Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Hurricane Chrissy

It's Monday morning at WNOX, and morning talk show guy Hallerin Hill is fresh off vacation. He's hosting his regular politicos, George Korda and Dennis Francis. Last week, Hill missed out on one of the biggest local stories of the year in the unraveling of UT President John Shumaker, who resigned last Friday under a cloud the size of Texas. Hill opines that the whole flap would be forgotten if only the Vols could win a national championship in football right now, and he asks his listeners to name their favorites to succeed Shumaker. His is TVA board member Bill Baxter. Korda, who is billed as a "political analyst," is moderately contrite about the aggressive, vociferous Shumaker defense he'd been mounting in recent weeks. He explains that early on in the imbroglio, he'd gotten a call from the UT president's office soliciting crisis-management advice. He says he went on over and told Shumaker to tell the truth and ask for an audit; but sadly, Shumaker "misled" him. He says he was not paid for his advice (no "no-bid" contract for Korda). The Hill/Korda combo was evidently too much for a listener named Chrissy, who identified herself as a UT employee. She called in and reamed them both, calling Hill "Shallow Hal" for his football championship theory of crisis management and raking Korda over the coals for not having disclosed his professional relationship with the embattled UT president when he went on Hill's morning talk show defending him. Korda became increasingly apologetic. Hill became increasingly apoplectic, shouting Chrissy down, and eventually cutting her off.

An Endless List

This past Monday afternoon, the line to pay UT student fees for fall semester trailed outside the bursar's office in the Student Services Building, down the hall, around the corner, and then down the hall some more. At line's end, a student came up and asked, "Is this to pay fees?" The immediate response from the student at the end: "No, this is the line to apply for the university presidency."

Free Birds

Just because the Chillbillies played for a room full of morticians last week doesn't mean their audience was a collection of stiffs, says Chillbilly drummer/spokesman Teddy Phillips, whose day job is running Phillips & Jordan (a construction firm that handled the cleanup of the World Trade Center site in New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks). "The Southern Cemetery and Funeral Association was a lively bunch," says Phillips, "and they wanted lively music." The Chillbillies are becoming Knoxville's premier party band, with a 150-song repertoire and a rule against practicing. The Big Chill is lawyer/sports agent and former Tennessee Vol and Minnesota Viking Tim Irwin, who is a singer/songwriter and guitar player. Keyboard and harmonica player. George Massengill runs RPM Studio in Cookeville. Flute player Don Taylor used to play with Lynyrd Skynyrd and now works as a counselor at Brushy Mountain State Prison. Bass player Larry Patton toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Grateful Dead. Victor Hill plays the guitar. The 'Billies will be coming out with a CD, "Chillbillies Plugged," just in time for the fall party season, and will be playing at the Doghouse on Northshore Drive on Friday nights before home football games.

Size Plus Exer?

Just a week after Metro Pulse's July 31 cover on childhood obesity, we got an announcement of the opening of a new up-size clothing store in West Town Mall. Called Torrid, the store specializes in clothes for junior women sized 14 to 26. If you believe the packet of news clips that Hot Topic Inc.—Torrid's parent company—put out, the plus-size-for-youth idea is one of the fastest growing trends in the country. The store offers hip fashions for larger girls and women. Given the prevalence of bulimia, anorexia, and other eating disorders in women, perhaps it's an idea that was a long time coming. Certainly the media culture's standard of pencil-thin is not a particularly healthy model for women.

Memories of Being Young

Paunchy? Bald? Botoxed? You'll be in good company with the rest of the Young High graduates at their upcoming class reunion. Reunion coordinator Carol Moore (Class of '73) has sent out the call to all graduates of the South Knoxville high school, including confirmed attendees actor David Keith (Class of '72) and News Sentinel columnist Sam Venable (Class of '65). The Class of '73 has been gathering every five years, but the parties got smaller and less exciting, so Moore decided to open this year's event to every graduate. Moore has heard from folks who graduated as long ago as the 1940s, including one man who is going to bring his collection of Young High memorabilia. Moore is encouraging all attendees to bring mementos and stories of their days at Young High, which was torn down 20 years ago. The reunion will be held at 7 p.m., Aug. 30, at Rothchild Catering on Kingston Pike.