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THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
EARTH WIND AND FIRE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eustace Conway, center, shows campers how to split a log at his Turtle Island Preserve in Triplett, N.C., on June 27. When Conway bought his first 107 acres in 1987, his vision for Turtle Island was as "a tiny bowl in the earth, intact and natural, surrounded by pavement and highways." People peering inside from nearby ridges would see "a pristine and green example of what the whole world once looked like."
Man embraces natural lifestyle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The way Eustace Conway sees it, there's the natural world, as exemplified by his Turtle Island Preserve in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And then there's the "plastic, imitation" one that most other humans inhabit.
But the border between the two has always been a porous one.
When he bought his first 107 acres in 1987, Conway's vision for Turtle Island was as "a tiny bowl in the earth, intact and natural, surrounded by pavement and highways."
People peering inside from nearby ridges would see "a pristine and green example of what the whole world once looked like."
Since leaving his parents' suburban home at 17 and moving into the woods, Conway has been preaching the gospel of sustainable, "primitive" living.
But over the past three decades, those notions have clearly evolved.
Conway has traded his trademark buckskins for jeans and T-shirts.
Visitors to "Turtle Island are as likely to hear the buzz of a chain saw as the call of an eagle, and interns learn that "Dumpster diving" is as important a skill as hunting or fishing.
And then there are the television cameras.
For the past two seasons, Conway has brought his message of simpler living to the History Channel reality show, "Mountain Men" — a role he concedes is inherently oxymoronic.
"I think television's terrible," the 52-year-old woodsman says with a chuckle that shakes his long, iron-grey beard. "So it's definitely a paradox."
But it's all part of a complex dance. For Conway and Turtle Island, sustainability has come to depend on interns and apprentices, and on tax-exempt status from a regulatory system this self-styled "true old-time mountain man" openly despises.
It also depends, increasingly, on a steady stream of paying campers. And that is where Conway's peaceful coexistence with the "modern world" broke down.
Acting on a complaint about alleged illegal building, officials from the Watauga County Planning and Inspection Department raided Turtle Island last fall and found dozens of structures for which no permits were ever pulled. Citing numerous health and safety code violations, the county attorney gave Conway three options: Bring the buildings up to minimum state standards, have an expert certify that they already met code and obtain proper permits, or tear them down.
What ensued was more than just a battle of government versus the individual. It was also very much about the lines between what is real and what is "reality."
County Planning Director Joe Furman says the conflict started in late spring of 2012 with an anonymous phone call, followed about a week later by an unmarked envelope containing a crudely drawn
tailed, color-
coded map. It
showed build-
ings, road grading
and wiring
all allegedly done without proper permitting, engineering or inspections.
"In the figurative sense we are an island of wilderness in a sea of development and destruction."
Unlike some of his fellow TV "Mountain Men," who toil high in the Rockies or far out in the Alaskan wilderness, Conway is hardly cut off from civilization.
Turtle Island lies near the Tennessee border, just a few miles east of Boone — a county seat of 17,000 residents whose population doubles when Appalachian State University, Conway's alma mater, is in session. Just beyond the gravel road that leads into the 1,000-acre preserve, spacious, modern homes nestle on wooded lots within sight of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Once through the gates, everything changes.
After crossing a dancing stream, the road opens onto a meadow ringed by a blacksmith shop, open-air kitchen and dining room, a corn crib and assorted other outbuildings. Dominating the scene
is a massive cantilevered barn,
constructed of dovetailed logs and
roofed with 5,000 hand-hewn,
moss-covered shingles.
The name comes from an American Indian creation myth about a great turtle that saved the world's creatures from a cataclysmic flood by supporting them on its shell. "In the figurative sense," Conway's website explains, "we are an island of wilderness in a sea of development and destruction."
Not exactly, say local officials.
After a cursory inspection, Furman says talks between his office and Conway broke down. So on Sept. 19, Furman came back with a warrant and sheriff's deputies.
Beginning with Conway's own home, inspectors found the building lacked the minimum water and sewer connections.
EUSTACE CONWAY
All of the buildings were constructed of wood milled on site, not the marked, graded lumber
required in the building codes.
Solar panels run the equipment in Conway's little office, and a micro-hydroelectric plant installed by students from ASU's Appropriate Technology
The team noted a wood stove whose chimney was vented beneath a building's metal roof, not through it, and unpermitted outhouses intended for public use. Several buildings were not connected to the stacked-stone foundations supporting them.
Program powers a small workshop Inspectors say they found wiring and junction boxes that were not up to code.
In his 78-page report, consultant W.O. Whaley concluded that many of the buildings were "not structurally sound."
