her heavenly father. As a devout Christian, she believes in the necessity of hard work, but also the grace of God that provides her with success. The hair show in her opinion is just another blessing.

Grant sees a culture in hair. It is one of things that she believes factors into

everyone's lives. Whether we are los-ing it, growing it, or getting a piece of it added to the head, it requires human in-teraction to get the job done. And these connections create bonds that further-more generate friendships, loyalty, and overall strong relationships. She looks to her friends Q' Toney and Flowers as examples.

" When you have support like that, you are unstoppable," Grant said.

She hopes that the show will not only advertise, but be a beacon to those that aspire to enter the industry but also to educate them.


>>> A R T E V E N T | R AC H E L D O B S O N

Hannah Brown with granddaughter, Maggie Arrington, in Tuscany

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robert sherer, juror for the first annual Alabama National Juried Art Exhi-bition, has announced the artists accepted into the show that opened August 25, 2014: Douglas Barrett (AL), Lindy Blosser (GA), David Bogus (TX), Gary Chap-man (AL), Anathbandhu Chaudhuri (AL), Joanne Fogle (AL), Benny Fountain (TX), Karen Graffeo (AL), Kristina Hamm (GA), Carolyn Harwood (AL), Stacey Holloway (AL), Hyoungseok Kim (GA), Stefanie Liles-Ray (AL), Nan Liu (FL), Ryan Meyer (AL), Rob Millard-Mendez (IN), C.W. New-ell (AL), Miriam Norris Omura (AL), James Pace (TX), Raoul Pacheco (GA), Debra Riffe (AL), Don Robson (GA), Robin Sny-der (AL), Elizabeth Visscher (GA), Linda Walden (AL), Sarah Wilkins (NC) and Jave Yoshimoto (OK) were chosen by Sherer for the exhibition in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery in UA’s historic Woods Quad.

Art work that will be in the Alabama National Juried Exhibition:

by Jave Yoshimoto of Oklahoma

by Miriam Norris Omura of Alabama

by Karen Graffeo of Alabama

by Gary Chapman of Alabama

by David Bogus of Texas

Sherer, who has served in a wide range of roles in the art world, has set a high standard and established a tradi-tion for this new show. He said, “I find that my entire art career has involved the evaluation of artworks, whether as an art student, visual artist, art professor, arts juror, art critic, lecturer, art dealer or international art competitor. Despite this, jurying art exhibitions never gets easier. It was especially daunting with this inaugu-ral national competition. I was presented with an impressive range of submitted artworks and asked to create a cohesive exhibition for a limited space. The task was difficult but I think the exhibition presents a high quality of artworks while simultaneously embracing a wide range of aesthetics, which is ultimately the goal of any national art exhibition.”

Sherer is an Alabama native and an in-ternationally exhibiting artist known for his use of unconventional media and for four incidents of art censorship. His career in the arts has also covered such disciplines as arts juror, critic, lecturer, educator, art dealer and international art competitor. His work is the subject of an art book, Blood Works: the Sanguineous Art of Robert Sherer, published by Kennesaw State University Press.

JUROR NAMES ARTISTS FOR ALA. NATIONAL


chilled as an aperitif or as the perfect ac-companiment to spicy foods.”

If you can get your hands on this wine, definitely give it a try! Sharpe Hill Vine-yard Ballet of Angels price about $12.50.

Our second Connecticut wine to be reviewed is Cassidy Hill Vineyard Summer Breeze 2012, which is a white wine with strawberries added. This wine comes from Coventry, Connecticut USA. The Cassidy Hill Vineyard is rather new and is considered a jewel of the town.

According to the Cassidy Hill Vineyard website, Summer Breeze is made from Cayuga white grapes and this “sweeter wine shows wonderful strawberry aromas and citric flavors. A perfect wine for that languid summer afternoon.”

Alcohol content 11.0% by volume ac-cording to the bottle.

I was given this wine as a gift from a friend and we did the tasting together.

In appearance, this wine is light copper in color. There were no legs noted, how-ever we did see what looked like a little effervescence. A number of bubbles were noticed on the sides of the glass.

To be clear, Cassidy Hill Vineyard Summer Breeze is not a sparkling wine.

Fragrane of Summer Breeze was fruity. I noticed grapefruit and lemon. My friend noted strawberry. We both described the aroma as “clean.” Also, no alcohol was noted on the nose.

The wine’s taste was surprisingly complex for a white wine. It was sweet with flavors of sweet grapefruit and a hint of strawberry. My friend was able to pick up a little bitterness in the fruit taste. But, nothing that took away from the enjoyable flavor.

Mouthfeel of Cassidy Hill Vineyard Summer Breeze was silky and reminded me of a Beaujolais.

Finish was medium and enjoyable. No alcohol noted in the breathe-out.

Overall we both really enjoyed this wine. Keeping in mind it is fortified with strawberries. What was great was that the strawberry was very subtle. I didn’t know ahead of time about the strawber-ries, so I was surprised when my friend told me about it.

His overall comment was “Love it. I buy this regularly and felt the word needed to get out about this wine.” My comment was “Super enjoyable. A perfect silky smooth warm weather, mel-low sipper.”

Recom-mend! Price for Summer Breeze is $15.95.

More wine reviews by Jon Rogers at www.honestwi-nereviews.com

As someone who hAd the opportunity to help pick grapes for Sharpe Hill Vineyard, I can tell you a lot of care goes into how they make their wine. The Sharpe Hill Vineyard Ballet of Angels wine is reflective of that care.

Sharpe Hill Vineyard Ballet of Angels is a non-vintage Ameri-can White Wine made from ten different grape varietals that are kept secret.

The Sharpe Hill Vineyard is located in Pomfret, Con-necticut. Of all the wines made in New England, USA, Ballet of Angels is the most popular.

The wine has the distinction of winning several medals, includ-ing “Double Gold – 2006, 2008 & 2010 Florida State Fair In-ternational Wine Competition.” For more medals won, check out the Sharpe Hill Vineyard website.

Alcohol content of Ballet of Angels 12.0% per the bottle.

A good friend shared this bottle with me and helped out with this review.

In appearance, Ballet of Angels is extremely light gold in color. It’s a little bubbly upon pouring but is not a sparkling wine. Some of the bubbles suspended on the sides of our glasses.

On the nose, this wine gave forth hints of light citrus. We detected a bit of pine-apple in the fragrance and also noticed just a tiny whiff of alcohol.

Taste of the Ballet of Angels was mildly sweet and tart. Both sensations were balanced. The overall flavor was complex and perhaps a little bit peppery. We again noticed non-sweet pineapple among other citrus flavors.

There was no bitterness in the mouth-feel and a slight puckering was noted on the inside of the cheeks. My friend noticed it in the middle of his tongue.

My friend “noticed a little play time” in the finish. I quantified it as medium to long.

Overall, this is a highly enjoyable white wine. As a Connecticut native, I was pleased to finally share this review with everyone. It’s one of the best known wines in New England and I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t love this wine.

Sharpe Hill suggests “serving it well

>>> RESTAURANTS | W H E R E T O E A T I N T U S C A L O O S A

BREAKFAST / LUNCHBrown Bag9425 Jones Road | northport // 333.0970its speciality, fried green tomatoes, joins barbecue plates and fish filets on an extended list of meats and vegetables.tues 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Wed-sat 10:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

City Cafe408 main ave | Downtown northport // 758.9171Established in 1936. Big on food, low on price. open for breakfast and lunch. Historic downtown northport. closed weekends.

CountryPride Restaurant3501 Buttermilk Rd // 554.0215www.ta.travelcenters.comBreakfast 24 hours. lunch and Dinner buffet.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store4800 Doris pate Dr | Exit 76 // 562.8282www.crackerbarrel.com

International House of Pancakes724 skyland Blvd // 366.1130

Jack's1200 Hackberry lane | tuscaloosa // 345.1199

Maggie's Diner1307 ty Rogers Jr. ave | tuscaloosa // 366.0302

Mr. Bill's Family Restaurant2715 mcfarland Blvd | tuscaloosa // 333.9312

Panera Bread1800 mcfarland Blvd *402 | tuscaloosa // 366.8780

Quick Grill1208 university Blvd | the strip | tuscaloosa // 342.0022

Rama Jama’s1000 Bryant Dr // 750.0901closest restaurant to Bryant-Denny stadium.

Sweet Home Food Bar2218 University Blvd. | Tuscaloosa // 764-9346 Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The Waysider1512 Greensboro ave // 345.8239open for breakfast and lunch. smoke free.

MEXICANChipotle Mexican Grill1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 391.0140www.chipotle.com

Don Rafa's2313 4th street | temerson square // 345.9191

El Mariachi3520 mcfarland Blvd E |tuscaloosa // 409-8585

El Rincon (2 locations)1225 university Blvd | tuscaloosa // 366.08551726 mcfarland Blvd | northport // 330.1274

Fernando's Mexican Grill824 mcfarland Blvd E | northport // 205.331.4587

Iguana Grill1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 752.5895

Jalapeno’s Mexican Grill2001 new Watermelon Rd | northport // 342.3378

LaGran Fiesta9770 Hwy 69 s // 345.8871

Los Calientes Mexican Grill3429 mcfarland Blvd E // 553.1558

Los Tarascos (2 locations)1759 skyland Blvd // 553.88963380 mcfarland Blvd | northport // 330.0919

Margarita's Grill1241 mcfarland Blvd E // 343.0300

Moe’s Southwest Grill (2 locations)2330 mcfarland Blvd E // 342.14871130 university Blvd // 752.0234moes.com

Pepito’s (2 locations)1203 university Blvd | the strip // 391.90281301 mcfarland Blvd nE // 391.4861

Taco Mama2104 a university Blvd, tuscaloosa409.8173 FINE DININGChuck’s Fish508 Greensboro ave | Downtown tuscaloosa // 248.9370monday - thursday 5-10 p.m. and friday - saturday 5-11 p.m. steak, seafood, & sushi specialities. Daily specials: monday - $20 Bottles of Wine; tuesday - ladies night 1/2 off Domestic Beer and House Wine, select $5 martinis, $2 off select sushi Rolls for Everyone; uptown Wednesday - $6 uptown shrimp; featured cocktails and $20 Bottles of Wine. Cypress Inn501 Rice mine Rd // 345.6963fax: 345.6997 | www.cypressinnrestaurant.com2003 Restaurant of Distinction. Beautiful riverfront location.steaks, seafood and more with southern flavor. Wine list,full bar. specialities of the house include shrimp cypress innand smoked chicken with white barbecue sauce. Kid friend-ly. closed saturday lunch. mike spiller is featured the first

thursday of every month. Happy Hour- mon-fri from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. featuring 1/2 price appetizers. $2 Domestic Draft Beers and $3 Well cocktails.

Epiphany Cafe19 Greensboro ave | Downtown tuscaloosa // 344.5583“new american cuisine” with a strong emphasis on localproduce, organic meats, and sustainable seafood. the menuis always changing and features include an extensive wine list, a large vibrant bar and martini lounge area, as well as patio seating. Reservations are available online at epiph-anyfinedining.com or through open table. Hours: mon–sat 5 p.m. - until

Evangeline’s1653 mcfarland Blvd. north // 752.0830located in the tuscaloosa Galleria. 2004 West alabamatourism award Winning Restaurant. american Eclecticcuisine. lunch: mon–fri 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Dinner: tues–sat 5 p.m. - until... fall: saturday Brunch.

FIVE Bar2324 6th street. // 205.345.6089a restaurant/bar based on simplicity. We offer 5 entrees, 5 red wines, 5 white wines, 5 import beers, 5 domestic, and 5 signature cocktails, to go along with our full liquor bar.Dinner: sunday - thursday 5-10; friday and saturday 5-12lunch: friday and saturday 11-3; sunday Jazz Brunch: 10-3five-bar.com; 205.345.6089

Kozy’s3510 loop Road E | near Va medical center // 556.4112Eclectic menu, extensive wine list. Dinner at Kozy’s is aromantic experience complete with candlelight and a roar-ing fireplace. |killionrestaurants.com/kozys/

Twin3700 6th st, tuscaloosa in tuscaloosa country club | 758-7528 | http://twinpowersactivate.comcertified usDa prime steaks; specialty sushi and cocktails. Hours: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.; 5 – 10 p.m. JAPANESEBenkei Japanese Steak House1223 mcfarland Blvd // 759-5300Hours: mon–thurs 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. | fri–sat 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Bento Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar1306 university Blvd // 758.7426

Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant607 15th street open sunday through thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and friday and saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Ichiban Japanese Grill & Sushi502 15th street // 752.8844

Tokyo Japanese Steak & Sushi Bar6521 Hwy 69 s | Hillcrest center // 366.1177offers steak, seafood, tempura, teriyaki and sushi. includingcooking at your table, if you choose. sun–thurs 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. fri & sat 5 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Kobe Steak House1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 759-1400lunch: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Dinner: 4:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.sat & sun 11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. ITALIANAvenue Pub405 23rd avenue

Broadway Pizzeria2880 Rice mine Road northeast tuscaloosa, // 391.6969

DePalma’s Italian Cafe2300 university Blvd, Downtown // 759.1879menu ranges from sanwiches to finer pasta dishes and pizza.Varied beer and wine selection.Hours: mon–thurs 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. | fri & sat 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.www.depalmascafe.com

Little Italy1130 university Blvd. | tuscaloosa // 205.345.4343

Mellow Mushroom2230 university Blvd // 758.0112pizzas, calzones, hoagies and more. open dailyfor lunch and dinner. www.mellowmushroom.com

Mr. G’s908 mcfarland Blvd n | northport // 339-8505

Olive Garden2100 mcfarland Blvd E // 750-0321open daily from 11 a.m.www.olivegarden.com CASUAL DININGAvenue Pub405 23rd avenue // tuscaloosathe pub offers a different menu for brunch, lunch, and dinner. feature foods include pineapple french toast, pork sliders, and a house burger which changes daily. the drink menu features specialty cocktails, local pints, bottled beer, and wine. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Saturday Noon – 11 p.m., Sunday Noon p.m. – 9 p.m.

