Arkansas Times

ARKANSAS’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF POLITICS AND CULTURE ■ December 9, 2010

www.arktimes.com

COMING

TO AMERICA Fayetteville writer Mohja Kahf on family ties, real estate and a house divided.

PAGE 10

A portion of each sale goes to the Arkansas Rice Depot.

1

#

RANKED For more content, scan this barcode with the FREE “stickybits” iPhone or Android app

– NATIONAL RESEARCH CORPORATION

BY YOU

QUALITY CARE

DaVinci Surgical System. NanoKnife. eICU. At Baptist Health, we acquire tomorrow’s medical technology well before it’s yesterday’s news.

By uniting our gifted caregivers with powerful tools of healing, you and your loved ones receive care of the highest quality.

We’ve added 15 innovative life-saving technologies in the last year alone. Innovation leads to better outcomes. Which is why technology is a priority for the leader in care.

for all our best, visit baptist-health.com or call HealthLine at 1-888-BAPTIST, ext. 249

2 December 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

The INsIder Huck’s mansion n Former Gov. Mike Huckabee is building a $3 million house on Blue Mountain Beach just east of Destin, Fla. He bought the lot on the famous sugar sand beach last year for $800,000 and this year took out a building permit for a house expected to cost $2.2 million. The three-story house will have 8,224 square feet of living space and 2,969 square feet of decks and porch. A pool or spa is also in the works.

Walton County tax records show Huckabee has a $2.8 mortgage with Centennial Bank after paying off $250,000 of the land purchase. This is in addition to a $375,000 mortgage outstanding on his vacation home in North Little Rock’s Shady Valley.

The Huckabee debt was noted in a recent article by Politico, which said the hefty mortgage payments might encourage the Huckster to stick with his Fox News and radio gigs rather than jump into the 2012 race for president. But Huckabee also complained to Politico he’s not getting enough attention as a front-runner in that race so don’t rule it out.

Huckabee bought the land and took out the building permit through the Angus B. Wiles Trust. Its trustee is his Little Rock accountant, Bryan Jeffrey.

Everything for C hristmas 20-50% Off Storewide

now opEn SunDAy! All DAy HAppy Hour EvEry SAturDAy!

We specialize in stocking stuffers

Mom and Santa Dad

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 New Hours: MoNday-saturday 10-5

2811 Kavanaugh Blvd • Hillcrest (501) 664-2068

(501) 687-1331 • 4310 Landers rd. nLr

M-F 8-6 Sat. 9-6 thru the holidayS!

Loose lips

n When the Huckster pulled out of town for sunny low-tax Florida, he complained that nosy reporters here were always looking into his personal life. Just so he’ll know: Janet Huckabee’s overheard remark about her grand new home — uttered while shopping at an upscale design shop in Little Rock for furnishings — led us to the real estate discovery. She also was heard to say that Mike was going to have an even bigger clothes closet than her own.

Convenience!

We fill most prescriptions in 15 minutes or less!

Service!

PC&E resignation

n J.D. Lowery of Maumelle, a Clinton School of Public service graduate and co-author of the “Live Green Arkansas” environmental blog, has resigned from the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.

Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Lowery in April. His appointment was welcomed by environmentalists who hoped for more greenminded representation. Lowery recently left Viridian USA, a sustainable building consulting firm, to work for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s energy office.

He told commission chairman Darwin Hendrix in a letter that he wanted to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest with his new position working for a state executive branch agency. Gov. Beebe will appoint someone to complete Lowery’s four-year term.

Correction

Max Brantley’s column last week gave an incorrect name for the president of the Little Rock School Board. She is Melanie Fox.

Our knowledgeable pharmacists are always available to answer your questions.

Price!

We will match any local competitor’s prescription price, including the $ 4 generic plans!

Little Rock

Corner of Markham & Rodney Parham 225-6211 11108 N. Rodney Parham Rd. 223-6944 6115 Baseline Rd. 562-2348 500 S. University 664-4121 4010 W. 12th St. 663-9497 215 N. Bowman Rd. 221-3666

Benton

1024 Military Rd. 778-7456

Bryant

3525 Hwy. 5 N. 847-5410

Hot Springs 531 W. Grand 624-2538 100 Airport Rd. 624-0669

North Little Rock 5209 JFK Blvd. 758-0850 2743 Lakewood Village Dr. 758-8723 Sherwood 1300 E. Kiehl 834-1480

www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 3

Smart talk

Contents

There he goes again

When judges need money

n Mike Huckabee, who relocated to Florida to avoid the Arkansas income tax while pursuing a media career and possible presidential run, has a propensity for exaggeration. But he might have set a new standard last week by suggesting a punishment not allowed by law for Wikileaker, who revealed U.S. diplomatic communications.

He told Politico that person should be executed.

“They’ve put American lives at risk. They put relationships that will take decades to rebuild at risk.

They knew full well that they were handling sensiHUCK: Wants Wikileaker killed. tive documents they were entrusted. And anyone who had access to that level of information was not only a person who understood what their rules were, but they also signed, under oath, a commitment that they would not violate. They did … Any lives they endangered, they’re personally responsible for and the blood is on their hands.”

n Jason Tolbert of the Tolbert Report reported last week that a fund-raiser would be held at Doe’s this week for Karen Baker, the appeals court judge who won a seat on the Arkansas Supreme Court by defeating Tim Fox. A letter sent along with an invitation to the event said that Baker had piled up a $290,000 campaign debt and was seeking contributions to pay it off, else the obligationj will be her own.

The letter was tailored to lawyers, as judicial fund-raisers usually are. “As an attorney,” the letter said, “you want NEEDS MONEY: a justice that will be fair and imparSupreme Court tial.” Not that a contribution, or failure Justice-elect Karen to make one, could possibly affect a Baker. judge’s fairness or partiality.

As is also customary in judicial campaign fund-raising, the host list for the event was almost exclusively lawyers, including a number of prominent trial lawyers, such as Will Bond, Bobby McDaniel, Sam Ledbetter, Brent Baber, Sam Perroni, Brad Hendrix and Bruce McMath.

Wrote Tolbert about the fund-raising appeal: “Seriously Arkansas — we have got to come up with a better way of choosing our judges.”

at UA?

The University of Athletic Department rakes in a lot of money. How much? The annual take varies by millions depending on which accounting you read. What’s up with that? — By Gerard Matthews

10 Coming to America

Our annual literary Christmas gift: Writer Mohja Kahf, a University of Arkansas faculty member, recounts her family’s journey from the streets of Damascus to America.

17 Happier hunting grounds

A visit to Little Rock’s only pet cemetery.

— By Katherine Wyrick

Departments

3 The Insider

4 Smart Talk

5 The Observer

6 Letters

7 Orval 8-13 News

14 Opinion

17 Arts & Entertainment

31 Dining

37 Crossword/ Tom Tomorrow

38 Lancaster

Dorm with a penthouse n The University of Central Arkansas will break ground Dec. 17 on an $18 million dormitory with a wrinkle. With $2.2 million in private donations, the school is going to put 12 20-person skyboxes on the fifth floor. The boxes, which will overlook the school football stadium, will cost $25,000 a year to lease and Athletic Director Brad Teague told the Log Cabin Democrat he already had commitments for eight. No student-fat cat interaction is anticipated. The skyboxes will have a private entrance, reserved parking and a separate lobby and elevators, not to mention coming equipped with refrigerators and ice makers. The dorm will rise immediately behind the visitor stands at Estes Stadium and face west, with indoor and outdoor seating.

8 What’s the score

COMING SOON: A dorm with skybox views over the UCA stadium.

ON THE COVER: Mohja Kahf with her grandfather Nazeef Kahf

Words VOLUME 37, NUMBER 14

n Off-week: Probably snowbound, Drew Jansen of Minneapolis read a little too closely an item in the Nov. 18 issue of the Arkansas Times: “Sen.-elect John Boozman fell in lockstep with his party leaders (surprise) to swear off seeking special spending for Arkansas projects. The benefits to Arkansas in highway, park, research and other ‘earmark’ projects over the years has been significant.”

Jansen writes, “Has they really?”

Apparently Mr. Jansen didn’t make it back to the movie page in the same issue.

There he would have found, “Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal have been receiving the lion’s share of publicity lately for their soul and skin-bearing performances in ‘Love and Other Drugs’ … ” 4 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Doug smith doug@arktimes.com

n Bob Lancaster writes: “I took my sister Nita to a book sale at the Saline County Library recently, and as we were leaving I asked her about the books she’d bought. ‘I got a regular Duke’s Mixture,’ she said. It was a term I didn’t know, and that surprised her since we grew up in the same household and she said she’d heard it all her life.”

I heard Duke’s Mixture from elderly relatives when I was growing up, but not recently. As Lancaster learned by googling, Duke’s Mixture was a brand of loose tobacco used by people who rolled their own

cigarettes. Washington Duke of Durham, N.C., began manufacturing and selling Duke’s Mixture after the Civil War, and by the 1880s, it was widely known. Apparently it was cheaper than its biggest competitor, Bull Durham, and so acquired a reputation for being thrown together from tobacco odds and ends. This led to the use of Duke’s Mixture for any sort of hodgepodge. The Duke family became very big in the tobacco business and in 1925 gave $40 million to Trinity College for changing its name to Duke University. Tobacco money is still used today to buy players for the Duke basketball team. n Go Odyssey: The best name I’ve heard so far in the new basketball season belongs to a player on the Baylor women’s team — Odyssey Sims.

ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each week by Arkansas Times Limited Partnership, 201 East Markham Street, 200 Heritage Center West, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72203, phone (501) 375-2985. Periodical postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ARKANSAS TIMES, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, AR, 72203. 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.

©2010 ARKANSAS TIMES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

FOR INFORMATION OR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL 501-375-2985

Christmas 2010 GLASS NITE

It’s rare that The Observer doesn’t shoot straight with you, Dear Reader. But this time, for reasons that will soon become clear, we’re going to have to obscure some of the facts.

The other day, while out on assignment for a story, we had occasion to go to a small, very well-kept house in Little Rock. After following the homeowner into his bedroom to look at some photos on a computer, we noticed a tall display cabinet against the wall. Inside the cabinet were dozens of small plastic boxes. Inside each of the boxes was a baseball.

Being the curious sort, we leaned in for a closer look and were stunned at what we saw. Every one of the baseballs was signed.

And not by some schulbs, either. A sampling of the names we caught: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige. Reggie Jackson, whole championship teams, and dozens of others that we’re too baseball-ignorant to have ever heard of. It was, The Observer told a colleague later, like wandering into a house in the suburbs and finding The Ark of the Covenant in a linen closet.

The story the homeowner told us about how he came to acquire such a treasure is almost as incredible as the baseballs themselves. The majority came from a friend of his, a former Major League Baseball umpire who had retired to Texarkana.

Though the baseball fan had traded some specimens away for others over the years, mostly the balls in the display case were the product of decades worth of careful collecting by the old ump.

If you want to see this glittering horde of baseball diamond gems, we’re sorry, can’t help ya. The Observer has taken a vow of silence as to their whereabouts, for obvious reasons. Personally, we think it’s enough to know they’re out there, and that you can stumble up on the stuff of dreams in the most unassuming of places.

Membership in the listserv for the Arkansas History Discussion Group has many rewards. Lately, The Observer has been enjoying back and forth about Arkansas’s great inventors.

Yes, we’ve had some. Susan Young of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale (currently showing historic clothing) made note of Ed. E. Welch’s “Goods Handler,” an oak stick with a crosspiece inset with tiny metal teeth de-

signed to help folks reach things on high shelves. Young acknowledged that it may not have cured polio, but it was surely handy AND she’s got a couple of them in her museum.

Other inventors: E.J. Ball, Lewis Callison and Harold Dulan created the first variable annuity life insurance company, we learned from Charles Y. Alison of the University of Arkansas, and Barnett Sure, a professor of agricultural chemistry at the U of A, was a co-discoverer of vitamin E. Alison knew a number of U of A professors and alums who invented such things as a way to parboil rice, “nanopaper” that can be heated to 700 degrees Celsius, an AM transmission signal, the fiber optic cable (by Robert D. Maurer, after he left Arkansas) and James N. Moore’s thornless blackberries, which Alison said was “by far” the most important to him. Shirley Schuette reminded the group of the fried dill pickle once available in Atkins, but the inventor’s name may be lost to history.

Mark Christ reminded all of Paul Klipsch and his Klipschorn speakers, who may be the biggest name inventor of all the suggestions — we all wanted Klipsch speakers at one time. Curtis Morris, also of the Shiloh Museum, had another big name: Gus Malzahn, originally from Springdale, who invented the “hurry up, no huddle” football offense, he said. Talk about a game-changer.

You’ve heard of things falling out of tall building windows — flower pots, crumbling cornices, people wanting to end it all. But two reporters for the daily paper narrowly escaped with their lives (and tons of notes) when a BlackBerry cellphone dropped with a thud from on high. They were passing by the Courtyard

by Marriott, where, presumably, someone was either leaning over a balcony talking on their phone with slippery fingers or the BlackBerry was thrown out a window in a fit of PiQue, to land on Clinton Avenue below.

The phone missed them by about six feet. The reporters disagreed on the injuries they avoided. One supposed they would have had to go to a hospital. The other was skeptical. Reporters are hard-headed.

One thing was for sure: they checked the BlackBerry for a pulse, and found none. It did not survive.

WED., DEC. 15 7pm Arkansas Times: Flying Saucer 4 7/8" X 6" W / Spot Mike Spain

Presents

The

Nutcracker featuring the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra

Dec. 11th at 7pm • Dec. 12th at 3pm Robinson Center Auditorium Tickets & Info (501) 666-1761

www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 5

Letters arktimes@arktimes.com

Airport expenses Thank you, Leslie Peacock, and thank you, Arkansas Times. Now we understand why Little Rock National Airport has to charge us an arm and a leg for parking: It’s so that the big shots who run the airport can live high on the hog. We mere citizens should be more grateful for their selfless public service.

Bill Shepherd Little Rock

dustry have earned them these excesses, the point should be they are servants of our public trust, and if they forget or they fail to act like servants, then they should find jobs in the private sector so their indulgences are no longer a burden on the backs of those they profess to serve and we should instruct those who we vote into office to begin looking for a more diligent character to monitor the taxpayers’ interest at the airport. If the new candidate’s desire to make money is more important than the desire to do a great job, then they should be passed over as well. As I head back to yet another demand performance on my own throne on yet another Black

A Perfect Gift Book For The Arkansas History Buff On Your Shopping List!

A guided tour through six decades of Arkansas history.

OPEN HOUSE

Thank you for the investigative work done on the Airport Commission. It appalled me to read of the abuse of power, greed and selfishness that some members and the mayor showed. Who is in charge?

Who oversees that agency? It still is Arkansans’ money. We helped build and sustain the airport. It is past time that the parking and rental costs were cut severely. Why should we — the users of the facility — pay for special vehicles, comfy plane seats and fine dining and luxury hotels?

This is a poor state, a Bible state and a natural state. Who lives by the Golden Rule should like others live. Perhaps a diet program would allow travel like the majority of Arkansans — tourist class.

Even business travelers fly coach.

We have a major problem with several commissioners. Power went to their heads. I hope that justice will curb the expensive lifestyle of some commission members.

Anita C. Gatzke Little Rock

of the year and how long it would be before it could be said, this too shall pass.

Still, intertwined with my digestive discomfort, and guilt, is the reaction to my first read of your piece on the audacity and apparent gluttony of our leadership at the Little Rock National Airport and the city of Little Rock. I am appalled at how easily they seem to feed at the trough of overindulgence at the taxpayers’ expense. After all, the airport is a monopoly, supplemented in a large part by public funds, and is not a center for profit, as is the private sector. While it could be argued that their management style and innovative knowledge of the in-

The Arkansas Governor

’s Mansion and Its Place

John P. Gill

6 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

I’m surprised I haven’t read this in the school news. At a recent meeting of the Little Rock School Board, Cathy Koehler of the Little Rock Education Association engaged in her best imitation of Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, by shouting out “liar” when board member Michael Nellums was speaking.

During Board member comments, Nellums asked whether two patrons of the district were present, and proceeded to read a statement concerning taxpayer concerns about how school district employees’ health insurance plans compared to regular citizens. At the conclusion of his statement, Little Rock Education Association President Cathy Koehler yelled out, “Liar.” A new all-time low for the once very responsible leadership of the classroom teachers union. f of Arkansas’s atigable work on behal Gill continues his indef s governor’s mansion story of the state’ The“John teachers needs toessivereevalury in this engagingunion histo ago to its impr years sixty nings begin st e from its rather mode the story of the hous n. But this is not just people the of s present incarnatiothat ate leadership speaks and comments ience exper extensively with the families itself: the book deals ion and the eleven first mans the in ed work and documentary who built ine doggedare at public gatherings that televised, labors comb and who lived there. Gill’s an exemplary way, of oral histories in important research with dozens lively account of an ble and reada y highl a over and over, and over and over again. is t the resul Arkansas landmark.”

Morris S. Arnold eout already, Judg it If Koehler hasn’t—figured this Circu s United State parents are seeking options from the lies to Arkansas’s First Fami s the history of children based public schools. so “Open House bringWhen stories that areleave, g and entertaining ories life through interestin d preserve the mem helpe has Gill John research. past 60 over the hope on extensive sion Man s do teaching positions.

It is my that rnor’ the Gove of the occupants of r captivated. Through that keeps the reade as experienced years in a unique style patterns of lifecondone leadership doesn’t this he explores the daily people otes,LREA anecdat and the network of pets, ding inclu condition as a by all family members, mint in le Peop House of the . world the over all it takes to keep thestyle for confrontational of leadership and from rs ming home visito residence and a welco to live and work in sense of what it’s like as its book gives readers a to change and will take His the necessary togrowrein this e that continuessteps es to the mix of a history-filled hom biliti sensi own particular and our world.” inhabitants bring their have shaped our state that ts even loose cannon in. and people — Ginger Beebe nsas First Lady of Arka The public is watching …

“ON LIVE TV.” School for the Blind of the old Arkansas has done “From the demolition in 1950, John Gill London the mansionNatasha to the completion of n and construction desig g the story of the is about far a masterful job of tracin mansion. But this story tive execu ls ark Little It reveaRock of this landm th of the building. the design and grow

Get in the field

!

Like many Americans, this average taxpayer spent an unusually large portion of my Black Friday sitting by demand, wondering why eating 3,000 calories at one meal made me feel any more thankful than all of the salads I endure the rest

Watching School Board

more than just families, their staffs lived there – the first the lives of those who s humorous and often s that are sometime icts between and guests – in storie ights many of the confl highl also cy book poignant. This and the need for priva Governor’s Mansion r Arkansas majo a public access to the is ion mans occupants. The ves.” deser it asis and security for its emph book will give it the landmark and this — Charles Witsell ute of Architects Fellow, American Instit

In History

Your coverage of the ill-advised advertising expenditure at Little Rock National Airport was excellent. That you broke the story wasn’t a surprise and since you have no fair-haired boy on the commission, it wasn’t incumbent on you to offer kudos to the directors because one wasn’t asleep. Brilliant.

There was a time that the airport, as an employer, was safe ground for those seeking refuge from various local financial institution debacles.

So, whenever I hear the refrain from the Rolling Stones — gimme shelter — I think of the airport as a rehab venue and am tempted to create an ersatz limerick — lemme hunker.

David McCreery Little Rock

Friday, I recall the words of a long dead but well remembered public servant to the masses, who was believed to have said, “Let them eat pumpkin pie.”

Michael K. Miller Sr. North Little Rock

AvAiLABLe LATe DecemBer Author: John

P. Gill Price: $50.00 Publisher: Butler Center Books isbN: 978-1-935106-26-5 240 pages with 337 color photos 9” x 11” coffee-table book Available in bookstores or through the university of Arkansas Press at (800) 626-0090 or www.uapress.com

David Koon did a great job with his article on the concerns over the mining the door, not just to Gill has unlatched Open House, John room in Arkansas elous marv a to reclamation“Inourin Hot Springs, UMETCO/ but Governor’s Mansion, gh and take a look.” everyone to stroll throu history. I would invite ath Union Carbide site.— PhillFor decades the ip H. McM and First Lady Sid son of Governor ath Anne McM bleeder sludge sat in huge piles, leaching into the aquifers, draining into Wilson Bay/Lake Catherine and just blowing in the wind. Now that it is “buried”, they want everyone to thank them for such a great job! UMETCO has been non-compliant since 2009. The “illegal” by-pass at Indian Springs has Sulfate at 1720, TDS at 2760 and Chloride at 279. ADEQ and PC&E have been aware of this for years, just check out the website. Arkansans are being treated like a third world country

by Union Carbide/DOW Chemicals.

It’s time the governor steps in and tells ADEQ, PC&E and the Department of Health to do its job right. I’m glad I don’t drink any of the water downstream!!!

Cindi Strom Hot Springs

10/5/10 8:06 PM

over 500 Items on sale throughout the store Gift cards available in any amount.

Specials good thru Dec. 14, 2010.

Spirits

Everyday $22.79 $24.59 $17.99 $23.99

Sale $17.99 $20.99 $15.99 $19.99

Wine Value Buys

Everyday $19.99 $61.59 $29.99 $21.49

Sale $12.99 $39.99 $21.99 $15.99

Beers of the Week

Pack 9.49

Case 35.96

Ballantine’s Scotch Canadian Club Pinnacle Vodka Carolan’s Irish Cream

Rosemount Estates Shiraz & Chardonnay 1.5L Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne 750 ml Villa Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico 750 ml Merryvale Starmont Chardonnay 750 ml New Belgium Frambozen 6pks Moylan’s Hopsickle 22oz Singles Sierra Nevada Celebration 6pks

7.69

7.49 Each

Best Buy Under $10 – 750 ml Kings Ridge Riesling & Pinot Gris Sartori Pinot Noir & Pinot Grigio

Everyday $13.99 Everyday $11.99

28.76

Sale $9.99 Sale $8.99

Wines of the Week – 750 ml

Frog’s Leap Napa Valley 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Everyday $23.99 This Week $15.99 Case of 12 $179.88 ($14.99) Kings Ridge 2008 Pinot Noir - Oregon Everyday $17.99 This Week $13.99

Case of 12 $155.88 ($12.99)

We honor competitors’ advertised prices. please bring the ad.

