RL Stine’s Goosebumps books might not seem like the kind of reading that parents would take exception to, but the simple fact is that these exhilarating spooky adventures have some parents fuming.

Goosebumps is a series of young adult’s horror fiction novellas. Sixty-two books were published under the Goosebumps umbrella title from 1992 to 1997, the first being Welcome to Dead House, and the last being Monster Blood IV.

Stine has on occasion described as a Stephen King for the young set. Despite their titles, his books contain no offensive language or disturbing marital problems, and his protagonists never die. Nevertheless, they have been subjected to censorship challenges across the country.

Stine’s Say Cheese and Die, Piano Lessons Can Be Murder and other titles are being challenged despite the fact that children are gobbling up these books faster than sugar candy. The books may not be great literature, but they serve a valuable purpose: monsters and scary stories get youngsters to read.

Goosebumps is in good company when it comes to the kind of books people try to ban. Goosebumps stands besides the likes of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, and Canterbury Tales. For years Stine was the children’s choice for scary reading, only to be displaced by the arrival of the boy wizard, Harry Potter.

Stine’s stories are filled with suspense and intrigue, and some find the series not too far from Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys mysteries.

The Plot(s):

Goosebumps stories are often situated in a remote location or somehow isolated from typical societal conventions; setting range from comfy suburban areas to boarding schools, foreign villages, campsites, unfamiliar relatives’ homes or otehr countries. Books frequently feature characters who either recently moved to a new neighborhood or are on vacation with friends or relatives). The books lly feature normal kids being, frequently indirectly, involved in scary situations; chapters end in cliffhangers, and after the central conflict has either been or appears to have been resolved, there is often a twist ending. Following the conclusion of every Goosebumps book, Stine includes a one to three chapter preview of the next book in the series.

In challenging Stine’s stories, parents and some officials claim the books might provoke harmful thoughts or behavior and erode respect for people and property. Stine, they say, had the ulterior motive of hooking children on the youthful series as a prelude to older, more graphic and perverse content such as the “Fear Street” series in later years. Some parents also argued that such books violated the zero tolerance policy on violence in schools.

“If you want to encourage kids to read, you let them do it. You give them books or magazines that interest them. They can be reading absolute drivel and still learn vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar. Yes, they’re a little scary – which is why they’ve been challenged over the years. But a generation of boys growing up without books on their shelves is enough to give me nightmares.” — Jean Strager on Strollerderby

Going the Distance

Justin Long is Garrett, a lanky kind of guy in need of a good haircut who manages to say and do all the wrong things on his girlfriend’s birthday: end result — she dumps him. He does what any all-American freshly-dumped lover boy does: go to the local pub of choice, drink, make scuzzy 9th grade level conversation with his buddies, and hit on a new girl. Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to insult 9th graders.

Drew Barrymore is Erin, a high-scoring Centipede (remember Centipede?) whiz and aspiring reporter working a summer internship in New York City. Garrett comes between her and her high-scoring Centipede game and that initial love-hate match quickly turns to “love” and fast tumble into Justin’s bed … all within earshot of his obnoxious roommate and just hours after being dumped by someone else he supposedly loved.

In the 40 manic days that ensue, Garrett and Erin find themselves madly in love/lust, but destined to be apart for months at a time. Justin works a job he hates with a record company. Erin heads back to San Francisco, grad school and a journalistic job search. Drawing on the destination maps of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sleepless in Seattle, complete with little planes hopping between destination points and layovers (bad choice of terms), the two begin a cross-country romp for all too brief sexual encounters, the first one being on the dining room table in the home of Erin’s sister.

The charm of Tom Hank’s Sleepless in Seattle cross-country romance is not destined to be repeated here. Instead a juvenile script with crude language, bawdy sexual encounters, drunkenness, designed to pander to juvenile mentality tries to pass itself off as a romantic comedy.

Truthfully, there were a couple of isolated funny scenes, not the least of which concerned Garrett’s experience in a tanning salon.

The film’s key players are rounded out by Charlie Day as Dan and Jason Sudeikis as Box, Garrett’s two buddies who need both a mental and physical makeover. Christina Applegate is Erin’s prissy germ- and sex-phobic sister Corrine who moves though life with a bottle of spray cleaner and cleaning rags.

A major problem with this film, goes back to the leads. There is no magic. We don’t really care if they find a way to be together. Barrymore has also crossed that line when she needs to rethink just how young a character she wants to play. With digital close-ups revealing all, Barrymore managed to look tired and worn. She is simply too old to be the grad school love interest; here she lacks the vibrancy and sparkle she brought to earlier, more youthful roles, although this script by Geoff LaTulippe did not give her much to work with. Long’s performance was an “act by numbers” effort. We’ve seen it done before — and better.

The language in Going The Distance is often crude and laden with raw sexual meanings that are supposed to be funny. The language shoots for shock value and crude low brow humor; the problem is that to be effective, less is more. Put it all out there from scene one and there is no impact left to be made.

Going the Distance was an uncomfortable film, both because of its content and because it simply had nothing to work with. It’s the kind of film that should have gone straight to disk, or better still, straight to the cutting room floor.

Save your movie dollar; there are better films coming soon to a theatre near you.

Rated R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity

2/10

Quite a few years ago, Maya Angelou came to my city as part of a speaker series at our Symphony Hall. I arrived early, as I always did, and that habit paid handsomely. The hall was full, and thousands of people were standing outside in inclement, weather, still hoping to hear her speak. Officials delayed the event as they hastily wired the exterior of the building with improvised speakers. When Maya finally took the stage, her words filled the auditorium, the steps to Symphony Hall, the streets and the entire Court Square park. Inspirational doesn’t begin to describe the experience.

I know Why The Caged Bird Sings chronicles ‘s the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a teen-aged mother at the age of 17. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by Black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of Black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition.

Because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand.

Within her writing, Angelou explores identity, rape, racism, and literacy, writing in new ways about women’s lives in a male-dominated society. Angelou’s description of being raped as an eight-year-old child overwhelms the book, although it is presented only briefly in the text. Rape is a metaphor for the suffering of her race. Another metaphor, that of a bird struggling to escape its cage, is a central image throughout the work. Angelou’s treatment of racism delivers a thematic unity to the book. Literacy, and seizing the power of words, help young Maya cope with her bewildering world; books become her refuge as she works through her trauma.

Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir. However, the book’s graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries.

Again the issue is truth, and truth — the bad and the beautiful — is what Angelou examines in her life story. Again, one of the issues is history: do we whitewash her reality or remember it and the lessons it teaches us about ourselves as a people and a nation?