"The property in its present state presents a hazard to the safety of anyone near any of the structures," he wrote. "I would suggest obtaining a court order to vacate the property to protect the lives of the public and the interns."
Conway and his supporters argued that Furman's office was
missing the point. How, he asked,
can he teach primitive living in
modern, cookie-cutter structures?
"Human beings have built their own houses for thousands and thousands, and actually millions of years," Conway says. "And now we can't even build our own house with our own material that grows on our own land? That's not some regulation that's just a county problem. That's a human rights issue."
To counter Whaley's report, Conway posted a series of interviews with certified building inspector Drew Kelly on YouTube. Kelly said most of the buildings were constructed "at bare minimum, above what they're wanting regular houses to be built at."
"Do they fit modern-day building codes?" Kelly said. "No. Because they're not modern-day structures."
Conway doubts there ever was a complaint.
He believes it's no coincidence that his trouble with the planning department began during the first season of "Mountain Men."
But as the show illustrates, there can be a fine line between perception and reality.
The show is mostly about man's struggle against nature. But in Conway's story line, a frequent adversary is "the government."
"What do I do for a living?" Conway says in the premiere episode. "I live for a living."
MUSIC
In season one's second episode, titled "Mayhem." Conway opens his mailbox to find an official-looking letter inside. He slits it open with his pocketknife.
"Motion to claim exempt property?" he reads from the court document in his hand. "This is crazy. Damn attorney is paying the sheriff to serve me. Going to take all my land? . Basically, I just got a letter saying, 'Your life is over.'"
In setting up scene, the sandpaper-voiced announcer gives the distinct impression that it's the government that is coming after Turtle Island.
"Eustace has always been able to survive living off his land," the man growls ominously. "But he always struggles to pay the tax man."
MATADOR RECORDS
Queens of the Stone Age album features variety of style, tone
TOM DEHART
tdehart@kansan.com
With the band's previous record, "Era Vulgaris", having been released in 2007, Queens of the Stone Age members had a decent amount of time to devote to other side projects. Josh Homme (Vocals/guitar) released an album with two separate side projects including Eagles of Death Metal's "Heart On" and a self-titled LP with Them Crooked Vultures, a band whose lineup consists of drummer Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. The gap between records made the anticipation of this record one that many music fans longed for, and it was able to live up to its hype.
Few rock bands have the ability to take a heavy, distorted rock song, bend the rules, and then make it into something that most musicians haven't before. Queens of the Stone Age is one of those bands with that ability. The release of the Queens of The Stone Age new album, "...Like Clockwork," this past June has returned the band to its heavily distorted and incredibly authentic guitar leads with a slightly different twist than what they delivered on their previous five albums.
"...Like Clockwork" begins with a tone that delivers a sort of haunted enchantment over the entire record with the track "Keep Your Eyes Peeled." The sound of this album is darker than the sound the band has achieved on its previous records—and it's a definite upside to this album. The guitar parts that
Homme delivers are accompanied by an inventive and well felt out rhythm section.
Drummer Joey Castillo departed from the band halfway through the recording process. He drummed with Queens of the Stone Age for ten years and also drummed with Homme in Eagles of Death Metal. Foo Fighters' frontman and previous Queens of the Stone Age guest drummer, Dave Grohl, returned to the studio to assist the band until the completion of the album. Grohl previously drummed as a guest on the entire 2002 album "Songs For The Deaf."
For a hard, progressive style, this Queens of The Stone Age album deals out a handful of catchy tunes that could even have the occasional listener tapping in for a leisurely listen. With songs like "I Sat by the Ocean," "If I Had a Tail," and "Kalopsia," there is a song that any music fan could—at the very least—appreciate.
The variety of style, tempo and tone that is found in "...Like Clockwork" is what stands out most for Queens of the Stone Age this year. And with guest appearances from members of bands such as the Scissor Sisters, the Arctic Monkeys as well as an appearance by the one and only Elton John, it isn't a mystery as to how that range of style worked its way into the album.
"...Like Clockwork" may be the only new Queens of the Stone Age that fans get for another few years—it's a good thing they made something worth listening to.
Edited by Lauren Armendariz
LAST LAUGH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this combination of two undated handout photos made available by the Centro de Estudios Borjanos, the 20th century Ecce Homo-style fresco of Christ, left and the "restored" version, at right. A year ago, a batched restoration of a fresco of Christ by an 80-year-old Spanish pensioner drew mocking laughter. Now, the artist Cecilia Gimenez has the last laugh. Officials in Borja, a town of 5,000 people in northwestern Spain, said the fresco has drawn more than 40,000 visitors and raised more than 50,000 euros ($66,285) for a local charity. Next week, Gimenez and the local council which owns the sanctuary are to sign a deal sharing the profits from merchandising that features the image.
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