John Joseph Mawn, Sr. (January 10, 1915 - November 4, 2007), was a retired United States Army major who was the technical advisor for the Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. As public information officer at Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith, Arkansas, Mawn replied to the media when Presley’s draft notice became public. Presley received his "G.I. haircut" at Fort Chaffee on March 25, 1958, a day after his induction by the Memphis Draft Board. Earlier, Mawn told an Associated Press reporter that the already legendary entertainer would look like a "peeled onion", a retort which garnered national headlines. Presley himself said simply, "Hair today, gone tomorrow."
Mawn was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Mawn (1881-1967), a railroad worker, and the late Elizabeth Mawn. He was conscripted into the Army in April 1941, when he was the 26-year-old manager of the soft goods department for in New York City. He was assigned to overseas duty with the 94th Infantry Division as a heavy machine gun platoon sergeant. He received a battlefield commission in March 1945 and was discharged six months later. Mawn's decorations included the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and four battle stars for combat in northern France, the Ardennes Forest, the Rhineland, and the Central European campaigns
In 1946, Mawn rejoined the Army and was stationed in Osaka with the 25th Infantry Division during General Douglas MacArthur's occupation of Japan. In 1951-1952, he was a heavy weapons company commander in South Korea, having earned his second Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Army Commendation Metal, a cluster to his Bronze Star, and three battle stars. He was stationed at Fort Chaffee from 1952-1957 as information officer. Mawn left Chaffee for Germany even before Presley arrived in Arkansas for a stopover en route to basic training at Fort Hood, Texas.
In a striking irony, Mawn was with the 3rd Armored Division in Frankfurt, Germany, at the time Presley arrived there for duty. He organized the military press conference for Presley, the largest such event since the end of World War II. Presley had a dozen press conferences while he was in Germany, with arrangements directed by John Mawn, who spent much of the following eighteen months answering repeated media inquiries about Presley, the soldier. He was assigned by the military to Paramount Pictures as technical adviser for G.I. Blues, Presley's fifth film and the first since he was discharged from the Army. It was also the first Presley picture directed by Hal B. Wallis.
Stars and Stripes, the Army newspaper, reported that a hundred soldiers worked as extras in the film, only one of whom had acting experience. It credited Mawn with finding a Presley look-alike, PFC Thomas W. Creel, the same age as Presley and a Mississippian as well. Creel, who came from Laurel in the southeastern portion of the state, lip-synced Presley on film. Mawn, meanwhile, returned to Fort Chaffee in 1961 and retired from the Army a year later.
In 1964, Mawn accepted the position of public affairs officer with the Little Rock District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, having handled press-related matters for the Arkansas River navigation project procured by the state's congressional delegation. He retired from civil service in 1979.
After the death of his wife of forty-five years, Helen L. Mawn (January 15, 1916-July 8, 1988), formerly of Kansas, Mawn moved in 1989 to St. Petersburg, Florida. Failing health compelled him to return to Fort Smith in 2000 to be near his daughters, Karney M. More and Joan E. Mawn. He also had a son, John Mawn, Jr., and wife Sherrill of Gonzales in Ascension Parish near Baton Rouge in south Louisiana, three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren.
Not long before his death, Mawn was inducted into the Arkansas River Historical Society Hall of Fame based in Catoosa, an inland river port on Route 66 near Tulsa in eastern Oklahoma. He was the director of publicity for his World War II 94th Infantry Division Association. He also served on the association's executive council, the association president from 1995-1996, and editor of the association journal, The Attack.
Mawn died of Alzheimer's disease. Services were held on November 8, 2007, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Fort Smith. Interment, with full military honors, followed in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.