Big Daddy’s Cafe514 Greensboro ave | Downtown tuscaloosa // 759.9925

The Blue Plate Restaurant (Was Northport Diner)450 mcfarland Blvd, northport // 462-3626

Brumfield's Restaurant4851 Rice mine Road | Tuesday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Friday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., and Sunday: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.Buddy’s Ribs & Steaks2701 Bridge ave | northport // 339.4885

>>> WINE REVIEW | J O N R O G E R S

BALLET OF ANGELS AND SUMMER BREEZE // CONNECTICUT WHITES


Buffalo Wild Wings2710 mcfarland Blvd // 523.0273mon–Wed 11 a.m. - midnight | thurs–sat 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.Chicken Salad Chickthe shoppes at midtown & Essex square, northport | said to be the very best chicken salad that can be found anywhere. www.chickensaladchick.com

Chili’s1030 skyland Blvd | near mcfarland mall // 750.8881fax: 758.7715 // www.chilis.com

Dave’s Dogs1701 mcfarland Blvd E | university mall // 722.2800

Five Guys Burgers & Fries1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 391.0575www.fiveguys.com

Glory Bound Gyro Company2325 university Blvd // 349-0505Glory Bound Gyro company is a unique restaurant that focuses on great food and service in a funky, fun-filled atmosphere.open mon-thu: 11am - 10pm | fri - sat: 11am-10pm |sun: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Hooligan’s1915 university Blvd // 759.2424from hamburgers to hummus. open daily 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Horny's508 Red Drew ave | tuscaloosa // 345.6869mon 4 p.m. - 2 a.m. | tues-thurs 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.fri 11 a.m. - 3 a.m. | sat 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.new orleans style atmosphere in the heart of tuscaloosa onthe strip. Horny's offerings include a full liquor bar, beer, anda variety of classic american food. Horny's Bar and Grill offers a limited late night menu from 1:30 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.

Tacogi500 Greensboro ave | Downtown tuscaloosa // 342.3647

Logan's Roadhouse1511 skyland Blvd E // 349.3554

Madear’s1735 culver Road // 343.7773mon–fri 6 a.m. - 5 p.m. | 2nd & 3rd sunday 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Mugshots Grill & Bar511 Greensboro ave | Downtown tuscaloosa // 391.0572Great burgers & sandwiches. unique setting, full service bar,veggie entrees, kid friendly, and open latewww.mugshotsgrillandbar.com

Newk’s Express Cafe205 university Blvd. East // 758.2455fax: 758.2470 // www.newkscafe.coman express casual dining experience in a refreshing andstylish atmosphere. serving fresh tossed salads, oven bakedsandwiches, california style pizzas and homemade cakes fromnewk’s open kitchen. sun–Wed 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. | thurs–sat 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

O’Charley’s3799 mcfarland Blvd // 556.5143open daily for lunch, dinner and sunday brunchwww.ocharleys.com

Panera Bread1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 366.8780www.panerabread.com

Piccadilly Cafeteria1701 mcfarland Blvd E | university mall // 556.4960www.piccadilly.com

Quick Grill1208 university Blvd | the strip // 342.0022www.bamaquickgrill.com

Ruby Tuesday (2 locations)6421 interstate Drive | cottondale // 633.3939Just off i-20/59 at exit 77. near Hampton inn and microtel inn311 merchants Walk | northport // 345.4540www.rubytuesdays.com

Ryan’s4373 courtney Dr // 366.1114near marriott courtyard and fairfield inn Sitar Indian Cuisine500 15th st // 345-1419

Southland Restaurant5388 skyland Blvd E // 556.3070steaks, chops and home-cooked vegetablesmon–fri 10:45 a.m. - 9 p.m.

The Southern Dining Room Grill (Behind Ryan's)4251 courtney Dr, tuscaloosa331-4043

T-Town Café500 14th street, tuscaloosa | 759-5559 |www.ttowncafe.co mon - fri: 5 a.m. - 9 p.m., sat: 5 a.m. - 3 p.m. sun: 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Tuscaloosa Burger & Seafood Company1014 7th ave. | tuscaloosa // 764.1976over 160 craft beers.tue. - thu 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; fri - sat 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; sun 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. large selection of decadent desserts.

Zoe’s Kitchen312 merchants Walk // 344.4450a wonderful selection of Greek foods

SPORTS GRILLBaumhower's Wings of Tuscaloosa500 Harper lee Drive | catering-pick-up tuscaloosa //556.5858 | always fresh and always fun. owned by former ua/miami Dolphins great Bob Baumhower. Kid friendly

Buffalo Phil’s1149 university Blvd | the strip // 758.3318sports grille with tVs galore. Diverse beer and wine selection, full barBilly's Sports GrillHistoric Downtown northport / 879.2238Good food, beverages and family friendlyMonday through Wednesday from 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thursday

through Saturday from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. till 9 p.m. (Sunday Brunch 10:30am-3pm).

Buffalo Wild Wings2710 mcfarland Blvd. East | tuscaloosa // 523.0273sports grille with tVs galore. Diverse beer and wineselection, full bar

Champs Sports Grille320 paul Bryant Drive | inside four points sheraton Hotel // 752.3200Breakfast and lunch buffets. sunday brunch 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Hooter’s5025 oscar Baxter Dr | next to Jameson inn // 758.3035Wings, clams, shrimp and of course the Hooters Girlswww.hooters.com

Innisfree Irish Pub1925 university Blvd | tuscaloosa // 345.1199

Moe's BBQ101 15th street | Downtown tuscaloosa // 752.3616mon-sat 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.Bar open until 2 a.m., 3 a.m. on fridays

Mugshots Grill & Bar511 Greensboro ave // 391.0572Great burgers. full service bar. open late.www.mugshotsgrillandbar.com

Tuscaloosa Burger & Seafood Company1014 7th ave. | tuscaloosa // 764.1976over 160 craft beers.tue. - thu 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; fri - sat 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; sun 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. large selection of decadent desserts

Wilhagan’s2209 4th st | Downtown tuscaloosa // 366.0913

Wings U 1800 mcfarland Blvd East suite 218 | pick-up tuscaloosa // 561.3984 features the first coal-fired pizza oven in alabama. owned by former ua/miami Dolphins great Bob Baumhower. completely open concept! www.wingsu.com

WingZone1241 mcfarland Blvd E | tuscaloosa // 342.2473

BARBEQUEArchibald & Woodrow's BBQ4215 Greensboro ave | tuscaloosa // 331.4858mon-sat 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. | sun lunch

Bama BBQ & Grill3380 mcfarland Blvd | northport // 333.9816

Dickey's BBQ9770 alabama 69; midtown; and 13544 Hwy 43 north at Rose Blvd. in northport. Great texas Barbecue. | 344.6500

Dreamland (2 locations)5535 15th ave | tuscaloosa // 758.8135101 Bridge ave | northport // 343.6677the legend. on game day, get there early if you want to makekickoff. seating is limited. Hours: mon–sat 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. | sun 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Hick’s BBQ4400 fayette Hwy // 339.3678 // tues–sat 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Moe's Original BBQ2101 university Blvd.. // 752.3616serving up an award-winning, all things southern BBQand live music experience. come dine-in or sit on thepatio and enjoy some great Que, beers, whiskey, and livemusic on thursday-saturday. Roll tide!mon–sat 11am - 10pm | Bar service mon-sat 2am andfri -3am | Kitchen closes at 10pm

Pottery Grill (2 locations)Highway 11 | cottondale // 554.18153420 alabama 69 | northport // 333.5848menu: thepotterygrill.comawesome barbecue. the pottery Grill serves up everything from pork, chicken, ribs and sausage to burgers, hot dogs and salads. take-out and catering available.

Tee’s Ribs and Thangs1702 10th avenue // 366.9974 |11 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily

STEAKSLogan’s Roadhouse1511 skyland Blvd | next to sams // 349.3554steaks, ribs and spirits

Longhorn Steakhouse1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 345-8244 #412

Nick's In the Sticks4018 culver Rd | tuscaloosa // 758.9316a long-time tuscaloosa tradition.Good steaks at a reasonable pricetry a nicodemus if you have a designated driver.

Outback Steakhouse5001 oscar Baxter Dr // 759.9000

Twin Restaurant3700 6th street |tuscaloosa | 758-7528 a full service restaurant specializing in sushi, prime steaks, made fresh daily pasta, and whiskey oriented cocktails. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. // former tuscaloosa country club SEAFOODChuck’s Fish508 Greensboro ave | Downtown tuscaloosa // 248.9370monday - thursday 5-10 p.m. and friday - saturday 5-11 p.m. steak, seafood, & sushi specialities. Daily specials: monday - $20 Bottles of Wine; tuesday - ladies night 1/2 off Domestic Beer and House Wine, select $5 martinis, $2 off select sushi Rolls for Everyone; uptown Wednesday - $6 uptown shrimp;

>>> RESTAURANTS | W H E R E T O E A T I N T U S C A L O O S A ( C O N T . ) >>> BEER REVIEW | B R E T T R E I D

BOULEVARD POP-UP SESSION IPA // WORTH A TRY

any of their IPA style beers, that this one just didn’t really reach the bar for me. It seemed like a lighter version of the Single Wide with a little more citrus added and the carbonation bumped up to make it “thirst quenching” which is a term I hate. I have never drunk a beer because I am thirsty. That makes no sense to me, but that’s beside the point.

As I stated before, the mouthfeel was overpowered by extreme carbonation, which in turn, made the beer somewhat unsatisfying to me. I wish it could have been bumped down a little to let the flavors shine through more. There was a bit of bitterness that settles on the tongue and leaves a nice hoppy aftertaste. Not really astringent, but more so just the flavor of a nice beer. Other than that, the flavors work nicely together and really meld on the tongue well. I think that honey is what did it for me though on the flavor and mouthfeel. It was really a nice addi-tion that worked for the best in my opinion.

Overall, this was a nice take on the session IPA, but not something that I’m going to choose first. If I saw this in the cooler at party, I would drink my fair share, but am I going to run to the store to pick it up—probably not. I still have my favorite session IPAs over this one and I don’t think those spots are in any danger of losing their positions. Boulevard makes great beers, and this one is good, just not the best I’ve ever had. Still worth the try though.

i’m very pArticulAr when it comes to an IPA. I have a lot that I really hate and a very select few that I absolutely love; and then there’s the middle ground. The middle ground is usu-ally where I place beers I’ve had and said “ehh this is pretty good” while drinking. Boulevard’s Single Wide, a traditional style American IPA brewed with six different hops, can be a bit heavy on the stomach and could never be considered a session beer by any means. The Pop Up, on the other hand, is a perfect session IPA, but a not a perfect traditional IPA. If you’re not familiar with what the term “session” means, it is used to label a beer that could be consumed in multiples at one sitting or “session.” I’m glad that Boulevard took on something like this, and I was more than pleased with the results:

First off, the beer pours a hazy straw color with some visible carbonation that rose quickly to the top of the glass. This is one of the flaws for me, as I hate a lot of carbonation on a beer. It just masks the flavor and ruins the whole mouthfeel for me. Once it was all poured, there were about three finger widths of foamy off-white head that slows dissipates and leaves some serious lacing elements on the glass. The scent was strong with citrus aromas, mainly orange and grape-fruit with some lighter, malty aromas with some hints of floral hops thrown in. I feel like I also picked up on some lemon, but it could just be a mix of the orange and grapefruit. The aroma is West Coast all day, and in my own experience, I have found that the West Coast style IPAs are usually more sessionable than a regular American IPA. I’ve also found myself reaching more towards more West Coast styles lately since the weather has been similar to a level of Hell; really makes the heat a little more bearable.

Upfront, you pick up a lot of malt with some light hints of grain. As the beer settles on your tongue for a moment, you can begin to pick apart the flavors of the grapefruit and orange peel with some added honey notes as well. The honey bit was something I wasn’t expecting, but I really enjoyed it. It seemed to add a bit of smoothness to the beer that took away a bit of the harsh carbonation that I loathe so deeply. As it finishes, you start to pick up the floral hops and then a light amount of bitterness in the finish, which does fade quickly. Over-all, the taste mirrors the nose, but not exactly, and I like that. I enjoy a slight surprise when I take the first sip after smelling and assuming what it’s going to taste like. Although there are all of these high points, this is where the beer started to lose me. I’m so accustomed to how fantastically Boulevard executes


>>> RESTAURANTS | W H E R E t o E a t i n t u s c a l o o s a ( c o n t . )

featured cocktails and $20 Bottles of Wine.

