The Red Queen and the White Queen argued. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare made no sense, and Alice ate heart shaped cookies with children who attended the Mad Hatter Tea Party fundraiser for the Young Actors Co-op (YAC) Saturday evening.

A cast of costumed characters served tea and crumpets and hors d’oeuvres upstairs in the Black Water Loft and downstairs in noteBooks bookstore. The strawberry tarts, baked by YAC mom Rebeka Hicks, were worth the price of admission ($5) alone. Wearing hats was encouraged. Many were zany, and it was hard to tell attendees from the actors, who recreated scenes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland throughout the two hour event.

The Tea Party was held to raise funds for an upcoming YAC trip to New York.  YAC mom Pat Woodruff, wearing a two of spades costume, said the actors were looking forward to their trip, where they will perform selections from their latest production, Wind in the Willows, at the invitation of Kickstarter, a fundraising platform for creative projects in Manhattan that YAC has successfully used in the past.

YAC is looking for a new director because the current director, Rose McCutchan, will be taking a break, Woodruff reported. She explained that McCutchan founded the group as The Young Actors Project in 2005. When McCutchan moved to New York in 2006, the group was restructured as a cooperative and YAC productions were done under the direction of Laura Byler.  When McCutchan returned to Floyd she resumed her role as director.

McCutchan said she is planning to devote more time to her home-life and family businesses at the Loft and Red Rooster Coffee Roster.  She hopes the trip to New York will mark her years as YAC director on a high note.  While in New York, the young actors will tour Mary Mount Manhattan College, where McCutchan received degrees in theater and where she first directed children’s theater classes.

Many local artists, crafters and businesses donated items for the Silent Auction to help offset the cost of travel, food and lodging for the young actors’ trip.  Auction items included a “Cantankerous Teapot” by potter Mud Bailey, gifts from the Bell Gallery, Red Rooster, Black Water Loft, Republic of Floyd and the Shwenk Family Farm, a free night at Ambrosia Farm B&B, a massage by Kimberly Basham, cheesecake by Kevin and Renee Dipietro, art by Lore Deighan and Pat Woodruff, a hand forged calla lily by Cameron Woodruff, a paper-mache white rabbit signed by YAC actors and pottery by Rick Hensley, Donna Polseno, Eric Bolling, Hona Knudsen and Justine Barrett Figura.

For those who missed the well-received November production of Wind in the Willows, there is a new opportunity to see the show.  Billed as a simple story about friends and home, about overcoming adversity and temptation, the play is scheduled for an encore performance at the Floyd Country Store Monday, April 23, Tuesday, April 24 and Wednesday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m.  The Country Store has donated the venue for the purpose of helping YAC raise funds for the upcoming trip.   Proceeds from tickets, $8 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under, will help fund the trip.   Donations can also be dropped off at The Black Water Loft, Woodruff said.  Colleen Redman

Note: Watch a video of the Mad Hatter Tea Party HERE and HERE.

Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com

The above appeared in The Floyd Press on April 19, 2012.

Some Floyd residents think Anthony Flaccavento is something to get excited about. During a recent meet-and-greet for the congressional candidate for the 9th District Democratic nomination, one individual remarked, “You’re winning will make people believe in our government again. Citizens need to win again.” Comments made by Flaccavento during a 30 minute talk that outlined his campaign platform drew applause from some in the group of about 30.

“He’s known by his reputation for the work he’s done in Abingdon,” said Jack Wall, who introduced Flaccavento from the deck of the Wall Residences office building, located at the building site of the Floyd Eco Village. Wall was referring to Flaccavento’s involvement in founding the Abingdon Farmers Market and his years of work as founder and director of Appalachian Sustainable Development, a non-profit that fosters economic self-reliance in local communities and connects farmers and small agricultural businesses with markets and resources.

A farmer, husband and father of three, Flaccavento grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and went to school in Eastern Kentucky and Pennsylvania, where he received degrees in agriculture and environmental science, economics and social development. His community development work for the Catholic Diocese in Eastern Kentucky included creating a home ownership program for low income people, which “became a model around the state,” Flaccavento said. His work with tobacco farmers in the late 90’s involved helping them find farming alternatives that were economically beneficial and had better environmental and health outcomes.

Central to his work around housing, food, farming, sustainable forestry and coal field reclamation has been the task of confronting the model that pits jobs against the environment. “My working life has been about trying to create examples where we don’t have to choose between jobs or the environment, or at least to show that the choices we make don’t have to be so black and white,” said Flaccavento, who has lived in southwest Virginia since 1985 and currently heads up a consulting firm that develops sustainable economies and initiatives across the country.

