Bill Pritchard, R-Elkins is the current seat holder. If re-elected, he will reach his term limit in 2016. Jon Woods, R-Springdale is the Republican challenger. He and Pritchard will face off in the Republican primaries in May. Diana Gonzales Worthen from Springdale is the only Democrat in the race.

Man Arrested In Connection
With Aggravated Robbery, Kidnapping
Last Monday, Betty Davis walked into an Arvest Bank and told employees that she had been forced to walk into the bank with an explosive device attached to her leg. Davis told police masked man had broken into her home and threatened to detonate the device if she did not cooperate by withdrawing money from her account. The investigation revealed that the device was nonexplosive. Police arrived at the Davis household to find Mr. Davis taped to a barstool.
Authorities reviewed surveillance footage at area hardware stores in hopes of catching video of the man purchasing materials that may have been used to make the fake bomb. Footage led police to Paul Lewis Bradley, 60, of Elkins. After Bradley was linked to a vehicle noted to be at the scene of the crime, police searched his home and found evidence that tied him to the Davis home invasion.
Bradley was charged in connection to the incident after a possession of a firearm, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated residential burglary and 13 counts of committing a terrorist act. Mr. Davis and Bradley were acquaintances.

Monte Ne May Get New Lease On Life
The fate of the turn-of-the-century resort has been postponed until the U.S. Corps of Engineers conducts a study to determine whether the site will be demolished or preserved.

Crystal Bridges Employees Get Couture Uniforms
The world-class art museum asked Korto Momolu, an Arkansas fashion designer featured on the Bravo channel’s “Project Runway” to design the uniforms of its employees. The designer visited the grounds of the museum during various stages of construction and gathered inspiration from the outdoor environment.

New Home For Fayetteville Artists
Artists from the Fayetteville Underground are being offered the opportunity to lease space in the old post office building on the square. If all goes as scheduled, the artists will occupy the renovated space in time for the kick-off of First Thursday in April 2012.

Additions To Fayetteville’s Downtown Skyline
Seth Mims and Jeremy Hudson, the developers of Eco Modern flats plan to build a 250 unit apartment complex that will wrap around a six-story parking garage. It will be located between Campbell and West Avenues. Last month, the city approved another venture from the developers: the 183 unit 555 Maple apartment project that will take up an entire city block. The planning commission has waived the height limits for both projects, and some citizens have expressed concern about the effect these buildings will have on the downtown skyline as well as the view.
(What’s your opinion on downtown construction? Email the editor at bjackson@nwaonline.com)

His relationship history reminded me of the man you wrote about recently who had been married and divorced five times and was on relationship No. 6. Woman No. 6 wrote you, “He’s in his 50s; his marriage-hopping has to stop.” Obviously, she’s fooling herself, but what’s his deal? What’s anyone’s who gets married over and over?
— Morbidly Curious

Some model their marriage on their parents’ and some on their parents’ car lease. (Sadly, hanging a new-car smell pine tree around the wife’s neck doesn’t seem to stem the flow of trade-ins.)

Everybody wants to believe their love will last, but when a guy’s marrying Wife No. 5, some honesty in vow-making seems called for. For example, “Till mild boredom do us part.” And in keeping with the trend of using movie lines in the ceremony, the groom can turn to the minister at the end and state the Schwarzenegger-accented obvious: “I’ll be back.”

The notion that the only valid relationship is one that ends with the partners in twin chairs on the veranda of Senior Acres, rocking off into the sunset together, keeps some of the wrong people chasing it. The truth is, some people just aren’t wired for forever. That’s OK — providing they’re honest with themselves and their partners that for them, lasting relationships last only so long (“when two become as one” and then one starts getting all fidgety for the next one).

Even for those who are determined to make forever work, there’s a problem, and it’s called “hedonic adaptation” — getting acclimated to positive additions to our lives and no longer getting the lift out of them that we did at first. This happens with boob jobs, lottery wins — and marriage, explained happiness researcher Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky on my weekly radio show. Lyubomirsky writes in her terrific book, “The How of Happiness,” of a 15-year study in Germany showing that couples got a big boost in happiness when they got married — a boost that, on average, lasted two years.
According to Lyubomirsky, research shows that the most powerful ways to combat hedonic adaptation are adding variety and expressing gratitude. You add variety by shaking up your date night routine, going on vacation (even a quick one), and varying your daily life in small, fun ways. You can express gratitude by buying or making some little thing to say how much you appreciate your partner or by verbally admiring his or her hotitude and wonderful qualities. Lyubomirsky explained, “Gratitude is almost by definition an inhibitor of adaptation,” because adaptation means we’re taking something for granted. “Being grateful for something is appreciating it, savoring it – i.e., NOT taking it for granted.”

Predicting whether a particular guy is a romance junkie can be tough. (It’s not like a meth habit. There are no scabs.) A girlfriend-hopper might swear he’s ready to settle down and believe it — until the moment he realizes he’s not. You’ll want to believe him; we all tend to lead with our ego: “I’ll be the one he’s different for.” This is risky if your ovaries are on the clock. If, however, you can just live in the moment and hope for lots more moment — well, there’s always that chance you’ll end up being his eighth and only.
Baby, I Need Your Oven

I love good food and wine, but I hate cooking and I’m bad at it. When you’re dating, it seems like you’re supposed to cook your partner dinner at a certain point, especially if you’re a woman. I think I’m at that point now, and I’m considering setting a nice table and ordering takeout. Will he think I’m not that interested if I don’t break out the cookbook?
— Food And Whine

According to needlepointed pillows, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Actually, it’s through his sternum with a big saw. I say that a bit defensively because I, too, love good food but spend all of my time slaving over a hot computer. (I don’t cook; I heat.) Luckily, I have a boyfriend who likes to cook for me, but for some guys, a woman who doesn’t cook is an automatic dealbreaker.

For others, it’s a bit of a bummer, but what matters is whether the woman otherwise is giving and shows in various ways that she wants to take care of them. You’ll find out which kind of man you have when you’re honest with him about who you are — a woman who sets a beautiful table and serves a delicious dinner right out of “The Joy Of Calling Up The Chinese Restaurant And Giving Them Your Credit Card Number.”

I can hear the muffled thumping of a bass line coming from inside the house. I knock on the door, but no one answers.

A cat sidles up to my ankle and begins meowing. I kneel down to pet the animal, and as I run my fingertips through her short black fur, I notice she has only three legs.
I stand and knock again.

The cat meows, louder.

The lace curtain draws back, then the doorknob rattles. A tall thin man introduces himself as David Kimbrough’s manager.

The cat leaps over the threshold and disappears. I follow suit.

Inside David Kimbrough’s home, there is a familiar sense of the Deep South. In the living room, David sits on a bed that serves as a sofa. An acoustic guitar lies in his lap. In a green bassinet, next to the bed, lies a baby boy. A man with long blonde hair sits across from David, a bass slung around his neck.

Courtesy Photo: The Kimbrough family continues a egacy of Blues. Junior Kimbrough (top), David Kimbrough, Jr. (left) and David Kimbrough IV, nicknamed, "Bug" (right).

I am introduced to bass player Bruce Bennett and 2-month-old David Kimbrough IV, nicknamed “Bug.” Bug’s father appears relaxed, wearing a ski hat and a sleeveless shirt that reveals tattoos — Emmanuel and June June on either arm, the names of his other two sons. He also has a tattoo on his chest in honor of his eight daughters.
That day, Jan. 3, is David’s birthday.

“I have two birthdays,” he says. “Half my body was here at 11:59, and they couldn’t get the rest out until the next morning.” David says the hospital staff was unsure how to record it, so two dates are listed on his birth certificate. Born to blues legend Junior Kimbrough, David’s life has revolved around music.

At the age of 4, David would pull out his father’s guitar, which was often hidden out of reach in the rafters of their home in Holly Springs, Miss.

“I wanted to play the real guitar,” David explains. “I was bangin’ on it and breakin’ strings, but I never got a whoopin’.”

David says his father behaved the same way as a child, stealing his own father’s guitar, just to get a chance to pluck the strings.

“They called him ‘The Kang,’” says David, referring to his grandfather, the first David Kimbrough. “He was the one who was down in the Delta, with the Howlin’ Wolves and the Muddy Waters.”

The Kang was a legend in his own right. David tells the story: “My grandfather played the box guitar, but they wouldn’t let him play. He climbed up a tree and began to play, and when they found him, all the animals and rabbits were gathered around that tree.”
I ask if he thinks it’s true, and he says he believes it to be a semi-truth. “I think that it was true that he was up in that tree.”

