what do you know about KNOXVILLE?

I haven't been there in approx 6 months so idk!

Think Progress comes to town, likes what it sees.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/31/2334471/knoxville-climate-change-conservative-clean-energy-green-red/

Will be in town all next week for family shenanigans. Hopefully something good is going on.

Pretty quiet time of year, really. But I'm sure there's something happening. Free jazz on Market Square Tuesday night.

I mean, you don't have to pay. Not "free jazz."

Oh we'll have two young nephews, three small dogs, and a girlfriend there. It should be hectic.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1098536_10151539765226596_1207872991_n.jpg

Smoky Mountain minnows are nibbling my feet

Hitting downtown today and maybe Comics Exchange to find out what their policy on buying collections is. We'll probly wander thru the old section with all the cool Victorian architecture, too.

Any other suggestions for neat/weird bits to see in the city?

Also, we hit Dollywood already. I got a snowglobe!

is comics exchange on chapman? or that the one in the old city

Chapman. Hit it today, bought the first two trades of Peter Panzerfaust, then got rain dumped on us. Met up with my folks folks to eat at a great Thai joint offa Cedar Bluff

the one on chapman is really close to my house. you might hit up the octopus project show tonight @ pilot light. also Big Asses Fest is tomorrow on rosedale ave. DIY fest that's been going for years (originally started as a response to Big Ears fest, but it way outlasted it)

American Idol is auditioning here tomorrow. And this is the graphic...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/Knoxville_Idol_zpse8060ce1.jpg

nothing says talent like fellating the sunsphere

lmao!!!!

please support Allies of Knoxville's Immigrant Neighbors:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/greater-knoxville-area-compact/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send+to+Friend

im really sad that graning paint supply moved

haha to ppl who dont live in knox that's going to sound like the most boring small town complaint ever

http://media.metropulse.com/media/img/photos/2012/10/11/rainbow_TN_web_t607.jpg

rip

2nd city in TN to offer domestic partner benefits: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/oct/16/rogero-adding-domestic-partner-benefits/.

(I know, not much of a milestone by the standards of other places. But it means something here.)

:)

anything going on this week? other than christmas and new year's, i guess.

Not much I can think of. If you want to get a beer circa happy hour on Thursday, I'll be around downtown.

Same.

Damn - going to the local board gamers' night with brother and sister tonight. :-/

Our likely next D.A. has a name that demands its own cable drama series.

http://www.charmeknight.com/images/f3e8580511610e665c626c4d334504be_kw19.jpg

omg

i've gotten really interested in pre-urban renewal/removal knoxville. some friends and i have been organizing monthly events/discussion groups/workshops called Understanding Place, exploring race, place, home, and the intersection of those ideas; gentrification, urban renewal, tenants rights, etc. the local history of grievances w/r/t those issues. councilman daniel brown (totally my bff) spoke at our last one, and i think the next one is going to be a "home training" workshop w/ 4mir4 in4s (do you know her?) and a first friday event at the birdhouse in march showing pictures of knoxville pre-UR. free + open to the public.

woah. that sounds cool! Is there a web presence for this thing, to which I could link people?

hey, roxy, that's awesome. continue to post updates on events, etc. if you please!

btw if knoxville folks haven't checked out the local TV history exhibit at the east tennessee history center/museum, you should. it's fun. if you haven't been at all, the permanent exhibit is kind of model of its kind.

i definitely will. we're working on a web presence! it's a really new thing, we've just had 2 events so far. i'll post up fb events (and whatever we get going in the coming month) here.

I'm in town for the next week & and a half; anything fun going on?

in my NO-to-NY move i'm staying a night at the eastern knoxville motel 6 i stayed at after katrina, because they were nice to me and gave me a huge discount.

then i will eat at the mcdonalds in bulls gap tennessee, where i remember eating the best mcgriddle i have ever had, served to me by the most pleasant fast food employees i have ever encountered. can the experience possibly live up to my perhaps-traumatized memories? keep an eye on this thread for updaets

Totally taking my kids to this next weekend: https://www.facebook.com/events/785600241485238/.

awesome! see you there

Does this start at 330 or 4pm? Website says 4

oops it started at 4

That's okay. We wound up getting downtown late and hungry. Made it to Market Square which was a hilarious contrast in terms of development and economic stratus.

http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/knoxville_mercury_metro_pulse.php?

innaresting, esp the profit/nonprofit mix

If all goes as planned, the Knoxville Mercury will launch in February, and it will be in many ways a resurrection of Metro Pulse—a mix of news, opinion, features, and entertainment, aimed at a civic-minded, well-educated, mostly 30-something audience. Like a typical alt-weekly, the Mercury will publish a free printed paper, plus a website with daily stories and an arts calendar. But its structure would be distinctive: The new publication would operate as a for-profit subsidiary of a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to the city’s history and culture.

Hey, I’m a very (very!) infrequent poster but obsessive reader of ILX. (I met a few of you during the last Big Ears at brunch with tipsy mothra.) I’m one of three former Metro Pulse editors involved in the above project to launch a new alt-weekly in Knoxville. We have what we think is a solid plan to make it financially viable and editorially independent—you can read more here: http://www.knoxmercury.com

MP was a good paper. We won a lot of awards—for news reporting, criticism, and music and arts coverage. A handful of ILXors wrote for us or were written about by us over the years. Knoxville’s had a good run over the last 10 or 15 years, but the city needs a publication that supports local music and arts, keeps an eye on local government, and connects people who make good things happen. (We also did A LOT of Big Ears coverage—we were the only major outlet in town that understood the festival from the start.)

Part of our plan is a Kickstarter campaign, which you can find out more about here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/789676771/knoxville-mercury-launch

If you can donate, please do! It’s a good cause, and it doesn’t take much to help. If you can’t donate, help us spread the word.

And now back to your regular ILX programming …

Flying back to Tellico Village for a week tomorrow. Does anyone have any contacts with the KnoxMakers group?

hey, that's great news re. knoxville mercury!

This band from Knoxville is pretty fun.

http://massdriverrockpower.bandcamp.com/album/mass-driver

hey mte!! i am in knoxville now. have just forwarded that link to every knoxvillian i know.

Thanks, Tracer Hand! Every time you share, an angel gets its wings, or something like that.

hey kingfish - i know some knoxmakers ppl

I have met some of the Knox Makers guys -- last I heard they were looking to start a maker space in Knoxville proper (current one is in Oak Ridge). They're nice fellas.

Tracer, when did you move back to the US?

If I get the chance, I'm going to try to stop by their meeting this week. I've gotten hooked on wiring up Arduino shit.

So, monday we went to dollywood, and I posted some photos which will hopefully amuse.

For example, these are not the unlicensed cartoon characters I'd first expect to see at an airbrush kiosk in Dollywood in 2014, but there you go:

https://scontent-a-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10464060_10152511779226596_9063586482227108219_n.jpg?oh=31dd362df32a2936700792e94eae2d88&oe=55457F1A

i've spent years avoiding dollywood or indeed the whole Pigeon Forge scene. sounds horrible.