#hale county this morning this evening

[eevylynn]

You're Good

Sterek || E || Friends to Lovers || 7k wc

“I’m comfortable with my life,” Stiles told Lydia, and he was. He had a job he loved, his pack was safe, and he got to see them regularly. Yeah, there was one thing he would like to change, but there's only so much he can do to change that one thing. Stiles was pretty sure that dating other people wouldn’t help. Or Stiles agrees to let Lydia set him up on a blind date, not realizing who exactly she had in mind.

AN: I realized I never made a full on tumblr post with this..oops!

This was written For L_Grae with the prompts: ~Mutual pining with meddling from the pack. ~Future fic, blind date set up by certain packmates, not realizing Sterek has a FWB agreement already.

Unfortunately, I can't quite write friends with benefits (I gave it a valiant effort, but my brain just couldn't get it right), so I merged the prompts together.

Sterek Valentine's Bingo 2024: Candle

~*~*~*~

Locking the office up with a whistle, Stiles tossed his keys in the air before catching them and shoving them in his back pocket before he turned to walk down the street to the combination coffee and bar that sat a block or so away from his office. He mentally patted himself on the back for that smooth move before abruptly tripping on nothing. Stiles looked around quickly. No one saw that.

That was the one good thing about it getting dark before Stiles even leaves the office at this time. The whole shorter days thing that came with winter coming AND Daylight Savings Time ending at the same time does get somewhat depressing at times, but it’s not like Stiles has never gone around town at night before.

Back in high school, nights were the only times that Stiles could really investigate supernatural happenings what with needing to actually go to school. He always did love a good puzzle to investigate and even contemplated  joining the FBI. However, after botching up his own internship with the FBI, Stiles ended up going to college at Beacon Hills Community College. While still in school, Stiles started a side hustle as a Supernatural Private Investigator, and, upon graduation, he was able to devote his time to his growing business, even opening an office in the slowly reemerging downtown area of Beacon Hills.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the local Beacon County packs, the Nemeton was growing healthily again, bringing positive energies with it, something even the everyday humans could feel. Because of this, more people, both supernatural and human, were moving to town and slowly building up the local economy.

Just the short walk between Stiles’ office and Lunar Lounge, his favorite bar and coffee shop, included a boutique one of Stiles’ old classmates opened, a vegan smoothie shop, owned by a nice family of elves that just moved here a few years back, and a greenhouse bookstore whose owners were always more than happy to provide Stiles with any herbs he needed for potions work after he helped them with a pixie infestation that took residence in one of their personal gardens at their house.

The Lunar Lounge was where many of the Hale pack worked. Open practically 24 hours, it served coffee and breakfast for the morning crowd before transitioning into a pub style bar in the afternoons. In addition to providing human beverages, Lunar Lounge also offered a variety of specialty drinks for the different supernaturals of Beacon Hills, including but not limited to wolfsbane infused homebrews, real bloody marys, and a selection of shimmering, almost ethereal, wines that Peter had procured a vendor for that Stiles was pretty sure was fae, but the wolf refused to confirm or deny that suspicion.

Entering the open double doors, Stiles nodded at Isaac who was behind the bar preparing some fancy pink and yellow monstrosity of a cocktail that was most definitely too sweet for Stiles’ liking.

He crossed the open sea of scuffed wooden tables, dodging a pair of colorful haired women that suddenly blocked his path as they stood up to go who knows where. Reaching the back corner, he found Derek at his usual table that he’d probably been sitting at for the last several hours, hidden from most by a black metal staircase that led to a lofted lounge area. Dark eyebrows furrowed as Derek continued to type on his laptop.

As Stiles plopped down in the seat across from him, Derek glanced up before he said, “I’m almost done. Give me a minute.”

Stiles grinned, “You’re good.” Derek smiled before turning his attention back to the screen.

Continue reading on ao3

[domesticated-feral]

small town AU where:

Scott and Melissa moved there after losing the house during the divorce and she's working at the rural clinic while he's working under Dr. Deaton.

Stiles is still the kid of a sheriff and the sheriff's department takes care of beacon hills as well as the surrounding other small towns in the county :)

Four words, Livestock Veterinarian Alan Deaton! Four more bonus words Livestock Veterinary Assistant Scott!!! A bunch of more words Deaton and Scott with cute little baby farm animals!!!!!!!!

(if i truly had the energy to do so, i would love to continue writing my livestock vet Scott + farmhand Stiles fic, but that's a different AU)

Derek Hale is a city kid turned farmhand on an old man's farm (the old man in question is Elias, Stiles' grandfather)(and to the question why is Stiles or his father working at the farm is because 1. Elias lets his son work as a sheriff because whatever and 2. Stiles is a walking disaster no way is he letting that boy in charge of farm chores nuh uh not even on a lazy almost fall summer day where there's not much than the usual morning feeding also 3. Derek was only hired after Elias accepted that he was not as young and capable as he used to be and Noah and Stiles put themselves in charge of finding a farmhand)(Derek was the only one to send in a reply to their job ad) and the farm primarily raises sheep for meat and wool but I'd like to think that after Derek started working there a few years back he'd regularly add in new animals every summer or so. Sometimes he'd raise poultry, sometimes it's a small drove of pigs, sometimes it's not even animals but just a crop of pumpkins and squash and tomatoes and cucumbers!!

