Ar times 12 5 13 by Arkansas Times

NEWS + POLITICS + ENTERTAINMENT + FOOD / DECEMBER 5, 2013 / ARKTIMES.COM

HOG HELL A SEASON OF MISERY JEOPARDIZES THE RAZORBACK ATHLETIC PROGRAM. BY BEAU WILCOX

Your family doctor in West Little Rock.

501-221-2900

600 AUTUMN ROAD

behind the Purple Cow on Chenal

RENIHEALTH.COM

ARKANSAS’S SOURCE FOR NEWS, POLITICS & ENTERTAINMENT 201 East Markham Street, Suite 200 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 www.arktimes.com arktimes@arktimes.com @ArkTimes www.facebook.com/arkansastimes

7th & Thayer · Little Rock · (501) 375-8400

Thursday, december 5 The White Glove Test w/ Healer

Friday, december 6 PUBLISHER Alan Leveritt

THE HOLIDAY HANG OUT! THE HOLIDAY HANG OUT!

SENIOR EDITOR Max Brantley

sunday, december 8

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Mara Leveritt ASSOCIATE EDITORS David Koon, David Ramsey, Doug Smith ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Robert Bell EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR Kai Caddy

We’ll be Open Dec. 7th through the 21st

COME SEE US!

RUGS • PILLOWS • THROWS • MIRRORS • AND MORE!

8-5 M-F • 7-1 Saturdays • Closed Sundays

saTurday, december 7

EDITOR Lindsey Millar MANAGING EDITOR Leslie Newell Peacock

Happy Holidays!

BREAKFAST, BOOKS, & BOOZE HOLIDAY HANG OUT Closing Night

check out additional shows at

whitewatertavern.com

OUTLET 1201 S Spring St • Little Rock, AR • (501) 371-0447 facebook.com/ DreamweaversOutletStore

Frontier Frontier Soups Soups

All Natural. No Salt, AllAdded Natural. Preservatives No Added Salt, Or MSG. Preservatives Or MSG. Gluten Free Options Available Gluten Free Options Available 4310 Landers Road • North Little Rock, AR 72117 4310 Landers Road • North Little Rock, AR 72117 (501) 687-1331 (501) 687-1331 www.krebsbrothers.com • M-F 8-5 Sat. 9-5 www.krebsbrothers.com • M-F 8-5 Sat. 9-5

PHOTOGRAPHER Brian Chilson ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Mike Spain ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Patrick Jones GRAPHIC DESIGNER Bryan Moats DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Phyllis A. Britton SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Tiffany Holland ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Darielle D’Mello, Jo Garcia, Thanh Rasico ADVERTISING TRAFFIC MANAGER Roland R. Gladden ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Kelly Carr SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Monika Rued SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Rose Gladner IT DIRECTOR Robert Curfman CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Jack Higgins CONTROLLER Weldon Wilson BILLING/COLLECTIONS Linda Phillips OFFICE MANAGER Kelly Lyles PRODUCTION MANAGER Ira Hocut (1954-2009)

association of alternative newsmedia

VOLUME 40, NUMBER 14 ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each week by Arkansas Times Limited Partnership, 201 East Markham Street, Suite 200, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201, phone (501) 375-2985. Periodical postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ARKANSAS TIMES, EAST MARKHAM STREET, SUITE 200, Little Rock, AR, 72201. Subscription prices are $42 for one year, $78 for two years. Subscriptions outside Arkansas are $49 for one year, $88 for two years. Foreign (including Canadian) subscriptions are $168 a year. For subscriber service call (501) 375-2985. Current single-copy price is 75¢, free in Pulaski County. Single issues are available by mail at $2.50 each, postage paid. Payment must accompany all single-copy orders. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents without the written consent of the publishers is prohibited. Manuscripts and artwork will not be returned or acknowledged unless sufficient return postage and a self-addressed stamped envelope are included. All materials are handled with due care; however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for care and safe return of unsolicited materials. All letters sent to ARKANSAS TIMES will be treated as intended for publication and are subject to ARKANSAS TIMES’ unrestricted right to edit or to comment editorially.

DECEMBER 5, 2013

COMMENT

UA needs to be held accountable

Thanks for the outstanding coverage of the continuing fiasco at the University of Arkansas with Chancellor David Gearhart and his personal PR minion Mike Masterson. I have attempted numerous times to contact the president of the University of Arkansas System as well as members of the Board of Trustees about this matter but not surprisingly no one responded. As an alumni of the U of A Fayetteville I will not donate another dollar to the institution until Gearhart is gone. These administrators need to understand that they are accountable to the people of Arkansas, and the Board of Trustees and the Arkansas legislature needs to understand that as well. Bill Russell Maumelle

Catholic debate Sam Seamons doesn’t get this issue regarding the Mount St. Mary’s firing of Tippi McCullough. It’s not a matter of expecting the Roman Catholic Church to change its teachings on human sexuality based on how current culture has changed its views, as Seamons posits it. It’s the hypocrisy of the deep, abiding and long continuing cover-up by the church all the way up to the Pope of aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of children by priests for decades, while firing a lesbian teacher for getting married on the other. That’s what most of us are finding so blatantly wrong with this picture. Change the church’s views on human sexuality? The church appears to a lot of us to merely pick and choose which human sexuality it chooses to abide or not. It just depends on who is calling the shots. Sexual abuse of children by priests? Hey, you get to keep your job! We’ll promote you even. A lesbian marriage? You’re fired. David H. Williams Little Rock

Immigration reform proposal

With all the talk about immigration reform, it is evident that America needs an “American Party” compromise on illegal aliens. A true compromise would provide no path to citizenship for the parents, who many consider economical criminals. Instead, let them register and pay taxes for a “Red Card/ Visa” that won’t provide a path to a Green Card. It would provide limited civil rights — pay taxes and fines or be deported! This plan would give them a deferment on being deported until their kids born in the U.S. are 21 with immediate deportation if they are convicted of any crime. It would provide for immediate deportation if they don’t pay taxes or are unemployed for six months are longer. Give the DREAM ACT kids who graduate high school in the U.S. a “Yellow Card/ Visa” that gives them 12 years to pay back 4

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

taxes and fines before they can apply for a Green Card. After another 12 years, they can apply for citizenship. Any Dream Act visa holder would get an immediate Green Card if they joined the military, became a cop/ INS officer/firefighter, or graduated college with a master’s degree in certain high need fields or agrees to work some many years in a remote location, sort of like rural communities paying to send doctors to med school if they will work there after graduation. The plan would provide U.S. citizenship to any military member wounded or killed in the line of duty, and move the others to the top of the line to apply for citizenship

after six years. They too would face deportation for not paying taxes, criminal convictions or unemployment lasting longer than a year, with a few exceptions. In short, a plan that registers the people that ICE can’t seem to deport, gets the illegal aliens paying taxes, provides a legal status that doesn’t provide the welfare benefits that Green Card holders get after five years, and provides a residency “death penalty” for certain situations. But it also provides a reward for education and career choices. Keith Weber Jacksonville

Nurses Needed: NURSING • JOBS

EDUCATION • HEALTHCARE

ALLIED HEALTH & MORE! FREE ADMISSION

SATURDAY, DEC. 7th

Metroplex Event Center - 10800 Colonel Glenn Rd, Little Rock 72204 9am till 3pm • I-430 & Col. Glenn Road

RECRUITERS ARE HIRING!! DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY... If you’re a nurse, student nurse, or just want a job in healthcare - you MUST BE HERE!! It’s the single largest gathering of healthcare providers, educators and recruiters ever assembled, in one place, in the entire region!

Need BLS? If it is time to renew your BLS CPR, K-Cardiopulmobile will be at Nursing EXPO 2013. Renewal cost: Nursing students (with proper id) $35.00, non-students $45.00.

SCRUBS!  PRIZES JEWELRY!

Co-Sponsored By:

Recruiters & Representatives from: All About Staffing Amedisys Home Health Arkansas Childrens Hospital Arkansas Department of Health Arkansas Heart Hospital Arkansas Tech University Arkasnas Nursing Student Association Arkansas Nurses Association Arkansas State Board of Nursing ASU College of Nursing at Jonesboro Baptist Health Schools Briarwood Nursing and Rehab

FREE RESUME REVIEW FOR INFO CALL SUZANNE AT 501-221-9986 ext. 101

Presented By: Publishing Concepts, Inc. and the Arkansas State board of Nursing Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare Community Health Centers of Arkansas Conway Regional DaVita DHHS Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Harding University Henderson State University HIllcrest Healthcare System Hurst Review K-Cardiopelmobile MedLinc CNA School & Staffing Mercy Hospital Natural State Health Center

PHILLIPS Community College Pinnacle Pointe Hospital Pulaski Technical College Remington College The Right Solutions The Univeristy of Arkansas/Global Campus UALR School of Nursing UAMS UCA US Army Medical Recruiting Visiting Nurse Association of Arkansas Walden University White County Medical Center and many more....

Facts versus chain e-mails

I am a third-year law student at the University of Arkansas School of Law, where I participate in the law school’s pro bono immigration legal clinic as a student attorney. Prior to participating in the school’s immigration clinic, I admit I held many of the same personal beliefs and misconceptions that many Americans hold about immigrants and our immigration system. I now realize that I held these personal beliefs not out of hatred or jingoism, but because I didn’t know any better. In the last month I noticed the recent controversy over Obamacare has caused many of our national media and political figures to raise concerns about immigrant eligibility for U.S. welfare benefits. One of the more controversial claims made by media is that immigrants burden American taxpayers by draining welfare resources, without paying their fair share of income taxes. Under U.S. statutory law, a person’s residency status and eligibility for welfare benefits are completely separate things and are, for the most part, legally separated. Under U.S. law, a person’s residency status, be it legal or illegal, does not automatically make a person eligible for welfare benefits. The immigration-reform legislation of 1996 explicitly bars most non-U.S. citizens from receiving most welfare benefits, and the law remains the same today. The law explicitly states that illegal immigrants are not eligible for welfare or for the majority of state and federal benefits, nor are legal immigrants eligible for most federal welfare programs. Even if an immigrant is a legal naturalized U.S. citizen, he or she is still ineligible for most federal welfare programs. Children born to immigrant parents in the U.S., who are American citizens by birth, are eligible for government services and benefits that are not available to their parents. The issue of immigrant use of means tested programs is not likely to go away anytime soon. The discussion of what to do about this problem should be conducted with the recognition of its complexity. In the meantime, stop jumping on political bandwagons based on the claims made by people who are paid and/or live to stir up crap. Take the time to inform yourself of the reality and facts of U.S. immigration law. Spend less time creating chain emails by copying and pasting the comment sections from blogs and Facebook. Spend more time educating yourself about immigration policy and law from an unbiased, nonpolitical reputable source of information. Chris Buehler Fayetteville

Submit letters to the Editor via e-mail. The address is arktimes@arktimes.com. Please include name and hometown.

WORD S

Editing czar Not much in the way of language error gets by the Arkansas Times’ managing editor, Leslie Peacock. I’ve had personal experience with this. Leslie advises me there’s a television series on AETN about a character named Doc Martin, “who is phobic about blood.” AETN sent out this press release about the program: “Filmed on location in Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, ‘Doc Martin: Revealed’ will provide viewers awaiting the return of Britain’s curmudgeonly hemophiliac with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the series’ sixth season.” ME Peacock writes, “I’d be curmudgeonly, too, if I thought I might bleed to death every time I stubbed my toe.” A hemophiliac is a person who has hemophilia, which means he experiences excessive bleeding, “owing to the absence or abnormality of a clotting factor in the blood.” Hemophiliacs go to great lengths to avoid anything that might cause them to start bleeding. Doc Martin sounds like someone who suffers from hemophobia — “an abnormal fear of blood.” Tsarevich Alexi Romanov, who would

have been the czar of Russia eventually if the Communists hadn’t shot him, was a famous hemophiliac. DOUG Had she SMITH dsmith5201@comcast.net been asked, Leslie would have pointed out in her uncurmudgeonly way that the Russian form of czar is tsar, and that tsar is still technically correct when referring to Russian emperors. But czar, the Polish spelling, is now more generally used. American news stories refer to the federal volleyball czar, not the volleyball tsar. Not much gets by John Hall either, including this item: “This so-called nuclear option represents a radical shift in Senate procedure. Democrats had threatened to use it after Senate Republicans upheld the confirmation of three judges to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the action could have a huge impact on the federal bench.” The Republicans held up those confirmations, not upheld them.

WEEK THAT WAS

It was a good week for… THE ARKANSAS INNOVATION HUB. The Delta Regional Authority, which works to create jobs in the Mississippi Delta in seven states and in Alabama, has awarded the Arkansas Innovation Hub in North Little Rock a grant of $251,105, bringing to $1 million, or half, the amount needed to construct the Hub in the building housing Art Connection on Fourth Street in North Little Rock. The regionallyfocused Hub will provide co-working space for start-up businesses, education and a “maker space,” for would-be manufacturers or inventors to develop prototypes. THE LITTLE ROCK HOTEL BOOM. Pinnacle Hotel Group will build a 135room, seven-story Hilton Garden Inn on the corner of Fourth and Cumberland streets. It’s scheduled to be completed in early 2016. McKibbon Hotel Group Inc. previously announced that it’ll build a 115-room Hilton Homewood Suites on the north end of the block between River Market Avenue and Rock Street and Fourth Street and Capitol Avenue. Four other hotels have been built in downtown Little Rock since 2004.

It was a bad week for… THE ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS. After controlling their final contest, the football Hogs let LSU slip by them in the final minutes, which left the team without a win in conference play. WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM. The University of Arkansas and the War Memorial Stadium Commission announced a renegotiated contract for UA football at the stadium. Beginning next year and continuing until 2018, the Razorbacks will now only play one game in Little Rock. The team was previously under contract to play two games in Little Rock through 2016. The stadium will receive $400,000 in 2014, 2015 and 2016 for the game that it’s losing. The university currently pays the stadium commission $75,000 per game. In 2017 and 2018, the university won’t pay the stadium anything. Athletic Director Jeff Long disingenuously said money didn’t factor in to the decision. ‘THE MIKE HUCKABEE RADIO SHOW.’ The former Arkansas governor announced that his year-and-a-half old, nationally syndicated radio show will end Dec. 12. The show was initially positioned as a challenger to Rush Limbaugh’s conservative radio dominance.

Give a give gift this holiday season that will help save homeless animals! Purchase the Humane Society of Pulaski County’s 2014 Day Planner… this functional calendar makes a great gift! 100% of the proceeds will benefit the animals To order or find a vendor log onto www.warmhearts.org www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

EDITORIAL

Drop it

or years, there’s been a debate over whether the University of Arkansas should drop intercollegiate football. The events of last weekend prove that the time has come. The players and coaches at Fayetteville clearly have no aptitude for the “game” — more hooliganism than actual sporting competition — and it will be to their credit to renounce it. Already a member of the coaching staff has told ESPN confidentially, “It’s brutal and sweaty and demeaning.” That was the coach who was in charge of pass defense on the final play of the LSU game. Some form of competition will be needed to replace football if the UA is to remain a wellrounded institution and not just a hotbed of relentless scholars. Here too, there is an answer readily at hand. Hendrix College, another distinguished Arkansas institution of higher learning, has recently dismayed alumni and friends by taking up football, and eliminating the men’s sport that Hendrix has always dominated in this state — competitive toe-dancing. Barbarians have seized control of the Hendrix administration apparently, and on Saturday afternoon, the campus now rings to cries of “Kill the m***********s! The hell with Jane Austen, whoever she is!” “It’s heartbreaking,” a Hendrix alumnus told us, referring to the football brutes who’ve replaced the classic Hendrix gentleman of refinement. “These new fellows are covered with tattoos, they wear their pants with their underwear showing, they spit on the floor in the classroom. In my day, we had signs on the wall: ‘If you spit on the floor at home, go to UCA and spit on the floor.’ ” This is exactly the kind of undergraduate the UA can do without. And will, once football has been banished, and toe-dance is king.

Spooky

or-profit corporations are trying to take religious liberty away from individual Americans. And if that’s not scary enough, they’ve got a chance to do it, too. The founders of this country wrote, and the Supreme Court has always upheld, that religious liberty is for people, not corporations. But some right-wing federal courts have turned the concept of freedom of religion upside down, and held that corporations can refuse to provide the contraceptive coverage for their employees that is required by the Affordable Care Act. Presumably this is because contraception violates the corporations’ religion. Nobody ever knew they had one. Past Supreme Courts would have thrown out these cases promptly. But this is a Supreme Court that made an unprecedented ruling that corporations have free speech. Antonin Scalia will vote on this case, too. 6

EYE ON ARKANSAS

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

WHERE IN ARKANSAS?: Know where this slice of life in Arkansas is? Send along the answer to Times photographer Brian Chilson. We invite photographers to contribute submissions to our eyeonarkansas Flickr group. Write to brianchilson@arktimes.com to guess this week’s photo or for more information.

Football’s crossroads

side from travails of Bret Bielema’s inaugural season at the University of Arkansas, few seasons in recent memory have been as exciting as the 2013 college football season nearing its end. Nonstop fantastic finishes, outstanding individual performances, and genuine drama about the teams that will fight it out for the national championship all have worked to produce a thoroughly satisfying season in college football. Yet, it’s clear that football — at all levels, but particularly at the major college level —is nearing a breaking point as a sport. It is a test not unlike that which it faced just over a century ago but, this time, it’s unclear that the sport can emerge from the crisis. In the first decade of the last century, college football almost died. Abolition of the sport seemed likely in 1905 following a nonstop series of deaths and devastating injuries of players at the college football powers. Brandishing his “bully pulpit” as president and as the father of a Harvard player, Theodore Roosevelt famously “saved” football by personally intervening to advocate major rules changes — especially those that opened up the field of play such as introduction of the forward pass and lengthening the yardage needed for a first down — and an overhaul of the governing structure of the sport with the founding of the NCAA. These changes got the sport through this brutal period to allow the development of a high school system that could feed the colleges a nonstop pool of players and a professional league that could provide the most talented players an increasingly lucrative goal. Now, the physical wreckage manifested by football is once again front and center with the flurry of stories regarding chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a still mysterious neurological malady tied to the concussions that are an inherent part of the modern football experience. The pool of young persons coming of age playing the sport is shrinking as parents are increasingly dubious about whether the costs of football are matched by benefits and whether the heavily gendered sport makes sense in a post-Title IX world where kids come of age are playing co-ed soccer. Still, tens of thousands of boys and young men begin playing football each year. Of that small percentage with the talent to go on to play major college football, an increasing number sense that they are being used by those making millions from their talents and images. In return they gain little financially in the short run while still facing all of the risk of the concussion crisis. A recent study carried out by the Drexel University Department of Sport Management found that because of the significant out-of-pocket expenses faced by “full” scholarship

athletes, 85 percent of players live below the federal poverty line while in school. Longer term, many of the players are left without a college degree. As civil rights historian Taylor Branch expresses with special credibility, this comes with a JAY problematic racial dimension because BARTH of the demographic realities of the sport. We are past a point when a single person — even a president with special credibility within the sport — can “save” football. That is because a football-industrial complex composed of media outlets, big money athletic conferences, celebrity coaches, and sporting gear companies understandably resists reform. (Indeed, one wonders how much money has been spent this season on constant helmet and uniform designs loved by fans and prospective players that could have been spent instead on good research into the creation of better helmets to stymie concussions.) The best hope to “save” football now is the rising up of empowered players demanding fundamental change. Fortunately, along with the marvelous moments and performances this year, we have also seen the rise of players willing to stand up for themselves in advocating a different future for college football. As part of an effort by a organization called the National College Players Association (NCPA), the first evidence of that movement came this season with players from a variety of schools writing the letters APU (for All Players United) on their visible gear to provoke conversation about the concussion crisis, the fact injured players often lose scholarships, and the high rates of poverty among players. The group also wants to adopt an Olympic model where high-profile athletes in “amateur” sports may be paid for the endorsement of products. In late October, the players of Grambling State University took the “talk” of the NCPA even further as they boycotted practice and ultimately refused to play a game in late October. In addition to discord within the history-rich program, these players were protesting awful facility conditions and even the risk of staph infection created by the poor care of uniforms. This season of college football has been unquestionably exciting, but it would be much more thoroughly satisfying if the sport’s obvious demons were exorcised. Some of the paths to reform are obvious and others quite murky, but reform is essential if the sport that I came to love as a kid will still be around when I move into old age.

Max Brantley is on vacation.

