Yazoo Pass relies on Juke Joint Festival

Tourists relax outside of Yazoo Pass during the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The restaurant opened in 2011 and has grown each year thanks to locals and, of course, the Juke Joint Festival which brings in tremendous sales for the weekend. Photo by Randall Haley.

              Clarksdale’s 12^th annual Juke Joint Festival hit the streets on April 11. Because of the numerous visitors the festival brought in to the small Delta town, stores and restaurants busily prepared months in advance for the big day.

            Although the Juke Joint Festival was scheduled to take place on one day, Saturday, visitors bring new business to the town over the entire weekend, generally starting on Thursday.

Yazoo Pass, a bistro and bakery in the heart of downtown Clarksdale, was a big hit for the tourists. Owners John Cocke and Meri Tenhet said they didn’t do enough to prepare for this year’s festival.

“We triple our sales during Juke Joint,” Cocke said, comparing the Saturday of Juke Joint sales to their busiest day of the week, Friday.

John Cocke, owner of Yazoo Pass, poses in front of the counter of his restaurant. Cocke’s main occupation is a lawyer, but he is fascinated with running restaurants, and thus owns Yazoo Pass as a hobby. Photo by Randall Haley.

Yazoo Pass opened in 2011 and has grown in sales, as well as menu items, every year.

“When I first started this, I kind of pictured it as mostly pastries and just small lunch,” Tenhet said. “And we are going into our fourth year of business, and we run six days a week, 14 hours a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So we’ve turned into much more than I ever imagined we would.”

According to Tenhet, in years past when the Juke Joint Festival took place, everything ran smoothly. This year, however, was far more chaotic.

“This year was really different from many other years because I got sick,” Tenhet said. “I had to have an emergency appendectomy the week of Juke Joint. So we had a lot of crashes this year that we wouldn’t normally have.”

Tenhet said the staff handled the “crashes” the best they could, but it was hard not having her there to tell them how much food to prep and what to prep.

“After three days of intense business, which is about three times what we would normally do in a day… after a while with no leadership, things tend to break apart a little bit,” Tenhet said.

Although chaotic, owners Tenhet and Cocke still look forward to the festival each year.

“I wish we had two or three juke joints during the year,” Tenhet said. “It really kind of helps us get over a little plateau, usually, that we can’t seem to get over without it because we’re in such a small town in the Delta. So we depend on the Juke Joint.”

Cocke says that Yazoo Pass is a “good little hub” for Clarksdale.

“It’s hard to make money here, and I can’t tell you that we’re really making money, but we’re going to hang in here for the long haul, and we think it’s going to be well,” Cocke said. “It’s important for the city.”

Cocke and Tenhet said that they feel their restaurant was such a big hit during the Juke Joint because they have things to offer that no other restaurant in town does, which is a hard task considering there are many restaurants distinctly unique to Clarksdale.

“Just about everything we serve in there is homemade,” Tenhet said. “There are very few things that we actually purchase that we don’t turn into something else and make our own. So that’s huge in a small town.“

Although they have a different menu for each meal, Yazoo Pass serves a full hot breakfast and lunch in addition to having a fresh food salad bar everyday. They also have frozen yogurt and coffee all day long. At night, the lights go down and they serve steaks, seafood, and pastas. Tenhet says they serve “anything you can imagine.”

The restaurant also has a full bar for visitors to enjoy.

“Last year we got our liquor license,” Tenhet said. “That has made a tremendous difference in our bottom line, and hopefully that will continue to help.”

John Cocke said that Charles Langford of Clarksdale is one customer who often comes in for a “grand slam,” the term Cocke gave when people come in for all three meals in one day.

“It is absolutely fantastic,” Langford said. “It is definitely my favorite restaurant in town (because of) the quality of the food and the service of the people, the friendliness of the people. I come in at least five times a week.”

Cocke and Tenhet are pleased with the feedback they receive from both locals and tourists.

Customers enjoy a meal at Yazoo Pass during the annual Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Photo by Randall Haley.