Mawn was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Mawn (1881-1967), a railroad worker, and the late Elizabeth Mawn. He was conscripted into the Army in April 1941, when he was the 26-year-old manager of the soft goods department for in New York City. He was assigned to overseas duty with the 94th Infantry Division as a heavy machine gun platoon sergeant. He received a battlefield commission in March 1945 and was discharged six months later. Mawn's decorations included the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and four battle stars for combat in northern France, the Ardennes Forest, the Rhineland, and the Central European campaigns
In 1946, Mawn rejoined the Army and was stationed in Osaka with the 25th Infantry Division during General Douglas MacArthur's occupation of Japan. In 1951-1952, he was a heavy weapons company commander in South Korea, having earned his second Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Army Commendation Metal, a cluster to his Bronze Star, and three battle stars. He was stationed at Fort Chaffee from 1952-1957 as information officer. Mawn left Chaffee for Germany even before Presley arrived in Arkansas for a stopover en route to basic training at Fort Hood, Texas.
In a striking irony, Mawn was with the 3rd Armored Division in Frankfurt, Germany, at the time Presley arrived there for duty. He organized the military press conference for Presley, the largest such event since the end of World War II. Presley had a dozen press conferences while he was in Germany, with arrangements directed by John Mawn, who spent much of the following eighteen months answering repeated media inquiries about Presley, the soldier. He was assigned by the military to Paramount Pictures as technical adviser for G.I. Blues, Presley's fifth film and the first since he was discharged from the Army. It was also the first Presley picture directed by Hal B. Wallis.
Stars and Stripes, the Army newspaper, reported that a hundred soldiers worked as extras in the film, only one of whom had acting experience. It credited Mawn with finding a Presley look-alike, PFC Thomas W. Creel, the same age as Presley and a Mississippian as well. Creel, who came from Laurel in the southeastern portion of the state, lip-synced Presley on film. Mawn, meanwhile, returned to Fort Chaffee in 1961 and retired from the Army a year later.
In 1964, Mawn accepted the position of public affairs officer with the Little Rock District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, having handled press-related matters for the Arkansas River navigation project procured by the state's congressional delegation. He retired from civil service in 1979.
After the death of his wife of forty-five years, Helen L. Mawn (January 15, 1916-July 8, 1988), formerly of Kansas, Mawn moved in 1989 to St. Petersburg, Florida. Failing health compelled him to return to Fort Smith in 2000 to be near his daughters, Karney M. More and Joan E. Mawn. He also had a son, John Mawn, Jr., and wife Sherrill of Gonzales in Ascension Parish near Baton Rouge in south Louisiana, three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren.
Not long before his death, Mawn was inducted into the Arkansas River Historical Society Hall of Fame based in Catoosa, an inland river port on Route 66 near Tulsa in eastern Oklahoma. He was the director of publicity for his World War II 94th Infantry Division Association. He also served on the association's executive council, the association president from 1995-1996, and editor of the association journal, The Attack.
Mawn died of Alzheimer's disease. Services were held on November 8, 2007, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Fort Smith. Interment, with full military honors, followed in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.
Nateash LeeAnn Conlet (born May 19, 2001 Attleboro, MA) is an American actress. Daughter of James and Elizabeth Conlet. Nateash first began her acting career at 6 months of age in local New England television commercials. Having already known as a local television personality she was chosen by Area News Channel 13 to host a Advice based Reality talk show. She is the youngest child star to host and co-produce a weekday talk show. She is currently working with show creator Jack Rumberto to syndicate the show.
Dance of the Goblins is the first in The Goblin Trilogy series of fantasy novels written by Jaq D. Hawkins about a race of goblins who live under the human world. They befriend the leader of the human world above, Count Anton, who becomes hunted by humans who feel he has betrayed them by his friendship with the goblins, and unwelcome in the goblin world where all humans are considered the enemy. Count Anton ultimately incurs the wrath of Haghuf, the goblin elder.
The book is followed by Demoniac Dance, then Power of the Dance. There are side projects attached to the series which tell the stories of some of the more important characters. these include; Goblin Rune; Le-ina's Sorrow; and a collection of short stories called Goblin Tales as well as a story within another collection, Liber Malorum, called In Dreams of Gold.