Derek loves the sheep. He's a shepherd through and through.

Jackson is not a whittemore but a miller, except his parents just died a bit later into his life and he lives with the whittemores on their large scale hay farm where there's an added bonus (to me)! h o r s e s !!!!

(all of this is just a way for me to write my fav characters interacting with my longest running obsession of all time, horses)

Lydia's mother owns the town's bistro/bar, her father owns the lodge built next to it. It used to be a whole business but it split with the divorce but there's still the whole B&B package deal to this day as it's wayyyyy too popular to risk losing business by stopping it.

Allison moved there pretty recently and the guns business her family owns fits in pretty well with the need for safety of the farmer and their livestock from predators and also for the wild game hunters in the late summer through fall hunting season.

Scott and Lydia bonding over being two kids from a divorced family. Scott and Lydia bonding over having pet dogs (Roxy is alive and Prada and her are absolute besties). Scott and Lydia being partners in science projects. Scott and Lydia spending wayy too long staring into each others eyes than how much friends would. Scott and Lydia realizing they want to be more than friends.

Stiles spouting off cool animal facts that Scott 100% already knew but acts like he didn't because both of them are stupidly in love with each other.

Scott meeting Derek when on the job. He can't help but crush over Derek and his enthusiasm over regenerative agricultural practices.

Jackson trying to impress Scott and Stiles by trotting up and down the main street on his horse. (I live laugh love by my Scott/Stiles/Jackson agenda) He also gets his dad to bring his horse over to school so he can just ride on it back home, in hopes of impressing Scott and Stiles but Scott is too invested in Stiles animal facts that they only way Jackson really has a chance was when Scott came over with Deaton for an emergency check up on a rogue cow on their property that was limping bad. Jackson straight up embarasses himself because he's a loser :P but Scott finds the attempt endearing and asks if he'd want to hang out with him and Stiles. It's the beginning of a slippery slope of 'Oh. Oh.' realizations for the three of them.

Scott and Allison meeting each other at the bistro and it starts a blossoming relationship that tugs at the heartstrings. It's cute little notes during class and hanging out at the bistro over hot chocolate even on hot days and going over to each others house to watch TV to cuddle under the same blanket and quick glances at each other and it's so goshdarn cute.

BASICALLY, SCOTT/EVERYONE because I can't choose which ship to go with this au because Scott DESERVES everyone and everyones ALSO DESERVES Scott :D

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Bloodline: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.9k

Summary: Never have you heard of a family killing together, and never have you heard of generation of families killing together. Yet here you are.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained." - Winston Churchill

The last case was a rush because they called you in after three women were dead, but this time is different. Alabama PD discovered a family killed inside their home and immediately called your team in due to the brutality of the murders. You didn't even have time to talk in the briefing room since this is a top-priority case.

After everyone gets settled on the plane, the meeting starts. JJ is still on maternity leave, but Jordan doesn't want to do this job anymore. Not after the case with Norman, the guy who was killing people with his sawed-off shotgun after they cut him off while driving. She got a look into how brutal the job can be and decided it isn't for her.

However, JJ has one more week until she's back so this will be Jordan's last case.

A family was found murdered inside their home at one in the morning, and their ten-year-old daughter is missing. Cases involving children are always the hardest because most children don't survive within the first twenty-four hours of being kidnapped. Cate is ten years old, but that doesn't mean she's safe from being murdered like the rest of her family.

You have about half a day to find her alive.

"We got the links of the crime scene photos." Jordan pulls up the photos of the family who was killed. "This is Geoff and Nancy Hale with both their throats cut."

"Is there any evidence of abuse?"

"No."

"Slitting someone's throat is quick and efficient."

"That's because the real target was down the hall," Emily says.

"She has a name," Jordan snaps. "She's not 'the target'. Her name is Cate and she's ten years old."

Tension is thick, but Rossi keeps the conversation moving along as if this didn't happen.

"Is an amber alert in effect?"

"Since seven this morning."

"With the unsub's head start he could be anywhere within a four-hundred-mile radius. Make sure that they're casting a wide enough net. Who discovered the bodies?"

"Jim Scheuren, Cate's biological father. He was supposed to take her for the weekend. The police don't consider him a suspect."

"We'll want to talk to him anyway. We're also going to need a list of registered sex offenders in a twenty-mile radius."

"What's the makeup of the Hales' neighborhood?" Spencer asks.

"Mostly white and middle class."

"We'll need aerial views of the neighborhood. If Madison County doesn't have them, talk to Garcia. Dave, you, Y/N, and Morgan go to the crime scene. The rest of us will get up to speed at the precinct."

Once landed, everyone broke into their own little groups with you heading out with Derek and Rossi. The Hales' neighborhood is a series of rural roads and one-block streets. It's about three miles to the nearest main street, so he didn't happen upon Cate by accident. Her father, Jim, might not have been the one to do this, but he might know who did.