OPINION

On Karzai’s side

epublicans and other enemies of President Obama have a real chance this month to achieve their dream of sabotaging the president’s legacy and do good for the nation at the same time, but it is not by denying health insurance to as many Americans as they can or by encouraging as many people as they can not to buy it. Here’s how they can achieve those goals. Side with Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, in his standoff with Obama over the bilateral security agreement that would keep some 8,000 American troops in Afghanistan somewhere between another 10 years and the millennium. Encourage Karzai to stand his ground with the president. He refuses to sign the agreement unless Obama makes more promises, including U.S. participation in peace talks with the Taliban and the release of 17 Afghans who have been held incommunicado at Guantanamo for the past decade. If Karzai refuses to sign in the next 25 days, maybe the administration will then follow through on its threat to withdraw all our troops in 2014 and end the $4 billion to $6 billion of military aid and bribes

that annually flows to Karzai and his officialdom and armed forces. That is where doing good for the ERNEST U.S. comes in. We DUMAS would return to our bedrock democratic values. We would no longer be killing innocent civilians and creating thousands of new enemy insurgents in the name of national security, we would no longer be participating in historic fratricide in a foreign land, and we would no longer be engaging in international bribery. This should be the clincher for the president’s enemies: The American people will love them for it. Polls show Americans are sick of the war, sick of reading about local boys dying over there, sick of the billions of their tax dollars spent there every year on graft and, yes, sick of the drone strikes and other missile hits that U.S. commanders insist killed insurgents rather than wedding parties. Alas, all this is a futile scenario. Republicans love this war, even though Obama now is waging it instead of their hero, George W. Bush, who started and waged it vainly and

Getting Southernisms right

or all the regional tensions in could ‘milk anyAmerican politics, have you ever thing with nipples,’ stopped to think what a boring bulls tend to be country this would be without the rather ornery.” You get the feelSouth? Also without black people, of course, which may be another way of ing they had to look GENE saying the same thing. Would there be it up. LYONS any music at all? A city guy, my I was moved to this observation by an father inherited his store of agricultural almost comically obtuse article on a web- metaphors directly from rural Ireland. site called businessinsider.com entitled Indeed, many colloquial expressions “13 Southern Sayings That the Rest of — “mad as a wet hen,” is another — are America Won’t Understand.” �� Purport- more rustic than Southern in origin. The ing to explain a list of “the most ridiculous authors of the Business Insider article Southern sayings” supposedly bewilder- appear to think nobody outside the South ing to persons outside the region, it mainly could possibly have any knowledge of revealed its authors’ cultural naivete. barnyard animals. For example, is there a native speaker But then many people think that. My of English anywhere that doesn’t grasp Arkansas neighbor likes to talk about the meaning of “You can’t make a silk his amazement at meeting country boys purse out of a sow’s ear?” Nor is the phrase, like himself in the Army — Yankees from coined by the 18th century Irish satirist Pennsylvania and upstate New York. The Jonathan Swift, a Southernism at all. Swift expression “rode hard and put up wet” had a way of putting things succinctly. to describe somebody who looks wasted There’s also nothing particularly may be a pure Texanism. But the concept “Southern” about phrases like “useless is immediately familiar to anybody who as tits on a bull”—used often by my New knows that horses need to be walked and Jersey father to describe my lack of facil- groomed after hard exercise. ity with hand tools. That said, there’s definitely something “Only female dairy cows produce milk,” different about the way Southerners use the authors solemnly inform us. “Male language, although it’s in danger of disapcows are called bulls. And even if you pearing as the nation becomes more sub-

ineptly for seven years. It is now the longest continuous war in our history. President Obama embraces it because he can claim immoderate success, if you measure success by the death of Osama bin Laden and the destruction of virtually the entire al Qaeda hierarchy and not by the number of fresh insurgents and U.S. enemies created by the indiscriminate bombings by U.S. and international forces. The administration insists that the U.S. needs to keep launching attacks in the region to prevent attacks on the United States, so that those who want to end our part of the war look like they are inviting new 9/11 attacks. For his part, Karzai is not going to scuttle the agreement and lose the satchels of money the CIA has been delivering to him on a regular basis for most of a decade — to pay for some of the essential needs of the Afghan officialdom, he says. He is just holding out for a better financial deal for himself and his family. But you may have to grant the old boodler some charity, some sincerity, when he complains about the repeated killing of civilians and his demand, at one point, that President Obama at least publicly apologize for them before he will sign the agreement. No one has even a wild approximation of civilian casualties. The Afghan government keeps no numbers and international

agencies have found it impossible to keep good numbers, mainly because the U.S. command doesn’t cooperate very much and contests every Afghan account of civilian casualties. When the CIA and the supersecret Special Forces are involved, absolutely nothing is known. It is safe to say casualties run to many thousands. In one candid moment in 2012, the administration conceded that all military-age males in a strike zone are counted as combatants, unless it is somehow determined absolutely after their deaths that they were not fighters. Leave it to the former top U.S. commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to explain the futility of the whole war effort. “Because of CivCas [civilian casualties], I think we have just about eroded our credibility here in Afghanistan,” McChrystal said in 2010. Every time a strike kills a civilian, he estimated, 20 new insurgents are created from the innocent person’s friends and relatives. It explains why the number of insurgents mushroomed after 2004 and why it continues to grow in spite of U.S. success in annihilating al Qaeda and snuffing out Taliban leaders with whom the Afghan government, at our insistence, is supposed to be negotiating. For our sake, let us pray that for once in his life Hamid Karzai is sincere.

urbanized. Exactly how to characterize it city girl from Little Rock, she sounded is a tougher question. like Huckleberry Finn to me. As a kid growing up in New Jersey, I Prices were “high as a cat’s back.” She’d first heard the siren song of the South on refuse a second helping on the grounds AM radio. Popular music back then had that she was “full as a tick.” She’d libel grown formulaic and polite — all Patti her own posterior as “too much ham for Page and Perry Como. But not on WNJR the sack.” in Newark, a station whose rhyming DJs Certain expressions were pure Arkanplayed artists like B.B. King, Jimmy Reed sas. To spill something was to “tump it and Little Willie John — blues singers over.” Something misaligned or out of with origins in the Deep South with wit place was “womperjawed.” Like the best and emotional directness unmatched in slang, no translation was ever required. the Top 40. “Well you ain’t so big,” Jimmy Her mother’s deadliest insult was Reed sang “You just tall, that’s all.” “country-come-to-town,” to signify, well, Elsewhere on the dial, my basket- a redneck buffoon. ball jock friends and I started following I do think there’s an innate wisdom and the great Jerry West’s college career on modesty in reminding ourselves how close WWVA out of Wheeling, WVA. “Zeke we are to nature, and how like the animals. from Cabin Creek.” After the games, That simplicity’s the soul of Southern wit. they’d play straight up country music: Alas, defunct metaphors wither into Don Gibson, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, cliches. Saying somebody’s “kicking up their heels” doesn’t convey much and the immortal Hank Williams. Somewhere in there, I picked up a taste to somebody who’s never seen a herd for bluegrass. On our second date, the of cows turned into a new pasture. To Arkansas girl I eventually married and I observe that somebody’s “grinning like went to see Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and a mule eating briars” merely sounds the Foggy Mountain Boys at a high school affected if there’s nary a mule for three auditorium in Nelson County, Va. It was counties around. incredible, like hearing Eric Clapton at a So anyway, here’s another of the Arkancorner bar. sas girl’s down home expressions you may Anyway, I wouldn’t say it was how the not have heard. How do you describe an Arkansas girl talked, but that was defi- aggressively flirtatious woman? You might nitely part of it. She’d ask for a “pin” when say she’s “tittin’ around,” a concept quite she wanted something to write with. A unlikely to go out of style. www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

2014 ARKANSAS TIMES

MUSICIANS SHOWC A SE C ash pri z e to winnin g ban d!

The search is on. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the return of the annual Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase with performers competing for an array of prizes. All acts that have at least four songs of original material are encouraged to enter. All styles are welcome. arktimes.com/showcase

Deadline for Entry December 30 2014 Prize Package Cash Prize Celebration Party at Stickyz Drink Named after the Winner plus much, much more!

2013 Winner The Sound of the Mountain

Ark ansa s Times Musicians Showc a se Entry Form

Semifinalists will compete throughout January and February at Stickyz.

NAME OF BAND

Weekly winners will then face off in the finals at the Rev Room in March.

HOMETOWN

SEND THIS ENTRY AND DEMO CD TO:

DATE BAND WAS FORMED AGE RANGE OF MEMBERS (ALL AGES WELCOME)

CONTACT PERSON

Enter online and upload your music files at showcase.arktimes.com

ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP PHONE

Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase PO BOX 34010, Little Rock, AR 72203

E-MAIL

For more info e-mail tiffanyholland@arktimes.com

THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE

Memory hole THE OBSERVER, as you may have gleaned from this column, is fascinated with memory: what we remember, what we forget and why. That big computer sitting up on your shoulders has a hugemongous hard drive, as the kids might say, but it ain’t infinite. Therefore, the vast majority of stuff you see and experience and hate and love just simply gets tossed over the side, like a frigate dumping its spittoons and chamber pots mid-ocean. The Observer teaches memoir from time to time out at the college, and we tell people that what stays is what your brain decides is useful — either what it comes to believe will bring you more joy, avoid pain or keep your behind out of a similar crack in the future. Such is the reason memory exists, and such an engine is the brain, always crunching numbers and making judgment calls, even now, even as you read this, saying in pops and zips of electricity: “Will this article be useful to me in a day or a week or 10 years, or is better forgotten?” To be honest, it’s probably the latter, Dear Reader. We’re in the newspaper bidness. We deal in ink, friend, and long ago came to grips with the fact that today’s journalistic brilliance is tomorrow’s bird cage liner. The trick with a memory, we tell folks, is to figure out why something mattered enough that your brain said “better clear some shelf space for this one.” Even with the most seemingly innocuous and forgettable memory, The Observer believes: if that kind of calculation was made, that shelf was cleared, that moment stitched in electric blue neuron spark, it was not done so flippantly. What does it mean for Yours Truly, then, that our earliest memory is a line of city buses outside a hospital, The Observer’s mother wheeling into the parking lot in her boat-sized Pontiac, our Auntie in the shotgun seat? Plain old excitement, probably, even at 3 years old. Or the time we wiped out our bicycle in a driveway at 14, The Boy Observer headed downhill through the wind, the lovely tug of gravity, and then our sure tires going out from under us, a shout, impact on hard stones, head whacked hard enough that we saw stars, not quite like in the cartoons, but close. Then at 9, and our father emerging from a brush pile with a gleaming, tar-black

snake wrapped around his wrist and forearm, head of the beast pinched between his thumb and forefinger. Standing on a roof at age 12, Main Street, Little Rock, waiting for Pa to finish a patch job behind us, and seeing two homeless men begin to argue and then fight in front of the liquor store across the street, one of them eventually breaking a beer bottle and brandishing it, the only time before or since we’ve seen that move outside of the movies. At 37, just eaten one of the best meals of our life – catfish at Georgetown One Stop – and having to hold the seat up with a knee while taking a leak in the restaurant’s tiny, whomperjawed bathroom. At 22, on a road trip from Memphis to New Orleans with the girl who would be our wife, crossing the Mississippi on the ferry at New Roads in the dusk. Age 24, rising in the dark in our small campus apartment near the University of Iowa the night The Observer learned Spouse was pregnant, leaving her there sleeping, putting on the heaviest coat we’ve ever owned and trudging through the chilly night to a nearby park with an Indian mound in the center, which we scaled and, there, lay on our back, considering Midwestern stars and fate. Then 25 and the sound of our son’s first cry, which made his old man weep for joy, at which point Spouse’s hated, bedside-mannerless obstetrician, who should have been a podiatrist, kicked The Proud Father right the hell out of the delivery room. More confounding, though, are other memories, most of them just flashes: pressing a cantaloupe to the nose at an ancient edition of the Little Rock Farmer’s Market; cutting through the rain in a pickup truck on the way back from Memphis; seeing a girl in a Taco Bell in Benton at 16, a blonde in a sweatshirt that said “Ohio State”; the vanilla bean smell of Jackson Cookie Co. in North Little Rock; our first sight of the Atlanta skyline. A hundred more. Why do they stay? The Observer doesn’t know, or even if we should wonder about such things. As we often tell people, the mind is a trickster, concealing from you what you won’t see or aren’t ready to know. Sounds crazy, but we’ve seen just that sort of thing enough to believe in it. Sometimes it’s better just to leave it at that.

FInD ouT why peopLe are caLLIng us The BesT new resTauranT In LITTLe rock ArkAnsAs Times A 10 on a Dining Scale

ArkAnsAs DemocrAT GAzeTTe Consider us Wowed

kATV

Little Rock’s Hottest New Restuarant

Book your hoLIDay parTIes now!

LIVe musIc By wIne anD roses on weDnesDay, FrIDay anD saTurDay In The Former VesuVIo BIsTro LocaTIon · mon–Thu 5-9pm ~ FrI-saT 5–10pm

1501 merrILL DrIVe · LITTLe rock · 501-224-2828

www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Arkansas Reporter

THE

IN S IDE R

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer was in Little Rock and Mayflower on Tuesday for meetings on the Mayflower oil spill. Last year, Steyer — whose net worth has been estimated at $1.4 billion by Forbes — stepped down from his San Francisco-based investment firm to focus on politics, especially environmental issues. A longtime major donor to the Democratic Party, he’s now positioning himself as an outside funder in the same order of the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson, but for green-oriented Democrats. According to Politico, he spent $8 million to help Terry McAuliffe defeat Tea Party favorite Ken Cuccinelli in the recent Virginia gubernatorial election — more, on a per-vote basis, than Adelson spent in the last presidential election. Now, through his environmentfocused super PAC NextGen Climate Action, Steyer has his sights set on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. In September, he launched a four-part TV advertising campaign, dubbed “Bringing Down TransCanada’s House of Cards: The Keystone Chronicles,” which included a spot that featured Steyer speaking from Mayflower. Jim Margolis, the man behind many of Obama’s presidential campaign ads, produced the campaign. In a meeting with the Arkansas Times, Steyer said he was returning to Mayflower to help those who were affected by the spill have “a voice.” The debate over Keystone and climate change is often too impersonal, he said. Mayflower offers an opportunity to present the issue on a more “human level.” Steyer said he views climate change as the signal issue of our time. “We think that if you went forward 50 or 100 years and look back that this will be what people care about. … The way history works is, ‘Well, it seems like the Axis powers might be pretty bad. What do you think?’ But by 1945, no one is asking that question anymore. They might be asking it in 1936, but in 1945, it’s a 100 percent probability. Anyone who didn’t come out on the right side in 1936 looks like an idiot. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 10

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

BRIAN CHILSON

Mayflower figures in big-money climate debate

CLOUDY FUTURE: Ecological concerns remain for Lake Conway’s Dawson Cove.

Lake Conway spared from catastrophe Testing shows cove needs more cleanup. BY BENJAMIN HARDY

orrisome levels of crude oil persist in a cove of Lake Conway eight months after ExxonMobil’s Pegasus pipeline ruptured in Mayflower. But state authorities charged with monitoring the cleanup say the lingering oil is more of a threat to the area’s ecology than it is to human health. Those same state officials also say that they are confident the main body of Lake Conway was spared direct damage from the Pegasus pipeline disaster on March 29. To confirm that conclusion, further water sampling of the main body of the lake will continue. Authorities reached those conclusions after reviewing data released Oct. 11 by Arcadis, a contractor hired by Exxon to gather and analyze soil and underwater sediment samples from dozens of sites the spill affected. An independent expert consulted by the Arkansas Times and Inside-

Climate News SPECIAL reviewed the data REPORT from Arcadis and agreed with the broad conclusions drawn by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Department of Health. Soon after the pipeline break spewed at least 210,000 gallons of a heavy type of Canadian crude called diluted bitumen (or dilbit) into a neighborhood, as well as adjacent wetlands and Lake Conway’s Dawson Cove, tanker trucks vacuumed up over a million gallons of oil and contaminated

water. In addition, crews scraped over 8,000 tons of crude-saturated plants, soil and debris from the land around the cove. A remediation plan for contaminated sections of Dawson Cove will likely be designed early next year after Exxon makes a follow-up set of soil and sediment tests available. The cove is a nearly 12-acre section of Lake Conway that drains an 11,000acre watershed. It is separated from the main body of lake by a man-made dike, built to carry traffic on Highway 89. When news of the spill broke on March 29, city and county workers sprang into action to contain the oil, creating a makeshift dam to block Dawson Cove from the rest of the lake. Using gravel, dirt and plywood, they plugged the culverts under Highway 89 that allow water to flow from the cove to the lake. (The culverts are no longer blocked.) Soon afterwards, a CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

LISTEN UP

THE

BIG PICTURE

INCONSEQUENTIAL NEWS QUIZ: BLACK FRIDAY HANGOVER EDITION

Tune in to the Times’ “Week In Review” podcast each Friday. Available on iTunes & arktimes.com

INSIDER, CONT.

PLAY AT HOME.

1. Police in Jonesboro said that the target of an alleged “hit” recently found out about the alleged murder-forhire plot in a fairly unusual way. How did investigators say he found out? A) Note from an anonymous source, made up of letters clipped from “Cat Fancy” magazine. B) Overcoat-and-fedora-wearing man under the viaduct on Cherry Street. Come alone. C) Warned in barks and snarls by his faithful collie. D) The man who police say wanted him dead accidentally “butt-dialed” the intended victim on his cell phone while discussing the plot with the hitman. 2. Texarkana plumber Jim Peek recently filed a $90,000 lien in connection with work he did at the Arkansas Convention Center in that city, but was never paid for. What did Peek tell a reporter was the reason he should be paid? A) “It’s Christmastime, and my kids want the G.I. Joe with the kung fu grip!” B) “Brown plus yellow equals green!” C) “I’ve got hip waders, a pipe wrench and a motorized auger. Do they wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way?” D) “You know the ending of ‘Shawshank Redemption’? My job is just like that. Not the beach part. The ‘crawled through a river of excrement’ part.” 3. Conway recently spent $133,000 on a holiday-themed decoration for the city. What was it? A) Giant candy cane made of methamphetamine. B) Mummified corpse of Bing Crosby. C) Arkansas’s largest fake Christmas tree. D) Randolph the Shitfaced Fratboy.

“In this case, the question is, are the scientists going to turn out to be right, in which case we’re going to look back and ask, ‘Did we do everything we could to do the right thing to protect the next generation?’ ” Other media have reported that Steyer is interested in running for office in California. Asked when he was going to run for governor, he gave a quick non-denial denial. “I have no idea. I’d personally be happy if we had good policies on energy and climate.” To that end, he’s looking to fund more election contests between green candidates and climate deniers. He believes we’ve reached a tipping point with public opinion on climate change. “I think we have come to this place, politically, certainly in contested races, where being a climate denier is an absolute loser.”

Joe and Noah’s excellent adventure

4. According to beardcalendar.com, the website for a 12-month calendar featuring bearded men from Fayetteville, which of the following will the photos in the calendar include? A) “Really short shorts.” B) “Dudes who take beards very seriously.” C) “Chicken and sparklers.” D) All of the above. 5. Two comedians appearing on TBS’s “The Pete Holmes Show” recently talked about attending a taping of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Fox News show “Huckabee.” According to them, what was the most surprising thing about their visit to the “Huckabee” studio? A) Fox News headquarters was carpeted in 100 percent puppy skin. B) One whole wall of the studio was a mirror, to make the audience appear bigger. C) During taping, a man in a bowler hat stood just offstage and kept a large tranquilizer gun aimed at Huckabee’s chest at all times. D) Rupert Murdoch is actually around the size of a Cornish game hen. 6. Former Republican state legislator Charlie Fuqua — who is currently running for a House seat in the state legislature — wrote a 2012 book called “God’s Law: The Only Political Solution,” which says (among other wackjobbery) that the death penalty should be available for a rather surprising “crime.” What’s one infraction which Fuqua said should warrant The Big Adios? A) Children being disrespectful to their parents. B) Movie theater cell phone use (actually, we support this one). C) White shoes after Labor Day. D) Farting and blaming it on the dog.

What happens when two liberal comedians eat “way too many weed cookies,” put on their Young Republican suits, and then go to a taping of Mike Huckabee’s show “Huckabee” on Fox News? Hilarity. Among the revelations uncovered by Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkel of Upright Citizens Brigade on a recent episode of TBS’ “The Pete Holmes Show”: One wall of the “Huckabee” studio is a giant mirror to make the audience appear larger. Too bad that trick doesn’t work on radio, as Huckabee announced last week that he and Cumulus Media had “mutually agreed to conclude” his daily “The Mike Huckabee Show” radio program, which debuted in April 2012. The last roundup will be on Dec. 12. When Garfinkel and Mande watched the show they’d attended on TV, they said they’d been carefully edited out of all footage. “We were either so high and scary looking that Fox News didn’t feel comfortable putting us on television,” said Mande, “or we were so high that we never even went to a ‘Huckabee’ taping.” Given that they’ve been letting a scary Sarah Palin appear on Fox News for several years now, we’re putting our money on the latter. www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Answers: D, A, C, D, B, A

LAKE CONWAY SPARED, CONT.

Main body of Lake Conway

Highway 89 Inte rsta te 4 0

eli pip Pe ga su s

response team deployed booms and weirs, floating structures that contain the spread of oil in water. It appears they were successful: Six samples drawn from underwater sediment in Lake Conway just beyond Highway 89 show no evidence of major contamination. The culverts are roughly a mile from where oil poured into the Northwoods subdivision. Several days after the spill, rainfall caused the water level in the cove to rise. Cleanup organizers were forced to pump water from the cove into the lake to prevent it from flooding a nearby neighborhood. Ryan Benefield, deputy director of ADEQ, said this was done only after determining that the oil had been successfully contained farther back in the cove. “We had stopped the progression of oil far from that point and we were testing the water on either side of Highway 89,” Benefield said. “We had repetitive, dozens of booms and surface-to-bottom weirs throughout the cove, and free oil didn’t penetrate past the first couple of booms.” Still, he said, chemicals in the oil may have been carried into the main lake as water was pumped over Highway 89, adding that “water comes in the top of the cove and it goes out into the lake. So, water that had been in the cove when we had free

Northwoods Sudivision, rupture site

oil, we were pumping into the main body of the lake. But we weren’t seeing levels of concern from our testing.” So it seems likely that some amount of the Pegasus oil did flow past Highway 89 and into the lake — the question is just how much. Arkansas Times and its news partner InsideClimate News asked Merv Fingas, a Canadian scientist who has researched and written extensively about oil spill cleanups, to analyze Exxon’s data. “It does not appear that major contamination of the lake occurred,” said Fingas.

“We may never know about minor contamination.” Fingas said the main body of the lake was already “fairly heavily contaminated” with hydrocarbons before the Pegasus spill. The status of Dawson Cove is clearer. Oil sheens continue to appear in surface water, as evidenced by ongoing monitoring reports published by Arcadis, and the sampling data show varying levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present in the soil and sediment of the cove and its surrounding wetlands. These organic compounds,

abbreviated as PAHs, are found in all fossil fuels. They are also formed whenever a flame meets organic matter, so humans create PAHs when they burn wood, smoke tobacco or barbecue meat. “PAHs are the source of the toxicity in oil,” said Jacqueline Michel, an environmental consultant hired by the state Game and Fish Commission with years of experience working on oil spills. “That’s what gets inside gills of fish, inside cells of organisms, and causes disorientation — and if levels are high enough, death.”

This year, join in the chorus on the Arkansas Trail of Holiday Lights. More than 60 communities participate in the annual celebration. Pick up a brochure at one of our partner locations or visit Arkansas.com to locate festive activities. “Like” Arkansas State Tourism on Facebook. Share your photos on Instagram and Facebook by using #VisitArkansas.

