DIVING IN: Brittany Hodak, a Fort Smith native and University of Central Arkansas graduate who now resides in New York, where she and her business partner Kim Kaupe run their company ZinePak, will be featured on ABC's reality show, Shark Tank, this Friday. The two will be pitching their startup business to those on the show. The product, which creates enhanced fan-specific content and packaging for new music releases, was the subject of a 2013 feature section article in this newspaper. That article noted that the pair had grown ZinePak into a multimillion-dollar company in less than two years. The episode featuring them is set to air at 7 p.m.
CIRCLING AROUND: Speaking of sharks, there's a new horror film on the horizon -- Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre. Apparently a kissin' cousin of Sharknado, this one features former underage porn star Traci Lords and Dominique Swain. Directed by Jim Wynorski, the film takes the "women in prison" theme to a new low by throwing land sharks (anyone remember those crafty candy-gram-delivering devils from Saturday Night Live?) into the mix. IMDb's website lists the film as having been shot in Marianna, Fla. Apparently, "Sharkansas" just had a nicer ring to it.
The premise? When a mishap rips apart the Earth's crust, it opens up an underground waterway with giant prehistoric sharks. The "Arkansas swamp shark," which travels both on water and land, preys upon a group of beautiful female prisoners out on work detail, their accompanying guards and everyone else in between.
IN WITH THE OUTLAWS: Country legends Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard have collaborated on a new album, Django and Jimmie, set for release June 2. And there's at least one Arkansas connection -- the song "Live This Long" was co-written by Perryville native Shawn Camp, now of Nashville. Camp wrote Josh Turner's hit, "Would You Go With Me," and has worked with noted songwriters Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson.
SHADES OF BLUE: With the recent announcement that former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is once again pursuing the White House, a coloring book first published in 2013 and reissued in the fall of 2014 is now even more timely. Hillary: The Coloring Book, published by Ulysses Press, retails for $10, and its cover features illustrations of Clinton in a variety of pantsuits -- there's green, blue, purple and gold.
The book, described by its publisher as a "whimsical primer on the former First Lady," includes 30 images of Clinton, beginning with an image of her as a child, playing on the floor with building blocks and an Abraham Lincoln bust (really?), her "tumultuous early years of marriage," the political campaigns in Arkansas, her husband Bill's successful presidential bid, her time as senator, her first run as a presidential candidate and her years as secretary of state.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
SundayMonday on 04/19/2015