Flaccavento’s recent decision to enter public politics is an extension of the work he’s already done and is motivated by an interest in shaping public policy. His campaign platform is based in the belief that locally-rooted, sustainable economies and communities should be at the foundation of everything, including our global trade policies. “We shouldn’t be desperate for China’s capital or trade. We should be taking care of most of our needs close to home,” he said.

Healthy finance is a part of a vibrant local economy, Flaccavento stated. “There is an emerging network of credit unions, local banks, community development finance agencies and cooperatively owned financial institutions. They are still a small piece of the total financial picture but they are growing fast and their success rate is far greater than the big banks,” which have been vulnerable to failure and big bail outs.

Flaccavento spoke of the transfer of wealth that has taken place over that past 30 years, causing working people, the middle class and low income people to lose ground. “Income increases, not just in the top 10% or the top 1% but in the top the top 1/10th of a percent, have been astronomical. With that comes all the power, power over the political process, power of the media and patent power.”

Addressing the country’s looming financial deficit, Flaccavento said he doesn’t believe the answer is to give more tax breaks to the wealthy. “It’s not just unfair that we keep giving the wealthy and corporations more and more tax breaks; it doesn’t work,” he said, adding that “part of the solution is to reverse loop holes, like the 100 billion dollars a year we give up on offshore profits of corporations.”

“I think we’re dealing with two deficits and debts, the financial and the eco-logical,” Flaccavento said. “In both cases we’re used to spending much more than we can take it, but it’s far more difficult when you use up your ecological capital because you can’t just make more land or make more clean air and water.” He suggests that we all have to get a grip and live within our means, both financially and ecologically. “But that doesn’t mean a dull life of sacrifice. We need a new way of understanding prosperity.”

Flaccavento addressed how negatively money influences the electoral process, not only because of the amount that needs to be raised for candidates to compete, but because “once you get in, the influence of money really kicks in.” He described how some laws have been co-opted, not through legislation but through money interests and corporations. He cited the need for a law to undo Citizens United, a Supreme Court decision that lifted the restrictions on corporate campaign spending, making it easier for corporations to sway elections to their favor.

Touching on the importance of protecting Social Security, he said, “I’m not an expert on Social Security, but I know one thing. At $107,000 of income one stops paying into the fund, which means that a hedge fund manager who makes 10 million dollars does not pay Social Security on $9,900,000.”

When asked how he thought he could secure an electorate that Rick Boucher wasn’t able to secure in the last election, Flaccavento said he thinks he can win back a part of Boucher’s electorate, including some pragmatists, independents and moderate Republicans who may be sorry they gave up on Rick when they did. He hopes to reconnect with and broaden Boucher’s constituency and energize young people.

“I know there will be a misinformation campaign against me, but I think the core of what I’ve been trying to do my whole life – which is practical movement towards a better economy and better communities – will resonate with a lot people.”

The afternoon event also included an explanation by Flaccavento of the caucus process and the Democratic convention process of nomination, which will take place on May 12. Deborah Baum, Chair of the Floyd Democratic Party, announced there would be meet-and-greets held for two other Democratic candidates who, like Flaccavento, are campaigning for the party’s nomination to run against incumbent Morgan Griffith in November. Freda Cathcart reported that the first Democratic Party Headquarters has opened in Roanoke. Terry Carter with Tim Kaine’s campaign for Senate was collecting ballot signatures for Kaine and suggested that people go to kaineforva.com to sign up for local event updates.   Colleen Redman blogs daily at http://looseleafnotes.com.

Note: The above first appeared in The Floyd Press.   For more information on Anthony Flaccavento’s campaign visit his website at www.flaccaventoforthe9th.com. Campaign donations can be send to Flaccavento for the 9th, PO Box 2199, Abingdon VA, 24212. Floyd Democratic Party chairperson, Deborah Baum, can be reached at deborahbaum@hotmail.com.

Irish songs in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, sea shanties and storytelling were all part of Saturday night’s Floyd Radio Show, a variety show in the style of the Grand ole Opry and Prairie Home Companion performed monthly at the Floyd Country Store.   “And now a word from our sponsor” and a radio drama about a pirate sailing on the New River with a pet bird named Hokie were all done in good fun during the fast-paced radio hour.

Co-host and fiddler Anna Roberts-Gevalt warmed up the full-house with jokes from the audience.   Liam Kelly, a member of the local band Jugbusters, performed songs, stories and other shenanigans as “Old Man Kelly.”

Renowned guitar player and instrument luthier, Wayne Henderson accompanied Roberts-Gevalt, who recited Shakespeare and nursery rhymes to Henderson’s guitar picks that represented commas, periods, question marks and exclamation points.   “I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.  Probably nobody has,” he commented after the number.