SCAN FOR MORE INFO.

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

LAKE CONWAY SPARED, CONT. State regulators say levels of PAHs in the cove are above normal, but they’re no longer severe enough to cause acute harm to humans or large species such as fish or turtles. However, PAH levels might be high enough to harm small lakebed creatures such as worms and crustaceans that live in sediment and are a crucial link in the food chain of Lake Conway’s freshwater ecosystem. “It’s those little communities that build the very foundation for an ecological recovery,” said Ricky Chastain, deputy director of Game and Fish. “It’s the effects on those organisms that we’re trying to assess and see if there’s a hot spot where we need to do more remediation to get those levels down.” Chastain said his agency is particularly concerned about PAH levels in a two- to three-acre section of the cove area. The testing sites that show the highest levels are concentrated along the drainage path of the oil as it flowed towards the water and in the spot where the first boom was placed to contain the spill. The dilbit pooled along the length of this boom, explained Michel. Matt Moran, a professor of biology at Hendrix College, said he worries that the initial round of testing may have missed a significant amount of oil. The sample sites were systematically spaced along the path followed by the oil, but there are some

places — such as along that first boom — where the substance may have penetrated more deeply into the ground. “Because they’ve chosen these sites that are systematically spaced, they might be missing a lot of the oil that’s there,” Moran said. “I think what we’ve found is that a lot of it has been buried in sediment now, and it gets exposed every time it rains hard — something gets stirred up and released back into the environment. I think it’s very patchy. But, you want to find those patches, because even if it’s only a couple of places, those are places that can provide contamination, which can spread every time we have more rainfall. “It does appear to be in decline,” he continued. “There’s less there now than there was two or three months ago. At the same time, it’s still fairly easy to find petroleum product down there.” Michel said that it is no surprise oil is still surfacing months after the initial cleanup response ended. There is a tradeoff, she said, between allowing oil to remain in the environment and damaging it by removing earth and vegetation. “We leave a lot of oil behind,” she said, “because we know from studies that if you get too aggressive you remove a critical ability of the habitat to recover, especially in sensitive areas like wetlands. Our goal

is not to remove all the oil. Our goal is to remove as much of the oil as possible without causing more harm than good.”

Determining toxicity How PAHs affect aquatic creatures depends on the level of exposure, Michel said. With some toxins, such as mercury or lead, a principal concern is bioaccumulation. That is, over time, repeated exposure to a substance can allow it to build up in the body of an organism, which can slowly add up to a fatal dose. However, PAHs don’t bioaccumulate in larger animals such as fish or humans because their bodies break down the organic toxins. “It’s just like alcohol. PAHs get metabolized in your body,” she said. “Vertebrates [such as fish] have enzymes in their gut they use to metabolize these hydrocarbons. A worm or dragonfly doesn’t have those complicated body functions.” PAHs weren’t the only contaminants of concern in the Mayflower spill. Testing was also done for heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Metals and VOCs were of particular concern because dilbit is unusually rich in these toxins. Bitumen, which comes from Canadian tar sands, is

too viscous to move through a pipeline in its unrefined form. It must be amply diluted with light hydrocarbons to give it a consistency similar to conventional crude. After the breach of the Pegasus, those thinning agents evaporated into Mayflower’s air, which fueled worries that local residents could have inhaled dangerously high levels of VOCs. Officials with the Department of Health said air quality tests taken since the day of the spill show that exposure levels never topped a threshold of concern. Many citizens of Mayflower insist their symptoms since March 29 prove otherwise. In any case, the soil and sediment tests show that levels of both metals and VOCs currently in the environment are at acceptable levels, and an independent expert consulted by the Times agrees with that conclusion. Another scientific route to determining the level of toxicity in the environment is to examine organisms that have been exposed to the environmental conditions in question. Jennifer Bouldin, an associate professor at Arkansas State University’s Ecotoxicology Research Facility, has been doing just that. Last summer, the Log Cabin Democrat provided a grant to Bouldin and a graduate student to collect water and sediment CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Ready to find out what a picture is truly worth? 13 5-

Metropolitan can make it happen. With Deposit Express from Metropolitan National Bank, a picture of a check is worth exactly what the check itself is worth. Securely deposit checks anytime, anywhere simply by snapping a photo. Visit MetBank.com to learn more.

Fees may apply; see bank for details.

MNB 0813 007 DepositExpress_9.25x5.5_4C.indd 1

866-796-3876

20 le 72 ag . E . 1 AR o T e k, M 1 Av oc 11 tle R Lit

Now available for iPhone® and Android™ devices

Member FDIC

www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

8/27/13 1:17 PM

LAKE CONWAY SPARED, CONT. samples from six sites in Mayflower, the lake, and the cove. The researchers then immersed three types of tiny organisms — fathead minnows, bloodworms and water fleas — in the water and sediment, watching for indications of harm. Some samples collected from cove water and sediment caused decreased growth and reproduction (see sidebar). Overall, Bouldin’s results mesh with the Arcadis report’s findings that the level of pollutants now likely constitutes more of an ecological concern than a public health hazard.

Lake already polluted Environmental scientists testing for pollutants after a disaster must collect samples from non-impacted “background” sites to provide a baseline so they can compare the data. In Mayflower, scientists selected 12 background sites in and around portions of Lake Conway miles to the north of Dawson Cove, spots that could not have been touched by the Pegasus oil. Tests revealed significant levels of PAHs in these locations as well. Michel said she’s not surprised by the background data. The sites that are most heavily contaminated are closest to Interstate 40, indicating that petroleum runoff from the highway is a major culprit. Other likely sources are small boat traffic on the lake and heavy equipment used in nearby construction. “After oil spills, people go out and take background samples and find a lot more [contamination] than they ever thought was there ‘naturally,’ ” Michel said. “It’s always kind of surprising to people to realize there are a lot of contaminants in the environment from human activity. PAHs are ubiquitous. They run off roads, they come out of power plant stacks when you

burn coal. They’re everywhere. They’re in the Arctic, they’re in the Antarctic. But that’s why we have things like the Clean Water Act, to improve water quality.” Long before the spill, runoff from surrounding lands and I-40 carried pollutants and sediment into Dawson Cove and other wetland areas surrounding the lake, Michel explained. Because wetlands naturally absorb contaminants, they are both essential for preserving clean surface water and susceptible to harm by environmental disasters. “The whole cove area is really a giant filter for Lake Conway, for all the water coming through that area,” Game and Fish’s Chastain said. “And all of that material has been removed out of [the cove]. When we’re talking about recovery and getting that cove back to where its ecological function has been restored, those very foundational building blocks are important.” If the cove is unhealthy, then the overall health of the lake is diminished. After the spill, cleanup workers cleared about 11 acres of contaminated vegetation in the cove, much of it willow and buck brush. Game and Fish has planted a temporary cover crop of Japanese millet in the mud flats of the cove to hold sediment down and prevent erosion until a remediation plan is designed. “We want the recovery of the perennial vegetation as quickly as we can,” Chastain said. “That’s part of the remediation process.”

Next steps Some skeptics question why Exxon would be in charge of assessing the impact of a disaster it created. But in the wake of an environmental disaster, it is standard procedure for government regulators to identify the responsible party and make

sure that party fixes the mess it has made, according to ADEQ spokesperson Katherine Benenati. That includes performing tests on environmental conditions postcleanup according to established scientific guidelines. “The goal is to make sure responsible parties live up to their responsibilities,” Benenati explained. “Cleanups are handled by many parties, and as the lead agency/ state on-scene coordinator we monitor all the cleanup and remediation activities and require use of an ADEQ-certified laboratory.” Following the release of Exxon’s report in October, ADEQ requested a second round of soil and sediment testing, which should begin in December. Michel said the two state regulatory agencies are still discussing the details with Exxon. Those results will likely be ready by January. ADEQ officials will then require Exxon to design a remediation plan for the polluted area. Tammie Hynum, chief of ADEQ’s Hazardous Waste Division, said it’s unlikely the second round of tests will reveal any major new developments. Requesting follow-up sampling is routine and not a sign that anything was amiss with the first round of data. “It will allow us to compare it to when the original data set was pulled and let us know whether things are staying the same, or whether we’re having an increase or decrease [in contamination],” Hynum said. “We also like to collect data at different seasons to see if temperature and environmental factors affect the results.” As the steward of Lake Conway, Game and Fish also has pushed Exxon to provide additional information beyond the report it submitted in October. The agency wants the company to provide “fingerprinting”

of its PAH data that would indicate what contamination is derived from the Pegasus oil and what is from other sources. Because PAHs come in many varieties — the lab tested for almost three-dozen distinct compounds — different petroleum products leave different ratios of chemicals in their wake. Despite its attention to detail, the final report from Exxon made no attempt to use this forensic method to identify contamination sources. After Game and Fish asked Exxon to fingerprint the data, though, the company balked, saying that that step was not included in its initial sampling plan. Chastain said he expects the company to cooperate with its request. Chastain said Game and Fish also doesn’t expect to find any big surprises — it just wants as much information as possible. “There’s nothing out there that indicates oil got that far, but that fingerprinting is a definitive tool that could tell us what’s out there in the lake is not from the oil,” Chastain said. That analysis, he said, “would clearly let the public know that contamination from the oil is not in Lake Conway proper. We want to be able to affirm and assure our constituents that we’ve done everything we can, we’ve looked at every piece of data, and we’re sure that lake is safe and the fish are safe to eat. That’s important to us.”

Elizabeth McGowan and Lisa Song contributed to this report. This story is part of a joint investigative project by Arkansas Times and Pulitzer Prize winning InsideClimate News. Funding for the project comes from readers who donated to an ioby.org crowdfunding campaign that raised nearly $27,000 and from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

13-POCOLA-12209-AT-12.5-12-DaysofChristmas-9.25x3.56-FC

December 13-24 Sundays–Thursdays One Winner // Every Hour, 6pm-10pm One $2,500 Winner // 11pm

Fridays, Saturdays & Christmas Eve One Winner // Every Hour, 6pm-10pm One $5,000 Winner // 11pm Winners* will choose an ornament from our tree for a chance to double their prize! *$5,000 winners not eligible for multiplier. Players may only win once. See Choctaw Rewards Club for details.

of BlackJack

I-540, EXIT 14 | POCOLA, OK | 800.590.LUCK (5825) Players must be actively playing a slot machine with their Choctaw Rewards Club card properly inserted during the drawings in order to be activated into the drawings. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700.

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

Researchers point to ecological concerns Log Cabin Democrat funds independent testing. BY ELIZABETH MCGOWAN

ests with fathead minnows, water fleas and bloodworms subjected to water and sediment near the Mayflower spill site are confirming what Arkansas state agencies are claiming more than eight months after the Pegasus pipeline burst — that the level of pollutants now likely constitutes more of an ecological concern than a public health hazard. Researchers affiliated with Arkansas State University’s Ecotoxicology Research Facility in Jonesboro reached their conclusion after conducting two rounds of tests with the three types of tiny creatures in late spring and early summer. The first round of ecotoxicology tests indicated that there are likely environmental issues with the water and sediments in the cove of Lake Conway, said Jennifer Bouldin, the research facility’s director and an associate professor of environmental biology. “It’s not acutely toxic but there is a little something in there,” Bouldin said. “What that says to me is that the cove would be a place to watch and look at it again. So much of it was excavated but it makes you wonder if they got all of the oil out. “I think the main part of the lake was probably OK. But I’m anxious because all the rain we had this summer could have washed oil from the cove into it.” Unlike the testing for compounds that ExxonMobil has been conducting since the spill, ecotoxicology tests look at the effect on animals. If the organisms die or fail to grow or reproduce, it is an indication that a compound or a mix of compounds has

reached a toxic level. “The beauty of ecotoxicology is that if an environment is safe for those tiny organisms, then you know it is safe for humans, even babies,” Bouldin said. Bouldin and graduate student Molly Kennon executed both sets of tests — officially called Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) tests — with grant money provided by the Log Cabin Democrat, the daily newspaper in Conway, Bouldin said. The newspaper told her it was interested in pursuing independent research on the condition of water and soil in Mayflower after the ExxonMobil’s Pegasus pipeline spewed 210,000 gallons of oil on March 29. The Ecotoxicology Research Facility in Jonesboro is certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct WET tests that measure what effects wastewater has on an organism’s ability to survive, grow and reproduce. Usually, the facility conducts these tests for industries and municipalities with wastewater treatment utilities that are required to have a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Bouldin and Kennon first collected water and sediment samples from six sites in Mayflower on June 7 to use back in their lab. These included three spots in the lake, one near the railroad trestle near Northwoods subdivision, one in the drainage ditch near the shopping center with the Subway sandwich shop, and one at the edge of the cove near the Interstate 40 frontage road. Once back at the lab, they set up controls and spent seven days measuring how

the water samples affected the survival and growth of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and the survival and reproduction of water fleas (Ceriodaphnia dubia). Both species, which were cultivated in the lab for these tests, live in the type of warm freshwater found in Arkansas and are part of EPA test protocols. “Both species are used because each is sensitive to different contaminants,” Bouldin explained. “It allows us to hit a broad range of what might be found.” The researchers repeated those same steps on Sept. 11, but were unable to collect water from near the railroad trestle because it was so dry. The first round of water tests revealed that reproduction of the water flea was lower in water collected from the cove than it was in the control experiment. Survival and growth of the fathead minnow wasn’t significantly affected. The second set didn’t detect any adverse effects on either the water flea or the fathead minnow. Bouldin said it was hard to explain the second set of results. She speculated that the contaminants had been flushed out by large amounts of rain or consumed by microbes in the water column. With contaminants such as hydrocarbons, she said, the lighter parts float to the top and the heavier ones sink to the sediment. For the sediment tests, Bouldin and Kennon measured how the samples affected a species of bloodworm (Chironomus dilutus), which actually eats the organic particles in the sediment. Like the two species used in the water tests, the bloodworms also were cultivated in the lab. Sediment tests take at least 10 days to process. The first set of tests revealed that, compared to the control group, bloodworms

subjected to the sediment in the cove had a significant decrease in growth. It’s likely the bloodworms were reacting to heavier hydrocarbons that sank in the cove, Bouldin said. Somewhat surprisingly, she said, the second round of tests showed decreased growth in bloodworms exposed to sediment in the main body of Lake Conway — about 80 to 100 yards from the boom near Highway 89 — and the site at the railroad trestle near Northwoods subdivision. “What this indicates is that these organisms can survive but something is having a more subtle effect on them,” Bouldin said. “There is a contaminant but it’s not in a big enough concentration to kill the bloodworms, only to stunt their growth.” Bouldin said that while she and Kennon want to continue gathering data at Lake Conway, the grant they received was only enough to cover two rounds of testing. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is overseeing the Mayflower cleanup. However, Ryan Benefield, the agency’s deputy director, said in an interview that he could not comment on Bouldin’s findings because he had not seen a copy of the ecotoxicology testing, methods or results. The ecotoxicology tests don’t offer definitive answers for those directing the cleanup, Bouldin said, but they do confirm concerns that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has about long-term ecological effects. Ricky Chastain, the deputy director of the commission, said his agency is especially worried about the toxicity of the impact of the oil — particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — on the bacteria, mollusks and crustaceans that live in or near the sediment because “from a wildlife standpoint, that’s the foundation of the ecosystem.”

www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

AT THE CROSSROADS IN HOGVILLE S The time is nigh for Razorback football and basketball to reemerge from the cellar. BY BEAU WILCOX

peak as you see fit about college athletics at its highest tier, but there’s no doubting that it is a behemoth. Arkansas is commonly depicted as a pauper of a state by rule of thumb and by generally all publicly available metrics. Yet you wouldn’t get that impression if you skimmed over the raw digits on the sporting budget for the University of Arkansas.

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

The Razorback athletic department, per projections released in June of this year, was an $80.6 million monstrosity as far as projected expenditures for the fiscal year were concerned. There has been a substantial increase in this area on Jeff Long’s watch: The athletic director oversaw a budget of around $51 million in his first full year on the job, only five years ago. Football and men’s basketball are the obvious and essential linchpins, as they are at virtually every other university, keeping the program from being a cash bleed. Earnings from those sports buoy the other varsity offerings. That’s just how this all works, and no one needs an advanced econ degree to discern it. But does it truly “work”? Having suffered mightily of late, Razorback fans who are notoriously impassioned to the point of fever dreams and message board/radio show bellyaching would likely answer with an emphatic “no” dressed up with your choice of colorful modifiers. No one can deny that results are spotty at best right now, and it’s why Long now stands at the most uncomfortable nexus a man of his

BRIAN CHILSON

CLOSE, BUT... : The Hogs suffered an overtime loss to Mississippi State.

vocation can occupy: The university is paying way, way too much for what it’s producing. Meanwhile, the donors who comprise an estimated 15 percent of the budget may be losing faith, too. Football is the alpha and the omega in the South, and in this state, Razorback football animates the populace year-round in a unique and perhaps obscene manner. If the past two years have taxed the loyalty of the normally unyielding Hog backer, all the frustration came to head over Thanksgiving weekend. On Friday, Arkansas went to Baton Rouge, ever inhospitable, with an eight-game losing skid in tow that was already a program record. The Hogs improbably played their best game of an immensely trying season, fighting to shed the albatross of an oh-fer in SEC play and end Bret Bielema’s miserable first campaign as head coach on a blissfully unexpected high. The 24-point underdogs toted a lead much of the second half, looked reasonably sharp doing it, and then knocked LSU’s starting quarterback, Zach Mettenberger, out of the game on a clean

hit. By the time Sam Irwin-Hill’s gorgeous punt got downed inside the 1 with less than four minutes left and the Hogs clinging to a 27-24 lead, we were all biting our lips for fear that a smile might break out. So how’d it all end up? Why, Anthony Jennings, a freshman with all of three passes thrown all season, came right off the pine and led LSU’s unlikely march to victory, of course. The last salvo was a casual 49-yard scoring toss with 1:15 left, which the Hogs could not answer, and all hopes of a miracle went spiraling away. Arkansas was done for 2013, a 3-9, 0-8 mass of wreckage that for several weeks looked like it belonged in another conference due to the paucity of talent at key positions. Insulting enough, but then when Gus Malzahn’s spunky Auburn Tigers executed a miracle finish to knock off Alabama and win the SEC West barely a day later, the sodium chloride got worked into the wound, and hard. Thusly, the living referendum on Long began anew. Not only had the curious choice of Bielema to resuscitate the program faltered CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ArkAnsAs Doctors

restore sex Life

Office Visit & All Testing Only $199 ErEctilE DYSFuNctiON iS NOt cAuSED bY AgiNg. ErEctilE Dysfunction

PrEmaturE Ejaculation

• ED treatment by licensed Arkansas Physicians

• You choose how long you last – 30 min, 1 hr, or up to 90 min

• Our prescription medications work when the pills & herbals fail

• Stay in control and satisfy your partner with confidence

• See results on your first visit or your first visit is free – Guaranteed.

our Physicians offEr PErsonalizED solutions to fit your nEEDs

• Works for just about every medical condition including diabetes, prostate problems, heart surgery, etc.

• No surgery, no pills, no herbals • Private and discreet

For more information and to schedule your private exam with our doctors call (501) 232-3420 now!

Arkansas

M EN’S CLI N IC

Walk-Ins Welcome 5800 W. 10th St. Little rock, ar 72204

BIELEMA: If we’re only paying him for wins, they cost more than $1 million this year.

out of the gate, there was native goldenboy Malzahn, late of Arkansas State and long a favorite of many Razorback fans (derided by plenty, too, to be sure), taking Auburn from the same depths where the Hogs are now to a top 3 ranking and a shot at glory within a matter of months. Want more? Bielema made in excess of $1 million per win in 2013, and on that scale, Malzahn was an unmitigated bargain at around $200k per victory. For this fan base and its deep-seated inferiority complex, all of this is too much to shoulder much longer. Going 7-17 over a two-season stretch pocked with farcical moments like Bobby Petrino’s derailment, the loss to LouisianaMonroe and successive 52-0 whitewashings by Alabama is brutal enough. But the success stories — Auburn’s resurgence, Missouri and Texas A&M both thriving, Vanderbilt working itself gamely out of the league’s depths — are ushering in an even nastier bout of fatigue. Culling viewpoints from social media is anything but gospel, but it’s evident from the Twittersphere and elsewhere that Hog fans are, to be blunt, sick of it 18

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

all. Long has earned due credit for his endeavors to discard the old, woeful culture of self-pity, but the dividends have been indisputably sparse, and that’s not to single out football for underperformance. Incidentally, the scaling back of games in War Memorial Stadium to one per year until 2018, as well as Long’s recent pay increase, coalesces all of these systemic failures onto a single lens under one penetrating microscope. There’s more grist for the cynic’s mill: Shedding another game from the capital city has long been in gestation, but Long rather audaciously suggested that it wasn’t a financially rooted decision, and his beefed-up compensation package was made public shortly after it was made known that the University of Texas had considered Long for the same position there. Do with that info what you wish, but it understandably doesn’t sit well with many. Long also more or less gutted the basketball program in 2011 by ditching John Pelphrey and whatever “philosophy” he employed, and followed that by convincing Mike Anderson to leave behind the progress he made at

The Holiday Season is around the corner!

Come To Dallas and stay at the Newly Renovated Hampton Inn Dallas North Hotel for your shopping excursion!