The support and influence of his family encouraged David to begin performing at an early age. At 6 years old, David was singing on stage with local musicians. “People would stuff my pockets with money. My daddy let me keep two dollars, but that was a lot back then.”
At age 10, David began studying the guitar seriously, and at age 12, in the face of his parents’ divorce, he ran away from home, and landed in Albany, Ga. He joined a gospel group and a funk band, and found influence in Johnnie Taylor and the gospel group, The Soul Stirrers.

In Albany, David realized his capacity for music but it was in Chicago that he found a band.
“I walked by a house, and a sound was comin’ out of the basement,” recounts David. “And it was just so brilliant to me, that I just sat down to listen.”

Eventually, says David, one of the musicians saw him through the basement window.

“I can sing,” David told the man.

“You can sang?” replied the musician, mocking David’s Mississippi accent.

After a short “You-can’t”/“I-can” debate, the band invited David inside, whom they saw as a young country boy. “They said, ‘Let’s bring him down here and let him make a fool of himself,” recounts David. “When it was all over, the joke was on them because I hit the note dead on the money.”

The band came to be known as The Precise Band, gaining some notoriety in Aurora, Ill. It eventually disbanded due to tensions between band members.

Today, David is preparing for the International Blues Competition, which will be held in Memphis in early February. He and his band are practicing hard and often, nailing down the new material David has written since the birth of his son.

When David’s wife Stacy comes home, the musicians retreat to the back, where a keyboard is set up in the bedroom. When David sings, the muddiness of his accent disperses, leaving behind a clear, capable voice. He sings, at times, with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. He bends over, keeping time with his sneaker-clad foot.

In this Fayetteville bedroom, Delta Blues flows heavy, but it is layered with R&B, soul and funk.

One of David’s new songs, “Hard Times,” carries soulful R&B vocals. The tempo is more structured, and the notes are more polished and precise than the typical blues song. It seems that this is David’s own genre, a result of Johnnie Taylor, Sam Cooke and his father.

David’s father influenced a great number of musicians, including the Black Keys who recently released their ninth album. In an interview with online magazine “Pop Matters,” Dan Auerbach, vocalist and guitarist of The Black Keys, describes his fascination with Junior Kimbrough and his music.

“(Junior) was a huge influence on me and the way I play guitar, especially when I first started,” Auerbach says emphatically. “I first heard ‘All Night Long’ (Kimbrough’s debut album, recorded when he was 62 years old), possibly as a freshman in college… . It didn’t strike me as something I liked at first. … After I put it down for a while, all of a sudden I kinda got hooked on it … . Eventually, I was driving down to Mississippi to see the guy play.”

Auerbach never saw Kimbrough perform, but he still cultivated a distinct insight into the man’s music. “It’s not as obvious … It’s not blues music,” Auerbach says, “I definitely don’t like to call it that. He didn’t sound like anyone else. It was just this weird kind of soul music that was Junior Kimbrough.”

According to David, it was “Chulahoma,” the tribute album to Junior Kimbrough’s music, that launched The Black Keys into superstardom, and even if the album didn’t gain the notoriety of subsequent albums, the band certainly found inspiration in Junior Kimbrough, and even operated for a few years under the same record label (Fat Possum) as Junior.
Among David’s circle of friends and family, the blues is referred to as a musical language.
“Music is the ultimate form of communication,” says Bennett, the bassist. “It appeals to the biggest cross-section of people and musicians. Everything is based on the blues: rockabilly, rock and roll, country, rhythm and blues … The blues is like a universal language.”

David’s wife Stacy Mackey — also a musician and singer/songwriter — played in the band until the last stages of her pregnancy. Before meeting David, she had never heard of the blues or the Kimbrough legacy.

Staff Photo by Blair Jackson: Bruce Bennett on bass.

“It was like hearing a new language,” she said. “He was showing me one of his dad’s songs, and it was blowing my mind because he was making a whole lot of sound without a whole lot of effort.” The technique Stacy refers to is the method of playing chords and strumming a bass line simultaneously — a signature of David’s father.

Junior operated a juke joint, Junior’s Place, that attracted international artists such as Iggy Pop and U2. In 2000, two years after Junior’s death, the juke joint burned to the ground. Joseph Emel is a documentarian with the Little Rock company Filmore South, LLC. He is passionate about documenting the people and places that are continuing the blues tradition in the South. He has been filming David for two years, ensuring that the stories of Junior’s music and his family won’t be lost forever — whether in a fire or in a hospital bed.

The documentary aims to capture the beginnings of the blues and artists in Arkansas and Mississippi. During his filming, Emel has witnessed the increasingly rare dynamic of the juke joint. “It’s one of the most beautiful historical references, held in a neighborhood building or a warehouse. It can be very small, but the biggest thing about a juke joint is that it’s built for a musician, to carry the music,” he says. “It’s one of the things you need to see before you leave this planet.”

Unlike most modern music venues, the juke joint is designed to be family friendly. No alcohol or smoking is allowed inside the building. It is this family-oriented dynamic that allowed David to perform at such a young age with the support of his family and community.

Emel says that for many blues musicians, giving back to the community is part of the gig, but in the end some die alone in a hospital or live their last days in poverty, unable to pay their bills. Junior Kimbrough died of a stroke in 1998, surrounded by his family and friends. Written on his tombstone is, “The beginning and end of all music,” a quote from fellow bluesman Charlie Feathers.

With a reported 36 children, Junior Kimbrough’s lineage is far from over. David plans on teaching his youngest son to play the blues. “You’re going to be a bluesman,” he tells Bug, holding him overhead.

In its essence, blues is resilient, even without financial incentives or a family tradition.
“It can be beaten, beaten, beaten down and can keep the life in it. I’m gonna get it out there. I may be suffering, but I’m getting it out to you, and I’m loving it,” is how documentarian Emel describes the genre.

It’s Friday night, and the band is scheduled to perform a show at Legacy Blues. The entire crew is practicing in the bedroom.

Carol Reed, a used car dealer by day and blues pianist by night, has been playing for more than 20 years. When I asked him what the contest in Memphis could mean for David and the band, he mentions the Jaguar parked outside. If they win the International Blues Competition, he will give the car to David. It currently belongs to Carol’s wife, Loretta, who is stirring a pot of beans and rice in the kitchen.

David Gray Kimbrough, David’s nephew, is only 20. He is a professional drummer in Chicago and will be playing with the band through the competition in February. After dinner, he eats the last chunk of red velvet cake, and as he scrapes his fork against the plate, he flashes a grin and says, “My nickname when I was a kid was Fat Fat.” Presently Fat Fat is a handsome, fit young man, and the nickname is ironic yet endearing when claimed after a piece of cake.

Though David is the frontman of the group, behind the scenes, he tends to slip into the background. He makes sure each of his band members is interviewed; he’s quick to let someone else speak. His humility isn’t out of bashfulness, which I discover when I ask him about his stint in prison.

Carol, David and I are in the living room, watching the Cotton Bowl, when I mention the subject of David’s prison sentences.

“I wrote all my early music in the prison band,” he says and describes his first seven years in prison as easy time that was spent touring with the professional prison band, during which he played with B.B. King and Shirley Brown. He was released early when prominent music writer Robert Palmer and Junior Kimbrough intervened.

“My father’s album had just gotten four stars in The Rolling Stone. He went in there and told the warden somethin’, and the warden said, ‘You’ll be out in a week.’”

David’s second prison term began when he tested positive for crack cocaine — a violation of his parole.

“The second time was just depressing because I knew I didn’t have any business back in there, but if I hadn’t been locked up, I’d be dead now. I’ve been off drugs for over 10 years now.”

David’s candid, honest nature appealed to the filmmakers who are currently working to document his life. Emel first heard David at a lecture at the Clinton Library, when the bluesman paired up with poet-activist John Sinclair. “He was so honest about the time he spent in prison. He is someone who has experienced raw, real-life experiences. He’s done a lot of growing, and he’s never been at a stronger point … ” says Emel, leaning over the porch railing outside David’s front door. I take notes by moonlight because the porch light is broken.

During the show at Legacy Blues, the cameras are set up for the documentary, the lights are ready, and the stage is set. David wears a suit, with a gold waistcoat, and a fedora. He plays some of his old material, the classic blues; and what is really outstanding about the performance is David’s interaction with the crowd. He asks a friend to join him onstage. She invites another woman, and together they sing B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby.”

Later, a man named Todd kneels in front of the stage and asks David if he can sing with the band. Graciously, David complies and what evolves is a jam session featuring a solo from each musician. At the end of the evening, David invites Emily Cole and her band onstage to sing “Stormy Monday Blues” and then an encore performance of “Mustang Sally.”