For those listening to the show’s live stream on the Country Store webpage, the hosts described Jimmy Costa’s red hat in between his songs and stories.  “He looks like Sherlock Holmes,” said co-host and ballad singer Elizabeth La-Prelle.  Costa, a banjo player and storyteller from West Virginia sang a song titled “I tickled Nancy,” which he concluded with rousing laughter.

There was a second hour of musical performances following the Radio Show hour. While tuning her guitar for a duo with Henderson, Helen White spoke of the Wayne Henderson Festival, held on the 3^rd Saturday of June at the Grayson Highlands State Park. The annual event has a great turnout and the festival’s guitar pickin’ contest attracts some of the finest guitar players and national champs, White said.  “It’s a fast track to getting a Henderson guitar,” she joked.

Legendary for his handcrafted guitars and a recipient of a National Heritage Award, Henderson has been sought after by famous musicians, such Eric Clapton and Brad Paisley, both of whom have waited for and received Henderson instruments.  Tina Liza Jones, a Floyd collector and performer of Appalachian tunes, waited two decades for her prized Henderson guitar.

Describing the process of crafting an instrument, Henderson told the crowd, “I just whittle off the part that doesn’t look like a fiddle.”  He invited everyone to stop by and visit his guitar shop, just off the Crooked Road in Grayson County.

“I just whittle off the part that doesn’t look like a fiddle,” Henderson, a recipient of a National Heritage Award, told the radio show crowd about making a fiddle.   He invited everyone to stop by and visit his guitar shop, just off the Crooked Road in Grayson County.

The next Radio Shows are the first Saturdays in April and May.  Tickets are $5.   The show will take a break for the summer and return in the fall, said Country Store owner, Woody Crenshaw.    ~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com.

Post Notes: The following first appeared in The Floyd Press newspaper on March 8, 2012.   Watch a video clip that showcases Wayne Henderson’s pickin’ HERE and one of the radio show ensemble performing a skit HERE.

The assumption that freedom can be defended within one nation-state is false because it is the system of militarized nation-states itself that is the cause of worldwide destruction of human dignity and liberty…

The US military can now ‘disappear’ anyone, anywhere, and hold them forever in secret prisons, without any right to a trial, counsel, or being charged with a crime. Civil society no longer controls the military, and the laws of civil democracy no longer trump military totalitarianism…

 

US soldiers in Somalia, 1993. (Public domain, Wikipedia)

The boldly stated plan announced by the Project for the New American Century document (for all to see on the internet) is moving ahead on schedule.

Signed by a coterie of major US right wing chicken hawks such as Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz, this plan details the solidifying of a global American empire for the 21^st century.  The plan required “an attack on U.S. soil,” comparable to Pearl Harbor.

This has now been accomplished.

The plan required launching major wars and establishing new military bases throughout Asia in order to encircle Russia and China, and this has now been accomplished. It required vast increases in the American military budget at the expense of the budget for schools, healthcare, and civilian infrastructure, and this has now been accomplished. It required converting the thinking of the American people from the idea that wars have a beginning and end and are fought against a determinant enemy to the idea that wars are endless and everywhere with enemies who may be anywhere and anyone.

This has now been accomplished.

This plan for global empire required putting the American people on a permanent war-footing, which entails, as do all wars, the elimination of civil liberties, with the institution of virtual military rule at home and abroad. As Naomi Wolf and others have pointed out, this has been systematically accomplished since 9/11 through manufacture of fake security threats, the use of secret prisons where torture takes place, use of paramilitary forces (like Blackwater) outside the rule of law, massive surveillance of ordinary citizens, arbitrary detentions of citizens, the targeting of key high visibility resisters (e.g., Julian Assange), restricting the press (and criminalizing press investigation of government secrets), and the criminalizing of non-violent protest and dissent in general.

On March 1^st the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) went into effect, officially denying the right of habeas corpus to everyone on Earth including American citizens at home and abroad. The US military can now disappear anyone, anywhere, and hold them forever in secret prisons, without any right to a trial, counsel, or being charged with a crime. Civil society no longer controls the military, and the laws of civil democracy no longer trump military totalitarianism.  The Project for the New American Century here takes another giant step forward in its vision of global domination by the US military and their multinational corporate backers.

The rapidly increasing use of computer controlled, weaponized drones expresses this same phenomena. The weapons, run by computer over foreign skies from locations within “the homeland,” embody the absolute denial of human rights and dignity as this dignity is manifested in the right to habeas corpus and a fair trial if suspected of a crime. From computer terminals inside the US, people worldwide are being summarily executed, along with whomever happens to be with them, a matter of mere “collateral damage.” Where drones are not engaged, US assassination teams operate with impunity, murdering whomever is thought to oppose the global system of domination by the world’s superpower. It is not that there are a multiplicity of assaults against liberty going on coincidentally. All these phenomena are aspects of a unified attack on human freedom and dignity in the name of the soulless drive to power and domination.