11200 W. Markham (West of Shackleford on Markham) Little Rock 501-223-3120 • 866-988-vino www.arktimes.com www.arktimes.com••DECEMBER December 9, 2010 7

The Arkansas Reporter

The WEEK THAT was Dec. 1-7, 2010 It was a good week for …

Phone: 501-375-2985­ Fax: 501-375-3623 Arkansas Times Online home page: http://www.arktimes.com E-mail: arktimes@arktimes.com

STATE EMPLOYEES. The economy and tax receipts have improved enough that Gov. Mike Beebe lifted a freeze on cost of living pay increases.

■

■­

■

The LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL BOARD. There was a minimum of fuss as the Board approved a deal to buy out the six months remaining on Superintendent Linda Watson’s contract to make the planned transition to new leadership easier. Watson devoted a worthy career to Little Rock school children, but didn’t aggressively shake up the bloated administrative structure as the board wanted.

A PLEA BARGAIN. Former North Little Rock Alderman Cary Gaines pleaded guilty to a federal rap that he’d conspired in a kickback scheme for city business to pay off gambling debts.

He’s expected to be prepared to testify in a trial of Alderman Sam Baggett and George Thompson of Cabot.

It was a bad week for …

MIKE HUCKABEE. He’s making huge sums from TV and radio shows, but he’s still griping about the cost of New York restaurant meals and his poor upbringing even as he builds a $3 million beach home in Florida. The Jackie Mason of politics also whines that the media isn’t giving him enough attention as a 2012 presidential candidate.

FAYETTEVILLE. Money talks. The Walton Arts Center Board endorsed an expansion plan that will move the center’s dominant new facility to Bentonville. The Walton family wouldn’t have contributed money otherwise.

Some officials in Fayetteville, which helped build the original center, are talking lawsuit.

U.S. SEN. MARK PRYOR. He said he opposed open gay service in the military.

U.S. REPS. MIKE ROSS and MARION BERRY. Both voted for Republican procedural motions to kill a Democratic plan to extend only middle class tax cuts, not those for the wealthy.

Ross ultimately voted for the Democratic bill, but complained he wanted tax breaks for the rich, too. Lame duck Berry ducked out on a final vote. Rep. John Boozman, naturally, was a no from the start. Next year, Tim Griffin and Steve Womack will fill out an Arkansas House delegation of and for the rich.

8 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

brian chilson

The RAZORBACKS. An Auburn victory put the Hogs in the Sugar Bowl against once-beaten Ohio State.

REVENUE SPORT: Razorback football is the big moneymaker for UA sports and the revenue can change from year to year.

Razorback revenues – an imprecise science Different requirements explain $18 million gap, UA says.

by Gerard Matthews

n The University of Arkansas athletic department released three different financial assessments for fiscal year 2009-2010 in the past five months, and the numbers don’t match up. Not even close.

The gap between the figures, nearly $18 million from an initial $60 million budget estimate to final revenues of $78 million according to a recent federal report, is significant. Athletic department officials say the difference is explained by the various reporting requirements for each assessment.

The athletic department’s annual report, released in July, shows a budget of $60,338,475. In September, the school reported to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education that total revenues actually reached $69,050,059. In October, an even larger sum of $78,072,620 was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in the university’s Equity in Athletics Data Analysis, or EADA, report.

According to Clayton Hamilton, associate athletic director and chief financial officer for the athletic department at UA, the initial $60 million figure was a conservative estimate. It was cited in the annual report to draw a comparison with other SEC school budgets. The $69 million reported to the ADHE, Hamilton says, is an actual figure as opposed to a budgeted one.

“We go into the year being conservative with our projections for ticket sales, concessions and that type of thing,” Hamilton says.

“We’d much rather come in over budget than under with our revenues. And that was in a year where we had significant increases

in revenue, a big piece of it being the conference distribution, that additional TV money coming through. That’s a big chunk of it.

From year to year, that’s roughly $6 million.

Having a bowl game, that’s $1.2 million. In the previous year, where we traveled to Austin for a ball game, in 2010 we were able to sell tickets for that neutral-site game in Dallas [against Texas A&M]. And that’s a piece of our increase as well.”

According to the ADHE report, six other Arkansas schools had higher revenues than initially projected, but none showed a difference greater than $1.7 million. The UA athletic department brought in nearly $9 million more than expected. But none has a revenue producer like UA football.

“Until you know what your ticket sales are and what your attendance is – and the big one is football, it drives a large part of the revenue – we need to secure the revenues before we spend the money. That’s just using sound financial planning. We are conservative with our estimates that we project with the budget, so on an annual basis, we are going to come in exceeding the budget, we hope, each year because we do take a conservative approach to that,” Hamilton says.

In October, the department’s EADA report showed revenues over $78 million.

Hamilton says that’s because federal requirements dictate that schools report foundation spending as well. Razorback Foundation money is not counted as revenue on reports to the state.

“The [U.S.] Department of Education

requires you to report all the revenues and expenses by athletics and on behalf of athletics,” Hamilton says. “The ‘on behalf of athletics’ pulls in your supporting foundations and for Arkansas that includes the Razorback Foundation and to a lesser degree the UA Foundation and the revenues and expenses that flow through those groups.”

Brandi Hinkle, a spokesperson for ADHE, says the state requires universities to follow the Governmental Accounting Standards Board guidelines when reporting financial information.

“What we require from the state-funded institutions are any dollars that go through the university,” Hinkle says. “However, each of them has, generally, a private foundation.

And if their accounting system is separate and dollars are sent to them directly or sent directly through them, we do not require those to be reported to us. UA’s is so much larger, because their foundation has so many more donations.”

Hamilton says though it can be complicated to follow, if someone wanted to get a complete accounting of athletic department revenues, the EADA report is the place to look. “[There have been] attempts in the last three to five years to structure a common reporting format,” Hamilton says. “The NCAA report [which will be released in January] is the closest one to a common platform for all schools to follow. They implemented that about five years ago. The department of education, in my opinion, is slowly moving toward that, where you’re at least getting common reporting requirements for all schools.”

To the extent there are profits in a given year, those funds are set aside for one-time expenses, like stadium improvements, or to build the department’s reserves. Hamilton says the department is trying to make their financial information more accessible.

“We’re going to make the approach to better communicate and close those gaps somewhat so when we do have budget information out there, it’s going to be very clear and we’re going to try to project even closer than we have in the past to where we think the revenues and expenses are going to come in,” Hamilton says.

Foundation support has been something of a point of contention over the years. The Razorback Foundation holds itself out as a private nonprofit, and except for a federal tax return, refuses to reveal details of its income and spending. But a good deal of foundation money is raised with the assistance of public employees who coordinate assignment of preferred seating privileges extended in return for contributions to the foundation.

DiamonD Earrings starting at

$149

11121 Rodney Parham • Market Place Shopping Center www.JonesandSon.com G 501.224.3433

www.arktimes.com • December 9, 2010 9

The Damascene Horse Dealer’s Daughter or How I Came to America

By Mohja Kahf

K

ids, the story begins a hundred years ago, with the birth of three daughters to my great-grandmother Khadijeh Shaybani and my great-grandfather Saeed Quzayz. In a home tucked into one of those narrow cobbled lanes in Okaiba, an old Damascus neighborhood just northwest of the citadel, the first daughter, Bahia, is born in the late 1890s. My grandmother Edibeh comes in 1904; the youngest sister, Nazmia, arrives in 1907.

Saeed loves Khadijeh and those three girls.

Saeed is a Chevy dealer. What I mean is, he is a merchant in Arabian mares, the way to ride in style in turn-of-the-century Damascus. He has what would turn out later to be a Fifth Avenue business address; that is, he owns paddocks just behind Baghdad Street, which by mid-century becomes a prime downtown avenue.

He may not have chartbusting sales, but Saeed’s thoroughbreds provide a decent life for Khadijeh and the girls when the story opens. His eldest, Bahia, marries a young merchant named Nazeef Kahf, who moves in with the Quzayzes.

The whole family debacle I’m about to describe is the Ottomans’ fault. They draft my great-grandfather Saeed to fight on the Egyptian front in what Arab folks in Ottoman lands called the War of Safar Barlek. It is 1917.

Saeed sells his horses to a fellow merchant, and arranges for another merchant to pay rent to Khadijeh for the stables and paddocks behind Baghdad Street. Confident he’s done all he could to provide for his family in his absence, he sets off to report for deployment. On the bustling Damascene boulevard, he overhears two strangers.

“It’s a shame, So-and-so dying in the war,” says the first guy.

“And did you hear?” says second guy. “His brothers wolfed down a hunk of the inheritance. His widow and daughters got portions, but the property is all chopped up now. What a drop for them, much poorer than they 10 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

should’ve been.”

“A shame,” First Guy shakes his head. “I wouldn’t want to leave my wife and daughters in that pickle.”

Saeed hurries back home and transfers the titles of his real estate to his three daughters. If he dies, at least the girls would be secure, he figures. Neither his brother nor Khadijeh’s kin would wrest it from his daughters, and the girls could support Khadijeh. Now he can report for duty.

“Gone’s dead, Back is born again,” Damascus folk used to say before they had access to telephones, and Saeed’s gone. Gone stretches into two long years of war and bad news, this enlisted man from the neighborhood crippled, that one dead, and Khadijeh more anxious week by week. The three Quzayz girls are now twelve, sixteen, and twentysomething. Bahia and Nazeef have begun to have children, eventually three Kahf girls — children come in threes, in this story.

Edibeh, the middle sister, has her father’s business smarts, and a talent for tailoring. She can barely read or write, but she can eye a couture dress in a magazine and make one like it, sort of like being able to play music by ear.

Sewing, in Syria unlike in Egypt, is not considered demeaning work for women of the middle classes. Edibeh opens a dressmaking shop on one of Saeed’s lots that are now in her name. It’s an excellent business location, Baghdad Street’s north side, and she does excellent business, enough to be able to hire a dozen girls to sew for her, including her younger sister Nazmia. Even Bahia works at the shop and, despite her rank as eldest sister, acknowledges Edibeh as boss-lady.

Great-grandmother Khadijeh, whose husband Saeed is still Gone to War, gets the cholera that spreads around the globe that year. Sicker and sicker, she prays, “God, keep me alive long enough to see my husband home, even by one day.” Sure enough, she hangs on until he makes it home in 1919, then she dies within the week. Saeed is too distraught to mess with transferring those properties back to his name. Griefstricken beside Khadijeh’s deathbed, Saeed promises her that he will never marry again.

Kids, that lasts all of three years. He marries a woman named Azizeh Tiftaf.

He divides the Okaiba house into two living quarters, with separate entrances but a friendly interior door between them. The family, expanded with stepmother and the knee-high daughters of Bahia and Nazeef, still has Friday supper around one table. Saeed and the new wife, Azizeh, begin to have children.

A son is born, and another, then a new daughter.

Azizeh begins to fret about that Baghdad Street real estate, which she views as Saeed’s by right, and therefore something her children stand to inher-

it. “Your daughters by your first wife are rich, but my three children will be poor. Their elder sisters have eaten their inheritance,” she protests, echoing the Quranic phrase condemning “devourers of inheritance” (89:19).

Great-gramps is not doing as well as he was before the First World War. The automobile has hit Damascus, and guess what that does to the horse market, kids? Saeed listens to Azizeh, and he steps over that friendly inner threshold to the half of the house where his three grown-up daughters live and says, “Daughters, I’d like my property back now.”

“What do you mean, your property?”

Bahia, Edibeh, and Nazmia answer. “It’s ours now. No take-backs, Dad.” Bahia’s husband, Nazeef Kahf, firmly supports the bid of his wife and her two sisters to keep the properties. It is 1925, as far as I can figure. Edibeh, at twenty-one and unmarried, is a spinster. Yes, she ends up my grandmother, kids, but hold your horses. For the longest time, there is a queer pride that attaches to Edibeh’s (and Nazmia’s) unmarried status, a certain cul-de-sac self-sufficiency shared by crusty old Damascenes that says, “Why should our daughters marry when they are beloved and honored at home?

And who out there is good enough for them, anyway?”

Saeed is flabbergasted at his daughters’ refusal to sign the property back to him. Transferring all his urban acreage to the girls’ ownership had been a contingency plan against his death in the War, that’s all. He’d never meant to give it all away, he protests. They’d inherit some of his net worth anyway, eventually. And despite what people think about shariah, what Muslim women inherit is not chicken feed. In 24 out of about 30 kinds of relationships outlined in the law, women’s share is equal to what Continued on page 12

brian chilson

EDIBEH AND NAZEEF: On a hillside overlooking Damascus.

About Mohja Kahf

B

orn in Damascus, Syria, Mohja Kahf is an associate professor of comparative literature at the University of Arkansas. She came to the U.S. at the age of 3 ½ with her parents, growing up in Utah, Indiana, and New Jersey, where she got a Ph.D. from Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. Kahf has published three books: a novel, “The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf,” a book of poetry, “E-mails from Scheherazad,” and a book of scholarship, “Western Representations of the Muslim Woman.” She won a Pushcart Prize this year for “The Caul of Inshallah,” an autobiographical essay published in the journal River Teeth.

Her poems have been projected on the facade of the New York Public Library by an installment artist, and published in more conventional venues such as Mizna, Banipal, Paris Review, Tiferet: A Journal of Literature and Spirituality, and Atlanta Review. Some of Kahf’s short fiction is online at muslimwakeup.com’s “Sex and the Ummah” column.

A Fayetteville resident for the last 14 years, Kahf has lived in the Arab world and returns there regularly with her husband and three children. Kahf’s next poetry manuscript is about Hajar, Sarah, and Abraham, and she is working on a book of essays on interfaith and faith issues, called “Love, Anyway: Letters from Your Muslim Aunty.”

(Editor’s note: Dr. Kahf’s story is the latest in our sporadic tradition of giving Times readers a literary gift during the Christmas season. For a season bound up in ancient journeys and family traditions, hers seemed particularly appropriate.)

www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 11

THE OLD DAYS: A street scene in old Damascus. men inherit. Whenever Saeed died, his three daughters stood to come into a nice chunk. As things stood in 1925, they instead already owned the bulk of their father’s property.

“You’re a man, still earning robustly,” the three Quzayz sisters point out.

“There’ll be plenty more for Azizeh’s kids by the time you get around to meeting your Hereafter angels. We wish you a long and healthy life, Dad!” With that, kids, it is on: the Quzayz family rumble begins! In one corner, three canny daughters, Bahia, Edibeh, and Nazmia (and don’t forget the brother-in-law Nazeef). In the other corner, their father Saeed and the stepmom, Azizeh, her three little children lined up behind her. Let the soap opera cameras roll!

That interior door? It slams shut.

Women on both sides of the Okaiba house want it locked, and it stays closed for years. Friday night family suppers stopped. I like to imagine that Saeed still looked in on his daughters, and that they still paid a decent number of neighborly family visits to their stepmother.

I hope they occasionally helped Azizeh with the children, their own half brothers and sisters. But knowing how stubborn my folks can be, I doubt it.

Azizeh: “You swallowed my children’s inheritance.”

Bahia, Edibeh and Nazmia: “He’s our father too, and he gave it to us, fair and legal. A gift’s a gift.”

One day while the three sisters were out, their father unlocked that interior door, crept into his daughters’ side, and rifled through his old writing desk for the deeds to the disputed properties.

Sly great-granddad found some of the deeds.

He could take the papers downtown and transfer title to himself. But how, when the consent of the three sisters, current owners, would be required?

12 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Urban women in Syria still faceveiled then. Saeed finagled three women from Azizeh’s family to play his three daughters. Do you think maybe Azizeh herself played one of them? Covered in their natty black city veils, they flank Saeed down to the courthouse. Now, kids, face-veiling women certainly were required to identify themselves to the court clerk. What, do you think the entire pre-modern court systems of the Muslim world were stupid? No way— women had to prove they are who they claimed to be. I don’t know what they do, but somehow scheming Saeed and the three wily women wangle a way around the proof.

My great-gramps turns out a forger!

He fakes the consent of Bahia, Edibeh, and Nazmia to the transfer of deeds.

Outraged, the three daughters sue their father. Yes, they take Pops to court.

That house door stays locked between them, all through the 1930s.

Like her mother before her, Bahia Quzayz dies in her prime, around 1933, leaving three daughters of her own.

The two elder among Bahia’s girls, Mzayan Kahf and Hayat Kahf, have by then become brides and moved out to set up homes with their grooms. Their husbands eye what is now first-rate real estate coming to their wives through the line of inheritance of the deceased Bahia. Even though in Islamic law a wife’s property does not become the husband’s property, do you think those men figure that what their wives owned could make their new family life more comfortable?

Oh, they spur on that lawsuit against their grandfather-in-law Saeed.

I can only imagine the drama in that divided house down the narrow lane in Okaiba during the years when the lawsuit shambled on. It is all witnessed by departed Bahia’s youngest daughter, Ihsan Kahf. Vivacious young Ihsan still lives at home with her father Nazeef and

her spinster aunt Edibeh.

That’s also when Edibeh becomes Ihsan’s stepmother.

At about 32 years old, after long-embracing her unmarried state, Edibeh is cajoled into marrying Bahia’s poor sad widower, Nazeef Kahf. Not only has the mild-mannered Nazeef been mourning his wife for three years, but he is struggling in his trade. Would he have to move out of his home, too? With Bahia dead, he has no claim to living there, nor is it seemly, staying on with his in-laws. Edibeh seems to have looked upon him as a good-natured slacker. He takes snuff, and plays chess, cards, and backgammon with his pals in the neighborhood cafe. Tobacco, he and his wife have in common; my grandmother Edibeh is a smoker, puffing Bafra brand, often rolling her own cigarettes.

To Edibeh and Nazeef, three Kahf boys are born. The middle one is my father. Ihsan helps diaper and bathe the three little boys. They are more than her half-brothers; their mother is her aunt, so you might say they are her three-quarter brothers. As far as the heart goes, they are her full brothers. Ihsan’s fondness for them pours out to the end of her life, across emigrations and oceans, making her dear even to their children, come the years later.

Edibeh is now the eldest of the clan, on the side scuffling against her dad Saeed and his wife Azizeh. It is all up to her. What will she do? She wants the Baghdad Street property that she believes rightfully hers and Nazmia’s to stay theirs, and for the late Bahia’s portion to pass to Bahia’s daughters.

How long will this feud drag on, seeping poison into relations between family members?

Edibeh compromises with her aging father. She and Saeed decide that he’ll leave in peace the property he’d given them back when he was drafted. Next

door, Azizeh is not happy with this. In return, Edibeh and her sisters’ side agree not to claim further inheritance from Saeed’s property when he dies. Which he does shortly, during World War II. Bahia’s two married daughters, Mzayan and Hayat, along with their husbands, bridle at this concession by Edibeh. Relations ice between the two married daughters and Edibeh. Thus commences the second generation of the family feud. Ihsan Kahf, the youngest of Bahia’s girls, breaks ranks with her sisters and sides with her aunt-andstepmother Edibeh Quzayz.

The Quzayz-Kahf feud ends finally in 1955 or 1957, in one of those oncepretty hillside towns around Damascus overlooking the Barada River Valley.

There in the woods, Damascene folk would often summer, propping the watermelon in the river to cool before picnics. Younger and older generations reconcile over a plate of tiseyeh, a savory bread casserole with hummos and parsley. Tiseyeh in Damascus is traditionally cooked by the men, and the husbands of Mzayan and Hayat make tiseyeh for Edibeh that midsummer morning as a peace offering. If you ever taste Damascene tiseyeh, you’ll understand how it has the power to end a two-generation feud. They top it with the fizzling bicarbonate that goes “tish!” when you splash it over the dish. They put it before matriarch Edibeh, their surrogate mother-in-law, kiss her hand, and everyone makes up.

There are things you can’t get back once they are Gone. Icy years of facetime lost while another generation has come up cannot be hand-kissed back.

We’re not close to their children’s children, and most of us don’t know why. Some of them memorized the phrase “devourers of inheritance” and hold it on us, but they don’t remember the details.

The story doesn’t end there. Remember Edibeh’s boys, gamboling around at the reconciliation picnic? The three Kahf boys never live in the plum times of the family. Their mother’s disputed Baghdad Street properties add no comfort to their lives. The Kahf boys grow up working till nightfall after school and in summertime pitting apricots with farm crews to help put olives and bread on the little round table. Meat is a very occasional luxury. Their father Nazeef says, “Let’s pull the boys out of school—they’re old enough to work like men now, earn a living!”

“No!” Edibeh insists, with vision.

Maybe it stings that her name, “adiba,” means “a well-versed, literate woman.”

Despite having been a successful dressmaker, she can barely read or write. She is determined that her children would be “ejmickated.” Meanwhile, she teaches them to sew like pros, lessons at least the middle son learned by heart. He will one day make a fairy-tale dress out of a picture-book for his firstborn daughter, Mohja.

If a merry time is Nazeef’s thing, self-sufficiency is Edibeh’s theme: the boys lay tile, hammer shelves, hollow squash gourds. See that photo where father and mother and sons are puttering about the kitchen filling the pots with stuffed vegetables? No idleness, no dependency, for the sons of Edibeh.

They soak up her ethic, each of the three brothers becoming a high-achieving professional: the eldest, an engineer; the youngest, a doctor. The middle boy is first in his class in high school and valedictorian at Damascus University.

Edibeh sells most of the Baghdad Street real estate during one of Nazeef’s bust-times. With the proceeds, Edibeh has Nazeef construct a five-story apartment building on the last lot, and puts the units on the market, keeping one for themselves. The three sons of Edibeh and Nazeef leave to Azizeh the old Okaiba home, and move into the downtown flat with their father and mother.

There they tend Edibeh through her diabetic final days. Sixty-year-old Edibeh dies of pancreatic cancer in the airy Baghdad Street apartment in 1964. Her heartbroken sons, unable to sleep in the home where she died, crash makeshift cots at sister Ihsan’s house for a time.

For all the property in this family, the boys are adrift.

I never knew Edibeh. She died before my mother even met my father.

The only images I have of her are these photos where she’s already wizened, her sleeve rolled up for her insulin shot.