Starting from $109/Night Galleria Shopping Packages Include:

• Over Night Guest Room • Full Hot Breakfast Buffet in the Morning • Complimentary Parking • Late Checkout of 1pm • $50 Gift Card to Galleria Mall

Convenient to 4 AreA Shopping MAllS For Reservations, Please Call 972-484-6557 Or Use On-line Promotion Code: PPK 11069 Composite Drive • Dallas, TX 75229

YOUR HOLIDAY HEADQUARTERS

MEATS

BRIAN CHILSON

PRODUCE

Missouri for a belated homecoming of sorts. It was a celebrated move at the time, but there’s a pervading sense of ambivalence about a once-proud program now. Pelphrey’s tenure offered nothing but recruiting misfires and disciplinary problems, and Anderson’s having a devil of a time trying to shake that and recapture the charm he helped cultivate as Nolan Richardson’s aide. The wide-angle view of the drop-off can be measured by both on-court performance and sideline enthusiasm, too: Arkansas won 13 NCAA tournament games, including a national title, in a three-year stretch from 1994 to 1996. In the following 17 years, the Razorbacks have won all of two NCAA tourney games. Average attendance at Bud Walton Arena, though it nudged upward on the strength of Anderson’s hiring, has petered out to the point that the team could probably justify moving back to the far cozier Barnhill Arena just for the sake of decibels. When the cash cows aren’t eating, sadly, the health of the rest of the herd takes a hit, too. Arkansas softball has CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

BAKERY

DELI

Please visit us online at www.edwardsfoodgiant.com

Visit any of our locations: 1701 Main Street, Little Rock | 501.376.3475 7507 Cantrell Road, Little Rock | 501.614.3477 10320 Stagecoach Road, Little Rock | 501.455.3475 7525 Baseline Road, Little Rock | 501.562.6629 2203 N. Reynolds Road, Bryant | 501.847.9777

www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Family Owned & Operated Since 1997

15% OFF

Find Us On Facebook www.facebook.com/arkansastimes

ANY FOOD PURCHASE. VALID AT ALL 4 LOCATIONS. Not valid with any other offer.

Happy Hour Everyday 3-7pm 4154 E. McCain • NLR • 501-945-8010 laspalmasarkansas.com www.facebook.com/laspalmasmexican

turned into a league competitor after years of dodgy performance, gymnastics is thriving, and track and field is experiencing a rebirth in its own right. Dave Van Horn continues to maintain the baseball program at a level where it is of high national relevance, though the diamond Hogs have a frustrating propensity to stall on the precipice of greatness. Now the advancements in those sports and elsewhere faces the possibility of petering out, because their very existence — to say nothing of their success rate — is rooted in the financial windfall that the big two sports gen-

erate. Meanwhile, Hog fans, wearing their emotions plainly on their sleeves, are turning down opportunities to show up. Ticket prices and travel expenses are ever on the rise while the winning percentage falls. Again, there’s no sense putting all this in the form of a Venn diagram: When your team is on fire, you’ll drive from corner to corner just to see them drum a patsy in crappy conditions, but when it’s a dysfunctional mess not even the sunniest forecast or free tickets will put you in the mood. This is why urgency is off the charts, not simply for Long and his underlings, but also for the innumerable high

Holiday

open House Carols, Cookies and Family Fun!

The Old State House Museum is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. 20

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

ANDERSON: Now or never for basketball Hogs.

BRIAN CHILSON

sunday, december 8, 1 to 4:30 p.m. Free admission

BRIAN CHILSON

LONG: Presiding over athletic department amidst hard times.

school athletes who are trying to decide where they should spend three or four critical years of their lives. Bielema thankfully seems to have a tangible recruiting plan, rather than a scattershot method of cherry-picking the leftovers around the country, so that cannot be anything but positive. He’s also pledging to remain committed to a support staff that is, dollar for dollar, better paid than any other cadre

of assistants in the country. Anderson’s third team also looks like it will be his best, as he is no longer having to lean quite so heavily on the services of athletes he did not personally solicit. You can and should expect an NCAA tournament appearance soon, which is a pretty modest yardstick. If you stare really hard at this muddled picture, eventually you might make out an image that isn’t so bleak.

www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Arts Entertainment

‘BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE’: Julia Nightingale Landfair and Taran star in The Rep’s production.

A MUSICAL WITH BITE

CINDY MOMCHILOV

AND

‘Because of Winn Dixie’ opens at the Rep. BY DAVID RAMSEY

tarring in the title role of “Because of Winn Dixie,” which makes its world premiere at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre this week: Taran, a 150-pound Irish wolfhound. “It’s a lot harder than it looks,” said costar Julia Landfair — an 8th grader at Episcopal Collegiate School who has been performing at the Rep since she was 8 years old — of working with an animal onstage. “Because of Winn Dixie” is the first preBroadway musical to star a live dog in a leading role, and brings together an all-star creative team: music from Duncan Sheik (Tony and Grammy Award winner for “Spring Awakening”), lyrics and book by 22

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

Nell Benjamin (Tony nominee for “Legally Blonde”) and direction by John Tartaglia (Tony nominee for “Avenue Q”). The musical is based on the award-winning children’s novel written by Kate DiCamillo in 2000. The book was also adapted into a film for 20th Century Fox in 2005, but Benjamin and Tartaglia both said they intentionally avoided watching the movie. “We all wanted to create from the book,” Tartaglia said. “I read it in two days and couldn’t stop thinking about it. It dealt with very adult subjects and some of life’s hard knocks in a way that was really intelligent and really profound and it just kind of sat with you.”

The story takes place in a small town in the Florida panhandle, where 13-year-old Opal (played by Landfair) has just moved with her father, a preacher. Opal adopts a dog she finds in a Winn Dixie parking lot. The dog, which she names Winn Dixie, helps her meet people in town and navigate her difficult feelings about her mother, who abandoned the family years before. “The thought of picking up some of the darker, cooler themes of this book through some kind of theatrical magic really appealed to me,” Benjamin said. One of the keys to that theatrical magic: Bill Berloni, the Tony-award-winning animal trainer who has been responsible for bringing hundreds of creatures big and small to the stage over the last three decades, including Sandy for “Annie” and Toto for the “Wizard of Oz” (actually, lots of Sandys and lots of Totos). Most of the (human) cast of “Winn Dixie” went to Berloni’s Connecticut farm and worked with his dogs over two weeks. “It was a big experiment,” Tartaglia said. “It was so wonderful because there were so many what-ifs and all of them kind of worked. These dogs are so regal, and they have such presence, and they’re so calm and they move in such a graceful way that actually they add to the scene.” “We had to come up with the dog rules,” Benjamin said. “Like Asimov’s rule[s] of robotics. One of the things that we were very strong on was that we wanted the audience to feel like, if they had ever had a pet, they recognized, ‘Oh, my dog does that for me.’ For instance, if Opal was sad the dog would go over to her in a way that your dog does, that would be real to everybody, as opposed to the dog fetching her a Kleenex box. Bill could certainly train him to do that, but that would make it more of a Disney animated character and not a real being.” When Benjamin signed on to the project, she pushed to bring in Sheik to write the music, and the two seem to share the mindset of creating a family musical that avoided the schmaltzy excesses that some might associate with the genre. “There could be a version of this show that is sappy and sentimental and not that cool,” Sheik said. “Nell has done a fantastic job of making sure that it’s got an edge, some bite.” (Benjamin chimed in, on cue: “A dog musical, with bite!”) For all of his acclaim scoring musicals, Sheik is still probably best known as

a singer/songwriter who became a poprock star in the 1990s. His eponymous debut album went gold on the strength of its hit debut single. If you’ve listened to the radio in the last 18 years, you’ve heard “Barely Breathing,” which stuck around on the Billboard Hot 100 for more than a year, one of the longest runs in history. Once upon a time, Sheik said, he hated musicals, but after a friend approached him about an adaptation of a play he admired, he decided to give it a try. Now, he said, “I have a lot respect and admiration for musical theater composers, who I stuck my nose up at before. I love the medium. It’s incredibly difficult to make musicals work.” While reading the book on which “Because of Winn Dixie” is based, Sheik said, he began thinking about the Southern rock he grew up around in South Carolina. “It wasn’t stuff I was necessarily a fan of but it was just in my environment,” he said. “And I just thought this could be really fun and I kind of played with that musical style for this particular story. There are some ballads and stuff that is a little more musically sophisticated, but there are also songs where I was playing with ZZ Top or the Doobie Brothers or Southern rock radio songs and you don’t even know who the band is.” “The score reflects Opal’s point of view,” Tartaglia said. “Often you think family musical and you think ‘everything’s going to be fine.’ Nell and Duncan have written a show that’s very honest to what a 13-yearold feels and sees and hears. It never feels put on. It feels very true and that’s what families will relate to.” “Thirteen-year-old kids are much more sophisticated in their musical tastes than adults usually think they are,” Sheik said. “They can get with way cooler music. That was the challenge — keeping it accessible, but knowing it’s gotta be interesting to kids in a cool way and not just simple dumb pop songs.” The result, said Tartaglia, is a story and performances that will be moving to adults as well, the rare family musical that “everyone in the family is genuinely going to want to sit through and really invest in it.” “Because of Winn Dixie” runs through Dec. 29. Performances are 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $60 (or $25 to $55 in advance), halfprice for kids.

ROCK CANDY Check out the Times’ A&E blog arktimes.com

A&E NEWS THE TENNESSEE EDITION of the Oxford American magazine’s annual Southern Music issue and CD combo is out on newsstands now, and it’s full of music from and writing about Arkansans. Johnny Cash appears on the cover and in a lovely essay by daughter Rosanne Cash about memories of her childhood. A long feature on the troubled career of Colt native Charlie Rich and his tempestuous relationship with his wife and collaborator, Margaret Ann (who was from Forrest City), is one of the highlights. Ditto for an excerpt from Little Rock-born producer, singer/songwriter and session musician extraordinaire Jim Dickinson’s unpublished memoir. Cash, Rich, Dickinson also appear on the double-CD, which includes songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, Al Green, Elvis, Big Star, Connie Smith, Isaac Hayes and O.V Wright. The issue retails for $12.95.

EstatE salE! Dec. 6 & 7 • 8am-2pm 38 Blackwell • Jacksonville

Vintage typewriters and cameras, beds, refrigerator, washer & dryer, large assortment of Christmas items, lots of books (new & old), crystal, china, furniture, tools and too much more to list!

Oliver’s Antiques

501.982.0064 1101 Burman Dr. • Jacksonville Take Main St. Exit, East on Main, Right on S. Hospital & First Left to Burman.

tues-fri 10-5. sat 10-3 or by appointment

JEFF NICHOLS, casting director Francine Maisler and the cast of the Arkansas-shot “Mud” are the winners of the 2014 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award. The Independent Spirit Awards have gone to one director, casting director and ensemble cast every year since 2008. The directors, casting directors and casts of “I’m Not There” (2008), “Synecdoche, New York” (2009), “A Serious Man” (2010), “Please Give” (2011) and “Margin Call” (2012) are past winners in the category. The Altman Award is the only prize announced in advance of the ceremony, which will be held March 1 and broadcast on IFC. Nichols is also nominated for Best Director. MEANWHILE, “GIRLS” STAR Adam Driver has joined the cast of Nichols’ next film, The Wrap reports. “Midnight Special” is billed as a sci-fi story about a father and son who go on the run after the father learns that his son has special powers. Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst and Joel Edgerton will also star. DON’T FORGET about the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase. If you’re based in the Natural State and you’ve got at least 20 minutes of original material, you are eligible to enter the competition. Twenty bands will be selected for the showcase, which will start in late January. Once a week for five weeks, four bands will square off for a panel of judges at Stickyz. The winner of each semi-final round will advance to the finals, which will be at Revolution. Find a link to enter at arktimes.com/ showcase14. If you’ve got any questions or concerns, email lindseymillar@ arktimes.com. www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

THE TO-DO

LIST

BY ROBERT BELL

FRIDAY 12/6

LIVING SACRIFICE

7 p.m. Downtown Music Hall. $10.

Veteran thrashers Living Sacrifice, one of Arkansas’s longestrunning metal bands, have, aside from a five-year hiatus last decade, spent years churning out increasingly complex math-y metalcore. It there’s another more widely critically respected Christian metal band, then I’ve never heard of them. This is a release show for “Ghost Thief,” the band’s eighth studio album. The title is “a reference to the personification of Death,” co-founder and guitarist/vocalist Bruce Fitzhugh recently told metal news site Blabbermouth. “Depending on the circumstance, death can be greeted as an enemy or a friend. We have a few songs that deal with the suddenness and finality of death. ‘Ghost Thief’ and ‘Sudden’ both are inspired by people who died suddenly and unexpectedly. Friends of ours or family members that we were close to.” Heavy subject matter indeed. It’s definitely worth noting that this will be one of a handful of the last shows ever at Downtown Music Hall. Owner Samantha Allen announced last month that the all-ages venue would be closing. It’s definitely a bummer for the metal, hip-hop and dance music communities, as Downtown Music was a vital hub for all of those scenes. But it looks like the venue will go out with a bang. Also performing at this show will be psych-metal overlords Rwake, hardcore maniacs God City Destroyers, Fayetteville prog-thrashers Terminus and Little Rock metalcore crew Descended from Wolves.

TEXAS TROUBLEMAKERS: Texas Hippie Coalition plays at Revolution Friday night.

FRIDAY 12/6

TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION

8:30 p.m. Revolution. $12 adv., $15 day of.

One gets the feeling that the dudes in Texas Hippie Coalition named the band that not so much on account of they’re all about peace, love and patchouli, but because the initials are THC. And while they might share thick clouds of dank with their pacifistical namesakes, don’t get to thinking that you’re in for some

kinda sunshine and warm fuzzies and organic vegan armpit nugget loaf and herbal tea from Whole Foods. No, these dudes are more like a greasy tamale followed by a shot of habanero vodka chased with a swift kick to the crotch. They’ve got three albums out of what they’ve described as “red dirt metal.” But just in case that description doesn’t do it for you, I came up with a pretty simple formula that I think expresses the THC worldview succinctly: Pantera x ZZ Top / Alice

in Chains + Toby Keith + Motorhead’s fashion sense = Texas Hippie Coalition. “Turn it Up” is a total strip-joint anthem about a preacher’s daughter who finds means of employment outside of the flock. Just try to listen to this track and not picture a gal named Stormy wearing clear heels and a smile, tossing her bleach-fried locks to and fro. Or try blasting “Pissed Off and Mad About It” without getting, well, pissed off and mad about it. This show is 18-and-older.

Christmas Carol” is about as timeless and universally familiar as they come, but its message is probably something we could all use a reminder of every once in a while: There are things that are infinitely more important than the maniacal pursuit of the almighty buck. “This whole story was written because

of Dickens’ concern about the way the poor were treated, based on his experiences as a child,” director Andy Hall said in a press release. “There really is a lot of meat under the fluff.” The Weekend Theater’s production runs through Dec. 22, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

FRIDAY 12/6-SATURDAY 12/7

‘SCROOGE! THE MUSICAL’

7:30 p.m. The Weekend Theater. $16$20.

The Weekend Theater continues to follow its mission of socially relevant theater even in the holiday season with a production of “Scrooge! The Musical.” Charles Dickens’ holiday classic “A

FRIDAY 12/6-SUNDAY 12/8

HOLIDAY HANG OUT

8 p.m. White Water Tavern. $60 (full pass).

As far as pure, unbridled, weekendlong rock ’n’ roll bacchanalia goes, you’d be hard-pressed to top the annual Holiday Hang Out, organized by the good folks of Last Chance Records, Tree of 24

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

Knowledge and White Water Tavern. This year they’ve got this thing busting at the seams with upwards of a baker’s dozen of some of the finest Americana performers around, an excellent mix of locals and out-of-towners that includes Bonnie Montgomery, Slobberbone, Glossary, Two Cow Garage, Red Collar, Mulehead, JKutchma, Kevin Kerby,

John Moreland, John Paul Keith, Isaac Alexander, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Adam Faucett and Ben Nichols. All of those folks will perform over the course of three days at White Water (plus a special in-store performance at Arkansas Record & CD Exchange at 3 p.m. Saturday). There’ll be two nights of Jameson-and-PBR-fueled high-jinks

followed by Breakfast, Books & Booze on Sunday, which will allow you intrepid partiers to land softly with the help of eggs, Bloody Marys and some fine literature, all accompanied by some acoustic tunes. You might should’ve already got your pass to this, but there could still be a few tickets available. Check LastChanceRecords.com to find out.

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 12/5 Hot Springs invades White Water Tavern, with The White Glove Test and Healer bringing the rock, 9 p.m. Lucero kicks off a two-night stand at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, joined by Shawn James & The Shapeshifters Thursday night and Benjamin Del Shreve on Friday night, 9 p.m., $24. The Arkansas Choral Society presents a performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” First Pentecostal Church, 7:30 p.m., $10-$15. The Joint hosts 5 Point Cove, Leta Joyner and The Dangerous Idiots, 9:30 p.m., $5. The Little Rock Wind Symphony performs “Christmas with the Wind Symphony,” Second Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $8-$10. Authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann will discuss “Double Down,” the follow up to their No. 1 best-selling book, “Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime,” Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m., free.

SATURDAY 12/7

JIMMY BUFFETT

8 p.m. Verizon Arena. $49-$159.

FRIDAY 12/6 BRIAN CHILSON

Apparently, you Arkansas (and surrounding area) Parrot Heads were rabid enough to warrant a second visit in as many years from Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band. Now, last time this crew was in town, back in March of 2012, I went down to the NLR side of the river before the show to take in the epic, SEC-worthy tailgating. Just let me say this: These folks have got partying down to a science to a disconcerting extent. I saw all manner of ingenious inventions, most of which were designed with the sole purpose of expediting, intensifying or otherwise increasing the efficiency of the drinking of booze. Now, it might or might not be pretty cold outside, but odds are that it no matter the weather, it’s gonna be some good tailgating and a festive atmosphere all around Verizon Arena.

HEAD PARROT: Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band return to Verizon Arena Saturday.

SATURDAY 12/7

BIG JINGLE JUBILEE HOLIDAY PARADE AND LIGHTING OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

3 p.m. Broadway and Second Streets. Free.

One could be forgiven for feeling a bit of antipathy toward the holidays here in The Year of Our Lord Dollar 2013. It’s not easy to get into the spirit these days,

what with all of the crass commercialism and conspicuous consumption and crony capitalism and whatnot. It just seems like we’ve lost sight of the whole meaning of the holidays. But maybe, just maybe, we could all put down the credit cards and avoid the mall (or Amazon.com) for one freaking day and just spend some time with our friends and loved ones and do something fun, like watching a Christ-

mas parade and a tree lighting, and we could just focus on the simple good times with the people we care about and not think about all the Black Friday trampling fatalities and mindless consumerism that have defined the holidays these last few years. I don’t know, maybe that’s too oldfashioned. Anyways, the tree-lighting will take place at the State Capitol long about dark.

SATURDAY 12/7

‘BELEW CHRISTMAS’

7:30 p.m. Wildwood Park. $20-$50.

This should be good times for fans of powerful singing and Christmas tunes: Beebe native and “The Voice” Top 10 finalist Cody Belew will be back in town for an evening of holiday favorites. Belew wrote on his Facebook that “Belew Christmas” promises to be “a magical show of all my favorite holiday songs (with a little ‘Cody’ twist thrown in).” What could that mean? I’m hoping for a searing rendition of The King’s classic “Blue Christmas” delivered in Cody’s trademark soaring vocal style, and maybe some amped-up takes on maybe

Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown play an 18-and-older gig with Stephen Neeper & The Wild Hearts, Stickyz, 9 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. Folk singers Lisa Lamoureux and Robb McCormick perform at Vino’s, 9 p.m. Ramona Smith and The Soul Rhythms headline at Cajun’s Wharf, with Richie Johnson handling happy hour, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. KSSN 96’s Annual Toy Hill toy drive kicks off. Bring new, unopened and unwrapped toys to donate and enjoy some music, parades and more, Clear Channel Metroplex, 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. It’s time for the Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th Annual Christmas Showcase, Statehouse Convention Center, 10 a.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.; Sunday 10 a.m., $5.

SATURDAY 12/7 The Little Rock Folk Club brings in the eclectic outfit Harpeth Rising, 7:30 p.m., $8-$15, Unitarian Universalist Church. The Arkansas Chamber Singers’ 9th Annual Capitol Event features dinner and a silent auction, overlooking fireworks over the Capitol building, The Little Rock Club, 5 p.m., $125. The inaugural Santa Paws Cocktail Party is a benefit for Little Rock Animal Village with holiday drinks and hors d’oeuvres, prizes, entertainment and photos with Santa, Oxford American, 7:30 p.m., $30.

SUNDAY 12/8 ‘BELEW CHRISTMAS’: Cody Belew performs at Wildwood Park for the Arts Saturday.

“Winter Wonderland” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Whatever the setlist, I’m sure

this won’t disappoint Belew’s home-state fans.

Bethel AME’s 150th Anniversary Celebration Banquet features speaker Rodney Slater, the former U.S. transportation secretary, and music from Rodney Block & Co. Little Rock Marriott, 5 p.m., $100. www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

AFTER DARK “YOLO.” Featuring four DJs and beach volleyball, 18-and-older. Flying DD, $5. 4601 S. University. 501-773-9990. flyingdd.com.

All events are in the Greater Little Rock area unless otherwise noted. To place an event in the Arkansas Times calendar, please e-mail the listing and all pertinent information, including date, time, location, price and contact information, to calendar@arktimes.com.