The support that David shows not only to his fellow artists (aspiring and professional alike) is a testament it seems to the values he learned as a child, standing onstage at a juke joint in the Mississippi Delta, having his pockets stuffed with dollars. A leader, a frontman and a friend, this bluesman is sharing his legacy not only with his family, but with all those who fall under his wing.

TFW Staff Report

EVALUATE YOUR MOTIVATION
Losing weight is often a byproduct of deeper motivating factors. According to peertrainer.com, an online support group and coaching website, evaluating the reasons behind your goal is one of the most important parts of successfully losing weight. It takes 21 days to form a habit, but it also takes time to iron out the kinks in your new routine. (For example, you may find you hate granola, you need new sneakers or you absolutely can’t stand your new Jillian Michaels workout DVD.) It may take you an entire month to find a routine that works for you — that’s right, one you actually enjoy — and then it takes three weeks for that routine to become habitual.

Before you commit to losing weight, clarify your intentions. Consider these questions: “If I don’t lose weight, what will I miss out on?” and “How will my life be better if I lose weight?”

Once you reach the true core of your motivation, visualize yourself achieving your goal: walking up a flight of stairs without getting winded, zipping up your favorite jeans or finishing a marathon. When you encounter uncomfortable or discouraging moments, your motivation will often carry you through.

ELIMINATE BARRIERS
Sometimes, envisioning a healthier, sexier you isn’t enough to get your feet pounding on the pavement in the dead of winter. Making a major lifestyle change takes commitment and planning. When planning new exercise and eating habits, approach each situation with the intention of eliminating barriers that stand in the way of your goal.

Make it easy. If you usually wake up at 7 a.m., don’t force yourself to wake up earlier just to go running. Making a drastic change to your schedule could be a potential deterrent. Instead, identify a time of your day that already offers downtime. If this is after work, be sure to pack your gym bag before leaving in the morning and eliminate any extra trips back to the house. Don’t give yourself the opportunity to opt out of your commitment.

Courtesy Photo: Fast food is high in fat and sodium. Because there are no labeling requirements, you never know exactly what you're getting. To top it off, fast food tends to be low in vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients for a healthy diet.

Go grocery shopping and cook your own meals. It’s so simple it seems like it can’t be real advice, but consider how often you eat out — or how often you eat frozen dinners. If eliminating frozen foods means emptying your refrigerator, it’s OK to take baby steps. The next time you go to the grocery store, pick up the ingredients to make the fresh version of your favorite frozen entree. Work gradually from there, experimenting each week to adapt your established favorites into healthier alternatives.

Choosing your own ingredients is an essential part of developing mindful eating habits. Key decisions in your nutritional life are ignored or circumvented by eating out. Fast food is often a service sought for its convenience. Planning your meals will take time, and it will also take energy; but by taking control of your meals, you will be actively participating in fueling your body and stimulating your taste buds.

INVEST IN YOURSELF
Taking those extra trips to the grocery store is part of making an investment in your health. Without predetermined portion sizes and ingredients, you will find that planning healthy meals will take a significant amount of investment in the beginning. As you build your knowledge base, the amount of time and energy you invest in cooking and planning meals will lessen. Yes, it will actually become easier.

To get started, visit www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm. No need to count calories just yet, my friend.

Investing in the right exercise program is also key to setting yourself up for success. When making any investment, you need to shop around. Choose an activity you enjoy. If you’ve never followed an exercise or training program before, you can always follow along with a YouTube video before purchasing anything. If it fits your personality, be silly and let loose! (Richard Simmons, Hello!)

Be wary of the trendy weight loss movement of the season. (“Insanity,” anyone?) If you bank on one DVD and end up hating it or feeling bad about yourself afterwards (trying to do leg lifts at the command of a chiseled demigod is often less than inspiring), where’s the motivation to continue? Don’t invest in anything that kills the euphoric buzz of exercise! Sell the DVD back to Hastings and get something fun.

Take a class, join a gym or buy a bike — but only make major investments if you can say with 100 percent confidence you will enjoy (and ultimately stick with) the activity. The last thing you need is buyer’s remorse and a mountain bike sitting on your front porch that serves as a daily reminder of your failure.
The one thing you can invest in from day one is the proper equipment and attire. Feeling good when you look in the mirror is a basic component of confidence, and bolstering yourself against the weather is imperative for outdoor activities.

IDENTIFY YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM
Share your goals with others. Social media makes it easy to form groups and keep people up to date with your decision to lose weight. If you’re feeling brave, start a “Before and After Album” on Facebook. Your friends and family will enjoy seeing your progress unfold month to month. Who knows, you may even inspire someone else to get active.
Even if you don’t publicize your plan for a new bod, you should let your closest friends and family know. If you are the type of person who finds strength in numbers, recruit a running buddy or a workout partner. Chances are, someone close to you would benefit from more exercise, and you could serve as motivators for one another.

Sharing your goals is an important part of attaining your goals. Not only will you find encouragement from friends, family and even co-workers, but you will also begin to receive advice from people who are already living active, healthy lifestyles.

MAKE SUBSTITUTIONS
Many times, people who want to lose weight subscribe to crash diets or fad diets that eliminate entire food groups. Some experts suggest “People don’t fail diets; diets fail people.” You can expect to lose 10-13 pounds in one year on the Atkins diet, but the weight will come back if you quit the diet. Losing weight is formulaic in that you simply need to burn more calories than you take in. More specifically, burning 3,500 calories a week will eliminate one pound.

Making a change that will fit you and your lifestyle for the long haul is more important than eliminating carbohydrates for six months. A balance of less caloric intake and more exercise is the most effective way to lose weight, and the first step is substituting processed foods with fresh foods, whole milk with skim milk and fatty meats with leaner cuts. No math needed.

You’ve probably already heard that by eliminating soda from you diet, you can lose up to 15 pounds this year. But instead of eliminating soda, try replacing it with water. To help avoid caffeine crashes throughout your day, you can replace your daily cup of coffee with a glass of juice. Caffeine is a false indicator of energy. It can keep you alert, but it doesn’t provide you with the nutrition your body needs for fuel.

When you get home from the grocery store and begin experimenting in the kitchen, you may find you have to substitute old habits to accommodate the time you spend cooking. What’s important about making substitutions is it forces you to identify your current habits and to compare them with ones you want to instill. Identifying this trade-off puts you in control of the life you are building. You are never denying yourself anything but instead are choosing active and healthy activities over inactive, unhealthy ones. Substitute!

BE GENEROUS TO YOURSELF
You already have a life that revolves around work, family and social obligations. Exercising is often seen as something that is so foreign or demanding it must be difficult. Some people find conditioning their bodies as a welcome challenge and enjoy pushing their boundaries, tracking their progress or training for an event. Others prefer simply dancing or walking or doing yoga. The intensity must be sustainable, and the activity must be enjoyable in order for it to become a lifelong habit.

Many people quit an exercise program because they push themselves too hard initially. If you can spare one hour for exercise, the recommendation is 35 minutes of cardio at a pace that raises your heart rate to 130 beats per minute. If you can talk, using five to six words at a time, you are at a good pace. If you can barely squeeze out two or three words, you need to rein it back a bit. If you need to walk, that’s OK. Half an hour is a long time to run if you haven’t been training. Remember, it takes time (approximately 22 minutes) and oxygen to burn fat cells, so if you are having significant difficulty breathing, your body will have trouble burning fat.

Spend 20 to 25 minutes lifting weights. Building muscle is an important component of weight loss

Courtesy Photo: Building muscle is an important component of weight loss because it raises your body's metabolism. Visit bodybuilding.com for more tips on resistance training.

because it raises your body’s metabolism. For every one pound of muscle gained, your body will burn 30-40 more calories per day. Train your large muscle groups first and begin by using relatively light weights you can lift 15 to 20 times. Visit bodybuilding.com for more tips on resistance training.

Everyone has problem areas, but it is important to approach fitness realistically, and unless your weight loss regimen includes a needle and liposuction, there is no such thing as spot reduction. When you exercise, you don’t lose fat in one place. You can, however, tone the muscle below the fat, which may cause the scales to go up instead of down.
How you determine your success will evolve as you begin to gauge your stamina and your interests. Give yourself the generosity of time and patience. Beginning a new exercise and diet routine is going to be littered with small failures, but as long as your motivation is strong, you keep a strong support system around you and give yourself the OK to fail today and try again tomorrow, you’ll make it to 2013 with your new habits intact.

#2, 324 W Dickson St  Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701

(479) 521-6880

www.smokeandbarrel.com/

ATMOSPHERE
A pool table, a stage, board games, a smoking room, and a small library all make this bar a great place to jam out, hang out or relax. Jeans, flannel and pearl-button snaps are all welcome. Ladies, leave your cocktail dress at home. Throw on a pair of boots and get ready to dance to live music or kick back and relax.