Red Lobster2620 mcfarland Blvd // 553.8810mcfarland plaza shopping center

Tin Top Restaurant & Oyster Bar 4851 Rice mine Rd nE #460 // 462.3399mcfarland plaza shopping center & temerson square

Tuscaloosa Burger & Seafood Company1014 7th ave. | tuscaloosa // 764.1976over 160 craft beers.tue. - thu 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; fri - sat 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; sun 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. large selection of decadent desserts.

Wintzell’s Oyster House1 Bridge ave | northport // 247.7772casual riverfront diningsun–thurs 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. | fri–sat 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

CHINESEBuffet City1747 skyland Blvd E // 553.3308all you can eat buffet. open 7 days a week.

Chang’s Chinese Restaurant1825 mcfarland Blvd n // 391.9131China Fun2600 university Blvd | alberta city // 553.2435

China GardenHwy 69 s | Hillcrest center // 758.0148

Hot Wok Express6751 alabama 69, tuscaloosa // 758.0148

Lee Palace6521 Highway 69 s // 391.9990open daily 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Mr. Chen's Authentic Chinese Cooking & Oriental Market514 14th st. | in the oz music shopping center //343.6889 // open sun - thu 11am - 9pm,fri & sat 11am - 9:30pm

Pearl Garden2719 lurleen Wallace Blvd | northport // 339.0880

Peking Chinese Restaurant1816 mcfarland | northport // 333.0361open 7 days a week. super lunch and dinner buffet.Hours: sun–thurs 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. | fri & sat 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Swen Chinese Restaurant1130 university Blvd | the strip // 391.9887

Trey Yuen4200 mcfarland Blvd E // 752.0088

ASIAN CUISINERuan Thai1407 university Blvd // 391.9973 | ruanthaituscaloosa.comExotic thai cuisine. offers vegetarian options, outdoor dining,and a full bar. sushi on thursdays. lunch: mon–sat 11 a.m. -2 p.m. | Dinner: mon–thurs 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. fri & sat 5 p.m. -10pm | sun 11 a.m. -3 p.m.

Surin of Thailand1402 university Blvd // 752.7970authentic thai restaurant and sushi bar. open daily.lunch: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Dinner: 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.www.surinofthailand.com

PIZZA AND SUBSA Taste Of Chicago1700 Greensboro avenue 205-342-DoGsmon. - thurs. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.; fri. - sat. 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.17th street and Greensboro avenue. authentic chicago style foods. italian Beef sandwiches, chicago Rib tips, and chicago style pizza.

California Underground13552 Highway 43, northport | 339.8660

Firehouse Subs1130 university Blvd | tuscaloosa // 248.0680

Hungry Howie’s (2 locations)1105 southview ln | south tuscaloosa // 345.60001844 mcfarland Blvd | northport // 333.26331211 university Blvd | tuscaloosa | the strip // 366.15004851 Rice mine Rd | northriver/Holt // 345.3737

Lenny’s Sub Shop220 15th st // 752.7450fax: 752.7481 // www.lennys.com

Little Caesars Pizza1414 10th ave // 366.2220 | 1www.littlecaesars.com

Little Italy1130 university Blvd. // 345.4354

Mellow Mushroom2230 university Blvd | Downtown tuscaloosa // 758.0112

Subs n' You2427 university Blvd. | tuscaloosa // 205.758.0088

Roly Poly Sandwiches2300 4th street | tuscaloosa // 366.1222

The Pita Pit1207 university Blvd | the strip // 345.9606Hours: mon–sat 10:30 a.m. - 3 a.m. | sun 11:30 a.m. - midnight

Pizza 12050115th st. East | 561.6853

Pizza Palace Buffet

6521 alabama 69 | 752.5444

Tut’s Place1306 university Blvd | the strip // 759.1004

DELICATESSENHoneybaked Ham Company421 15th st. E // 345.5508www.honeybaked.com

Jason’s Deli2300 mcfarland Blvd // 752.6192fax: 752.6193 // www.jasonsdeli.comlocated in the meadowbrook shopping center.

Jimmy John’s (3 locations)1400 university Blvd | the strip // 366.36991875 mcfarland Blvd n | northport // 752.7714815 lurleen B. Wallace s | tuscaloosa // 722.2268Delivery 7 days a week.www.jimmyjohns.com

Manna Grocery & Deli2300 mcfarland Blvd E | tuscaloosa // 752.9955

McAlister’s Deli (2 locations)101 15th st | tuscaloosa // 758.00393021 tyler Dr | northport // 330.7940sandwiches, salads and spudswww.mcalistersdeli.com

Momma Goldberg’s Deli409 23rd ave // 345.5501www.mommagoldbergs.com

Newk's205 university Blvd E | tuscaloosa // 758.2455

Schlotsky’s Deli405 15th st. E // 759.1975schlotskys.com

Which Wichuniversity Blvd.// Downtown tuscaloosa // mon – sat 10:30 – 9 // sunday 11 – 7 // fun atmosphere,fresh ingredients, great sandwiches. 764.1673

COFFEE SHOPBarnes & Noble1800 mcfarland Blvd E | tuscaloosa349.6366

Chloe's Cup2117 university Blvd.| tuscaloosa // 764.0218

Crimson Cafe International Coffee House & Gourmet Deli1301 university Blvd | the strip // 750.0203mon–fri 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. | sat & sun 8 a.m. - 11 p.m.thecrimsoncafe.com

Five Javacoffee, fresh juices, smoothies and treats from mary's cakes. open monday - saturday at 7am; 9am on sundays

Heritage House18 mcfarland Blvd | northport // 758.0042

Krispy Kreme Doughnut1400 mcfarland Blvd // 758.6913www.krispykreme.com

Starbucks (2 locations)1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 343.24681901 13th ave East | inside super target // 462.1064starbucks.com

DESSERTSCelebrations Bakery, Inc.1832 mcfarland Blvd n | northport // 339.3221fax: 349.1945

Cold Stone Creamery1130 university Blvd. | tuscaloosa //343.1670specializes in customized ice creamHours: mon–thurs 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. | fri & sat 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.sun 12 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Dunkin' Donuts2520 stillman Blvd. |tuscaloosa// 349.3400mccorvey Dr. | tuscaloosa // 348.4041www.dunkindonuts.com

Mary's Cakes & Pastries412 22nd avenue | behind opus | northport // 345.8610www.maryscakesandpastries.common–fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. | sat 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Smoothie King (2 locations)415 15th street | tuscaloosa // 349.1721fax: 349.19451403 university Blvd | tuscaloosa // 462.3664

Sweet CeCe's Frozen yogurt Treats2217 university Blvd. | Downtown tuscaloosa // 561.6458a fun and friendly make your own creation,yogurt experience!

TCBY (3 Locations)2304 mcfarland Blbd | meadowbrook shopping center //349.4661 // 2 mcfarland Blvd | northport | Essex shoppingcenter // 758.6855 // 1130 univ. Blvd. | the strip // 345.0804

Yogurt In Lovepatriot center 7402 Highway 69 southphone number: 764.9173 fax number: 764.9228monday-thursday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., friday & saturday 11 a.m.-10 pm.

Yogurt Lab920 paul W. Bryant Dr ste 200 | tuscaloosa // 347.9522

Yogurt Mountain1800 mcfarland Blvd E | midtown Village // 342.1484

>>> RESTAURANT REVIEW | C I N D Y H U G G I N S

PIZZA 120 // THE NEXT BIG CHAIN? // D.I.Y. PIZZA QUICKLY

contrAry to the popu-lAr slogan, beef is not for dinner. Pizza—it’s what’s for dinner.

The USDA reports that 1 in 8 Americans consume pizza on any given day and adults consume their slices at dinner. Yes, we love pizza and why not? It's affordable. It's a crowd pleaser. And it's downright danged delicious. Pizza could easily be the perfect meal. Nutritionally speaking, it has potential to serve up a healthy, balanced plate providing carbohy-drates, fats, and proteins. Optimum word being: poten-tial. Yes, the nutrient quality falls short on most, but the taste does not. Tuscaloosa’s newest eatery, Pizza 120, located at 501 15th Street, brings a new approach to casual pizza pies satisfying everyone’s taste buds. David Kahn, founder of Yogurt Mountain, is the owner and creative mind behind this new restaurant chain. Kahn transitioned from yogurt to pizza, bringing the same build-your-own concept. Customers create a pie choosing from a variety of dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings. The-10 inch pizza is cooked in a large rotating oven for 2 minutes or 120 seconds. Just enough time to pay the ticket, get drinks, and have a seat. The Italian imported oven can prepare up to 14 pies at a time while reaching upwards of 800 degrees. Prices range from $5.99 to $7.99 for a single 10-inch pies. The menu also offers a build-your-own salad and customers have the option of sipping on a cold beer or a glass of wine.

Since the beginning of summer, I had been anticipating the grand open-ing of Pizza 120. The simple concept of creating my own pizza had me a little excited. One week after they lit up the open sign, my husband and I went for a visit. The restaurant has an easily acces-sible location being on the east side of 15th street next to Replays Gameware & DVDs. The interior is presented as a modern day pizzeria, somewhat cheap-ened with the demanding black and red walls, floors, and furniture. The ordering line mimics that of Subway’s, display-ing all of the fresh ingredients. Before we approached the line, the manager greeted us and proceeded to explain the pizza making process. He also pointed out a menu offering several traditional and specialty pizzas. The first on the list was a cheeseburger pie made with cheddar, beef, onion, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. Though intrigued by the menu, my husband and I had come to create. Both of us chose the signature dough made to portray an authentic Ital-ian pizza crust. Sauce choices consisted of tomato, pesto, and Alfredo. On one half of my pie was tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and olive

oil. Fresh mozzarella has quite a differ-ent flavor and texture when compared to shredded processed mozzarella. I encourage you to try it. The other half stayed classic with tomato sauce, shred-ded mozzarella and sliced pepperoni. The employees were quiet and reserved, but polite. After creating our pie, we paid the cashier, made drinks, and found a booth. It was midafternoon and the restaurant was nearly empty so seating was ample. The same employee who prepared the pies delivered them to our table. Two sizzling hot pizzas were set in front of us and immediately taken away once the server discovered the missing basil. In a matter of seconds, the savory smell was back. Melting cheese was still bubbling from the quick trip to the oven. The heat from the pie exaggerated the sweet aroma of the basil leaves. The first piece slid smoothly off of the plate. Strings of cheese stretched from plate to mouth without a snag. The texture in each bite was soft, no crispy or crunchy crust. In fact, the crust was rather under-whelming to be labeled as a signature item. No real contributions came from the crust, other than to be used as an edible utensil. During each bite excess grease drizzled down my hand. The only issue I had with that was lack of paper towels on the tables. Unashamed, I devoured the whole pie.

Obviously, I enjoyed the food and I love the concept. However, the restau-rant's layout and design choices took away from the overall experience. I felt as if I were just sitting in a shiny fast food joint. And this is why I am thankful for a call-in and carry-out option! Let us know where you are eating by tweeting us @ThePlanetWeekly

Cindy Huggins is a registered dietitian nutritionist and local “foodie”. Follow her on tweeter @DietitianCindy

You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.

~ Yogi Berra ~


"THE EXPENDABLES 3" // DELIGHTFUL // PACKS A LOT OF TESTOSTERONE

BACKROAD ANTHEM

>>> F I L M | V A N R O B E R T S

✭✭✭✭4 out of 4

more bAng for your buck is what you get with "The Expendables 3." Syl-vester Stallone reprises his role as good guy mercenary-for-hire Barney Ross, with Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture), and Caesar (Terry Crews) at his side. Unlike “The Expend-ables 2” (which I enjoyed thoroughly), “Expendables 3” shuns most of the clever one-liners from earlier films that the hard-knuckled screen icons appeared in during their prime. Nevertheless, co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger gets to recycle his “Predator” line “Get to the chopper,” and his “Commando” line “I lied.” “Red Hill” director Patrick Hughes and original “Expendables” scenarist Sylvester Stal-lone along with “Olympus Has Fallen” co-scribes Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt struggle but succeed to infuse enough spontaneity into this predictable but entertaining nonsense that foregoes the blood & gore of the two earlier R-rated entries. The worst thing about the third “Expendables” epic is that you know what will happen even though it is gratifying when it occurs. Unfortunate-ly, neither martial arts sensation Jet Li nor multiple welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz has a chance to display their respective skills. Unless we’re given a chance to catch the three-and-a-half-hour rough cut of the film, we’ll never know if they did show-off their skills.

Those who’ve seen the first two “Expendables” will enjoy the allusions to those actioneers. Barney Ross had to hump it in “The Expendables” when he scrambled hell-bent-for-leather down a dock toward his seaplane as hundreds of bullets perforated the planks at his heels. “Expendables 3” gives Stallone another chance to hump it under conditions far worse than anything that he faced in the first film. While the action has a delight-ful, dog-eared quality to it, the spectacle of star power compensates for the déjà vu familiarity. Fresh out of real-life prison for tax evasion, “Blade” star Wesley Snipes, who went toe-to-toe with Stallone in the 1993 thriller “Demolition Man,” is still an action star to respect. Mel Gibson

makes an awesome adversary who we are told co-founded the mercenary force with Barney. The “Lethal Weapon” star qualifies as a first-rate dastard with treachery to spare. The biggest surprise is “Zorro” star Antonio Banderas, who is cast as a loquacious Hispanic suffering from survivor’s guilt. “Indiana Jones” star Harrison Ford replaces Bruce Willis as Stallone’s new CIA contact. Clocking in at a rather lengthy 127 minutes, “Expend-ables 3” pits our heroes against an army of evil antagonists equipped with tanks and helicopters galore. From its adren-aline-laced opening sequence involving a slam-bang aerial rescue from a prison train to its war-as-hell finale, this polished Lionsgate release should assuage the appetites of action fans until the rumored fourth installment comes out.