There are many courageous people within the US who are raising the cry and resisting the coming darkness of tyranny.  But they are often naïve about both the causes of the nightmare and how to defeat its satanic drive toward the crushing of human freedom and dignity everywhere on Earth. Naomi Wolf, for example, writes concerning NDAA that “here is only one solution: organize votes loudly and publicly to defeat every single signer of this bill in November’s general election. Then, once we have our Republic back and the rule of law, we can deal with the actual treason that this law represents” (Guardian, UK, 1 March 12).

But the assumption that freedom can be defended and/or secured within one nation-state is false, because it fails to realize that it is the system of militarized nation-states itself that is the cause of this worldwide destruction of human dignity and liberty.  Every nation assumes the right to militarize itself, which necessarily means that every nation assumes that the world exists in a state of perpetual war and that human rights, defended by the rule of law, do not exist, in the final analysis, on planet Earth.  If the United States (and its imperial lackeys such as Great Britain) was not the global aggressor and hegemon, it would be some other nation that happens to fill the role of superpower.

The system of fragmentation (of the planet into some 200 sovereign nation-states) that inherently refuses to recognize the universality of human rights and dignity is the cause of this totalitarian assault on the human spirit.  It is not simply bad leaders, whether George Bush or Barack Obama. They are mere instruments of an inhuman system of global capital accumulation that works within a system of sovereign nation-states: dividing and conquering, exploiting, destroying all human values in the service of private wealth and nation-state fragmentation.

Capitalism turns all things and people into commodities to be used in the service of private profit, inherently stripping people of their dignity.  The nation-state system, which is intrinsically a war system, turns all people into potential enemies, stripping everyone on Earth of their universal human rights.  In war, all people lose their rights and dignity, since war precisely means the absence of civilized respect for the due process of law. And since the system of sovereign nation-states is intrinsically a war system, human rights become a meaningless impediment to the rule of unrelenting force and violence.

As much as we admire the courage of those living within the belly of the beast who struggle for freedom and dignity under the rule of national laws, we must not be fooled by their naïve assumption that you can establish freedom within the absolute borders of a sovereign nation-state.  For the very act of recognizing absolute borders implies that the rule of law does not apply to those beyond these borders. What do apply are power relationships, not democratic relationships, but war. The destruction of freedom within the United States is logically inseparable from the destruction of freedom worldwide. Both are intrinsic consequences of a system of autonomous, militarized nation-states intertwined with global capitalist dehumanization and exploitation.

The system of states that claim the right to militarize to fight external enemies inevitably impacts the internal governing of these same states. External war and mistrust destroy democratic relationships both externally and internally. Militarization requires that freedom be sacrificed in defense of the homeland. The situation of economic domination by big capital worldwide penetrates all 200 militarized, supposedly independent, national fragments, subjecting them to non-democratic forces beyond national control. In a globalized situation that is inherently one of economic exploitation protected by imperial wars, there can be no freedom.  This generalized world disorder prevents and distorts order within the fragments. The global war system distorts the possibilities for the rule of democratic laws protecting freedom. In no nation on Earth can citizens create freedom for themselves under the rule of democratically legislated laws within this world system that distorts all human relationships, both internal to nations and externally.

The death of the human spirit appears historically immanent.  It is immanent not because of evil persons who may or may not be assassinated by the equally evil, totalitarian institutions of our planet.  The death of the human spirit is immanent because we lack the vision and courage to unite together with human beings everywhere to demand an end to the sovereign nation-state and global capitalism.  There is no true freedom unless all are free.  There are no protected human rights unless all are protected.  There is no respected human dignity unless all are respected.

This can only mean uniting together under the Constitution for the Federation of Earth that is sponsored by the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) and establishing the rule of democratically legislated law for all humankind.  The “broad functions” of the Earth Federation, expressed in Article One of the Earth Constitution, state exactly what can only be done by the federation government: eliminate war, protect human rights everywhere, end poverty and create prosperity for all, protect the planetary environment, conserve the essential natural resources of the Earth, and address all those problems that are beyond the scope of the nations.

Only enforceable democratic world law can eliminate militarism and, therefore, the present-day working assumption that human rights do not exist beyond national borders. Only world law can institutionalize human dignity so that every person on Earth enjoys habeas corpus and civil liberties. Only enforceable world law can effectively regulate the global economic system in the service of reasonable prosperity for all. Only world law can protect the global environment and begin to restore the integrity of the planetary ecosystem. Only world law can protect the Earth’s resources and address all other global problems.