In the meantime, you arrive at Cate's house which is covered with police personnel and yellow caution tape. You don't have to get out of the car to feel the tragedy that happened here. Since this happened just last night, there are different colored energies pouring out of the place.

The detective on the case sees you arrive and walks over to greet you.

"Bo Whitaker," he shakes hands with Rossi.

"David Rossi. This is Derek Morgan and Y/N."

"Pleased to meet you. The point of entry is around the back. The neighbors didn't see or hear anything, and the dogs lost the scent almost immediately."

"It's not hard to target a family out here."

"Yeah, even in broad daylight. If you walk five feet off the track, you could get lost for days. He had plenty of time and privacy to watch what he was really after."

There is a tire swing in the front yard, and Cate's energy is swirling around it since she really loved that swing. The energy is strong enough for it to take her form, and you're the only one who can see her. She has a smile on her face as if nothing bad could ever happen to her.

You look away in sadness and hope that she is alright.

"I prefer cities. You can see them coming," Rossi comments.

Bo takes you to the window the killer came in through, and there is not only one energy stemming from it, there are three. You head inside the house and see the pane of the door knocked in when they tried to kick the door in. That's when they used the window to get in. There are three energies inside the house: red, blue, and yellow. That can only mean one thing--the murderers are a whole family.

"Do you think the girl's dead?" Bo asks.

"It depends on what he took her for."

"I don't think we're looking for one unsub," you say. "We're looking for a family. There are three different energies inside the house, not including the family who lived here. There are three different energies stemming from that broken window. One red, one blue, and one yellow. One male, one female, and one child."

"How do you know this?" Bo asks.

"I'm a psychic. I see the energies of the killers."

You leave their side without hearing Bo's response, but you do hear Derek back you up. You're the real deal, and they trust you wholeheartedly. You walk into the master bedroom where the parents were found, and there is blood all over the walls, bed, and even the ceiling. There are two people in the bed with their throats cut, but you know they're not real. Derek heads over to Cate's room to examine it, eventually joining you and Rossi in the master bedroom.

"Find anything in Cate's room?" Rossi asks Derek.

"That's what's weird. There's no sign of struggle. It didn't even look like she tried to get out of bed in a hurry."

"Her parents' throats were cut. If there was the element of surprise, they might not have had time to scream," you say.

"Both of them?"

Since you can see the parents and their wounds, you can determine what might have happened last night.

"So both parents don't have any ligature marks, and neither of them are tied down. There are no defensive wounds either. Geoff's cause of death was a single deep, smooth cut that severed the carotid artery. Nancy's cause of death was caused by a series of jagged, shallow wounds that punctured the carotid artery."

"There's more than one unsub, like you said," Derek says.

"Are you guys sure?" Bo asks.

"It makes sense. If there was only one unsub, then he would have had to restrain Nancy while he killed Geoff. Since there are no ligature marks on either of them, then that means he didn't restrain them. If he killed Geoff without restraining her, and she woke up, then she would have screamed. It would have alerted the entire family. We're looking at multiple unsubs."

"So, things are worse than we thought."

"Yes and no. Cate's chances of survival just got better. Two or more unsubs change the dynamics."

"What do you mean, dynamics?"

"They spend more time with her," Rossi sighs.

Derek calls Hotch to let him know while you go into the bathroom to see what kind of motive there might have been for taking Cate. You look inside the medicine cabinet and see something that makes Cate's chances of survival go right down to almost zero.

"I found something here." You walk out of the bathroom holding a pill bottle. "Cate has seizures, and if the unsubs find out about this, they might kill her."

With this new information, you head back to the police station to discuss what this might mean. Hotch pulls you off to the side, and you hand him the pill bottle you took from the scene.

"Give me your honest opinion on what your theory is."

"Based on the energies I saw at the house, I believe a family of three killed Cate's family. A mom, a dad, and a young son. They're killing everyone but a young daughter to maybe complete their family. Maybe they can't have more kids and want to be a family of four, or maybe their real daughter died and they're trying to replace her. It's the only theory I have right now."

"It's a theory nonetheless."

"If my theory is correct, and they find out Cate has seizures, then she isn't perfect. She could be dumped somewhere or killed. Either way, I have a feeling we'll know tomorrow."

And tomorrow you found out. Cate was dumped on the side of the road with her feet and hands bound, but she is very much alive. She was taken to the hospital immediately just as they contacted her father. Since she got medical care so soon, she's going to be fine. She is the best person to talk to about this kind of stuff, and since you can use her trauma to paint a picture, then you're going to talk to her.

"Her father's with her," the nurse says when your team arrives. "She's been in and out of consciousness but her vitals are stable."

"Any sign of sexual assault?" you ask.

"We haven't tested yet. We want to give her time to process."

"May we speak with her?"

"Sure. You should know, seizures often come with retrograde amnesia. She might have holes in her memory."

"Y/N, you should do this alone," Hotch says.

You knock on Cate's door before entering. Poor thing looks so scared, but you're going to do everything you can to make her feel comfortable and safe.

"Hello, Mr. Scheuren. I'm Agent Y/N from the FBI. I would like permission to speak with your daughter."

"Okay."

He doesn't move from her side, and you clasp your hands in front of you.