Think how fierce she must’ve been, sharp and savvy running the shop, her lungs full with shouting during the law-

THIS ROAD LEADS TO AMERICA: For Mohja Kahf, anyway. suit days. Nazeef is easygoing, his red fez at a merry angle. There I sit as a toddler in his elderly lap on the balcony, but it is Edibeh’s drive and daring that her sons take with them.

The Kahf boys sell off the last apartment in the Baghdad Street building where Edibeh died, and buy a barebones flat in Abu Rommaneh neighborhood. They have no funds left to lay its floors, install windows, or pour concrete into stairs. Until it is liveable, they raise chickens in it. My father will finish it, painstakingly, with shavings off his income as an auditor after college. This dark-horse investment comes up a winner. When my parents marry, my mother moves in to the cleaned-up, glowing Abu Rommaneh flat. After my birth at Damascus Hospital, my first home in the world is that Abu Rommaneh place, as it is for my brother born eleven months after me.

In 1970, the Abu Rommaneh apartment is liquidated as the Kahf brothers prepare to seek their fortunes in the wide world. Twice-widowed Nazeef and his motherless sons downgrade, for their last hurrah as one household, into a cramped and perhaps less-than-legal rooftop makeshift, back on Baghdad Street. There, my parents’ third child is born. The Baghdad Street rooftop place is the last lot of the Edibeh legacy. It is

a temporary abode (aren’t they all?).

Within months, one by one, the brothers will set off in different directions.

Syria starts to change then. With the coming of the authoritarian Baath Party in 1963, the sense of safety erodes for the common person. Martial law begins (and continues to this day). Syrians watch, terrified, as the government puts political dissenters on public trial, then executes them. The police state’s power mushrooms. A lingering dread grows, as the government’s human rights abuses mount. That’s what my father says made him want to leave. And it is what will turn him into a dissident abroad, banned from return, a condition I have inherited and, in a small way, supplemented.

First, though, he needed the means to go. How do you divvy up the cash value of an apartment when some owners want to liquidate and others don’t?

Chary of jockeying over property, having lived childhoods blinkered by such a quarrel, the three grown Kahf boys agree to appoint the youngest of them executor of everything. He sells the last dwelling place of Edibeh Quzayz, and the brothers go thirds with the proceeds.

It’s a three-way split because their sister Ihsan coaxes aging father Nazeef to yield his share to his sons, knowing they are chomping at the bit to leave.

That, kids, is how my father is able to pay his way to America in 1971. He uses his share of Edibeh’s legacy to buy airline tickets for himself, his wife, and their three young children, to pony up a deposit on a tiny basement rental in Salt Lake City, and to pay up his university bill for one term, not sure where the rest of tuition or living expenses would come from. He is down to his last fifteen dollars when the department chair offers him a teaching assistantship. He gets a job after the Ph.D. And here in America we still are, in 2010.

My Grandmother Edibeh died before I was born, but it is her property that enables my father to leave Damascus and cut out for distant climes.

I do not say that with pride or pleasure.

Maybe I would just as soon have stayed there, and had a life like the lives of any number of my 28 first cousins and 73 second cousins who stayed home in Syria. Yes, there is dread and dictatorship, but multitudes have lived manyfaceted lives through it, after all. Maybe there were bold deeds to be done there, worth risking a difficult life to do. My cousin Hanan Lahham (Hayat’s daughter) has authored twenty-some books; she belongs to the Islamic nonviolence movement founded by Jawdat Saeed in Damascus. On the other end of the spectrum is my second cousin Shadia, who married an Arab Communist in the 1970s and, like a fair number of the second cousins, doesn’t cover her hair or cotton to the religious branches of the family. They all maintain a life in Damascus, a niche of belonging, where neighbors have known them since before they were born.

Toward such a niche I often look with the useless and self-pitying longing of an exile. I did not choose to immigrate as a child. Nor am I, an Arab woman, able to express myself solely because I had the “good fortune” to have been raised in America over the Muslim country of my birth. See, that kind of condescending nonsense is what I get for leaving my country.

Kids, I don’t know if it was good fortune that brought me to America, but it was some kind of fortune. There’s greatgrandpa Saeed’s horse fortune, and the three sisters’ real estate fortune. And the good fortune of valuing education that Edibeh drove into my father’s head certainly went into making me an “adiba.” Although the people of my house learned loving compromise in the end, it was not before they fought for lifetimes over their fortunes. So maybe we Kahfs do belong in America after all, at least in the America of hardnosed work and go-your-own-way and upward mobility and family ties be damned. www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 13

eye on arkansas

Editorial n Blanche Lincoln’s service in the Senate is almost over and John Boozman’s is just about to begin. The difference will be profound and unpleasant.

We all got a glimpse last week of things to come. Representative Boozman was among 157 House Republicans who voted against a bill to feed needy schoolchildren, a bill that had already been approved by the Senate, where it was sponsored

by Blanche Lincoln. Democrats in the House, including Reps.

Vic Snyder and Mike Ross, passed the bill over Republican objections and sent it on to the president.

Boozman was also among the intransigent opposition to a bill that would continue the existing tax cuts for the middle class but not those for the super-rich. The bill passed the House, where Democrats have a majority, but was held hostage by Senate Republicans, who oppose tax relief for the middle class unless it’s accompanied by more tax cuts for the very wealthy.

Those cuts would worsen by $4 trillion the federal deficit that Republicans profess to be alarmed about. They argue that extending aid only to those who need it is “class warfare,” a peculiarly cynical claim, rather like Hitler’s saying that he was only defending Nazi Germany against Polish aggression.

And they appear to have carried the day, President Obama conceding on Monday, further proof that there’s a class war raging, all right, and the moneyed class is winning. The gulf between the very rich and the rest of us has never been wider.

Conservatives work to reduce Social Security’s meager benefits — the only income many Americans have — and raise the retirement age, claiming the system is near bankruptcy.

Ending the tax cuts for the rich would have covered Social Security’s needs many times over and for many years to come.

Impervious to Christmas spirit, Republicans even opposed an extension of unemployment benefits to people who lost their jobs in the recession through no fault of their own. This is total war.

On a few issues, Boozman’s vote will be no worse than Lincoln’s. The estate tax comes to mind. Only the richest one percent of Americans pay the estate tax, and they can easily afford it, but both Boozman and Lincoln have pandered to the Waltons and the Hiltons. Still, she has the bigger heart — faint praise, perhaps, but real — and she is not the mad partisan and ideologue that he is. Lincoln votes with the Democratic leadership half the time. Boozman votes with the Republican leadership 90 percent of the time. He’ll be to Mitch McConnell as Clarence Thomas is to Antonin Scalia. Maybe a little more submissive.

201 East Markham Street, 200 Heritage Center West, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Home page: http://www.arktimes.com • E-mail: arktimes@arktimes.com Publisher Alan Leveritt editor

editorial assistant

special projects

Max Brantley

John Tarpley

Michelle Miller, Manager

MANAGING Editor

photographer

senior account executive

Leslie Newell Peacock

Brian Chilson

contributing Editor

advertising art director

Mara Leveritt

Mike Spain

associate editors

Assistant art director Patrick Jones

Tiffany Holland

account executives Devon Dennis Erik Heller Katherine Smith Angie Wilson

Automotive Advertising Manager Heather Baker

Advertising Traffic manager Roland R. Gladden

Advertising coordinator Kelly Schlachter

IT director

Robert Curfman

David Koon Bob Lancaster Gerard Matthews Doug Smith

graphic designers

Real Estate Sales Executive

lifestyle editor

production manager

Real Estate Advertising Assistant

billing/collections

Classified Sales Executive

office manager

Lindsey Millar

editorial art director Kai Caddy

Rafael Méndez Doug Benjamin Sheryl Kee

director of advertising Phyllis A. Britton

Tiffany Holland

Kelly Lyles

Challis Muniz

circulation director Anitra Hickman

controller Weldon Wilson Linda Phillips

Angie Fambrough

production manager Ira Hocut (1954-2009)

FOR SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE CALL: (501) 375-2985

14 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

brian chilson

Ghost of Senate Future

’TIS THE SEASON: Young visitors enjoy the state Capitol’s Christmas display.

On this rock ... n Little Rock over the years has found itself cast as one of the meanest cities in America. Why? It has too often elevated image over humane treatment of the homeless.

City officials hated the sight of street people sleeping in Riverfront Park and panhandling in the River Market neighborhood and tried repeatedly to remove them. The tall glass windows of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce — its salary men subsidized by city tax dollars to oppose social welfare of all sorts — afforded an all-too-clear view of the less fortunate as they trudged from camping spots to soup kitchens. It must be unsettling when you’re proposing fat corporate welfare checks to visiting industrialists to gaze through the looking glass at grubby hands stuck out for coins for a meal or, yes, a bottle of beer.

So, for his work in the interests of the homeless, I’ll cut Mayor Mark Stodola a little slack this week. The first term of the strong mayor has been mostly a bust — there’s precious little to show for our $160,000 in mayoral salary except increased advocacy for corporate interests. Stagnant tax revenues and population argue against the theory that there’s benefit in coddling the upper classes.

And then there’s the strong mayor’s control of city commission appointments. It certainly hasn’t brought high accounting standards to Little Rock National Airport operations. (It did bring Stodola some fine French dining on public money in Paris.)

But give Stodola this: He has continued to work to find a permanent location for a day center for the homeless — a place for meals, rudimentary health services and other assistance that might even set some homeless people back on the path to productive lives.

It’s been a long and awkward search. Stodola’s secrecy about the process has only spurred suspicion.

When at last he landed on a potential site recently, the world managed to find out about it before he’d told the city director from the affected ward, Erma

Max brantley max@arktimes.com

Hendrix, or any other city director.

Stodola thinks a former road machinery dealership on East Ninth Street in the gritty, industrialized East End is a good location. Foot traffic will undoubtedly pass through some small residential neighborhoods nearby and the commercial neighbors aren’t excited about the center either. No one ever is. (North Little Rock, to its credit, has been commendably peaceful about offering temporary space for the center.) Short of an Alcatraz-like center surrounded by open water, I can’t think of a spot in the city that would throw a housewarming party for a homeless center.

But Director Hendrix won the hostility sweepstakes. She questioned why people were so concerned about the homeless in the first place. They are not taxpayers, she said. They are not truly residents of the city. Such coldness is the kind of thing that won Little Rock a shameful national reputation.

Stodola’s push for a warmer solution, even at some personal political cost, is one of the few bright spots of his tenure.

The homeless may not be taxpayers currently.

But they could be. They are also — need we remind Director Hendrix? — human beings. Many homeless people have families with children. Many of them, veterans particularly, are entitled to services they may have not claimed.

Little Rock can take these strangers in. It can feed them. It can clothe them. Or it can shout from behind a chained door, “Be gone!” If the latter, we deserve to be called the meanest city in America. It is past time to conclude the long search for shelter. Winter is upon us.

brian chilson

A broken system n Let’s say that a president and his party hit upon a policy that a big consensus of economists says would be good for the country, that is enormously popular with the American people and that enjoys the solid support of a majority of both houses of Congress.

Then let’s assume that the policy is thwarted and instead the government adopts one that poses a great danger to the country, partly by adding $450 billion a year to a budget deficit that already scares the daylights out of people.

Is the system broken? Can one political party be so crafty and the other so inept that their skirmish over a serious policy issue produces such a perverse result?

That is precisely what is happening this week in the battle over extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. President Obama and some in his party capitulated in the face of absolutely united Republican opposition and agreed to extend the low marginal tax rate for the nation’s richest people at least another two years and grant even bigger tax cuts on vast inheritances. You can count on it now: It will be extended again after two years because the Republicans will own Washington then and will control electionyear politics as deftly as this year.

The simple explanation is that the mod-

Ernest Dumas ern Senate custom of letting 40 percent of its members dictate the agenda produced the inevitable result, but that is only the surface of the problem. One party has achieved unprecedented unity behind the idea that the president and his party should be stifled at whatever cost to the country, and the other party is so diffused that it cannot carry a point even with a president celebrated for his eloquence.

Sen. John McCain, the Republican standard bearer in 2008, illustrates the problem.

McCain vehemently opposed the tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 because they favored the richest Americans and businesses. He predicted that they would return the country to massive deficits and stymie economic growth. Proven right, he now insists on continuing the low rates on the top 2 percent of Americans because it would thwart the man who beat him.

Only one Republican broke ranks. Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, who retires next month, said Monday he would oppose ex-

Game, fish, turkeys and irony n A fellow asked me the other day to explain all these columns of words in the Little Rock newspaper about this nasty sniping between Sheffield Nelson and the Game and Fish Commission.

I replied that my best explanation was that somebody with the paper did not know how to edit for length.

The fellow said that I knew good and well that was not what he had meant.

So I told him: If he wanted me to elaborate on the substance of the matters being discussed, I could do that, but would rather not on account of its being boring and petty and an ego orgy. But I said that I would be eager to oblige if he wanted me to describe the comedic irony.

He said for me to do that. Fine. Here is a quick example: Nelson, mad that the Game and Fish Commission did away with the fall turkey season that he got started when he was a commissioner, filed a suit challenging the legality of the way this new commission organized itself after he left. This was into subcommittees of emphasis by which three guys run the governing subcommittee in an unconstitutional usurpation, Nelson charged,

John Brummett jbrummett@arkansasnews.com

of full commission authority.

Why does Nelson care? Well, he really believes in the autumnal hunting of turkeys, apparently. And some of the members of the three-member governing commission are parties to old feuds he has had — political, business and personal — going way back.

And he needs something to do. And he likes being in the paper, having grown accustomed to it as a young utility executive and then a politician.

So the latest — and here is your first irony — is that Nelson has called on the attorney general to investigate that the full Game and Fish Commission approved a contract with a local public relations firm in two phases for the sum of $50,000 and did so without first running the contract by the subcommittee charged with overseeing communications matters.

Are you with me? Nelson is suing to say that the subcommittee structure is il-

tending all the tax cuts. He said continuing the tax cuts ran counter to the party’s and the American people’s wishes to balance the budget.

“The American people should know that a lot of the reduction of their taxes is borrowed money from China,” he said Monday. “You’ve got to pay for it. ” Most Americans actually get it. A CBS poll last week showed that only 26 percent favor continuing the 35 percent tax rate on high incomes, which by the way is less than half the top rate in 1970. Most of the 26 percent were reflexive Republicans.

Democratic and independent voters overwhelmingly favor extending the tax cuts only for the 98 percent of people earning less than $250,000 a year. Those tax cuts were smaller than those for incomes in the highest bracket.

Even under Obama’s original tax plan, on which he campaigned in 2008, the richest 2 percent would be the biggest beneficiaries because they have more income in the bottom four brackets than anyone else.

But the president and the Democrats’ anemic congressional cohort could not generate the public outrage that would overcome the Republican phalanx.

Here is why the year-end battle is so important. It may be the last chance to reverse the slide toward an unsustainable and cataclysmic debt. The deficit-reduction commission’s package of reforms are going

nowhere in the new Congress, not because they would harm the elderly but because they would require some higher taxes. Unless there is a dramatic economic recovery like the one that accompanied the drive to a balanced budget in the late 1990s, the deficit will grow larger, sapping economic growth, expanding the great inequalities in income and imperiling the country’s security.

The plan the president and the Republicans agreed upon this week—a two-year extension of all tax cuts, a huge reduction in taxes on the estates of billionaires and multimillionaires, a one-year reduction in payroll taxes, extension of unemployment benefits for 13 months and more business tax breaks—will add $900 billion to the debt over two years, after which the impulse to continue all tax cuts will be unstoppable.

The compromise—sellout is a better description—includes some marginally hopeful parts. Obama won an extension of unemployment benefits and another stimulus benefit, a one-year reduction in payroll taxes that will give people another $120 billion to spend next year to see if it will stimulate demand. It will also deplete the Social Security trust fund, advance the day of insolvency and aid the cause of Republicans who want to exploit the deficit crisis to reduce old-age and disability pensions and dismantle Medicare.

That is called pessimism, but show me a reason to be optimistic.

legal. Now he is complaining that a public relations contract ought to be investigated because it was not submitted to the subcommittee structure he believes to be illegal.

Talk about just looking for something to fuss about.

What really riled Nelson was that this public relations firm getting this little contract helped out on a Game and Fish news release accusing him of having gone along as a commissioner with certain administrative procedures that he now alleges to be inappropriate.

Nelson is right on this one. A state agency has no business hiring a public relations firm to help it put out a news release that has nothing to do with genuine public issues affecting fish or game, but merely hauls off and says that Sheffield Nelson is a no-good rascal.

The Game and Fish Commission has no business putting out a news release like that even without the $50,000 help of a PR firm.

So now let us turn to another irony, this one regarding actions by the commission, which, as you know from reading this space, suffers an arrogance of power. That stems from the fact that we bestow on it constitutional status by which it functions with corporate-like independence outside the usual executive oversight of the popularly elected governor.

The other part of this PR firm’s contract duty — beyond helping launch a personal attack on Nelson on agency letterhead — is to assist the commission’s communications

staff in getting media-trained and advising it further on honoring requests under the Freedom of Information Act, of which the commission is seeing a major spike, thanks mostly to Nelson’s lawyer.

A Game and Fish communications staffer was quoted as saying the firm that got hired was especially good because it was experienced in the corporate public relations sector.

Are you with me still? A public agency needs help in figuring out how to deal with the public. It needs help in abiding by the freedom of information law for public agencies. So it decides it can best get that help from a public relations firm experienced in the private sector and the corporate world.

My case is made again that we lose public accountability when we anoint state agencies as independent of those we popularly elect. If you put an agency in the constitution with its own independent status, then that agency, in time, will start thinking of itself, and behaving, as a private corporation, and a monopoly one at that.

Anyway, I am about to decide that the best way out of this Nelson-related soap opera is to reinstate fall turkey season. That is when we eat ’em, anyway.

John Brummett is a columnist and reporter for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. You can read additional Brummett columns in The Times of North Little Rock. www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 15

arts entertainment

This week in

T-Model Ford to WTT

Rhinestone Cowboy at UCA

Page 18

Page 19

and

to-do list

18

calendar

20

Movies

26

Dining

31

Jane Colclasure

DECORATION DAY: Susan Menefee by the grave of her beagle mix at Pet Land.

All dogs go to heaven A tour of Pet Land, Little Rock’s only pet cemetery.

I

By Katherine Wyrick

n southwest Little Rock, beyond clusters of mobile home parks and body shops, at 11560 Dreher Road, sits a hidden copse of pines surrounded by a chain link fence. On a recent Saturday, the autumn light filters through the canopy of trees as a handful of people mill about, clutching bouquets of plastic poinsettias. This is Pet Land, Little Rock’s little known — and only — resting place for loved ones of the pet persuasion.

A striking German shepherd, her neck ringed with Christmas bells, stands at the gate, head cocked, and then bounds off happily, jingling all the way. Today, Pet Land owner Stephanie Starnes and a loyal group of clients and friends are decorating for the holidays, a yearly ritual that brings together animal lovers of all stripes (and spots).

Starnes inherited the business from her aunt and uncle, Graham and Bonnie Kelley, who began burying pets there in 1963.

“Previously, a couple of vets had buried a dozen or so pets here and then sold it to my uncle. My aunt and uncle had other businesses and weren’t interested in operating a pet cemetery for profit. The reason they opened it was because their

beloved lab, Slugger, was getting old, and they wanted to be sure there was a dignified setting for his burial. They never even had a phone listing; it was word of mouth or vet recommendations.”

Starnes took over in 1980. Though she had a full-time job as an art teacher, she steadfastly worked to improve the grounds, respond to emergencies and provide emotional support for family members — services she continues to offer grieving pet owners to this day.

Susan Menefee, kneeling by the gravesite of her beagle mix, Brandi Bear, who died in September, found out about the pet cemetery and discovered a kindred spirit in Starnes.

“I heard about Pet Land from a neighContinued on page 23 www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 17

■ to-dolist

By Lindsey Millar and John Tarpley

T H U R S D AY 1 2 / 9

PAGANS ON BOBSLEDS XIX: THE SPAWN OF SANTA 8 p.m., Public Theater. $8-$10.

n It’s a seasonal tradition almost two decades old. Red Octopus Theater, Arkansas’s longest-tenured sketch comedy group (old enough to vote and buy porn this year!), pokes fun at the holidays with a revue it calls “Pagans on Bobsleds.”

This year’s edition, number 19, features seven new faces in the cast. Longtime Octopi Josh Doering, offered a preview: “The 3 Wise Men (as portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke and Frankenstein for some reason) are packing heat in ‘The Magi-ables.’ Santa’s elves share their skin-care regimen in ‘Palm Balm.’ And Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh are given the Perfume Commercial treatment.” Doering also promises plenty of songs, including “The All-Nut Choir,” “The Pudding Choir,” “Gleeful Grilling” and, the theme song, “Pagans on Bobsleds.” And that’s just scratching the surface. The performance continues through Saturday; same time and price every night. LM.

PLENTY OF PAGANS: Red Octopus gears up to mock the holidays at the Public Theater. fallen out of favor with a number of choral groups as of late, making this presentation a rare treat. The Arkansas Chamber Singers perform the program again at 3 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 12, in the Pulaski Heights Methodist Church. For tickets, call 3771121 or visit ar-chambersingers.org. JT.

T-MODEL FORD

9 p.m., White Water Tavern. $8.

n T-Model Ford is the spryest 90-yearold you’ll ever see. He sits onstage now, but he stays in motion — constantly swaying, smiling big between lyrics and winking at all the pretty girls dancing close to the stage. His voice is ragged but vital — his hollers still have punch — and he’s still leading the way with his oddly tuned Peavey Razer (metal!) guitar. Most impressively, his short sets are nearly two hours. When he’s feeling it, which may or may not have to do with the cup of whiskey he keeps within reaching distance, he can go three hours. Backed these days by Seattle blues-rockers Gravelroad, Ford returns to White Water after last playing the tavern in March. A little more than a month after that gig, he suffered a mild stroke, but by mid-summer, he was back on the road for a 14-date swing through the West Coast tour and a performance at All Tomorrow’s Parties in New York.