COMEDY

The Main Thing: “A Fertle Holiday.” The Joint, 8 p.m., $20. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-3720205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Tim Statum. The Loony Bin, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

THURSDAY, DEC. 5

MUSIC

5 Point Cove, Leta Joyner, The Dangerous Idiots. The Joint, 9:30 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Arkansas Choral Society: “Messiah.” First Pentecostal Church, 7:30 p.m., $10-$15. 1401 Calvary Drive, NLR. 501-376-8484. fpcnlr.com. Mr. Lucky (headliner), Brian and Nick (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Brian Martin. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com. “Inferno.” DJs play pop, electro, house and more, plus drink specials and $1 cover before 11 p.m. Sway, 9 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m.; Dec. 19, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Karaoke and line dancing lessons. W.T. Bubba’s Country Tavern, first Thursday of every month, 9 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-244-2528. Karaoke with Kevin & Cara. MacDaddy’s Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 314 N. Maple St., NLR. Krush Thursdays with DJ Kavaleer. Club Climax, free before 11 p.m. 824 W. Capitol. 501-554-3437. Little Rock Wind Symphony: “Christmas with the Wind Symphony.” Second Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $8-$10. 600 Pleasant Valley Drive. Lucero, Shawn James & The Shapeshifters. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $24. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226. Michael Eubanks. Newk’s Express Cafe, 6:30 p.m. 4317 Warden Road, NLR. 501-753-8826. newks.com. Open jam with The Port Arthur Band. Parrot Beach Cafe, 9 p.m. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994. Patrick Dodd Trio. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8:30 p.m., $6. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. RockUsaurus. Senor Tequila, 7-9 p.m. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-224-5505. www. senor-tequila.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. The White Glove Test, Healer. White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

COMEDY

Tim Statum. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

“Because of Winn-Dixie” panel discussion. Discussion of The Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s production of “Because of Winn Dixie.” Clinton School of Public Service, noon, free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www. clintonschool.uasys.edu. Fifth Annual Tree Lighting and Holiday Market. 26

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

DANCE

Ballroom Dancing. Free lessons begin at 7 p.m. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 8-11 p.m., $7-$13. 12th & Cleveland streets. 501-2217568. www.blsdance.org. Salsa Night. Begins with a one-hour salsa lesson. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $8. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.littlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

SWINGIN’ HOLIDAY: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s “Wild and Swingin’ Holiday Party” comes to UCA’s Reynolds Performance Hall Monday, 7:30 p.m., $30-$40. The Bernice Garden, 5:30-8 p.m. 1401 S. Main St. www.thebernicegarden.org. Hillcrest Shop & Sip. Shops and restaurants offer discounts, later hours, and live music. Hillcrest, first Thursday of every month, 5 p.m. P.O.Box 251522. 501-666-3600. www.hillcrestmerchants. com. Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. The authors will discuss “Double Down,” the follow up to their No. 1 best-selling book, “Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime.” Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m., free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool. uasys.edu. Peanut Butter Drive with C.A.R.E. Photos with Santa available for peanut butter donation. Advanced Health Spa, 4-8 p.m. 615 Beechwood. 501-663-2600. www.advancedhealthspa.com.

FILM

“Garbage Warrior.” Presented by Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light. Vino’s, 5:15 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. “Gideon’s Army.” Followed by a panel discussion with some of the film’s stars. UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, 6 p.m. 1201 McMath Ave. 501-324-9434. www.law.ualr.edu.

BOOKS

Rebecca Fuller Ward. Book-signing event with the author of “How to Stay Married Without Going Crazy.” WordsWorth Books & Co., 5:30 p.m. 5920 R St. 501-663-9198. www.wordsworthbooks.org.

FRIDAY, DEC. 6

MUSIC

30-Something Party Fridays. Twelve Modern Lounge, first Friday of every month, free before 10 p.m., $5 after 10 p.m. 1900 W. Third St. 501301-1200. Brian Nahlen. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 8 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens. com. Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. Dance night, with

DJs, drink specials and bar menu, until 2 a.m. 1620 Savoy, 10 p.m. 1620 Market St. 501-2211620. www.1620savoy.com. The Coldest Winter Ever Rap Showcase. Quarternote Nightclub, 10 p.m., $5 after 10 p.m. 4726 Asher Ave. Friday night at Sway. Sway, 9 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. The Holiday Hang Out. Featuring Glossary, Slobberbone, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Ben Nichols, Mulehead and many more. White Water Tavern, Dec. 6-8, 8 p.m., $60 (full pass). 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Jeff Coleman. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m.; Dec. 27-28, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Lisa Lamoureux with Robb McCormick. Vino’s, 9 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. The Living Room Sessions: AmyJo Savannah, William Blackart, Amanda Avery. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com. Living Sacrifice, Rwake, God City Destroyers, Terminus, Descended from Wolves. Downtown Music Hall, 7 p.m., $10. 211 W. Capitol. 501-3761819. downtownmusichall.com. Lucero, Benjamin Del Shreve. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $24. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226. Ramona Smith and The Soul Rhythms (headliner), Richie Johnson (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Texas Hippie Coalition. 18-and-older. Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $12 adv., $15 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Stephen Neeper & The Wild Hearts. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. 107 Commerce St. 501-3727707. www.stickyz.com.

Annual Christmas Parade. Featuring The Platters as Grand Marshals. Downtown Eureka Springs, 6 p.m. Arkansas Arts Center’s 45th Collectors Show and Sale. Arkansas Arts Center, 10 a.m., free. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com. Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th Annual Christmas Showcase. Statehouse Convention Center, 10 a.m, $5. 7 Statehouse Plaza. Gingerbread house dedication and tree-lighting. Featuring an eight-foot gingerbread house. Arlington Hotel, 4:30 p.m., free. 239 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-7771. KSSN 96’s Annual Toy Hill toy drive. Bring new, unopened and unwrapped toys to donate. Features music, parades and more. Clear Channel Metroplex, 5 p.m. 10800 Col. Glenn Road. 501-217-5113. www.clearchannelmetroplex.com. LGBTQ/SGL Youth and Young Adult Group. Diverse Youth for Social Change is a group for LGBTQ/SGL and straight ally youth and young adults age 14 to 23. For more information, call 244-9690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook. 800 Scott St., 6:30 p.m. Main Street Food Truck Fridays. Capitol and Main, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sing-a-long “Sound of Music.” Sing along with the classic musical. Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $17. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

SATURDAY, DEC. 7

MUSIC

Aaron Diehl Quartet. Walton Arts Center, 7 and 9 p.m., $5-$36. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. Arkansas Chamber Singers 9th Annual Capitol Event. With dinner and silent auction, overlooking fireworks over the Capitol building. The Little Rock Club, 5 p.m., $125. 400 W. Capitol, 30th Floor. “Belew Christmas.” Holiday concert with Cody Belew. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m., $20-$50. 20919 Denny Road. Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. See Dec. 6. Dead Indian. Bear’s Den Pizza, 9 p.m. 235 Farris Road, Conway. 501-328-5556. www.bearsdenpizza.com. DJs g-force, Ewell, Sleepy, Rufio and Blade. Plus, Dominique Sanchez & The Disco Dolls. Discovery Nightclub, 9 p.m.-5 a.m., $10-$15. 1021 Jessie Road. 501-664-4784. www.latenightdisco.com.

Flow Tribe. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $7. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Harpeth Rising. Little Rock Folk Club, 7:30 p.m., $8-$15. 1818 Reservoir Road. The Holiday Hang Out. See Dec. 6. Jam Rock Saturday. Twelve Modern Lounge, first Saturday of every month, 9 p.m. 1900 W. Third St. 501-301-1200. Jeff Coleman. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m.; through Dec. 28, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Jeff Coleman, Mojo Duo. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 4 and 10 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens.com. Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. Verizon Arena, 8 p.m., $49-$159. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-975-9001. verizonarena.com. Just Sayin’ (headliner), Josh Threlkeld (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Karaoke. Casa Mexicana, 7 p.m. 6929 JFK Blvd., NLR. 501-835-7876. Karaoke with Kevin & Cara. All-ages, on the restaurant side. Revolution, 9 p.m.-12:45 a.m., free. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. K.I.S.S. Saturdays. Featuring DJ Silky Slim. Dress code enforced. Sway, 10 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-492-9802. Liquid Kitty. Thirst n’ Howl, 8:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl. com. Mariachi Los Camperos. Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $16-$28. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. New Era Saturdays. 21-and-older. Twelve Modern Lounge, first Saturday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 cover until 11 p.m. 1900 W. Third St. 501-301-1200. Opportunist, Dirty Streets, Peckerwolf. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www. maxinespub.com. Pickin’ Porch. Bring your instrument. All ages welcome. Faulkner County Library, 9:30 a.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org. Singer/Songwriters Showcase. Parrot Beach Cafe, 2-7 p.m., free. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.

COMEDY

DANCE

Little Rock West Coast Dance Club. Dance lessons. Singles welcome. Ernie Biggs, 7 p.m., $2. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-247-5240. www. arstreetswing.com.

EVENTS

2nd Annual Beard-Growing Competition signin. Get certified as clean-shaven for the upcom-

ing beard-growing contest. The Root Cafe, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. 1500 S. Main St. Argenta Farmers Market. Argenta, 7 a.m.-noon. Main Street, NLR. Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th Annual Christmas Showcase. Statehouse Convention Center, 8 a.m., $5. 7 Statehouse Plaza. Big Jingle Jubilee Holiday Parade and Lighting of the Christmas Tree. Tree lighting at dark at the State Capitol. 3 p.m. Broadway and 2nd St. Christmas in the Wild. Meet Santa and enjoy hot cocoa and more. Little Rock Zoo, Dec. 7, 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., $15-$20. 1 Jonesboro Drive. 501-666-2406. www.littlerockzoo.com. Designer Breakfast. Hosted by Martha Galek and Mary Wildgen. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 9-10:30 a.m., $25. 20919 Denny Road. Diamond State Rodeo Association Christmas Party. Professor Bowl, 7 p.m.-1 a.m. 901 Towne Oaks Drive. 501-224-9040. Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell & Cedar Hill Roads. Heifer International Living Gift Market. Heifer Village, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 1 World Ave. 501-3766836. heifer.org/heifervillage. Hillcrest Farmers Market. Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. 2200 Kavanaugh Blvd. Historic Neighborhoods Tour. Bike tour of historic neighborhoods includes bike, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby’s Bike Hike, 9 a.m., $8-$28. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001. Holiday Tour of Homes. Tour of West Little Rock homes; maps and tickets available at Wildwood Park. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., $25. 20919 Denny Road. KSSN 96’s Annual Toy Hill toy drive. See Dec. 6. Pork & Bourbon Tour. Bike tour includes bicycle, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby’s Bike Hike, 11:30 a.m., $35-$45. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001. Santa Paws Cocktail Party. Benefit for Little Rock Animal Village, with holiday drinks and hors d’oeuvres, prizes, entertainment and photos with Santa. Oxford American, 7:30 p.m., $30. 1300 Main St. A Sleeping Bag/Socks Drive to Benefit the Homeless. Donate new or clean, gently used sleeping bags and socks. Clinton School of Public Service, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool. uasys.edu.

BENEFITS

Craig’s Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis. Benefits the Arthritis Foundation, www.arkansasjinglebellrun.org to register. William J. Clinton Presidential Library, 11 a.m. 1200 Clinton Avenue. 501-374-4242. www.clintonlibrary.gov.

If you’re not HERE, we’re having more fun than you are!

INTRODUCING THE BUD LIGHT PLATINUM ALUMINUM BOTTLE

There’s still time, GET HERE!

triple filtered

A Chicago style Speakeasy & Dueling Piano Bar. This is THE premier place to party in Little Rock. “Dueling Pianos” runs Monday through Saturday. Dance & Club music upstairs on Wed, Fri & Sat. Drink specials and more! Do it BIGG! Open 7 Days A Week • 8pm-2am Shows Start at 8:30pm

Located in the Heart of the River Market District 307 President Clinton Avenue 501.372.4782 www.erniebiggs.com

PARTY AT OUR PLACE!

Book Our Party Room Today!

SUNDAY, DEC. 8

MUSIC

The Holiday Hang Out. See Dec. 6. Karaoke with DJ Sara. Hardrider Bar & Grill, 7 p.m., free. 6613 John Harden Drive, Cabot. 501-982-1939. CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

Guaranteed Date Night 10 Times a Year! SeaSon TickeTS 10 Shows & Dinners for

Only $160

Save Up To $190

Greatest Entertainment September 3 –VALUE!

OctOber 5

All American Food & Great Place to Watch Your Favorite Event

BOOKS

W. Stuart Towns. The author of “Arkansas Civil War Heritage: A Legacy of Honor” will sign books. WordsWorth Books & Co., 1-2:30 p.m. 5920 R St. 501-663-9198. www.wordsworthbooks.org.

smooth finish top shelf taste

ROck TOwn whiskey Now oN Tap!

When a conservative radio host announces on the air that he and his wife will renew their vows in Sin City, all of the residents of Tuna, Texas come along for the ride. Favorite characters from past Tuna productions return, and new The Hilarious Comedy ones are introduced! “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens when Tuna hits the slots may lodge delightfully in your head for a lifetime.” - L.A. Times (pg)

Nov 12 - Dec 31

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK | 11AM - LATE 225 E MARKHAM • LITTLE ROCK, AR

(501) 324-2449

bigwhiskeyslittlerock.com

562-3131 www.arktimes.com

Share us on

DECEMBER 5, 2013

AFTER DARK, CONT. Reggae Sundays with First Impressions. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 7:30 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Ronnie Milsap. Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $25-$55. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479443-5600. Stardust Big Band. Arlington Hotel, 3 p.m., $10. 239 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-7771. Yarn. Juanita’s, 7:30 p.m., $8. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

COMEDY

and brunch, with live music. White Water Tavern, noon. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Holiday Open House. Old State House Museum, 1-4:30 p.m. 500 Clinton Ave. 501324-9685. www.oldstatehouse.com. KSSN 96’s Annual Toy Hill toy drive. See Dec. 6. “Live from the Back Room.” Spoken word event. Vino’s, 7 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www. vinosbrewpub.com.

Tommy Davidson. The Loony Bin, 7 and 9 p.m., $25. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-2285555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

MONDAY, DEC. 9

EVENTS

Adestria, Kingdom of Giants, Dayseeker, Death of an Era, Strangers to September. Downtown Music Hall, 7 p.m. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall.com. Beware of Darkness, Stella Bizarre, Dead End Drive. Juanita’s, 8 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s “Wild and Swingin’ Holiday Party.” Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7:30 p.m., $30-$40. 350 S. Donaghey, Conway.

10th Annual Christmas in the Quarter-Holiday Tour of Homes. Tour four 19th century homes in the historic Quapaw Quarter area of downtown Little Rock; trolleys available. Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 2-5 p.m., $20-$25. 1601 S. Louisiana. 46th Annual Christmas Frolic Open House. Historic Arkansas Museum, 1-4 p.m. 200 E. Third St. 501-324-9351. www.historicarkansas. org. Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th Annual Christmas Showcase. Statehouse Convention Center, 10 a.m., $5. 7 Statehouse Plaza. Bernice Garden Farmers Market. The Bernice Garden, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 1401 S. Main St. www. thebernicegarden.org. Bethel AME 150th Anniversary Celebration Banquet. Featuring speaker Rodney Slater and music from Rodney Block & Co. Little Rock Marriott, 5 p.m., $100. 3 Statehouse Plaza. 501374-2891. www.bethelamec.com. Breakfast, Books & Booze. Special book sale

MUSIC

EVENTS

“It’s a Wonderful Life,” 2013 Oaklawn Rotary Club Christmas Parade. Downtown Hot Springs, 6:30 p.m. Central Avenue.

CLASSES

Finding Family Facts. Rhonda Stewart’s genealogy research class for beginners. Arkansas Studies Institute, second Monday of every month, 3:30 p.m. 401 President Clinton Ave. 501-320-5700. www.butlercenter.org.

Time Cat. Bear’s Den Pizza, 9 p.m. 235 Farris Road, Conway. 501-328-5556. www.bearsdenpizza.com.

TUESDAY, DEC. 10

MUSIC

Conway Men’s Chorus: 16th Annual Christmas Holiday Concert. Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7 p.m., free. 350 S. Donaghey, Conway. The Dangerous Idiots, Peckerwolf, Mothwind. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Irish Traditional Music Sessions. Hibernia Irish Tavern, second and Fourth Tuesday of every month, 7-9 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, through Dec. 19: 7 p.m.; Dec. 19, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Lucious Spiller Band. Copeland’s Restaurant of Little Rock, through Dec. 17: 6-9 p.m. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. 501-312-1616. www.copelandsrestaurantlittlerock.com. Music Jam hosted by Elliott Griffen and Joseph Fuller. The Joint, 8-11 p.m., free. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Pinnacle Brass. Faulkner County Library, 7 p.m., free. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www. fcl.org. Ricky David Tripp. Rocket Twenty One, through Dec. 18: 5:30 p.m. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501603-9208. www.ferneaurestaurant.com. Thirst ‘n Howl Blues Jam. Thirst n’ Howl, through Dec. 17: 7:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com. Thy Art is Murder, I Declare War, Fit for an Autopsy, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, Kublai Khan. Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall.com.

EVENTS

Little Rock Green Drinks. Informal networking session for people who work in the environmental field. Ciao Baci, 5:30-7 p.m. 605 N. Beechwood St. 501-603-0238. www.greendrinks.org. Quapaw Quarter Association Festivus & Silent Auction. Governor’s Mansion, 6 p.m., $35-$50. 1800 Center St. 501-377-1121. Tales from the South. Authors tell true stories; schedule available on website. Dinner served 5-6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m. Call for reservations. Starving Artist Cafe, 5 p.m. 411 N. Main St., NLR. 501-372-7976. www.starvingartistcafe.net. Trivia Bowl. Flying Saucer, 8:30 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-8032. www.beerknurd. com/stores/littlerock.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11

MUSIC

Acoustic Open Mic. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www. afterthoughtbar.com. Chris Henry. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, through Dec. 19: 7 p.m.; Dec. 19, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Open Mic Nite with Deuce. Thirst n’ Howl, 7:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189.

Mount Magazine State Park

Mount Nebo State Park

My park, your park, our parks. Lake Catherine State Park

The State Parks of Arkansas belong to all of us. They’re here for us to reconnect to the beauty of nature, enjoy shared experiences with family or friends, and make memories to last a lifetime. Choose your favorite season and visit ArkansasStateParks.com to plan an unforgettable getaway in one of your state parks.

A r k a n s a s S t a t e Pa r k s . c o m

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

AFTER DARK, CONT. www.thirst-n-howl.com. The Package. South on Main, 7:30 p.m. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. https://www.facebook. com/SouthonMainLR. Ricky David Tripp. Rocket Twenty One, through Dec. 18: 5:30 p.m. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501603-9208. www.ferneaurestaurant.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.

COMEDY

Claude Stuart. The Loony Bin, Dec. 11-12, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 13-14, 7:30 and 10 p.m. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com. The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group. The Joint, 8 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. “Pagans on Bobsleds XXII: Nice and Naughty.” Sketch comedy show from Red Octopus Theater. The Public Theatre, Dec. 11-14, 8 p.m., $8-$10. 616 Center St. 501-291-3896. www.thepublictheatre.com. Standup Open Mic Night. Hosted by local comedians of the comedy collective Comedi ans of NWA. UARK Bowl, 9 p.m., free. 644 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-301-2030. uarkbowl.com.

DANCE

Little Rock Bop Club. Beginning dance lessons for ages 10 and older. Singles welcome. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 7 p.m., $4 for members, $7 for guests. 12th & Cleveland streets. 501-350-4712. www.littlerockbopclub.

EVENTS

Peter Baker. The chief White House correspon-

dent for The New York Times discusses his book “Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House.” Clinton School of Public Service, 12 p.m., free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-6835239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.

POETRY

“Celebrate the Sonnet!” Readings of original and classic sonnets from the students of Dr. John Vanderslice. Faulkner County Library, 7 p.m., free. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org. Rocktown Slam. Sign up at the door to perform in the competition. Arkansas Arts Center, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., $5-$10. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com. Wednesday Night Poetry. 21-and-older show. Maxine’s, 7 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-321-0909. maxineslive.com/shows. html.

THIS WEEK IN THEATER

“A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.” Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studios, through Dec. 29: Thu.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2 and 7 p.m. 505 W. Spring St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. theatre2.org. “Because of Winn Dixie.” World premiere of new musical based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo about a young girl and a dog she finds at a Winn Dixie supermarket. Arkansas Repertory Theatre, through Dec. 29: Wed.-Sun., 7 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., $47-$57. 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. www.therep.org. “Christmas Belles.” The story of the Futrelle sisters’ Christmas Eve misadventures. Pocket Community Theater, Dec. 6-7, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 8, 2:30 p.m.; Dec. 13-14, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 15, 2:30 p.m., $5-$10. 170 Ravine St., Hot Springs.

“A Christmas Story.” Produced by The Royal Players. Royal Theatre, through Dec. 15: Fri., Sat., 7 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., $5-$10. 111 S. Market St., Benton. 501-315-5483. Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Touring production of the hit Broadway musical. Robinson Center Music Hall, Thu., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m., $38$75. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson. Festival of One Act Plays. University of Central Arkansas, Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, through Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m., free. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. “The Little Engine That Thought It Could.” Presented by Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre. Arkansas Arts Center, through Dec. 22: Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 4 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com. “Run For Your Wife.” Cab driver John Smith is mugged one day and is taken home by a helpful policeman, who takes him to the wrong home. It seems Smith has two homes and two wives, and according to his carefully laid out schedule he is supposed to be with wife No. 2. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, through Dec. 29: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., $15-$35. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 501-562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com. “Scrooge! The Musical.” Musical version of the classic holiday tale “A Christmas Carol.” The Weekend Theater, through Dec. 22: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m., $16-$20. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org.