"I'd like to do this alone, if possible."

"Why?"

"I need to ask her certain questions, and sometimes it's easier for a girl to answer those questions when there are no men present."

"I'm her father," he gets upset.

"Daddy, please?"

"Alright, baby," he sighs. "I'll be right outside."

"Thank you." As soon as he leaves, you take a seat next to Cate and give her a kind smile. "My name is Y/N. I'm so sorry about your mom and your stepdad. I'd like to ask you some questions so we can find out who did this. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"Do you mind if I hold your hand?"

"No."

You hold her hand and place your other one over hers.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, and it's going to be about the things you sensed--things you saw, felt, etc."

"I'm scared."

"I know you are. It's okay to be scared. I'm right here with you. Just close your eyes, okay? What's the first thing you remember?"

She closes her eyes and you use her words to help paint a picture of what happened to her or where she might have been.

"It's cold, like outside cold."

"Okay, who's there?"

"A man. He told me to keep quiet."

"What is he doing?"

"He's holding my hand. It hurts. He's waiting for something."

"What does he look like?"

There is a much older white man with her with blood on his face. This happened after he got done killing Cate's parents. He's mean, balding at the top, and has a hint of a mustache that looks freshly shaved. It's a vague description, but it's the only thing you see right now.

"I don't want to be here," Cate whimpers.

"He can't hurt you, Cate, I promise. I'm right here."

"He's tall with dark hair. He's old."

"Old like me?"

"Old like my dad."

"Is anyone else there?"

"Someone's coming! Y/N! Y/N, help me!!"

The old man grabs Cate and slings her over his shoulder. She tries to fight him, but her hands are tied together. A car approaches and pops the trunk from the inside, and the unsub shoves Cate into the trunk.

"Cate, you're right here with me. I promise he can't hurt you. It's okay."

"He put me in the trunk of the car."

"How long were you in there?"

"Not long. Maybe ten minutes."

"Was the ride bumpy or smooth?"

"It was smooth." That tells you the roads they took are main roads instead of back ones. If they took the main road, then someone might have seen the car. "I wanted to scream, but no sound would come out."

"You're doing really good, Cate. Once the car stopped and they opened the trunk, what did you hear?"

"Wind through the trees."

The man takes Cate out of the trunk and drags her into some kind of trailer house before stuffing her inside a small space like a closet.

"What do you smell?"

"Cooking. I'm inside now. They've taken my shoes off."

"It's so you don't run. I want you to look down at your feet and tell me what you're standing on."

"Carpet. I'm in a little room with clothes and tinfoil all around me."

"What else?"

"I hear bells."

"What kind of bells?"

"Small ones like a fairy. Every time they ring, the man says something to the boy."

She must mean the young son whose energy you saw inside the house.

"How old is he?"

"Nine or ten, I'd say. His parents want me to play with him. They're calling him puyule, whatever that means."

The closet door opens and the young boy tries to take Cate out of the closet. His parents encourage her to come out to spend time with her, but she doesn't want to go.

"Y/N, I don't want to go. No! Don't make me go! Y/N!"

"Cate, it's okay. You're right here next to me. Open your eyes." She does, and you pat the back of her hand with a smile. "See? We're in the hospital. He can't hurt you anymore. You did so well. I'm going to send your dad back in here, okay? You just rest now."

"Okay," she sniffles.

x

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[exhuastedpigeon]

Omg tell me about townie sterek please

Okay this fic is my dearest fic and I realllllly want to get my Sterek writing mojo back so I can write it.

Stiles is a 'townie' in Beacon Hallow (a town I made up in Cape Cod). His dad is the county sheriff and his mom was a teacher at the high school - she dies tragically mid school year from a really aggressive cancer. He doesn't know is mom's parents at all but they're rich and Claudia met Noah (ugh he'll always be John to me) when she was a teenager summering on the cape.

The Hales are a wealthy family that spend their summer at their beach house in beacon Hallow.

Stiles and Derek meet because Stiles works at the old timey ice cream shop/burger joint. They have a summer fling and that should be the end of it right?

WRONG! Stiles' mom's last wish was for him to go to a fancy prep school (where she went to school) and her parents are willing to pay for it. She got Stiles in before she died. So he shows up for his first day at this fancy ass school (which is like an hour+ drive for him one way) and Derek's there.

The opening couple paragraphs are under the cut:

Summer was usually a time of year that kids looked forward to and typically Stiles Stilinski loved summer. Summers on Cape Cod were kind of special, even if you weren’t one of the stupid rich families who summered on the Cape. But this summer he was having trouble mustering any excitement since summer meant he was losing the distraction of school, lacrosse, and the mindless work of homework. 

This was his first summer without his mom and he honestly didn’t know what he was going to do with himself. The loss was still so raw, it had only been six months and every day waking up without her felt like losing her all over again. At least he had a summer job lined up at one of the local ice cream shops, Scoops, to keep him busy. 

“I’m on night shift this week,” Stiles' dad said when Stiles sat down at their little kitchen table the first morning of summer vacation. He was the sheriff in Barnstable County and summers were extra busy with the tourists and seasonal residents on Cape Cod. Not for the first time, Stiles wished Barnstable County was a little smaller and didn’t take up the entire Cape. 