Snow Falling on Cedars, a novel written by American writer David Guterson, is the story of a murder trial of a Japanese-American man in the death of a fellow fisherman. Set in 1954, the novel explores the effect of Japanese exile camps during the Second World War on the residents of the island where the trial takes place. One of the story lines also deals with an interracial love story.

The Plot:

Snow Falling on Cedars is set on San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, a place of isolation so profound that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. Yet in 1954, when a local fisherman is found drowned in suspicious circumstances, a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder.  As his trial unfolds,  it becomes clear that more than a what is at stake is more than a question of quilt.  On this island,  memory is as heavy as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries . The trial uncovers memories of  a love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo’s wife; and of memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. At its core, though,the island is  haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched. Laden with atmospheres, heavy on suspense,  Snow Falling on Cedars is a masterpiece (and one that was made into a stunning film true to its literary origin).

Although the bestseller won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner award and the American Booksellers Association book of the year award,  some U.S. schools have removed the book from libraries and curricula because of its sexual content, obscenities and exploration of racial themes. The novel contains a few explicit passages, including a detailed description of a married couple’s first sexual encounter, as well as sexual relations between two youths.

In 2008, the book was challenged in the Coeur d’Alene (ID) School District where parents said the book should require parental permission for students to read them. In 2004, it was challenged but retained in the advanced English classes in Modesto (CA). The seven member Modesto City School Board said administrators should instead give parents more information about the books their children read, including annotations of each text. In 2001, it was restricted in South Kitsap (WA) following complaints regarding the book’s sexual content and profanity.

Despite the fact that author Madeline L’Engle is devoutly Christian, her sci-fi children’s classic A Wrinkle in Time, has consistently rattled those who challenged her book, which has its triad of women — Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which — using magic.

What is A Wrinkle in Time? Imagine two children transported through the fifth dimension. What might they see, hear, experience or learn? What might be used to effect or sustain such travel? Magic? Crystal balls? Intuition? Telepathy? Potions?

Ironically, many parents who endorse the “magic” of Walt Disney’s imaginary worlds do an about face in literature of this kind,  seeing in it anti-Christian or Satanic influences.

In A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature (4th ed. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, 1992), Rebecca J. Lukens details the characteristics of children’s fiction and the components of plot, style, and characterization. Lukens distinguishes between strict science fiction and fantasy, explaining that the former concentrates on technology while the latter emphasizes the human element in a scientific world.

The Plot:

Meg’s father, an eminent physicist, has been missing for two years. One night a strange old woman, Mrs. Whatsit, appears, “blown off course” while she, along with Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, was “tessering,” or taking a shorcut through time and space. They take Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin, to rescue Dr. Murray, who is a prisoner on a planet ruled by IT, a giant pulsating brain that controls the minds of everyone on the planet. Charles Wallace also falls under IT’s control, and when Meg finds her father, she discovers that he is not the invincible protector she thought he was. She must not only come to terms with this realization, but find a way to rescue them both.

L‘Engle struggled to publish this book.  In  spring of 1959. L’Engle was reading about quantum physics, which also made its way into the story. However, when she completed the book in early 1960, it was rejected by at least 26 publishers, because it was, in L’Engle’s words, “too different”, and “because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children’s or an adults’ book, anyhow?^“

In “A Special Message from Madeleine L’Engle” on the Random House website, L’Engle explains another possible reason for the rejections: “A Wrinkle in Time had a female protagonist in a science fiction book,” which at the time “wasn’t done” according to L’Engle. After trying “forty-odd” publishers (L’Engle later said “twenty-six rejections”), L’Engle’s agent returned the manuscript to her. Then at Christmas, L’Engle threw a tea party for her mother. One of the guests  insisted that L’Engle  meet with John Farrar of Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Although the publisher did not at the time publish a line of children’s books, Farrar met L’Engle, liked the novel and ultimately published it.

L’Engle wrote three other books collectively known as The Time Quartet and  featuring this generation of the Murry family. These books are A Wind in the Door (1973),  Many Waters (1986), and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978).

Parents and pastors, in challenging A Wrinkle in Time, have claimed that characters are really witches practicing black magic under the guise of “New Age” religion, based on Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Among the objections:  the book indoctrinates children to Eastern religions and mystical practices. They oppose  L’Engle’s use of crystal balls, psychic healing, astral travel, and telepathy. Citizens for Excellence in Education in Waterloo, Iowa, accused L’Engle of fostering occult practices, employing satanic suggestions, sadism, and by associating Jesus Christ with other great personages, implying that Christ was not divine.

The Newbery Medal

Most efforts to ban A Wrinkle in Time failed. L’Engle received strong support from her readers for her Newbery Award-winning novel and its themes of the power of love, respect for others, and the need for individuality.

The arguments targeted to L’Engle are not unlike those challenging J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series. Critics flock to the issues of magic, witchcraft and supposedly Satanic underpinnings without realizing that the book is also about love, friendship, honor, loyalty and family.

This is fiction, people! It is imagination at its finest. Tucking exploration of such literature  into a small cupboards of knowledge leaves them unable to determine for themselves the merits of any given piece of literature and without the tools to assess for themselves what they will value. The tools that will carry them through life include broad-based knowledge and experience; instead of banning a book, discuss the book and offer counterpoints for children to explore.

Quite frankly, the fastest way to make a book popular is to try and ban it. people like me will want to read it just to see what all the fuss is about.

As the leaves turn and the first cool mornings heralding Autumn arrive, I find myself thinking of my native New England. Okay, it’s not quite “cool” yet in Tennessee, but my bio-rhythm is anchored in the northeast, where September 1 means “time to break out sweaters.” I’m already eyeing my sweaters.

Chrysanthemums ready for planting, and boxes of cabbages stand outside Atkins Farm.

One of the highlights of  my native New England are the farm markets. So whenever I find myself On the Road in America, that road likely heads northeast.  I invariably make at least one stop in my favorite places — and I have a entire “laundry list” of them.

I have my favorites, and they are far removed from supermarket’s molded plastic packaging and asparagus left to dry out on its side on a shelf (it’s supposed to be kept standing a bit of water). I refer to specialty markets fueled by local produce and seasonal supply.

Through October, roadside stands are a dime a dozen, lining highways inside the city limits and just beyond, places where home gardeners and small farmers offer seedlings in spring, the first fruits of

summer (strawberries in June), mouth-watering springtime asparagus of the pick-your-own category or buy it bundled (always, always store it standing in water, and don’t buy if it isn’t), fresh butter and sugar corn from mid-July on, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, Brussel sprouts…

Inside Atkins Farm.

Veggies, fruits, and all things fresh and pure…

Some market stores  run year round, importing the best and the freshest when nature buries New England farms in snow and ice. Here one wanders through the aisles with little brown recyclable bags, scooping up these delights on a day-to-day basis.