GALLERIES, MUSEUMS

NEW EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS

New events, exhibits in bold-faced type. ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park:

“45th Collectors show and Sale,” contemporary works from New York galleries, Dec. 6-Jan. 5; “Highlighting Hillcrest: History, Architecture and a Sense of Community,” with Rachel Silva, Tommy Jameson and James McKenzie, 6 p.m. Dec. 10, lecture hall, reception at 5:30 p.m.; “Mark Rothko in the 1940s: The Decisive Decade,” Winthrop Rockefeller Gallery, through Feb. 9; “Face to Face: Artists’ Self-Portraits from the Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr.,” Townsend Wolfe Gallery, through Feb. 9; “Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge,” Jeannette Rockefeller Gallery, through Feb. 9; “50 Works / 50 Weeks / 50 Years,” Alice Pratt Brown Atrium, through December; “The People There: Paintings by Emily Moll Wood,” through Feb. 23. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000. ART CONNECTION, 204 E. 4th St., NLR: “Art Wyrks,” benefit for Art Connection program, sale of works by Matt McLeod, Dominique Simmons, Tod Swiecichowski, Barbara Satterfield, Stephen Cefalo, Julie Holt, David O’Brien, Angela Davis Johnson and Shannon Rogers, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Dec. 5. 837-4491. BERNICE GARDEN, Main and Daisy Bates: 5th annual “Tree Lighting and Holiday Market,” 5:30-8 p.m. Dec. 5, with free holiday photo shoots for children 10 and under, food vendors, music; neighbor businesses Sweet Home and Clement, Green Corner Store, Moxy Modern Mercantile open late as well. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. Third St.: 46th annual “Christmas Frolic,” live music, dancing, crafts, pioneer games, hot cider and ginger cake, 1-4 p.m. Dec. 8; “Figurations: works by Stephen Cefalo and Sandra Sell,” through Dec. 8; “Heeding the Call: The Firefighter CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

THE

Alchemy

Dec. 7

2013

Songwriting Competition

SHOWCASE 8#+9"-.+%,&1:&2"#%-)*&3-4)#.). ;%(/"#%&2"#%"-&<)**-116=21#>),?&3@ A"#"-)*&3/6+..+1#&BCD EFG&H+04"%.&BDI g | r 5 o . 0 n 1-336-8 +%+o 200 ompe% c Doors open , hem c l )%&J5KI&7L6L ) e

he: nt of t @ nceme P u M o FM n n A @FOP&Q #"-. &G N M 3 +# A@ &Q +9+.+1# 3R"&N "&Q+##"-. # A"

the

ris Alle

Adam

n Jon

an ath Sm

ith

All proceeds !"#"$%&'()*+%,& )-%.&"/(0)%+1#&+#& 2"#%-)*&3-4)#.).5

dg Ju

Hambric

h w.% w w TOP TEN PERFORMERS: Ashley Fleener - Conway, AR Hudson Jones - Maumelle, AR Vicki Lee - Pine Bluff, AR Chris Milligan - Little Rock, AR Taylor Nealey - Vilonia, AR Rachel Pearl - Nashville, TN RanDair Porter- Redmond, WA Terry Smith - Conway, AR Rob Vischer - Nashville, TN Steve Whiteaker - Conway, AR 2167"%+%+1#& .71#.1-"/&+#& 7)-%&!,5

sHaVe iN

tHis satUrdaY at tHe

root cafÉ

The Arkansas Times & the root Café proudly present Little Rock’s

Participants must be certified cleanshaven on December 7th, 2013 at the Root Café between, 8am and 3:30.pm.

ay give us this D

Those competing for the Lifetime Achievement category won’t need to shave, but must still register.

C at e g o r i e s

D Our Daily Bear Fullest Beard Most Original Beard Best’Burns and ‘Stache Combo Lifetime Achievement

Prizes for winners!

(Last year’s winners got engraved flasks full of whiskey…) Judging will be held during the South Main Mardi Gras celebration Saturday, March 1st, 2013 at Bernice Garden.

More Info: 501-414-0423 | theroot@therootcafe.com

arktimes.com/beard 30

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

AFTER DARK, CONT.

Collection of Johnny Reep,” through Jan. 5; “Jason A. Smith: Stills”; “Arkansas Made,” ongoing. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 3249351. L&L BECK ART GALLERY, 5705 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “Religious art,” paintings by Louis Beck, through December; giclee drawing 5:15 p.m. Dec. 21. 660-4006. PAVILION IN THE PARK: Seventh annual “Tie One On,” auction of aprons designed by dozens of artists including Patrick Cunningham, Endia Bumgarner, Catherine Burton, Emily Wood, Samantha Curran, Susie Jacoby, Wyn Bowden, Amy Bell and others, to benefit Our House, 6-9 p.m. Dec. 5, $55, live auction at 7:45 p.m. 374-7383. STATEHOUSE CONVENTION CENTER, 101 E. Markham St.: Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th annual “Christmas Showcase,” Governor’s Hall IV, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri., 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun., $5 admission (free between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sat.) STEPHANO’S FINE ART, 1813 N. Grant: “Jingle Bells, Cocktails and Art Sales,” bring a bag of dog or cat food to be entered in drawing, benefit for Out of the Woods Animal Rescue, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 11. 563-4218. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: “The Abstraction of Toys,” MA thesis show of paintings by Dan Thornhill, through Dec. 20, reception 5-7 p.m. Dec. 6. HOT SPRINGS ARTISTS’ WORKSHOP GALLERY, 610a Central Ave.: Watercolors by Terry O’Dell, paintings by Christine Lippert, reception 5-9 p.m. Dec. 6, Hot Springs Gallery Walk. 501-623-6401. BLUE MOON GALLERY, 718 Central Ave.: Work by Suzi Dennis , Caren Garner, Randall M. Good and Thad Flenniken, reception 5-9 p.m. Dec. 6, Hot Springs Gallery Walk. 501-3182787. FINE ARTS CENTER OF HOT SPRINGS, 626 Central Ave.: Artwork inspired by Kenji Muyazama’s poem “Be Not Defeated by the Rain” by artists from Hanamaki, Japan, through Dec. 14, reception 5-9 p.m. Dec. 6, Hot Springs Gallery Walk. 501-624-0489. GALLERY CENTRAL, 800 Central Ave.: Glass by James Hayes, reception 5-9 p.m. Dec. 6, Hot Springs Gallery Walk. JUSTUS FINE ART, 827 Central Ave.: Work by Dolores Justus and others, reception 5-9 p.m. Dec. 6, Hot Springs Gallery Walk. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. 501-321-2335. FAYETTEVILLE THE DEPOT, 548 W. Dickson St.: “Ephemeral Shrines,” photographs of sculptural headpieces by Lakey Goff Sanford taken by Dero Sanford, through Dec. 29, opening reception 7-9 p.m. Dec. 5, First Thursday. 501-951-4151. JONESBORO ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: “Fall 2013 Senior Exhibition,” work by Anthony Griego, JoAnna Jarosz and Michale Riggs, through Dec. 4, Bradbury Gallery, reception 5-6:30 p.m. Dec. 5. Noon-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 870-972-3471.

CONTINUING EXHIBITS

ART GROUP GALLERY, Pleasant Ridge Town Center: “Holiday Art Sale,” work by Ron Almond, Matt Coburn, Louise Harris, Ned Perme, Ann Presley, Vickie Hendrix-Siebenmorgen and Holly Tilley. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-6 p.m. Sun. 690-2193. BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Reflections

in Pastel,” through Feb. 22, main gallery; “Native Arkansas,” early Arkansas through the writings of early explorers and Native American artifacts, including Mississippian period, Caddoan and Carden Bottoms objects, Concordia Hall, through Feb. 22; the photography of Barney Sellers, Loft Gallery, through Dec. 28. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5700. CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: “Bill Lewis Retrospective, 1932-2012,” watercolors and oil paintings, through Dec. 31. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335. CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 509 Scott St.: Paintings from the Arkansas League of Artists and Local Colour. CHROMA GALLERY, 5707 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Work by Robert Reep and other Arkansas artists. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0880. COX CREATIVE CENTER, 120 River Market Ave.: “Equinox,” works by artists published in UALR’s journal of literature and art. 918-3093. THE EDGE, 301B President Clinton Ave.: Paintings by Avila (Fernando Gomez), Eric Freeman, James Hayes, Jerry Colburn, St. Joseph Thomason and Stephen Drive. 992-1099. ELLEN GOLDEN ANTIQUES, 5701 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by Barry Thomas and Arden Boyce. 664-7746. GALLERY 221 & ART STUDIOS 221, Pyramid Place: Paintings by Mary Ann Stafford and others. 801-0211. GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: 19th annual “Holiday Show and Sale,” work by more than 50 artists in all media, through Jan. 11. 664-8996. GINO HOLLANDER GALLERY, 2nd and Center: Paintings and works on paper by Gino Hollander. 801-0211. GOOD WEATHER GALLERY, 4400 Edgemere, NLR: “Plaza,” installation by Lauren Cherry and Max Springer. www.goodweathergallery.com HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: “Evolu- tion,” exhibit celebrating the gallery’s 25th anniversary, with work by Lawrence Finney, Mario Robinson, Kevin Cole, Adger Cowans, Samella Lewis, Paul Goodnight and others, through Feb. 2, receptions 1:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Dec. 13, 2nd Friday Art Night, talk by gallery director Garbo Hearne 2 p.m. Dec. 15. 372-6822. LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St.: “Recovery: The World Trade Center Recovery Operation,” 65 photographs and 56 recovered artifacts from the 911 attack, from the New York State Museum, through Dec. 1. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 758-1720. M2 GALLERY, Pleasant Ridge Town Center: Mother-daughter exhibit of found-art sculpture by Anita Davis and works on paper honoring Ghana artist El Anatsui by Betsy Davis, through December. 225-6257 or 944-7155. PAINT BOX GALLERY, 705 Main St., NLR: Jewelry by Damon Chatterton, tree sculptures by P.J. Bryant, fused glass by Ali Stinespring. 374-2848. THEA FOUNDATION, 401 Main St., NLR: 3799512. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK, 2801 S. University Ave.: Senior exhibitions by Justin Puska, Tyler Bean, Bertha Ramos and Keesha Bass, Gallery III, through Dec. 11. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-3182. BENTON DIANNE ROBERTS ART STUDIO AND GALLERY, 110 N. Market St.: Work by Chad Oppenhuizen, Dan McRaven, Gretchen Hendricks, Rachel Carroccio, Kenny Roberts, Taylor Bellott, Jim Cooper and Sue Moore. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed.Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 860-7467.

AFTER DARK, CONT. BENTONVILLE CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way: “The Artists’ Eye,” Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz collection, including works by O’Keeffe, Stieglitz, Arthur Dove, John Marin and others, shared collection with Fisk University, through Feb. 3; “This Land: Picturing a Changing America in the 1930s and 1940s,” 44 paintings, prints and photographs with digital audio tour featuring musical selections by Fayetteville Roots Festival director Bryan Hembree, through Jan. 6; permanent collection of American masterworks spanning four centuries. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Thu.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed., Fri.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 479-418-5700. CALICO ROCK CALICO ROCK ARTISTS COOPERATIVE, Hwy. 5 at White River Bridge: Paintings, photographs, jewelry, fiber art, wood, ceramics and other crafts. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. calicorocket.org/artists. CONWAY UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS: “BA/ BFA Senior Exhibition,” Baum Gallery, through Dec. 5. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thu., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 501-450-5793. FAYETTEVILLE BOTTLE ROCKET GALLERY, 1495 Finger Road: “Makeshift Theatre,” photographs by Logan Rollins. 479-466-7406. FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM, 1601 Rogers Ave.: “RE: History,” 25 two- and three-dimensional works by James Volkert, through Feb. 16. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 479-784-2787. HARRISON ARTISTS OF THE OZARKS, 124 ½ N. Willow St.: Work by Amelia Renkel, Ann Graffy, Christy Dillard, Helen McAllister, Sandy Williams and D. Savannah George. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. 870-429-1683. PERRYVILLE SUDS GALLERY, Courthouse Square: Paintings by Dottie Morrissey, Alma Gipson, Al Garrett Jr., Phyllis Loftin, Alene Otts, Mauretta Frantz, Raylene Finkbeiner, Kathy Williams and Evelyn Garrett. Noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri, noon-4 p.m. Sat. 501-766-7584.

ONGOING MUSEUM EXHIBITS

ARKANSAS INLAND MARITIME MUSEUM, North Little Rock: 371-8320. ARKANSAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME MUSEUM, Verizon Arena, NLR: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 663-4328. CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: Exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957. CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “Oscar de la Renta: American Icon,” designs worn by Laura Bush, Jessica Chastain, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and others, and other couture pieces, through Dec. 1. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $7 adults; $5 college students, seniors, retired military; $3 ages 6-17. 370-8000. ESSE, 1510 S. Main St.: “What’s Inside: A Century of Women and Handbags (1900-1999),” purses from the collection of Anita Davis, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sun., $10-$8. 916-9022. MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS M I L I TA R Y H I S T O R Y , M a c A r t h u r Park: “American Posters of World War I”; per-

manent exhibits. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602. MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY, 500 President Clinton Ave.: “Robots and Us,” interactive exhibit on robotics, through Jan. 26; “Wiggle Worms,” science program for pre-K children 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. every Tue., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 ages 13 and older, $8 ages 1-12, free to members and children under 1. 396-7050. OLD STATE HOUSE MUSEUM, 300 W. Markham: “Lights! Camera! Arkansas!”, the state’s ties to Hollywood, including costumes, scripts, film footage, photographs and more, through March 1, 2015; “Things You Need to Hear: Memories of Growing up in Arkansas from 1890 to 1980,” oral histories about community, family, work, school and leisure, through March 2014. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685. WITT STEPHENS JR. CENTRAL ARKANSAS NATURE CENTER, Riverfront Park: Exhibits on wildlife and the state Game and Fish Commission. ENGLAND TOLTEC MOUNDS STATE PARK, State Hwy. 165: Major prehistoric Indian site with visitors’ center and museum. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun., closed Mon. $3 for adults, $2 for ages 6-12. 961-9442. FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM, 1601 Rogers Ave.: “Winslow Homer and the American Pictorial Press,” 50 engravings for newspapers, through Jan. 5. 479-434-5955. JACKSONVILLE JACKSONVILLE MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY, 100 Veterans Circle: Exhibits on D-Day; F-105, Vietnam era plane (“The Thud”); the Civil War Battle of Reed’s Bridge, Arkansas Ordnance Plant (AOP) and other military history. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $3 adults; $2 seniors, military; $1 students. 501-241-1943.

Kids eat FREE on Tues. & Wed.* *With adult meal. Some restrictions apply.

TOAST TOWN OF THE

RUNNER-UP

BRUNCH Sat & Sun, 10-2 LUNCH Mon-Fri, 11-2 DINNER Mon-Sat, 5:30-9:30 LIVE MUSIC in the Bar Mon-Sat Nights 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd • Little Rock • 501.663.1196 • afterthoughtbistroandbar.com

JONESBORO ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, 320 University Loop West Circle: “Shaping Our World,” science exhibit developed by Arkansas Discovery Network, through Feb. 16, 2014. 870972-2074. MORRILTON MUSEUM OF AUTOMOBILES, Petit Jean Mountain: Permanent exhibit of more than 50 cars from 1904-1967 depicting the evolution of the automobile. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 7 days. 501-727-5427. ROGERS ROGERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM, 322 S. Second St.: “An Old World Christmas,” guided tours in decorated historic house, through Jan. 4; “Art from the Earth: A Pottery Exhibit,” prehistoric, historic and contemporary ceramics, through Feb. 22. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 479621-1154. SCOTT PLANTATION AGRICULTURE MUSEUM, U.S. 165 S and Hwy. 161: Artifacts and interactive exhibits on farming in the Arkansas Delta. $3 adults, $2 ages 6-12. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 501-961-1409. SCOTT PLANTATION SETTLEMENT: 1840s log cabin, one-room school house, tenant houses, smokehouse and artifacts on plantation life. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thu.-Sat. 351-0300. www.scottconnections.org. www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Gypsy Bistro

december 13

200 S.LLC RIVER AVE, Hillcrest Creative, LLC MARKET Paper, Scissors, Little Rock Hillcrest Creative, Paper, Scissors, Little Rock STE. 150 • D-1 501.375.3500 601 Ridgeway Apt Box 452 601 Ridgeway Dr.Dr. Apt D-1 POPO Box 452 DIZZYSGYPSYBISTRO.NET Little Rock, Arkansas 72205 Little Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Little Rock, Arkansas 72205 Rock, Arkansas 72203 Dylan Yarbrough Macy Madison Dylan Yarbrough Macy Madison 501-749-0765 479-530-6229 501-749-0765 479-530-6229 dylan@hillcrestcreative.com macy@pslittlerock.com macy@pslittlerock.com dylan@hillcrestcreative.com

Gourmet. Your Way. All Day.

300 Third Tower • 501-375-3333 coppergrillandgrocery.com

These venues will be open late. There’s plenty of parking and a fREE TROllEY to each of the locations. Don’t miss it – lots of fun!

BRANDGUIDELINES GUIDELINES BRAND Submitted May 6th, 2013 Submitted May 6th, 2013

Arkansas Chamber Singers Holiday

EVO-LU-TION

a culmination of 25 years of beauty, elegance, and spirit. this exhibition features a myriad of artists and mixed media. A must see experience!

Friday, December 13 and Saturday, December 14 at 7 PM Sunday, December 15 at 3 PM

Free parking at 3rd PS Little Rock encourages & Cumberland you to support small free street parking business by shopping local this holiday season. all over downtown and behind the Downtown Little Rock The Old State House Museum is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. River Market 300 River Market Ave, LOWFIDELITY FIDELITYLOGO LOGO[RED] [RED] LOWFIDELITY FIDELITYLOGO LOGO[BLUE] [BLUE] Ste 105 (PaidLOW parking LOW available for Find Us On Facebook The Low Fidelity logos meant provide a more efficient and cost effective variation. **** The Low Fidelity logos areare meant to to provide a more efficient and cost effective variation. & Instagram modest fee.) recommend that these variations used printing and stamp applications. **** WeWe recommend that these variations bebe used forfor printing and allall stamp applications.

Matinee Reception Friday, December 13, 2013 1:30 pm 2nD FRiDay aRt night Friday, December 13, 2013 5–8 pm

aRt talk with gaRbo heaRne Sunday, December 15, 2013 2 pm

1001 Wright Ave. Suite C Little Rock, AR 501-372-6822 www.hearnefineart.com

Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 6pm, Sun – 2-5pm

GRAND OPENING

GALLERY 221 & ART STUDIOS 221 J U T Join C us ! 5-8 for our holiday show reception! OIN

ELEBRATE

➧

Free TrOlley rides!

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

Arkansas Tales: Visual Stories from Artists Jason Smith Diane Harper and Dominique Simmons

 Fine Art  Cocktails & Wine  Hor d’oeuvres

200 River Market Ave., Suite 400 501.374.9247 • www. arcapital.com

Pyramid Place 2nd & Center St “Santa” by Jennifer (501) 801-0211 ‘EMILE’ Freeman

“HOT SEAT” BY JODGERS oin Us 5-8pm CATHERINE R

Pyramid Place • 2nd & Center St • (501) 801-0211

♦ Fine Art ♦ Cocktails & Wine ♦ Hors d’oeuvres ♦

MOVIE REVIEW

secOnd Friday arT nighT

The 2nd Friday Of each month 5-8 pm

Barry Thomas silver and sage Christie Young, Jewelry Artist Wine TasTing With Margie Raimondo Artwork & Signed Prints For Sale

Of Raimondo Winery

Cheese TasTing With Kent Walker

next to dugan’s pub

STRATTON’S Market

Fine Wine

Straight from the heartland Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ worth your time.

Spirits

405 E 3rd Downtown Little Rock 501-791-6700

9th Ever Nog-Off A friendly eggnog competition, two new exhibits and live music by Heather Smith & Friends.

A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

200 E. Third St. 501-324-9351 HistoricArkansas.org

Frances Flower Shop, Inc. In downtown Little Rock two blocks from the State Capitol. We send flowers worldwide through Teleflora. 1222 West Capitol little RoCk • 501.372.2203 fRanCesfloWeRshop.Com

‘NEBRASKA’: Bruce Dern stars.

wmichaelabstract.com

BY SAM EIFLING

n “Nebraska,” the brilliant smallbudget dark comedy from Alexander Payne, an aging alcoholic receives a mass-mailed sweepstakes letter that he doesn’t realize is just a scammy way to sell magazines. Unable to drive and unable to be dissuaded, Woodrow Grant (a bedraggled Bruce Dern) sets out on foot from his home in Billings, Mont., to the sweepstakes headquarters in Lincoln, Neb., figuring that you’d have to be nuts to trust the mail to deliver a million-dollar prize. As his son David (Will Forte) repeatedly retrieves the wandering old man, he finally hits upon the idea to relent and lug him to Lincoln — to shut him up, if nothing else. What ensues is an exceedingly patient and tender portrait of their relationship and of the small Nebraska town where the father grew up. Shot in black and white, and given to long stares at the cold upper Plains, “Nebraska” is at once bleak, endearing, moral, funny and weird. After sojourns to Hawaii (“The Descendants”) and California wine country (“Sideways”), Payne returns to the heartland setting of his “About Schmidt” and “Election” to drive, literally, at truths of the middle of America. The allegorical elements are hard to miss: Named for two presidents, and aiming for a city named for another, Woody travels from a Montana town that shares a name with financial demands. His birthplace — Hawthorne, Neb. — doesn’t exist, but it does incidentally share its name with one of early America’s finest novelists, a romantic himself. And its description (about 750 miles from Billings, via South Dakota) puts it almost precisely at the reallife location of Grand Island, Neb. We’re at sea among the wheat.

The father and son arrive in Hawthorne to find old family doing small-town family things: watching television and drinking to balance cosmic boredom against the urge to make trouble. The stupor fades when Woody reveals that he has become a millionaire. The genial welcome becomes flattery and, as word spreads, a tense standoff over who owes whom what. Stacy Keach, wielding his menacing bulk and timbre, is terrific as a long-lost business partner bent on getting his share, while Woody’s flinty wife, played by a badgeresque June Squibb, almost steals the film as her husband’s most acerbic critic and everlasting champion. These are unique characters, cut from rough cloth and allowed to reveal themselves in their own time — a gift of Payne’s direction, that his players may seem authentically crafted even as they surprise us throughout. Forte, the “Saturday Night Live” alum, is convincing and likeable enough as the stereo system salesman trying to connect with his old man. Dern, though, inhabits Woody as a true haunt, giving the impression of a documentary subject the film happened to find loose in the wilds of America. That he says so little only adds heft to every squawk and squeak at the back of his voice. The monochrome sets every corn silk strand of his mad-scientist hair against his black eyes. Woody is immune to reason, yet possessed of a logic that we come to know only slowly. His mission is bound to fail. But it is his, and for that, we must respect it. To Payne, this may in fact be the promise of America: that however grim our fate, there’s nobility in knowing (even if we must pretend) that it is of our own choosing. www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

www.arktimes.com

JUNE 6, 2013

Dining WE’VE BEEN WATCHING with quite a bit of interest the good things coming out of the kitchen of chef Matt Bell at South on Main, the restaurant and performance space attached to the Oxford American’s digs on Main Street in Little Rock. Now, just in time for the holidays, South on Main has released its new winter menu, full of seasonal goodies and interesting new takes on old faves. New for the frigid months: butternut squash soup with apple marshmallow and tasso; char-grilled oysters with lemon, garlic and Worcestershire sauce; pork cheeks with gnocchi, kale salad with pickled apples and crispy-fried onions; rabbit boudin sausage with greens and cornbread; Gulf boil (shrimp, drum and mussels) with fennel and tomato; spaghetti squash with apple butter and sweet potato au gratin; liver and onions with red eye gravy; roast duck with black eyed peas, bacon and braised greens; grilled quail with soubise and golden raisins; trotters (that would be: pig’s foot) with corn grits, Brussels sprouts and homemade kraut; roast chicken breast with squash fritters, roasted pears and onion; cauliflower steak with butter bean gravy; and roast winter vegetables with greens and cider vinaigrette, among other offerings. Sounds like some good eating, and plenty of reason to get bundled up and out of the house on a cold night. To see the full winter menu, head to the South on Main website at southonmain.com/ menus/dinner.