“It’s a great feeling to know that we have really become a spot in Clarksdale,” Tenhet said. “I think it’s just a bright spot that draws all walks of life in it: every age, every race, everybody in town. It seems to be a place that young or old, black or white, people have embraced and that in itself makes me happy, even if we weren’t successful in making it on our bottom line because I think we’ve kind of been a shot in the arm to Clarksdale just from that aspect of it.”

Find out more of what customers are saying by checking out the Storify link here. 

Ole Miss New Media Conference

Check out the Storify link here.

Multimedia Project Pitch

For years, Clarksdale’s storeowners have looked forward to the Juke Joint Festival for a boost in sales. With the 12^th annual festival coming April 11, stores hurriedly prepare for the tourists. The festival seems to have grown every year, one aspect I will look into in my coverage of the story. My main focus will be how the festival affects Clarksdale’s economy. I plan to use a blend of video, photos, and text. This is definitely a visual project: the best way to capture these Blues-enriched festivities is visually. The festival will have several different events scheduled throughout the day, in which I may decide to narrow down my focus to one particular event. However, that’s kind of hard to judge until I talk to some folks and check out the events for myself. But for now, the focus is how Clarksdale’s economy is affected by the festival.

Now What, CF?

Valerie Pettit, 23, is from Tupelo, Mississippi. She suffers from cystic fibrosis, but has, by far, exceeded what doctors have suggested regarding her life span. Photo by Randall Haley.

Some patients have compared it to breathing through a straw. Others have dreaded the horrid clinical visit that reveals the information that will either bring them to tears or a joyous revelation. Twenty-three-year-old Valerie Pettit says cystic fibrosis (CF) won’t stop “me from living my dreams.”

Her pale, light complexions reveal her cheerful spirit, while red hair reflects her fiery passion to overcome this ailment. Strong-willed and stubborn, Valerie refuses to listen to doctors as they attempt to place a number on the days of her life.

“When I was born, they said I wouldn’t live past five years old,” Valerie said. “And then they said I wouldn’t live to graduate high school.”

Valerie, who is from Tupelo, received her high school diploma in 2010, her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mississippi State University in 2014, and plans to attend law school when she learns more of how a new study drug will affect her health.

From the time she wakes up until she lies her head down for rest, she is conscious of her condition and performs as many exercises as possible to improve her health.

Valerie takes about 15 pills every morning, medications which promote bone health, increase appetite, and decrease acid in the stomach, among many others. She must take a pill with each meal to help her digest her food.

According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, CF is a genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. The life-threatening disease is caused by a defective gene and its protein product, which causes the body to produce a thick mucus that clogs the lungs, obstructs the pancreas, and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down food and absorb vital nutrients.

Valerie must take breathing treatments two to three times a day to increase her lung function. Along with her breathing treatments, Valerie straps on a vest, which helps the mucus surface. She described the strenuous vest treatment as uncomfortable yet necessary.

A majority of CF patients must attend monthly checkups, but Valerie has remained “stable” enough to go for a clinical visit every three to four months. When she was a child, the average number of times she would be admitted for a hospital stay, which generally lasted 10 days, was six times a year. That number has decreased to once a year for Valerie.

Though she is doing remarkably well now, the family experienced one of the biggest scares of Valerie’s lifetime in May of 2014.

The family was on their way to Atlanta from Tupelo to attend a Braves game, and they stopped in Birmingham for Valerie’s blood to be drawn so doctors could see how her antibiotics were affecting her.

“We went to Atlanta that Tuesday night,” she said. “Wednesday afternoon, the doctor called, said, ‘Get to Birmingham, you’re in kidney failure’.”

Valerie was in the hospital for about 15 days. She was put on dialysis four or five times during her stay.

“That was the worst pain I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she said. “We really thought I wasn’t going to make it. I shouldn’t have made it.”

Valerie said her mother is her biggest encouragement. She is who drove 100 miles per hour to get Valerie to the hospital in Birmingham, she is who is by her side in every hospital stay, and she is who is there for almost every checkup. As Valerie said, “She is there 99 percent of the time.”

