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Good Ideas: Health
Women's health in Jackson must encompass many things—healthy food, exercise and mental-health resources, to name a few—but wellness also depends on reproductive health, which is one of the areas where...
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An Overdue Homecoming
Jim Wiley had a mission. As chairman of the All American Service Persons parade committee, he tried for two and a half years to get a state parade in honor of Vietnam veterans like himself. "Because we...
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Jones' 'Beautiful Jim'
"Beautiful Jim" is an intimate documentary portrait of bisexual singer-songwriter and raconteur Jimbeau Hinson. The film, which Rex Jones directed, conveys Hinson's life experience through a series of...
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Joe LaNier: Survivor
Iwo Jima is a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean. Its name is seared into the psyche of anyone even remotely familiar with American history in World War II. The island has reached mythical...
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A Perfect Shelter
Welcome to 1950s Perfect Suburbia, U.S.A. The opening credits appear over a black-and-white scene that instantly reminds me of "Leave it to Beaver," so much so that I half expect to see June and Ward...
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Folk Tale
Folk songs have existed about as long as music has been around. Some are about everyday issues; some tell a story. One type of folk song, which deals with crime, is called a moritat, such as "Zela...
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Shifting Sands
When I was little, my mom would buy me sand-art kits. They were the simple kind—just colored sand and whimsically shaped bottles. But Corrie Francis Parks' "A Tangled Tale" made me realize sand art's...
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The Odd Couple
The striking film "Mr. Hublot," directed by Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares, is like Steampunk meets "The Jetsons"—a post-apocalyptic universe of steam-powered machines and propeller hats that...
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Running Scared
Did you know Oxford has one of the largest cedar buckets in the world? The city held the title after the Murfreesboro bucket burned down, up until it was rebuilt. Other fun facts: Gulfport has the...
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Forever is a Long Time
Though I like the film "Forev" by Molly Green and James Leffler, it's frustrating to watch, and not because of any flaws often seen on screen. It's actually my favorite type of film. "Forev" has an...
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Grim Reaper
Henry Fleetwood is, by his own standards, average. He is clever, but jaded—a gloomy fatalist. Besides his wit and weariness, he doesn't have much to remark upon. He has exhausted himself in searching...
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Bringing the South to Alaska
Uprooting your life and taking it to an unfamiliar place is a scary idea, but it's necessary, sometimes, to keep your sanity. That's what the ladies in "Baking Alaska" did. After Jackie and Kathy's...
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Harrowing Sounds
Alan Lomax's role in the preservation of American folk and blues music can never be understated. Lomax traveled around the country collecting interviews and songs for the Library of Congress in...
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Murder and Justice
You'd be forgiven for thinking "Money 1955: The Emmett Till Murder Trial" is a documentary, given that the trial marked the start of the Civil Rights Movement. But as it turns out, the film—produced...
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Something to Offer
The title of Lyn Elliot's short film, "A Good Match," hints at its relationship-hinged plot, and the film's opening sequence of a revolving slot machine of faces does the same. But it's not until the...
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Friendship Interrupted
"This is Ravi. Can everyone say hello to Ravi?" the teacher asks as her hand rests on the shoulder of the awkward and shy boy standing before the class. With that introduction, Ravi joins his peers at...
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East Meets West, Bound by Brass
Trumpet and brass bands are a huge deal in Serbia. Each year, the town of Guca hosts a trumpet festival where the world's finest players and bands perform for hundreds of thousands of people. Imagine...
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No Hate
"My own mother doesn't agree with what I'm fighting for," Holli Banks, a volunteer with the "No on Proposition 8" campaign, told a documentary filmmaker in 2008. "She said to me, 'The Bible clearly...
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Candidates You May Not Know
As Election Day draws near to replace late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, many of the official mayoral candidates are doing their best to draw in more supporters, but what about the lesser-known candidates?The...
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