DINING CAPSULES

AMERICAN

1620 SAVOY The revamping of this enduring West Little Rock landmark restaurant has breathed considerable new life into 1620 Savoy. It’s a very different look and feel than the original, and the food is still high-quality and painstakingly prepared — a wide-ranging dinner menu that’s sure to please almost everyone. 1620 Market St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-2211620. D Mon.-Sat., BR Sun. ADAMS CATFISH & CATERING Catering company with carry-out restaurant in Little Rock and carry-out trailers in Russellville and Perryville. 215 N. Cross St. All CC. $-$$. 501-3744265. L Tue.-Sat. ALL ABOARD RESTAURANT & GRILL Burgers, catfish, chicken tenders and such in this trainthemed restaurant, where an elaborately engineered mini-locomotive delivers patrons meals. 6813 Cantrell Road. No alcohol. 501-975-7401. LD daily. ALLEY OOPS The restaurant at Creekwood Plaza (near the Kanis-Bowman intersection) is a neighborhood feedbag for major medical institutions with the likes of plate lunches, burgers 34

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

JESS ROBERTS

WHAT’S COOKIN’

EAT YOUR VEGGIES: Greek salad with a salmon skewer at Little Greek.

Big taste at Little Greek Fast-casual chain impresses.

here is a tendency among foodies, this reviewer included, to dismiss chain restaurants with disdain. This feeling is not without some merit, stemming from countless greasy and cheese-soaked meals at lowest-common denominator restaurants like Chili’s or Macaroni Grill. There is a downside to this attitude, though, because there are chain restaurants in the world that defy the conventional wisdom and manage to serve up good food — and we found just such an exception at Little Greek in the Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center. On our first visit to the restaurant, the staff scored immediate bonus points by first asking if we had ever eaten at a Little Greek before, then offering us a sample of their gyro meat when we told them we had not. This introduction already had us feeling good about the place before we even sat down — helped even further by the fact that the large sample portion of shaved meat was pretty tasty. Little Greek is an “order at the counter” place, so we took a minute to look over the large selection of salads, platters and appetizers as we munched our sample. We started with two dishes that any

Little Greek

11525 Cantrell Road, No. 905 501-223-5300 mylittlegreek.com QUICK BITE Fans of gyros and chicken pitas should make sure and try Little Greek on Mondays, when those items are only $5 and all starters are $3. HOURS 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. OTHER INFO All credit cards, beer available.

place with the word “Greek” in the name had better get right: hummus ($3.99) and falafel ($2.99). The falafel patties were decent, with a good amount of spice to them, and crisp on the outside without being dry in the middle. The huge portion of hummus was a real winner, though, with a rich flavor that had just the right amount of cumin and citrus. The hummus is served with a choice of grilled or fried pita, and we ordered a combination of both. The grilled pita is the typical soft, warm bread that is the expected addition to hummus, while the fried bread was a

crispy, chewy delight that we’d definitely recommend for a nice change of pace. Having put the place through its paces on classic starters, we decided to see if the trend would hold through dinner by ordering a gyro pita ($6.99) and a chicken skewer platter ($8.99). The gyro was an ample portion of that tasty shaved meat we had sampled, topped with tangy tzatziki sauce, iceberg lettuce and a couple of tomatoes. We added fries to the plate for $1.99, and while the mountain of shoestring potatoes we got was well worth the price tag, the pita itself is so large that we couldn’t nearly finish them. The chicken skewer platter was our biggest surprise of the night, with two tasty grilled chicken skewers over a bed of rice served alongside a gigantic salad of mixed greens, feta cheese, and a scoop of potato salad. We were well pleased by the entire plate, although once again the big portions made it tough to finish. On a second visit to the restaurant, we started with an order of spanakopita ($4.49), a pleasantly crispy spinach pie that impressed us with its nice balance of spinach flavor, feta cheese, and delicate puff pastry. It’s as good a plate of spanakopita as we’ve had in Little Rock, and made for a good, light starter to the meal. We paired the spinach dish with a steak skewer from the a la carte menu, and were pleased by the seasoned beef done just right on the grill. Given the size of the side salad from our previous visit, we went for one of the Greek salads ($6.49), adding a salmon skewer to the works for an additional $2.99. The salad was indeed a large one, well-tossed with tangy dressing, and with two scoops of potato salad on top. We could have used a few more olives in the mix, as our big bowl only had two of the briny treats, and while the salmon was tasty enough, there just wasn’t enough fish on the skewer to balance out the mammoth portion of greens. Still, as dinner salads go, this one was a tasty one. Little Greek sets out to be an inexpensive, fast-casual Greek restaurant, and we have to say that it succeeds admirably in this regard. We found the staff to be consistently friendly while the food was served up fresh and quickly. Little Greek might not have cured us of our aversion to chain restaurants, but we’re certainly happy to eat our words in this case — especially wrapped in a pita and topped with tzatziki.

Information in our restaurant capsules reflects the opinions of the newspaper staff and its reviewers. The newspaper accepts no advertising or other considerations in exchange for reviews, which are conducted anonymously. We invite the opinions of readers who think we are in error.

and homemade desserts. Remarkable chess pie. 11900 Kanis Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-221-9400. LD Mon.-Sat. BR Sun. B-SIDE The little breakfast place in the former party room of Lilly’s DimSum Then Some turns tradition on its ear, offering French toast wrapped in bacon on a stick, a must-have dish called “biscuit mountain” and beignets with lemon curd. Top notch cheese grits, too. 11121 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-716-2700. BL Wed.-Sun. BAR LOUIE This chain’s first Arkansas outlet features a something-for-everybody menu so broad and varied to be almost schizophrenic. 11525 Cantrell Road, Suite 924. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-228-0444. LD daily. 11525 Cantrell Road. 501-228-0444. BIG WHISKEY’S AMERICAN BAR AND GRILL A modern grill pub in the River Market with all the bells and whistles - 30 flat screen TVs, whiskey on tap, plus boneless wings, burgers, steaks, soups and salads. 225 E Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-324-2449. LD daily. BOBBY’S COUNTRY COOKIN’ One of the better plate lunch spots in the area, with some of the best fried chicken and pot roast around, a changing daily casserole and wonderful homemade pies. 301 N. Shackleford Road, Suite E1. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-9500. L Mon.-Fri. BOGIE’S BAR AND GRILL The former Bennigan’s retains a similar theme: a menu filled with burgers, salads and giant desserts, plus a few steak, fish and chicken main courses. There are big screen TVs for sports fans and lots to drink, more reason to return than the food. 120 W. Pershing Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-812-0019. D daily. BOOKENDS CAFE A great spot to enjoy lunch with friends or a casual cup of coffee and a favorite book. Serving coffee and pastries early and sandwiches, soups and salads available after 11 a.m. Cox Creative Center. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501- 918-3091. BL Mon.-Sat. THE BOX Cheeseburgers and French fries are greasy and wonderful and not like their fastfood cousins. 1023 W. Seventh St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-8735. L Mon.-Fri. BUFFALO GRILL A great crispy-off-the-griddle cheeseburger and hand-cut fries star at this family-friendly stop. 1611 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, CC. $$. 501-296-9535. LD daily. CAFE 201 The hotel restaurant in the Crowne Plaza serves up a nice lunch buffet. 201 S. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-2233000. BLD Mon.-Sat., BR Sun. CATFISH CITY AND BBQ GRILL Basic fried fish and sides, including green tomato pickles, and now with tasty ribs and sandwiches in beef, pork and sausage. 1817 S. University Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-7224. LD Tue.-Sat. CHEERS Good burgers and sandwiches, vegetarian offerings and salads at lunch, and fish specials and good steaks in the evening. 2010 N. Van Buren. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-6635937. LD Mon.-Sat. 1901 Club Manor Drive. Maumelle. Full bar, All CC. 501-851-6200. LD daily, BR Sun. CHICKEN KING Arguably Central Arkansas’s best wings. 5213 W 65th St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-5573. LD Mon.-Sat.

B Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner $ Inexpensive (under $8/person) $$ Moderate ($8-$20/person) $$$ Expensive (over $20/person) CC Accepts credit cards

CHICKEN WANG & CAFE Regular, barbecue, spicy, lemon, garlic pepper, honey mustard and Buffalo wings. Open late. 8320 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-1303. LD Mon.-Sat. CORNERSTONE PUB & GRILL A sandwich, pizza and beer joint in the heart of North Little Rock’s Argenta district. 314 Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-374-1782. LD Mon.-Sat. DAVE AND RAY’S DOWNTOWN DINER Breakfast buffet daily featuring biscuits and gravy, home fries, sausage and made-to-order omelets. Lunch buffet with four choices of meats and eight veggies. 824 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol. $. 501-372-8816. BL Mon.-Fri. DAVID’S BUTCHER BOY BURGERS Serious hamburgers, steak salads, homemade custard. 101 S. Bowman Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-8333. LD Mon.-Sat. 4000 McCain Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-353-0387. LD Mon.-Sat. E’S BISTRO Despite the name, think tearoom rather than bistro — there’s no wine, for one thing, and there is tea. But there’s nothing tearoomy about the portions here. Try the heaping grilled salmon BLT on a buttery croissant. 3812 JFK Boulevard. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-771-6900. FLIGHT DECK A not-your-typical daily lunch special highlights this spot, which also features inventive sandwiches, salads and a popular burger. Central Flying Service at Adams Field. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-975-9315. BL Mon.-Sat. HILLCREST ARTISAN MEATS A fancy charcuterie and butcher shop with excellent daily soup and sandwich specials. Limited seating is available. 2807 Kavanaugh Blvd. Suite B. No alcohol, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-671-6328. L Mon.-Sat. THE HOP DINER The downtown incarnation of the old dairy bar, with excellent burgers, onion rings, shakes, daily specials and breakfast. 201 E. Markham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-2440975. KITCHEN EXPRESS Delicious “meat and three” restaurant offering big servings of homemade soul food. Maybe Little Rock’s best fried chicken. 4600 Asher Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-666-3500. BLD Mon.-Sat., LD Sun. LASSIS INN One of the state’s oldest restaurants still in the same location and one of the best for catfish and buffalo fish. 518 E 27th St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-372-8714. LD Tue.-Sat. LYNN’S CHICAGO FOODS Outpost for Chicago specialties like Vienna hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches. Plus, other familiar fare — burgers and fried catfish, chicken nuggets and wings. 6501 Geyer Springs. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-568-2646. LD Mon.-Sat. MADDIE’S PLACE If you like your catfish breaded Cajun-style, your grits rich with garlic and cream and your oysters fried up in perfect puffs, this Cajun eatery on Rebsamen Park Road is the place for you. 1615 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-660-4040. LD Tue.-Sat. MARIE’S MILFORD TRACK II Healthy and tasty are the key words at this deli/grill, featuring hot entrees, soups, sandwiches, salads and killer CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

DED R FA OS R E S TA U R A N T E

1619 Rebsamen Rd. 501-663-9734

GREAT STEAK

LITTLE ROCK’S MOST AWARD WINNING RESTAURANT

3501 Old Cantrell rd

501.916.9706

thefOldlr.COm facebook.com/thefoldbar twitter - @fold_the instagram - littlerocktaco

fast lunCh turnarOund! Daily Drink Specials Weekend Brunch Menu Happy Hour Tues-Fri 3-6pm Open Late Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu - 11am–11pm Fri & Sat - 11am–Midnight

102 lbs And 37.7 inChEs lOsT

Look at Melinda’s amazing success. YOu CAn dO iT TOO! ExPErT AdviCE And GuidAnCE • Corrective exercise after training injuries • Strength and flexibility training • Therapeutic stretching and massage

Kathleen l. Rea, Ph.D.

(501) 324-1414 117 East Broadway, North Little Rock

www.regenerationfitnessar.com

Purchase Classes, Fitness Training, or Massage Therapy Online! www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

hearsay ➥ Need some ideas for what to get that friend who loves hiking and other outdoor activities? Then check out OZARK OUTDOOR SUPPLY’S online gift guide at ozarkoutdoor.com/holiday_guide. It not only has great items for nature lovers, but also gadget geeks, the perpetually cold and the person who has everything. You can also register to win a $100 gift card. If inperson shopping is more your thing, Ozark Outdoor has special holiday hours until Dec. 22: 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. ➥ L&L BECK GALLERY’S December exhibit is “Religious Art” and will run through the end of the month. The giclee giveaway this month is “Mother Teresa #1” and the drawing will be at 5:15 p.m. Dec. 21 at the gallery. ➥ The 35TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE, presented by the ARKANSAS CRAFT GUILD, returns to the Statehouse Convention Center on Dec. 6-8 with a huge selection of one-of-a-kind collectables and crafts. Admission is $5 at the door. ➥ Another great downtown event is the third annual HOLLY TROLLEY HANDMADE HOLIDAY MARKET, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 14 at the River Market. There will also be free trolley rides from 8:30 a.m. to midnight. You can get your picture taken Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Trolley Depot, enjoy performances by students from North Little Rock’s STUDIO ONE DANCE, and then ride to the River Market Pavilions and enjoy a cup of coffee or hot cocoa as you stroll through the vendor booths filled with holiday gifts and crafts for sale. ➥ Shop for great home décor, throw pillows, rugs and more at your leisure now that DREAMWEAVERS OUTLET is open for the holidays from Dec. 7-21. Times are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Dreamweavers is located at 1201 S. Spring St. ➥ HILLCREST’S FIRST THURSDAY SHOP ’N SIP is Dec. 5. Enjoy wine and shopping until 8 p.m. and score great deals on gifts from merchants like BOX TURTLE, THE SHOPPES ON WOODLAWN AND RHEA DRUG. 36

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. desserts. 9813 W Markham St. No alcohol, CC. $-$$. 501-225-4500. BL Mon.-Sat. MASON’S DELI AND GRILL Heaven for those who believe everything is better with sauerkraut on top. The Bavarian Reuben, a traditional Reuben made with Boar’s Head corned beef, spicy mustard, sauerkraut, Muenster cheese and marble rye, is among the best we’ve had in town. 400 Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-376-3354. LD Mon.-Sat. PACKET HOUSE GRILL Owner/chef Wes Ellis delivers the goods with an up-to-date take on sophisticated Southern cuisine served up in a stunning environment that dresses up the historic house with a modern, comfortable feel. 1406 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-1578. D Tues.-Sat. SIMPLY NAJIYYAH’S FISHBOAT & MORE Good catfish and corn fritters. 1717 Wright Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-3474. LD Tue.-Sat. SLICK’S SANDWICH SHOP & DELI Meatand-two plate lunches in state office building. 101 E. Capitol Ave. No alcohol. 501-375-3420. BL Mon.-Fri. SPECTATORS GRILL AND PUB Burgers, soups, salads and other beer food, plus live music on weekends. 1012 W. 34th St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-791-0990. LD Mon.-Sat. SPORTS PAGE One of the largest, juiciest, most flavorful burgers in town. Grilled turkey and hot cheese on sourdough gets praise, too. Now with lunch specials. 414 Louisiana St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-9316. LD Mon.-Fri. STARVING ARTIST CAFE All kinds of crepes, served as entrees or as dessert, in this cozy multidimensional eatery with art-packed walls and live demonstrations by artists during meals. The Black Forest ham sandwich is a perennial favorite with the lunch crowd. Dinner menu changes daily, good wine list. 411 N. Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-372-7976. L Tue.-Sat., D Tue., Fri.-Sat. SUGIE’S Catfish and all the trimmings. 4729 Baseline Road. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-5700414. LD daily. THE TAVERN SPORTS GRILL Burgers, barbecue and more. 17815 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-830-2100. LD daily. VICTORIAN GARDEN We’ve found the fare quite tasty and somewhat daring and different with its healthy, balanced entrees and crepes. 4801 North Hills Blvd. NLR. $-$$. 501-758-4299. L Tue.-Sat. WAYNE’S FISH & BURGERS TO GO Offers generously-portioned soulfood plate lunches and dinners - meat, two sides, corn bread - for $6. 2221 South Cedar St. 501-663-9901.

ASIAN

BENIHANA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE Enjoy the cooking show, make sure you get a little filet with your meal, and do plenty of dunking in that fabulous ginger sauce. 2 Riverfront Place. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-374-8081. BLD Sun.-Sat. CHI DIMSUM & BISTRO A huge menu spans the Chinese provinces and offers a few twists on the usual local offerings, plus there’s authentic Hong Kong dim sum available. 6 Shackleford Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-221-7737. LD daily. 17200 Chenal Parkway. No alcohol, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-8000. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. FAR EAST ASIAN CUISINE Old favorites such as orange beef or chicken and Hunan green beans are still prepared with care at what used to be Hunan out west. 11610 Pleasant Ridge Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-219-9399. LD daily. FORBIDDEN GARDEN Classic, American-ized Chinese food in a modern setting. Try the Basil

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. Chicken. 14810 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-8149. LD daily. FU LIN Quality in the made-to-order entrees is high, as is the quantity. 200 N. Bowman Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-225-8989. LD daily, BR Sun. IGIBON JAPANESE RESTAURANT It’s a complex place, where the food is almost always good and the ambiance and service never fail to please. The Bento box with tempura shrimp and California rolls and other delights stand out. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-217-8888. LD Mon.-Sat. KIYEN’S SEAFOOD STEAK AND SUSHI Sushi, steak and other Japanese fare. 17200 Chenal Pkwy, Suite 100. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-7272. LD daily. KOBE JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE & SUSHI Though answering the need for more hibachis in Little Rock, Kobe stands taller in its sushi offerings than at the grill. 11401 Financial Centre Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-225-5999. L Mon.-Sat. D daily. NEW FUN REE Reliable staples, plenty of hot and spicy options and dependable delivery. 418 W 7th St. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-664-6657. LD Mon.-Sat. VAN LANG CUISINE Terrific Vietnamese cuisine, particularly the way the pork dishes and the assortment of rolls are presented. Great prices, too. Massive menu, but it’s user-friendly for locals with full English descriptions and numbers for easy ordering. 3600 S. University Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-570-7700. LD daily.

BARBECUE

CAPITOL SMOKEHOUSE AND GRILL Beef, pork and chicken, all smoked to melting tenderness and doused with a choice of sauces. The crusty but tender backribs star. Side dishes are top quality. A plate lunch special is now available. 915 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-4227. L Mon.-Fri. CROSS EYED PIG BBQ COMPANY Traditional barbecue favorites smoked well such as pork ribs, beef brisket and smoked chicken. Miss Mary’s famous potato salad is full of bacon and other goodness. Smoked items such as ham and turkeys available seasonally. 1701 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-265-0000. L Mon.-Sat., D Tue.-Fri. 1701 Rebsamen Park Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-7427. LD daily. FATBOY’S KILLER BAR-B-Q This Landmark neighborhood strip center restaurant in the far southern reaches of Pulaski County features tender ribs and pork by a contest pitmaster. Skip the regular sauce and risk the hot variety, it’s far better. 14611 Arch Street. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-888-4998. L Mon.-Wed. and Fri.; L Thu. HB’S BBQ Great slabs of meat with fiery barbecue sauce, but ribs are served on Tuesday only. Other days, try the tasty pork sandwich on an onion roll. 6010 Lancaster. No alcohol, No CC. $-$$. 501-565-1930. LD Mon.-Fri. SIMS BAR-B-QUE Great spare ribs, sandwiches, beef, half and whole chicken and an addictive vinegar-mustard-brown sugar sauce unique for this part of the country. 2415 Broadway. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-372-6868. LD Mon.-Sat. 1307 John Barrow Road. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-2242057. LD Mon.-Sat. 7601 Geyer Springs Road. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-562-8844. LD Mon.-Sat.

EUROPEAN / ETHNIC

ALI BABA A Middle Eastern restaurant and grocery. 3400 S University Ave. No alcohol, All CC. 501-570-0577. LD Mon.-Sat.

KHALIL’S PUB Widely varied menu with European, Mexican and American influences. Go for the bierocks, rolls filled with onions and beef. 110 S. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-0224. LD daily. BR Sun. THE PANTRY The menu stays relatively true to the owner’s Czechoslovakian roots, but there’s plenty of choices to suit all tastes. 11401 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-3531875. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat.

ITALIAN

DAMGOODE PIES A somewhat different Italian/pizza place, largely because of a spicy garlic white sauce that’s offered as an alternative to the traditional red sauce. 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 6706 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 10720 Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 37 East Center St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 479-4447437. LD daily. GUSANO’S They make the tomatoey Chicagostyle deep-dish pizza the way it’s done in the Windy City. It takes a little longer to come out of the oven, but it’s worth the wait. 313 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-374-1441. LD daily. 2915 Dave Ward Drive. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-329-1100. LD daily. NYPD PIZZA Plenty of tasty choices in the obvious New York police-like setting, but it’s fun. Only the pizza is cheesy. Even the personal pizzas come in impressive combinations, and baked ziti, salads are more also are available. 6015 Chenonceau Blvd., Suite 1. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-3911. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. VESUVIO Arguably Little Rock’s best Italian restaurant. 1315 Breckenridge Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-246-5422. D daily.

A M R A E I Y V A I R F F O 15% M E N T IO NO R F T H IS A D YO U R M E

Not Valid With Any Other Offer, Alcohol Or Tax

COME OUR P ENJOY ATIO!