QUALITY
Smoke and Barrel offers one of the best happy hours on Dickson Street. You can drink $2 wells every day from 2 to 8 p.m. as well as $2 domestic bottles and $1 off wine. OK, so that’s every day. Check this out:
Monday — $2 well drinks all night
Tuesday — Half off wine
Wednesday — 25 percent of all whiskey
Thursday — Half off well martinis and specialty cocktails
Sunday — $3 Mimosas and $4 Bloody Marys
They keep decent stuff in the well, so the everyday happy hour is actually a bargain. However, the real value is on Whiskey Wednesday. With 150 bottles of whiskey, you can save big bucks to try something new, to drink more of the old standby, or to sip on a high-dollar spirit you couldn’t otherwise afford.

Try these on Whiskey Wednesday
Redbreast 12 — $9
This is a light Irish whiskey, perfect for sipping. It’s sweet, with flavors of coconut, that have earned it the nickname, “Irish Nectar.”

Pappy Vanwinkle Reserve 20-Year — $22.50
This is a rare American whiskey; and Smoke and Barrel buys half of what comes into the state. Ranked as the No. 1 Bourbon Whiskey in the world by the World Spirits Championship, this is a must-try for the bourbon enthusiast. For those who like to drink whiskey neat, you will find that the Vanwinkle 20 has a sweet and smoky taste, similar to maple syrup.

The Balvenie 21 Year — $54
Aged in a port cask and made from barley malt, this is one hell of a scotch. There are no overbearing tones of peat like in some Scotches. Tastes of honey — sweet, smoky and nutty — linger on the palate long after the first sip. Yes, the sticker price is high, but visit the bar on a Wednesday and plop down some of your Christmas cash to try something new. If you’re a Scotch enthusiast, you’re gonna love it.

Aberlour 16-Year-Old Double Cask – $14
Aged in oak and sherry casks; there is a woodiness to this Scotch, as well as sweet and spicy flavors. This is sweet, wonderful, and at a lower price than the Balvenie, it is a great drink for the newbie Scotch drinker.

Order one of these on Thursdays:

Sazerac

Made with Sazerac, a rye whiskey distilled in New Orleans, rimmed in Herbsaint liqueur and splashed with a few drops of Peychaud’s super-sweet bitters; this is a light, zesty cocktail that is a great alternative to the classic Manhattan. It is served chilled in a rocks glass with lemon zest and a cherry.

The Honeycomb
Oh, goodness, made with American Honey Bourbon, this drink is sweet and smooth. If you like a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, you will love this cocktail. That being said, it is light and refreshing and doesn’t sit as heavily on the palate as a White Russian. For only $3.50 on Thursdays, you can afford to have two. Yum

!

By Kevin Casey
TFW Contributing Writer

It’s that time of year again: Time to dust off the jacket of your vinyl copy of “Frampton Comes Alive” and cozy up by the fireplace, because each Dec. 25 we celebrate the rebirth of Peter Frampton and how he came back to life for an amazing concert tour in 1975. Or maybe it’s because I’m willing to put on literally anything that doesn’t have to do with Christmas.

It’s not the songs themselves that I despise, but the duration and frequency with which I have to endure them.

Luckily for those of us who want to enjoy Christmas without having to endure another Christmas album by Jessica Simpson, there are still some gems out there that have slipped through the commercial cracks and can still conjure up the Christmas joy we all used to feel when we were kids — back in the days when Christmas was more about cool stuff magically appearing in the night and less about having to fight other holiday shoppers for the last Tickle-Me-Elmo.

So without further ado, here are my top 10 favorite Christmas tunes:

10. “Christmas is All Around” — Reg Presley
The only thing that says Christmas more than Christmas music is a good Christmas movie. No doubt you remember this song from the holiday classic “Love Actually.” Who can forget Bill Nighy’s performance of this joyful Christmas tune? There are sexy ladies singing backup who are dressed in revealing fur-trimmed outfits that would make Santa blush beyond his usual rosy hue. Oh, and then there’s that guitar solo in the middle of a circle of fire. Add Nighy’s stunning air guitar, and you have all the classic elements of holiday cheer.

9. “Merry Christmas, Baby” — Bruce Springsteen
One of the real joys of Christmas is getting to spend quality time away from your boss and more quality time with The Boss. Considering that Christmas is primarily an American holiday, who would you rather have serenading you and your loved ones than all-American Bruce Springteen, with a little help from the E Street Band.

8. “Christmas Tree” — Lady GaGa
This is an instant classic sing-along for any family Christmas. Lady GaGa is not satisfied with sampling just one Christmas song, and who can blame her when there are so many to choose from? She also goes to show you can make a Christmas song out of anything, even not-very-subtle, dirty double-entendres and some fantastic Eurotrash beats.

7. “It Feels Like Christmas” — Muppet Christmas Carol
Whenever I picture the Nativity scene around Christmas time, I fondly conjure images of little baby Jesus in Mary and Joseph’s arms; some angels hanging around the wise men; a few cows and sheep; a very fat, very jolly man in goofy red robes; and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge barking at Kermit the Frog to get back to work. Christmas wouldn’t be quite the same without that cold-hearted, tight-fisted, greedy man annually making us feel better about giving gifts to each other. Check out the YouTube video of this song to reacquaint yourself with that fat, jolly Muppet in goofy robes who reminds old Scrooge what it’s like to feel the real joy of Christmas Day.

6. “Carol of the Bells” — Trans-Siberian Orchestra
This Christmas staple can be counted on when the sweet melodies of Christmas hymns and too much turkey have lulled you into considering winter hibernation. We’ve all dreamed of having Christmas with an ’80s hair band, and this song makes us feel that closer to making that dream a reality. While it has nothing to do with bells, it has everything to do with Christmas.

5. Christmas Time is Here – Vince Guaraldi Trio
There are many moods to Christmas, and one of those moods is the jazzy piano version of “Christmas Time is Here” which we all know from A Charlie Brown Christmas. This piece truly is timeless, mostly I think because it’s so unobtrusive. The song mingles softly like a mellow jazz band in a swanky bar that has no one in it. And sometimes, that’s Christmas too.

4. Baby, Its cold outside – Frank Loesser
Though probably the most recognizable of the songs on this list, and though probably the most likely to be heard in JC Penny’s, there are still plenty of reasons to love this festive duet. It’s been sung by everyone. Whether it’s a drunken Dean Martin singing, or Zooey Deschanel naked in the shower and Will Ferrell in an elf outfit, or Jessica Simpson herself singing with that guy from 98 Degrees, there’s something we can all recognize in the lyrics to this timeless tune. It’s the age old story of a predatorily male plying a nice young lady with alcohol (and rohypnol? “Say, what’s in this drink?”) in the attempts at getting her to stay over on a cold and snowy evening. Listening to this song feels almost as naughty as gift-wrapping some sexy lingerie for your lover, except in a much more awkward way. It’s a song we can all relate to on a cold Christmas evening.

3. Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth – Bing Crosby and David Bowie
In what is widely considered the oddest pairing ever to sing a Christmas song, Crosby and Bowie sing a lovely duet that could warm the heart of the Grinch himself. This song could be used as evidence that Christmas is truly universal considering the Spiders from Mars play the backup to the song. Ok, not only is that not true, but it was also a bad joke. This classic however does prove that even the obscure Christmas tunes can be remade as Will Farrell and John C. Reilly recreate Bing and Bowie’s magic with a really heartfelt rendition which can be found on youtube.com.

2. Happy Birthday Jesus –Alabama
A truly touching message from the band Alabama directly to Jesus himself. The song reminds us that the song is just for Jesus, but lucky for the rest of us, Alabama included it on their album Christmas, Vol. 2. It was a hard choice narrowing down the many Alabama holiday melodies, but “Happy Birthday Jesus” won out. It’s definitely my favorite, but if it’s not yours, there are plenty of other songs on the albums Alabama Christmas, Alabama Christmas, Vol 2, Christmas with The Judds and Alabama, or Christmas Collection. There’s enough Alabama for the whole year all packed into one season. Merry Christmas indeed!

1. R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas – Jon Bon Jovi
Alabama may have written a song just for Jesus, but Jon Bon Jovi sings this song just for the lovable droid R2-D2. That’s right: the one and only Jon Bon Jovi singing to the one and only R2-D2 from Star Wars. And this is a perfect example of the true Christmas spirit. If a man who is “wanted dead or alive” can find a soft place in his heart once a year to come together with the rest of us and sing a holy and earnest Christmas carol to a fictitious android, then we’ve all witness a true Christmas miracle. That is something we can all rejoice in while we’re standing round the Christmas tree with our loved ones and singing another of our favorite yuletide classics “What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?)”.