Our fragmented and myopic thought patterns give us the illusion that these problems can be handled at the level of nations.  None of them can.  It is sovereign nation-state system, penetrated and manipulated by a global economic system far beyond the control of any nation, that is at the root of all these problems.  Today’s immanent global totalitarianism is a consequence of this world system, and cannot be effectively overcome without changing the system itself.  Either human beings unite or we die.  This option is still before us.  Soon it may be too late.

(Glen T. Martin is Professor of Philosophy at Radford University in Virginia. He is President of the World Constitution and Parliament Association and also President of the Institute on World Problems (IOWP).)

Blue Mountain School (BMS) English teacher John Vandergrift, BMS administrator Carol Volker and BMS parent Elisha Reygle (who later won “best costume” of the night) sold tickets and beads at the door of the 3rd annual Mardi Gras Costume Ball, held at the Dogtown Sun Music Hall. The ball is a fundraiser benefit for Blue Mountain School, Floyd’s independent contemplative progressive school, soon to celebrate its 30th year anniversary.

BMS supporter Jessica Talley (left) strikes an upbeat pose.

BMS contemplative program teacher Sarah McCarthy enjoyed a plate of Cajun food prepared by Chef Natasha Shishkevish of Natasha’s Café. Hari Berzins, a recent BMS teacher, is also pictured.

Jamie Reygle, developmental coordinator and service learning teacher at BMS was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. Here, Reygle introduces the band Spoon Fight, an alternative Floyd rock/blues band whose members are BMS alumni. Luke Thomas, the band’s lead guitarist and vocalist is pictured with Reygle. Other members of the band are drummer Jake Thomas and bass guitarist Isaac Wright.  Listen to a clip of the band performing with a light show HERE.

A masked Andrea Goodrum, BMS parent and board president, stands next to the original Mardi Gras III poster, done by BMS art teacher Lore Deighan. The poster went to highest bidders and Floyd newcomers Missy and Everett Sizemore. Other silent auction items donated to benefit BMS were Floydfest tickets, a gift basket from Republic of Floyd, a Riverstone CSA farm share, a Quantum-Biofeedback Stress Reduction Session with Christina Beherens, a Starrroot print, a tutu, jewelry and more. Alicia Fisher’s set of hand-made dragon wings was the auction item that received the most bids.

Featured band, Lagniappe, played two sets with a special focus on New Orleans related material. The five-piece all- star band featured Kerry Hurley (vocals), Janiah Allen (drums), Chris Blankenship (guitar), Christopher Mondot (keyboard) and Jake Dempsey (bass). Pictured from left to right are Blankenship, Hurley, Dempsey and special guest Joel Vendetti, a past Blue Mountain School parent.  Watch the band sing Iko Iko HERE.

The dance floor was filled with dancers during band performances, which included opening band Attakk and Spoon Fight, along with Lagniappe. The name Lagniappe was coined for the occasion by past New Orleans resident and BMS Mardi Gras King, Tom Ryan. It means “unexpected gift” in Creole.

The color red was an unexpected theme donned by many costumed attendees. Pictured is Virginia Tech graduate Crystal Founds (center) with friends.

The Evolatica Dance Company entertained the enthusiastic crowd between Lagniappe’s first and second set with a variety of dance routines and theatrical period-piece re-enactments. Local dancers featured were Leah Jones (pictured left to right), Reda Brown and Emily Williamson.  See a video HERE.

Siobhan Shamama Lowe, pictured (center) in the “15 pound” Cinderella ball dress that she purchased at Angels in the Attic, won a gift certificate at Oddfellas Cantina for the dance-off contest. Lowe is pictured with the winners of the couple dance-off. Dance-off video HERE.

Joe Klein and Colleen Redman’s (this blogger) first dance after being crowned this year’s Mardi Gras King and Queen. Klein is a past BMS teacher and Redman is a past BMS parent/creative writing teacher. Their feathered crowns were created by Gabriele Hilger.   ~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com.

Post Note: The above  is a selection of Floyd Mardi Gras photos and captions, most of which appeared in The Floyd Press on February 23, 2012. See a post from the BMS Mardi Gras II HERE and Mardi Gras I HERE.

Barb Fisher, Chris Impink, Dan Delby and Garth Graham talk about going solo in the publishing world at last year's Technicon.

By H. Brad Haga

BLACKSBURG – Twenty-nine years is a long time to be doing anything, especially the demanding volunteer work involved in running a small science fiction and fantasy convention. But even though the fans keep changing, the world keeps turning and  Technicon lives on.

Technicon is a modestly-sized science fiction and fantasy event put on every year since 1983 by a group of dedicated (some might say obsessive)  fans under the auspices of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Club at Virginia Tech. (That’s  VTSFFC, vits-fic to its friends).