Normally, we’d implore you to drop what you’re doing to see one of the last true, raw bluesmen before it’s too late, but I’m pretty sure T-Model Ford is going to live forever. Go because it’s going to be a damn good party. LM. 18 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

S AT U R D AY 1 2 /1 1

BALLET ARKANSAS: “THE NUTCRACKER”

$20-$52, Robinson Center Music Hall.

7 p.m.

MUST-SEE BLUES: With T-Model Ford at White Water.

F RID AY 12/10

ARKANSAS CHAMBER SINGERS: “BACH TO CHRISTMAS” 7:30 p.m., Trinity Presbyterian Church. $10-$15 adv., $12-$18 d.o.s.

n The 55-member ensemble touts itself as “the premiere chamber choir in Central Arkansas” and we doubt it gets much guff about that title. Since 1979, the Arkansas Chamber Singers have been the go-to cho-

ral group for everything from memorials to inaugurations and everything between.

But the yearly Christmas concerts hold a special place in Little Rock’s holiday soundscape. This year, members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra join the Arkansas Chamber Singers as they close out their concert season with “Bach to Christmas,” an evening of excerpts from “Christmas Oratorio” and, notably, “Uns ist ein Kind geboren,” a cantata originally attributed to Bach, but recently suggested to have been written by Bach contemporary Johann Kuhnau. Since the piece’s authorship has been under suspicion, it has

n What’s Christmas without the graceful surrealism of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Rat King and a brigade of tin soldiers? Not the same, that’s what. It’s a tradition of the highest caliber that’s kept alive for another year by the Ballet Arkansas company, who once again turn the Robinson Center Music Hall into a gilded, 19th-century parlor for another trip to “The Nutcracker.” On its surface, the Tchaikovsky-scored classic is a puzzling trip down the rabbit hole with mice, magic, Russian rats and wolves. But the famous, elegant balletic movement within is what keeps the crowds coming and the eyes wide. “The Nutcracker” cracks again the next day at 3 p.m. after a “Nutcracker Tea” at the Peabody Hotel at 1 p.m. For tickets, call the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra box office at 666-1761 or visit arkansassymphony.org. JT.

“THE JAM SESSION”

■ inbrief

9 p.m., Mediums Art Gallery. $10

n Few emcees are smoother than Epiphany, the Pine Bluff-born, Stanford-educated purveyor of literate hiphop. Even fewer rappers can sound on task over grimy street beats one minute and fresh over smooth, jazzy tracks the next. We like it all, but prefer the latter, which is why we’re keyed up for “The Jam Session,” a night at the new Mediums Art Gallery that has Big Piph on a mic alongside Gina Gee, local soul diva extraordinaire, and marks the return of their always-tight backing band, One Night Stand. Stacey Avery, another great R&B songbird, opens. It’s being billed as “live music for a mature, kickin’ it crowd.” Sounds right down our alley. JT.

THURSDAY 12/9

n Aloud brings high-fructose indie pop with co-ed harmonies (and a bassist from El Dorado) to Sticky Fingerz with local support from garage phenoms Brother Andy and His Big Damn Mouth and harmonic Southern rockers Mandy McBryde and the Holy Ghosts, 9 p.m., $5. Chris Henry and his guitar take the mic at Grumpy’s Too, 8:30 p.m., free. Down on the riverside at Cajun’s Wharf, Rob and Tyndall handle the happy hour crew, 5:30 p.m., while Cody Belew and the Mercers bring the blue-eyed soul, 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. It’s BB guns and Bumpus dogs at The Rep when “A Christmas Story” returns to the stage, 7 p.m., $20$40. And if you find yourself in Fayetteville, the night’s full of big-time country names with Kathy Mattea at the Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $28-$42, and Robert Earl Keen at George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $25.

SUNDAY 12/12

GLEN CAMPBELL

2 p.m., Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas. $10-$40

n His vocal mastery overshadows his brilliance on guitar, his indiscretions have overshadowed his vital place in pop music history and the fact he’s a living legend has obscured the fact that Glen Campbell is, simply, something of a genius. If you’ve ever had any doubt — and if you’ll pardon my latent record-store geek screaming at you — please, please get to a record store and pick up “Wichita Lineman,” his essential 1968 album that sidles the boy from Delight, Ark., next to French chanson territory and my pick for the greatest album ever made by an Arkansan. That album alone should give him a lifetime pass to the Brilliant Musicians Circle. But if you dig into his oeuvre, it’s hard to dodge pieces of countrypolitan gold like 1978’s “Basic” or endearingly catchy curiosities like “It’s the World Gone Crazy,” his synthy shot at ’80s cred that’s due for a rediscovery. The septuagenarian is keeping at it, turning his skill at interpreting songs to classics by The Velvet Underground (“These Days”) and new standards by Green Day (“Good Riddance,” believe it or not). But with the Rhinestone Cowboy nowadays preferring to fine-tune his golf game rather than tour, this show marks a rare homecoming appearance for Campbell. I, for one, wouldn’t dream of missing it. And with this being the holidays, I predict a few choice picks from his Christmas albums sprinkled in the setlist. This being a college appearance, ticket prices are tiered: $30-$40 for adults, $27-$37 for senior citizens, $25-$35 for UCA alumni, $23-$33 for UCA faculty and staff, and $10 for UCA students with a current student I.D. JT.

FRIDAY 12/10

THAT PIPH: Local rapper Epiphany, soul ladies Gina Gee and Stacey Avery and backing band One Night Stand take to the stage.

n Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers bring “An Evening of Jazz” to the Mallard Bar in the Peabody Hotel, 9 p.m., $10-$15. Fresh off of wrapping up an upcoming release, The See returns to stage alongside the Canadian indie-influenced sounds of Catskill Kids and the oddball folk harmonies from Reptar at White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. Sticky Fingerz regulars Lucious Spiller Band party at the River Market chicken shack, 9 p.m., $5. Reno’s Argenta Cafe brings The Shotgun Billies, who are completely unGoogleable but deserve a plug by awesome name alone, 9 p.m. Eggheads and nog-noggins collide when the Historic Arkansas Museum hosts “The Sixth Ever Nog Off,” an annual holiday event that pits egg nog recipes against each other in a calorie-packed celebration of all things noggy, 5 p.m., free.

SATURDAY 12/11

AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Glen Campbell comes to Reynolds Performance Hall for a Sunday matinee.

n The Freds, the first band ever to play the Juanita’s stage, have reformed after 18 years to return to the same venue, promising a night of classic and modern rock covers, 9:30 p.m., $7. Downtown Music Hall hosts a night of music to benefit Brandon Clendenin, drummer for Seige the City, who’s undergoing chemotherapy, 4 p.m., $10. Country/ bluegrass favorites Pope County Bootleggers pick and fiddle at Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members.

And basketball fans, head to UALR; the men’s Trojans face off against the Ole Miss Rebels at the Jack Stephens Center, 2 p.m. www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 19

Lectures

www.arktimes.com

afterdark

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.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 Music

Aloud, Mandy McBryde and the Holy Ghosts, Brother Andy and his Big Damn Mouth. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz. com.

Chris Henry. Grumpy’s Too, 8:30 p.m., free. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

Cody Belew & the Mercers (headliner), Rob & Tyndall (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-3755351. www.cajunswharf.com.

“V.I.P. Thursdays” with DJ Silky Slim. Sway, 8 p.m., $3. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582.

Dr. Rex Bell Jazz Trio. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., $5. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www. afterthoughtbar.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Kathy Mattea. Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $28-$42.

495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

Ol’ Puddin’head. Thirst n’ Howl, through Dec. 31: 8 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www. tnhrocks.com.

Posh: “De’sophistique” with DJ Mike Blaze.

The Peabody Little Rock, 9 p.m., $5 early admission.

3 Statehouse Plaza. 501-906-4000. www.peabodylittlerock.com.

River City Men’s Chorus Holiday Concert.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 7 p.m., free. 1101 North Mississippi St. 501-666-2813. www.tumclr. org.

Robert Earl Keen. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $25. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-4424226.

T-Model Ford. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.myspace.com/whitewatertavern.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free.

111 W. President Clinton Ave. 501-374-7474. www. capitalhotel.com/CBG. Tragikly White. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

coMedy

Mike Speenburg. The Loony Bin, 8 p.m.; Dec. 10, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Dec. 11, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. www.loonybincomedy.com.

Red Octopus Presents: “Pagans on Bobsleds XIX: The Spawn of Santa.” The Public Theatre, through Dec. 11, 8 p.m., $10. 616 Center St. 501-3747529. www.thepublictheatre.com.

announcents

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

The Jacksonville Museum of Military History and the DAR are collecting toiletries and other items for veterans living at the Arkansas State Veterans Home.

Needed (and not provided by the VA) are underwear, T-shirts, socks, pajams, combs, razors, games, toothpaste and more. For more information, call December 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES ARKANSAS TIMES 20 DECEMBER

THE 13TH DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS: That’s Sunday, Dec. 12, the day that local metal heroes Living Sacrifice return to Downtown Music on the appropriately named, “A Very Metal Christmas Tour,” with The Showdown, Becoming the Archetype, To Speak of Wolves and As They Sleep, 6 p.m., $13 adv., $15 d.o.s.

241-1943. Jacksonville Museum of Military History, through Dec. 17. 100 Veterans Circle, Jacksonville.

241-1943.

Food for Fines. The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) will hold its annual Food for Fines week Dec. 6-12. Patrons can offset fines for overdue library materials with donations of non-perishable food items. Food collected during the drive will be donated to Arkansas Rice Depot. CALS branches include the Main Library, 100 Rock St.; Dee Brown Library, 6325 Baseline Road; Fletcher Library, 823 N. Buchanan St.; Terry Library, 2015 Napa Valley Drive; Thompson Library, 38 Rahling Circle; Williams Library, 1800 Chester St.; McMath Library, 2100 John Barrow Road; Max Milam Library, 609 Aplin Ave., Perryville; Maumelle Library, 10 Lake Pointe Drive, Maumelle; Esther D. Nixon Library, 703 W. Main St., Jacksonville; Amy Sanders Library, 31

Shelby Drive, Sherwood. For more information contact Susan Hill Gele at 918-3086. Main Library, through Dec. 12. 100 S. Rock St. www.cals.lib. ar.us.

events

Arkansas Genealogical Society Workshop.

An introduction to FamilySearch, the largest genealogical website for records, resources, and services in family history research. Arkansas Studies Institute, 6 p.m., free. 401 President Clinton Ave. 501-320-5792.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. The River Market Pavilions turn into an outdoor ice skating rink for the holidays. For hours and more information, visit holidaysinlittlerock.com. River Market Pavilions, through Jan. 9, 2011, $8. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

We will have ALL

Razorback games!

PPV or not, we will have it!

We have NFL Sunday ticket and ESPN Gameplan.

Come watch your favorite college or pro team!

• Lunch specials Monday through Friday • Happy Hour 4-7p.m • Kitchen open till midnight.

No Cover!

Where friends get together!

Live Music Thurs, Fri & Sat Nights!

11321 W. Markham St. Ste 6 • www.markhamst.com We are smoke friendly, so 21 and up please.

David Morrissey. The executive director of the United States International Council on Disabilities will discuss the state of human rights in America.

To reserve seats, call 683-5239 or e-mail publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu. Clinton School of Public Service, 12 p.m., free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.

Dr. Carl Moneyhon. The Civil War scholar delivers his lecture, “Abraham Lincoln, the Constitution, and Public Opinion” as part of the 2010 Dishongh Distinguished Lecture Series. For reservations, call 918-3032 or e-mail mmurray@cals.org. Main Library, 6:30 p.m., free. 100 S. Rock St. www.cals.lib.ar.us.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10 Music

Afterglow. Flying Saucer, 9 p.m., $3. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-7468. www.beerknurd.com/ stores/littlerock.

Alize. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m., $5. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www.foxandhound.com/ locations/north-little-rock.aspx.

Arkansas Chamber Singers: “Bach to Christmas.” Trinity Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $10-$15 adv., $12-$18 d.o.s. 4501 Rahling Rd. Ben Coulter’s Delta Outlaws. Town Pump, 10 p.m., $3. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road. 501-6639802.

Brian and Terri Kinder. Faulkner County Library, 6 p.m., free. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org.

DJ Ja’Lee. Sway, 8 p.m., $5. 412 Louisiana. 501-9072582.

Donna Massey & the Blue Eyed Soul (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.

“An Evening of Jazz” with Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers. The Peabody Little Rock, 9 p.m., $10-$15. 3 Statehouse Plaza. 501-906-4000. www.peabodylittlerock.com.

Hip Hop Showcase. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m.

211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows. homestead.com.

The King’s Singers. Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $25-$45. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-4435600.

Kingsdown, Jay Calhoun, Free Micah, Walking Lawsuits. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., $5. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

Lucious Spiller Band. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Number Two With Me and Hugh. Midtown Billiards, Dec. 11, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com.

The Paperboys. Markham Street Grill And Pub, 9 p.m. 11321 W. Markham St. 501-224-2010. www. markhamst.com.

Rena Wren. Capi’s, 8:30 p.m., free. 11525 Cantrell, Suite 917. 501-225-9600. www.capisrestaurant. com.

The See, Catskill Kids, Reptar. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www. myspace.com/whitewatertavern.

Shannon McClung. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, Dec. 10-11, 8:30 p.m., free. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-3767468. www.cregeens.com.

The Shotgun Billies. Reno’s Argenta Cafe, 9 p.m.

312 N. Main St., NLR. 501-376-2900. www.renosargentacafe.com.

Subdue. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m., $5. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www. westendsmokehouse.net.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 W. President Clinton Ave. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Thomas East. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, Dec. 10-11, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-3242999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Thread. Thirst n’ Howl, 9 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road.

501-379-8189. www.tnhrocks.com.

Tim Meitzen. Grumpy’s Too, Dec. 10-11, 8:30 p.m., free. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

Tonya Leeks & Co.. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7.

2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Tragikly White. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-3151717.

Unseen Eye. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 9 p.m., $5. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub. com.

Zodiac: Sagittarius Edition with DJ Ewell, Sex With Robots, Joel H, Andy Sadler. Revolution, 9 p.m., $10. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Comedy

Mike Speenburg. The Loony Bin, Dec. 10, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Dec. 11, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. www.loonybincomedy. com.

Red Octopus Presents: “Pagans on Bobsleds XIX: The Spawn of Santa.” The Public Theatre, through Dec. 11, 8 p.m., $10. 616 Center St. 501-3747529. www.thepublictheatre.com.

events

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

Food for Fines. See Dec. 9.

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. 800 Scott St. “The 6th Ever Nog-Off.” Seven contestants vie their holiday drink recipes against each other in the annual egg nog contest. For more information, call 324-9351 or visit historicarkansas.org. Historic Arkansas Museum, 5 p.m., free. 200 E. Third St. 501-324-9351. www.historicarkansas.org.

Ozark Christmas Feast. Food, dancing and music from Sylamore Crossing. For more information, visit ozarkfolkcenter.com. Ozark Folk Center State Park, 5:30 p.m., $50. 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

Benefits

“DYSC’s Big Gay Variety Show.” A benefit for the Center for Artistic Revolution’s youth and young adult program. For more information, call 244-9690 or e-mail artchangesu@yahoo.com. Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, 7 p.m. 1818 Reservoir Road.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 musiC

Apple Kahler & The Hoodoo Goddess. Thirst n’ Howl, 9 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.tnhrocks.com.

Billy D. Reno’s Argenta Cafe, 9 p.m. 312 N. Main St., NLR. 501-376-2900. www.renosargentacafe. com.

Brandon Clendenin Benefit Show. Downtown Music Hall, 4 p.m., $10. 211 W. Capitol. 501-3761819. downtownshows.homestead.com.

Brothers With Different Mothers. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 9 p.m., $5. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-3741782. cstonepub.com.

Burning Everafter, Sychosys, Judgemental.

Maxine’s, 9 p.m., $5. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

DJ Ja’Lee. Sway, 8 p.m., $5. 412 Louisiana.

501-907-2582.

The Freds. Juanita’s, 9:30 p.m., $7. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Iron Tongue, Wicked Good. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.myspace. com/whitewatertavern.

“The Jam Session” with Epiphany, Gina Gee,

Comedy

Mike Speenburg. The Loony Bin, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. www.loonybincomedy.com.

Red Octopus Presents: “Pagans on Bobsleds XIX: The Spawn of Santa.” The Public Theatre, 8 p.m., $10. 616 Center St. 501-374-7529. www. thepublictheatre.com.

Second City’s “Dysfunctional Holiday Revue.”

Walton Arts Center, 6 and 9 p.m., $23-$33. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

danCe

Ballet Arkansas: “The Nutcracker.” The Ballet Arkansas dance company presents the holiday ballet classic. For tickets or more information, call 223-5150 or visit arkansassymphony.org. Robinson Center Music Hall, Dec. 11, 7 p.m.; Dec. 12, 3 p.m., $45-$52. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

events

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

“Christmas in the Wild.” Little Rock Zoo, 9:30 a.m., $10-$15. 1 Jonesboro Dr. 501-666-2406. www. littlerockzoo.com.

Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell & Cedar Hill Roads.

Food for Fines. See Dec. 9.

“Holiday Hayride.” A park interpreter-led ride through the woods around Pinnacle Mountain.

For more information, call 868-5806 or visit arkansasstateparks.com/PinnacleMountain. Pinnacle Mountain State Park, 3 p.m., $5-$10. 11901 Pinnacle Valley Road. 501-868-5806.

Holiday Tour of Homes 2010. A guided tour of the finest homes Little Rock has to offer, from Chenal to the Heights. Proceeds benefit “Art to Go.” For tickets or more information, call 821-7275 or visit wildwoodpark.org. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 10 a.m. p.m., $25 adv., $30 d.o.e.

20919 Denny Rd.

Books

Bill Jones. The author introduces three new illustrated holiday comics, including “A Christmas Carol.”

WordsWorth Books & Co., 1 p.m., free. 5920 R St. Matt Mosler. The news anchor presents his newest book, “Way Off Base.” WordsWorth Books & Co., 3 p.m. 5920 R St. Paul Irby. The author discusses and signs copies of his new book, “Bad Judgment.” Faulkner County Library, 2 p.m., free. 1900 Tyler St., Conway.

501-327-7482. www.fcl.org.

tHuRsDay, DecemBeR 9 tHe LegeNDaRy t-moDeL foRD w/BiLL aBeL fRiDay, DecemBeR 10 tHe see ReptaR tHe catskiLL kiDs satuRDay, DecemBeR 11 iRoN toNgue wickeD gooD

Now Serving Lunch Friday’s from 11-2pm

myspace.com/whitewatertavern Little Rock’s Down-Home Neighborhood Bar

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

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 musiC

Arkansas Chamber Singers: “Bach to Christmas.” Pulaski Heights Methodist Church, 3 p.m., $12-$18. 4823 Woodlawn Dr. “Climax” with Cruise Control, Mike Blaze, DJ Swagger. Ernie Biggs, 9 p.m. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Little Rock Wind Symphony: “Christmas Extravaganza.” Second Presbyterian Church, 3 p.m., $5-$10. 600 Pleasant Valley Dr. Living Sacrifice, The Showdown, Becoming the Archetype, To Speak of Wolves, As They Sleep. Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m., $13 adv., $15 d.o.s. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com.

“S.I.N. Sundays” with Androids of Ex-Lovers, Ginsu Wives, Pilot Whale. Ernie Biggs, 9 p.m., $4. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

“Sunday Funday” dance party. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Sunday Jazz Brunch with Ted Ludwig and Joe Cripps. Vieux Carre, 11 a.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.vieuxcarrecafe.com.

danCe

Ballet Arkansas: “The Nutcracker.” See Dec. 11.

events

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

Food for Fines. See Dec. 9.

“Holiday at the Arsenal.” Food, music, arts and crafts, all open to the public. For more information, call 376-4602 or visit arkmilitaryheritage.com.

MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 1 p.m. 503 E. 9th St. 376-4602. www.arkmilitaryheritage.com.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

Books

Judson Hout. The author appears to sign copies of his new book, “The Ghost of Bud Parrott.”

WordsWorth Books & Co., 3 p.m. 5920 R St.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13 musiC

The Four Reps, The Little Rock Company.

Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 7 p.m. 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. www.therep.org.

Infernaeon, Mobile Deathcamp. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $8 adv., $10 d.o.s. 211 W. Capitol.

501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com.

Monday Night Jazz with Ken Walker, Rex Bell, Steve Struthers, Tom Cox, Dave Rogers. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., $10. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Traditional Irish Music Session. Khalil’s Pub, Fourth and second Monday of every month, 7 p.m.

110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com.

Comedy

Underground Comedy Show. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8:30 p.m., free. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Continued on page 25

support your community Small Town

Now Open In The River Market!

500 President Clinton Ave. 501-375-2537

Dec. 18: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., $27-$63. Verizon Arena. 800-7453000, ticketmaster.com.

Dec. 22: Lucero, Cory Branan. 9 p.m., $16.

Revolution, 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-8230090, revroom.com.

Dec. 23: The Big Cats. White Water Tavern, 2500 W. 7th. 375-8400, myspace.com/ whitewatertavern.

Dec. 31: Hayes Carli. 9:30 p.m., $18.

Revolution, 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-8230090, revroom.com.

Live Music

sports

Philander Smith Lady Panthers vs. Paul Quinn College. Philander Smith College, 3 p.m.

900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

Philander Smith Men’s Basketball vs. Paul Quinn College. Philander Smith College, 5 p.m.

900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

UALR Men’s Basketball vs. Ole Miss. UALR, Jack Stephens Center, 2 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave.

UndErgroUnd

Concert tickets through Ticketmaster by phone at 975-7575 or online at www.ticketmaster.com unless otherwise noted.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

For EvEry Prohibition, thErE is An

UpCOMiNg EvENTS

Stacey Avery, One Night Stand. Mediums Art Lounge, 9 p.m., $10. 521 Center St. 501-3744495.

Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Alan Hunt Band, Josh Newcom. Revolution, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-8230090. revroom.com.

Justin Moore. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $25. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-4424226.

Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub. com.

Mare Carmody. Java Roasting Cafe, 7 p.m. 6725 John F. Kennedy Blvd., NLR. Max Taylor & The Blue Katz. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m., $5. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.westendsmokehouse.net.