Dragons' Den
The author appeared on the BBC2 programme asking for £175,000 to aid in the production of a film adaptation by her company, Goblin Films Ltd. None of the Dragons were prepared to make an offer.
The book is followed by Demoniac Dance, then Power of the Dance. There are side projects attached to the series which tell the stories of some of the more important characters. these include; Goblin Rune; Le-ina's Sorrow; and a collection of short stories called Goblin Tales as well as a story within another collection, Liber Malorum, called In Dreams of Gold.
Dragons' Den
The author appeared on the BBC2 programme asking for £175,000 to aid in the production of a film adaptation by her company, Goblin Films Ltd. None of the Dragons were prepared to make an offer.
JuteBlue is an American rock, punk, and alternative band formed in Rapid City, South Dakota in 2005. The group is composed of Christian Calvert (bass guitar, lead vocals), Shawn Her Many Horses (guitars and vocals), and Luke Johnson (drums and vocals).
The band’s music varies widely in style, from alternative pop/rock (“Creek”, “Songs About Cars”) to psychedelic (“Death for One”, “Inter-Mission”) to hard rock (“Black Ivy”) and has also included reggae, 60’s surf, punk and alt-country. This diversity in style contributes to the band's unpredictability and prevents them from being confined to any certain genre. When asked about their genre, JuteBlue maintains that they play “award-winning" music.
2004-2005: Founding
In the spring of 2004, all three members lived in the same residence hall at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Dake Hall, all on the same floor. Christian was the resident assistant for the hall, and would routinely play bass in his dorm room. Occasionally, Shawn would jam with Christian in the dorms, across the hall from Luke, who didn’t own a set of drums and hadn’t played music in any form since high school band. Late one night, Luke was playing Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction” album loudly in his dorm room, and Christian wrote him up for a noise violation.
Christian and Luke were both majoring in Metallurgical Engineering at SDSM&T, and in the fall of 2005 had a similar class schedule. Luke had obtained an electronic drum set the previous summer, and was invited to bring it over to Christian’s house for a jam session with Shawn, Christian, and another student named Brandon Fried who played guitar. That evening the foursome played a variety of classic rock and punk songs. Fried only played with the group that one evening. For the remainder of the fall, the group met occasionally for jam sessions and worked on covers of songs by the Sex Pistols, the MC5, Toadies, and The Clash, among others.
2006
As 2006 rolled around, the band began expanding their repertoire, adding covers of The Breeders, The Presidents of the United States of America, and the Buzzcocks and soon decided they needed a name. Calvert and Johnson were in a composite materials class at the time, and one day, while discussing natural fibers, their professor, Dr. Jon Kellar, mentioned jute, but had no idea what it was. A student named Mark Hofacker looked it up on the internet and found that it was used in carpet and burlap bags and was actually the second-most used natural fiber in the world next to cotton. All three band members eventually agreed that Jute would be their name. Around this time, Shawn began working on some original songs, which would later become the core material for their first album. Around April of that year, Calvert learned of another band named Jute, so the band members were once again without a name. They played their first, and only, show that year in Calvert’s living room, playing without the use of microphones. Most of this performance consisted of cover songs, as Shawn’s original material still was without lyrics. Johnson and Calvert traded off lead vocal duties, but by the end of the set, Calvert was singing most everything since Johnson had a sore throat and had lost his voice after the first few songs. They eventually ran out of material, so Shawn played some solo songs towards the end of the show, including a cover of a Mazzy Star song.
The group parted ways for the summer, despite Calvert’s insistence that Johnson stay in Rapid City, and each member worked on writing music that summer in his spare time. However, when they returned to college in the fall of 2006, they still were without a complete original song. They experimented with microphones some that semester, but rarely practiced. When they would practice, it was a frustrating experience because the microphones had feedback problems and Johnson’s electronic drum set would suddenly cut out for a few seconds of every song.