“Expendables 3” opens with an explo-sive, rip-snorting, action set-piece as Bar-ney flies a helicopter with Lee Christmas, Gunnar, and Toll Road riding shotgun with automatic weapons. They are out to rescue one of their old comrades, Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes) who is locked up like a serial killer on a heavily-fortified train bound for a maximum security prison. Naturally, bullets fly by the bil-lions, and the villains cannot hit the side of an invisible barn, while the bodies pile up with little in the way of blood & gore. Interestingly, “Expendables 3” is the first in the franchise to obtain a PG-13 rating. Once aboard Barney’s chopper heading home, Doctor Death borrows Gunnar’s enormous, pig-sticker of a knife and shaves himself. I haven’t any action hero shave himself with a knife since Lee Van Cleef did in the 1968 Spaghetti western “Death Rides A Horse.” Anyway, Barney needs Doctor Death for a job in Soma-lia, and everything appears to be going splendidly for our aged but agile merce-naries until Barney gets the shock of his life. A villain shows up who turns out to be one of the Expendables’ founding fa-thers, Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson of “Lethal Weapon”), and he shows Barney that Barney’s best days may be behind him. Stonebanks has Barney in his gun sights, but he decides to blast away at

Caesar before he blows the rest of them to kingdom come. Naturally, Barney and his pals survive this trial by combat, but our rugged, Spartan protagonist believes he needs new blood to nab the elusive Stonebanks. Several well-dressed CIA goons approach Barney outside the New Orleans hospital where Caesar’s life hangs by a thread. Drummer (Harrison Ford of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) isn’t happy about the turn of events. Never-theless, he wants to use Barney again to capture Stonebanks. The inevitable catch is that Barney must deliver the sadistic Stonebanks to The Hague, where Stonebanks will be put on trial as a war criminal. You see, Stonebanks has been selling weapons of every description for twenty years to anybody who can afford them. Originally, Barney thought he had killed Stonebanks, but the latter’s body armor enabled him to survive the ordeal. Now, Stonebanks surrounds himself with an army of hired guns.

After Barney delivers the bad news to his brothers-in-arms, he contacts a scruffy character, Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammer of “Down Periscope”), to help him assemble a new team. The action slows down a mite during this phrase of the story so these two guys can audi-

tion replacements. Anybody who's seen any of “The Magnificent Seven” west-erns knows what to expect during this interim. Barney enlists four youngsters who qualify as the toughest of the tough. Mars (Victor Ortiz), Smilee (Kellam Lutz of “Twilight”), Thorn (Glen Powell of “The Dark Knight Rises”), and a gal named Luna (MMA fighter Ronda Rousey) com-prise his new team. This robust quartet can do virtually anything that Barney’s old team did but with greater tech savvy. The catch here is that Mel Gibson’s roguish Stonebanks is no slouch and has more than a few tricks hidden up his sleeve. Although all the usual clichés appear intact throughout “Expendables 3,” this testosterone-laden release packs more blood, sweat, and sneers than most entire action franchises.


>>> E X P L O R I N G A L A B A M A | J E R O M E A D A M S

GETTING THE TRASH OUT OF THE SPLASH IN ALABAMA // SERIOUS WORK // HUGE IMPACT

Photos: Jerome Adams

An AnnuAl event cAlled "Alabama Coastal Cleanup" will be held on Septem-ber 20, 2014, all along the coasts of our "Alabama the Beautiful" state, in an effort to keep it that way. For the twenty-seventh time, volunteers will gather at several locations along our border with the Gulf

of Mexico to collect debris left by beach and water users as well as stuff washed from the land and carried by our mighty river systems that dump into Mobile Bay. Coastal Cleanup will occur all around the coasts of the United States and some other countries, too, on the same day.

Each time someone on the beach opens a bag of chips and leaves the bag NOT in a trash receptacle it does not disappear, but becomes litter. Each time a baby's diaper is changed and the used one left on the sand it does NOT disap-pear. Each time a boater dumps ice into a chest and tosses the plastic bag over the side it does NOT just go away. If each beach/water user were to leave even one trash item behind there would be nothing but litter all over the beaches and in the water! Fortunately, most have learned to place trash into collection barrels. Most have learned to be good stewards of this natural resource by doing the right thing. Yet, there is still education to be done by parents, teachers and and anyone involved in youth and/or adult activities. Some adults need some reminding, too.

Items composed of any type of plastic take a very long time to degrade and may become haz-ards to marine and other animals and humans. Sea turtles may mistake bags for jelly fish, a nor-mal part of the turtles' diet. This plastic, of course, is not any kind of food and cannot be digested but may become lodged in the

"ATLANTIS" by Joni Gruber

digestive system and cause the animal to starve to death. The plastic could become a choking hazard and since sea turtles don't have gills they would asphyxiate.

Mono-filament (fishing line) is another very dangerous material when improperly disposed of or lost during fish harvesting that can cause animals to become en-tangled and unable to care for themselves and die needlessly. This line can also be-come wound around a boat propeller and other marine machinery causing mechani-cal problems. Injury or even death might possibly occur for a diver due to entangle-ment. There are proper receptacles for mono-filament marked and easily found at


fishing areas. According to data gathered from prior

Coastal Cleanups, cigarette butts (55 mil-lion) constitute about 25% of the types of items collected. Wikipedia reveals that the filter is usually cellulose acetate and not degradable. Filters are small and may be mistaken as food by shore birds or other animals that visit the beach. Any respon-sible smoker knows to "field strip" his or her butt and place the remains in a proper receptacle.

Though our shoreline is very small compared with California or Florida, it is still very important to us due to its relative closeness and beauty. Tourists and others sometimes take samples of Gulf of Mexico beach sand to show others how very white it is. Our shoreline is certainly worth the effort to preserve and enhance its beauty and cleanliness.

Water from the Mobile River and the Tensaw Delta drains up to one fourth of the fresh water of our country into the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile. The marsh areas

where the salt and fresh waters meet are the natural nurseries for gulf fish that many of us like to catch and eat and it also supports the salt water fishing industry. Most of the water that one might observe flowing by in the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa ends up in the Gulf of Mexico along with whatever has been put into it. Though ,this part of our coast may not have beaches suitable for swimming it is still affected by trash and is very important to our ecosystem.

September 20 is the last day of sum-mer and the beach is very beautiful and mostly vacant because the majority of the tourists have gone home. Coastal Cleanup participation is a great excuse and reason to go to the beach one more time and do something beneficial for the environment, too. It is the "off" season so there are many motel rooms and condos available. Even better, Gulf State Park is a short distance east of the junction of Highway 59 and Highway 182 In Gulf Shores and much less expensive. The park has many camp sites

with water, power and sewage. Bath houses are located strategi-cally so that no camper is very far away and they are air conditioned! The park extends to the gulf water with a very wide expanse of beauti-ful beaches. A boardwalk is at one of the locations and enables one to cross the dunes with out harming the ecosystem of the dunes or frying one's feet! There is also a park beach pavilion of-fering shelter from the sun and stormy weather that might come up and has restrooms. Since the

last major hurricanes that damaged much along our coast, Gulf State Park has added many nice facilities and improved the ones already there.

September 20 offers an annual op-portunity for participation in a nationwide exercise called Coastal Cleanup. Seven-teen sites are listed for Baldwin County and six for Mobile County. www.alabamacoast-alcleanup.com is the web site for informa-tion or call 251.621.1216. A participant will be given a collection bag; a score card for indicating the type and amount of refuse gathered; gloves; and a pencil. Working in partners is recommended by the writer.

Care for your body with sunscreen, insect repellent, a wide-brim hat, sunglasses and a water bottle. The mechanical pinchers for gathering trash/nuts without having to bend down save backs and are a safer way of picking up glass, and other sharp objects. Debris collected is turned in at noon and weighed. Collectors are then given T shirts of the the event and usually treated to a light lunch.

Explore Alabama as a volunteer and enjoy the beach and ocean at the same time by joining somewhere in the Alabama Coastal Cleanup and "Get the Trash Out of the Splash!"


This peppy pup will make your day! Meet Piper, a darling 9 month old rat terrier mix. She is a small dog, weighing only 15 pounds and will not get much bigger when she is full grown. She has a smooth white coat with brown markings. And check out those ears! Too cute! Piper is a fun, energetic dog. She loves to run and around and play, but she loves to be with you and loves attention. She is still a puppy so she will need training and structure to help her develop into a well-mannered adult dog. She could be an apartment dog if she gets plenty of exercising. She will require a fenced in yard or will need to be on a leash. Piper does well with other dogs and should be fine with children over 12. We are work-ing on her crate training. Piper is up to date on her vet care, spayed, heartworm negative and is micro chipped. She is on heartworm and flea/tick prevention. If you want some fun in your life, then Piper is the dog for you! If you are interested in giving Piper the forever home she wants and deserves, visit the West Alabama Humane Society at humanesocietyofwa.org or call us at 554.0011.

>>> EVENTS CALENDAR | T H E S O U T H E A S T ' S L A R G E S T

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4KENTUCK ART NIGHTWHEN: 5 – 8 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Historic Downtown NorthportCONTACT: kentuck.orgDESCRIPTION: Inspired by New Orleans; live jazz performed by the Voodoo Saints. Beer tasting by Druid City Brewing Co. Pop-up shop with Left Hand Soap Com-pany, fresh gumbo served. Artist reception with NOLA-based ceramicist Joy Gauss. Cob oven pizza, open artist studios, open galleries.

ALABAMA NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITIONWHEN: 10 a.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Sella-Granata Art GalleryPHONE: 758.5195LINK: art.ua.eduDESCRIPTION: The University of Ala-bama Department of Art and Art History presents the first annual Alabama Na-tional, a fine art juried competition open to all artists 18 years or older.

“REDEFINING THE MULTIPLE: 13 JAPANESE PRINTMAKERS”WHEN: 9 a.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Sarah Moody Art GalleryPHONE: 348.1891 LINK: art.ua.eduDESCRIPTION: Redefining the Multiple, 13 Japanese artists interpret printmaking in a wide range of methods. The exhibition features digital technology in three-dimen-sional modeling and image projection, as well as more traditional methods of print-making. Some works engage the tradition of the framed artist’s print; others have a more experimental presentation. Through Thursday, Sept. 18.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5FIRST FRIDAYWHEN: 5 – 9 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Downtown TuscaloosaLINK: tuscarts.orgDESCRIPTION: Local galleries, business-es and restaurants are open as an event for the community. Gallery owners and merchants showcase their offerings after hours within the festive atmosphere cre-ated with the downtown arts community.

CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS IIIWHEN: 5 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: The Bama Theater GalleryPHONE: 556.4900LINK: thearc.orgDESCRIPTION: Presented by The Arc of Tuscaloosa County, The public will have a chance to meet the artists, view and purchase artwork. Items at the show will include scarves, note cards, magnets, ornaments and vases.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 67th ANNUAL HEADBANGERS’ HAIR SHOWWHEN: 7 p.m.COST: $25 at door, $35 VIPWHERE: Bama Theatre

PHONE: 758.5195LINK:bamatheatre.orgDESCRIPTION: Join Erica Barnes Grant and Charming Kreations for a full night with, barbers, stylists, makeup artists, and vendors.

FAMILY EXPOWHEN: 3 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Northport Civic CenterPHONE: 333.3006LINK: cityofnorthport.orgDESCRIPTION: A family event that fea-tures health screenings, prizes, vendors and more

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 75TH STREET VINTAGE MARKETWHEN: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: 4150 5th St. Northport, 35476LINK: 5thstreetvintagemarket.comDESCRIPTION: Now in its third year, 5th Street Vintage Market is West Alabama's only vintage day market. Curated by This Ol' Thing Vintage, Grace Aberdean Habitat Alchemy and DJ Tom Kat Kitten, 5th Street Vintage Market brings a one of a kind shopping experience to the area. We will feature dozens of dealers from the region who specialize in vintage goods, handmade items and vinyl records

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8WEST ALABAMA MOUNTAIN BIKING ASSOCIATION WEEKLY BEGINNER’S RIDEWHEN: 5:45 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Monny Sokal ParkPHONE: 562.3220LINK: wambarides.org DESCRIPTION: Interested in mountain biking but don't know where to ride in Tuscaloosa? Come out to Sokal Park and join the beginners' group that ride out weekly on Monday evenings.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9ALS SUPPORT GROUPWHEN: 6 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Hospice of West AlabamaPHONE: 519.9030LINK: alsalabama.orgDESCRIPTION: The Alabama Chapter was founded in late 2004 to serve the needs of those living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and their caregivers. The ALS Association sponsors seven ALS Support Groups in Alabama for ALS patients (PALS), their families, caregivers, friends and anyone interested in support-ing the ALS community.

