Details here.  Apparently only 700 tickets will be sold.  Supporters will have first dibs.

Earlier we made the case (here) that changing Fayetteville’s HMR tax so it could be used for development and maintenance of parks, instead of just development of new parks, was a bad idea.   We argued that we’d rather see the money for park maintenance come from just about anywhere else before the park development fund was robbed.

Well, in what we are sure will eventually become a long list of expenses we would have preferred the city cut back on in order to maintain our parks, we begin with Bikes, Babes, and Bling.  $20,000 from the HMR tax was spent for the great festival that wasn’t.  Here’s a video of the festivities:

According to the Fayetteville Flyer, KHBS/KHOG is reporting that the “city” is estimating that the economic impact of the festival was $430,000.  They’re also asking people what their impression of the festival was.  The comments are pretty hilarious.  Read more here.

Updated for clarity.

Some Northwest Arkansas prudes are freaking out about a local woman’s art project.  Jessie Lunderby, a 21 year-old Washington County jailer, posed nude (gasp!) for Playboy.com.  You can see the “scandalous” pictures here (fair warning, they include nudity!).

A few local yokels are up in arms, some saying she should be fired.  KHOG has a video story that you can watch here.  The Dem-Gaz covered the story too, but, alas, did not include any of the art.  And we wonder why print media is dying.

I doubt Fayetteville residents actually care that much about what Jessie does in her spare time.  It’s not like Lunderby locked up a Hispanic woman and forgot about her for four days, leaving her without food, water, or a bathroom.  And it’s not like she was secretly watching inmates undress. She was simply producing art in her spare time.

Still, in the 40/29 story, Sheriff Hoyt made it clear that he is against free artistic expression.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Hoyt said they’re conducting an investigation to determine if Lunderby violated any one of two policies — conduct unbecoming or engaging in off-duty employment in an area that’s sexual in nature.”

“It goes against the very things that let people have confidence in our agency,” said Hoyt. “Subscribers can actually pay money, so somebody’s making money on this and money is changing hands. So it is a business and so we feel that that policy has been violated as well.”

Sexual in nature?  Maybe Hoyt should get his mind out of the gutter.  When I looked at the pictures, I saw beautiful works of art.  I guess to some people, it’s only art if it’s 500 years old and painted by an Italian.  Maybe Jessie should’ve posed with some swans.

Donald Harington died over the weekend. Harington was an amazing novelist and a professor of art at the University of Arkansas. He was also a really cool guy, as many of his students at the U of A will attest to. If I had to recommend one of his books to those unfamiliar with his work, I’d urge you to start with The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks. You won’t be disappointed.

You can view the U of A’s press release here and the New York Times Obituary here.

I’ve been a huge fan of Russellville band Deas Vail since discovering them nearly 2 years ago. The best way to describe them would be this: indie pop-infused rock with soaring and haunting melodies sung by one of the best vocalists in rock. Having seen them three times in concert, I can say that they’re far better live than most bands are in the studio with the benefit of editing, autotune, etc.

As of August 27, their new album “Birds and Cages” is available on Amazon, or Itunes, or through their new record label Mono vs. Stereo (for only $7.00!).

I have to admit, even as much as I loved their first album “All The Houses Look the Same,” I was a little bit nervous last year when they announced that they were recording both a 5-song EP (“White Lights“) and a full-length album, all at the same time. I wondered if maybe they would be stretched too thin.

Boy was I ever wrong. To my ears, it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever bought, let alone in 2009. If anything, they’ve taken their music to a new level. Wes Blaylock (the lead singer) is just as jaw-dropping with his soaring vocal pyrotechnics, and his wife Laura (keyboardist) is featured more often in some quite lovely vocal duos. Andy Moore (guitar) is constantly pushing the envelope with different sounds and effects.