DISCOVER REAL MEXICAN FOOD

801 FAIR PARK BLVD. • LITTLE ROCK • 501.663.4800 1217 FERGUSON DR., SUITE 1 • BENTON • 501.776.4140

premiercaregivers.com

Premier Health & Rehabilitation “Come Experience the Premier Difference”

3600 Richards Road • North Little Rock Main: 501.955.2108 • Cell: 501.353.8095 • SMorris@slcofarkansas.com

LATINO

CASA MANANA Great guacamole and garlic beans, superlative chips and salsa (red and green) and a broad selection of fresh seafood, plus a deck out back. 6820 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-280-9888. LD daily 18321 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-8688822. LD daily 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. BL Mon.-Sat. CASA MEXICANA Familiar Tex-Mex style items all shine, in ample portions, and the steak-centered dishes are uniformly excellent. 6929 JFK Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-835-7876. LD daily. EL PORTON (LR) Good Mex for the price and a wide-ranging menu of dinner plates, some tasty cheese dip, and great service as well. 12111 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-223-8588. LD daily. 5201 Warden Road. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-4630. LD daily. ELIELLA You’ll find perhaps the widest variety of street style tacos in Central Arkansas here — everything from cabeza (steamed beef head) to lengua (beef tongue) to suadero (thin-sliced beef brisket). The Torta Cubano is a bellybuster. It’s a sandwich made with chorizo, pastor, grilled hot dogs and a fried egg. 7700 Baseline Road. Beer, All CC. $. 501-539-5355. L Mon.-Sat. THE FOLD BOTANAS BAR Gourmet tacos and botanas, or small plates. Try the cholula pescada taco. 3501 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-916-9706. LD daily. LA HACIENDA Creative, fresh-tasting entrees and traditional favorites, all painstakingly prepared in a festive atmosphere. Great taco salad, nachos, and fajitas. 3024 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-661-0600. LD daily. CONTINUED ON PAGE 47 www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

wild About Hunting & FisHing? Don’t Miss… WELCOME HOME Resource Guide

2014

B U I LD I N G | B U Y I N G | R E N OVATI N G

Home-related businesses, advice from experts & local trends

AvAilAble At:

Be sure to pick up your 2014 copy of

We lcome Home Resource Guide

A local resource guide for everything you need to know about building, buying & renovating in central Arkansas. look for you r copy january 3 For info contact Phyllis Britton at 501.375.2985 or phyllis@arktimes.com 38

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

Academy Sports All Edwards Food Giants All Krogers All U.S. Pizzas AR Rod & Reel Balboa Marina Baptist Eye Clinic Baptist Hospital Bass Pro Shop Boulevard Bread Burns Park Golf Course Central Market Chenal Country Club Community Bakery – West The Country Club of Arkansas D1 Sports Desoto Marina Edwin Satts Golf Famous Daves The First Tee of Central AR Flying Fish Ft. Thompson Fuller & Son Hardware Gander Mountain Golf Headquarters The Greens at North Hills Gwatney Sherwood Harvest Foods Harbour Marine Hindman Golf Course Homer’s West Hurricane Golf & Country Club

Jones Bros. Pool Tables La Hacienda Landers Ford Laman Library LR Airport LR Athletic Club LR Raquet Club LR Zoo Mack’s Minnows & More Mack’s Prairie Wings McClard’s BBQ NLR Athletic Club NLR Visitors Bureau Ortho Arkansas Ozark Outdoor Pella Window & Doors Purple Cow Pine Valley Golf Course Rebsamen Park Golf Course Rod’s Pizza Saline Hospital Sam’s Club - NLR Scallions Senor Tequila St. Vincent Hospital St. Vincent North TEC Electric Trader Bill’s UAMS War Memorial Fitness Witt Stephens Nature Center Whole Hog Cafe

Just a few of our many distribution locations.

KYLE-ROCHELLE JEWELERS Harold Murchison, owner W 6th St, Little Rock, AR 72201 (501) 375-3335 kylerochellejewelers.com

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK

Yanni B 14K Two Tone Diamond (22 dia .45 CTW-white & 28 dia .38 CTW-yellow) and Emerald (2.90 CTW) Fashion Ring

he biggest, busiest shopping season is upon us, so now is the time to start thinking about who’s been naughty and nice. Coming up with the perfect gift for everyone on

the ever-growing list can stress out even the merriest of shoppers. To keep everyone’s holiday shopping spirit in check, local shop owners are here to help. They’ve shared their picks for what’s popular this holiday season.

Ancora 14k White Gold Three Stone Diamond Ring

14K White Gold Graduated Diamond (100 dia 7.5 CTW) Necklace

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK ARKANSAS CRAFT GUILD 104 E. Main St., Mountain View 870.269.4120 arkansascraftguild.org

Becki Dahlstedt, Volunteer Showcase Coordinator

HOLLAND BEAD

IKEBANA FLOWER HOLDER

Sage and Tom Holland are world renowned for their unique and stunning flame worked beads. An array of handcrafted beads by Tom and Sage will be on exhibit at the Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th Annual Christmas Showcase at the Statehouse Convention Center on December 6-8.

Ikebana flower holders are among the handcrafted stoneware items that you will find in Jo Smith’s booth at the Christmas Showcase this weekend.

WOODFIRED POTTERY

Wood fired pottery by Joe Bruhin, Mountain View, Arkansas, will be available at the Arkansas Craft Guild’s 35th Annual Christmas Showcase

Kyle-Rochelle Jewelers

We’re giving away a pair of diamond stud earrings for the holiday season. (Two diamonds, approx. ½ carat each for one carat total weight)

Harold MurcHison

Come in to sign up for your ChanCe to win!

523 South Louisiana, Suite M100 – Little Rock, AR 72201 501-375-3335 – M-F 9am–5pm – www.kylerochellejewlers.com facebook.com/kylerochellejewelers.com

Drawing winner on Friday, Dec. 20th

(No need to be present to win on the day of drawing) 40

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES

owner/designer

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK SHOP@HEIFER Heifer Village 1 World Avenue heifer.org

“By making your holiday purchases at the Shop@Heifer, you are helping improve the lives of impoverished people around the world. All proceeds from the shop go back into the mission of Heifer toward ending hunger and poverty and protecting the Earth.” — Julie Robnolt, Merchandise Manager

SCARVES — $10-$26

Shop@Heifer features scarves made of a wide varity of materials: cotton, pashmina, recycled sari material, and more. They are hand-made by women’s groups in Nepal.

CAMBODIAN BAGS — $8-$40

The purses are made of elephant grasses that are dyed and hung to dry, then woven into the beautiful designs and then cut and sewn together. These are hand-made by basket makers and mat weavers in Cambodia.

Our Shop at Heifer Village is brimming with Earth- and artisan-friendly gifts for the holidays, and you can even buy a goat or two while you’re here. All purchases benefit Heifer’s work to end hunger and poverty. Or, give a gift from “The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World®” at www.heifer.org/arktimes

Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 1 World Avenue, Little Rock (Behind the Clinton Library)

shop.heifer.org

Both groups operate within the principles of Fair Trade whereby artisans are given a living wage, work in safe conditions and have long-term relationships with the US importers of their crafts.

OZARK OUTDOOR SUPPLY 5514 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501.664.4832 ozarkoutdoor.com facebook.com/OzarkOutdoor

PETZL TIKKA R+ HEADLAMP —$74.95

This headlamp features reactive lighting technology, which means the light output adjusts automatically.

BOX TURTLE

CELEBRATE MORE THIS HOL I DAY S EAS ON!

Find the perfect gift or plan the perfect get together at Colonial!

2616 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501.661.1167 shopboxturtle.com facebook.com/shopboxturtle

ARKANSAS JEWELRY - $30-$62

Share your love of Arkansas with these fantastic pieces from Box Turtle. Your loved ones can sport the state proudly and personally with necklaces, rings and earrings. Pieces are available in both gold and silver.

11200 W. Markham Street 501.223.3120 ColonialWineShop.com facebook.com/ColonialWines

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES

DECEMBER 5, 2013

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK COLONIAL WINE AND SPIRITS Look for the Colonial Gift Guide in the this issue and the Dec. 12 issue of the Arkansas Times!

Walk-ins Welcome!

11200 W. Markham St. 501.223.3120 colonialwineshop.com facebook.com/ColonialWines Your holiday wine and spirits headquarters! Clark Trim, owner

Christmas DeaDlines Glass & Custom Painting - Dec 7 Paint Your Own Pottery & Custom Silver - Dec 14

Pottery • Glass • silver • Mosaics

Monday-Saturday 10-6pm, Sunday 1-5pm 5622 R Street · Little Rock · 501.280.0553 Paintedpigstudio.com

Find Something for Everyone on Your List!

CUVEE ROSE — LAURENT PIERRE

This is the wine I would drink every day — if I could just afford it. It is my favorite special occasion wine, and very food versatile. It’s a heavenly match up with smoked salmon, salmon tartar, and caviar.

THE MACALLAN 12 SINGLE MALT SCOTCH

Referred to by all whiskey experts as The Rolls Royce of Malt Whiskey, it’s a real crowd pleaser.

View our Holiday Gift Guide at ozarkoutdoor.com or on facebook.

BELL-NAPA VALLEY CLARET 2009

Open Sundays 1:00-5:00 pm for the holidays

This is a WOW wine. There is a hint of sweetness comes from rich fruit that makes this wine so easy to enjoy.

5514 Kavanaugh • Little Rock 501-664-4832 42

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES

Ozark Outdoor - Holiday AR Times 2.125”x5.5”

BLANTON’S SINGLE BARREL BOURBON

Not only one of the coolest bottles ever, this is the single barrel bourbon of connoisseurs.

Sweater weather haS arrived!

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK CHAINWHEEL 10300 N. Rodney Parham Rd. 501.224.7651 chainwheel.com facebook.com/ChainwheelAR

Pat Barron, co-owner

Sizes S-M-L $59-$69 CYCLEOPS STATIONARY TRAINER — SALE 20% OFF Stay fit for bicycling by riding your bike indoors during the winter months. Burn fat, get strong and get fast for spring in the comfort of your own home.

BONTRAGER SOLSTICE HELMET — SALE $32.49 (was $44.99 Keep your noggin safe and cool with a new helmet. Show that you care with a new helmet and lead by example by wearing a helmet, heads are worth too much and can’t be replaced.

Breckenridge Village 501-227-5537

BARBARA GRAVES INTIMATE FASHIONS Breckenridge Village Rodney Parham Road Little Rock 501.227.5537

Barbara

PJ SALVAGE PAJAMAS — $58

For the Dog Lover in all of us — it’s hard to beat these warm soft PJ’s by PJ Salvage. More great patterns in the store, along with nightshirts. And, of course, lots of sexy lingerie.

STUFFED ANIMALS — $26

Hilarious, laughing, dancing pig that makes barnyard noises, you’ll crack up! Several to animals to choose from — all very funny.

CALL 224-7651

I-430 @ RODNEY PARHAM

www.chainwheel.com www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK GALLERY 26 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501.664.8996 gallery26.com

JENNIFER O’BRIEN “TOUCH” BELT BUCKLE - $130

Gallery 26 has always supported local artists and what better way to show your support than by including works by Arkansas artists on your gift lists this year. Find jewelry, belts, ornaments and other forms of art for a truly expressive gift-giving experience.

THE PAINTED PIG 5622 R St. 501.280.0553 paintedpigstudio.com facebook.com/ThePaintedPig

MOSAICS & SILVER JEWELRY

The Painted Pig Studio isn’t just a Pottery studio- they also offer mosaics and silver jewelry! Mosaics can be created and taken home the same day, with grouting done at home. The silver jewelry can be personalized with a fingerprint of someone special, and is heirloom quality to last for years to come.

RHEA DRUG 2801 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501.663.4131

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS TOY HOUSE AND STORYBOOK

With this fun toy house and storybook combination, you can give the gift of reading and playing under one roof! You’ll find many great gifts at Rhea Drug.

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES

HOLIDAY SHOP TALK RAIMONDO WINERY 149 Country Road 820 Gamaliel, AR 72537-9712 870.421.2076 870.467.5115 raimondowinery.com

Look for our new tasting room on Main Street in Argenta early in the new year! Daily tastings, wine pairing classes, and cooking classes.

We have gifts for your mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, daughter, son, uncle, aunt, niece, nepheW, in-laWs, grandparents, you, your best friends, sorta-friends, boss, employees, co-Workers, teachers, housekeeper, secret santa & everyone else on your list! 2616 Kavanaugh Blvd. · Little Rock 501.661.1167 · shopboxturtle.com

GAPEFRUIT BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Our white grapefruit balsamic vinegar delivers a blast of citrus perfect for vinaigrettes and marinades. Pair with Persian Lime Extra Virgin Olive Oil and toss with apples and cucumbers. Also try it with Garlic and Tuscan Herb Extra Virgin Olive Oils. Bottles can be found on the website at RaimondoWinery. com.

ORGANIC PICUAL EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

Has a green leaf aroma, strong hints of almond and fig and finishes with notes of avocado and unripe tomato. Picual Olive Oil will maintain flavor when cooked and is ideal for baking, sauce making or sautéing. It is also complex enough to be an exquisite dipping oil. Find it at RaimondoWinery.com.

SHOP LOCAL

Artisan Holiday Baskets From Raimondo Winery & Argenta Market

Share The Flavors Of Arkansas Filled with artisan products from local Arkansas businesses, including wine, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, coffee, cheese, beer, and other culinary treats.

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas!

Rhea

Drug Store Located in the heart of Hillcrest.

2801 Kavanaugh Little Rock, AR 501.663.4131

Call Today To Order! 870-421-2076 or 501-379-9980 Argenta Market • 521 N Main St • North Little Rock

We Can Ship Your Gifts To Clients, Family & Friends www.arktimes.com

DECEMBER 5, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES CLASSIFIEDS Business Opportunities

Adoption PREGNANT? THINKING OF ADOPTION? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families Nationwide. LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions. 866-413-6293. Void in Illinois/New Mexico/ Indiana (AAN CAN) PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Call us first. Living expenses, housing, medical, and continued support afterwards. Choose adoptive family of your choice. Call 24/7. 877-362-2401 (AAN CAN)

Automotive CASH FOR CARS: Any Car/Truck. Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Call For Instant Offer: 888-420-3808 www. cash4car.com (AAN CAN)

INVESTORS WANTED! Ground Floor Opportunity in a growing real estate company. We seek business minded people who want to grow with a proﬁtable company. Read our business plan at ww.theroseandthethistlellc.com (AAN CAN)

Education EARN $500 A DAY. Airbrush & Media Makeup Artists. For: Ads - TV - Film Fashion. Train & Build Portfolio in 1 week. www.AwardMakeupSchool.com (AAN CAN CASH FOR CARS: Any Car/Truck. Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Call For Instant Offer: 888-420-3808 www. cash4car.com (AAN CAN)

Employment

❤ Adoption ❤

A Stay Home Mom, prof. dad, Financial Security, Laughter, Beaches, disney, travel, Sports await. Expenses paid.

❤ Caroly & Chris ❤

1-8800-997-1720

❤❤❤❤❤❤ Dwayne e. LoughriDge LMT

Located at a design and Color SaLon 200 north Bowman Ste 11 Little rock, arkansas (501) 217-3500 Chair Massage Specialist

Personal Assistant needed to organize and help. Basic computer skills needed good with organization. We are ready to pay $614 per week so interested person should contact for more info contact: frank. lafollette147@hotmail.com

Employment CLEMENCY Psychic. The key to success - Real gifted. Tel: 1-888-576-6179 www. clemency-psychic.us (AAN CAN) PHONE OPERATORS From Home. Must have dedicated land line And great voice. 18+ Up to $16.20 per hour. Flex hrs/ some Wknds.1-800-403-7772 Lipservice.net HELP WANTED!! Make up to $1000 a week mailing brochures from home! Helping home workers since 2001! Genuine opportunity! No experience required. Start immediately! www.process-brochures.com (AAN CAN) AIRLINE CAREERS begin here – Get trained as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Housing and Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 877-492-3059 (AAN CAN)

Social Media We can help you use it.

Businesses in Arkansas Businesses in Arkansas, large and small, use social media to connect with customers and sell their products and services.

Health VIAGRA 100MG, 40 pills+/4 free, only $99.00. Save Big Now, Discreet shipping. Call 1-800374-2619 Today! FDA approved. (AAN CAN)

That’s where we come in. Arkansas Times Social Media is staffed by experienced professionals who know how to get maximum benefit from social media engagement. Our services are priced affordably for Arkansas small businesses.

Find US On FACEBOOK

To find out more, contact Monika Rued, Director of Arkansas Times Social Media

501-375-2985

www.facebook.com/arkansastimes

5, 20135, 2013 ARKANSAS TIMES 46 46 december DECEMBER ARKANSAS TIMES

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS OR EVENT HERE FOR AS LITTLE AS

$50!

FIND OUT HOW! CALL NOW AT

375-2985

Get Noticed Running a successful social media campaign takes time and a unique combination of marketing, communication and customer service skills.

Help Wanted! make extra money in our free ever popular homemailer program, includes valuable guidebook! Start immediately! Genuine! 1-888-292-1120 www. easywork-fromhome.com (AAN CAN)

ARkANSAS TIMES FLIPSIDE

monika@arktimes.com

It’s happening right now on ArkAnsAs Blog www.arktimes.com

Macximize

FLIPSIDE

Learn to get more from your Mac at home or office.

• Aid in choosing the right Mac for you and your budget • iMac, MacBook, iPad, iPhone • Troubleshooting • Wireless internet & backup

STUDIO1 P H O T O G R A P H Y

501.650.1806

contact@studio-1-photo.com

• Data Recovery • Hardware Installs • Hard drive installation & memory expansion • Organize photos, music, movies & email

Call Cindy Greene - Satisfaction Always Guaranteed

MOVING TO MAC

www.movingtomac.com

cindy@movingtomac.com • 501-681-5855

CruzWay Straight from Cuba!

Live

Friday 12-20, Juanita’s Little Rock Saturday 12-21, Cajuns wharf 8 pm - Little Rock

501-313-9345 501-313-6123

www.facebook.com/CruzWay www.cruzway.webs.com

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. LA VAQUERA The tacos at this truck are more expensive than most, but they’re still cheap eats. One of the few trucks where you can order a combination plate that comes with rice, beans and lettuce. 4731 Baseline Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-565-3108. LD Mon.-Sat. LAS DELICIAS Levy-area mercado with a taqueria and a handful of booths in the back of the store. 3401 Pike Ave. NLR. Beer, All CC. $. 501-812-4876. LAS PALMAS Mexican chain with a massive menu of choices. 10402 Stagecoach Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-455-8500. LD daily 4154 E. McCain Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. LD daily. LONCHERIA MEXICANA ALICIA The best taco truck in West Little Rock. Located in the Walmart parking lot on Bowman. 620 S. Bowman. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-6121883. L Mon.-Sat. M A R I S C O S E L J A R O C H O Tr y t h e Camarones a la Diabla (grilled shrimp in a smoky pepper sauce) or the Cocktail de Campechana (shrimp, octopus and oyster in a cilantro and onion-laced tomato sauce).

7319 Baseline Road. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-3535. Serving BLD Wed.-Mon. MERCADO SAN JOSE From the outside, it appears to just be another Mexican grocery store. Inside, you’ll find one of Little Rock’s best Mexican bakeries and a restaurant in back serving tortas and tacos for lunch. 7411 Geyer Springs Road. Beer, CC. $. 501-565-4246. BLD daily. MEXICO CHIQUITO Some suggest cheese dip was born at this Central Arkansas staple, where you’ll find hearty platters of boldly spiced, inexpensive food that compete well with those at the “authentic” joints. 102 S. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-224-8600; 13924 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-217-0700. LD daily.; 4511 Camp Robinson Road. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-771-1604. LD daily. MOE’S SOUTHWEST GRILL A “build-yourown-burrito” place, with several tacos and nachos to choose from as well. Wash it down with a beer from their large selection. 12312 Chenal Pkwy. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-223-3378. LD daily. RIVIERA MAYA Typical Mexican fare for the

area, though the portions are on the large side. 801 Fair Park Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-663-4800. LD daily. ROCK ’N TACOS California-style cuisine that’s noticeably better than others in its class. Fish tacos are treated with the respect they deserve, served fresh and hot. Tamales are a house specialty and are worth sampling as well; both pork and beef warrant attention. Street style tacos are small, but substantial, and always helped by a trip to the salsa mini-bar. Burritos are stuffed full, fat and heavy, and more than a respectably sized meal. 11121 North Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-3461. LD Mon.-Sat. SUPER 7 GROCERY STORE This Mexican grocery/video store/taqueria has great a daily buffet featuring a changing assortment of real Mexican cooking. Fresh tortillas pressed by hand and grilled, homemade salsas, beans as good as beans get. Plus soup every day. 1415 Barrow Road. Beer, No CC. $. 501-219-2373. BLD daily. SUPERMERCADO SIN FRONTERAS Shiny, large Mexican grocery with a bakery and

restaurant attached. 4918 Baseline Road. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-562-4206. BLD daily. TAQUERIA JALISCO SAN JUAN The taco truck for the not-so-adventurous crowd. They claim to serve “original Mexico City tacos,” but it’s their chicken tamales that make it worth a visit. They also have tortas, quesadillas and fajitas. 11200 Markham St. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-541-5533. LD daily. TAQUERIA LOURDES This Chevy Step Van serves tacos, tortas, quesadillas and nachos. Colonel Glenn and 36th Street. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-612-2120. LD Mon.-Sat. TAQUERIA SAMANTHA On Friday and Saturday nights, this mobile taqueria parks outside of Jose’s Club Latino in a parking lot on the corner of Third and Broadway. 300 Broadway Ave. No alcohol, No CC. $. D Fri.-Sat. (sporadic hours beyond that). TA Q U E R I A Y C A R N I C E R I A GUADALAJARA Cheap, delicious tacos, tamales and more. Always bustling. 3811 Camp Robinson Road. NLR. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-753-9991. BLD daily. www.arktimes.com december 5, 2013 47 47 www.arktimes.com DECEMBER 5, 2013