“I can bring you dinner tonight,” Stiles supplied, “I’m not starting work until next week.”

“Don’t worry about it,” His dad said, taking a long drink from his coffee, “You know the first week of the summer holiday means all of the rich families who are in town for the season stop by and drop off meals.”

That Stiles did know. It made him a little sad to think about it, actually. His parents had met when his mom, fresh out of college and about to start law school at Harvard in the fall, had stopped in with cookies for the sheriff's department. It was his dad’s first summer on the force and they had fallen hard for each other.

[oldfilmsflicker]

new-to-me #827 - Hale County This Morning, This Evening

[1310197]

Stills from Hale County This Morning, This Evening

[dyingforbadmusic]

Rusty York and Jewel Records, OH

Just an article about Rusty York, pulled from the internet archive.

York seems to me a little bit like the Conny Plank of Bluegrass. Always in his studio, helping out bands to sound good.

Charles Edward York was born in the rugged hills of Harlan County, Ky., on May 24, 1935. The elder York worked in the coal mines and moved around to various coal camps as he had trouble holding a job because of his erratic habits. However, he did buy his boy a guitar and taught him the one chord he knew; but for the most part young York was self-taught. He listened to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights and to the Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round and Cas Walker programs from Knoxville radio. Eventually, the York family moved to Perry County and the youth started high school in Viper. Rusty recalls singing songs on the school bus such as "Hillbilly Fever" and "I Couldn't Believe It Was True." When the Yorks moved to Breathitt County, the school in Jackson actually had a string band. Also about 1951, both Homer Harris, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs played shows locally. Charles York was especially taken by Earl and his blue grass banjo styling. He soon got a tenor banjo and remade it into a five-string. A little later, he obtained a conventional five-string banjo and began to learn the Scruggs style.

At a place called Larry's cafe, York encountered some country musicians and began to sit in with them. As he recalls, some time elapsed before he learned that the others were getting paid. Meanwhile he met a fine banjo picker named Wilson Spivey who played on WZIP radio in Covington, Ky., and WPFB at Middletown on Saturdays and took a few lessons from him. Soon he met a guitar picker-vocalist named Willard Hale who had migrated from Somerset, Ky. The two soon went on their own and were making five dollars each night in the clubs plus tips. Charles' sister had bought him a good used guitar that had the name "Rusty" on it. Club patrons began calling him "Rusty" and he found it easier to keep the new nickname than change it. Thus, did Charles York become Rusty York.

Willard and Rusty worked quite some time in clubs like the Old Hickory as a guitar-bango duet and sometimes playing two guitars. Then rock-and-roll began to make an impact, or as Rusty related to Neil Rosenberg "even country boys started liking Elvis." Willard and Rusty didn't much care for the new styling. Rusty recalls club patrons would say "Do you know 'Hound Dog'" and he would respond with "how about 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill.'" One he did "Mystery Train" more as a joke and the fans loved it. Soon they were doing mostly rock-and-roll songs, but would still perform about 15 minutes of bluegrass nightly.

Meanwhile, Rusty and Willard made the acquaintance of Jimmie Skinner when he played at a nearby park. Having become a Skinner fan before he left Kentucky, Rusty hit it off well and they soon became more or less regulars on his live shows and did some radio work with him as well. Eventually, Rusty left the stockbroker's office and helped Skinner in a variety of ways. Jimmie did a live broadcast from the Jimmie Skinner Music Center on weekday mornings that Rusty would help engineer, cue up discs, and play some music. Then he hight help package records for the mail order business for the remainder of the day. By evenings, he would work in the clubs, sometimes going out with Jimmie Skinner, and doing at least one tour with Hylo Brown in his early days with Capitol records.

York also continued to cut rock-and-roll material in 1958 and 1959. On January 9, 1958, Syd Nathan paired Rusty with the Midwestern Hayride's favorite songstress Bonnie Lou to do a cover recording of the Billy and Lillie hit "La Dee Dah" and a Henry Glover original titled "Let The School Bell Ring, Ding A Ling." In 1959, he did a single for Fraternity called "Cajun Blues" and "Just Another Lie," the former title of which provided his rock-and-roll trio with a name: the Cajuns. A few weeks later a friend named Pat Nelson rented the king studio for an independent session intended for his PJ label. One side consisted of an up-tempo version of "Comin' Round The Mountain" retitled "Red Rooster." They filled out the other side with a Marty Robbins number titled "Sugaree." The other two sides featured Rusty and Cajuns backing an aspiring teenager named Jackie De Shannon who would later have two major pop hits including a certified million seller. Surprisingly, "Sugaree" caught on. Nelson leased the master to Note and then to Chess, an R&B; label that had turned out a string of hits for Chuck Berry and many others. Soon Rusty York Found himself on tour with Dick Clark of American Bandstand fame. That tour included a sellout appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. Others on the package show included Frankie Avalon, Duane Eddy, and teen sweetheart Annette Funicello, who Rusty recalls as being really as sweet and beautiful as she looked, and closely chaperoned by her mother. As Rusty and the Cajuns opened the show, they had the honor of being the first rock act to play the Hollywood Bowl. "Sugaree" made both the Billboard (#77) and Cash Box (#69 on pop and #29 on R&B;) charts, but as York had no follow-up hit, he soon found himself back in the clubs of his adopted Queen City.