Mr. Happy. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m., $5. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www.foxandhound.com/locations/north-little-rock.aspx.

Mudflap Kings (headliner), Jim Mills (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.

Pope County Bootleggers. Midtown Billiards, Dec. 12, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com.

Ramona Smith and Co.The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www. afterthoughtbar.com.

Ryan Couron. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

Sean Austin. Flying Saucer, 9 p.m., $3. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-7468. www.beerknurd.com/stores/littlerock.

Shannon McClung. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 8:30 p.m., free. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www. cregeens.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 W. President Clinton Ave. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Thomas East. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m.

500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Tim Meitzen. Grumpy’s Too, 8:30 p.m., free. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

Typhoid Mary. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 21

Union Bistro

NEIGHBORHOOd EATS ANd dRINKS Live Music Mon and Tues 10pm –Close Happy Hour Mon- Thurs 4 to 6 Daily Drink Specials Including $1.50 Drafts • Full Dinner Menu until 12:30am

NOW BOOKING CHRISTMAS PARTIES CAll ABOuT NEW YEAR’S EvE

CINdy MoMChIlov

3421 Old Cantrell Road Little Rock, Arkansas 72202 • (501) 353-0360

No No oneone should taketake birthdays for granted.

That’s whywhy we support the best ideasideas of the cancer should birthdays for granted.

That’s we support the best ofbrightest the brightest cancer researchers. With each new discovery, we’re getting closer to a world with more birthdays. See how you can researchers. With each new discovery, we’re getting closer to a world with more birthdays. See how you can help at morebirthdays.com. Or call 1-800-227-2345. Together we’ll stay well, get well, find cures and fight back.

help at morebirthdays.com. Or call 1-800-227-2345. Together we’ll stay well, get well, find cures and fight back.

‘A CHRISTMAS STORY’: Jason Harper and Cole Ewing star.

n theaterreview ‘A Christmas Story’ Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Dec. 3

The Little Rock Zoo presents the premiere of

Café Africa Dec. 31st, 8 p.m. to Midnight $75 per person Includes all beverages and food Entertainment by Shannon Boshears Band

PRESENTED BY

Get full details at www.littlerock

22 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

.com

n The potency of nostalgia is in full, charming and funny view at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Story.” Interesting that the nostalgia is for Christmas in the 1940s, which likely only tickles the memories of a small portion of the audience. But many more are likely nostalgic over the movie “A Christmas Story,” which came out in 1983 and fairly soon after was recognized as an American holiday staple.

The Rep’s production, directed by Nicole Capri, does right by “A Christmas Story” mostly thanks to sharp-eyed casting. It’s been a good few months for Arkies on the Rep stage with Avery Clark’s searing Hamlet and now Jason Harper’s warm take on Ralph, who narrates the story of his younger self’s pursuit of the holy grail of Christmas gifts — a Red Ryder BB gun. In the movie, the narrator is an off-screen voice, but in the play Harper is practically on stage the entire time and fills out a couple of smaller roles as well. Harper is an understated presence (with, naturally, for a former TV personality, a commanding voice) and finds and lands many of the script’s numerous jokes.

It’s probably no surprise that Capri, who leads the Rep’s popular summer theater program for kids, has found a number of capable local young actors to

fill the roles of Ralphie, his friends and the two bullies that make his life miserable. As Ralphie, Cole Ewing has an expressive face that registers the ups and downs (his triumphant moment when his Christmas wish comes true is especially great) with great precision. Laura Medford doesn’t have a particularly big part as Mrs. Shields, Ralphie’s excitable teacher, but she makes every moment she has count. Bill Timoney as Ralphie’s dad (credited as “Old Man” in the program) has lots of highlights but might register the biggest laugh in the show with a welltimed local reference.

In comparing the film to the play, the play comes across less frantic, a little more focused on Ralphie’s family and perhaps not as hilarious from beginning to end. There are parts that come across more clearly on stage at the Rep, such as Ralphie’s odd brother Randy hiding under everything in sight and the Old Man’s love for turkey being so sharp because of being constantly fed meat loaf and red cabbage dinners. While “A Christmas Story” is loaded with references to “The Lone Ranger,” Esso stations, Simonize and other relics of the past, the dream of receiving the perfect gift on Christmas day is a notion that will never grow old.

“A Christmas Story” has something to say about that and about how a family can survive the special insanity of the American Christmas — long may it wave.

— Werner Trieschmann

New on Rock Candy n Little Rock director Jeff Nichols’ second feature film, “Take Shelter,� has been selected to compete at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It’s one 16 dramatic films — selected from more than 1,000 — that will screen Jan. 20-30. From the Sundance webpage description of the film: “A working-class husband and father questions whether his terrifying dreams of an apocalyptic storm signal something real to come or the onset of an inherited mental illness he’s feared his whole life.�

Michael Shannon, who starred in Nichols’ debut “Shotgun Stories� and was nominated for an Oscar last year, stars again, along with Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham and Katy Mixon.

Much has changed, according to owner Scott Harris. For one, it’s dropped all things British pub, including the word “pub� in its name; now it’s simply, The Underground. No more British pub food either. The menu is now solely the burgers and fried food variety of bar grub and only available for dinner, daily. The new look of the bar is dive-y, Harris said.

The interior is all black, 4,000 Christmas lights are hanging from the ceiling and Prohibition-themed decor lines the walls. “If Deep and Midtown had a baby, this is what it would look like,� Harris said.

On the music front, Harris said he’s planning on hosting less dance-y pop and more harder rock from local bands on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and possibly Tuesday night in the near future.

n Last week, The Underground Pub, the 12-year-old bar and venue underneath Bosco’s in the River Market, celebrated a grand reopening following a makeover.

n Time’s tickin’, y’all.

We’re looking for local acts to enter our annual battle of the bands, the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, to

be held beginning Jan. 27 of next year at Sticky Fingerz and concluding on March 4 at Revolution. As usual, the contest is open to any act (solo or group) in Arkansas that specializes in original material.

We encourage comers from all genres.

Christmas Eve is the deadline for submission. Uploading artist/band info and mp3s of your material online, via a link at arktimes.com/showcase11, is the easiest method. We’ve also got an entry form in the paper, so, if you’re averse to the digital world, you can fill out that form and mail it and a CD in.

The way the competition works: Reps from the Times and Sticky Fingers/Rev whittle the submissions down to a group of semi-finalists, then each week, four acts square off before five judges (four regular judges and one weekly guest judge). Each week’s winner moves on to the finals.

Write showcase@arktimes.com with questions.

pet land

"

5V]LTILY +LJLTILY 6WLUPUN YLJLW[PVU 5V]LTILY WT WT

01&/*/( 3&$&15*0/ /PWFNCFS t QN QN

,SLHUVY +PJRPUZVU

! !

""" "

&MFBOPS %JDLJOTPO /PWFNCFS %FDFNCFS

Jon Etienne Mourot

,"7"/"6() #-7% t -*55-& 30$, "3 t

888 #048&--.06305 $0.

Glitter Jesus: Putting Christ Back in Xmas

OPENING RECEPTION December 11, 2010 • 6 - 9 pm Musical Guests Slim Christmas & Yuletide Carol 5815 KAVANAUGH BLVD LITTLE ROCK, AR 72207

Continued from page 17

(501) 664.0030 WWW.BOSWELLMOUROT.COM

an t

JanE ColClasuRE

your sp ar lose e

?

w

to

bor, and the first time I talked to Stephanie, I felt like I’d known her forever; she was so comforting.�

Brushing pine needles off the granite marker, Menefee sighs, “We just got her monument today.�

Some of the names of the dead read like a list of Seven Dwarfs castoffs — Winky, Pokey, Little Bit — while others range from the regal, Prince von Eric Turner, to the more commonplace Spot. Still others inspire curiosity. Just who was this Mr. Poncho? Was Shawnette a frisky terrier? Luther a steely-eyed Weimaraner?

A few gravesites offer small glimpses into the lives of pets past: A stuffed bear — mud-splattered, deflated and damp — lies on the ground lashed to the gravemarker with a leash; a garden-gnome-size, weathered bulldog stands guard atop a monument, protruding underbite forever frozen in time; elsewhere solemn stone angels, eyes downcast, keep vigil.

Species who perhaps never mingled in this life peacefully reside together now.

In addition to dogs and cats, birds, guinea pigs, ferrets and bunnies also call this their final resting place. (So far, there are no reptiles.)

Stephanie recalls one of her first clients in the early ’80s, a couple from the Air Force Base who were grieving the loss of their beloved guinea pig, Rocky Hubert Smith. She offered to plant some tulips on his grave, and when she asked what color they preferred, the teary-eyed wife

tire

CINdy MoMChIlov

A&E NE ws

answered without hesitation, “Orange. It was his favorite color.� Stephanie, smiling, shakes her head, “They loved that little guinea pig like it was a dog.�

Stephanie attends to pet owners’ every need, and even performs a graveside service for those who want one. “Most times, people want to be there for the burial. I often read a prayer. Last week a family came for their cat’s burial, complete with a printed program and various readings, songs and prayers. Sometimes a pastor or priest accompanies the family.�

At the funeral of a Doberman pinscher, who was a retired patrol dog from a Memphis prison, the owner chose to recite T.S. Eliot and play Wagner.

Long-time client Sharon Bowling, wearing a Christmas sweatshirt with pup-

pies on it, has five dogs buried here, the first in 1971. “I love this place; it’s everything to me,� she says. Bowling produces a stack of photos of her “babies� from her purse. She lingers over one of her recently deceased 14-year-old lab mix, Chance, her gravelly voice quavering as she says, “There’s my honey boy. I miss him so much, he was my best boy . . . my best boy.�

When it comes time for Starnes to go on to that great pet park in the sky, her friend, Carrie Schatz, mother of the bellbedazzled German shepherd, will inherit the cemetery — a responsibility she’s more than happy to assume. For both women, Pet Land is a labor of love. Starnes reflects, “When my own dogs died it helped me to know they were buried with other pets who were loved.�

THE BIG SALE GoInG on now for A LImITEd TImE!

Join now and receive a 6 month membership absolutely free to give yourself or a friend! (a $454 value) Give the gift of a better life this season!

fitnesscenter

jp fitness center

425 W Capitol Ave, 29th Floor Little Rock, AR 72201 Info@jpfitnesscenter.com www.jpfitnesscenter.com Offer valid fOr a limited time Only.

Certain restriCtiOns apply.

www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 23

2nd Friday Art Night at the ASI Galleries

Friday, December 10, 2010, 5 to 8 p.m.

Browse our expanded Arkansas Artists Retail Gallery and shop locally this holiday season!

Plus, enjoy refreshments and live music!

Art from The ArtGroup Maumelle All Arkansas Artists

Complimentary hot cocoa and holiday treats.

The 2nd Friday Of Each Month Dec 10, 5-8 pm

Arkansas Studies Institute (401 President Clinton Ave.), located on the Main Library campus in the River Market District.

Central Arkansas Library System • The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies • www.butlercenter.org/art

Join Us For Our Inaugural Exhibit At Our New Location!

Exhibition Catalogue Release

PIONEERS OF THE PAINT: Masters of the 19th Century Robert Scott Duncanson ( 1821-1872) Edward Mitchell Bannister ( 1828-1901) Charles Ethan Porter (1847- 1923) Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859- 1937) Original Works on Paper & Canvas Exhibition Dates : November 12, 2010 - January 15, 2011 Exhibition Receptions: Friday December 10, 2010 5-8 Living History Presentations & 19th century music: Friday December 10, 2010 5 pm – 8pm & Saturday, December 11, 2010 11 a - 4 p

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!

FREE PARKING at 3RD & CUMBERLAND

FREE STREET PARKING ALL OVER DOWNTOWN AND BEHIND THE RIVER MARKET (Paid parking available for modest fee.)

1001 Wright Ave. Suite C 501-372-6822 www.hearnefineart.com

th

6

Ever Nog-Off

A Friendly Eggnog Competition

• Opening for artist Adrienne Cullins

Sponsored by 521 President Clinton Avenue River Market District • (501) 975-9800

• Live music by The Smittles • Shop local in our Museum Store

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

Tree TrimminG & HolidaY Art NiGht Celebrate the holiday season with neighbors and friends of The Bernice Sculpture Garden @ the corner of Daisy Bates & Main St. in downtown Little Rock.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10 5:00 - 8:00pm

Live music, food for sale by TheFoodTruck, art booths, and warm beverages. Bring an ornament to hang on the tree. For details, email villagecommonslr@gmail.com

Gypsy Bistro 501.375.3500

200 S. Commerce, , Ste. 150 River Market District (OldVermillion Location)

A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

200 E. 3rd St. • 501-324-9351 • www.HistoricArkansas.org

ArtLounge

Mediums

Featured Artists

Gabriel Griffith • Bryan Wolfe 521 Center St. • (501) 374-4495

calendar

Continued from page 21

EvEnts

Adult Cooking Class: Sushi. Jason Knapp teaches the fundamentals of sushi making. For reservations or more information, call 664-6900 or e-mail eggshellskitchencompany@gmail.com. Eggshells Kitchen Co., 6:30 p.m., $50. 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

sports

Philander Smith Men’s Basketball vs.

Southern Arkansas University. Philander Smith College, 4 p.m. 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14 Music

Crowbar, Black Tusk, Rwake, Knee Deep.

Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s.

211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows. homestead.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Karaoke Night. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Karaoke Tuesday. Prost, 8 p.m., free. 120 Ottenheimer. 501-244-9550.

Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

Lucious Spiller Band. Copeland’s, 6-9 p.m. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. 501-312-1616. www.copelandsofneworleans.com.

Nocturnal. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $3. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Soulfly, Straightline Stitch. George’s Majestic Lounge, 8 p.m., $18. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville.

479-442-4226.

Tequila Tuesdays with DJ Hy-C. Bill St. Grill and Pub, 8:30 p.m. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-3531724.

Toubab Krewe, Cas Haley. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $8 adv., $10 d.o.s.

107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

“Young Frankenstein.” Mel Brooks’ wicked re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend follows bright young Dr. Fronkensteen as he attempts to create a monster. Walton Arts Center, Dec. 14-16, 7 p.m.; Dec. 17, 8 p.m.; Dec. 18, 2 and 8 p.m.; Dec. 19, 2 and 7 p.m., $39-$49. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

DancE

“Latin Night.” Revolution, 7 p.m., $5 regular, $7 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.revroom.com.

EvEnts

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

FilM

“White Christmas.” Market Street Cinema, 7 p.m., $5, kids free. 1521 Merrill Drive. 501-312-8900. www. marketstreetcinema.net.

sports

UALR Women’s Basketball vs. St. Mary’s.

UALR, Jack Stephens Center, 7 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15 Music

Acoustic Open Mic with Kat Hood. The Afterthought, 8 p.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-6631196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Bolly Open Mic Hype Night with Osyrus Bolly and DJ Messiah. All American Wings, 9 p.m. 215 W. Capitol Ave. 501-376-4000. allamericanwings. com.

Brian & Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 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.

Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

Lucious Spiller Band. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Senders, Little League. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $6. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free.

111 W. President Clinton Ave. 501-374-7474. www. capitalhotel.com/CBG. “Young Frankenstein.” See Dec. 14.

coMEDy

Rick Gutierrez. The Loony Bin, Dec. 15-16, 7 p.m.; Dec. 17, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Dec. 18, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. www. loonybincomedy.com.

EvEnts

“Arkansas Heroes” Luncheon. American Red Cross of Arkansas and Verizon celebrate life-saving Arkansans. For tickets or more information, call 748-1030 or visit redcrosslittlerock.org. Doubletree Hotel, 11:30 a.m., $1,200. 424 W. Markham.

501-372-4371.

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16 Music

Big John Miller (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.

“V.I.P. Thursdays” with DJ Silky Slim. Sway, 8 p.m., $3. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Jonathan Wilkins and the Reparations. Sticky Fingerz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5.

107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Jovan Arellano. Grumpy’s Too, Dec. 16-17, 8:30 p.m., free. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-2259650.

Ol’ Puddin’head. Thirst n’ Howl, through Dec. 31: 8 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www. tnhrocks.com.

Smittle Band. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., $5.

2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

The Sword, Iron Tongue. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $10.

1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas. com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free.

111 W. President Clinton Ave. 501-374-7474. www. capitalhotel.com/CBG. “Young Frankenstein.” See Dec. 14.

Relax, Unwind, Refresh...

...with a one-hour full body massage from river Market MaSSage.

Owner Margaret Specht has over a decade of experience in massage therapy. She is certified in a wide range of modalities and specializes in sports performance. Located downtown in the River Market Tower, call for an appointment today!

501-993-3720

RiveR MaRket Massage SmallTown

Mon thru Sat by appointMent river Market tower 315 rock St.

giFt

bLe

a vaiL teS a a c i F i

cert

GET YOUR VERY OWN PICK ME UP, I’M FREE!

ONLY $15

T- S H I R T AVA I L A B L E AT 2616 KAVANAUGH HILLCREST 501.661.1167

Or call Phyllis at 375.2985 ext 364 or e-mail phyllis@arktimes.com

INVITES YOU AND A GUEST TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING OF

coMEDy

Rick Gutierrez. The Loony Bin, through Dec. 16, 7 p.m.; Dec. 17, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Dec. 18, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. www.loonybincomedy.com.

EvEnts

“Around the World Thursday”: Warsaw, Poland. The chefs at Forty Two present a fivecourse tasting menu alongside accompanying music, all from Poland. Clinton Presidential Center, 7 p.m., $27.95. 1200 President Clinton Avenue.

370-8000. www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

Antique/Boutique Walk. Shopping and live entertainment. Downtown Hot Springs, third Thursday of every month, 4-8 p.m., free. 100 Central Ave., Hot Springs.

Christmas Collection for Veterans’ Home.

See Dec. 9.

“River Market on Ice” 2010. See Dec. 9.

Wine Tasting with Bruce Cochran and James Cripps. The Afterthought, 5:30 p.m., $10.

2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

LOG ON TO ARKTIMES.COM BEGINNING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2 FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A COMPLIMENTARY PASS FOR TWO. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Employees of participating sponsors are ineligible. Please arrive early! Theatre is overbooked to ensure a full house.Seats are not guaranteed, are limited to theatre capacity and are first-come, first-served. Everyone entering the theatre must have a pass. This film is rated This film is rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images.

www.TrueGritMovie.com

Continued on page 28

RETRIBUTION DECEMBER 22ND www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 25

alliedim.com

Film: True Grit Paper: Arkansas Times Run Date: Thursday, December 2 Ad Size: 6.875x8.875

Friday, Dec 10 – Thursday, Dec 16

HELP WANTED ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

CELEBRATING OUR 10th YEAR!

TAMARA DREwE – R 2:00 4:20 7:00 9:15 Gemma Arterton, Roger Allam British Independent Spirit Awards

wELcoME To ThE RILEYS – R 1:45 4:15 6:45 9:15 James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo Sundance, Berlin, Los Angeles Film Festivals

LEAvINg – NR 2:00 4:20 7:00 9:00

Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi Lopez, Yvan Attal Cesar Awards

ThE gIRL who KIcKED ThE hoRNETS NEST – R 1:30 4:15 7:00 Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyquist

MoNSTERS – R 2:15 7:15

Whitney Able, Scott McNairy British Independent Film Awards

coNvIcTIoN – R 4:15 9:15

FREE wI FI IN ThE LobbY

Hillary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver Boston Film Festival

White Christmas • tues 12/14 • 7pm • ONLY $5 ToTAL bAD ASS & hELL oN whEELS 12/15 6pm dOubLe feature 9 PM ShowS FRI & SAT oNLY

NOW SERVING BEER & WINE EMAIL CINEMA8@CSWNET.COM FOR SPECIAL SHOWS, PRIVATE PARTIES & BUSINESS MEETINGS OR FILM FESTIVALS CALL (501) 223-3529 & LEAVE MESSAGE

501-312-8900 marketstreetcinema.net

1521 MERRILL DR.

hAve fun.

See reSultS!

ADMIRING THE VIEW: Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp star in ‘The Tourist.’

DEC. 3-5

movielistings All theater listings run Friday to Thursday unless otherwise noted.

Showtimes for Riverdale 10 were unavailable at press time. Check www.arktimes.com for updates. Market Street Cinema showtimes at or after 9 p.m. are for Friday and Saturday only.

Northside WomeN’s Boot Camp is the QuiCkest, easiest Way to Jumpstart your FitNess program.

A specialized program of fitness instruction, nutritional counseling provided by Certified Class Instructor LoCAtIon: Lakewood nLR, classes at 5:15am and 9:15am M,W,F

NeW WomeNs class at 9:15am call Kaytee Wright 501-607-3100 For more information and the Women’s Boot camp calendar, visit www.northsidefitness.net

Northside A c h i ev e . B e l i ev e . S u cc e e d.

FitNess

holiday speCials! please Call! it’s a great giFt For the holidays

26 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

NEW MOVIES The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG) — The latest adaptation of the beloved C.S. Lewis fantasy series. Breckenridge: 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:35 (3D); 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:00 (2D). Chenal 9: 11:00, 1:30, 4:05, 7:05, 9:35. Rave: 10:45, 11:15, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 3:45, 4:15, 4:45, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 9:15, 9:45, 10:15.

Tamara Drewe (R) — Stephen Frears adaptation of Posy Simmonds comic strip, itself a reworking of Thomas Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd.” Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 7:00, 9:15.

The Tourist (PG-13) — Johnny Depp place a hapless American abroad. Angelina Jolie plays a temptress super-spy. Things explode Breckenridge: 1:15, 4:40, 7:45, 10:10. Chenal 9: 11:10, 1:35, 4:10, 7:20, 9:55. Rave: 11:25, 12:25, 2:10, 3:00, 4:45, 5:45, 7:25, 8:25, 10:00, 11:00.

Welcome to the Rileys (R) — James Gandolfini plays a damaged man looking for salvation and possibly finding it in a teenage whore played by Kristen Stewart. Market Street: 1:45, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15.

RETURNING THIS WEEK Alpha and Omega (PG) — Two wolves try to find their way back home after being kidnapped from their pack. But things go awry when the two opposites attract. Voiced by Hayden Panettiere and Justin Long. Movies 10: 12:35, 2:55, 5:05, 7:25, 9:35.