FORZA FINANCIAL WORKSHOPWHEN: 6 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: 800 22nd Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AlPHONE: 210.8083LINK: forzafinancial.comDESCRIPTION: Chris Lewis, Financial Services Representative for Principal Financial Group, will speak to small busi-ness owners. Forza Financial is a microfi-

MEET PIPER AND INDIA // LOVING ADDITIONS TO YOUR FAMILY

>>> PET PLANET | T H I S M O N T H ' S P E T SNOTE: All events listed here have phone numbers in the 205 area code unless otherwise indicated.

This beautiful lady is India, a female adult tabby. Her base color is charcoal gray, but a good bit of orange shows through in what is called a tortoiseshell tabby. India has Tortoiseshell colors with a tabby coat pattern. She is gorgeous! India is hard to photograph - she's constantly head butting and prancing for attention! She is very sweet and affectionate. India socializes well with other friendly cats, but she really prefers human interaction. She would do fine with other cats or as an only pet. She should do well with gentle children, but we aren't sure how India feels about dogs. We recommend a trial adoption if a dog is in the home. India is negative for FIV and FeLK, current on vaccinations and spayed. If you are interested in giving the India the forever home she wants and deserves, visit the West Alabama Humane Society at humanesocietyofwa.org or call us at 554.0011.

Canine Classic 5K Road RaceTo Benefit the Humane Society of West Alabama

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13See Page 25 for Details


sion, the Black Jacket Symphony returns to the stage to perform a collection of greatest hits by the evening's artist.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13SUPER SATURDAY!WHEN: 10 a.m.COST:Under 3 years: $6, 3-59 years: $9, 60 years and above: $7WHERE: Children’s Hands-On Museum of TuscaloosaPHONE: 349.4235LINK: chomonline.orgDESCRIPTION: This event features a bug show that will teach children to dif-ferentiate between insects and arachnids. Children can also participate in a “make your own bug” activity.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15WAMBA Weekly Beginners RideWHEN: 5:45 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Munny Sokal ParkPHONE: 562.3220LINK: wambarides.org DESCRIPTION: Interested in mountain biking but don't know where to ride in Tuscaloosa? Come out to Sokal Park and join the beginners' group that ride out weekly on Monday evenings.

ESTATE PLANNING AND ASSET PLAN-NING WORKSHOPWHEN: 4 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Red Oak Legal, PCPHONE: 764.1262LINK: redoaklegalpc.comDESCRIPTION: Educational workshop presented by local attorneys Steve Wig-gins and Raley Wiggins. The workshop covers wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advance directives, living wills, probate administration, protecting assets from creditors, bankruptcy, divorce and remar-riage, nursing homes, long-term care and Medicaid qualification. Those who wish to attend can register online or by phone.

>>> EVENTS CALENDAR | T H E S O U T H E A S T ' S L A R G E S T

nance organization located in Tuscaloosa that provides small-scale business loans and other services to small business in the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham area.

BAMA ART HOUSEWHEN: 7:30 p.m.COST: -$7, general admission-$6, students and seniors-$5, Arts Council membersWHERE: Bama TheatrePHONE: 758.5195LINK; bamatheatre.org/bamaarthouseDESCRIPTION: The Bama Art House will show the film Venus in Fur, starring Roman Polanski and Leopold von Sacher Masoch. The mission of Bama Art House is to bring current, contemporary indepen-dent film to Tuscaloosa, transforming the Bama Theatre into a cinematic Art House, one night a week.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10ALABAMA MINING INSTITUTEWHEN: 6 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: Bryant Conference CenterPHONE: 348.6222LINK: training.ccs.ua.eduDESCRIPTION: Anyone interested in mining, geology, mining regulations, mine construction and development, mine health and environ-mental issues, coal bed methane, and related subjects can participate.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11SUNDOWN LECTURE SERIES: “TUS-CALOOSA ANTIQUE ROAD SHOW”WHEN: 5:15 p.m.COST: $5, general publicWHERE: Jemison Van de Graaff MansionPHONE: 758.2238LINK: historictuscaloosa.orgDESCRIPTION: Just for fun, local identi-fiers will be available in various categories of antiques like silver, porcelain, crystal, tools, jewelry, folk art etc.

TPL MONTHLY BOOK DISCUSSIONWHEN: 5:30 p.m.COST: FreeWHERE: TPL, Weaver Bolden BranchPHONE 758.82.91LINK: Tuscaloosa-library.orgDESCRIPTION: The Tuscaloosa Public Library will discuss The Quite Game by Greg Iles.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12THE BLACK JACKET SYMPHONY: PINK FLOYD’S DARK SIDE OF THE MOONWHEN: 8 p.m.COST: $30WHERE: Bama TheatrePHONE: 758.5195LINK: bamatheatre.orgDESCRIPTION: A selected album is per-formed in its entirety by a group of hand-picked musicians specifically selected for each album. With no sonic detail being overlooked, the musicians do whatever it takes to musically reproduce the album. Following the album and a brief intermis-

>>> F I L M | K E V I N L E D G E WO O D

PUBLICIZE YOUR EVENT. CONTACT

[email protected] Welborn, "Mr. Piggly Wiggly"

screenings of the nine feature films in the Bama Art House Film Series began on Aug. 19, with five films remaining as of this printing of the PW.

Screenings are at the Bama Theatre on Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. with the box office opening at 6:30 p.m. and doors at 6:45 p.m.

Discount Punchcard Tickets ($60) are available at the door prior to the screen-ings and are good for any 10 Bama Art House films. Single Tickets are priced at $8 general, $7 seniors & students and $6 Arts Council members. Patrons can visit www.bamatheatre.org/bamaarthouse to view the list of films, details and accompa-nying trailers.

September 9: Venus In Fur(2013) Drama (Rated R)Director: Roman PolanskiWriters: David Ives, Roman Polanski, Leop-old von Sacher MasochStars: Emmanu-elle Seigner, Mathieu AmalricSynopsis: An actress attempts to convince a director how she's perfect for a role in his upcom-ing production. Seriously very funny, says the NY Times.

September 16 September 16: Life Itself(2014) Documen-tary/Biography (Rated R)Director: Steve JamesStars: Roger Eb-ert, Chaz Ebert, Gene SiskelSynopsis: The life and career of the renowned film critic and social commentator, Roger Ebert.

Sept. 23: Frank(2014) Comedy/Drama/Mystery (Rated R)Directors: Lenny AbrahamsonWriter: Jon Ronson, Peter StraughanStars: Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyl-lenhaal, Domhnall GleesonSynopsis: Jon, a young wanna-be musi-cian, discovers he's bitten off more than

TUESDAYS // TREATS FOR FILM BUFFS

he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.

Sept. 30: Bye Week

Oct. 7: Magic in the Moonlight(2014) Comedy/Drama/Romance (Rated PG-13)Director & Writer: Woody AllenStars: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Antonia Clarke, Natasha AndrewsSynopsis: A romantic comedy about an English-man brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue.

Oct. 14: Art and Craft(2014) Documen-tary (Rated R)Directors: Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman, Mark BeckerSynopsis: When one of the most prolific art forgers in US history is finally exposed, he must confront the legacy of his 30-year con.


Fox Theatre660 Peachtree St NE 404.881.2100

The Hangout251.948.3030thehangout1.com

Marathon Music Works 1402 Clinton St615.891.1781

Minglewood Hall1555 Madison Ave901.312.6058

>>> R OA D T R I P D I R E C T O RY Travel the South's best venues. Visit their website for ticket info and more.

Acoustic Café2758 County Hwy 9205.647.3237

Amphitheater at the Wharf23101 Canal Rd251.224.1020

Bridgestone Arena501 Broadway615.770.2000

Centennial Olympic Park265 Park Ave W NW404.223.4412

Montgomery Performing Arts Center201 Tallapoosa St334.481.5100

The Nick2514 10th Ave S205.252.3831

Sloss Furnaces20 32nd St N205.324.1911Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre2200 Encore Pkwy 404.733.5010

Von Braun Center700 Monroe St SW256.551.2345

WorkPlay500 23rd St S205.380.4082

Zydeco2001 15th Ave S205.933.1032

>>> ROAD TRIP | s o u t H E a s t E R n co n c E R t s a n D E V E n t s

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 BIRMINGHAMAugust Alsina, Iron CityCorners, Bottletree CaféBlack Tide, Iron Horse Café

MONTGOMERYJerriell Braswell, The Mansion

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 BIRMINGHAMWick-It the Instigator, Sloss Furnaces The Young, Bottletree Café

HUNTSVILLEFor Lack of Lythium, Hideaway’s Lounge

MONTGOMERYThe Fab Four, Montgomery Performing Arts Center

NASHVILLEVertical Horizon and Tonic, Wildhorse SaloonLes Claypool’s Duo De Twang, 3rd and Lindsley Bar and Grill

ATLANTAMaze and Frankie Beverly, Chastain Park Amphitheatre

NEW ORLEANSG-Eazy, Republic New Orleans

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6MONTGOMERYJessie Lynn, Montgomery Motor SpeedwayJames A. Jack, 2nd and Charles

HUNTSVILLEPayton Taylor, The Celtic Cup Coffee House

ATLANTAZZ Top and Jeff Beck, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore ParkR5, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center

NASHVILLEThe Piano Guys, Ryman AuditoriumJosh Doyle and Brave Town, 3rd and Lindsley Bar and GrillThe Josh Abbott Band & Casey Donahew Band, Marathon Music Works

NEW ORLEANSRon White, Mahalia Jackson TheatreCakewalk and Sexual Thunder!, Howlin’ Wolf

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 HUNTSVILLEPayton Taylor, The Celtic Cup Coffee House

ATLANTAAustin Mahone, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore ParkDigitour, TabernacleParachute, The Loft

NEW ORLEANSSucre, House of Blues

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8BIRMINGHAMPinback, Bottletree Café

NASHVILLETy Segall with Wand and Circle K, Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9NASHVILLEHow to Dress Well, Exit In

HUNTSVILLEChris Simmons, Sebastien’s on Main

ATLANTAJason Mraz, Fabulous Fox Theatre

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10BIRMINGHAMKings of Leon w/ Young the Giant and Kongos, Oak Mountain Amphitheatre

HUNTSVILLEBret Michaels, Oasis Restaurant and Sports Bar

ATLANTA3 Doors Down Acoustic, Tabernacle

NEW ORLEANSBlack Lips, Tipitina’sStick Figure, House of BluesAfrobeat, Gasa Gasa

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 BIRMINGHAMNeedtobreathe, The Alabama TheatreCrowbar and Revocation, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark

ATLANTA

Rascal Flatts, Sheryl Crow and Gloriana, Aaron’s Amphitheatre at LakewoodMad Caddies, The MasqueradeJason Marsalis Vibes Quartet, Variety Playhouse

NASHVILLEJay Leno, TPAC Andrew Jackson HallThe Four Tops, Schermerhorn Symphony Hall

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 BIRMINGHAMColbie Caillat, Iron CityLittle Raine Band, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark

ATLANTATedeschi Trucks Band, Chastain Park AmphitheatreEd Sheeran, The Arena at Gwinnett CenterRend Collective, Variety Playhouse

NASHVILLEJourney, Bridgestone ArenaJerrod Niemann, Ryman AuditoriumThe Steeldrivers with Brigette Demeyer, 3rd and Lindsley Bar and GrillLife in Color, LP Field

NEW ORLEANSWill Downing, Saenger TheatreSouthern Journeys, House of BluesDavid Nail, House of BluesJ Boog, House of BluesDirty Bourbon River Show, Freret Street PubliQ House

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13ATLANTACharlie Wilson, Chastain Park AmphitheatreLittle Mix, Tabernacle

HUNTSVILLETerry McNeal, The Stem and SteinThe Black Lillies, Northeast Alabama Community CollegeJulie Taylor, John’s T BBQ

BIRMINGHAMJackopierce, WorkPlay TheatreEarphunk, Sloss Furnaces

MONTGOMERYSir Charles Jones, Garrett Coliseum

NASHVILLEKris Kristofferson, Ryman Auditorium

MICHAEL THORNTON // MONTGOMERY // DECEMBER 22

NEW ORLEANSAlex and Sierra, House of BluesDelta Spirit, One Eyed Jacks

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14MONTGOMERYThe Jarekus Singleton Band, Capitol Oyster Bar

NASHVILLEThe Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Mercy Lounge/Cannery BallroomJustin Currie, 3rd and Lindsley Bar and Grill

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15ATLANTAThe Pretty Reckless, The Masquerade

NASHVILLELeftover Salmon, Ryman Auditorium

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16BIRMINGHAMBalance and Composure, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark

MONTGOMERYHannah Thomas, Cloverdale PlayhouseVivace Music Group, Crosby Theatre

NASHVILLEThe Afghan Whigs, Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom

NEW ORLEANSDJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, House of BluesDenzel Curry and Deniro Farrar, House of Blues

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17MONTGOMERYJohn Bull Band, Montomery Performing Arts Center

ATLANTALilly Allen, TabernacleErasure, Symphony Hall Atlanta

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18NEW ORLEANSDemi Lovato, UNO Lakefront Arena

