Dierks Bentley releases a new 4-song EP called "Country & Cold Cans" to have fun with friends outside of his normal business decisions. A local family takes an inspired 2-week road trip across 20 states, visiting national parks to earn Junior Ranger badges and learn about nature. An original Todd McFarlane comic book cover art breaks records, selling for $657,250 at auction.

1. THE VICKSBURG POST
SATURDAY, j uly 28, 2012 • SE C TIO N D
COMICS D2 | KIDS PAGE D3
Karen Gamble, managing editor | E-mail: newsreleases@vicksburgpost.com | Tel: 601.636.4545 ext 137
MUSIC
Dierks Bentley
Dierks Bentley
releases new Local family’s
4-song ode
to summer fun summer vacation
inspired by Mary Beth
Lewis and Clark
By Chris Talbott
The Associated Press and Alex Tingle
NASHVILLE — A few By Mary Margaret Halford
years ago Dierks Bentley mhalford@vicksburgpost.com
went hard against coun-
try music convention by When Jeb Tingle read books to
releasing a rockin’ blue- his children about the adventures of
grass-roots album. He’s Lewis and Clark, the family started
decided to break the rules getting ideas about what to do for
again. summer vacation. They
This time around, Bent- decided on a road trip,
ley is releasing a new one that was a little
four-song EP called different from the
“Country & Cold Cans” typical Disney
even while his last album World getaway.
continues to chart hit sin- The end result
gles. Turns out Bentley was a two-week
just wanted to have a little excursion that took
fun with his friends. the family of five
“Sometimes that should across 20 states, giving
be the driving force their two younger
in your decisions, you children, 11-year-old
know?” Bentley said. Mary Beth and 8-year-
“It doesn’t always have old Alex, the chance
to be a business deci- to earn seven Junior
sion or well-thought-out Ranger badges from
plan. Just go out there, national parks across
have fun, do it with some the country.
friends and put out some “It was cooler than the
new tunes.” beach,” said Alex, who
Bentley will play a free will start third grade at
concert in Oxford in The Bowmar Elementary
Grove on the Ole Miss in August. “We saw so
campus Aug. 22. many cool animals.”
“Country & Cold Cans” To qualify for Junior
is out Aug. 21. The EP will Ranger certification,
be a digital-only release Alex and Mary Beth
available on iTunes ini- had to complete pro-
tially. Bentley will sup- grams designed to
port the EP with a quick teach them about the
three-date tour Aug. 20-22 parks. They learned
at the University of South how to identify paw
Carolina, the University of prints of certain ani-
Georgia and the Univer- mals, defend them-
sity of Mississippi. Tickets selves in case of a bear
go on sale Friday. attack and
Bentley released his last under-
album “Home” earlier stand how geysers work.
this year and “5-1-5-0,” his “We learned that you get
10th No. 1 country single down if a bear is attacking
as both artist and song- you,” said Mary Beth as she
writer, reached the top demonstrated how she was taught
of the charts this week.
It’s the third No. 1 from See Family, Page D3.
“Home.”
Normally, competing
music would be consid-
ered a hindrance to the
success of that album. But
in this case, Bentley wel-
Ships told to slow for whales in San Francisco Bay
comes the interruption By The Associated Press tuary, in a press release.
in business as usual. The The announcements follow
music was written on the SAN FRANCISCO — Fed- the high profile deaths of
road, then recorded over eral officials are asking large whales fatally struck by
a two-day period with his ships to slow down near San ships in the Bay Area, such
touring band and pro- Francisco Bay to avoid killing as the 47-foot fin whale
duced with Jaren John- the droves of whales feeding that washed up near Point
ston, a member of The near the Northern California Reyes National Seashore in
Cadillac Black — Bent- coast. June. John Calambokidis,
ley’s opening band on tour The National Oceanic and a Washington-based scien-
this year. Atmospheric Administration tist who has studied ship
The music is meant to issued the advisory Tues- strikes off the West Coast,
be loose and off the cuff. day. It wants large vessels estimated that dozens of
With songs like the title to reduce their speed to 10 whales were struck near San
track, “Grab a Beer” and knots, or about 11.5 mph, in Francisco Bay in 2010. Many
“Back Porch,” the aim is the Gulf of the Farallones of these whales, including
clear. and Cordell Bank national blue, fin and humpback, are
Bentley said he’s tar- marine sanctuaries. The U.S. endangered.
geting the same kind of Coast Guard is broadcasting The federal officials’
kids curious about coun- a similar message. requests are not binding, so
try music like he was as “We can best protect large vessels like freighters The associated press
a teenager growing up in endangered whales from and cruise ships can keep A blue whale is shown near a cargo ship in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Arizona. ship strike by working with traveling at full speed. NOAA
“It’s called ‘Country & the shipping industry as officials said they would con- Abramson of the Gulf of the move toward regulatory ing and rerouting ships. It
Cold Cans,”’ Bentley said well as whale experts, with sider more stringently regu- Farallones National Marine action.” will likely take effect next
with a laugh. “It’s not minimum impacts on mari- lating shipping lane traffic if Sanctuary told the San Fran- In response to these deaths, year after final review by the
called Beethoven.” time commerce,” said Maria ships fail to slow down. cisco Chronicle. “We are federal maritime officials United Nations International
Brown, the superintendent “We understand that ships trying to deal with the prob- also have approved a plan Maritime Organization.