And then there are the apples …

 

 

 

 

 

Atkins Farm  is such a marketplace: an evolving “fruit stand” that began as the place to pick apples by the bushel every fall. We all know the drill: pick two or three, eat one, pick a few more, eat another one, all fresh off the tree. I have photos of my grandchildren hanging off the Atkins trees. I have a rare picture of my grandmother and a Model T parked at the edge of an orchard, not too far from our family farm on Bay Road in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Atkins Farm was founded in 1887, one year after my late grandmother was born in Canada. The first building was erected in the 1950s, for the walloping sum of $8,000. It evolved with the times, and now includes a website and mail order shopping. It’s grown a long way from its humble beginnings, and yet its niche is firmly entrenched in an old style of business that begins with good products, and continues with fine customer service.

Atkins expanded over the years, growing into the “market” and bake shop (and eatery) that has become its own industry without sacrificing its charm. One can buy a torte or a famed Atkins Cider Donut, add a cup of coffee, then sit and admire locally produced art on the walls.

The fruits and vegetables acquired here are plentiful, succulent and colorful. Russet and Superior potatoes are sold by the bushel or 50 lb bag, along with exotic potatoes and fifty pound bags of onions and carrots. Basketball-sized cabbages and ample Savoy cabbages, both ideal for golumpki (stuffed cabbage) are piled in huge bins outside the shop. My mouth waters.

I circle the shop, salivating, and settle on two pounds of yellow beans, long six to eight-inch creamy yellow stalks. Destined for cooking with a sliver or two of salt pork. Destined for serving with more than one dollop of sweet salted butter. That’s just my share of the bounty, I tell myself; you can’t by these, and certainly not that quality, in my part of Tennessee. Thus, I will heartily indulge while I can. And I

do.

Atkins is more than a market; it is a destination. Locals know it and love it. Visitors find it listed at travelers centers and in tourist information sites. They come to see it year-round, but especially in fall when the surrounding Pioneer Valley landscape is ablaze with autumn color, when the brilliant orange pumpkins and golden cornstalks are stacked high and children bundled in sweaters scurry about looking for the best ones to carve. Pie makers seek out the smaller, sweet sugar pumpkins for pies or for stuffing with spicy meat stuffing — the kind used in French meat pie and French meat stuffing.

Visitors come for the bakery too, for the specialty cakes and pies, and Danish made without the sticky white icing, glazed instead with a glistening honey/sugar drizzle. They come for the cider donuts and spiced cider drinks, clustering in that small dining area. Families with clambering children, senior citizens on an outing, travelers in need of respite. Pull in, sample some coffee, and never, ever leave without a a bag of spiced cider doughnuts, a thick cake-like sweet that is not the air-whipped puffed-up sugar high but a weighty doughnut of substance, redolent with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar that is gritty and heavy under your fingertips.

I wandered through Atkins beddled, and when I remembered, I snapped some pictures. Not that I need them. My mind has these images and aromas catalogued.

I browse the growing gift section, noting again the unique choices made by the owners: this time the featured gifts were serving dishes, accessories and ceramic pie plates in brilliant blues, intricate Slavic patterns made in Poland. I think we’ve found the perfect gift for your sister, I told my friend as I balanced the plates in my hand, marveling at the precision of its wavy edges and meticulous art work.

Now, Atkins isn’t the only market I favor (though it is the most scenic): Whole Foods on Route 9 in Hadley, Massachusetts (formerly Bread and Circus), is high up on the list, as is GreenFields Co-Op Market on Main Street in Greenfield, Massachusetts, the Brattleboro Co-op in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont, and the Putney Co-op in Putney, Vermont (just off Interstate 91 in Putney).

But I have a history with Atkins; it is part of the social architecture of my past. I have made it such for my children and grandchildren as well.

Meandering through the Pioneer Valley of Connecticut, Massachusetts and southern Vermont, the savvy traveler will take the byways and savor both the scenic color and the vibrant taste that is Autumn in new England.

For more information, log onto http://www.atkinsfarms.com

Seventy students voluntarily attended this four hour class, which provided eye opening information. The students were made aware how a moment of inattention can cause a life-long tragedy. The class  covered rules of the road and common driving errors, crash statistics, and impaired driving. Students had an opportunity to put their driving skills to the test while using the DUI goggles and attempting to text and drive. Many of the drivers found it difficult to drive the golf carts around a serpentine course using the DUI goggles or trying to text a predetermined message.  To add a little additional attention driving, the instructors engaged in conversations with the young drivers while they were driving.

Numerous corporate sponsors helped to make the class possible, including Budweiser, Miller Brewing, McReynolds, Nave, and Larson, House Doctors, The Deli, Wyatt Johnson, Goolsby and Rye, CPAA, and Krogers – Dover Crossing and numerous volunteers who gave their time to make the class a success.

Wish Garden Herbal Remedies are among many products that you can't get locally except for at Noah's Ark. A few of the many Wish Garden tonics are: Deep Lung Bronchials, Hay Fever, Sleepy Nights non-sedative sleep aid, Deep Stress Rescue, Baby Blues Mood Remedy, Hot Flash Hormone, Wombkind, Hemostatic Balancing, Kidney Stength, Urinary Tract, PMS Help, and Cramp Relief.

Noah’s Ark Nutrition is filling a gap in the Clarksville business community with a diverse holistic product line of herbs, vitamins, and skin care products and an impressive array of organic  food and nutrition products.

Holly Calaway, whose family operated Noah’s Ark in Wyoming for 42 years, brought her family business to Clarksville this summer.

“Clarksville doesn’t have a whole foods resource,” Calaway said, adding that her products meet the needs of many people including those with allergies or diabetes. Her shelves include dozens of gluten free, sugar free and organic items. For many of these products, Clarksville people have had to drive to Nashville, she explained. “I want to keep people local.” She is a strong supporter of “mom and pop” stores, of which she is one. She adds, “there is no Whole Foods, no Trader Joe’s here.”

A colorful array of products greets visitors upon entering Noah's Ark Nutrition store at the corner of Madison St. and Warfield.

Noah’s Ark Nutrition is not a large shop, but thoughtful design has made use of every square inch of space without  feeling crowded or cluttered. Each section or category has its own space.

Clarksville is rapidly growing, attracting people from all parts of the country; many of those people are accustomed to having access to homeopathic and herbal products. Noah’s Ark is filling part of that need.

Calaway is candid about being a Christian-based business, explaining that her faith brought her from Wyoming to Tennessee. She works to build a strong relationship with her customers, whom she considers family. “In Wyoming we were an established business. Here we have to grow our business from the ground up.” Nonetheless, she felt a call to be in this community and has faith in her growing success.  “I have no ties here; I just took it on faith. And we’ve already started meeting our goals for this store.”