And although her mother is there most of the time, her brother, Allen Pettit, 24, does his share of help and support.

“As her brother, CF basically puts huge amounts of stress on me everyday,” Allen said. “I ask myself everyday, ‘Why her? Why could it not be me’?”

Allen said that he encouraged Valerie to share an apartment with him in Starkville while they were both attending classes at MSU.

“We were roommates so that I could watch her and make sure she was healthy,” Allen said.

Allen recalls a moment when he and Valerie were younger.

“When she was in children’s hospital (Le Bonheur), we used to get her out of the room and roll around in wheel chairs to boost her spirits,” Allen said.

Valerie has many friends who suffer from CF who provide her with courage,as she does them.

Unfortunately, Valerie can’t come in close proximity with these friends because of the frailty of CF patients, who are extremely susceptible to common illnesses such as the flu or even a simple head cold, which greatly weaken their immune systems.

Molly Reynolds, also a CF patient, has only spoken with Valerie through Facebook. She said, “Valerie has encouraged me in many ways, but mainly through her perseverance to remain healthy (and) positive, even when CF tries to knock her down.”

Another friend of Valerie’s, Amberly Knowles, has never met Valerie in person either, but the two keep in close contact through texting as well as social media.

“Valerie seems to handle her CF very well,” Amberly said. “When she gets a bad report, she tries to prove the doctors wrong.”

Friends typically see Valerie as being strong, but she confessed that she, too, gets down at times. However, with the progress researchers are making in finding a cure, there have never been more exciting times for CF patients.

Valerie said researchers have now found a medicine that dramatically improves lung function for four percent of the CF population. Although the medicine won’t help her particular case, she has hope that a cure will be discovered in the next five years due to all the information researchers have found.

Valerie finds it vital for CF patients to be active as a means to help their lung functions.

“When other parents come and talk to us,” she said. “I say, ‘be sure and keep the child active as long as you can. Do sports, do anything’.”

Valerie played every sport possible while she was in high school, and said her lung function decreased while she was in college, the only time she was not playing sports.

Valerie enjoys a trip to see the Atlanta Braves at least once a year to boost her spirits, travels to the beach for vacation as often as possible because the salty air helps her lungs, plays church league softball, has plans to get married in June, and continuously posts to Facebook to keep her friends and fans updated on her CF journey. Valerie will fight until the day a cure is found.

Those interested in supporting CF patients can learn more about the illness or donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation by checking out their website.

“Now what, CF?” Valerie asks. “Here’s to kicking CF’s butt.”

Storify of Alumni reaction to the firing of Dan Jones

https://storify.com/randall_haley/alumni-react-to-school-board-decision-on-chancello

Federer and the game of tennis

One can really feel the power and strategic aspects of tennis, almost as if they’re experiencing the courts of Wimbledon from a front seat row, through the intriguing feature of Roger Federer in The New York Times article “Federer as Religious Experience” by David Foster Wallace.

This piece explores Federer’s life as a tennis player by discussing his own personal strategies and how he plays the game. The story also describes the scenes of the biggest tournament in the world of tennis, the Wimbledon Championship.

There are many incredible anecdotes throughout this story that draw readers in immensely, and the piece was extremely well written. I knew very little about tennis before I read this story. After reading it, I feel that I could compete in the Wimbledon championship myself.

One part that I particularly liked was when Wallace mentioned the coin-tosser, 7-year-old William Caines. All the information Wallace gives really creates a scene that you can feel is right before your eyes. Caines was a young boy who was suffering from liver cancer, had been from the age of two. Wallace goes on to explain both Federer and Federer’s opponent, Nadal’s, reactions to the coin toss, a scene that really gives you a glimpse of who Federer is off the courts. The only part I thought could have been approached differently concerning the coin-tosser was when Wallace brings Caines back into the story later on and says, “How did she (the mother) answer her child’s question – the big one, the obvious one? And who could answer hers? What could any priest or pastor say that wouldn’t be grotesque?” And he ends the brief description of Caines on that note. This leaves readers wondering what ever happened to the little boy. I think the writer would have been better off to never bring Caines back up in the story without a follow up.