WRITERS WANTEDCONTACT

[email protected]

LES CLAYPOOL // NASHVILLE // SEPTEMBER 5 KINGS OF LEON // BIRMINGHAM // SEPTEMBER 10BLACK LILLIES // HUNTSVILLE // SEPTEMBER 13

WILL DOWNING // NEW ORLEANS // AUGUST 29

DEMI LOVATO // NEW ORLEANS // SEPTEMBER 18


HAVE YOUR LOCAL MUSIC EVENT

LISTED FREE. PLEASE EMAIL

[email protected]

4th & 23rd //

1831 // 331-4632

Alcove // 469-9110

Bear Trap // 345-2766

Big Al's // 759-9180

The Booth // 764-0557

Buffalo Wild Wings // 523-0273

Capones // 248-0255

Carpe Vino // 366-8444

Catch 22 // 344-9347

Copper Top // 343-6867

Downtown Pub // 750-0008

Gallettes // 758-2010

Gnemis Top Shelf Tavern // 343-0020

Grey Lady // 469-9521

Harry's Bar // 331-4151

Houndstooth // 752-8444

Innisfree // 345-1199

Jackie's Lounge // 758-9179

The Jupiter // 248-6611

The Legacy // 345-4848

Mellow Mushroom // 758-0112

Mike's Place // 764-0185

Mugshots // 391-0572

Rhythm & Brews // 750-2992

Rounders // 345-4848

>>> LO C A L B A R S

THURSDAYSEPTEMBER 4Anthony Orio, Rhythm & BrewsAtlas Road Crew, Green BarThe Devines, Rounders

FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER 5Another Hero, Rhythm & BrewsTrigger Proof, RoundersA Drawing Benefitting the Austin Shepard Foundation, JupiterManchino & Abstract Theory, Green Bar

SATURDAY,SEPTEMBER 6Forgotten Clay, Green BarNic Snow / Trigger Proof, RoundersJason Miller Band, Rhythm & Brews

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9Plato Jones, Innisfree

WEDNESDAYSEPTEMBER 10Dj Protoj, Rhythm & BrewsKings of Leon, Oak Mtn. Amphitheater

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11Sister Hazel, Jupiter, Rhythm & BrewsMatt Bennett Acoustic, Rounders

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, Rhythm & Brews, Green BarRicky Young, Rounders

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13Johnathan East, Mike's Place

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16Plato Jones, Innisfree

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19Sean Rivers, Rounders

MANCHINO // GREEN BAR // SEPTEMBER 5 SISTER HAZEL // JUPITER BAR // SEPTEMBER 11 RICKY YOUNG // ROUNDERS // SEPTEMBER 12

>>> LOCAL MUSIC | WHO'S PLAYING AROUND TOWN


AnAlysts hAve mAde bold predictions and the Coaches’ Poll has released its preseason top 25 rankings.

Alabama enters this season ranked No.2 in the nation. The placement adds a chip on the Tide’s shoulder, but Alabama looks to reclaim its spot atop college foot-ball. The Crimson Tide’s first triumphant matchup was against West Virginia in Atlanta on Aug. 30. 33-23.

The Mountaineers were first on Ala-bama’s plate, but other challenging pro-grams await the Tide in 2014. As Alabama begins its quest for a 16th national title, here is a list of the five toughest oppo-nents it will face this season:

5. Mississippi Rebels (Ole Miss)Coach: Hugh Freeze 2013 record: 8-5, 3-5 (SEC)Returning players: (Offense) Bo Wal-lace, I’Tavius Mathers, Jaylen Walton, Mark Dodson, Laquon Treadwell and Evan Engram. (Defense) Cody Prewitt, C.J. Hampton, Denzel Nkemdiche and Serderius Bryant.Location: Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss. Summary: Mississippi entered 2013 un-der a lot of hype. The Rebels started last season with three straight wins. Before the Alabama game, many of the players took to social media for trash talking. As a result, the Tide’s defense held Missis-sippi scoreless. Ole Miss looks to redeem itself from the 25-0 beat-down Alabama handed them.

The Crimson Tide will head to Ox-ford this season. The Rebels will have a spirited crowd behind them, in hopes to provide a hostile environment for the Tide. Bo Wallace completed 54.8 percent (17/31) of his passes for 159 yards last season against Alabama. It will be up to him to compose the Reb-els and make smart decisions with the ball in 2014.

4. Florida GatorsCoach: Will Muschamp 2013 record: 4-8, 3-5 (SEC)Returning players: (Offense) Jeff Driskell, Matt Jones, Mack Brown, Kelvin Taylor, Quinton Dunbar and Demarucs Robinson. (Defense) Dante Fowler and Vernon Hargreaves III.Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.Summary: Florida lacked rhythm on of-fense in 2013. Jeff Driskel broke his fibula against Tennessee. The Gators went through many quarterbacks, but had little success. Florida’s defense held its own to start the season, but struggled down the stretch. The Gators finished 15th nation-ally, surrendering 21.1 points per game.

2011 was the last time Florida faced Alabama. The venue was Bryant-Denny Stadium and Alabama was the victor, 38-10. With a healthy Driskel and the hir-ing of Kurt Roper (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach), Florida looks to be much improved in 2014. Dante Fowler and Vernon Hargreaves are the leaders on defense. Fowler had 50 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2013. Hargreaves totaled three interceptions and 11 pass breakups last season.

3. Mississippi State BulldogsCoach: Dan Mullen 2013 record: 7-6, 3-5 (SEC)Returning players: (Offense) Dak Prescott, Ashton Shumpert, Josh Robin-son, Jameon Lewis, Malcolm Johnson, De’Runnya Wilson. (Defense) Chris Jones, Benardrick McKinney, Jamerson Love and Taveze Calhoun. Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.Summary: It appeared like Missis-sippi State would finish 2013 at 4-8. The Bulldogs pulled out close victories over Kentucky, Arkansas and Ole Miss to finish at 7-6 last season. After its 44-7 victory

>>> O P I N I O N | S T E P H E N S M I T H

ALABAMA FOOTBALL // FIVE TOUGHEST GAMES IN 2014

Photo: UA Athletic Photography

against Rice in the Liberty Bowl, Mississippi State has Southeast-ern Conference dark horse written on them.

The Bulldogs were one of few teams that gave Alabama a fight in 2013, despite losing 20-7. Mississippi State returns 85 percent of its offense in 2014, headlined by quarterback Dak Prescott. Prescott accounted for 23 touchdowns and 2,769 yards last season. Jameon Lewis and De’Runnya Wilson are game-changing receivers.

The Bulldogs return and expe-rienced defense led by Benardrick McKinney. He recorded 70 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2013. Defensive lineman Chris Jones totaled 32 tackles and three sacks last sea-son. Jamerson Love and Taveze Calhoun led the secondary as they combined for six intercep-

tions in 2013.

2. Louisiana State University (LSU) TigersCoach: Les Miles 2013 record: 10-5, 5-3 (SEC)Returning players: (Offense) Terrence Magee, Kenny Hilliard, Travis Dickson and Colby Delahoussaye. (Defense) Jalen Mills, Tre’ Sullivan, D.J. Wetler, Ronald Martin and Tre’Davious White. Location: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, La.Summary: Like Alabama, LSU has to find a new quarterback. With Zach Metteng-berger in the National Football League, the battle is between Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris. Jennings got some action in 2013. He passed for 181 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He will get the nod to start this season, but Harris will be breathing down his neck.

LSU was embarrassed in the second half against Alabama last season. The Tigers’ offensive line failed to protect Mettenberger as he was sacked four times in the contest. The Tide’s defense held LSU to three points in the second half and won the game 38-17.

The Tigers were heart broken in Alabama’s last visit to Tiger Stadium. A 28-yard hookup from AJ McCarron to T.J. Yeldon via screen pass doomed LSU 21-17 in 2012. The Tigers have experi-ence players returning, but also a plethora of talented freshmen coming in. Tiger Stadium has had some renovations made to it. The atmosphere will be louder than even before in 2014, especially when Alabama comes to town.

1. Auburn TigersCoach: Guz Malzahn 2013 record: 12-2, 7-1 (SEC)Returning players: (Offense) Nick Mar-shall, Cameron Artis-Payne, Corey Grant, Ricardo Louis, Sammie Coates, Quan Bray, C.J. Uzomah, Reese Dismukes

and D’haquille Williams. (Defense) Gabe Wright, Montravius Adams, Cassanova McKinzy, Jermaine Whitehead, Robenson Therezie and Jonathon Mincy. Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala. Summary: This game needs no explana-tion. Revenge is the lone reason. Auburn shocked the world in 2013. After winning three games in 2012, the Tigers notched 12 wins last season. Auburn led the nation in rushing, averaging 328.3 yards per game.

Auburn had a lot of balls bounce it way, but none bigger than Chris Davis’s 109-yard missed kick return for a touchdown against Alabama. The play won Davis an ESPY award and placed Auburn in the SEC title game.

Despite losing Tre Mason and Greg Robinson, the Tigers return a potent of-fense in 2014. Quarterback Nick Marshall recorded 26 touchdowns and 2,044 yards. Both Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant rushed for over 600 yards and com-bined for 12 touchdowns in 2013. Sammie Coates led the receiver core with 1,016 yards and nine touchdowns.

Auburn was shamed in its last visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium. In 2012, Gene Chizik was head coach and the Tigers were shut out 49-0. Alabama will look to repeat that stat, while Auburn looks to defeat the Tide on the road.

Honorable Mentions:Texas A&M AggiesCoach: Kevin Sumlin 2013 record: 9-4, 4-4 (SEC)Returning players: (Offense) Kenny Hill, Tra Carson, Trey Williams, Malcolme Ken-nedy and Ricky Seals-Jones. (Defense) De’Vante Harris, Deshazor Everett, Tyrell Taylor and Alonzo Williams. Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala. Summary: Gone are the days of Johnny Manziel. Like Alabama and LSU, it’s time for Texas A&M to find its next explosive quarterback. Kenny Hill received playing time in 2013 and Sumlin has given him the nod this season. Talented freshman Kyle Allen will continue to battle Hill for the starting position. The Aggies loss Ben Malena, but return a dynamic duo in Tra Carson and Trey Williams. Carson rushed for 329 yards last season. Wil-liams recorded 407 yards rushing and both combined for 13 touchdowns in 2013. Malcolme Kennedy will be the primary receiver in 2014. He had 658 yards receiv-ing and seven touchdowns last season.

It was a shootout at Kyle Field be-tween Texas A&M and Alabama in 2013. Both offenses went back and forth. The Crimson Tide emerged victorious, 49-42. The Aggies defeated Alabama 29-24 in its last visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium (2012). Alabama will look to prevent that from happening this season.


>>> HIGH TIDE | G A R Y H A R R I S / W V U A S P O R T S D I R E C T O R

SABAN // "I LIKE OUR TEAM'S ATTITUDE"

“i thought we mAde plays when we needed to make them,” Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban said. “There’s a lot of things we can improve on. I was pleased with the way we controlled the ball on of-fense (37:47 to 22:13 advantage in time of possession).”

Many questions after the contest focused on first-time starting quarterback Blake Sims (24-33 passing for 250 yards with one interception and 42 yards rushing).

“I thought Blake Sims really settled down in the second half and was able to play better.,” Saban said. “In the second quarter, Blake got a little rattled. I told Jake [Coker] to loosen up, that we might have to put him in the game. Then I said to Lane [Kiffin], 'Let’s go no-huddle,’ and Blake got back in sync. I’m happy with his performance.”

On Kiffin, Saban had some terse words about his coordinator’s critics.

“Lane did a great job today," Saban said. "He helped Blake with some of his checks and managing the game. You guys [in the media] need to fess up: the guy’s a really good coach. Most places that don’t like him are mad because he left, not because of anything he did while

he was there. Do a little research on that.”Saban added that he felt that having

Kiffin on the sidelines was very beneficial to Sims. “And that’s why we did it,” he said.

Asked to expound about Sims’ suc-cess with the no-huddle, Saban said, “We could do it as much as we want. We’ll do what benefits our players the most.

“Now, we run a regular offense. We’re like the ‘Dinosaur Age’ when it comes to offense. But, I’ve found out that, because everybody else is running spread and no-huddle, it makes it more difficult to defend us.”

Blake Sims said this about his debut as the team's starting quarterback.

“Saban told me to play with compo-sure. I told him when it comes time, I’ll be ready. I didn’t think about [starting Satur-day for the first time] too much. I just went out there and played. Through spring and summer, I was focused on getting the team ready. I knew I would be ready to go if I got the call. I found out Friday I was starting.

“I think I did OK. I can always get bet-ter, in all situations. We can all get better. We feel very confident with what we did

[in rolling up 538 yards of offense and 33 points.]”

Another man doing his job full-time for the first time was sophomore kicker Adam Griffith, who nailed four field goals and all three extra points. Griffith connected on field goals from 47, 41, 27 and 45 yards.

“We’ve always had a lot of confidence in ‘Grif,’” said Saban. “There were times last year when we thought about making him the kicker. When we had him as a [high school] sophomore at our camp, he was as good a kicker as we’d seen. We’re excited about his future.”

Saban had mixed feelings about a defense that gave up only 28 yards on the ground but 365 through the air to the Mountaineers.