Contributing to the success and growth of Noah’s Ark is Katrice Ross, an APSU graduate who majored in Agri-Business,brings her skill and understanding of food and nutrition to Noah’s Ark. Ross walked the shop, pointing out the variety of products category by category.

Hard to find Republic of Tea brand teas look alluring: Big Green Hojicha, Raw Green Bush Tea, Plaintain Coconut Natural Organic, Earl Grey Geyser, Pomegranate Green Tea, Red Cherry White Tea, Pomegranate Vanilla, and the Comfort and Joy Holiday Spice Blend.

More and more people are asking about food, Ross explained. “We have all kinds of gluten-free flour and grains, alternates sweeteners, cereals, and mixes. We carry Xylitol and Stevia clear, both of which are good for people with diabetes.” Perusing the shelves, one can spot Red Mill cereals, Kamut flakes, coconut and almond oils, barley malt and brown rice sweetener, local honey and more. Dairy cases include shelves of organic sodas (Zevia and Kefir), and a variety of organic eggs, deli meats,  bacon and ground turkey, along with soy-based products. Food items can be ordered from Gourmet Pasture Beef and picked up at Noah’s Ark. Another shelf houses organic nuts: cashews, macadamias, and even hemp seeds. Noah’s Ark also stocked limited amounts of fresh produce grown by Mission Clarksville’s student farmers.

Center aisles contain an extensive range of vitamins and health care products and supplements; a separate shelf houses children’s homeopathic medications. Aloa Vera products in liquid and gel form are popular; Ross can advise customers on how to use these products, though both Ross and Calaway learn as much as the teach their consumers.

Owner, Holly Kardisco Calaway and assistant, Katrice Ross, stand in front of a Noah's Ark painting.

An array of herbal and essential oils are displayed prominently, encouraging customers to think about the benefits of aromatherapy. Bookshelves just inside the front door offer information and references for healthy living and working with organic and whole foods products. A limited number of gift items are also available.

Customer response has been excellent; business is already growing on a fast track. “Word of mouth has been exceptional,” Calaway said, adding that she also received a lot of attention via her facebook page.

Calaway offers a 10% military discount. She also serves a broad base of mail-order customers. Products can be ordered online at her website, www.noahsarknutrition.com. The store, located at 2197 Madison Street, Suite 105, in Clarksville, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. She accepts checks, Master Card and Visa.

Photos by Curtis Davis

In a blog called Bookshelves of Doom, the author reported on a Minnesota challenge to Mark Twain’s classic, Huckleberry Finn, where a parent sought the removal of Huck Finn not just from the library but the entire school curriculum.

A 12-member committee reviewing the issue opted to leave Huck exactly where he was: in the library and the classroom. In their ruling, they said,  “… the literary value of the book outweighed the negative aspect of the language employed.”

At issue was, in part, language that included the dreaded “n” word: nigger.

Now I’m not advocacy for that terminology; rather, it is an argument that in the time and political climate of Huck Finn’s story, the use of the term “nigger” was reality-based language.

Other issues emerge, not the least of which are racism, religion and overall language. Twain’s satirical approach to such serious topics has ensured that “‘Huck Finn has been banned time and again since its publication in 1885.”

While the difficulties of teaching Huck Finn are real, thousands of teachers who believe that its merits far outweigh its problems bring this often told tale into their classrooms. Huck Finn has been hailed as the quintessential American novel. Twain’s clever yet poignant humor, conveyed through the voice of 13-year-old Huck first it makes you laugh, then makes you cry. Ernest Hemingway put it this way: “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ‘Huckleberry Finn’ …  it’s the best book we’ve had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”

Huck Finn is a runaway, an abused and neglected boy who teams up with his newfound companion, Jim, a slave named Jim. Ironically, in a time of extreme racism, in a book where many of the so-called privileged whites are portrayed in less than a good light, Jim is a counterpoint to the prevailing opinions of the day.

As I see it, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written in a time where the word “nigger” was included  the language of the day — popular usage; to deny the reality of that usage is to deny history. And while there are many who would opt to re-write history, and deny its language, the fact is (and I quote a friend here), “it is what is is.” Just because we have changed our perspective doesn’t give us the right to change our historic literature. Instead, we should learn from it.

To begin with, when someone tells me I “cannot” read a given book, I immediately ask why not and proceed to buy the book – and read it – to find out what the fuss is all about. What don’t “they” want me to know? What do they think they are protecting me, my children or grandchildren from? To my mind, knowledge is power, and reading is a source of knowledge. That doesn’t mean I agree with everything I read only that I don’t believe anyone should have the right to tell me what I cannot read. Nor do I have the right to dictate what anyone else should or shouldn’t read.

The books on shelves in school and public libraries are continually under fire by citizens, parents, patrons and organizational administrators seeking to remove said “offensive” books and make them unavailable. Render them “censored.”

What gets targeted? Well, the usual and obvious suspects: J.D. Salinger, J.K. Rowling. John Steinbeck. Mark Twain. Robert Cormier. And writers such as Maya Angelou – someone out there wants her Caged Bird silenced forever. Even revered children’s authors including Maurice Sendak (In the Night Kitchen), Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), and Judy Blume (whose pen scripted four of the top 100 banned books from 2000-2009 – Tiger Eye, Blubber, Are you there God It’s Me, Margaret, and Forever), have come under fire by would-be censors seeking to subvert our First Amendment rights.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This clearly stated and protected right means nothing to those who seek to impose their judgment and belief systems on other people.

Thus, the Office for Intellectual Freedom tracks challenges to this literary aspect of our Civil Liberties.  When people challenge books it is generally out of a concern that the contents of the book will be harmful to the reader. According to the ALA, there are four motivating factors:

• Family Values
• Religion
• Political Views

The number of challenges and the number of reasons for those challenges do not match, because works are often challenged on more than one ground. Here’s a rundown of those objections:

• 1,607 were challenges to “sexually explicit” material
• 1,427 to material considered to use “offensive language”
• 1,256 to material considered “unsuited to age group”
• 842 to material with an “occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism”
• 737 to material considered to be “violent”
• 515 to material with a homosexual theme or “promoting homosexuality”
• 419 to material “promoting a religious viewpoint”

Other reasons for challenges included “nudity,” “racism,” “sex education” and “anti-family”. Seventy-one percent of the challenges were to material in schools or school libraries. Another twenty-four percent were to material in public libraries. Sixty percent of the challenges were brought by parents, fifteen percent by patrons, and nine percent by administrators.

The age level for which a book is intended does not guarantee that someone won’t try to censor it. Though the emphasis seems to be on challenges to children’s and young adult books, attempts are also mounted to restrict access to certain adult books. Most complaints are made by parents and are directed to public libraries and schools.