This year’s Technicon is being held March 16-17 at McBryde Hall on the Tech campus.

Over a span of time like that the face of fandom has changed, it has grown and evolved right alongside the genres it so adores, and every year the focus of a place like Technicon is just a little bit different.  The theme this year may be “How the World Ends,”  but something very different looks to be at the convention’s heart this year.

For those unfamiliar with what goes on at a sci-fi convention, let me take a moment to explain.

A convention such a Technicon is a place for fans of various sorts to gather and share their enthusiasms. At a convention like Technicon, one can enjoy movies, any of a number of popular games (electronic or role-playing), meet an interesting convention guest, or take part in a discussion panel for some favored topic.  In these terms, Technicon is bringing the fun for its 29^th year.

This year Technicon looks to have all of the usual fare: rooms of role-playing gaming, two rooms and six screens of video gaming, a small costume contest, and plenty of discussion panels.  As the convention’s chair, James Dunson, said, “The guests you have dictate the panels.”

This year’s batch of panel discussions highlight something that was a pipe dream for many when Technicon first opened its doors: creating and marketing your own comics independent of a large publisher, printer or distributor.  Back in 1983, a person who wanted to write and see his or her work published had to contend with the monolithic publishing houses of New York City who, in turn, dealt with large printing firms and handled distribution.

Thanks to the modern internet, something that was very much in its infancy 29 years ago, anyone can create his or her own content, whether that is line art, paintings or short stories and have those works printed and published on demand through services like Ka-Blam (ka-blam.com) or Café Press (www.cafepress.com).  Four of the primary guests at Technicon this year were doing just that.

Dan Delby is just getting into comics and self-publishing.  Delby has set up a small enterprise for himself, Dan Delby Comics (www.dandelbycomics.blogspot.com) and has his first comics offering: “Project Interplanetary Unity: The Struggle for Peace”.  The project started out as an attempt at a novel and turned into a comic.  Delby, originally from New Hampshire, presently resides in Wytheville and, holding Associate degrees in business and accounting, seems to have a firm grasp of what an entrepreneur has to do, from marketing to product price points.  Comics are not paying any bills, yet, but Delby says, “When you do what you love, it’s more than a job.”

A step up from Delby is the writer/artist team of Barb Fisher and Chris Impink, both Virginia Tech alumni.  As Studio Unseen, Fisher and Impink are on their second web-based comic entitled “Sledgebunny” (http://unseenllc.com/sledgebunny/).  Their first comic was simple romp called Fragile Gravity, which enjoyed a seven-year run from 2002 through 2009, but never seemed to have financial success.  “Sledgebunny” is something new for the duo, a more complicated story and a more realistic setting, and it is beginning to turn a profit.

Based on the style of Japanese manga, Sledgebunny is a sports comic about a high-school girl’s roller derby dreams in a southwestern desert town.  “People will buy the strangest things,” says Fisher.  “We were at Otacon (http://www.otakon.com/) and Chris was doodling this little sleeping armadillo that we had in, like, one panel in Sledgebunny.  People started coming up and saying how cute it was and asking if he could do one for them.  So I said, sure, $.25 a card … and poor Chris didn’t stop drawing all that night, people were snapping them up!”

Finally there is Garth Graham, another Virginia Tech graduate and periodic attendee of Technicon some years previous.  An enthusiastic, tabi-wearing fellow, Graham is self-publishing under his own company, GCG Studios (http://www.gcgstudios.com/?p=info), and he is making a living self-publishing his comics and art online and at conventions.  Graham is not bringing in lavish paychecks yet, though, “I would say that I’m living paycheck to paycheck, except that there are no paychecks.  The money is basically as it comes.”

Most of Graham’s marketing is word of mouth, from either his web site or from his convention appearances.  Graham has just released a compilation of his most recent comic “Finders Keepers”, an urban fantasy work that he describes as “Scott Campbell meets Neil Gaiman’s novel, ‘Neverwhere’.”

Graham echoed an idea that Fisher had mentioned earlier in the convention, that people buy the strangest things: Graham’s table is always filled with original art, but what sells the best of all of it? Graham’s ‘twisted fairy tales’ line of prints, ranging from a heavy metal Wizard of Oz scene to a somewhat more sinister Red Riding Hood, have turned out to be big sellers.  “There’s something fun about taking something old and making something new out of it.”

The panels last year culminated with a gathering of Delby, Fisher, Impink and Graham to discuss how to make a living as a self-publisher and the group had some good information for anyone interested in going their route.

“Be prepared for the size of the venue and their peculiar space requirements.  Absorb what others do with their displays, see what works and what doesn’t,” said Graham who makes his living going from one convention to another, as either guest or art dealer, and having to contend with infinitely variable standards.