In the summer of 1964, Rusty went on the road again, this time as a frontman and bandleader for Bobby Bare who was ascending the ladder of country success. He stayed with Bobby off and on for about five years working quite a bit in Las Vegas where he met numerous musical celebrities including Liberace. The famed pianist found the finger work of bluegrass banjo pickers truly amazing, recalls Rusty. During the Bare era, York recorded some country material including a pair of Harlan Howard songs "That's What I Need"/"Just Like You" that were picked by Capitol. They never went anywhere, but Rusty was glad to be on a major label, if only briefly. Most of the material appeared on either the New Star label, or Jewel which was York's own company, started in a garage-type studio near his home in suburban Mt. Healthy, Ohio.

Although Rusty York continued to work for Cincinnati clubs throughout the '60s and into the '70s he spent less time there and devoted more efforts to Jewel Records. One of his first major customers was bluegrass gospel stalwart J.D. Jarvis. Not only did Jarvis do several custom albums released on Jewel but Uncle Jim O'Neal paid Rusty to produce those released on Rural rhythm. Rusty played on some of these releases in addition to producing and engineering them. One side of the second album featured his vocal work while Fred Spencer and Jarvis played rhythm guitars; Harley Gabbard played resonator guitar and Jackie Sanderson bass. Rusty says that the Jarvis albums were of key significance in helping to get Jewel Records off the ground in those early days.

In addition to material released on the Jewel label, other companies including Vetco made use of his studio. Over the years several bluegrass luminaries have made recordings there. Rusty is especially proud of two albums that Mac Wiseman made there with the help of the Shenandoah Cutups, plus Buddy Griffin, and Jeff Terflinger. Katie Laur, Hylo Brown, Jimmie Skinner, the Boys from Indiana, Joe Isaacs, the Russell Brothers, Larry Sparks, and Ralph Stanley have all used the Jewel Studio for sessions. Several lesser known but quality gospel artists have cut there, including George Brock (with Neil Rosenburg on banjo), and the VanWinkle Brothers. Esco Hankins did his "Working God's Fields" and other albums as well for Rusty. Brother Claude Ely did some of his last recordings for Jewel. Jean Shepard cut a country album there when she was between contracts. The Grateful Dead and Lonnie Mack have made use of the facilities. A great deal of black gospel, soul, and rap music has also been recorded there in the studio on Kinney Avenue.

A visit to Rusty York and Jewel Studios is a nostalgic trip through 45 years of Cincinnati music history. Side junkets into other aspects of Queen City music and excursions into the national bluegrass and country scene adorn his conversations. His stories about an all-night recording session with Don Reno and Red Smiley when they all eventually sacked out on the floor, or the backseat jam session with himself on resonator guitar and Merle Haggard singing Jimmie Rodgers tunes all the way across Arizona are well worth hearing. The folks who plan the "Bluegrass Stories" segment at the IBMA convention are missing the boat if they don't work Rusty in soon. (For a sidelight, he can also throw in a few experiences with Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, and Dick Clark.) His adventures in bluegrass and other forms of music are not only fascinating, they are significant in their own right.

[naturecoaster]

A “Berry” Exciting Weekend of Fun and Festivities at the Floral City Strawberry Fest!