Kids fight book banning through kidSPEAK

Several organizations have sprung up in response to concerns about censorship. When the Harry Potter books came under attack, a number of organizations joined together to establish Muggles for Harry Potter. Since then, the organization has decided to focus on being a voice for kids in fighting censorship in general.

Muggles for Harry Potter is now known as kidSPEAK. Its sponsors are the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, Association of Booksellers for Children, Children’s Book Council, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center, and People for the American Way Foundation. KidSPEAK stresses, “Kids have First Amendment rights—and kidSPEAK helps kids fight for them!”

PABBIS: Parents Against Bad Books in Schools

PABBIS seeks to educate parents in Virginia and nationwide about some of the books being used in schools. The organization urges parents and to support “Upfront-Informed Parental Consent,” which would require educators to notify parents of upcoming studies of books that might contain elements that the parents might find objectionable. However, that makes the teacher, in effect, the censor in that it requires him/her to make a judgment call about what parents would find objectionable.

Top 100 banned/challenged books: 2000-2009:

1. Harry Potter (series). J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War. Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three. Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series). Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series). Philip Pullman
9. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series). Myracle, Lauren
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels. Walter Dean Meyers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal. Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series). Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye. Toni Morrison
16. Forever. Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple. Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice. Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye. J.D. Salinger
20. King and King. Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series). Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver. Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen. Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen. Lois Duncan
26. Beloved. Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead. James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia. Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton. Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down. Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know. Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima. Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars. David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things. Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World. Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing. Robie Harris
38. Arming America. Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy. Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny.  E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk. Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground. Avi
43. Blubber. Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts. Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady. Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48. Rainboy Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve. Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins. Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me? Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves. Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier. Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom. Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate. Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World. K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean. Kevin Henkes
60. Speak. Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star,. Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series). Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist. Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here. Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried. Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill. John Grisham
68. Always Running. Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me. Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series). Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon. Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book. Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series). Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany.  John Irving
77. Crazy:  A Novel. Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex. Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room. Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die. Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Bo. Richard Wright
82. Deal With It! Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy. Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove. Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. Chris Crutcher
86. Cut. Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes. Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale. Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights. H.G.Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time. Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves. Jean Graighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face. Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night. Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series). R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children. Garth Nix
96. Grendel. John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits,. Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau. Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret. Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel. Frank, E.R.

There are approximately 54 diaphragms (the cross bracing between the beams) to install. Only part of them are installed for stabilization during the actual setting of the beams. To complete this work, one additional night will be needed. Two cranes will be positioned in the south bound lanes of Wilma Rudolph to lower the diaphragms in place while each is bolted in by contractor personnel.

Traffic will remain in the north bound lane just as it has all week during this night time operation. Four beams were set Tuesday night, four beams were set Wednesday night, and two beams Thursday night. Two beams will be set tonight. On Saturday night all diaphragms will be installed, all bolts completely tightened and all beam installation completed. The beams set Thursday and Friday night are more difficult to installation due to having to place them over the center span of the river from pier to pier, making the beam installation much more difficult, of which, takes more time.

Across town, the paving operation on the TDOT resurfacing project on New Providence Blvd. and Ft. Campbell Blvd. will start Sunday night, Aug. 29th. This work will start around 8 p.m. and run through the next morning until 6 a.m. each night through early Friday morning. This work is expected to last approximately two weeks, on Sunday through Thursday nights for the next two weeks. No work is expected on Friday and Saturday nights. Motorist can expect delays, as there will be temporary lane closures in place as needed to complete this work, according to David Edmondson, TDOT Project Supervisor

After the paving operation is complete, new pavement markings will be installed and all work is expected to be done by the third or fourth week in September.

Area residents will get to experience the transcending powers of two of the country’s formidable poets – Kazim Ali and Brett Ralph – during a public reading of their work on September 23 at 4 p.m.  in room 303 of the Morgan University Center. A book signing will follow.

Ali is the author of two books of poetry, “The Far Mosque” and “The Fortieth Day.” He was the winner of the Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award, and his poetry has been featured in national journals such as Best American Poetry 2007, American Poetry Review, Boston Review and Barrow Street.

A review in Publishers Weekly stated that “painterly minimalism, open-field technique and Near Eastern traditions give Ali a neatly varied verbal palette for his smart, quietly attractive poems…his unresting intellect and acoustic talents make him a poet to watch.”

Ralph, a Kentucky native, has traveled extensively and taught at an eclectic mix of institutions, such as the University of Massachusetts, the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies in the Himalayas of Northern India and Hopkinsville (KY) Community College. His work has appeared in publications such as Conduit, Willow Springs and The American Poetry Review. His poems have been anthologized in “The McSweeny’s Book of Poets Picking Poets” and “The Stiffest of the Corpse: Exquisite Corpse Reader.”

His first book of poetry, “Black Sabbatical” was published last year by Sarabande Books.

“Brett Eugene Ralph can surely write like the Dickens, and I don’t mean Charles,” American filmmaker Harmony Korine said on the book’s jacket. “He’s a true beast of a man with insight and beauty to spare.”

The reading, which is sponsored by the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Susan Wallace with the Center at 221-7031 or wallacess@apsu.edu.Acclaimed poets

U.S. Army Capt. Jeremy Spruce of Fort Campbell, Ky., Headquarter and Headquarters Company commander, 1st Special Troops Battalion, Task Force Spartan shakes hands with Malik Nimat, a District Development Authority, during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Fenty, Aug. 21. The 426th Brigade Support Battalion, Task Force Taskmaster, invited local Afghan leaders to celebrate an iftar, a ceremony for breaking fast during Ramadan, and discuss issues. Photo by Spc. Richard Daniels Jr.

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan: In the land of beautiful contrasts, a place of rugged snow-capped mountains, barren hills, green valleys and trickling rivers, better known as the Nangarhar province, Afghan leaders and coalition forces gathered for a peaceful discussion and celebration Aug. 21.

Mullahs in the immediate area surrounding Forward Operating Base Fenty met with Task Force Taskmaster for an iftar hosted by coalition forces at their newly renovated passenger terminal.

It is a custom for Muslims to celebrate iftar, the evening meal where they break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan. It is not often soldiers are part of the religious ceremony usually shared among the Afghan communities.

“This is a really critical time in Afghanistan’s time period, especially in the  area,” said U.S. Army Capt. Micah J. Klein of Pittsburg, operations and training officer, TF Taskmaster. “This year is the surge period so positively affecting what goes on in the next year could write history for Afghanistan. So, what we want to do is interact with the locals as much as we can because the locals are the key to the safety and security of Afghanistan as a whole.”

Each Mullah stood before the crowd and expressed his concerns, such as security, governance, construction projects and jobs.