“We didn’t play the gap fits on the run a few times," Saban said. "The two big stops we made inside the 10-yard line were big for us. We made a lot of mental errors, but we had two new starters at linebacker [Reggie Ragland and Reuben Foster].

"When you have leadership on de-fense and everybody concentrates on the call they’re making, and then you go against no-huddle… But, these are all things we’ve executed against before.

"There were some plays out there today where I thought we could have done better [like the WVU kick return for a touchdown]. We had a missed tackle on that return, and that’s something we’ve got to clean up.”

Junior safety Landon Collins agreed.“We just have to get familiar with the

game plan,” he said. “And we just missed on some of our personal packages, but we got the win, so that is all that matters. We had a game plan coming in, and it didn’t quite work, but in the second half we settled down.

“It’s all mental. We knew we needed to make the [second half red zone] stops, and get off the field. We have to do a better job of picking the offense up, and we have to have each other’s back, of-

Dallas Warmack

fense and defense. Toward the end of the game, we did a better job of that”

While it was not the most beautiful win of the Saban era, the Tide’s eighth-year boss likes the way things are moving forward.

“I like our team’s attitude," Saban said. "I like the way they work. At quarterback, and some other positions [like linebacker and cornerback], we don’t have the experience. You [in the media] ignored that. I couldn’t. I really thought West Virginia had a better team than everybody thought. [The media] created the percep-tion that this was going to be a lopsided game. I thought this was going be like the Virginia Tech game here [in Atlanta in 2009, when Bama won 34-24].”

Saban said senior receiver DeAndrew White left the game with a shoulder prob-lem and should be out about a week.

Bama had two backs over 100 yards against West Virginia, as T.J. Yeldon went for 126 and 2 touchdowns and Derrick Henry chipped in 113 yards and one touchdown. Amari Cooper led all receiv-ers with 130 yards on 12 grabs. Collins had 8 tackles to lead the defense.

Photo: TouchdownAlabama.net

Photos: UA Athletic Photography

Lane Kiffin and Blake Sims

Adam Griffith


"BOYHOOD" GOES BEYOND // ACCLAIM FROM FILMGOERS AND CRITICS

>>> T H E F L AT S C R E E N | C A R A B R A K E

WHATCHA WATCHIN'? // "BOB'S BURGERS" // "MONK"

when school is bAck in ses-sion, more premiers and pilot epi-sodes of favorite television shows are sure to follow. Fall is a prime season for new ideas to emerge, and reimaginings of current shows to appear, allowing for new plots, characters, and villains. There’s still a small gap, however, between summer reruns and fall episodes where the public needs something small to fill their time. Never fear, because we can find options by asking our friends and neighbors.

Meghan Steel, a graduate of the University of Alabama, offers up her current favorite show, “Bob’s Burgers”. “Bob’s Burgers” is an animated show on FOX about Bob Belcher and his family as they run a mom-and-pop burger joint, Bob’s Burgers. Bob, along with his wife Linda, daughters Tina and Louise, and son Gene, deal with crazy antics and a weird landlord along with trying to keep the restaurant alive. With the help of Linda, Bob also has to try and wrangle in his mischievous kids: Tina is a teenager pining for the boy next door, Louise is a troublemaker, and Gene is always one step behind everyone else, but together the family of five manage to overcome their troubles and live happily and content. With four seasons and a 2014 Primetime Emmy win for Best Animated Program, “Bob’s Burgers” is a force to be

reckoned with.“The storylines are original,”

said Steel of the award-winning show, “the characters are unique, relatable, and endearing. The music is hilarious and well writ-ten, and the humor doesn't have to resort to crudeness or insult. Picking a favorite character is impossible becaue each one is so well-developed. I find people are often hesitant to give this show a chance-I was for years-but I think anyone would enjoy it as soon as they watch just one episode.”

Crime dramas make interesting television, and comedy adds a little something extra to make a great television show. Julia Wildgrube recommends “Monk” to fill that craving. “Monk” is a now retired USA Network show about former detective Adrian Monk, who ev-eryone in his precinct would agree is an amazing detective-with one flaw. Monk has Obsessive Com-pulsive Disorder, and that tends to get in the way of his detective

work. On leave from a psychiatric hospital, he and his friend and nurse, Sharona, help the police solve crimes. Despite Monk’s illness, he has a photographic memory and can piece the smallest details together, and that makes him invaluable to the police. In its time between 2002 and 2009, “Monk” scored a Golden Globe for Best Actor, given to Tony Shalhoub, who plays Monk. It also racked up 16 other wins, including Prime-time Emmy’s and Screen Actor’s Guild awards.

“The quirkiness of the show, and all of the characters together,” said Wildgrube when asked why she loved the show so much. “The character development is great. You can see Monk grow as a character, along with a lot of the main characters. The episodes keep you interested; you can always ask yourself, ‘Is Monk wrong this time? What’s wrong with Monk this time?’ The episode titles are amusing as well.”

“Bob’s Burgers” has three seasons available on Netflix to stream, and season four is available to watch on Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon Video. “Bob’s” has also been renewed for a fifth season, which will premier on October 5th on FOX. “Monk” is no longer available on Netflix, but is available on Hulu, Amazon, and iTunes.

>>> FILM | A LY X C H A N D L E R

Jil Chambless

it’s been more thAn a few years since the timeless Boy Meets World made its rounds on family’s TVs across the country. The 90s parents and kids still remember growing up intertwined in Corey and Topanga’s heartwarming love saga. For a full seven seasons the same actors and actresses underwent the trials of boyhood with Corey from an early age through marriage.

Now a new movie explores the same concept of family drama—or more so, how it has changed.

“Boyhood,” a 2014 Richard Linklater-directed Sundance film previously titled “12 Years,” takes a riskier, eye-opening approach to the coming-of-age concept of boy-hood. While Boy Meets World episodes were planned and filtered for a family-friendly image of the perfect 90s ideal, “Boyhood” filmed the same crew with little funding for only three to four days once each year. Its tale focuses on Mason, played by actor El-lar Coltrane at the early age of 7 all the way till age 18. With an already-crafted script, Linklater followed Mason’s life all the way to his first year of college, spotlighting the family’s trek to survive and its influence on Mason's life. This independent film lets the not-so-extraordinary yet humorous moments of boyhood blister into the all too com-mon dysfunctional moments of divorce and crisis that comes with growing up within a twenty-first century family.

It's quite a scene change from Boy Meets World. So the question stands, who wants to pay for a night to see the darker memories from their childhood displayed on a big screen, anyways?

But the bravery in the idea in itself is what makes “Boyhood” extraordinary. The honesty invested in the film is sky-rocketing the box office. Linklater paints recognizable scenes of people growing up in America, but without lending any one moment too much of its own attention. He lets the moment speak abruptly for itself. Filmed through the eyes of a kid that doesn’t know any better, “Boyhood” becomes a movie that's impos-sible to watch without a knot of understanding forming for what it takes to grow up in this generation.

Linklater successfully doesn’t paint the concept of boyhood too dramatic or unbeliev-able, nor does he hook happy ever after sentiments for Mason over the years. He lets the honesty grip the audience—sometimes with a lump in their throat—while the film goes on, as simply as life does. He leaves the characters unresolved and in cliffhang-ers. This is, incidentally, exactly how each of us grew up and will continue to grow up. But by filming it like this, the movie leaves the audience knowing exactly why he ended up the way he did.

Thus it also leaves audience members with a chance to evaluate their own growth.This is probably why "Boyhood" went from a Sundance film to a movie critics continue

to be impressed by. It is geared to audi-ences of all ages—everyone recognizes Mason's vulnerability. There’s moments when children can say nothing but the truth, and Boyhood achieves an evolution of a more realistic—even if uncomfort-able—picture of a child. Movies typically tend to stray away from this life-like por-trait, but Linklater embraces it head on.

“Boyhood” is definitely worth the drive to Birmingham or any nearby inde-pendent film theater. It's unforgettable nature is a reminder that childhood has its impact—both good and bad.

Julia Wildgrube

Meghan Steel


Getting the right balance between work and play or diet and exercise could be easier starting this week. You'll be motivated to pay attention to what works best for you and what doesn't in terms of lifestyle issues. it's time to review your habits and chuck any that don't support your ultimate goals. Romantic opportunities brighten over this week, too, with Venus enhancing dating options and enticing you out for more fun. Home-based projects fare well, too, especially if you have something ambitious in mind.

Romantic opportunities show up as mercury eases into libra, enhancing seductive and flirtatious conversation. You might also be drawn to cultural activities, such as exhibitions, music, and the arts in general. You'll also be busy on the home front and eager to clear out clutter and create some space around you. the move of Venus into Virgo hints that you may be doing more entertaining at home for business or pleasure. You're also in a phase when researching and sharing important information could be quite lucrative.

though you're upbeat and positive, you might find that the situation at home taxes your strength. thankfully, a tricky issue seems to be easing, which may reassure you that things really can improve. When it comes to getting your message out to the world, try to do so in as balanced a way as possible. consider everybody's needs and target your words in a way that people can understand and resonate with. financially, you may be motivated to splurge on small luxuries, but you deserve it!

the spiritual and mystical side of life continues to be in focus as Jupiter enhances your intuitive awareness and encourages you to pay attention to dreams or unusual synchronicities. ardent desires may find release as a budding romance develops its more passionate side. Either way, things are looking up. as Venus edges into your sign, this is an opportunity to think about your image and consider your style signature. tweaking your everyday wear just a little could enhance your confidence and the opportunities that come your way.

You're in the mood to profit from any business ventures and explore entrepreneurial ideas for investment and pure fun. there's also a focus on learning and discovery, suggesting that this is a good time to upgrade your skill set or explore subjects that pique your interest. a career matter or personal goal might benefit from liaising with the right people. advice from someone in the know could be the missing ingredient that helps you make great progress this week.

Even though things may have been tough lately, you seem to have come through with flying colors. While you're not completely out of the woods, the current alignment adds strength and support that you'll greatly appreciate. You may be in the spotlight or in a position of importance, but a part of you may feel like keeping a low profile, or at least keeping your cards close to your chest as a way to ensure your privacy. Encouragement from pals may be all you need to stay strong and succeed.

positive experiences on the work front may be giving you more confidence, encouraging you to showcase your skills and abilities, and helping you to feel good about the future. this is a great time to look for work that might be more challenging and lucrative. Relationships also come into focus, enticing you to see key connections in a new light or from a fresh perspective. plus, mercury's move into libra is all about balancing your financial situation and feeling more harmonious as result.

the idea of cutting ties and sailing into the wild blue yonder may appeal to you, particularly with Jupiter urging you on. mercury's presence in libra, starting monday, hints that romance can happen when you're willing to socialize and move in new circles. career ambitions also beckon this week, and it helps to have a plan or strategy that can move you along the path to success. as Venus dances into Virgo, you'll also find that mingling with the right folks can help you achieve your goals.

concerning money, you may feel more relaxed and optimistic about your situation. the presence of Jupiter can incline you to splurge, though it also pushes you to seek opportunities to earn extra cash. in addition, a new focus on family matters encourages conversation as a way to increase harmony at home. constructive discussion might also push you to start a project that's so far been in the planning stages. meanwhile, the move of Venus into Virgo might entice you to explore fitness opportunities and so enhance

>>> HOROSCOPES | W E E K L Y O V E R V I E W

You'll find it easier to put words to your feelings and express yourself in general as mercury bops into your sign early this week. You'll be more inclined to chat if you have plans to share or something to get off your chest. Your social life continues to be a positive experience that you should nurture as much as possible. make a point of networking regularly and you'll greatly benefit in the romantic as well as business sense.

Romantic, business, friendly, or other relationships continue to flourish. But mercury's move into libra hints that it's time to move in new circles and connect with people who can pique your imagination and enthusiasm for new ideas. finances benefit from a sound budget and strong plan. this is a good time to start repaying debt and so ease any attendant anxiety. make time to meditate, too. You'll find that it helps to bring peace of mind no matter what challenges come your way.

It's easy to play Sudoku! simply fill every column, row and 3x3 box so they contain every number between 1 and 9. the game is easy to play but difficult to master! solution page 27

Relationships and romantic opportunities show up this week as mercury eases into libra, making it easier to talk about tricky issues and find the best solution for all. plus, the continued presence of Jupiter in leo puts you in the mood for fun and fresh adventures, especially of the amorous kind. However, there's work to do, too, and the move of Venus into Virgo could be a reminder to keep things sweet with co-workers. Regarding health, you might want to amp up the attractor factor by getting yourself in shape.

