Hollywood, SC?… for a few days perhaps.

For the past week Greenville, SC has been all “a buzz” with the talk of a film being shot within her quaint metropolis. The working title of the film is “Holy City Heart Breakers” and it was brought to town by producer Patrick Durham of Morningstar Films. A producer who just happens to know this area very well, since he hails from our neck of the woods.

In addition to the producer being from Greenville, most of the crew and director Randall Owens of Lingo Films and Skyline Post, are also from Greenville.

I had a chance to sit down with the producer and a few of the stars of the film and talk a little bit about the film and other projects.

I had the pleasure of sitting down first with Jeremy London, known for his work in Mall Rats, Party of Five, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Seventh Heaven as well as the 4- hour feature that he named as his favorite film Gods and Generals. He had just flown in and was whisked away to a local downtown favorite Trio and then informed he was about to “sing for his supper” in other words he would have to go through this little interview.

Jeremy is a very sweet, likable guy, who has quite a few projects going on. Plus, now I’m his biggest fan because he politely referred to me as “tiny”… such a doll! Was it too much that I grabbed his hand and said.. I love you?

In this particular film he plays an FBI agent who comes to town to inform one of the main characters that she is involved with someone that is not so much on the “up and up”. The full interview about the film, his latest projects, as well as favorite and least favorite roles are included below.

Next, I got to sit down with Will Champlin and talk music, movies, Adam Levine and he even showed me a very impressive video of his one year old daughter drumming. Will, as many The Voice fans know is the extremely talented musical genius who came in second runner up on season five.  He has now added actor to his resume. In the film he plays a part that comes easy to him, a musician. We can not say much about his how he showcases his talent but I did receive a sneak peek of his performance and this is going to be a big hit!

You can hear Will’s interview below as well as download his latest single on iTunes, it is called Last Man Standing. The song will give you chills, just when you think the song is one style, there is a subtle change and new instruments are brought in and a different depth is brought to the music. There are even bagpipes, his face lit up like a kid a Christmas when he started to talk about his quest to add bagpipes to the song. He played the song for me off of his own phone and offered to give me a free download. A very sweet gesture, but I purchased it right in front of him and listened to it in the car on the ride home. How many people can say that they purchased a single right in front of the artist? At least one I can think of— This Girl!!! (she says pointing two thumbs back at her chest).

I also sat down with producer Patrick Durham to talk about the project and his plans to bring Hollywood to his hometown. Patrick, as I mentioned is from our area but has an impressive resume behind him that includes producing, writing, directing and acting.  Durham said that by choosing to shoot in SC, he is hoping to bring revenue and a bit of tourism to the area. People are always fascinated to see where films were shot, he is hoping that helps the local hospitality economy . He has plans to continue to work to bring more films to the area. You can hear his interview as well as the interviews with Jeremy and Will.

 

 

Oh Dear me— Daylight Saving Time … Again??

It is the Monday after DST hit and we are all feeling the loss of an hour. If not, just wait as soon as your IV drip from Starbucks runs out it will hit you…  just like it did me mid-show this morning.

Even as a small child, I thought this was such a bad idea to take an hour away in the Spring and then throw it back at you in the Fall. Surely the person who came up with this idea was truly mad or either struck by lighting. Turns out I was right, and stop calling me Shirley!

We can all thank one Mr. Benjamin Franklin and his “writings”.  The idea loosely comes from his satirical essay, “An Economical Project.”.  Others decided to run with the idea, in a 1907 essay titled “Waste of Daylight” London builder, William Willett, suggested making use of the idea by advancing clocks 20 minutes every Sunday in April and then reversing the process every Sunday in September. This man apparently never had to “reset” his microwave clock prior to making popcorn after a power glitch.

Let me just state for the record, that I have trouble remembering to change out my clocks as it is. I would not be able to get anything done by having to change the time on my appliances, my car and my wrist watch (what are those?) not twice a year but set them forward or back at 20 minute intervals 8 times a year.

Surely some good could come from all of this, right?

— During Vietnam, draft dodgers used DST to avoid the draft by a loophole reasoning.