Animalopolis (NR) — A half-hour film of goofy animals being goofy in enormous 3D. Aerospace IMAX: 11:00 (Thu.), 11:00 (Fri.).

Burlesque (PG-13) — A small-town girl from Iowa lands a job waitressing at a struggling Los Angeles burlesque club, and quickly takes the limelight as the revue’s star attraction. With Cher and Christina Aguilera. Breckenridge: 1:45, 4:25, 7:25, 10:05. Chenal 9: 11:05, 1:40, 4:20, 7:10, 9:40. Rave: 11:00, 2:05, 5:00, 7:50, 10:50.

Conviction (R) — A working mother puts herself through law school in order to defend her brother, wrongly charged for murder. With Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell. Market Street: 2:15, 9:15.

Despicable Me (PG) — A skittish criminal mastermind hiding in the suburbs plans to steal the moon, if only he can keep three orphaned girls

away. Movies 10: 12:30, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:50.

Due Date (R) — A tightly-wound father-tobe is forced to carpool cross-country with a clueless slacker so he can make it to his child’s birth on time. With Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Breckenridge: 4:10, 9:30. Rave: 12:05, 2:40, 5:35, 8:25, 11:10.

Easy A (PG-13) — A straight-laced, all-star high school student uses the school’s rumor mill to give her social life a boost in this loose adaptation of “The Scarlet Letter.” With Emma Stone. Movies 10: 12:25, 2:40, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30.

Fair Game (PG-13) — Director Doug Liman dives into the Valerie Plame controversy of 2003 in which White House officials outed a CIA agent.

Rave: 12:30, 3:10, 5:50, 8:35, 11:20.

Faster (R) — After being double-crossed during a heist years ago, an ex-con sets out to avenge his brother’s death while evading a hitman and a veteran cop. With Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton. Breckenridge: 1:05, 6:50.

Rave: 12:45, 3:15, 5:55, 8:30, 11:05.

For Colored Girls (R) — Tyler Perry adapts Ntozake Shange’s award-winning play about women of color for the big screen. With Janet Jackson. Rave: 10:40 p.m.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (R) — Cyber-genius Lisbeth Salander finds herself in the hospital after taking a bullet to the head and up for charges on attempted murder upon her release in the final chapter of the “Millenium Trilogy.” Market Street: 1:30, 4:15, 7:00.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (PG-13) — With Voldemort in control over Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, Harry, Ron and Hermione have to race against time to overthrow the evil lord. Breckenridge: 1:00, 1:35, 4:05, 4:35, 7:05, 7:40, 10:00. Chenal 9: 10:25, 1:25, 4:25, 7:25; 10:00, 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00 (IMAX). Rave: 12:20, 1:20, 3:50, 4:50, 7:10, 8:10, 10:30, 11:30.

Jack Goes Boating (R) — Philip Seymour Hoffman directs this multi-part love story in NYC. Movies 10: 12:20, 5:20, 10:10.

Leaving (R) — A woman in the south of France decides to go back to work as a physiotherapist, but falls in love with a carpenter her husband hired to build her office. With Kristin Scott Thomas.

Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 7:00, 9:15.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG) — Soren, a young, orphaned barn owl, joins a band of wise, noble owls to fight would-be conquerors. Movies 10: 1:25, 3:45, 6:05, 8:25 (2D); 12:15, 2:35, 4:55, 7:20, 9:40.

The Living Sea (UR) — Aerospace IMAX: A tour of the world’s oceans. 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. (Thu.), 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. (Fri.), 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. (Sat.) Love and Other Drugs (R) — A charming free spirit meets her match in a slick pharmaceutical salesman as their casual trysts turn into a budding relationship. With Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Breckenridge: 4:15, 7:35, 10:10.

Chenal 9: 11:15, 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50. Rave: 10:30, 1:15, 4:10, 7:05, 9:50.

Megamind (PG) — A blue, maniacal supervillain turns into a restless mess when his sworn superhero enemy is accidentally killed. Voiced

by Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt. Breckenridge: 1:40, 4:20, 7:10, 9:30. Chenal 9: 11:20, 2:05, 4:40, 7:25, 9:30. Rave: 11:20, 1:45, 4:20.

Monsters (R) — With half of Mexico quarantined after samples of alien life began to emerge on its shores, an intrepid American journalist agrees to inspect the dangerous terrain. Market Street: 2:15, 7:15.

Morning Glory (PG-13) — An accomplished television journalist has to revive a struggling morning show in spite of its always-bickering divas. With Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams.

Rave: 10:40 a.m.

My Soul to Take (R) — Sixteen years after his death, a serial killer returns to fulfill his final promise to murder the seven children born the night he died. Directed by Wes Craven. Movies 10: 12:00, 2:25, 4:50, 7:35, 10:15.

Nanny McPhee Returns (PG-13) — Emma Thompson plays Marry Poppins — with different tricks. Movies 10: 1:00, 4:15, 7:10, 9:45.

The Next Three Days (PG-13) — A college professor at his wit’s end decides to break his wife out of prison, years after she was wrongfully accused of a grisly murder. With Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. Rave: 7:15, 10:35.

Takers (PG-13) — Five meticulous bank robbers elude a hard-boiled detective so they can pull off one last heist. Movies 10: 12:10, 2:45, 5:10, 7:40, 10:05.

Tangled (PG) — Daring bandit Flynn Rider, Princess Rapunzel and Rapunzel’s 70 feet of hair find adventure and romance during their journey through the outside world. Voiced by Mandy Moore. Breckenridge: 1:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:45.

Chenal 9: 11:35, 2:00, 4:45, 7:30, 9:45. Rave: 12:10, 2:50, 5:40, 8:10; 11:10, 1:50, 4:25, 7:20, 9:55 (3D).

Thrill Ride (NR) — This IMAX movie takes viewers on some of the fastest, scariest roller coaster rides on earth. Aerospace IMAX: 1:00 (Thu.), 1:00, 8:00 (Fri.), 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 8:00 (Sat.).

The Town (R) — Ben Affleck directs and stars in this heist thriller as a ruthless, master bank robber stuck in a web of paranoia in urban Boston. With Jon Hamm. Movies 10: 12:45, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00.

Unstoppable (PG-13) — Denzel Washington has to stop an unmanned freight train full of explosives and poisonous gas from wiping out a city. Breckenridge: 1:50, 4:45, 7:45, 10:15.

Chenal 9: 11:30, 1:55, 4:35, 7:40, 10:05. Rave: 11:55, 2:35, 5:10, 7:35, 10:05.

The Warrior’s Way (R) — A warrior-assassin is forced to hide in a small town in the American badlands after refusing a mission. With Dong-gun Jang, Kate Bosworth. Breckenridge: 1:25, 4:50, 7:15, 9:40. Rave: 11:40, 2:20, 4:55, 7:40, 10:20.

White Christmas — The Bing Crosby holiday classic for one night only. Market Street: 7 p.m.

Tue. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (R) — Woody Allen’s latest. Movies 10: 2:50, 7:45.

Chenal 9 IMAX Theatre: 17825 Chenal Parkway, 821-2616, www.dtmovies.com.

Cinemark Movies 10: 4188 E. McCain Blvd., 9457400, www.cinemark.com.

Cinematown Riverdale 10: Riverdale Shopping Center, 296-9955, www.riverdale10.com.

IMAX Theater: Aerospace Education Center, 3764629, www.aerospaced.org.

Market Street Cinema: 1521 Merrill Drive, 3128900, www.marketstreetcinema.net.

Rave Colonel Glenn 18: 18 Colonel Glenn Plaza, 687-0499, www.ravemotionpictures.com.

Regal Breckenridge Village 12: 1-430 and Rodney Parham, 224-0990, www.fandango.com.

‘MONSTERS’: Whitney Able stars.

n moviereview ‘Monster’ mash Old skool movie, slick new FX. n To paraphrase that great sage and eminent philosopher, Bugs Bunny: Here we are in the future, and all the clams we can eat! As a student of film, one of the things I love about it here in the Far Off Year of 2010 is that the digital video revolution has made it where just about anybody can make a movie. I’m not talking about home videos of your kids opening their Christmas presents. I’m talking full length, deep focus, high definition, with pro-grade titles, lighting and special effects — all for a fair bit less than you’d spend on a good used Honda Accord.

Back in the days of film — as in, the stuff that’s collected in spools— making an independent movie was either an exercise in begging or going into deep credit card debt. No more. Not really.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

And this week’s proof is the very well-done indie sci-fi flick “Monsters,” by director Gareth Edwards. In the old days — the days of practical effects, model space ships and rubber monster suits — low-budget science fiction movies were prone to be either stark and spare (George Lucas’ “THX 1138”) or complete camp (Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 From

Outer Space”). Those days are over. “Monsters,” shot by a small crew with a very limited budget, is the new news: a sci-fi movie

by Hollywood outsiders that looks just as good as the $175 million summertime blockbusters.

Here’s the concept: Six years before the opening of the film, a space probe bringing back samples of newly-discovered alien life forms from Europa (a moon of Jupiter) broke apart over northern Mexico, scattering extraterrestrial spores over thousands of square miles. The creatures that sprang from that mishap are horrors: 300-foot-high, bioluminescent, tentacle waving monsters that look something like vast octopi that have given up the briny deep for a go at the land.

By the time we enter the fray, the creatures have multiplied exponentially, forcing the construction of a 500-foot wall on the U.S./Mexico border and leaving everything for 300 miles south of Texas a bombed-out, quarantined war zone where the monsters and the U.S. military routinely do battle.

When the creatures are attacked, they tend to gang up and get very nasty, as evidenced by the ruined cities seen throughout the film.

Enter stage left journalist Andrew Caulder (played by the epically-named Scoot McNairy), who is trying to make his big break into the world of war photography by entering the quarantine zone from the south and snapping shots of Army/monster rumbles.

After rushing to a city that was recently attacked by a creature, he gets a call from the publisher of the paper he works for and a directive: Find a way to get the publisher’s comely, do-gooder daughter Samantha (Witney Able) out of the war zone before the military expands the quarantine and strands her there. After their passports are stolen, which makes them miss the last boat out, Caulder and Sam are forced to hire armed men to help them make the dangerous trek across the red zone back to America.

Given how good it looks, the most surprising thing about “Monsters” is how it was shot: in Mexico, with a crew of two, using off-the-shelf cameras and mostly locals (many of whom apparently weren’t informed they were going to be in a movie) as extras. There was a rudimentary script, but the vast majority of the lines in the film were ad-libbed by Able and McNairy, which leads to some real chemistry.

On top of that, the special effects are really something special, particularly when you consider that every quarantine sign, every painted billboard advertising gasmasks, every tank, every jet, every helicopter, every Navy ship, every flash of machine gun fire and every 300-foot monster with flailing tentacles was added digitally in post-production. It all looks (on my computer screen where I watched the screener, anyway) photorealistic, with the real blending seamlessly into the fake. It’s enough to make you wonder if we’ll even need actors in another 20 years.

The best thing about “Monsters” might be the fact that even though Edwards and his team of effects elves could have easily put one of the creatures into every scene, he instead takes the Spielberg/”Jaws” route and shows a lot of restraint (there’s even a scene on a river which, if I’m not mistaken, is an homage to Spielberg’s big fish movie). As in “Jaws,” that technique builds quite a bit of tension over the course of the film, with the monsters always the Black Unknown lurking in the darkness and jungle deep.

While that manages to make the character-building scenes between McNairy and Able feel a bit like stuff you might fastforward through if you had a remote in your hand, “Monsters” is still worth the price of a ticket. With an old-school monster-movie plot, great special effects and some interesting things to say about mankind’s meddling in the natural world, it’s a good time at the movies.

— David Koon

complimentary shuttle service from area hotels

You don’t need a yacht If you have a big deck.

Cajun’s is the complete experience; from the food and drinks to the ambience and attentive service, we don’t miss a thing.

monday-saturday from 4:30 p.m. | www.cajunswharf.com | 2400 cantrell road | on the arkansas river | 501-375-5351 www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 27

calendar

Continued from page 25

This Week In Theater “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” An average day in the life of Charlie Brown, made up of little moments picked from all the days of the Peanuts gang, from Valentine’s Day to the baseball season. For tickets or more information, visit pockettheatre.com. Pocket Community Theater, through Dec. 12: Thu.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m., $5-$15. 170 Ravine St., Hot Springs.

“Boeing Boeing.” Bernard, a successful architect living in Paris, thinks he can easily cope with his three air hostesses, who all happen to be his fiancee, in this comic farce. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, through Dec. 31: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., $22-$30. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 562-3131, murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

“A Christmas Story.” A stage adaptation of the classic Christmas film in which Ralphie Porter, a young boy from an eccentric Indiana family, comes of age during the holidays. For tickets or more information, call 378-0405 or visit therep.org. Arkansas Repertory Theatre, through Dec. 17: Wed., Thu., 7 p.m.; Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 18, 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 19, 2 and 7 p.m.; through Dec. 2, 2 and 7 p.m.; Tue., Dec. 21, 7 p.m.; through Dec. 23, 2 and 7 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 25, 7 p.m., $20-$40. 601 Main St. 378-0405. www.therep.org.

“The Controversy of Valladolid.” Based on the infamous Spanish debates of 1550, the Jean-Claude Carriere play follows the Catholic Church debate on whether or not indigenous American natives were to be recognized as “children of God.” The Weekend Theater, through Dec. 18: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m., $10-$14. 1001 W. 7th St. 374-3761. www. weekendtheater.org.

“Ebony’zer Scrooge.” An African-American, modern day twist to Dickens’ Christmas classic, rewritten for the stage by Eric Shaw. UALR, Fri., Dec. 10, 7 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 569-8977. newbirthproductions.eventbrite.com “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!).” Tired of performing Charles Dickens’ beloved yuletide classic, three actors rebel and set out to perform every Christmas story ever told, from Frosty to the Grinch, Charlie Brown to George Bailey. Walton Arts Center, Fri., Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 11, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 12, 2 p.m., $22. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-4435600.

“The Gospel According to Scrooge.” Agape Church’s musical retelling of “A Christmas Carol.”

Agape Church, Fri., Dec. 10, 7 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 11, 2 and 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 12, 7 p.m., free. 701 Napa Valley Drive, 225-0612.

“Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!.”

Junie B. Jones and Room One are celebrating Christmas with carols and costumes, but Tattletale May keeps ruining Junie’s holiday glee. Arkansas Arts Center, through Dec. 19: Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., 1 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., $11-$14. MacArthur Park.

372-4000. www.arkarts.com.

“Miracle on 34th Street.” The Searcy dinner playhouse presents the holiday classic about a Macy’s department store Santa who believes he’s the real Mr. Claus. Center on the Square, through Dec. 18: Thu.-Sat., 6:15 p.m., $27. 111 W. Arch Ave., Searcy. 368-0111. www.centeronthesquare.org.

“Once Upon a Mattress.” A musical retelling of the “Princess and the Pea” fairy tale. Royal Theatre, through Dec. 12: Sun., 2 p.m., $5-$12. 111 S. Market St., Benton. theroyalplayers.com.

UCA Theatre “Festival of One Act Plays.”

Four nights of one act plays, chosen, performed and directed by members of the UCA Theatre program.

University of Central Arkansas, Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, through Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m., free.

201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. uca.edu/theatre

Galleries, Museums New exhibits, events

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: 42nd annual “Collectors Show and Sale,” works from more than 20 New York galleries, through Jan. 2; “Currents in Contemporary Art,” “Masterworks,” “Paul Signac Watercolors and 28 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Drawings,” ongoing. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000.

ARKANSAS STUDIES INSTITUTE, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” Main Gallery, through Jan. 28,” Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects exhibit, Mezzanine Gallery, through Jan. 29, 2011; “Making Pictures: Three for a Dime,” photographs and text by Maxine Payne, through Dec. 10. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5791.

BERNICE SCULPTURE GARDEN, Daisy Bates Drive and South Main Street: “Tree Trimming and Holiday Art Night,” music, food for sale by TheFoodTruck (bring your plates and utensils), art booths, warm beverages, bring ornament for tree, 5-8 p.m. Dec. 10. villagecommonslr@gmail.com.

BOSWELL-MOUROT FINE ART GALLERY, 5816 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Animal artists, silent auction of painting by spider monkeys and other Zoo inhabitants, fund-raiser in association with Little Rock Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, 6-9 p.m. Dec. 9. 664-0030.

HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. Third St.: “Adrienne Cullins: Black Market Kidney Factory,” paintings, opens Dec. 10, reception 5-8 p.m., 2nd Friday Art Night, with music by the Smittles and the “6th ever Nog-off Eggnog Competition: Le Cordon Bleu v. La Petite Roche” (traditionally won by the Peay nog); “All in the Touch,” sculpture by Diana B. Ashley and multi-media

by Scinthya Edwards, through Jan. 30; “Model Trains of Bill Albright,” Eclectic Collector show, through March 14, 2011. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $2.50 adults, $1.50, $1 children for tours of grounds. 324-9351.

LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St.: “All Aboard: Lionels at Laman,” hands-on train exhibit, Dec. 15-30; “Quilts and their Stories,” Arkansas Quilters Guild show, through Dec. 12.

758-1720.

MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS MILITARY HISTORY, MacArthur Park: “Arsenal Holiday Open House,” 12:30-4 p.m. Dec. 12, with choir performances, card decorating, cookies, punch; “In Search of Pancho Villa,” artifacts from soldiers of the period, medals and original sketches of the Mexican Punitive Expedition, the United States retaliatory action in 1916 against the Mexican general who attacked a small border town in New Mexico, through May 2011; “Warrior: Vietnam Portraits by Two Guys from Hall,” photos by Jim Guy Tucker and Bruce Wesson, through April 2011; exhibits on Arkansas’s military history. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602.

SEQUOYAH NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER, 500 University Plaza: Native American nativity scenes from the Dr. J.W. Wiggins Native American Art Collection, through Dec. 17 and Jan. 4-14. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., also 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 11. 569-8336.

SUDS GALLERY, Perry County Courthouse Square, Perryville: “The Artists’ View” by Local painters Dottie Morrissey, Alma Gipson, Al Garrett Jr., Phyllis Loftin, Alene Otts, Mauretta Frantz, Raylene Finkbeiner, Kathy Williams, Evelyn Garrett. Noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat. 501-766-7584. n Fayetteville UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, Mullins Library: Ashworth collection of Native American Art, through December.

WALTON ARTS CENTER, 495 W. Dickson St.: “Silent Poems: The Sculpture of Anita Huffington,” Joy Pratt Markham Gallery, through Dec. 23. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.

Ongoing gallery exhibits

BOSWELL-MOUROT FINE ART, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by Eleanor Dickinson.

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 6640030.

CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: “40th Anniversary Group Show,” work by 28 artists represented by the gallery, through Dec. 24. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335.

THE LEAGUE 9:30 p.m. Thursdays FX n When you think of fantasy football leagues you probably imagine the camaraderie between competing coworkers or the fun and fellowship derived from playing against family members. FX’s “The League” is not about that kind of fantasy football. The show follows five friends as they duke it out for bragging rights, in a dog-eat-dog, deceptionfueled competition to best one another that spills over into their everyday lives.

‘THE LEAGUE’: With Chad Ochocinco.

“The League” sports an all-star cast including “Human Giant” star Paul Scheer, YouTube sensation Jon LaJoie (check out his video, “Everyday Normal Guy” if you haven’t already), comedian Nick Kroll, Mark Duplass and Punk’d alum Stephen Rannazzisi. What used to be a nice followup to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has, in only its second season, become the main attraction on Thursday nights thanks to great writing and a cast of characters you feel like you’ve known since college.

Being a football fan only makes the trials and tribulations of these five that much more interesting although you certainly don’t have to keep up with the NFL to get the joke. But “The League” is ultimately a buddy comedy, at its best when we see the protagonists harass, harangue, embarrass, cajole, lampoon, insult, blackmail, trick, deceive and burn one another. Because, after all, that’s how guys show love.

— Gerard Matthews MYTHBUSTERS: THE PRESIDENT’S CHALLENGE 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12 The Discovery Channel n Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit that President Barack Obama has raised the intellectual bar in the White House quite a bit since he was sworn in. Where the previous occupant of the Oval Office was famously dim, Obama has been accused of actually being too smart, especially by

those who are able to imagine that glorious day when Sarah “North Korea is our ally” Palin assumes her rightful place as leader of the free world. For now, though, I’m pretty happy with the idea that somebody who chews with his mouth closed is president.

Call me crazy, but there’s something comforting about knowing that the guy with his finger on the nuclear button has probably read Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” And now I have a whole new reason to (heart) Barack: his appearance on the geekfest that is The Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters.”

While presidents have made appearances on television from time to time (Nixon’s bit part on “Laugh In” comes to mind), this is the first in memory where the commander in chief did it to make our lives better — to show kids that it’s OK to be a science nerd like the president. Here, Obama gets an audience with Mythbusters Jaime Hynemann and Adam Savage, and asks them to revisit one of their most popular myths: Archimedes’ Death Ray, which says that the Greek father of science found a way to set enemy ships ablaze with only a big magnifying mirror and the sun.

BRIDALPLASTY Sundays at 8 p.m.

E! n Exhibit A for why the E! Network should be scoured from the face of the earth and expunged from the historical record is that show where Joan Rivers and other funny-looking has-beens say things about celebrities that would make Santa Claus seriously think about suicide. Exhibit B, meanwhile, is the network’s new reality show “Bridalplasty.”

Like some bastard brainchild of Joseph Mengele and Martha Stewart, Bridalplasty features a bunch of pretty-good-lookingalready young ladies competing for — drumroll please — the right to be nipped, tucked, liposuctioned and acid-peeled into what our too-sick-to-exist society has convinced them is the picture of a perfect bride on her wedding day. I probably shouldn’t get so worked up over a television show about consenting adults hurting themselves. I don’t get mad, for instance, when the guys on “Jackass” get pummeled in the testicles for the millionth time. But I can’t help it. I’m uniquely offended by our wholly self-loathing idea that says all women (and, for that matter, men) have to look, laugh, dance, talk and smell exactly the same in order to be beautiful. That they’ve found 12 women — and probably got applications from thousands more — willing to compete in order to get (and I am in no way making this up, as these are from the women’s profiles on the E! website) their second toes shortened, gums reduced, inner knees liposuctioned and “suspicious looking” moles removed makes me very sad for our society. What’s next? Here’s an idea: “$100,000 Per Amputated Finger,” coming soon to E! — David Koon

A boy named

Pre-bowl bullets

By Derek Jenkins

n Ah, the fallow period between conference championships and the Udrove Humanitarian Bowl between Fresno State and Northern Illinois. What are you going to live for over the next two weeks?