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The tunes are just as full of earworms (i.e., melodic hooks that you can’t get out of your head) as ever, but the music is often adventurous and arresting. “Sunlight” has a progressive rock sound that is hard to place in a single key. The intro to “The Great Physician” has a really nice chord progression that is far different from your traditional I-IV-V. The verses in “Atlantis” are in 5/4 time. “Puzzles and Pieces” is just beautiful — I could easily hear this song featured in one of the many television shows that run out the clock by playing a poignant song while the various characters look pensive.

As another reviewer put it, “Deas Vail is one of the few bands who can take pop/rock music and force the listener to apply ‘beautiful’ to it as an adjective.” If that sounds appealing to you, “Birds and Cages” should be on your purchase list.

Here is the October edition of Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month.  And in case you missed it, you can also check out September’s winner in the second video. We’ll post future editions as they are released.

Tonight at 9 p.m. CST on PBS, viewers can catch the national debut of The Buffalo Flows.  The Buffalo Flows is a film about the Buffalo River written and produced by local UA professor Larry Foley, with photography by Trey Marley, editing by Dale Carpenter, and narration by Ray McKinnon.  It also features music by the UA’s James Greeson.  The film recently won 2 emmy awards.  Here is a clip that features some of the original music and some beautiful pictures of the Buffalo River.

Northwest Arkansas fans of guitars and good music will finally get a chance this weekend to see the new guitar-based documentary “It Might Get Loud.”  From Rotten Tomatoes:

Filmed through the eyes of three virtuosos from three different generations, audiences get up close and personal, discovering how a furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a studio musician and painter from London and a seventeen-year-old Dublin schoolboy, each used the electric guitar to develop their unique sound and rise to the pantheon of superstar. Rare discussions are provoked as we travel with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White to influential locations of their pasts.

Alas, the movie is only playing at Fiesta Square in Northwest Arkansas, but I did call them and confirm that they are playing it on one of their larger screens.  And, sorry Stuart, as far as I know George Michael is not in this movie.

And, speaking of movies, anyone watching television last night was rocked off their couch by the newest trailer for 2012. While it doesn’t look like a great movie, the special effects promise that this one will be loud as well. Yikes!

Fall is upon us and football season is here.  All is right with the world. But there remains one pesky loose end which eats at the Razorback nation. Our beloved former starting quarterback Matt Jones still has not signed with an NFL team. How could this be? He has all the physical skills of an NFL player; at 6-6  and 203lb he can run a sub 4.4sec 40yd dash and has a vertical of nearly 40in.

Matt, who was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 1st round pick in 2005, has had his share of problems since leaving the Razorbacks.  He was arrested in Fayetteville last year with a small amount of cocaine and he hasn’t exactly gotten along with the Jaguars’ coaches. Jones has a very laid back demeanor that can sometimes be (and often is) misinterpreted as apathy. But this kid can play.  Matt Jones ran the wildcat at Arkansas before the formation became the staple it is today. Here at Mid-Riffs we have decided to take a stand on this issue. We are calling on Jerry Jones to do the right thing and sign Matt Jones. Here is our reasoning:

1. Matt Jones is a Razorback and good at football
2. Dallas needs a receiver
3. Matt Jones is cheap and available

This plan has the added advantage of collecting all of the Arkansas Joneses (Jerry, Felix, and Matt) in one place. We believe this would create a triumvirate of Hogtastic Jonesiness in the Big D which could dominate the NFL from for years to come.

Jerry, you have taken a risk on Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, and who can forget T.O.  Why not make a bet on Matt Jones? If not for your own sake, do it for Razorback fans everywhere.

News:
Matt Jones still isn’t in Cowboys Plans
Titans look at three WRs; don’t sign any
New York Times Review of the new Cowboys Stadium (just wanted to throw this one in here)

Oklahoma’s Flaming Lips made an appearance on The Colbert Report last night.  Stephen grilled Wayne Coyne about the fact that Oklahoma governor Brad Henry made the band’s song “Do You Realize” the Official Rock Song of Oklahoma, despite it’s “questionable” lyrics.  Wayne Coyne does a good job of defending the song’s message.  I wonder what would make a good Official Rock Rock Song of Arkansas….

Here is the video for “Do You Realize.”

Flaming Lips – Do You Realize??