— In 1916, Opera patrons were able to see a performance of Die Meistersinger an hour earlier than usual, still make it back to their trains and safely home prior to DST changing up train schedules (yes, this is seen as a good thing).

—  Official data shows violent crime goes down 10 to 13 percent during DST.

—  In 1999, lives were spared when West Bank Terrorists working with a “time bomb” didn’t account for DST vs. Standard time and blew themselves up instead of would be Israeli victims on two different buses.

— Twins born during DST or the change back to standard time can end up with different birthday dates and their “birth order” can even be reversed due to falling back into standard time.

— One more odd fact, in areas observing DST, there are no babies on record born between 2:00 am – 3:00 am as clocks change in the Spring.

Here is a whole article on all of the pros & cons and who is doing it and who refuses to “join in the fun”.

When you find yourself yawning and running slower than a slug for the next week,  you can thank the man behind this “brain child”, a man who decided it would be a good idea to play in a lightning storm with a key tied onto a kite.

Sure, sure some people might be adjusting their spectacles, while looking down their noses at you and saying “but his essay was just satire and others came up with the practice”.

Right they are! Apparently these “others” who did base their theory on Franklin missed what my six year old son already understands, satire. Just in case you missed the definition, here is a quick refresher.

sat·ire

noun

1. 1.

   the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

   synonyms:

   mockery, ridicule, derision, scorn, caricature;

As for me, I am off to Starbucks to fill my veins with caffeine and just get through the day. Oh yeah! and to set the clock in my car, if I can remember how.

44 Years of History & 14 Stories… gone in 14 Seconds

Click to see the video from Dunbar Street.

Forty Four years of history sitting on Augusta Street came crumbing to the ground around 9:30 this morning. It only took 400 pounds of explosives and 14 seconds for the 14 story building to implode.

Onward and upward with progress as the West End expansion continues and Greenville continues to revitalize. For anyone that grew up in Greenville, SC you most likely know that Scott Towers was a retirement home or even perhaps you knew someone who lived there.

  Crowds of onlookers came to see the implosion of this piece of history. The last time we had a “Greenville Landmark Imploded” it was the Memorial Auditorium in September 1997. At the time, I was working for a different radio station that was perched in a very tall bank building in downtown and I had a bird’s-eye view of the implosion. I watched a piece of my own personal history crumble to the ground in no time at all. I saw my first concerts inside those doomed walls and I even graduated from there seven years earlier. It was a really sad feeling to see it come crumbling down in a matter of seconds.

I am all for progress and change but the site of the Memorial Auditorium, has yet to be redeveloped ( a different blog for a different time).  The same fate does not lie in store for the recently demolished site. Plans include homes for families and low-income seniors. Before that can get underway, once the site is deemed “safe”, the Greenville City Fire Department will use the demolition site as a search and rescue training site for local first responder teams. The training exercise, complete with mannequins and props is expected to commence on January 22nd.

I had to have a piece of the history, no I did not scale the fence and grab something from the rubble, my Mama raised me a little better than that. I stopped by Sunday afternoon, once the crowds and dust clouds died down to take a few pictures.

Speaking of mementos from demolished sites,  I do however, own a brick from the former first wing of my High School. A few years back the revitalization of local High Schools took away the schools that we remember. On their old site, or for some a new site, sit schools bearing our Alma Mater’s name but that is where the similarities end. My husband constantly asks what I am going to do with “that old brick” I simply say, I might use it as a door stop or just keep it forever for no real purpose. Right now it is safely tucked away inside the left side door in my desk.

A full shot of the rubble.

The Golden Globes

As I spent my day sporting my ever so stylish “rockstar jeans” and a cool yet understated black t-shirt, on the other side of the continent tinsel town is abuzz with preparations for the Golden Globes. The fashion, The Beverly Hilton, the bling, the stars and did I mention the fashion?

Thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press, it is the kick off to award season, the rocking of the red carpet and one heck of a fun night.

My husband doesn’t really keep up with all things Hollywood and asked a million questions about the show (as he always does). So for anyone who knows that “Yes Virginia, there is a Golden Globes Award Show” and that is pretty much where your knowledge begins and ends there, I’ll give you the cliff notes. To put it quite simply… it is the cool kids prom, meets awards day at the world’s most talented High School.