Last week I mentioned Rick Perry’s “Strong” YouTube video. As I write this, it has 675,162 dislikes which makes it one of the most disliked videos on YouTube.  I’m not sure of the exact number of total videos on YouTube. I’m going to guess somewhere in the range of “a helluva lot”.  According to YouTube’s FAQ, “48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day.”  That’s almost 2,920 years of videos uploaded each year. For Rick’s video to be one of the most disliked is quite an accomplishment. It is, indeed, a shiny turd among turds.

I was one of those who opted to click on the the thumbs down button on his video, and according to Bryan Fischer because I did that, I’m endorsing bestiality. Who is Bryan Fischer and why does he make such loony claims? Bryan is one of the lovely people from the American Family Association and has a radio show called Focal Point.  Here is what Bryan had to say about the people who disliked Rick’s video:

“640,000 [the number of dislikes at the show’s airing] people have gone to the video just to say I hate this thing. I hate the guy that made it. I hate the message here. I want sexual deviancy widespread in the military. I’m fine with the repeal on the ban on sodomy, the repeal on the ban on bestiality. I’m fine with people in the military having sex with animals. I’m down with that. I’m for that. I’m against anybody who would want to restrain any of that, so I hate this guy. I hate this commercial.”

Yes, because I think DADT should have been repealed, then I’m okay with someone boinking a chicken. Just for the record, I don’t think you should even make out with a chicken, much less try to make babies with one. Stating that someone is okay with bestiality because they dislike a homophobic video isn’t jumping to conclusions; it’s making a quantum leap to complete craziness.  I shouldn’t be surprised that Mr. Fischer made such a leap because he’s also the guy that stated that gay activists were like the Spanish Inquisition.

I have absolutely no idea what he meant.

Speaking of craziness and family associations, the Florida Family Association (which is not affiliated with the AFA) recently claimed responsibility for Lowe’s pulling advertising from TLC’s new reality show about a Muslim family, All American Muslim.  It seems that the founder of the FFA, David Caton, found All American Muslim to be offensive because the show didn’t portray the Muslim family as bomb-toting jihadists.  According to his website, the show “riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values. “ So, because the families on the show don’t fulfill David’s bigoted stereotype of Muslims, then the show is offensive.

And to top off our bigot bucket for the week, landlord Jamie Hein is still maintaining an “I’m not racist” stance regarding her use of a “White Only” sign that she posted outside of her rental complex swimming pool.  Unfortunately, her sign was referring to the color of people’s skin rather than their swimsuit.  Jamie wasn’t really worried about black people swimming in the pool; she was merely concerned that the hair product they use would cloudy up the water.  See? Not racist at all! The state of Ohio didn’t side with Jamie and ruled that it was a pretty big no-no to have a “White Only” sign up at her pool. Now she’s asking the commission to hear her case again, because maybe before they were just being a bunch of authoritarian a-holes.

So, there we have it.  Intolerance based on sexual orientation, religion and skin color all in time for the holiday season, because nothing says, “Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or Gnarly Solstice, Dude” like bigotry.  This year sometime between now and January 2nd, we should all have someone over for dinner that isn’t “like us”. I think we’d find that no matter who they’re in love with, what god they may or may not worship and what color their skin is, they’re probably a lot more like us than different from us.  Let’s make a new holiday tradition of disliking someone for good reasons, like the fact that they’re a narrow minded, judgmental douche bag, or maybe because they just ate the last piece of pumpkin pie.

Rachel Birdsell is a freelance writer, artist and semi-professional cat wrangler.  Feel free to drop her a note at rabirdsell@gmail.com

LAST NIGHT FAYETTEVILLE — 6 p.m. New Year’s Eve on the Square in Fayetteville. Artists, actors, musicians, comedians, puppet parade and more. Beer and champagne garden, hog drop, fireworks. Family friendly event. $5-$50. LastNightFayetteville.EventBrite.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE BALLROOM BLITZ — 9 p.m. New Year‘s Eve to 12:30 a.m. New Year’s Day at the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs. Live music with the Ariels. Tickets required. 253-7837.

NAPOLEON DEZALDIVAR AND SHANE BEYER ARTISTS RECEPTION — 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 5 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale. artscenteroftheozarks.org or 751-5441.

KING’S DAY MARDI GRAS KICKOFF — 5 p.m. to midnight Jan. 7 at the Rowdy Beaver Restaurant and Tavern on U.S. Highway 62 in Eureka Springs. King and Queen introduced. Free food and music for those in costume or mask. Krazo.Ureeka.org or 981-9551.

STAGE AND SCREEN

“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE” — 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 7 p.m. Sunday at TheatreSquared at Nadine Baum Studios in Fayetteville. $22-$28. theatre2.org or 443-5600.

WINTER BREAK MOVIE FESTIVAL — 2 p.m. today and Friday at the Fayetteville Public Library. Today: “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” Friday: “Kung Fu Panda 2.” For kids and families. Free. faylib.org or 856-7000.

THE ARTIST’S LABORATORY THEATRE’S “FOUND FAYETTEVILLE” — 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve at Kathy P. Thompson’s Studio, 3 E. Mountain St. in Fayetteville. Part of Last Night Fayetteville. ArtLabTheatre.com.

BRIAN REGAN: LIVE IN CONCERT — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. $43.75. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNING DRAMA “WIT” BY MARGARET EDSON — 8 p.m. Jan. 6-7 and 2 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Rogers Little Theater. $10. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

MILKSHAKE — 2 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. For kids. 8-$16. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

BLUE MAN GROUP — 7 p.m. Jan. 10-12 and Jan. 15, 8 p.m. Jan. 13-14, and 2 p.m. Jan. 14-15 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. $49-$69. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

MARK ADAMO’S OPERA “LITTLE WOMEN” — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11-14 at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Concert Hall. Directed by David Malis. Conducted by Robert Mueller. $25. OperaFayetteville.org.

WORDS

DATE NIGHT BOOK CLUB — 8 p.m. Friday at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville. nightbirdbooks.com or 443-2080.

ROBERT WATERS BOOK SIGNING — 1 p.m. Jan. 7 at Arsaga’s Crossover, 1862 N. Crossover Road in Fayetteville. arsagas.com or 527-0690.
ELKINS WRITER’S GROUP — 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Elkins Library. Meets second Tuesday each month. elkinswritersgroup.homestead.com.

JODY’S LIVING ROOM OPEN MIC — 7 p.m. Tuesdays at the Rowdy Beaver on Dickson Street, and 7 p.m. Wednesdays at Maxine’s Tap Room in Fayetteville. facebook.com/JodysLivingRoom.

PLAYS OF PEACE — A READER’S THEATRE (POP-ART) — 6:30 to 8:30 Wednesdays at the OMNI Center in Fayetteville. Reading “A Part of Me Dies.” Open to the public. omnicenter.org.

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP — 1 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays in Rogers and 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays in Fayetteville. For aspiring and experienced authors. With author and teacher Gabrielle Idlet. $15 per class. gidlet@gmail.com or 966-5935

MUSIC

SUZUKI MUSIC SCHOOL — JOSHUA SANDINSKY, PIANO AND MADELEINE HOGUE, VIOLIN RECITAL   — 7 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Concert Hall. Free. music.uark.edu or 575-4701.

LEARNING

SILENT LIBRARY IV: FLASHBACK EDITION — 5 p.m. today at the Fayetteville Public Library. Teens silently take on challenges based on news events of the year. Free. faylib.org or 856-7000.

SKYSPACE DISCUSSIONS — just before sunset Wednesday, Jan. 6, Jan. 11, Jan. 13, Jan. 18 and Jan. 20, at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way in Bentonville. Discussion of “The Way of Color” by James Turrell. Last about 40 minutes. No tickets. First come, first served seating. crystalbridges.org or 418-5700.

HOMEBUYERS EDUCATION CLASS — 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Washington County Extension Service building in Fayetteville. Free, registration required. CCOAcares.com or 521-8877.

GALLERY TOUR: STRONG WOMEN — 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays beginning Wednesday, and GREATEST HITS   — 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Jan. 5 from the main lobby, and SPECIAL EXHIBITION TOUR: WONDER WORLD   — 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays beginning Jan. 7 from the south lobby at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way in Bentonville. Drop-in guided tours. crystalbridges.org or 418-5700.

SPOTLIGHT TALK: SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE WITH NATURE — 11:30 a.m. Jan. 9 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way in Bentonville. With horticulturist Cody George and Director of Education Niki Stewart. crystalbridges.org or 418-5700.