2007
During Christmas break, Johnson was in his basement back at his hometown of Webster, South Dakota and saw a video of a friend’s improvised song on YouTube. Inspired, he wrote the lyrics for what would eventually become “Creek”, based on music Shawn had come up with the previous year that Shawn had disliked because it was “too poppy sounding”, and a line Calvert had come up with during a jam session the previous semester. Johnson came back to Rapid City early and worked with Calvert on editing the lyrics and coming up with the unusual song format that would become a trademark of the band.
Shawn later finished two songs of his own, “Death for One” and “Black Ivy”, and suddenly the band had a variety of original material. Shawn would end up being the band’s primary songwriter, as he wrote the music for four of their songs and the lyrics for two. Still, before they could perform again they needed a name, and eventually decided on JuteBlue since they couldn’t be Jute. Calvert purchased microphones and borrowed a PA system, and Shawn found an old Synsonics drum set that Johnson installed new heads on. Finally, JuteBlue was no longer equipment-deficient.
They played a number of other shows in 2007, including a Battle of the Bands at the Ellsworth Air Force Base, which they won.
Recordings
A live album, “Live at Chris’s Living Room” was recorded in March of 2007, using only a cassette player in the back of the room. This tape was later ripped onto a computer by Shawn using a handheld cassette player and converted to mp3 form. Shawn also designed the cover. The album contains 10 songs, but only because the tape ran out at that point of the show. This was disappointing because the end of that show contained an ultra-fast version of the Surfaris’ “Wipeout”, and also culminated with an intense performance of Radiohead’s “Creep” that the band had only learned days before and had never performed previously. The album is still available on the internet for free downloading.
In May of 2007, JuteBlue recorded their first studio album, “Debut”, in about four hours. “Debut” included all their original songs, a couple covers, and even acoustic versions of both “Creek” and “Songs About Cars”, where Calvert played maracas in lieu of bass, and Johnson played guitar, djembe, and tambourine. But the most notable part of the recording session involved the song “So We Dug”. Calvert had finished the lyrics to the song only days before, and the band had never played the song going into that recording session. Before recording it, Calvert informed Shawn and Luke, “we’re going to play this in one take and however it goes, that’s what we’re keeping.” So the recording on the album is actually the first time the band played the song, ever. The album is due out on November 20, 2007 and was entirely mixed by Shawn Her Many Horses.
JuteBlue’s songs have had considerable internet chart success, as “Creek” hit #7 on the SoundClick Alternative General charts and #22 on the SoundClick Alternative charts, and “Songs About Cars” hit #34 on the SoundClick Alternative General Charts and #81 on the SoundClick Alternative chartsin May 2007. “Death for One”, “Inter-Mission” “Black Ivy”, and acoustic versions of “Creek” and “Songs About Cars” also charted.
Song structure
JuteBlue is known for abandoning the traditional structure of most popular music, putting their solos and choruses in various places within the song, and incorporating elements of music not normally found in the genres they play. For example, “Creek” contains the guitar solo before the first verse, and one chorus is performed in a round accompanied only by handclaps and a bass drum. The verses of that song are also unusual, in that instead of the typical 4 or 8-line verse, it has 6-line verses.
Equipment and performance setup
JuteBlue plays every show with their drummer, bassist, and guitarist in a straight line, instead of the traditional setup of the drummer behind the bassist and guitarist. This setup was first used in their basement practice sessions so each member could clearly see any cues from the other members, and because hearing each other was often difficult due to the lack of microphones and monitors.
Calvert plays a Peavey T-40 bass through a Sunn concert bass head and Peavey cab.
Shawn plays an Agile LP hollowbody electric guitar most often, using a Boss GT-8 effects processor and an Ashdown tube amp. He also occasionally uses a Jekyll & Hyde overdrive pedal and a Fender Princeton Classic or a Yamaha amp.
