BARRY COURTER: Lisa, are you shy about telling your age?
LISA DENTON: Not a bit. But my mom doesn't like to tell hers, so I'm not allowed to tell mine.
BARRY: I ask because I saw Minnie Pearl on an old Merv Griffin show and she said she was shy about telling her age. "About 30 years shy when I tell it." Hilarious, and naturally when I saw her I thought of you.
LISA: You wouldn't be the first. I do have some Minnie qualities. I'm all the time forgetting to take the tags off my clothes, and I've been known to enter the room with a big "How-deeee." That's from growing up in Sale Creek. It's a howdy kind of town.
And I like a good laugh. Like the time my Uncle Tom answered the telephone and someone asked, "Is Minnie there?" And he said, "No, there's just a few of us here."
BARRY: Never met Uncle Tom, but I like him. That's funny.
OK, there are a couple of cool events in town this week. The Lookout Wild Film Festival is this weekend at Memorial Auditorium. Our former co-worker Andy Johns has done a great job growing the event in just three years. They are having an opening-night party at The Camp House on Thursday and then three days' worth of films, meet-and-greets and hanging out.
What's especially smart - and cool - about the event is that it brings together all types of outdoor enthusiasts. Bikers, hikers, climbers and rowers all hug and howdy in the same space.
LISA: These are always exceptional films about the great outdoors. This year's slate goes all over the world, from Peru to Iceland to Uganda. And a couple have a local connection. "Cloudmont" is about the family that runs the ski resort in Mentone, Alabama, and "Flying at Fifteen" is about a teenager who flies at Lookout Mountain Hang Gliding. They range from shorts to feature-length films.
BARRY: There are even films about yoga so people can do yoga in preparation for a day of watching movies.
Chattacon 41 also is this weekend at the Choo Choo. And WWE Live Road to Wrestlemania is at McKenzie Arena on Saturday. The same night Art Garfunkel is at the Tivoli, and Cardon Smith will do an unplugged show as part of the Patten Performances series at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
I don't know if we've talked about it too much, but Puckett's, where TGIFriday's was near the Tennessee Aquarium, has live music. On Friday and Saturday, the Road Runners and local legend Roger Alan Wade will be there.
LISA: So many things to do.
Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.