“It is a business,” he says, “and numbers are you friend.  Keep track of what sells and what doesn’t.”

Very practical, sometimes even serious panel discussions like these are the heart of a fan-run convention.

Topics like “Kirk v. Picard: You Decide” or “Cat-girl Fans: Threat or Menace” are good fun, but they are just fluff.  Panels that help you to create for yourself are one of the things that make you a fan.

Technicon 29 — That’s XXIX to its friends.

Sunday morning was a leap away from the spring-like weather everyone was enjoying.  Temperatures plummeted from mid-fifties all the way down to 30 degrees in most places of the NRV, according to The Weather Channel.

Snow filled the towns and cities of the NRV, causing power outages all across the state.  Over 4,164 customers in the NRV were—and many still are—without power and more than more than 34,000 customers in Virginia are out of power, according to Appalachian Power’s website this morning.  Appalachian Power’s website also stated, “Restoration is expected to take several days with some areas not seeing power restored until late Thursday.”

Even after severe weather warnings, some people still tried to drive in the harsh snowy weather. Natalie Aponte, 22, says she and her friends tried to drive on Jefferson Street across from Radford University with not much luck.

“We were driving in a jeep and we thought we could make it down the hill but we started sliding,” she recalls.  They decided to take her car instead. “I have a 4-wheel drive. It’s awesome driving in the snow.”

Snow accumulated up to six inches in Radford, 6.7 inches in Christiansburg, seven inches in Blacksburg and Pulaski and some places in Pilot saw up to 9.6 inches of snow.

Cook Hall on Radford University's snow-filled campus

However, some people rely on driving to keep their businesses running whether it’s snowing or raining outside.  “It’s always very busy with snow,” says cheery Radford Domino’s Pizza driver, Catherine Millot, who has new tires and front-wheel drive.  “People can’t go anywhere, so they order out.”

Being a delivery driver may seem like an easy job, but when there’s snow on the ground, any driving is hard. “We had a couple of drivers that had to quit because of the snow, but we had another driver that has 4-wheel drive,” Millot said.

Highlander’s Pizza was also just as busy on Sunday night. “One of the drivers made over $200 in tips,” said 22-year-old Highlander’s delivery driver, Andrew Tunnell, “I wish I worked last night.”

Even if driving is your job, snow always makes it just a little bit harder, sometimes impossible. “Unfortunately, people get that false security that if we have a wrecker, we can get them out,” said Greg Brown, manager of University BP on Main Street in Radford. “We had 20 calls yesterday and we only took two of them.” According to Brown, Radford City Police called University BP to tow an abandoned car on the side of the road at 8:51 p.m. on Sunday.

Brown recalled one time getting stuck in the 2-wheel drive wrecker in Pulaski County, “I had to wait four or five hours until the salt truck came to get me out.” Brown says after years of towing in the snow, he’s learned his lesson that it’s “better to stay put.”

“Once you’re stuck—you’re stuck,” University BP towing and recovery specialist Richard Sumler said, “When it’s bad weather, stay at home.”

Snow accumulated up to six inches in Radford

“Roads were treacherous last night,” said Sumler, who passed many hopeless cars on the side of the road on his way to Christiansburg. “If there was anyone out there, they shouldn’t have been out. I shouldn’t have been out myself, but I guess it’s just the call of duty.”

Where: Radford University in Preston Hall

When: February 9th  7-10 p.m.

Admission: 1$ – plus donations

Tonight, in Preston Hall, Radford University students will be rocking out to raise money for 15-year-old Roanoke girl, Kendall Bayne. RU Parks, Recreation and Tourism students are putting on “Battle of the Bands” to raise money for Bayne, who was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer, Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma, last February.

“She lives up the street from me in Roanoke. And I’m up here in Radford. I wanted to get involved some way,” said Senior Ben Perfater, who coordinated this event with the help of his classmates.

“It was the first thing that popped in my mind. Maybe we can do something for this girl,” Perfater said.

The entry fee is only one dollar, but bands will have their own donation buckets. The buckets will be used as the voting process and donations will be accepted throughout the entire concert. At the end of the show, the band with the most donations wins.

A variety of music will fill Preston Hall tonight in honor of Bayne, who will not be present due to another surgery. Eight bands are scheduled to play music from rock to “easy-listening country” and from blue-grass to jam bands. All band members are students at RU.

“All money that we make goes to Kendall,” Senior Sarah Davis said. “Everything.”

If you can’t make it out tonight, there is always a way to help Kendall Bayne and her family at kendallbayne.com

It’s been nearly a year since a group of Pittsylvania County residents traveled to Floyd County to give a power point presentation, alerting local residents about Virginia Uranium Inc.’s intent to mine and mill uranium in Virginia for use in the production of nuclear power. A reported 119 million pounds of uranium – worth as much as $10 billion is at stake for the company, which consists of Virginia investors, Canadian partners and land owners of the property in Pittsylvania County where the mining site is proposed.