Johnson’s drum set is a 5-piece Synsonics kit in various stages of falling apart. He built his own bass pedal using the frame for a broken one, a screwdriver covered in duct tape for the beater, and a floor mat from a Chevy Tahoe for the base. This base has since been replaced by a pizza box. He uses cymbals with holes in them resulting from removing cracks. Recently, he restored a vintage Slingerland hi-hat stand from the 1960s that uses Zildjian cymbals. Johnson uses Zildjian Rock drumsticks exclusively, since they are the only sticks he hasn’t been able to break. He also plays “about every other show” barefoot, or with only one shoe.
Discography
Live at Chris's Living Room, March 2007
Debut, November 2007
The band’s music varies widely in style, from alternative pop/rock (“Creek”, “Songs About Cars”) to psychedelic (“Death for One”, “Inter-Mission”) to hard rock (“Black Ivy”) and has also included reggae, 60’s surf, punk and alt-country. This diversity in style contributes to the band's unpredictability and prevents them from being confined to any certain genre. When asked about their genre, JuteBlue maintains that they play “award-winning" music.
2004-2005: Founding
In the spring of 2004, all three members lived in the same residence hall at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Dake Hall, all on the same floor. Christian was the resident assistant for the hall, and would routinely play bass in his dorm room. Occasionally, Shawn would jam with Christian in the dorms, across the hall from Luke, who didn’t own a set of drums and hadn’t played music in any form since high school band. Late one night, Luke was playing Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction” album loudly in his dorm room, and Christian wrote him up for a noise violation.
Christian and Luke were both majoring in Metallurgical Engineering at SDSM&T, and in the fall of 2005 had a similar class schedule. Luke had obtained an electronic drum set the previous summer, and was invited to bring it over to Christian’s house for a jam session with Shawn, Christian, and another student named Brandon Fried who played guitar. That evening the foursome played a variety of classic rock and punk songs. Fried only played with the group that one evening. For the remainder of the fall, the group met occasionally for jam sessions and worked on covers of songs by the Sex Pistols, the MC5, Toadies, and The Clash, among others.
2006
As 2006 rolled around, the band began expanding their repertoire, adding covers of The Breeders, The Presidents of the United States of America, and the Buzzcocks and soon decided they needed a name. Calvert and Johnson were in a composite materials class at the time, and one day, while discussing natural fibers, their professor, Dr. Jon Kellar, mentioned jute, but had no idea what it was. A student named Mark Hofacker looked it up on the internet and found that it was used in carpet and burlap bags and was actually the second-most used natural fiber in the world next to cotton. All three band members eventually agreed that Jute would be their name. Around this time, Shawn began working on some original songs, which would later become the core material for their first album. Around April of that year, Calvert learned of another band named Jute, so the band members were once again without a name. They played their first, and only, show that year in Calvert’s living room, playing without the use of microphones. Most of this performance consisted of cover songs, as Shawn’s original material still was without lyrics. Johnson and Calvert traded off lead vocal duties, but by the end of the set, Calvert was singing most everything since Johnson had a sore throat and had lost his voice after the first few songs. They eventually ran out of material, so Shawn played some solo songs towards the end of the show, including a cover of a Mazzy Star song.
The group parted ways for the summer, despite Calvert’s insistence that Johnson stay in Rapid City, and each member worked on writing music that summer in his spare time. However, when they returned to college in the fall of 2006, they still were without a complete original song. They experimented with microphones some that semester, but rarely practiced. When they would practice, it was a frustrating experience because the microphones had feedback problems and Johnson’s electronic drum set would suddenly cut out for a few seconds of every song.
2007
During Christmas break, Johnson was in his basement back at his hometown of Webster, South Dakota and saw a video of a friend’s improvised song on YouTube. Inspired, he wrote the lyrics for what would eventually become “Creek”, based on music Shawn had come up with the previous year that Shawn had disliked because it was “too poppy sounding”, and a line Calvert had come up with during a jam session the previous semester. Johnson came back to Rapid City early and worked with Calvert on editing the lyrics and coming up with the unusual song format that would become a trademark of the band.