“They have mentioned that security has gotten better, and the overall relationship between coalition forces and the residence of the Beshood district of Jalalabad has [improved],” said Klein.

Due to most key leadership engagements taking part outside the FOB, the invitation to have it on Fenty came as a surprise to the local leaders.

“Before we came, they had not done a key leadership engagement on FOB Fenty,” said Klein. “This was a new thing for them. They said this was a first. Two times this has happened in years.” Because of this, engaging with the population as a whole has gotten better.”

During the ceremony, the Maliks, or tribal leaders, agreed that they would not support insurgency and would remain committed to serve their Afghan government and the international security forces.

As the leaders gathered their food and began to enjoy the rice, bread, beef and various other foods, the TF Taskmaster commander left them with some encouraging words.

“We look forward to working closer together and strengthening our friendship with you,” said Lt. Col. Ferguson of Sylacauga, Ala., TF Taskmaster commander.

Written by U.S. Army Spc. Richard Daniels, Task Force Bastogne Public Affairs

The multi?state letter, to craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark, contends that if craigslist does not adequately screen these ads it must stop accepting them altogether and shut down the Adult Services section.

“The increasingly sharp public criticism of craigslist’s Adult Services section reflects growing allegations that ads for prostitution—including ads trafficking children—are rampant on it,” Attorney General Cooper said. “The company should take immediate action to help end exploitation of the women and children victimized as a result of these ads.”

“Your much?touted ‘manual review’ of Adult Services ads has failed to yield any discernable reduction in obvious solicitations,” the letter says. “We recognize that craigslist may lose considerable revenue generated by the Adult Services ads,” the attorneys general said. “No amount of money can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution, and the suffering of the woman and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by craigslist.”

Even following its 2008 public pledge that it would better police its own site, the attorneys general allege that craigslist remains a hot spot for blatant prostitution ads. In July 2010, two girls who said that they were trafficked for sex through craigslist wrote an “open letter” to craigslist officials, pleading for the elimination of the Adult Services section. The girls’ poignant account told a horrific story of brutalization and assault suffered not just by them, but also by untold numbers of other children, the attorneys general said.

The attorneys general termed recent blog posts and public statements from Buckmaster and Newmark, including a CNN interview, “deeply troubling” because they seem to imply that victims, law enforcement officials and children’s advocates are at least partially to blame for these incidents due to their failure to provide craigslist with police reports, ad copy or links documenting these heinous crimes.

Other states joining the effort are Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

The attorneys general said this position fails to acknowledge that craigslist is the only party positioned to stop these ads before they are published. While the perpetrators may eventually be apprehended and brought to justice, the victims ?? assuming they survive ?? could carry the scars for life, the attorneys general said.

Anyone who has information regarding possible illegal abuses of the website should contact local law enforcement. Anyone who has complaints with any business regarding unfair or deceptive conduct may contact the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) Division of Consumer Affairs at 1? 800?342?8385.

When heat and health advisories across the region call for “staying in air-conditioned” environments and staying out of the heat, it seems especially ludicrous to have children riding non-air-conditioned overheated buses for up to an hour. While the morning commute may be passable, that peak heat of mid-afternoon is dangerous, and keep in mind that most buses sit outside the schools, heating up in the sun, before youngsters are even out of their classrooms.

In listening to the arguments for an against changing the school year, I smile wryly, because in so many other parts of the country, a school start-up immediately before or after Labor Day is the norm, as are late mid- to late-June endings of the school year. It’s not “rocket science.” And both teachers and students adapt.

In many northern states, that late August/early September start is counterbalanced by longer mid-winter vacations that allow snowbelt city schools to lower their thermostats and heat a bit less in the coldest months of the year. Kids in snow states can bundle up; adding layers to stay warm is easier that trying to stay cool. After all, there’s only so much to take off before indecent exposure becomes a factor.

The fact is that extremes of hot and cold (the latter including ice and snow days) are an annual wild card in most parts of the country.  So was the flooding that disrupted life — and school schedules — in Tennessee in May of this year.

Having been a northern school child at a time when neighborhood schools reigned and busing had a two mile limit to qualify, walking to school meant donning “puffy “snow pants,” mittens, woolly hats and mufflers wrapped three times around the neck and pulled up over reddened noses.  It was a time of lunch boxes or walking home for a hasty hot lunch, even in snow and rain. When I opted to attend a high school out of district, I took city buses back and forth at a special rate.

Now I’m not advocating a return to all of that; but realistically, the early start to school in the hottest months of the year makes little sense. It does make sense to lengthen at least one end of the school year in the south — in late spring, before the dreaded summer heat settles in makes the most sense..

Arguments about “convenience” don’t move me one bit; teaching is a job and so is being a student. Vacations and breaks are perks, not requirements. The health risk to teachers and especially to bus-riding  students and their drivers in high heat, however, is a rational and valid consideration. The argument that “students forget” studies when things like winter break occur doesn’t move me; I content that if they can forget that much over a school vacation they haven’t really learned it in the first place. Whatever happened to studying over a school break when you know exams are coming up?

As for teachers and the personnel involved in setting up each for the new year, a later start simply means doing July’s work in August. Again, it’s not “rocket science.”

A number of school districts including CMCSS have created tremendous new and innovative programs, including the new STEM program (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) beginning this year. In the interests of health and safety, it’s time to update the structure of the school year as well.

I clicked on CNN one Sunday morning and there, on the right hand side of the screen, was a Facebook block listing my name and a news item I’d just read and shared with my daughter. I blinked. Blinked again. And I got mad.

Now, I am not reading the subversive or illegal (though I am increasingly tempted to), and I am not perusing things a million others aren’t also scoping out — not that it’s anyone else’s business — but I really and truly resent this very public intrusion on my personal browsing. I realize that everything online is tracked for one reason or another,  and that of and by itself is increasingly disturbing. But this blatant “I know what you are doing” was a slap in the face. I went to ‘settings’ and opted out immediately, yet my next CNN visit brought a repeat performance. Days later, I finally seem to have gotten my personal browsing out of the loop, but I am still seeing lists of what my friends and acquaintances are browsing. My opting out has  become a encore performance in multiple web locations. I resented the fact I was not asked to “opt in” in the first place  — the assumption on some grand scale is that of course I want to opt in.

In many cases, opting out involves a complex and  detailed exploration of the site to find the damned “Opt out”  or “leave the group” or “me only” buttons. In the last month I’ve dropped my memberships in several sites when intrusiveness and opting out became too cumbersome or needed repeat actions on every site visit.

The issue is happening more and more often, precipitating what has become a series of irate and downright crabby, bitchy letters to the powers that be citing my displeasure.