Concerned about the radioactive waste associated with uranium mining and its risk to drinking water, human health, farmland, property values and tourism, a group of Floyd citizens formed UBAN, a grassroots organization named for the goal of keeping a 30 year statewide ban on uranium mining in place.

Throughout the year UBAN members have partnered with other Virginia groups to educate people on the issue. Members have staffed educational booths at festivals, hosted benefits, collected petition signatures, attended local and regional meetings and voiced their concerns to their representatives.

“Other countries are pulling away from nuclear power,” said UBAN member Anne Armistead. Since the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan the price of uranium in the global market has fallen, she reports. “Studies have shown that solar is already cheaper than nuclear.”

Armistead’s fear is that if the ban is lifted and uranium mining is allowed, it will ruin Virginia’s economy. “How many companies will leave if this happens? Who’s going to want to relocate here other than another dirty mining company?” she asked. “Clean water is our biggest asset to future jobs. Even the perception of such a dirty industry around dairy farms will have a negative effect.”

“Property values near the proposed site have already gone down,” said UBAN member Michael Kovick. Kovick recently contacted his insurance agent to ask about coverage for water contamination. There is none, he was told.

UBAN member Cheri Chalfan pointed out that Pittsylvania County is only 50 miles as the crow flies from Floyd. “We need to reach out to every person we know in this state. They need to let their delegates know that our water is more important than uranium.” She noted that full scale uranium mining has never been done in the east where floods and hurricanes would make the spread of toxic materials more likely.

Uranium mining and milling has been known to increase birth defects and cancer, particularly in those who live near the mines. The mining industry’s safety record in the past has not been good, Armistead said. “Church Rock in New Mexico is the biggest radioactive release disaster in this country. It was worse than Three Mile Island, but you don’t hear much about it.” A waste water storage system in Church Rock failed and radioactive water was released in 1979.

The National Academy of Science recently released its highly anticipated 22-month review on uranium mining. The report did not make any recommendations on the ban but pointed to “steep hurdles” that mining prospectors would have to overcome. It also highlighted the difficulty of storing radioactive waste for thousands of years, considering Virginia’s climate, geology and population.

UBAN members agree that, because the problem of permanent storage of the radioactive waste has not been solved, uranium mining can not be considered safe even if it is heavily regulated. “When they dredge up this low grade ore it will take 2,000 pounds to get 4 pounds of yellowcake. That leaves 1,996 pounds of toxic waste on the ground,” Kovick explained. “Some of it is released as particles into the air and it’s processed with water. That toxic water has to be stored. Everyone’s asking can you mine safely, but the real question is ‘how are you going to store the radioactive waste for 100,000 years?’ There is no way. Every facility breaks down in 50 years or so and is vulnerable to storms.”

UBAN members are unanimously concerned that Virginia Uranium, Inc., a well-financed and politically connected company that currently employs 14 lobbyists, will drown out the public voice and push for a General Assembly vote on lifting the ban before it can be thoroughly reviewed. Another concern is that if the ban is lifted land throughout the Appalachian Mountain chain, where uranium deposits are believed to be, will be open to mining.

Kovick refers to the rush to mine and mill uranium in Virginia as “irresponsible and irrational.” “On the one hand they are pushing this by talking about putting regulations in place. On the other hand they have lobbyists in D.C. trying to shut down any regulations that are here to protect the public right now. They’re speaking out of both sides of their mouth.”

A by-donation “Keep the Ban” benefit dance concert is planned for Thursday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Dogtown Roadhouse. Along with the scheduled music entertainment, Mighty Shakey and the RockuPyers, organizers plan to host an information table and have a guest speaker. They hope to inspire others to attend a Keep the Ban Lobby Day, hosted by the conservation community in Richmond on January 23rd. Mary Rafferty, a Sierra Club organizer and UBAN resource from Richmond, says the event will involve a morning workshop on lobbying, followed by a trip to the capitol to meet with legislators.

“This is our one chance. If people take one day out of their life to do this one thing and we make enough of a showing, we can have an impact and stop this.” Kovick urged.    ~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com.

Post notes: UBAN members Michael Kovick, Anne Armistead and Cheri Chalfan are pictured at a meet-up at the upcoming benefit dance concert venue, Dogtown Roadhouse. Read the article I wrote for Natural Awakenings magazine on how the “Risks Outweigh the Benefits” HERE and a more recent excellent commentary in the Roanoke Times HERE. More information can be found at keeptheban.org.

~ The above was also published in The Floyd Press.