Scott, my husband’s interest was peaked when he found out that his favorite band U2 was nominated and won for Best Original Song. He was in the room for the acceptance speech and for a moment he understood the magic that is the Golden Globes.

Earlier, my six year old walked in the room and asked me if his favorite cartoon NFL Rush Zone was nominated. Sadly I had to break his heart and tell him no. However he said that he is sure that he will win one one day… hopefully he will not get played off the stage before he says, “I love you Mom….” Speaking of the presenters and speeches, I love the return of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to the hosting duties as well as the great writing and of course the speeches.

For more of the inside scoop go behind the scenes with the Golden Globes official site.

Be sure to join Bill and myself on the Love in The Morning Show, as we discuss all of the fashion and fanfare and fun Monday morning. We will also be giving away a set of tickets to The Regal Cinemas on the Regal Cinema’s Movie Clip Show. Be sure to check out what is opening up this week by checking out our Current Movies page.

Did you get everything that you wanted for Christmas?

Maybe it is just me but this year Thanksgiving & Christmas were one giant blur. Less than a month apart and so much to do with little time to get it all done. Add to that, the fact that my two year old mini-me is no longer two (he turned three yesterday on the 28th) and you can see how my head is still reeling from this holiday season.

What is that you say? We still have one more celebration to get through this week? How could I forget? New Years Day… and let us not forget “amateur night” (NYE) as my husband and I have come to call it.

So if Santa didn’t bring you all that you were hoping for then you have at least 359 days to make up for this one night of debauchery to whisk away all sad and bad memories from 2013. For our Southern listeners… just remember that you most likely will be invited to a relative’s home for a traditional New Year’s Day lunch or dinner to usher in good luck to your 2014 the next day.

When you are celebrating the night before just ask yourself if that last Appletini will taste as good the next day mixed with pork, collard greens and black eye peas? That is one bad memory that you do not want ushering in your 2014 and staying with you all through the year. A bit from Bill Cosby’s comedy routine Himself runs through my mind when he talks about seeing his shoes come back up after taking that “one more drink”

Traditional New Years Day meal … plated up all pretty for good luck!

For some reason, during most of my childhood I blocked this meal out of my mind. I can remember the first time realizing what we were eating and why we ate it was somewhere around 10th or 11th grade. Let me explain a little to you about me “back in the day” I had big hair with bigger ideals. I refused to eat meat for the most part, I lived on Cheese on Wheat Crackers and Diet Coke and my mother informed me that if I did not eat the pork tenderloin, collard greens (prepared with ham), black eye peas and cornbread on New Years Day that surely luck and good fortune would be elusive to me the rest of the year.

Oh! If only Google had been around in the late 1980′s I could have said “oh yeah? let me just look that up!” I just quietly loaded my plate with a tiny spoonful of black eye peas, corn bread and collard greens minus the ham bits, because I questioned nothing “back in the day” I was the example of a perfect teenager (she says tongue in cheek, just in case her two boys read this blog someday).

Why oh why, do we as an advanced culture opt for this superstitious way of eating the first day of the year? I am glad that you asked. It goes back for centuries…. one more thing that you can blame on your relatives!

In most cultures, foods prepared on New Year’s Day bring good luck. According to my mom “Bee Bee” the Greens are for your money, the peas are for your change, the pork is for good fortune (no one has bothered to ask the pig’s view on this one.) I still can not get a straight answer as to where the macaroni & cheese pie and cornbread play into this great scheme.

If you want to know more about why and where it all comes from… well my friends it is almost 2014 and Google has been around since 1998 (ten years too late for me to take on “Bee Bee” that fateful New Years Day, when the great superstitions were revealed). I looked up this food time line for you, it is a little more in depth for those who want to know and I can rest my ADD brain.

As New Year’s Day approaches, people around the world will plan for the coming year, eager to get off to the best possible start! Many people will “eat for luck”-they plan to eat special foods that, by tradition, are supposed to bring them good luck…

Bill Love informs me that it is more traditionally Southern to eat Hog Jowls— according to him “they are delicious”. I will have to take his word for that, he claims it taste like fat back— no amount of convincing could get me to pop either “food item” in my mouth.