I participate in Facebook for many private and professional reasons, just as I did MySpace when that was the hot social spot. I have a Twitter account that I haven’t used since the day I signed up for it (months and months ago). The bottom line is that I just don’t see the relevance of broadcasting the minutia of my everyday life on the hour and half hour. I have too many other places to go and things to do.

The newest Facebook application, Facebook Places, was unveiled Wednesday night, and is apparently mobile-phone based. Thank heavens it hasn’t snuck onto my home computer — yet.  It also seems to have permissions attached to it, another blessing, if that in fact holds true.  Since I only use my dreaded cell phone for the absolutely necessary calls, and never text, I may be safe — at least for a while. The jury’s still out on that one. I did revisit my settings on Facebook and tighten that up a bit more, just in case.

It doesn’t bother me if thousands or millions of people want their locations broadcast; I just don’t want to be one of them. And I certainly don’t want to be forced to figure out how to opt out of anything and everything I didn’t ask for in the first place.

As social networking continues to be a dominant force in our society, it behooves us to step back for a minute and think about the intrusiveness of this technology, along with the potential for — and reality of — serious invasion of privacy, 24/7.

I for one am perfectly willing to step back and say “Wait a minute… I don’t think I want you in my space. Or face.”

"TROOP 1500" by Ellen Spiro and Karen Bernstein will be screened at ITVS Women's Empowerment Film Festival

Women’s Empowerment Film Festival will be held in Nashville on August 21 from 9:30 a.m through 5 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church Street. The festival, presented by ITVS Community Cinema, will showcase four documentaries and include an information fair. This event is free and refreshments will be offered.

Nashville is one of a dozen cities nationwide hosting special screenings to highlight issues affecting women in the U.S. and across the globe. Join us for documentaries, informal discussions, free snacks from Whole Foods, and an information fair featuring local organizations that serve girls and women. Documentaries are appropriate for teenagers and older. Boys and men are welcome. Participants can register to win a Flip Video Camera and get a sneak peek at the ITVS Community Cinema season lineup.

The films to be screened are:

A GIRL’S LIFE by Tug Yourgrau: The American girl is becoming more and more powerful — and she knows it. She competes on the athletic field and regularly outperforms boys in the classroom. But this picture of empowerment can also be deceiving. In A Girl’s Life, author Rachel Simmons brings together the latest research on the psychological, physical and emotional development of girls, to help parents, educators and all concerned better understand the obstacles girls face during their adolescent years. 9:30-10:30 a.m. plus discussion.

OFF AND RUNNING by Nicole Opper: With white Jewish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers — one mixed-race and one Korean — Brooklyn teenager Avery grew up in a unique and loving household. But when her curiosity about her African American roots grows, she decides to contact her birth mother. This choice propels Avery into her own complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she’s always known. 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. plus discussion

TROOP 1500 by Ellen Spiro and Karen Bernstein: At the Gatesville Prison in Texas, a unique Girl Scout troop unites daughters with mothers who have been convicted of serious crimes. Facing steep sentences from the courts and tough questions from their children, the mothers struggle to rebuild relationships with the daughters who endure a childhood without them. 1-2 p.m. plus discussion.

LAKSHMI AND ME by Nishtha Jain: Have you ever dreamed of being waited on hand and foot? For the past six years, Lakshmi has been doing just that for her employers — virtually unnoticed. That is, until one of Lakshmi’s employers begins to film her daily life on the job in Mumbai, India. In a deeply personal portrait, the film takes a hard look at the Indian caste system, gender and class relations.
3-4 p.m. plus discussion.

ITVS Community Cinema is a free monthly documentary screening series presented by Nashville Public Television, Nashville Public Library, Hands On Nashville and Nashville Film Festival.

For more information, contact Allison Inman, ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator allison_inman@itvs.org or call 615-585-8321.

Even the youngest players get a chance to make a spectacular "tackle."

Two practice areas were set up; the first was for ‘the bigger kids” with larger, higher, more difficult obstacles, and a second practice area for the youngest players. Despite the heat, Greyhound trainees were working full tilt high-stepping through hoops and tires, then body slamming a bag in a rousing tackle.

Coaches are hand-chosen and are deeply committed to their team, encouraging each member to reach personal bests through teamwork and camaraderie. That personal best is not limited to the sport; the Clarksville Greyhounds also offers mentoring and peer tutoring with the goal of helping each participant academically.

“We match up kids who are doing well in a particular subject with those having a a harder time,” Johnson explained.

The Clarksville Greyhounds are the brainchild of Toni Johnson, who is determined to make the team, its practices and its values available to as many youngsters as possible.

As the players practice, Johnson mans a small tent overflowing with tubs of ice, bottles of water, sports drinks and a handful of sodas. Athletes are encouraged to drink all the water they need — a necessity during the hot summer workouts.

Johnson is trying to get the word out about her program, and is seeking both more kids and more sponsors.

Sponsors are critical to the the program, Johnson said. “We put every dime back into the program; although we would like to see sponsors come in at that $3oo  level, any contribution is welcomed.”

Fees for the program are $80 per season per child, though she won’t turn away a child.

Youth Football Registration

The Clarksville Greyhounds Youth Football League will hold registration for the 2010 season on June 26 at Governor’s Square Mall from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and on June 27 from 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

The Greyhounds have five age groups 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14. Players will be assigned to age groups based on their age as of July 31. TheGreyhounds are a member of the Tennessee Youth Football Alliance and will play teams from various areas throughout Middle TN. All new players must bring a copy of their birth certificate.  For more information email clarksvilletravelfootball@gmail.com or  call 931-472-6101, or visit the Greyhounds’ website at www.eteamz.com/clarksvillegreyhoundsyouthfootball.

Photos by Turner McCullough Jr.

Left to right: Tommy Vallejos, Pastor William Luffman, and Jimmie Garland, Sr. Vallejos won his race for the District 14 County Commission seat. Garland was unopposed for his District 5 School Board seat. Photo by David W. Shelton

The total votes cast in the primary numbered 17, 397, or 19.04% of eligible votes. According to the County’s Election Summary, 10,109 pof those votes were cast in July’s  early voting period. Only 7,288 voters turned out in 100-degree heat to cast their ballots.

Incumbent Mayor Carolyn Bowers retained her seat against challenger Curtis Mize, 11047 to5444.