I guess there’s family, but you’ve been neglecting them for the past 12-14 Saturdays, and they have their own routines established by now. Even your dog has learned to live without you.

• Saturday activities worth considering: 1). Finally Googling “Wikileaks” to see what that’s all about. 2). Chipping away at your Ship-in-a-Bottle. 3). Raking the damn lawn for once. 4). Playing catch-up with 2010’s New Year’s resolutions (Get real: there’s no way you’re learning Spanish in under a month).

5). Spa day!

• Of course, you’d rather station yourself at the computer and keep a watchful

eye out for anything you might perceive as a slight on Twitter. Somebody’s gotta keep the national media in check! Be sure to amp up the vociferousness for max effect! Overstatement is our ally! We may have a chip on our shoulder, but chips are delicious.

• And when you’re not busily defending Razorback honor against its many enemies, you’ll probably be wrapping your head around the national scene — no easy task in a year this chaotic.

Let’s start with the fact that every major conference is having a down year. The Big 12 is laughable. The Pac 10 has been uneven. The Big 10 might have always been a two-team conference, but this year just one team managed to perform with any consistency, if only capitalizing on the inconsistencies of the competition.

The SEC-East is in shambles. In fact, the

SEC-West seems to be the only concentration of elite competition in the country.

Exhibit A: Auburn vs. South Carolina.

ESPN did its best to build up Spurrier’s first appearance with the Gamecocks, but there’s no getting around their having been the beneficiaries of Georgia and Florida’s various foibles, especially after Auburn thrashed them with such ease.

Arkansas’s own Billy Bob Thornton did voiceover work for the SEC Championship game. By my estimate, it was his biggest role in more than five years. But how will history view his role? Is his the voice of last hurrah? Or a footnote in a down year?

Let’s talk about perception. SEC fans are notorious for their wild ideas about conference superiority, appealing to the SEC grind with a regularity bordering on the liturgical, but is the conference really all that good this year?

When Florida State thrashed Florida at home, you just know some diehard Wisconsin or Oklahoma State fan’s deepest held beliefs were confirmed. Those folks have been plugging their ears against an unrelenting S-E-C chant for going on a decade now and must have looked on with great satisfaction as the runner-up from a conference as weak as the ACC slayed that aging dragon.

Yes, all but two SEC teams head to

bowl games this post-season, but those match-ups are anything but auspicious, and lord knows SEC teams don’t turn up for anything less than the BCS. Still, the SEC best make a good showing if they don’t want that hard-earned benefit of the doubt to begin affecting preseason rankings.

Arkansas can do its part by socking national mainstay Ohio State in its mossy old jaw. The LSU game was as good a rehearsal as any: a better, faster and more tested defense; a talented, athletic, but ill-served quarterback; a similar sense of entitlement that here outpaces accomplishment.

I’ll spend the next couple weeks watching Ohio State plow their way through poor competition, of course keying on the Wisconsin game, as that’s the only credible offense their vaunted defense has faced.

Oh, the smugness. That’s your privilege, Hog fans. This team is a legitimate BCS contender, no matter that they managed to sneak in the back door, and nothing should get between you and a self-satisfied smile between now and Jan. 4. After all, you spectated real good all season long.

Follow Derek Jenkins throughout the week and during games on Twitter @aboynamedsooie.

www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 29

Don’t Miss Our Annual Saturday

Holiday Artist Market!

EvERy SAtuRDAy thRough DEC • NooN-3pM Come have a fantastic lunch and buy original artwork from local artists who will be on hand to talk to.

Buffet Buffet & Lunch Mon-Sat 11-3:30 Adults $7.35 Children (3-5) $3 (6-10) $4.50

411 Main St. • Argenta Arts District • Downtown North Little Rock

www.StarvingArtistCafe.net

Dinner Mon-Sat 4-9:30 Adults $10.95 Children (3-5) $4 (6-10) $5.50

Now Playing Boeing Boeing

Sunday All Day $10.95 Seniors 60+ 10% Discount Party Room Available

Now - December 31

The hilarious comedy!

Shackleford Crossing Center Interstate 430 2604 South Shackleford Suite G Little Rock, AR 72205 (501) 224-8100

TOO BUSY TO COOK? T

aziki’s can make life a little easier! Call ahead and then pick up a fresh and delicious family feast. Our Fresh Feasts For 4 come with your choice of a whole baked chicken, sliced leg of lamb, roasted pork loin or grilled chicken breast. They include a big classic Greek salad, pita bread and basmati rice or roasted new potatoes.

YUM!

C

heck out our crowdpleasing catering menu, delivered to you for groups of 10-500. Or, come in and enjoy our fast, friendly service.

· Covered Deck (available for private parties) · Happy Hour 11 - 6 · Great Selection of Wine and Beer Open 7 days Sunday-Thursday 11 - 8 • Friday & Saturday 11 - 9

8200 Cantrell Road (across from Pavilion in the Park) 501 227-TAZ1 (8291) www.tazikiscafe.com 30 December 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Season Tickets and Gift Certificates on Sale!

Colonel Glenn & University • murrysdinnerplayhouse.com • 562-3131

n Time is ticking. The deadline to vote in our annual Readers Choice Restaurant Poll is less than one week away. It closes on Wednesday, Dec. 15.

Vote online via arktimes.com/readerschoice2011. The results will appear in mid-February next year. n Koto, a Japanese restaurant at 17200 Chenal Parkway, is soon to be reborn as Papa Sushi, with a tagline that reads Bistro-Teppanyaki-Sushi. A peek in the window suggests it’s soon to open, but so far, no one has answered at Koto’s old number 821-3972.

Restaurant capsules Every effort is made to keep this listing of some of the state’s more notable restaurants current, but we urge readers to call ahead to check on changes on days of operation, hours and special offerings. What follows, because of space limitations, is a partial listing of restaurants reviewed by our staff. Information herein 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.

Restaurants are listed in alphabetical order by city; Little Rock-area restaurants are divided by food category. Other review symbols are:

B Breakfast

L Lunch

D Dinner

$ Inexpensive (under $8/person)

$$ Moderate ($8-$20/person)

$$$ Expensive (over $20/person)

CC Accepts credit cards

Little Rock/ N. Little Rock American 65TH STREET DINER Blue collar, meat-and-two-veg lunch spot with cheap desserts and a breakfast buffet. But hurry — breakfast closes down at 9 a.m. on the dot, and the restaurant doesn’t reopen until 10 a.m. for lunch. 3201 West 65th St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-7800. BL Mon.-Fri. ACADIA A jewel of a restaurant in Hillcrest. Wonderful soups and fish dishes. Extensive wine list. Affordable lunch menu.

3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630.

LD Mon.-Fri. D Sat. BIG ROCK BISTRO Students of the Arkansas Culinary School run this restaurant at Pulaski Tech under the direction of Chef Jason Knapp. Pizza, pasta, Asian-inspired dishes and diner food, all in one stop. 3000 W. Scenic Drive. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-812-2200. BL Mon.-Fri. BLACK ANGUS Charcoal-grilled burgers, hamburger steaks and steaks proper are the big draws at this local institution. 10907 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-7800. BLD Mon.-Sat. BOBBY’S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty homemade deserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Thu.-Fri. BOSCOS This River Market brewery does food well, too.

Along with tried and true things like sandwiches, burgers, steaks and big salads, they have entrees like black bean and goat cheese tamales, open hearth pizza ovens and muffalettas. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-907-1881. LD daily.

BOUDREAUX’S GRILL & BAR A homey, seat-yourself Cajun joint in Maumelle that serves up all sorts of variations of shrimp and catfish. With particularly tasty red beans and rice, jambalaya and bread pudding. 9811 Maumelle Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-6860. L Sat., D Mon.-Sat. BOULEVARD BREAD CO. Fresh bread, fresh pastries, wide selection of cheeses, meats, side dishes; all superb.

Good coffee, too. 1920 N. Grant St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-663-5951. BLD Mon.-Sat. 400 President Clinton

■ dining Truckin’, at Green Cuisine Bring extra napkins. n Like many things green, Green Cuisine, the food truck stationed weekdays in a fenced parking lot at Sixth and Chester streets, can boast of fresh ideas. But it’s got a few patches that need mowing to this (maybe jaded) eye.

To get to the meat of this unconventional and vegetarian lunch truck eatery: The food is pretty good, the green truck — it looks more like a trolley — is adorable, ordering from a window is fun (but maybe not when winter really gets a grip).

Vegetarians will love the (fairly few) daily offerings — it’s not that easy eating green — and people who know it’s healthier to be vegetarian but who can’t resist a footlong if it’s on the menu will feel virtuous.

Some superlatives: The quinoa salad.

This crunchy side dish made of the edible seeds of plants in the goosefoot (chenopodium) family mixed with chopped carrots, cherry tomatoes and a dose of soy sauce had both good texture and taste. Green Cuisine gets a go on this one. We tried the sweet potato slaw as well, and if you like ambrosia, you’ll like this sweet concoction of yam and pineapple.

The grilled vegetables on toasted whole wheat — ours with a sun-dried tomato sauce but we could have had pesto — was a good sammich, one we could even pull off at home (thanks, Green Cuisine). And home might be the best place to eat such a sandwich: As we lifted it to our lips, the onions, bell peppers, yellow squash and smoked gouda cheese, all melted and gooey, squoze out from their toasted bread blankets onto the paper wrapping we used as a plate. Ditto on the Philly cheese portabella sub: slippery provolone, mozzarella, marinated mushrooms, grilled onions and peppers on an open bun as large, and sinkable, as the Titanic. Had it been served on china, and not contained in an environmentally conscious cardboard box, who knows where it might have sailed off to.

Tasty, very. Pretty, noooo. The bread was average.

Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-374-1232. BL Mon.-Sat. 401 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-526-6661.

BL Mon.-Fri. BUTCHER SHOP The cook-your-own-steak option has been downplayed, and several menu additions complement the calling card: large, fabulous cuts of prime beef, cooked to perfection. 10825 Hermitage Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-312-2748. D daily.

CAJUN’S WHARF The venerable seafood restaurant serves up great gumbo and oysters Bienville, and options such as fine steaks for the non-seafood eater. In the citified bar, you’ll find nightly entertainment, too. 2400 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5351. D Mon.-Sat. CAMP DAVID Inside the Holiday Inn Presidential Conference Center, Camp David particularly pleases with its breakfast and themed buffets each day of the week. Wonderful Sunday brunch. 600 Interstate 30. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-9752267. BLD daily.

CAPERS It’s never been better, with as good a wine list as any in the area, and a menu that covers a lot of ground

brian chilson

what’scookin’

THEY’VE GOT THE LOOK: Green Cuisine’s attractive food truck can be found at Sixth and Chester during the week.

Owner Lori Moore had given us the heads up — “They’re really messy,” she warned — so we weren’t surprised at our bread’s inability to hold on to its contents, though there’s messy and then there’s messy and these sandwiches were definitely the latter. This is, apparently, a trend at other eateries, so Green Cuisine isn’t plowing new ground here.

A veggie quesadilla was much like the sandwich, though our lunch companion ordered it with vegan cheese (he’s lactose intolerant, but fairly easygoing otherwise).

Offerings change daily; we got to the truck too late to order the chili special (straight up or over a potato) and they were out of pineapple, so we had to scratch the chipotle pineapple black bean quesadilla, which sounded really good.

Oddly, the drink offerings are water and several kinds of soda pop (including diet). Where’s the carrot juice? The kelp shake? No, we don’t really want a kelp shake, but a nice mango or other fruit/vegetable libation would have

been welcome.

We should emphasize that for those who say “I’m too hungry to eat vegetarian,” and by that we mean the person in the office who declined to partake, Green Cuisine doesn’t stint on its servings. A side (the offerings include potato chips), an entree and a drink are $7 and will decently fill the stomach. Moore, who plans to expand the business, also brought our lunches to the car, since it was a little chilly to sit at the picnic tables (there are two, they’re in the sun, so that’s good).

— seafood, steaks, pasta — and does it all well. 4502 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-7600. LD Mon.-Sat. COAST CAFE A variety of salads, smoothies, sandwiches and pizzas, and there’s breakfast and coffee, too. 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3710164. BL Mon.-Sat. COMMUNITY BAKERY This sunny downtown bakery is the place to linger over a latte, bagels and the New York Times. But a lunchtime dash for sandwiches is OK, too, though it’s often packed. 1200 S. Main St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-375-7105. BLD daily. 270 S. Shackleford. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-1656. BD Mon.-Sat. B Sun. COPPER GRILL Comfort food, burgers and more sophisticated fare at this River Market-area hotspot. 300 W. Third St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3333. LD Mon.-Sat. CRUSH WINE BAR An unpretentious downtown bar/ lounge with an appealing and erudite wine list. With tasty tapas, but no menu for full meals. 318 Main St. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-374-9463. D Tue.-Sat.

DAVE’S PLACE Downtown’s premier soup-and-sandwich stop at lunch, and a set dinner spot on Friday night to give a little creative outlet to chef supreme David Williams. Beef, chicken and fish are served with continental flair. 201 Center St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-3283. L Mon.-Fri., D Fri. DAVID FAMILY KITCHEN Call it soul food or call it downhome country cooking. Just be sure to call us for breakfast or lunch when you go. Neckbones, ribs, sturdy cornbread, salmon croquettes, mustard greens and the like. Desserts are exceptionally good. 2301 Broadway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-371-0141. BL Sun.-Fri. DELICIOUS TEMPTATIONS Decadent breakfast and light lunch items that can be ordered in full or half orders to please any appetite or palate, with a great variety of salads and soups as well. Don’t miss the bourbon pecan pie — it’s a winner. 11220 Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-225-6893. BL daily.

Green Cuisine 6th and Chester 454-7555 Quick bite

Check out daily menus on facebook or follow on Twitter @grncuisine.

Hours

11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Other info

All credit cards except American Express accepted.

Continued on page 32 www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 31

It’s A

Perfect Gift

EvEry tImE

501.228.4545 11125 Arcade Drive, Suite G • www.rejuvenationclinic.com PEDICURES • MANICURES • MASSAGES • FACIALS • SPA PACKAGES • EYELASH EXTENSION

Security for generationS. In the next decade, Arkansas employers will need to hire over 200,000 more workers who have at least some college education. But each year only 18,000 Arkansans start college and more than half of those never get a degree. Unfilled jobs will drag down our economy unless we do something quickly. We can do better.

A new report shows how we can bring economic security to generations of Arkansans by focusing on education and workforce development now.

Visit www.aradvocates.org to learn about the common-sense solutions from the Arkansas Legislative Task Force on Reducing Poverty and Promoting Economic Opportunity.

32 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Restaurant capsules Continued from page 31

DIZZY’S GYPSY BISTRO Interesting bistro fare, served in massive portions at this River Market favorite. 200 South Commerce St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3500. LD Tue.-Sat. THE FADED ROSE The Cajun-inspired menu seldom disappoints. Steaks and soaked salads are legendary. Also at Bowman Curve. 1615 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-9734. LD daily. 400 N. Bowman Rd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-224-3377. LD daily.

FERNEAU Great seafood, among other things, is served at the Ice House Revival in Hillcrest. With a late night menu Thu.-Sat. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$.

501-603-9208. D Tue.-Sat. FLYING SAUCER Beer, with dozens on tap, is the big draw at this popular River Market venue, but the food’s good, too. Sandwiches, including a great Reuben, salads, quesadillas and the bratwurst are dependable. 323 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-372-7468. LD daily.

FOX AND HOUND Sports bar that serves pub food. 2800 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-8300.

LD daily.

FRANKE’S CAFETERIA Plate lunch spot strong on salads and vegetables, and perfect fried chicken on Sundays.

Arkansas’ oldest continually operating restaurant. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-2254487. LD daily. 400 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-372-1919. L Mon.-Fri. FRONTIER DINER The traditional all-American roadside diner, complete with a nice selection of man-friendly breakfasts and lunch specials. The half pound burger is a twohander for the average working Joe. 10424 Interstate 30. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-6414. BL Mon.-Sat. FROSTOP A ‘50s-style drive-in has been resurrected, with big and juicy burgers and great irregularly cut fries. Superb service, too. 4131 JFK Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-758-4535. BLD daily.

GADWALL’S GRILL & PIZZA Once two separate restaurants, a fire forced the grill into the pizza joint. Now, under one roof, there’s mouth-watering burgers and specialty sandwiches, plus zesty pizzas with cracker-thin crust and plenty of toppings. 12 North Hills Shopping Center. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-834-1840. LD daily.

GRAMPA’S CATFISH HOUSE A longtime local favorite for fried fish, hush puppies and good sides. 9219 Stagecoach Road. 501-407-0000. LD. HONEYBAKED HAM CO. The trademark ham is available by the sandwich, as is great smoked turkey and lots of inexpensive side items and desserts. 9112 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. 501-227-5555. LD Mon.-Sat. HUNKA PIE Twenty to 25 different kinds of fresh baked pie daily. Plus, Krispy Kreme donuts in the morning, coffee, milk and cheesecake. 304 N. Main St. NLR. All CC. $-$$.

501-612-4754. BL Mon.-Sat. (closes at 6 p.m.).

JUST LIKE MOM’S Daily specials include mom’s goulash, lemon pepper chicken over rice and garlic roast beef, with generous sides of pinto beans, cornbread, potatoes. 3140 E. Kiehl Ave. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-833-0402.

BLD Mon.-Fri. B Sat. KIERRE’S KOUNTRY KITCHEN Excellent home-cooking joint for huge helpings of meat loaf and chicken-fried steak, cooked-down vegetables and wonderful homemade pies and cakes. Breakfasts feature omelets, pancakes, French Toast and more. 6 Collins Place. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-758-0923. BLD Tue.-Fri., BL Sat. MARKHAM STREET GRILL AND PUB The menu has something for everyone. Try the burgers, which are juicy, big and fine. 11321 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-224-2010. LD Mon.-Sat. MCBRIDE’S CAFE AND BAKERY Owners Chet and Vicki McBride have been serving up delicious breakfast and lunch specials based on their family recipes for two decades in this popular eatery at Baptist Health’s Little Rock campus. The desserts and barbecue sandwiches are not to be missed. 9501 Lile Drive. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-3403833. BL Mon.-Fri. OLD MILL BREAD AND FLOUR CO. CAFE The popular take-out bakery has an eat-in restaurant and friendly operators. It’s self-service, simple and good with sandwiches built with a changing lineup of the bakery’s 40 different breads, along with soups, salads and cookies. 12111 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-4677. BL Mon.-Sat. BR Sun. RED DOOR Fresh seafood, steaks, chops and sandwiches from restaurateur Mark Abernathy. Smart wine list. 3701 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-666-8482.

L Mon.-Fri. D daily.

RIVERFRONT STEAKHOUSE Steaks delivered fresh from Chicago twice a week are salted, peppered, seared in an infra-red oven and then buttered for a meat-eater’s dream chowdown. There’s more to like also: crab cakes and shrimp bisque and chops and chicken and lobster tail.

2 Riverfront Place. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-3757285. D Mon.-Sat. RUDY’S OYSTER BAR Good boiled shrimp and oysters on the half shell. Quesadillas and chili cheese dip are tasty and ultra-hearty. 2695 Pike Ave. NLR. Full bar. 501-7710808. LD Mon.-Sat. RUMBA Mexi-Cuban spot in the River Market area, this

restaurant and bar has a broad menu that includes tacos and enchiladas, tapas, Cuban-style sandwiches. Specialty drinks are available also. 300 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-823-0090 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090.

SHAKE’S FROZEN CUSTARD Frozen custard, concretes, sundaes. 5508 John F Kennedy Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-753-5407. LD daily.

SO RESTAURANT BAR Call it a French brasserie with a sleek, but not fussy American finish. The wine selection is broad and choice. Free valet parking. Use it and save yourself a headache. 3610 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-1464.

STARLITE DINER Breakfast and the ice cream-loaded shakes and desserts star here. 250 E. Military Road. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-353-0465. BLD. STICKY FINGERZ ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CHICKEN SHACK Fingers any way you can imagine, plus sandwiches and burgers, and a fun setting for music and happy hour gatherings. 107 Commerce St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-3727707. LD Mon-Sat. TEXAS ROADHOUSE Following in the lines of those loud, peanuts-on-the-table steak joints, but the steaks are better here than we’ve had at similar stops. Good burgers, too.

3601 Warden Road. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-771-4230. D daily, L Sat.-Sun. 2620 S. Shackleford Rd. Beer, All CC. $$.

501-224-2427. D daily, L Sat.-Sun. THIRST N’ HOWL Bar food is the specialty at this ‘Gilligan’themed pub. Good burgers. 14710 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-379-8189. LD daily.

TOWN PUMP A dependable burger, plus basic beer food.

1321 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6639802. L Mon.-Sat. D daily.

TRIO’S Fresh, creative and satisfying lunches; even better at night, when the chefs take flight. Best array of fresh desserts in town. 8201 Cantrell Road. Full bar. $$-$$$.

501-221-3330. LD Mon.-Sat. TROPICAL SMOOTHIE Besides the 45 different smoothies on the menu, the cafe also serves wraps and sandwiches (many of them spicy), salads and “tortizzas.”

Good food, healthy drinks, long line at lunch but it moves fast. 12911 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-9444307. BLD daily.

THE UNDERGROUND Bar food — hamburgers, chicken strips and such. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-375-2537. D daily.

VIEUX CARRE A pleasant spot in Hillcrest with specialty salads, steak and seafood. The soup of the day is a good bet. At lunch, the menu includes an all-vegetable sandwich and a half-pound cheeseburger. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-1196. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat., BR Sun. WHOLE FOODS MARKET Good sandwiches, soups and hummus to go; an enormous number of hot and cold entrees from the deli; extensive juice bar. 10700 N. Rodney Parham Road. All CC. $-$$. 501-312-2326. BLD daily.