>>> PUZZLEMANIA | s u D o K u


Across1. Welk word5. Barbershop items10. Piece of concrete14. City in China known for its terra-cotta warriors15. Name repeated in a 1963 hit song16. Decline in power17. Not certain19. Piscivorous bird20. Rabies21. Produces again23. Work units.26. Composition's original form27. Fruity, flaky dessert32. Here, in Quebe33. Prefix with iliac34. Some dental records38. Hit the runway40. Stone monument42. Did in, as a dragon43. Tatum or Ryan45. Nostril47. Santana's "___ Como Va"48. Put through the ringer51. 1982 role for Meryl54. Like a Playmate of the Month55. Delivered a sermon58. Get on the class list62. Wise ____ owl63. "And that's that!"66. Passed the word67. To be, in Tijuana68. "Gentleman's Agreement"Oscar-winner Celeste69. Endings for hydrocarbons70. Sixth in San Marino71. Hebridean isle

Down1. Angle between stem and branch2. Itty-bitty3. Mouthfuls of gum

4. "Just a moment..."5. XV x X + I6. Ending for ball or bass7. He wrote "The Yosemite"8. Tug at the fishing line9. Escorts to the penthouse10. Pullovers11. Not quite jumbo12. Add on13. 'If thou ... Stephano'...'The Tempest'18. Bus money22. Cereal with the flavor wildberry blue24. Detroit financing co.25. Trigonometry ratio27. Venus de___28. Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Yes ___"29. Prime-time hour30. Windows typeface31. Television's Liz35. Quite frequently36. Style of 1960's French pop music with a repetitive name37. Scand. country39. Experts41. Day's opposite in commercials44. Pertaining to the flock46. Classic battlers49. Titters50. Moogs et al.51. Sudden rush52. Bean on screen53. Washington painter56. First word in Mass. motto57. Banned insecticides59. Castle for Kasparov60. Concordes land there61. Connecticut town with adisease named after it64. Feed bag item65. To and ___ (back andforth)

>>> PUZZLEMANIA | C R O S S W O R D P U Z Z L E

SOLUTION FOR PUZZLEMANIA CROSSWORD ON PAGE 27

SCHOOL SYSTEM RANKED LOW

>>> ISSUES | C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 4

Widespread Panic

daughter to wash the dishes, he will find the dishes clean—but the laundry will still be dirty and the floor still won’t be mopped.

“I didn’t ask her to do that.” “We have to ask for more if we want them to achieve more. We were holding our students back by expecting them to do poorly.”

The previous motto of the Alabama State Board of Education was “Every Child a Graduate” but with the new Plan 2020, led by state superintendent Tommy Bice, it reads “Every Child a Graduate— Every Graduate Prepared.”

“We know college is not for every-one,” Sibley said. “We want them to have a choice.”

Getting Ahead of the CurveFor an issue as complex as educa-

tion, the answers won’t be found in the back of the book. Sibley noted ambition, creativity and communication as key fac-tors for immediate results and long-term solutions.

“Why do we have graduation once a year?” Sibley said. “We have schools who have three ceremonies a year, each as big as the last. Why are classes only available at the same times for everyone? There’s no law or code that says school is in session Monday through Friday, 7 to 3:30.”

On the Future of Public Education tour, superintendent Bice showed a crowd a picture of 10 or 11 students at their high school graduation, all of whom had come to him a few years prior and said “I want to drop out.”

Sibley said communicating with a stu-dent one-on-one is the best way to keep them on track to graduate.

“The assumption is that if a student wants to drop out, they must not aca-demically cut the mustard,” Sibley said. “That’s not always the case. A lot of problems are fixable.”

Sibley described schools that open storefronts to offer night classes, usually

geared at students who have to work or take care of a child during the day, and drop-in academies for students close to earning their diploma.

“We also want every student entering 9th grade with a four-year plan,” Sibley said. “If they identify their skills and their passion, they’re less likely to drop out and they’re more likely to take classes that prepare them for the next step.”

On another stop of the education tour, Bice recommended giving students the end-of-the-year test during the first week of school. Finding out what the class can already do and finding the students who are already ahead of the curve can save valuable time and energy.

“The most underserved group may be gifted students, who might already be proficient in a subject.” Sibley said. “Let them grow.”

Sibley said success comes down to the freedom to customize a school sys-tem to the students it serves.

“Of course lack of funding puts every-one in a box,” Sibley said. “In resources, we’re limited. In creativity, we’re not.”

Representative Black said more power needs to be put in the hands of teachers, who know how run a classroom better than anyone else.

“They’re overburdened by tests,” Black said. “They need some freedom to teach the subject. You need some guidelines, sure, and some oversight, but the goal is for the students to grasp what they’re learning. I would like to see us getting more input from teachers at the ground-level.”

When a system is in bad shape, we need a little extra faith that the teachers know what they’re doing to put it on the right track, Sibley said.

“Education reform is like turning a cruise liner, not a speed boat,” Sibley said. “We haven’t even scratched the surface of what we can do for these students.”

The full WalletHub report and results are available on WalletHub.com


THEATRE TUSCALOOSA TO HOLD AUDITIONS // "LITTLEWOMEN"

>>>T H E AT R E |a m El ia W EB B ER

theAtre tuscAloosA will hold open auditions for its upcoming production of “Little Women” on Monday, October 13, at 6pm and Tuesday, October 14, at 6pm in the Wilson Carr Rehearsal Hall off the Lobby of the Bean-Brown Theatre at Shel-ton State Community College (9500 Old Greensboro Rd).

Based on the beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott, “Little Women” interweaves the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March. Their mother strives to provide her daughters with a happy child-hood despite the absence of their dear father, who is away fighting in the Civil War. This cleverly written story of a family’s enduring love through difficult circum-stances touches audiences of all ages, and it’s perfect for the holiday season.

All ages (8 and up) and races are encouraged to au-dition. Auditions will include cold readings from the script.

Actors may present a headshot and acting resume if available. Those audi-tioning should bring their calendars so that they can list any conflicts they may have with the rehearsal schedule. Copies of the script are available to read in the Theatre Tuscaloosa ticket office. Scripts may not leave the premises, however. The ticket office is open Monday – Thurs-day 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Fridays 9 a.m. – noon.

Rehearsals for “Little Women” will be-gin shortly after the auditions. Rehears-als are generally held Monday through Friday evenings, and Sunday afternoons.

Some Saturday and Sunday evening rehearsals may occur, too. Each show is unique, however, and a precise rehearsal schedule will be finalized after casting.

“Little Women” will run Dec. 5–14, 2014, at the Bean-Brown Theatre on Shelton State Community College’s Mar-tin Campus. Performances will be at 7:30 pm Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Sundays. A Pay-What-You-Can dress rehearsal will be presented on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m.

More details, including a list of char-acters, are available at www.theatretusc.com or by phone at 391.2277.


PAINFUL THOUGHTS OF BUGS BUNNY // AND OTHER SMART REMARKERS

>>> RED CLAY DIARY | J I M R E E D

©2014 by Jim Reed [email protected]: www.redclaydiary.com

pAin is whAt you don’t expect. Surprise!Surprise can be painful; pain is always surprising.Pain is what you anticipate and anticipate and anticipate.Didn’t Billy Shakespeare say, “Cowards die many times before their deaths. The

valiant never taste of death but once.” I guess that means cowards tend to allow their imaginations to get the best of them. Valiant people must be deeply into avoidance in order to survive.

Relief comes from finding out that what you anticipated isn’t as bad as you ex-pected.

Pain is all in your head.Wait…Pain is all in your body.OK, pain is everywhere in your body and your head, it’s just that some pains are

more extreme than other pains, so the body does a kind of prioritizing—the most resounding pain is the pain you have to deal with to the exclusion of all other pecking-order pains. The tiniest pain gets the least attention, but is the tiniest pain always the least important pain?

Level of pain does not seem to have much to do with degree of danger. A hangnail can be excruciating, but how often is it life-threatening?

“He died of hangnail pain, poor S.O.B.”As Bugs Bunny once said, “Pain hurts!”Why will I do anything to avoid pain, even if that specific pain has little to do with

degree of danger?Walking barefoot across loose gravel is enormously painful, but will it kill me?“He died of barefoot gravel-walking, poor S.O.B.”Since this whole subject is painful, I think I’ll change the subject.Avoidance can be a great pain-manager.For me, it’s probably the only pain-man-

ager.Avoidance is a way of life, and it can

work wonders, especially when you find it impossible to deal with the reality of things.

I recommend avoidance whenever pos-sible.

I never recommend pain

Have fines, overdue materials or damaged items been keeping you from all the great stuff at your local Tuscaloosa Public Library location? TPL customers can now get a clean slate, thanks to the library’s “Fresh Start” initiative.

Starting Monday, September 8, 2014 and running until Mon-day, September 22, 2014, TPL will welcome customers to get a “Fresh Start” with the Tuscaloosa Public Library. The campaign is designed to encourage library cardholders to donate school supplies or pet supplies in exchange for amnesty on any accumu-lated fines, missing items or damaged materials. A donation of any amount will wipe the slate clean on the library card account. The collected school supply items will be donated to Tuscaloo-sa’s One Place. The pet supplies will go to the Humane Society of West Alabama.

The “Fresh Start” campaign is intended to start customers with a clean slate in mid-September, when a new fine structure begins for materials. The purpose is to get people back to the library, who might have stopped visiting a TPL library location because their cards had been suspended for fines or missing ma-terials. The “Fresh Start” campaign is a way to encourage those customers to come back and enjoy many new and exciting servic-es provided by the library. Also, replacement cards will be issued for free during this period too.

For more information on the “Fresh Start” campaign, getting a new replacement library card, or the new fines structure, call 345.5820, or visit the library’s website, www.tuscaloosa-library.org.

FRESH START 2014YOU CAN CLEAN THE SLATE BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 8 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 22

Canine Classic 5K Road RaceTo Benefit the Humane Society of West Alabama

The eleventh annual Canine Classic 5K road race to benefit the Humane Society of West Alabama will be held Saturday, September 13, 2014 at Kentuck Park.

The 5K road race will start at 8 a.m. and is part of the Tuscaloosa Track Club Grand Prix of West Alabama. Registration starts at 7 a.m., and the cost is $20 day of the race. Humans only, please, in the road race.

The race course is a flat, fast certified course. The first 150 registrants will receive a t-shirt on the day of the race and all entrants will be entered into a drawing for door prizes. Sport drinks, food, fruit and water will be available and walkers are welcomed. Participants can download a registration form from either www.Tus-caloosaTrackClub.com or www.HumaneSocietyofWA.org, or pick one up at local gyms and sports retailers. Awards will be given out to standard age groups.

The Humane Society of West Alabama, founded in 1971, is a no-kill, all volun-teer, non-profit organization. For more information please call 554-0011 or visit HumaneSocietyofWA.org.


LOCKN' REIMAGINES MUSIC FESTIVALS

SOLUTION FOR PUZZLEMAINIACROSSWORD PAGE 24

>>> MUSIC | T R E Y B R O O K S

SOLUTION FOR PUZZLEMAINIASUDOKO PAGE 23

@tREYBRo

oKs88

the modern dAy music festival is a chaotic scene, to say the least. Aside from the many vendors, displays, carnival attractions and so on, there could be as many as four music acts playing at the same time. The confusion and logistical nightmare can be too much for some patrons, who just want to see their favorite bands perform. Well, one festival in Virginia looks to cure these ills. Is it possible to have one of the biggest festivals of the year without any artists interfering with each other? The answer, surpris-ingly, is yes.

Beginning last year, Lockn’ Festival (pronounced “Lock In”) provided an all-star festival lineup while making sure no two shows played simultaneously. How did they do that? By putting them all on one stage. The result was a resounding success with fans that has led to an even bigger event this year. Legends, stars and up-and-comers will take the same stage for four nights, September 4th-7th. Artist collaborations are heavily encouraged, so look for some interesting sit-ins and co-headlining shows. Let it be known that the most electronic thing you will hear at Lockn’ is a distorted guitar. No raves and DJs at this event, just good ole fashioned bands.

This year’s Lockn’ Festival has plenty of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers perform-ing. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made what seemed like an endless stream of gold and platinum records from the late 70’s to mid 90’s. They still tour relentlessly and Lockn’ will be far from their first festival to headline. Same can be said for The Allman Brothers Band, who will recreate their classic live album Live at the Filmore East at the festival. And you can’t have a festival without some former Grateful Dead members. Pi-oneers in the genre of psychedelic rock, former member Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann will be at Lockn’ with their solo projects, but you can expect to hear many Dead classics in their sets. Finally, country music legend Willie Nelson will also be in attendance.

The bulk of the remaining lineup is made up mostly of veteran festival artists. Wide-spread Panic will play two shows at Lockn’, with former Traffic singer Steve Winwood sitting in during the first set. The String Cheese Incident will play four sets at the festi-val, with the first being dedicated to soul/funk legend Sly and the Family Stone (featur-ing members of New Orleans’ famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band). Other artists making multiple appearances include Wilco and Umphrey’s McGee, who Tuscaloosa fans might remember from their recent show at the Amphitheatre.

There will be some other highlights to look for as well. Drive-By Truckers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Gary Clark Jr and the Del McCoury Band will all surely put on wonderful shows. Smaller names to look out for at Lockn’ include Lettuce, SOJA, The Wood Brothers and The Revivalists.

This year, there will be at least one other stage, though it exists only for early morning and late night shows that will not interfere with any main stage performances. Artists to watch for here include blues legend Taj Mahal, Chris Robinson of the Black Crows, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, Hot Tuna and Dumpstaphunk.

Lockn’ festival challenged a lot of theories about festival scheduling when it first came about. In year two, the test will be if it can keep audiences coming back. With the success of the lineup, it’s hard to imagine fans wouldn’t embrace it with open arms. The artists clearly approve, as many are veterans of last year’s event. I expect this year to be another success, and look for Lockn’ to be a force on the scene for some time.

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Allman Bros. Band. 2014 may be their last year of tours.

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