In the contested County Commission races:

• County Commission District 3: Ed Baggett took the seat with 1174 votes. Opponents Scott Comperry garnered  523 votes and William Linscott, 114.
• County Commission District 4: Mark Riggins took the seat with 585  votes to Arnold Hodges, 484; Benny Skinner, 267; and Lindsay Fain, 66.
• County Commission District 5: Robert Gibbs Jr. defeated challenger David Starley, 417 to 309.
• County Commission District 7: John Fuson took the seat with 476  votes defeating Ruth Ann Milliken, 206 and  Kenneth Day, 163.
• County Commission District 10: Martha Brockman edged out her challenger, Keith Svadba, 157 to 132.
• County Commission District 11: Joel Creek took the seat with 275 to challenger Donald Lucas with 103 votes.
• County Commission District 12: Nick Robards defeated Al Covin,  195 to 167.
• County Commission District 14: Tommy Vallejos, with 398 votes, took a strong lead over Mark Wojnarek, 261, and Dwayne Etterling, 153.
• County Commission District 20: Mark Banasiak soundly defeated Thomas Allen, 837 to 464.

In other contested county races:

Quad/Graphics, Inc.  announced today it will close five plants as part of its ongoing integration plans. The company expects operations to cease in Clarksville and at the following plants by the end of 2010:  Corinth, MS.; Lebanon, Ohio; Reno, NV.; and Dyersburg, TN. The Dyersburg plant had been previously announced for closure in the first quarter of 2011 by World Color Press Inc.; however, Quad/Graphics will accelerate its closure to this fall.

Quad/Graphics, an American commercial printing company, bought Montreal-based World Color Press, formerly Quebecor World in 2010. The two companies did not announce the deal’s value, but the transaction is expected to be worth between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion. The deal brought Quad/Graphics into the Canadian market, as well as into some Latin American markets, such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Quebecor World had filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2008 and emerged in mid-2009 under the name World Color Press.

“Today’s announcement is a major step in integrating operations and creating the most efficient and modern manufacturing platform in the industry. Through this plan, more clients will benefit from our industry-leading technology and automation, while continuing to receive top-quality, on-time services.” — Quad Graphics CEO Joel Quadrucci

The five plants announced for closure encompass nearly 2.7 million square feet and employ a total of approximately 2,200 employees. Most of the equipment housed in the plants will be shut down and scrapped, thereby permanently removing excess capacity. Quad/Graphics will consolidate work into plants with the most efficient and competitive platforms. It has developed a comprehensive plan designed to smoothly transition client work between facilities.

“We value the talents and contributions of employees impacted by today’s announcement, and want to help them with their career transition. No plant is closing because of employee performance or client service issues, but rather because we are moving work to locations with the most efficient platforms for serving our clients’ needs. To the extent possible, we’d like employees to continue with the company and we will review transfer opportunities with them.” — Quadrucci

These heat levels pose a severe danger to people who must be outdoors, young children, the elderly and people with chronic illness or heart conditions. Those who work or play outdoors in this heat are at the greatest risk for heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

An excessive heat warning means that a prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures will occur. the combination of hot temperatures and high humidity creates condition where heat-related illnesses are likely.

People are advised to seek cool, air-conditioned locations, drink plenty of liquids and stay out of the sun.

Knight and Day opens with a contrived stumbling and bumbling; Cruise plays smooth talking secret agent Roy Milner to Diaz’s ditzy blonde, June Haven.  In the first five minutes the couple take seats on a sparsely filled plane. Diaz does her schtick in the ladies room, primping and preening and talking to herself with irritating, inane stream-of-Valley-Girl-consciousness. Meanwhile, Cruise is systematically killing all the passengers on the plane (all spies and secret agents), kills the pilot, who in turn accidentally kills the co-pilot… you get the idea. Who’s ‘gonna fly the plane? Cruise, of course. Piloting an airliner to a belly-flop in a field and rescuing the blonde is just another day in the life.

Imagine this dialogue:

June: The pilots are dead!
Milner: Yeah, they’ve been shot.
June: By who?
Milner: By me. No, actually, I shot the first pilot then he accidentally shot the second pilot. It’s just one of those things.

In the next 20 minutes, viewers are treated to a ludicrous road chase filled with bullets and more inane dialogue — someone in Hollywood must have thought it was “cute” or “clever” or “witty.” No sale. How many ways can you spell “dumb.” This isn’t dumb and dumber, it’s “dumbest.” Dumbed down for the masses and coming soon to a cable channel in your living room.

Milner manages to drug her multiple times, spike her drinks, rescue her over and over again from danger she’s only in because of him — and her own stupidity.

Planes, trains and automobiles (the movie of that name was so much better) comprise the chase vehicles. The chase revolves around a state of the art battery, a small but revolutionary re-invention created by a mild-mannered genius. Planes, trains and automobiles (the movie of that name was so much better) comprise the chase vehicles throughout the film. This chase takes a global twist, navigating through deserted islands and European nations, each one in turn shot to pieces by rampaging gunmen, terrorized by maniacal driving, more gunfire and even goring during the running of the bulls in Pamploma (Spain). It becomes a mind-numbing blur.

Location shooting included Boston’s Logan Airport and Boston proper; Bridgewater, Melrose  and Danvers (MA) ; Cadiz Andalucia Spain; Peotone and Kankakee, IL; Pasadena, CA.; Port Antonio, Jamaica; and Salzburg, Austria. Okay. Some of those locations could have been  great – if they weren’t being savaged by gunfire and littered with the remnants of crashed cars. Anyway — try driving at that rate of speed anywhere in Boston – dream on.

This mess then tries to become a love story. After all, who wouldn’t fall in love with the guy who drugs you, puts you in the line of fire and dresses you in a bikini while you are unconscious? Even if it is Tom Cruise! Eventually, our hapless bimbo finds her own set of survival skills (accidentally) and begins to buy into this mayhem and madness, turning the game into one to be played by her own set of rules.

If you want to watch a chase scene, try on of the Bond films (anyone from Connery to Daniel Craig’s Bond will do). If you want globe-trekking thrills, rent Spielberg’s vintage Raiders of the Lost Ark. Heck, even Harrison’s Ford’s much maligned 1998 summer junket, Six Days and Seven Nights, was a better (if more innocuous) romp.

Knight and Day earned a lot of good comments from its online cheering section and some viewers who described it as slick, funny, original, clever and charming in a quirky kind of way. In 40+ years of film reviewing, I’ve seen slick, funny, original, clever and charming in a quirky kind of way. This “ain’t” it. The sheer velocity of Knight and Day screams” I’m trying too hard…” The audience is screaming “enough already!”

The script by Patrick O’Neill tries too hard and it shows. Ditto for the direction by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Girl Interrupted, Walk the Line, Kate & Leopold). Mangold cited the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers Charade and North by Northwest as his “inspirations. Is he kidding? Knight and Day plays to lovers of mania, noise, and non-stop action. Neither intelligence nor Hitchcock are a factor.

While many summer movies are not meant to be mind-blowing megafilms, viewers need something more than the mindless mayhem that Knight and Day delivers.

1/10