of NOAA’s Gulf of the Faral- are working on extremely lem proactively, but if there’s to curb ship strikes that
lones National Marine Sanc- tight schedules,” Leslie no cooperation, we could includes better whale track-

2. The Vicksburg Post Saturday, July 28, 2012 D3
PBS video mashup features Bob Ross
LOS ANGELES (AP) — On the heels of PBS’ hit
Mister Rogers video mashup, a second public TV
favorite is getting the star treatment.
PBS said Thursday it has posted a video remix
with clips from “The Joy of Painting” instructional
series, featuring the late Bob Ross.
The “Happy Painter”
remix is from John
Boswell, who created
Online:
the “Garden of Your
• apne.ws/MKyaR2
Mind” video tribute • www.youtube.com/
to Fred Rogers. That pbsdigitalstudios
mashup of clips from
“Mister Rogers’ Neigh- • www.youtube.com/
borhood” has been melodysheep
viewed nearly 6 million
times on YouTube.
“The Joy of Painting,” still seen in repeats, aired
on PBS from 1983 to 1994 with its bushy-haired,
mellow-voiced host. Ross died in 1995 of cancer
at age 52.
The two PBS Digital Studios mashups are the start
of a “PBS icons remixed” series that’s intended to
get people talking about public TV and to support
their local PBS stations.
Boswell, also known as Melodysheep, has done The associated press
autotuned video pieces featuring prominent sci- The late Bob Ross, host of the PBS series “The Joy of Painting” will be
entists including Neil deGrasse Tyson and the late featured in a PBS video remix.
Carl Sagan.
The associated press
Todd McFarlane’s original cover art for “The Amazing Spider-
Man” No. 328. The cover has sold for a record $657,250.
McFarlane ‘Spider-Man’
cover sold for $657,250
PHILADELPHIA (AP) —
Artist Todd McFarlane’s origi-
nal cover art for “The Amazing
Spider-Man” No. 328 has sold
for a record $657,250 at auc-
tion, just one among several
pieces from the 1990s that went
for hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
The McFarlane cover, which
shows Spider-Man gut-punch-
ing the Hulk, was part of a col-
lection of original art owned by
Martin Shamus, a Long Island,
N.Y.-based comics and memo-
rabilia shop owner.
McFarlane drew several titles
for Marvel Comics in the 1990s
and then left to develop his own Todd McFarlane’s Spider-
character, “Spawn,” and form Man No. 1 Cover Art
Image Comics with other art-
ists and writers.
The cover was among sev-
Online:
eral sold by Heritage Auctions, Heritage Auctions:
and also included McFarlane’s www.ha.com
cover for “Spider-Man” No. 1,
which was bought for $385,500.
Family
Continued from Page D1.
to protect herself. “We even game.
got to see a big grizzly bear Shelley Tingle, who with
that was by the river.” her husband is a research
The Junior Ranger pro- civil engineer at the U.S.
gram is offered at national Army Corps of Engineers,
parks across the country, said the trip was fun for
including the Vicksburg the entire family, including
National Military Park, their oldest daughter, Emily,
where Alex and Mary Beth a 14-year-old rising fresh-
have already been Junior man at Warren Central High
Ranger Certified. School.
“The kids become stake- “We’d been talking about it
holders in the resource and and wanted to do some-
get deeply involved,” thing fun,” Shelley
said Ray Hamel, a Tingle said. “Mary
park ranger and Beth loves animals,
site supervisor and it was just a lot
for the USS Cairo. of fun.”
“It’s kind of like a “The program
scavenger hunt, creates future
and they learn stewards of these
about nature and resources,” Hamel
history.” said. “It’s a program
Mary Beth, who will be a that helps us facilitate
fifth-grader at Bowmar this support in the parks, these
fall, said her favorite part of resources have been around
the trip was getting to see for 100 years and we want
the different animals. them to stay around for 100
“It was amazing how close more.”
you could get to those ani- Tingle said the vacation is
mals,” Mary Beth said. “You something they would like
couldn’t touch them, but they to do again but with a few
didn’t run away from us at changes added.
all.” “I’m sure we’ll go back,”
The family visited Mount Shelley Tingle said. “We
Rushmore, Yellowstone, might fly next time, though.
Grand Teton, Glacier Two weeks in a car is a long
Bay, Jefferson and Capu- time.”
lin national parks on their “I’d have to say I want to go
trip, and they managed to to the Grand Canyon next,”
squeeze in a trip to a St. Alex said. “That would be
Louis Cardinals baseball awesome.”