KIDS CLAY CLASS  — 4 to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays Jan. 9 through Feb. 15 at Faulkner Studio, 204 W. Cleveland in Prairie Grove. Home school sessions also available. Registration required. $50, plus material and firing fees. FaulknerStudio.com or 966-0596.

ADULT CLAY CLASS — 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 a.m. to noon Thursdays Jan. 10 through March 1 at Faulkner Studio, 204 W. Cleveland in Prairie Grove. Registration required. $175, plus glaze and firing fee. FaulknerStudio.com or 966-0596.

CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA SUPPORT GROUP — 1 to 2:30 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Schmieding Center in Springdale. Meets on the second Tuesday and fourth Wednesday of the month. schmiedingcenter.org or 751-3043.

RAZORBACK JUGGLERS — 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays at the Student Union or Gym 1 at the HPER building at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Free lessons and new members are welcome. sites.google.com/site/jugglingrsoclub/.

FAYETTEVILLE INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCERS   — 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays at Mount Comfort Presbyterian Church Hall. First 30-minutes devoted to teaching/learning. $3; first time free. 283-9947.

JONES CENTER JUGGLING CLUB — 5:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Jones Center for Families. Beginners welcome. jonesnet.org or 756-8090 ext. 518.

BOSTON MOUNTAIN QUILTERS — 10 a.m. Mondays at Ozark Folkways in Winslow. ozarkfolkways.org or 634-3791.

MORE FOR YOUR MONDAYS TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPS — 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays at Community Access Television in Fayetteville. Technological problems demystified; subject matter directed by attendees. Free; no registration. No class on fifth Mondays. 444-3433.

CREATIVE WRITING CLASSES — 1-3 p.m. Wednesdays at Ozark Folkways in Winslow. Ages 7-10 from 1-2 p.m., Ages 11-18 from 2-3 p.m. $5. ozarkfolkways.org or 634-3791.

MIND, BODY, SPIRIT

LIBER XV: THE GNOSTIC MASS — Sunday at Rosa Mundi Sanctuary in Durham. Meets first Sunday of the month. solinvictus-oto.org or 966-9827.

STRONGWOMAN PROGRAM — 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays starting in January at the Washington County Extension office, 2536 N. McConnell Ave. in Fayetteville. 12-week strength training program for middle-aged and older women. With Vicki Knight and Marty Smith. $12. ckoch@uaex.edu or 444-1755.

“PRAJANAPARAMITA” THE HEART SUTRA TEACHING — 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 7 and 2 to 5 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Katog Rit’hrod Mountain Retreat Center in Murray Valley. With Tibetan Buddhist scholar, Khentrul Lodro Thaye Rinpoche. KatagCholing.com or 870-446-2952.

BUDDHIST MEDITATION AND SPIRITUAL SUPPORT GROUP — 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Arkansas Yoga Center in Fayetteville. 521-2395.

COURSE IN MIRACLES  — 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at Unity of Fayetteville, 4880 Wedington Drive in Fayetteville. 442-0680.

MEDITATION PRACTICE — 7 p.m. Fridays and 4:30 p.m. Sundays at Unity of Fayetteville, 4880 Wedington Drive in Fayetteville. 442-0680.

DHARMA TALK — 10:30 a.m. Sundays at Mojo Hot Yoga Studio, 908 Rolling Hills Drive Suite #2 in Fayetteville. With Tibetan Buddhist Monk Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee. artibet.net or 587-8920.

FAYETTEVILLE QUAKERS — 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Sundays (followed by social hour) and 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays at the Bennett House (Omni Center), 3274 Lee Ave. in Fayetteville. fayettevillefriends.org or 888-909-1110.

SUPPORT GROUPS — The NWA Center for Equality offers a variety of support groups for the LGBTQ community. nwaEquality.org.

FREE CONFIDENTIAL HIV TESTING — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays at NWA Center for Equality, 179 N. Church in Fayetteville. By appointment only. NWAHOPE@ nwaEquality.org or 888-391-9222.

PILATES CLASSES —  5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesday, and 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays beginning Sept. 12 at the Yvonne Richardson Community Center, 240 E. Rock St. in Fayetteville. With Lisa Webb. $5-$7; $30 for six classes. accessfayetteville.org/government/yvonne_richardson_center/index.cfm or 444-3461.

HEALING MEDITATION — 7 p.m. Tuesdays at the Ozark Research Institute in Fayetteville. ozarkresearch.org or 582-9197.

NWA CENTER for SPIRITUAL LIVING STUDY GROUP — 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Jones Center For Families, Room 135 in Springdale. livinginthepresence@yahoo.com or 439-0149.

WATER EXERCISE CLASSES — 9 to 9:50 a.m., 10 to 10:50 a.m. and 11 to 11:50 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Jones Center. $25 per month. Water Movement, Arthritis Aqua and Fibro Fit. The Jones Center in Springdale has indoor and outdoor walking tracks and trails, and the Fitness Center has weights and equipment for use, all for free. dhenders@jcf.jonesnet.org or 756-8090 ext. 3518.

SENIORS

BALANCED BODIES — 9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. Fridays; STRETCH AND FLEX: 9 to 9:50 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Jones Center in Springdale. Free. The Jones Center in Springdale has indoor and outdoor walking tracks and trails, and the Fitness Center has weights and equipment for use, all for free. thejonescenter.org or 756-8090.

YOGA — 9 a.m. Mondays and YOGA STRETCH — 1 p.m. Tuesdays; FUN 2 B FIT — 9 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; EXERCISE WITH DANCE LEVEL I   — 9:15 a.m. Tuesdays and EXERCISE WITH DANCE LEVEL II — 10 a.m. Tuesdays; MUSCULAR STRENGTH RANGE MOVEMENT — 2 p.m. Tuesdays and 2:30 p.m. Thursdays; USE IT OR LOSE IT WITH JIMMY CULP — 11 a.m. Wednesdays and Fridays; CARDIO CIRCUIT — 1:30 p.m. Thursdays; TAI CHI — 10 a.m. Fridays, MEDITATION CIRCLE — 10 a.m. Mondays; ACRYLIC PAINTS — 10 a.m. Tuesdays; BEAN BAG BASEBALL — 9 a.m. Wednesdays, WII BOWLING LEAGUE — 11 a.m. Tuesdays; CANASTA — 12:15 p.m. Wednesdays, BINGO — 10 a.m. Thursdays, MAHJONG: 1 p.m. Thursdays; MEXICAN TRAIN DOMINOS — 1 p.m. Thursdays; BRIDGE — noon. Fridays at the Fayetteville Senior Activity and Wellness Center, 945 S. College Ave. 571-2920.

OUTDOORS

NEW YEAR’S EVE BOAT TOUR  — 4:30 to 6 p.m. New Year’s Eve at Lake Fort Smith State Park. May be cancelled due to weather, dress accordingly. $4.50-$8.50; children 6 and younger are free. 369-2469.

CRUNCH AND MUNCH FETE — 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. New Year’s Day at Lake Fort Smith State Park. Hike to the Shepherd Spring homestead site. Bring a dish to share. Registration required. 369-2469.

FIRST DAY HIKE — 2 to 4 p.m. New Year’s Day along Devil’s Den Trail in West Fork. With Park Interpreter Terry. 1.5 mile moderately strenuous hike. ArkansasStateParks.com or 761-3325.

AUDITIONS, ENTRIES, VOLUNTEERS

“HAIRSPRAY” AUDITIONS — 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the Rogers Little Theater. Audition packets available online. For more information call director Ed McClure at 479-906-6546. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

RENAISSANCE AND FANTASY FAIRE OF THE OZARKS CALL FOR CAST AND CREW — 1 p.m. Jan. 7 at the riding arena adjacent to the Washington County Fair Grounds off of McConnell Road in Fayetteville. Those interested in renaissance/medieval reenactment and LARP encouraged to attend. No experience necessary. Faire dates are April 21-22. Meets first Saturday of the month. RenFanFaire.biz or 287-4583.

LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAY (LARP) — noon Sundays at Charles J. Finger Park, behind Wal-Mart on MLK/6th St. in Fayetteville. Historically and fantasy based. Padded weapons used. Participants must be 14 years or older and sign a release. Free. Open to individuals and families. amtgard-eh.com or 318-299-9661.

ENTRIES FOR CIVIL WAR IN THE ARKANSAS OZARKS PODCAST CONTEST — submit through Feb. 3. For K-12 students in Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Newton and Washington counties. For information: shilohmuseum.org/education/podcast-contest.php or 750-8165.

“NO SEX PLEASE, WE’RE BRITISH” AUDITIONS — 7 p.m. Feb. 13 and Feb. 15 at the Rogers Little Theater. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

“HONK!” AUDITIONS — Feb. 18-19 at Arts Live Theatre, 818 N. Sang Ave. in Fayetteville. No appointment needed. ArtsLiveTheatre.com or 521-4932.

VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS FOR FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN MOBILE PACK — Feb. 23-26 at XNA’s Regional Jet Center, 12344 Tower Drive in Bentonville. Food packs will be used to feed starving children in the developing world. facebook.com/1MMeals, fmsc.org/mobilepack, or 295-9191.

CALL FOR POETS — for Ekphrastic Poetry Slam and Formal Poetry Competition Feb. 25 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. Ekphrastic describes something that is inspired by a work of art, therefore all entries must be inspired by from pieces in the Arkansas Arts Center Collection. Art can be viewed at the Center or online. High school students compete at 3:30 p.m.; Adults at 7 p.m. ArkArts.com or 501-372-4000.

“GOD OF CARNAGE” AUDITIONS — 7 p.m. April 16-17 at the Rogers Little Theater. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

“CHICAGO” AUDITIONS — 7 p.m. June 4-5 at the Rogers Little Theater. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

ART

ANNE KITTRELL ART GALLERY — Arkansas Union, Fayetteville. 575-5255.

ARSAGA’S — 1582 Crossover Road Suite 2, Fayetteville.arsagas.org or 527-0690. “Art for Food: Feeding Northwest Arkansas Through Art” by Bobbie Sue Yeager, 50 percent of proceeds benefiting the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, through Sunday

ARSAGA’S — 2418 N. Gregg Ave., Fayetteville. elisetheartist.com, arsagas.org or 444-6557. “Elise the Artist” by Elise Taylor through December.

ARTIFACTS GALLERY — 184 N. Main, Eureka Springs. artifactseureka.com or 363-6660.

ARTS CENTER OF THE OZARKS — 214 S. Main St., Springdale. artscenteroftheozarks.org or 751-5441. “A Journey Between Heaven and Earth” by Napoleon Dezaldivar and “My Aluminum Experience” by Shane Beyer Wednesday through Jan. 27.

BENTONVILLE CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU — 104 E. Central St. on the square in Bentonville. 271-9153.

BOTANICAL GARDEN OF THE OZARKS — 4703 N. Crossover Road, Fayetteville. bgozarks.org or 750-2620.

CENTER FOR ART AND EDUCATION — 104 N. 13th St., Van Buren. art-ed.org or 474-7767.

THE COMMON GROUNDS — 412 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. commongroundsar.com or 442-3515.

CORNER GIFT SHOP — 3582 N. Arkansas 112, Fayetteville. 521-2674. Art by more than 15 local artists and craftsmen.

FAYETTEVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY — 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville. faylib.org or 856-7105. “Civil War Arkansas, 1861-1865” Traveling Exhibit Jan. 10 through Jan. 22.

FAYETTEVILLE UNDERGROUND — East Square Plaza Basement, 1 E. Center St., Fayetteville. FayettevilleUnderground.com or 387-1534. Four separate galleries inside. “Art for the Holidays” through December.

FIRST THURSDAY ART PROGRAM — 5 to 8 p.m. First Thursday on the square in downtown Fayetteville. FirstThursdayFayetteville.com or 521-5776.

THE FRENCH DOOR AT ROCKY CREEK GALLERY — Armstrong Road in Fayetteville. 879-5987.

HEARTWOOD GALLERY — An Artists Collective. 428 S. Government St., Fayetteville. 444-0888. Jewelry, pottery, glass, handmade books, textiles, sculpture, photography, paintings, drawings, mixed media, music CDs, wood turnings. More than 30 local artists.

JAMMIN JAVA — 21 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville. 443-2233.

LONG GALLERY — Vol Walker Hall, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Architecture.uark.edu or 575-4704.

MAYAPPLE — 546 W. Center St., Fayetteville. 206-715-3271.

MULLINS LIBRARY — University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. libinfo.uark.edu/info/art exhibit.asp or 575-6702.

OZARK FOLKWAYS — 22733 N. U.S. 71, Winslow. ozarkfolkways.org or 634-3791.

OZARK NATURAL FOODS — 1554 N. College Ave., Fayetteville. ozarknaturalfoods.com or 521-7558.

THE PERK — 3980 W. Wedington Drive, Fayetteville. 251-7375.

POOR RICHARD’S ART — 116 S. First St., Rogers. poorrichardsart.com or 636-0417.

ROGERS LITTLE THEATER — 116 S. Second St., Rogers. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

TEATRO SCARPINO — 329 N. West Ave., Fayetteville. scarpino.com or 409-3772.

TERRA STUDIOS, MUSE GALLERY AND COFFEEHOUSE — Free admission. Experience a wonderland of art. Explore the 10-acre art park with sculptures, fountains, murals and a stone labyrinth. Watch glassblowers make the world-famous Bluebird of Happiness. Enjoy treats in the coffee house. Visit the gallery representing more than 70 local artists. Wonderful handmade gifts. Music at Terra 1 to 4 p.m. in the gallery every Sunday. Find us on Facebook for news, events, and music listings. Check out the new event center for your special gathering. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 13 miles east of Fayetteville off Arkansas 16 at 12103 Hazel Valley Road. 800-255-8995.

ULTRA STUDIOS — 118 W. South St., Fayetteville. ultrastudios.org or 935-4040.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FINE ARTS CENTER GALLERY — Fayetteville. art.uark.edu/fineartsgallery or 575-7987.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS GLOBAL CAMPUS CENTER FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION — 2 E. Center St., Fayetteville. 575-6489.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS STUDENT GALLERY (sUgAR) — 114 Central Ave., Bentonville. facebook.com/pages/sUgAR or 273-5305. Open 2 to 6 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

WHITE LOTUS SALON AND MASSAGE — 4750 Mission, Fayetteville. 582-4806. Open Tuesday-Saturday. Featuring local artists and handmade gifts.

MUSEUMS

ARKANSAS AIR MUSEUM — Drake Field, 4290 S. School Ave., Fayetteville. 521-4947. Aircraft from all eras of aviation history.

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER — Ninth and Commerce streets, Little Rock. ArkArts.com or 501-372-4000.

CLINTON HOUSE MUSEUM — 444-0066 or clintonhousemuseum.org.

CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART — 600 Museum Way, Bentonville. crystalbridges.org or 418-5700.

GRAVETTE HISTORICAL MUSEUM — 503 Charlotte St. SE, Gravette. 787-7334. Early 1900s restored home with displays representing Gravette  s history.

MUSEUM OF NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIFACTS   — 202 S.W. O St., Bentonville. museumofnativeamericanartifacts.org or 273-2456. Free self-guided audio tours of Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian and tribal artifacts.

PEA RIDGE NATIONAL MILITARY PARK — 15930 U.S. 62, Garfield. 451-8122. Self-guided road tour, 10-mile hiking trail, Civil War museum and bookstore.

PEEL MANSION MUSEUM AND HISTORIC GARDENS — 400 S. Walton Blvd., Bentonville. 273-9664. 1875 Italianate mansion with historic roses and plants.

PRAIRIE GROVE BATTLEFIELD STATE PARK — 506 E. Douglas St., U.S. 62, Prairie Grove. 846-2990. Civil War battlefield with original buildings.

PRICE TOWER ARTS CENTER — 510 Dewey Ave., Bartlesville, Okla. pricetower.org or 877-424-2424.

ROGERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM — 322 S. Second St., Rogers. rogersarkansas.com/museum or 621-1154. “A Daisy of a Christmas” through 2011. “Comic Stripped: A Revealing Look at Southern Stereotypes in Cartoons” Tuesday through March 24. “Buried Dreams — ‘Coin’ Harvey and Monte Ne” and “Building Rogers” through Sept. 22. “Building Rogers” through 2012. “Benton County Crime Stories” through 2013.

SHILOH MUSEUM — 118 W. Johnson Ave., Springdale. springdalear.gov/shiloh or 750-8165. Exhibits of early life in the Ozarks. Original buildings on the grounds. “Working Dawn to Dark” through Jan. 16. “Whatever You Do, Stay in Print” on the life of journalist, educator and historian Ernie Deane through July 21.

SILOAM SPRINGS MUSEUM — 112 N. Maxwell St. Siloam Springs. 524-4011.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS DISCOVERY ZONE — 1564 W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Fayetteville. cmase.uark.edu/UADZ/UADZ.htm or 575-3875. “GPS Adventures Arkansas” December through March. “

COMING SOON

LORRIE MORGAN — Jan. 13 at the Pavilion at Downstream Casino in Quapaw, OK. $20-$50. DownstreamCasino.TicketsUnplugged.com/event.php?show_id=702 or 918-919-6000.