Wallace gives incredibly vivid pictures of Federer himself. I love how he compares him to other tennis players early in the story by pointing out to his readers that this guy, Federer, is different from all players, on and off the courts. He is the Michael Jordan of basketball, the Great Bambino of baseball. He seems honorable in every aspect of life. Wallace mentions how he manages his own life at home and how he has remained in a long term relationship with a woman, who has traveled with him in his career, something Wallace says is an extreme rarity amongst players of the Wimbledon.

Another description Wallace makes that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing in this piece was how Federer placed the tennis ball in the V-shape of his racquet before his first and second serves, every time. He gives you something you can picture taking place that ads originality to Federer.

One of the best descriptions in the entire story was when Wallace mentioned how fast a ball travels after it is served. He said, “That means it takes 0.41 seconds for his serve to reach you. This is less than the time it takes to blink quickly, twice.” Comparing the speed to blinking brought a lot of life to how quick paced the game is. Wallace did extremely well at bringing this person and experience to life for the readers. It’s definitely better than watching from TV, I was there on the courts with Federer when I read this story.

Wallace has very few errors in this story from what I can find. And they almost don’t even matter. The weight of the greatness of this story causes these minute errors to disappear.

The End Of All Music, the beginning of Young Buffalo

Oxford — Local record store, The End Of All Music, held an album release party Tuesday for the band Young Buffalo, who released their debut album “House.”
The record store, which celebrated its third year anniversary this month, is known for its vast supply of new and used vinyl. In addition, the store hosts album release parties for local bands as often as possible.

“The guys or girls that are in the bands around town are also really good customers of mine. So, It’s kind of (an) I help you, you help me type thing,” David Swider, owner of The End Of All Music, said. “We do a lot of in-stores and promotion of local stuff. I think any good record store should really be a part of the local music scene.”

Swider said he adds perks, such as album release parties, not only to help the local bands, but also to enhance the experience of his store. Because the Internet is a huge competitor for Swider, he finds ways to offer customers something unique.

“It’s not just some junky record store, it’s a really well curated space,” Swider said. “It’s really kind of pleasant to look at. It definitely cannot be replicated by any online experience, or any big box store experience. It’s much more of a vibe of come hang out and stay for a while, listen to records, talk to me, talk to other people. So yeah, it can be quite the meeting place, and a place of discovery.”

Luke Gaffney, student of The University of Mississippi, comes to the store every Tuesday to browse through the new arrivals.

The End Of All Music offers much more than vinyl and in-store performances. There is also a Record of the Month Club for loyal customers, where Swider sends out his vinyl pick of the month to every customer who is subscribed. The store is also in a coalition with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), which helps Swider get a hold of records he, otherwise, wouldn’t have been able to for his store.

In an era where anybody can download music online, Swider believes that vinyl is still the best way to listen to music.

“When you look back on the history of music, the one format of music that’s made it through all of them is vinyl,” Swider said. “So, you can kind of say vinyl is the end of all music because they have not ever been improved upon.”

One of Swider’s main reasons for hosting in-store performances is for his customers who appreciate a more mellow approach than the bar scene in Oxford.

“It’s a really good opportunity for people who don’t really like to go to bars, have kids or that kind of thing because they’re (the performances) always during the day or middle afternoon,” Swider said. “It’s a good way for people who aren’t going to go to a club to see a band. They can come here and be in a little bit less rowdy of an atmosphere.”

Swider has been friends with members of the band for years, and was thrilled to host the release party for their debut album.

Young Buffalo is a five-member band, all of which are from Oxford with the exception of Andy Guinn, who is from Monroe, Louisiana.