The Floral City Strawberry Festival, a beloved tradition in Citrus County, is back for its 37th year of berry-filled fun and excitement. Presented by Jenkins Automotive and produced by the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce, this year's festival promises a weekend overflowing with strawberries, entertainment, and family-friendly activities. Mark your calendars for March 2nd & 3rd, 2024, and join us at Floral Park for a celebration of local agriculture and community spirit. With fresh strawberries hand-picked right around the corner from the festival at Ferris Groves, you can look forward to luscious strawberry shortcakes along with flats and half-flats of whole fresh berries that you can take home with you as a sweet souvenir of your day to make your own delectable treats. Not sure what to do with all those delicious Ferris Farms Strawberries? Check out the Floral City Strawberry Festival's Berry Bakery on its website at www.GoStrawberryFest.com. Saturday morning, the festival opens with the posting of Colors, the Pledge of Allegiance, and our National Anthem.  Live music and entertainment will fill the main stage all weekend with a full performance lineup! Saturday will kick off with the sweet sounds of bluegrass with ReKindled Bits of Grass from 10 am – 1 pm, followed by headliner X-Hale from 2 pm– 5 pm with a special appearance from Sada Davidson. Sunday will feature Sada Davidson from 10 am – noon followed by headliner George Morris & The Lariat Band from 1 P.M. – 4 P.M. Additionally, take your time to explore the roots of the beautiful Floral City community with a tour of the Historic Duval-Metz House in Floral City where they will be making strawberry ice cream and strawberry lemonade for visitors.  Take a quick ride to historic Floral City for a tour of the Duval-Metz house and some strawberry ice cream and strawberry lemonade. Image by Diane Bedard. Considered to be the oldest home in Citrus County, the historic Duval-Metz House will be open both days from noon – 4 pm. Quick shuttles will transport you to the heart of Floral City where you can view this historic destination and explore the quaint town offering a true taste of old Florida from the festival site. Strawberry Pie Eating Contests and Princess Pageants Sticking to its very berry American roots, the annual pie-eating contests and princess pageants will also be back! Ooh and ahh on Saturday morning as poised young ladies take the stage in their favorite strawberry-themed attire for a chance to earn a crown and become the next Strawberry Princesses. Welcome Miss Citrus County AND Miss Florida as two of this year's pageant judges, along with April and Brelyn Royal as the Pageant Director and assistant. There are pageants for strawberry festival princesses. Image courtesy of Citrus County Chamber of Commerce. Maybe getting messy is more your style?  Then sign up to compete in the strawberry pie-eating contests for your shot at bragging rights until next year! Pie eating competitions are free to enter and will be held at 1 pm both Saturday and Sunday with registration that day at the festival. There are limited slots so make sure you get signed up early! Soccer Collies Return to Challenge Festivalgoers We are also excited to welcome back the Soccer Collies! Kids of all ages (and even adults) won’t want to miss this fun and exciting free attraction as the Collies take on festival attendees once an hour beginning at 9:45 am. Participants will circle around the trained dogs as the Soccer Collies use their skills to score “goals,” pushing the ball outside the human goalie line. Think you have what it takes to take on the Soccer Collies? Join us to find out! Enjoy Shopping 250 Art and Craft Vendors, the Beer Garden, and the Food Vendors Round out your festival adventures by strolling the park and browsing over 250 art and craft vendors; indulging in a cold beer, a glass of wine, or a hard seltzer at the beer garden near the main stage; enjoying the gastronomic pleasures offered by the many food vendors; or enjoying laughs and smiles with the young ones as they “play themselves silly” in the kids’ area. NatureCoaster is one of the sponsors of the Floral City Strawberry Festival. Stop by our booth in the vendor area and get some merch! Image courtesy of NatureCoaster. Floral City Strawberry Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.  The entrance fee is $5.00 for adults, and children 12 and under are free.  Park free at the Citrus County Auditorium and take a shuttle to the festival location. Floral Park is located at 9530 S. Parkside Ave., Floral City, FL 34426 For complete information on the Floral City Strawberry Festival, visit www.GoStrawberryFest.com.  On Facebook, search for “Floral City Strawberry Festival.” What's better than a real live strawberry? Image by Diane Bedard Floral City Strawberry Festival at a Glance When:  Saturday, March 2, 2024, from 9 am – 5 pm, and Sunday, March 3, 2024, from 9 am – 4 pmWhere: Floral Park, 9530 S. Parkside Avenue, Floral City – 3 miles south of downtown Floral City on US Hwy 41Cost: Festival Admission is $5 per adult, children 12 and under are freeParking: SATURDAY at the Citrus County Auditorium located at 3610 S. Florida Ave, Inverness. SUNDAY at the Citrus County Speedway just north of the Auditorium. Free shuttle buses will be running all day, on both days.Website: GoStrawberryFest.comFacebook: Search for “Floral City Strawberry Festival”Phone: 352-795-3149 Read the full article

[alexisginesphoto]

A Response-- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men / Hale County, This Morning, This Evening

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, first published in 1941 by photographer Walker Evans and journalist James Agee, has become an American classic, noted for how the book, at time of publication went against norms of documentation and traditional reporting. Up until this point, photos were generally regarded as accompanying text, which was given the highest importance in books. This publication broke norms by essentially publishing two books in one, where the photos (taken by Walker Evans) stood on their own, without the company of text to overtake it. The photos were also published first in the book, thereby establishing their importance over the text (written by James Agee) that mark the second half of the book.

The documentation of the reality of the sharecroppers is striking. They are white, impoverished families with gaunt faces, hardened with struggle, living in bare shacks. Black and white photography captures the essence of its subjects, and in this case serves to stress the brutal reality of these sharecroppers. Where the project lacks is in its depiction-- only white families are shown, and at the time of these photos, 75% of the Hale County population was black. I would like to think of this subversive racism behind the project as not completely intentional-- black people even then understood the power of the camera, and arguably, the implication of white people behind it, and ran from them. Agee was quoted as saying, "I notice how much slower white people are to catch on than negroes, who understand the meaning of a camera, a weapon, a stealer of images and souls...". That being said, the project shows a truth of American History, albeit a staunchly curated, and therefor, relative truth. This phenomenon best explained by Richard Avedon, "There is no truth in photography. There is no truth about anyone’s person... portraits are much more about me than they are about the people I photograph... The photographer has complete control, the issue is a moral one and it is complicated." 

The overall tone of the project invites feelings of despair, sadness, the hopelessness of oppressive, crushing poverty. The book itself is a beautiful work of art that I personally feel, for its time, was way ahead of itself as a photo book with reference to the professional, clean layout of the photos. The book can stand to compete and excel beyond photo books published even today.