Now I am off to post the question to a group of friends who have either relocated to the Upstate or are from here and have moved on to greener pastures. Is it just a Southern thing mostly? I would like to hear from our listeners about what your New Years Traditions are or what your traditions were growing up.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….?

… perhaps for the Midwest with the cold front moving through and predicted power outages. The signs of the Season are all around us, from the lights to the decorations to the caroling and tempting treats.

Some great lights can be found at Roper Mountain Holiday Lights.  Listen next week as we will be giving away car passes to Holiday Lights. 103.3 Earth FM is proud to have teamed up with this great program as over the past 21 years, Holiday Lights has given back over $1,936,000 to the community.

There are many great private displays too all over the Upstate, that we will also be sharing with our listeners. Here is one that a friend directed me to today Sound of Lights.

I will be taking the boys out tonight to see the show! If you know of any home displays that can’t be missed please email me at sheri@1033earthfm.com.

Oh Yeah! One more thing…. here is what you should NOT do as a family Christmas Card! Thanks Kardashian’s for making all of our family’s seem just a bit more “normal”!

Christmas Time Already?

If you have been to Haywood Mall since Halloween or pretty much any store in the past few days you will see all sorts of Christmas decor and even the “Jolly Old Elf” himself sitting around. That is right! The “Jolly Old Elf” has come to town and set up in his “North Pole South” location in Haywood Mall.

This discovery on a Saturday shopping trip made son Austin say “come on— it is just two days after Halloween.” When a six year old points out consumerism at its finest, maybe we should all take notice. Like it or not the Holidays are on the way and we all have gift list and guest list to make out. Meals to plan and cards to send. I am getting dizzy just thinking about all of the things on my “to do” list.

We have the age old question, which side of the family do we see on which Holiday? Do we have two Holidays or worse yet three Holidays? Even the dreaded question… do we dare offer up our house for the Holiday meal? Do we open presents on Christmas Eve? Christmas Morning? One more question to make your head spin… which ones to wrap and which ones to leave for Santa to bring?

A few years ago my sister, who did not have kids of her own until recently, came up with the phrase “let’s put it on your list” for my two boys. Since becoming a step mother and now a mother, in the past 18 months, she will rue the day those words ever tumbled out of her mouth.

We can not walk through a store without my six year old or two year old saying “let’s put it on the list”. They have done this so many times that I trip over said list on every shopping trip. We try to make sure our kids don’t lose the true meaning of Christmas with all of the toys and gadgets around, try as we may, it is real hard to do with doting Grandparents around.

If you are trying to put a cap on holiday spending here are a few ideas under $15.00 for your gift list.

The other morning Bill and I were talking about unique Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers. No one tell him but I am putting this in his stocking. Just click the picture to find where you too can get one! 

The Holidays come with some special treats too, like all of the Holiday Baking and goodies. If you are like me and have no time to bake or even dip something salty or sweet in chocolate, the Frito Lay Company has come up with a winner. You may disagree, Bill did, but it sounds like a winner to my salty/sweet tooth.

Due out in the next few days… Chocolate Covered Potato Chips. They are going to be released as a “Target Only, Holiday Exclusive”. I dropped by Target after the morning show and ran into the Frito Lay Guy, Thomas, while he was stocking the shelves.

These “choco-delites” are not in yet but I gave him my card and asked him to call when they came in. I can’t wait to do a review for you guys on the air.

The early buzz about the snack is that it is a hit with women because they crave both salty and sweet, men not so much. Since Bill doesn’t like salty and sweet together, our own afternoon boy wonder— Tim has offered to be the “Mikey” and try it! (for the sake of research of course.)

Halloween Events & Happenings.

As I sit here on my home computer (I received the dreaded call that I had to come retrieve a sick two year old this morning) my plan is to share with you Halloween Happenings for all ages.

At this point in my day I am sure that it is the exhaustion talking, or should I say typing, but I am pretty sure that he was playing an early Halloween prank on me. By the time we reached home and had settled in he had dismantled everything in his path. He even took out our cat Joplin several times for good measure.

At one point he sprinkled an unsuspecting Joplin, who sounds like the beginning of Cry Baby, hence the name, with water. Perhaps he stayed up watching The Exorcist over the weekend and thought it was Holy Water?