From left: Will Eubanks (keyboardist), Andy Guinn (bassist), Jim Barrett (lead vocalist and guitarist), Ben Yarbrough (vocalist and guitarist), Tim Bulkhead (drummer), and David Swider (owner of The End Of All Music). Young Buffalo played a few of their tracks for an album release party of their debut album “House,” hosted by David Swider.

The band, which began creating single tracks in 2009, will begin a tour focused on their new album in April and will be traveling to various towns and cities all over the United States.

Jim Barrett, lead vocalist and guitarist, said the band began working on the album at the end of 2013. However, some of the songs featured on the album were songs they had written a few years in advance.

Barrett said they decided on the name of the band after “Young Buffalo” had become an inside joke, more or less, between him and Ben Yarbrough, vocalist and guitarist.

“It’s what I had as a title for the songs I was working on in high school,” Barrett said. “And, it was just a nickname I had for him (Yarbrough) when I would text him or something. Then when we were playing our first show at a July 4th party, we looked for a name, and it was the only one that sounded good. So, five, six years later, it’s still here. There hasn’t been a better idea yet.”

The band will be performing at The Lyric tonight at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are available here. You can also find out more about the End Of All Music by checking out their website here, and more information about Young Buffalo can be found here.

Catch a sneak peek of the band and their performance by checking out this video:

In Class Timeline Assignment

http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline/latest/embed/index.html?source=0AriEWj-VjvPWdGlaOW94d283UVQ2a0p3b2JjSTNmS1E&font=Bevan-PotanoSans&maptype=toner&lang=en&height=650

Ira Glass and Storytelling Tips

Ira Glass from This American Life gave viewers insight on storytelling with broadcasting tips on his video series titled “Ira Glass on Storytelling.”

He discussed how new broadcasters may have great ideas, but they must be careful by being sure they execute their work well. The best way to do that, Glass says, is to do a tremendous amount of work and by creating deadlines for yourself. If you do that, “the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions,” Glass said.

Glass said there are two major building blocks to broadcasting: the anecdote and the moment of reflection. He mentioned how a strong anecdote, or sequence of actions, can be your most powerful part of a story. The suspense of the anecdote keeps the reader/viewer’s attention.

“In a story form where an anecdote is happening, it has a momentum in and of itself that no matter how boring the facts are… you can feel that you’re on a train that has a destination,” Glass said.

Glass said, with the anecdote, you want to keep people guessing. Continuously raise questions that imply you will later answer them. The more questions you raise, the better the story, and you can answer the questions along the way.

The second building block Glass mentioned, the moment of reflection, basically tells your reader/viewer the point of the story. As Glass put it, “At some point somebody has to say this is why the hell you’re reading this and why I’m wasting all your time with this.”

Glass said it takes time working with this.

“It’s your job to understand either you don’ t have a sequence of actions or you don’t have a moment of reflections that works,” Glass said. “And you’re going to need both. And, in a good story you’re going to flip back and forth between the two.”

Glass also gave hope to all broadcasters who fear that their work is lacking.

“You got to record and get rid of a lot of crap before you get to anything special,” Glass said.

Glass harped on encouraging broadcasters to continuously work, and if they’re failing they are doing something right. They will fail sometimes, but the more they work, eventually they’ll produce something great, something special. In this section, he also discussed how writers must be tough. They must understand failure is a big part of success.

He said broadcasters must be themselves, it’s their best quality. When they’re behind the camera talking to their viewers, they must talk like a human being, preferably themselves.

“The more you are your own self, the better you are,” Glass said.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video series by Ira Glass. Although I’m a print journalism major, I think his broadcasting tips can be implied to all facets of journalism. I appreciated the way he talked with his viewers. It was as if there were no camera at all, but he was talking directly to you as a new journalist. He isn’t only a good speaker, but most certainly practices what he preaches.

Questions Regarding Knuckleball!, The Documentary

For Christine Schomer, TV and documentary producer,

1. What influenced you to focus on knuckleballers as opposed to closing pitchers?

2. How many people did it take to put this documentary together?

3. How much of the video was used in the documentary compared to how much was actually filmed?