Shawn later finished two songs of his own, “Death for One” and “Black Ivy”, and suddenly the band had a variety of original material. Shawn would end up being the band’s primary songwriter, as he wrote the music for four of their songs and the lyrics for two. Still, before they could perform again they needed a name, and eventually decided on JuteBlue since they couldn’t be Jute. Calvert purchased microphones and borrowed a PA system, and Shawn found an old Synsonics drum set that Johnson installed new heads on. Finally, JuteBlue was no longer equipment-deficient.
They played a number of other shows in 2007, including a Battle of the Bands at the Ellsworth Air Force Base, which they won.
Recordings
A live album, “Live at Chris’s Living Room” was recorded in March of 2007, using only a cassette player in the back of the room. This tape was later ripped onto a computer by Shawn using a handheld cassette player and converted to mp3 form. Shawn also designed the cover. The album contains 10 songs, but only because the tape ran out at that point of the show. This was disappointing because the end of that show contained an ultra-fast version of the Surfaris’ “Wipeout”, and also culminated with an intense performance of Radiohead’s “Creep” that the band had only learned days before and had never performed previously. The album is still available on the internet for free downloading.
In May of 2007, JuteBlue recorded their first studio album, “Debut”, in about four hours. “Debut” included all their original songs, a couple covers, and even acoustic versions of both “Creek” and “Songs About Cars”, where Calvert played maracas in lieu of bass, and Johnson played guitar, djembe, and tambourine. But the most notable part of the recording session involved the song “So We Dug”. Calvert had finished the lyrics to the song only days before, and the band had never played the song going into that recording session. Before recording it, Calvert informed Shawn and Luke, “we’re going to play this in one take and however it goes, that’s what we’re keeping.” So the recording on the album is actually the first time the band played the song, ever. The album is due out on November 20, 2007 and was entirely mixed by Shawn Her Many Horses.
JuteBlue’s songs have had considerable internet chart success, as “Creek” hit #7 on the SoundClick Alternative General charts and #22 on the SoundClick Alternative charts, and “Songs About Cars” hit #34 on the SoundClick Alternative General Charts and #81 on the SoundClick Alternative chartsin May 2007. “Death for One”, “Inter-Mission” “Black Ivy”, and acoustic versions of “Creek” and “Songs About Cars” also charted.
Song structure
JuteBlue is known for abandoning the traditional structure of most popular music, putting their solos and choruses in various places within the song, and incorporating elements of music not normally found in the genres they play. For example, “Creek” contains the guitar solo before the first verse, and one chorus is performed in a round accompanied only by handclaps and a bass drum. The verses of that song are also unusual, in that instead of the typical 4 or 8-line verse, it has 6-line verses.
Equipment and performance setup
JuteBlue plays every show with their drummer, bassist, and guitarist in a straight line, instead of the traditional setup of the drummer behind the bassist and guitarist. This setup was first used in their basement practice sessions so each member could clearly see any cues from the other members, and because hearing each other was often difficult due to the lack of microphones and monitors.
Calvert plays a Peavey T-40 bass through a Sunn concert bass head and Peavey cab.
Shawn plays an Agile LP hollowbody electric guitar most often, using a Boss GT-8 effects processor and an Ashdown tube amp. He also occasionally uses a Jekyll & Hyde overdrive pedal and a Fender Princeton Classic or a Yamaha amp.
Johnson’s drum set is a 5-piece Synsonics kit in various stages of falling apart. He built his own bass pedal using the frame for a broken one, a screwdriver covered in duct tape for the beater, and a floor mat from a Chevy Tahoe for the base. This base has since been replaced by a pizza box. He uses cymbals with holes in them resulting from removing cracks. Recently, he restored a vintage Slingerland hi-hat stand from the 1960s that uses Zildjian cymbals. Johnson uses Zildjian Rock drumsticks exclusively, since they are the only sticks he hasn’t been able to break. He also plays “about every other show” barefoot, or with only one shoe.
Discography
Live at Chris's Living Room, March 2007
Debut, November 2007