I mentioned on the air this morning about the activities on Earle Street. Let’s just say the streets are closed and it is a sight to behold. I received several calls regarding the event so I thought I’d post some more information.

Thursday, Oct 31 – Annual Earle Street Halloween Parade and Trick or Treating.  For North Main residents with small children, if you want to participate in the parade, please be at the west end of Earle Street by 6:15 pm.   After the parade, there will be trick-or-treating on the street which will be closed for the event, so no traffic to worry about.

Wednesday, Oct 30. – Homeschool Day: Cosmic Candy Caper.  10:15am-5pm.  Location: The Children’s Museum of the Upstate.  Homeschool families are invited to The Children’s Museum of the Upstate for a fun-filled day of healthy adventures. Children will learn about nutrition through interactive projects and our annual Boo!seum Show starring CATCH™ characters from outer space! Ages 5-9. $10 per child.  One free adult per family or every 5 children. Additional adults $8. Call 864-233-7755 to register. Admission: $10 per child. One free adult per family.

Thursday, Oct 31. – Ashford Estate Haunted Attraction  Residents on Ashford Ave which intersects Chick Springs are hosting a walk-through haunted attraction on Halloween night. .  Walk-through will open at dark (~6:30) and close at 9:30.   Visitors will be treated to a short ghost story upon arriving, and then will be invited to walk through the attraction and interact with the actors.  The attraction is plenty scary enough to entertain the whole family, and we offer a “no scare option” for children under 10.

Other Activities for Halloween & The Rest of the Week.

*At The Hughes Main Library, Heritage Green -Downtown Greenville

-Kindercraft: Paper Bag Pumpkins

October 30, 10:30AM

– Bouncing Baby BOO Bash

October 31, 11AM

________________________________

*Halloween Trick-Or-Treating- Haywood Mall, Greenville

Thursday, October 31, 5-7PM

___________________________________

*Denver Downs Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze – Hwy 76, Anderson

Sept 28 – Nov 2

Pumpkin Patch, Hay Rides, Apple Cider, & More!

http://denverdownsfarm.com______

_________________________

Here is a link to a few million other activities—- BTW– this is my sweet brave Jasper who is no longer with us. I dressed her as a Hotdog a few years ago. She was less than thrilled, as you can see. Just click on the picture to see all of the Greenville & Upstate Happenings.

Bill Love Lets The Gloves Come Off.

Our very own Bill Love of “Love in the Morning” took time out of his busy schedule on Monday to be on “Scene on Seven”. He jumped into the ring with Craig DeBolt for The Main Event. We are proud of Bill for always sticking to his guns. Click the picture to watch the segment.

Craig Debolt and Bill Love hit the ring with Debra Capps to discuss: former NSA contractor Edward Snowden fled the county with classified documents and information is still being leaked from these documents five months later, Rapper Jay-Z getting backlash for not cutting ties with \”Barneys\” and controversy over \”Anna Rexia\” costume.

via Snowden Leaks, Jay-Z and Costume Controversy.

Halloween is on the Way.

Happy, Happy Halloween.. Halloween… Happy, Happy Halloween– Silver Shamrock!

That little jingle from Halloween 3 has always kept me from wearing a mask. I still remembering sitting up at a slumber party watching that movie and suddenly when it gets to the big commercial and scare-a-thon, I look around the room and realize that I am the only one still awake.

To this day I can watch a horror movie with no problem but when I am alone and things go “bump” and “creak” in the night, I can’t seem to get those horror movies out of my head.

Now that I have two little ones of my own, we have a tradition of going to Halloween Carnivals or Trunk-or Treats (I had to look that one up myself– the first time we were invited.) My six year old has his own tradition of choosing to wear too many costumes. For each of the past three years he has had no less than three per Halloween. A little indulgent? Yes! but you are only a kid once.

What are some of your Halloween traditions? Do you go “Trick-or-Treating”, go to a carnival or just visit friends or relatives? Do you know of any “must go” neighborhoods or festivals? We would love the hear about them. Drop me a line at sheri@1033earthfm.com or leave a comment below.