JIM COSGROVE AND THE HICCUPS — 10 a.m. Jan. 14 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale. “Kid Rocker Extraordinaire” performs. For Kids. $8-$16. artscenteroftheozarks.org or 751-5441.

CABIN FEVER RELIEVER: COLLECTORS EDITION II — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Shiloh Museum. ShilohMuseum.org or 750-8165.

PHUNBAGS COMEDY IMPROV — 8 p.m. Jan. 14 at the UARK Ballroom, 644 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville. 21 and older. $5, cash bar. Also 2/11, 3/17, 4/7, 5/5, 6/2. phunbags.org.

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT: MAKING SENSE OUT OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: “MAKING SENSE OUT OF SHILOH” — 2 to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Fayetteville Public Library. Free six-part reading and discussion series with UA’s Dr. Daniel Sutherland using one or more common texts as a foundation to explore different facets of the Civil War. Also 2/19: The Shape of War; 3/18: War and Freedom; 4/15: A Savage Conflict/ End of War. faylib.org or 856-7250.

PONCHO SANCHEZ AND HIS LATIN JAZZ BAND — 8 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. $10-$25. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

SYMPHONY OF NORTH ARKANSAS: MASTERWORKS II — 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. $25-$45. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

FAY JONES ARCHITECTURE LECTURE SERIES: “PHYSICAL DELINEATIONS” WITH WILLIAM E. MASSIE — 5:30 p.m.Jan. 23 in the Hembree Auditorium, Room 107E in the Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Building at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Also 2/9: “Building a Durable Knowledge” with Bruce Wrightsman, 2/20: “How Beauty Could Save the Planet” with Lance Hosey; 2/27: “Following the Water” with Christine Ten Eyck. Free, limited seating. Architecture.uark.edu or 575-4704.

KEB’ MO’ BAND — 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. $29-$49. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

CAROL PRUSA LECTURE AND ARTIST’S RECEPTION — 5:30 p.m. Jan. 26 in room 213 of the Fine Arts Center building at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. CarolPrusa.com, art.uark.edu/fineartsgallery or 575-7987.

LEWIS BLACK: IN GOD WE RUST  — 8 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. $40-$65. waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

THEATER CLASSES   — Mondays through Thursdays Jan. 30 through April 19 at Arts Live Theatre, 818 N. Sang Ave. in Fayetteville. Learn improv, production, musical theater and more. For pre-k through grade 12. No classes the week of March 19. Times and costs vary. Registration required. ArtsLiveTheatre.com or 521-4932.

CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS   — Jan. 30 through March 6 at the Fayetteville Public Library. 4 to 5 p.m. Mondays for grades 4-6. 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays for grades 7-12. Free, registration required. faylib.org or 856-7171.

AUTUMN BROWN, AND GOLDEN, KLING & WISEMAN ARTISTS RECEPTION — 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale. artscenteroftheozarks.org or 751-5441.

“DIAL M FOR MURDER” — 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3-4 and Feb. 12-11, and 3 p.m. Feb. 5 and Feb. 12 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale. $9-$20. artscenteroftheozarks.org or 751-5441.

“HAIRSPRAY” — 8 p.m. Feb. 10-11, Feb. 16-18 and Feb. 23-25, and 2 p.m. Feb. 12, Feb. 19 and Feb. 26 at the Rogers Little Theater. Valentine’s Spectacular on Feb. 14. $9.50-$25. rogerslittletheater.org or 631-8988.

HOOKERS AND JOKERS BALL — 6 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Inn of the Ozarks Best Western Convention Center in Eureka Springs. Cash bar, live music. Ticketed event. $20 advance purchase, $25 at the door. Krazo.Ureeka.org or 253-7788.

MARDI GRAS PARADE — 2 p.m. Feb. 18 through downtown Eureka Springs. Spectators encouraged to dress out in costume and join the parade. Krazo Kostume Kontest at 3:30 p.m. at the New Delhi Cafe. Cash prizes. After Parade Party 4 to 7 p.m. at the Aud. $20 for after party. Krazo.Ureeka.org or 253-7788.

BEAUX ARTS MASQUERADE BALL — 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs. Cash bar, live entertainment. Krazo.Ureeka.org or 253-7788.

ARTIGRAS — Feb. 19-21 at the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs. Free. LUNDY GRAS ARTIST RECEPTION   — 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 20 with Roi Regency, former Kings and Queens in full dress. Krazo.Ureeka.org or 253-7788.

ST. ELIZBETH’S KING CAKE BALL AND MARDI GRAS SUPPER — 6 to 10:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at St. Elizabeth’s Parish Center, 232 Passion Play Road in Eureka Springs. Cajun dinner, live music with Naturally Brass, cash bar. Ticketed event. $35-$65. 636-8864.

ANON(YMOUS) — 8 p.m. Feb. 24-25 and Feb. 29 through March 3, and 2 p.m. Feb. 26 and March 49 at the University Theatre in Fayetteville. Directed by Kiara Pipino. $7-$16 for the public; free to $3 for UA students with ID. drama.uark.edu or 575-4752.

EKPHRASTIC POETRY SLAM AND FORMAL POETRY COMPETITION — Feb. 25 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. Ekphrastic describes something that is inspired by a work of art, therefore all entries must be inspired by from pieces in the Arkansas Arts Center Collection. High school students compete at 3:30 p.m.; Adults at 7 p.m. $3. ArkArts.com or 501-372-4000.

“IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE” — 3 p.m. March 3-4 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale. For Kids $8-$16. artscenteroftheozarks.org or 751-5441.

KISS A PIG GALA — March 3 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. diabetes.org/nwakissapig.

HARMONY: ARKANSAS STORIES, MUSIC AND THEN SOME — 7:30 p.m. March 9 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, 214 S. Main St. in Springdale. $8-$16. artscenteroftheozarks.org

Courtesy Photo: Christy Morgan, vegan macrobiotic chef and author of "Blissful Bites: Vegan Meals That Nourish Mind, Body, and Planet," will be in the area for a cooking demo and book signing at Ozark Natural Foods on Thursday, December 15 at 5 p.m.

Q Where are you from? What was your food background before becoming vegan?
A I’m from a suburban town in between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. I ate fairly healthy. My father would cook for us every night (each meal had a protein, starch and veggie). I always loved vegetables, but often they were from a can. He wouldn’t allow sweets or sodas in the house, but we did have Blue Bell ice cream. I ate in the cafeteria at school, which didn’t have the most healthful options. It wasn’t until I turned 16 and got a car that my eating habits went downhill, and I started eating fast food regularly. My grandparents had a farm with cows, and I ate meat just like everyone else.

Q What inspired you to become a vegan?
A A friend showed me a horrible video on factory farming, and I went vegan overnight. I did not want to contribute to all that cruelty and suffering. I wanted to have a life and a career that was filled with love and compassion, so I went to a macrobiotic culinary school to learn more about food, cooking and nutrition. Eating a plant-based diet helps me feel true happiness. I’m not consuming death and violence, and I’m not contributing to the destruction of the planet. All these factors are important to me in my practice.

Q Tell me a little more about what a vegan lifestyle is like. Was it difficult to change your lifestyle? How big of a commitment is it?
A Being vegan is not consuming any animal products or derivatives, not wearing any animal products and not using any products that contain animal ingredients or that were tested on animals. It’s actually not that hard today. Even nine years ago when I went vegan it wasn’t hard. You have to change the way you look at food and learn a new way of cooking. You may have to choose different places to eat or take extra time asking questions at restaurants. For me this lifestyle is so important that I’m fine taking more care with my food choices or having to spend a little extra time reading labels on products. Now it’s just second nature.

Q What would you say to those who think that a vegan lifestyle is too complicated to follow?
A If it seems too complicated try doing it a few days a week and work up to more days each week. Then commit to a full 30 days to see if you can make it work. Whole plant foods are very easy to prepare, affordable and available at any grocery store. Grab a few vegan cookbooks and go on a food adventure. Make it fun and get the whole family involved.

Q What is your favorite dish right now?
A I always get asked this question and I don’t really have a favorite dish. I love food way too much to pick a favorite! But I am loving soup right now! I try to eat seasonally whenever possible and almost always organic. Blissful Bites is divided into seasons to encourage people to eat what is available in their surrounding environment. The food tastes fresher and uses less resources to get to your plate.

Q What fuels your passion for teaching others the benefits of vegan nutrition?
A When I see someone transform a serious health condition or someone that is so healthy and happy because of the plant-based diet it warms my heart and brings me hope that we can conquer the serious health problems affecting people today. All the while saving billions of lives and causing the least harm to the planet. Purchasing food that will nourish you and then preparing it (and sharing it) is one of the most powerful things we can do in our daily lives.