Hale County, This Morning, This Evening by Ramell Ross captures the same geographic area of America and Alabama state, but in a completely different manner, with a completely different demographic-- black people. Watching the documentary, I felt Ross was very successful in removing his presence, and therefor the personal narrative, of the photographer/filmmaker almost entirely. Some of this, I believe, can be attributed to the amount of time Ross spent living in Hale County-- 3 years, versus 8 weeks by Evans and Agee. In this way he eludes a shortcoming of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, because the subjects are not "othered" by the outsider photographer (and narrator); they are not props. Ross is successful in capturing the "historically elusive" black population because of his access as a black man himself, his natural integration into the community through his years spent there. Scott L. Matthews, professor of history at Florida State University, says Ross's work "brings the humanity of Hale County's people into the light... they appear at a distance... absorbed in quotidian experience and not captured by the camera for the viewer's pleasure or project. Ross presents them with sacrificial care, allowing them, and not the artist, to author their identities." Both projects have in common that they use untraditional ways to document Hale County, and have various successes in doing so. Ross's untraditional documentary uses almost a stream of conscious type of observation, comprised primarily of "b-roll" footage, and yet the film is not lacking in contex or journalistic quality-- the viewer is able to take away very much about the reality of the people of Hale County. The b-roll, stream of conscious approach captures the essence of real life-- it mostly happens in small moments, mundanity, a buildup of the cumulation of everyday life. It doesn't happen in these grand moments-- a powerful snapshot that captures an all encompassing truth in a fraction of a second.

I had a greater appreciation for Hale County, This Morning, This Evening. As a work of journalistic documentary, I felt it was more successful of a truer depiction of life for the people in Hale County. While it also lacks in depicting of a population (in this case, the minority white population), and admittedly has the advantage of motion picture to provide a more realistic account, I overall found it more interesting and exciting to see a typically ignored population be depicted. I also found it very moving that it didn't portray these people as victims, or through a lens of despair, as Let Us Now Praise Famous Men did. It was just real-- it made no statements, and it took its time.

[pdremaster]

Hale County This Morning, This Evening - Official Trailer [4K]

[3080ti]

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018), dir. RaMell Ross

[0moni]

[brand-upon-the-brain]

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross, 2018)

[treethymes]

Hale County This Morning, This Evening 2018 RaMell Ross

[01sentencereviews]

2018

24 frames (abbas kiarostami)

first reformed (paul schrader)

shoplifters (hirokazu kore-eda)

if beale street could talk (barry jenkins)

annihilation (alex garland)

beychella 2018 (beyoncé)

an elephant sitting still (hu bo)

minding the gap (bing liu)

high life (claire denis)

sharp objects (jean-marc vallée)

shirkers (sandi tan)

ready player one (steven spielberg)

madeline’s madeline (josephine decker)

happy as lazzaro (alice rohrwacher)

the other side of the wind (orson welles)

hale county this morning, this evening (ramell ross)

vox lux (brady corbet)

support the girls (andrew bujalski)

black mother (khalik allah)

blue (apichatpong weerasethakul)

suspiria (luca guadagnino)

the misandrists (bruce labruce)

the house that jack built (lars von trier)

widows (steve mcqueen)

first man (damien chazelle)

(+ several more):

1985 (yen tan)

“all gold canyon,” the ballad of buster scruggs (joel + ethan coen)

aquaman (james wan)

asako I & II (ryūsuke hamaguchi)

ash is purest white (jia zhangke)

assassination nation (sam levinson)

a.w. a portrait of apichatpong weerasethakul (connor jessup) / aware, anywhere (benoît bourreau)

burning (lee chang-dong)

cam (daniel goldhaber)

chameleon (anna pollack)

devilman crybaby (masaaki yuasa) / “devilman crybaby: sympathy for the devil” (secret otaku)

the favourite (yorgos lanthimos)

the first purge (gerard mcmurray)

the haunting of hill house (mike flanagan)

hereditary (ari aster)

homecoming (sam esmail)

i am not a witch (rungano nyoni)

i’m not her(e): iMnOTHERe (carman spoto)

the image book (jean-luc godard) / westerly wind (“jean-luc godard”) / “LE LIVRE D IMAGE - cannes 2018 - press conference - ev”

leave no trace (debra granik)

non-fiction (olivier assayas)

the rider (chloé zhao)

self-criticism of a bourgeois dog (julian radlmaier)

skate kitchen (crystal moselle)

a star is born (bradley cooper)

the strangers: prey at night (johannes roberts)

the tale (jennifer fox)

under the silver lake (david robert mitchell)

unfriended: dark web (stephen susco)

unsane (steven soderbergh)

we the animals (jeremiah zagar)

you were never really here (lynne ramsay)

[ what i missed: cold war (paweł pawlikowski) | did you wonder who fired the gun? (travis wilkerson) | the grand bizarre (jodie mack) | milla (valerie massadian) | the mule (clint eastwood) | my first film (zia anger) | the old man & the gun (david lowery) | personal problems (bill gunn) | shakedown (leilah weinraub) | sollers point (matthew porterfield) | sorry angel (christophe honoré) | sunset (lászló nemes) | western (valeska grisebach) | your face (tsai ming-liang) ]