WILLY D’S DUELING PIANO BAR Willy D’s serves up a decent dinner of pastas and salads as a lead-in to its nightly sing-along piano show. Go when you’re in a good mood. 322 President Clinton Ave. Full bar. $$. 501-2449550. D Tue.-Sat. YOUR MAMA’S GOOD FOOD Offering simple and satisfying cafeteria food, with burgers and more hot off the grill, plate lunches and pies. 402 S. Louisiana St. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-372-1811. L Mon.-Fri. ZACK’S PLACE Expertly prepared home cooking and huge, smoky burgers. 1400 S. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-664-6444. LD Mon.-Sat.

AsiAn CHI’S CHINESE CUISINE No longer owned by Chi’s founder Lulu Chi, this Chinese mainstay still offers a broad menu that spans the Chinese provinces and offers a few twists on the usual local offerings. 5110 W. Markham St. All CC. $-$$. 501-604-7777.

CRAZY HIBACHI GRILL The folks that own Chi’s and Sekisui offer their best in a three-in-one: tapanaki cooking, sushi bar and sit-down dining with a Mongolian grill. 2907 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-8129888. LD daily.

FANTASTIC CHINA The food is delicious, the presentation beautiful, the menu distinctive, the service perfect, the decor bright. 1900 N. Grant St. Full bar, All CC. $$.

501-663-8999. LD daily.

GENGHIS GRILL This chain restaurant takes the Mongolian grill idea to its inevitable, Subway-style conclusion. 12318 Chenal Parkway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-223-2695.

LD daily.

LILLY’S DIMSUM THEN SOME Innovative dishes inspired by Asian cuisine, utilizing local and fresh ingredients. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-716-2700. LD daily.

MT. FUJI JAPANESE RESTAURANT The dean of Little Rock sushi bars offers a fabulous lunch special and great Monday night deals. 10301 Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-227-6498. LD daily.

OSAKA JAPANESE RESTAURANT Veteran operator of several local Asian buffets has brought fine-dining Japanese dishes and a well-stocked sushi bar to way-out-west Little Rock, near Chenal off Highway 10. 5501 Ranch Drive, Suite 1. $$-$$$. 501-868-3688. LD. SAIGON CUISINE Traditional Vietnamese with Thai and Chinese selections. Be sure to try to authentic pho soups and spring rolls. 6805 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC.

$$-$$$. 501-663-4000. L Tue.-Fri., D Tue.-Sun. SUSHI CAFE Impressive, upscale sushi menu with other delectable house specialties like tuna tataki, fried soft shell crab, Kobe beef and, believe it or not, the Tokyo cowboy burger. 5823 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-663-9888. L Mon.-Sat. D daily.

BarBecue CHATZ CAFE ‘Cue and catfish joint that does heavy catering business. Try the slow-smoked, meaty ribs. 8801 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-4949. LD Mon.-Sat. CORKY’S RIBS & BBQ The pulled pork is extremely tender and juicy, and the sauce is sweet and tangy without a hint of heat. Maybe the best dry ribs in the area. 12005 Westhaven Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-954-7427. LD daily.

2947 Lakewood Village Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-753-3737. LD daily, B Sat.-Sun. WHITE PIG INN Go for the sliced rather than chopped meats at this working-class barbecue cafe. Side orders — from fries to potato salad to beans and slaw — are superb, as are the fried pies. 5231 E. Broadway. NLR. Beer. $-$$. 501-945-5551.

LD Mon.-Fri., L Sat. WHOLE HOG CAFE The pulled pork shoulder is a classic, the back ribs are worthy of their many blue ribbons, and there’s a six-pack of sauces for all tastes. A real find is the beef brisket, cooked the way Texans like it. 516 Cantrell Road.

Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-664-5025. LD Mon.-Sat. 12111 W. Markham. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-907-6124. LD daily 150 E. Oak St. Conway. All CC. $$. 501-513-0600. LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun. 5107 Warden Road. NLR. All CC. $$. 501-753-9227.

european / ethnic AMRUTH AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE Indian restaurant with numerous spicy, vegetarian dishes. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-2244567. LD daily.

CAFE BOSSA NOVA A South American approach to sandwiches, salads and desserts, all quite good, as well as an array of refreshing South American teas and coffees. 701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-614-6682. LD Tue.-Sat., BR Sun. DUGAN’S PUB The atmosphere is great, complete with plenty of bar seating and tables. There’s also a fireplace to warm you up on a cold day. The fried stuff is good. Try the mozzarella sticks. 403 E. 3rd St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-244-0542.

GEORGIA’S GYROS Good gyros, Greek salads and fragrant grilled pita bread highlight a large Mediterranean food selection, plus burgers and the like. 2933 Lakewood Village Drive.

NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-753-5090. LD Mon.-Sat. HIBERNIA IRISH PUB This traditional Irish pub has its own traditional Irish cook from, where else, Ireland. Broad beverage menu, Irish and Southern food favorites and a crowd that likes to sing. 9700 N Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-246-4340.

LAYLA’S Delicious Mediterranean fare — gyros, falafel, shawarma, kabobs, hummus and babaganush — that has a devoted following. All meat is slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law. 9501 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-7272. LD daily (close 5 p.m. on Sun.). 612 Office Park Drive. Bryant. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-8475455. LD Mon.-Sat. MASALA GRILL AND TEAHOUSE A delicious traditional Pakistani buffet, plus menu items like a chicken tikka wrap (marinated broiled chicken rolled in naan) and a chutney burger. 9108 Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-414-0643. D Tue.-Sat., BR Sat.-Sun. TAJ MAHAL The third Indian restaurant in a one-mile span of West Little Rock, Taj Mahal offers upscale versions of traditional dishes and an extensive menu. Dishes range on the spicy side. 1520 Market Street. Beer, All CC. $$$. (501) 881-4796. LD daily.

TERRACE ON THE GREEN This Greek-Italian-Thai-andwhatever restaurant has a huge menu, and you can rely on each dish to be good, some to be excellent. Portions are ample. Patio for warm-weather dining. 2200 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar. $$-$$$. 501-217-9393. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat. YA YA’S EURO BISTRO The first eatery to open in the new Promenade at Chenal is a date-night affair, translating comfort food into beautiful cuisine. Best bet is lunch, where you can explore the menu through soup, salad or half a sandwich.

17711 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-8211144. LD daily, BR Sun.

italian BRAVO! CUCINA ITALIANA This upscale Italian chain offers delicious and sometimes inventive dishes. 17815 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-821-2485. LD daily.

BR Sun. BRUNO’S LITTLE ITALY This more-than-half-century-old establishment balances continuity with innovation in delicious traditional and original fare. The pizza remains outstanding.

315 N. Bowman Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-2244700. D Mon.-Sat. GADWALL’S GRILL & PIZZA Once two separate restaurants, a fire forced the grill into the pizza joint. Now, under one roof, there’s mouth-watering burgers and specialty sandwiches, plus zesty pizzas with cracker-thin crust and plenty of toppings. 12 North Hills Shopping Center. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-834-1840. LD daily.

GRAFFITI’S The casually chic and ever-popular Italianflavored bistro avoids the rut with daily specials and careful

menu tinkering. 7811 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-224-9079. D Mon.-Sat. OLD CHICAGO PASTA & PIZZA This national chain offers lots of pizzas, pastas and beer. 4305 Warden Road. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-6262. LD daily. 1010 Main St. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-329-6262. LD daily.

PIZZA CAFE Thin, crunchy pizza with just a dab of tomato sauce but plenty of chunks of stuff, topped with gooey cheese. Draft beer is appealing on the open-air deck — frosty and generous. 1517 Rebsamen Park Road. Beer, Wine. $-$$.

501-664-6133. LD daily.

PIZZA D’ACTION Some of the best pizza in town, a marriage of thin, crispy crust with a hefty ingredient load. Also, good appetizers and salads, pasta, sandwiches and killer plate lunches. 2919 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6665403. LD Mon.-Sat. RISTORANTE CAPEO Authentic cooking from the boot of Italy is the draw at this cozy, brick-walled restaurant on a reviving North Little Rock’s Main Street. Familiar pasta dishes will comfort most diners, but let the chef, who works in an open kitchen, entertain you with some more exotic stuff, too, like crispy veal sweetbreads. They make their own mozzarella fresh daily. 425 Main St. NLR. Full bar. $$-$$$. 501-376-3463.

D Mon.-Sat. ROCKY’S PUB A little taste of Philly, right in North Little Rock, with authentic cheesesteak sandwiches, hoagies, salads and the like. But you’d be remiss not to try the Italian specialties whipped up at night, such as the proscuitto piselli verdi. 6909 JFK Blvd. NLR. Beer, Wine. 501-833-1077. LD Mon.-Sat. SHOTGUN DAN’S Hearty pizza and sandwiches with a decent salad bar. Multiple locations, at 4020 E. Broadway, NLR, 945-0606; 4203 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, 835-0606, and 10923 W. Markham St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-2249519. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. VINO’S Great rock ‘n’ roll club also is a fantastic pizzeria with huge calzones and always improving home-brewed beers.

923 W. Seventh St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-375-8466.

LD daily.

ZAZA Here’s where you get wood-fired pizza with gorgeous blistered crusts and a light topping of choice and tempting ingredients, great gelato in a multitude of flavors, call-yourown ingredient salads and other treats. 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-661-9292. LD daily. 1050 Ellis Ave. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-336-9292.

BLD daily.

Mexican CANTINA LAREDO This is gourmet Mexican food, a step up from what you’d expect from a real cantina, from the modern minimal decor to the well-prepared entrees. We can vouch for the enchilada Veracruz and the carne asada y huevos, both with tasty sauces and high quality ingredients perfectly cooked. 207 N. University. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-2800407. LD daily.

JUANITA’S Menu includes a variety of combination entree choices — enchiladas, tacos, flautas, shrimp burritos and such — plus creative salads and other dishes. And of course the “Blue Mesa” cheese dip. 1300 S. Main St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-1228. L Mon.-Fri., D Thu.-Sat. RUMBA Mexi-Cuban spot in the River Market area, this restaurant and bar has a broad menu that includes tacos and enchiladas, tapas, Cuban-style sandwiches. Specialty drinks are available also. 300 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-823-0090 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090.

SENOR TEQUILA Authentic dishes with great service and prices, and maybe the best margarita in town. Multiple locations: 4304 Camp Robinson Road, NLR, 791-3888; 9847 Maumelle Blvd., Maumelle. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road.

Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-5505. LD daily.

TACO MEXICO Tacos have to be ordered at least two at a time, but that’s not an impediment. These are some of the best and some of the cheapest tacos in Little Rock. 7101 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-416-7002.

LD Wed.-Sun. TACOS GUANAJUATO Pork, beef, adobado, chicharron and cabeza tacos and tortas at this mobile truck. 6920 Geyer Springs Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. LD Wed.-Mon. TAQUERIA THALIA Try this taco truck on the weekends, when the special could be anything from posole to menudo to shrimp cocktail. 4500 Baseline Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-563-3679. LD Wed.-Mon.

General GELLATES Coffee and gelato served up next door to Blue Coast Burrito. 14810 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

(501) 868-5247.

Around ArkAnsAs conway THE BREWERY Coffeehouse serves soup, salads and sandwiches 2159B Prince St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-327-2678. BL Mon.-Sat. D Mon.-Fri. THE FISH HOUSE The other entrees and the many side orders are decent, but this place is all about catfish. 116 S. Harkrider. Conway. 501-327-9901. LD Mon.-Sun. GUSANO’S They make the tomatoey Chicago-style deepdish 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.

2915 Dave Ward Drive. Conway. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-3291100. LD daily.

HART’S SEAFOOD Southern fried fish and seafood buffet over the weekend. 2125 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-329-8586. D Thu.-Sat., L Sun. OAK STREET BISTRO The Conway eatery known for its creative flair with sandwiches and salads is now open for dinner and has a liquor license. Check out the massive menu; the desserts are excellent. 713 Oak St. Conway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-450-9908. L daily, D Thu-Sat. SHORTY’S` Burgers, dogs and shake joint. 1101 Harkrider.

Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-329-9213. LD Mon.-Sat. STOBY’S Great homemade cheese dip and big, sloppy Stoby sandwiches with umpteen choices of meats, cheeses and breads. 805 Donaghey. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-327-5447. BLD Mon.-Sat. 405 W. Parkway. Russellville.

No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-968-3816. BLD Mon.-Sat. STROMBOLI’S Locally owned purveyor of NY style pizzas and strombolis. 2665 Donaghey. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-327-3700. LD daily.

TIFFANY’S SOUL FOOD Opened in 2010, this eatery specializes in soul food classics like fried chicken, smothered pork chops and hot water corn bread. 1101 Mill Street. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-327-7685.

LD Mon.-Fri.

OVER 5,000 RUGS

All sizes and shapes at DISCOUNT PRICES!

AladdinRugs AND HOME DECOR

4529 JFK BLVD (Next to Frostop) .ORTH ,ITTLE 2OCK s www.aladdinsuperstore.com

eureka SprinGS THE CRYSTAL DINING ROOM Extraordinary fine dining experience that centers on coordinated service, gourmet food and a fabulous wine list. Favored by diners on special occasions. 75 Prospect Ave. Eureka Springs. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$. 479-253-9766. D. KATHERINE’S CAFE AMORE Pizza and pasta with a gourmet twist will bring you back; the Slow Death by Chocolate Cake will make it a favorite. 2070 E. Van Buren.

Eureka Springs. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-479-253-7192.

LOCAL FLAVOR CAFE This popular cafe along Eureka Springs’ Main Street features ecclectic and fresh entrees and sandwiches throughout the day, a flavorful breakfast selection and the best creme brulee in Arkansas. 71 South Main Street. Eureka Springs. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. (479) 253-9522. BL daily D Mon.-Sat. MUD STREET CAFE Voted many times as the best breakfast in the area, you’ll find lots of healthy and tasty items to choose from. The vegetable hashbrowns have more than a dozen different vegetables represented. The Mud Muffin’s a great balance between bean sprouts, eggs and black olives on a fresh English muffin, and you can’t beat the coffee. 22 G South Main Street. Eureka Springs. Wine, All CC. $$. (479) 253-6732. BL Thu.-Tue. Closed Wed. SPARKY’S ROADHOUSE CAFE Burgers are the specialty, but there are plenty of creative dishes, deli sandwiches and beer choices. 41 Van Buren (Highway 62). Eureka Springs.

479-253-6001. LD.

Now featuring Uncle Ed’s Arkansas Moonshine

NWiNe & SPiriTS D eighborhoo

4526 Camp Robinson Road North Little Rock • (501) 791-2626 Next to HOGGS MEAT MARKET

Fayetteville 36 CLUB Diverse menu — more than 80 items — of good food, ranging from grilled shrimp salad to spicy tandoori chicken, in a lively setting. Next door, sister restaurant Bistro V, offers a quieter atmosphere. 300 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. Full bar, CC. 479-442-9682. L Tue.-Fri., D Tue.-Sat. BORDINOS Exquisite Italian food, great wines and great service in a boisterous setting. Now serving Nova Scotia mussels. 310 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-527-6795. D. COPELAND’S New Orleans-based chain features tasty Cajun and Creole delights as well as top steakhouse-quality steaks. The top grossing restaurant in the market in 2003.

463 N. 46th St. Fayetteville. 479-246-9455. BLD. ELENITA’S MEXICAN CAFE Some of the most flavorful and reasonably priced authentic Mexican food in town. 727 S. School St. Fayetteville. 479-443-6612. LD. HJEM Blinis, spekeskinke, tyttebaer applesauce, lefse crisps — it’s the little things that put Norway into this Norwegian bistro on the square. 1 E. Center St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-966-4344. LD Tue.-Sat.

hot SprinGS BELLE ARTI RISTORANTE Ambitious menu of lavish delights in a film-noir setting; excellent desserts. 719 Central Ave. Hot Springs. 501-624-7474. LD. DON JUAN’S Mex-style enchiladas, runny white cheese dip, great guacamole and great service in strip-mall locale. 1311 Albert Pike Road No. A. Hot Springs. 501-321-0766. LD. FISHERMAN’S WHARF Reminiscent of a coastal seafood joint, complete with large menu and fish nets adorning the wall. Boisterous, family style place. 5101 Central Ave. Hot Springs. 501-525-7437. LD. HAWGS PIZZA PUB Good pizza and other Italian food, a wide selection of appetizers, salads, burgers and sandwiches in an all-Razorback motif. 1442 Airport Road. Hot Springs.

501-767-4240. LD. MCCLARD’S Considered by many to be the best barbecue in Arkansas — ribs, pork, beef and great tamales, too. 505 Albert Pike. Hot Springs. 501-624-9586. LD. OAKLAWN LAGNIAPPE’S BUFFET Small, overpriced and with an underwhelming variety of bland choices, the buffet in Oaklawn’s expanded gaming complex leaves a lot to be desired. If you’re hungry, hit the shops under the race track grandstands instead 2705 Central Ave. Hot Springs.

Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-623-4411. BLD daily.

POMPEII CAFE Bubbling over with gourmet pizzas, steaks and pasta. 2012 Central Ave. Hot Springs. 501-3183287. LD.

Share the Road

For Cyclists Share the road Tips for SAFE cycling on the road.

• Bicycles are vehicles on the road, just like cars and motorcycles. Cyclists must obey all traffic laws. Arkansas Uniform Vehicle Code #27-49-111 • Cyclists must signal, ride on the right side of the road and yield to traffic normally.

Bicycles are vehicles on the road, Code #27-51-301/403 just like must cars have andamotorcycles.

• Bicycles white headlight and a red tail light visible fromall 500traffic feet and have a Cyclist should obey laws. bell or warning device for pedestrians.

Arkansas Uniform Vehicle Code #27Code #27-36-220 49-111 • Make eye contact with motorists. Be visible. Be predictable. Head up, think ahead.

Cyclists should signal, ride on the • On the Big Dam Bridge... go slow. right side of the road, and yield to Represent! traffic other • As younormally pass, say “Onlike yourany left... thankroad you.”

• On the River vehicle.

CodeTrail... #27-51-301/403 use a safe speed, don’t Share the Road intimidate or scare others.

Watch for dogs Give 3 feet ofCyclists clear space when and For leashes.

Tips for PREVENTING injury or death.

For to moreacycling information...

Tips for(up SAFE the road. passing $1000on fine!)

Bicycle Advocacyonofthe Arkansas • Bicycles are vehicles road, just like Code #27-51-311 www.bacar.org

cars andLeague motorcycles.

Cyclists must obey of American Bicyclists

allwww.bikeleague.org/programs/education trafficby laws.

Uniform Code Cyclist lawArkansas can not rideVehicle on the #27-49-111 sidewalk in some areas, some bikes • Cyclists must signal, ride on the right side can roads of theonly roadhandle and yieldsmooth to traffic normally.

Code cracks, #27-51-301/403 (no potholes, trolley tracks).

• Bicycles must have a white headlight and a LR Ord.#32-494

red tail light visible from 500 feet and have a

bell or warning devicewith for pedestrians.

Make eye contact cyclists.

Code #27-36-220

Drive • Makepredictably. eye contact with motorists. Be vis-

ible. Be predictable. Head up, think ahead.

Please ghost bikes.

• On the prevent Big Dam Bridge... go slow. www.ghostbikes.org Represent!

• As you pass, say “On your left... thank you.”

For more information: • On the River Trail... use a safe speed, don’t BicycleorAdvocacy Arkansas intimidate scare others.ofWatch for dogs and leashes.www.bacar.org For more information...

League American Bicyclists BicycleofAdvocacy of Arkansas www.bacar.org www.bikeleague.org/programs/ League of American Bicyclists www.bikeleague.org/programs/education education www.arktimes.com • DECEMBER 9, 2010 33

Food for Thought

a paid advertisement

To place your restaurant in Food For Thought, call the advertising department at 501-375-2985

AMERICAN

SEAFOOD Cajun’s Wharf 2400 Cantrell Road 501-375-5351

Food and fun for everyone when you pair Cajun’s Wharf’s succulent seafood and steak with the ever-evolving live entertainment. Enjoy the fabulous fresh seafood or aged Angus beef while listening to the rolling Arkansas River on the famously fantastic deck! They also boast an award-winning wine list.

Black Angus

Homemade Comfort Food Daily Specials • Monday: Spicy Shrimp Stir-fry. Tuesday: Pot Roast.

Wednesday: Meatloaf. Thursday: BBQ Plate or Shepherd’s Pie. Friday & Saturday: Fried Catfish.

Capers Restaurant

Indulge in the culinary creations and intimate environment that define Capers Restaurant. Food and wine enthusiasts agree Capers’ sophisticated approach to dining is key to it’s many accolades including receiving the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for six years running.

Copper Grill & Grocery

An endless array of delicious dishes available in the Grill or grab your Gourmet-to-Go from the Grocery. Offering products by French Farm, Bella Cucina & Bittersweet Herb that promise to turn any recipe into a memorable masterpiece Copper Grill & Grocery is a wonderland for the gourmand.

SO

Contemporary metropolitan bistro meets Southern smalltown hospitality in a neighborhood bar. SO offers the best in fresh seafood and hand-cut rustic meats, complimented by an extensive and diverse wine list, honored with Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence. Whether casual dinners, special occasions, meetings with clients, or private parties, our service will impress. Reservations six and more. Private Lounge.

10907 N. Rodney Parham Mon-Sat 10:30am-9pm Breakfast 6-10:30am 501-228-7800

BISTRO Lulav

220 West 6th St. 501-374-5100 Breakfast Mon-Fri 6:30 am -10:30 am Lunch Mon-Fri 11am-2pm Dinner Tues-Sat 5-10pm V Lounge til 1am, Thurs-Sat

Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro 200 S. Commerce, Suite 150 (501) 375-3500 Tues-Thurs 11am-9pm Fri & Sat 11am-10pm

Fresh seafood specials every week. Prime aged beef and scrumptious dishes. Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, over 30 wines by the glass and largest vodka selection downtown. Regular and late night happy hour, Wednesday wine flights and Thursday is Ladies Night. Be sure to check out the Bistro Burger during lunch. Jump start your day with bistro breakfast from Lulav featuring scrumptious omlettes, pancakes and more.

For the salad lover, Dizzy’s is an absolute paradise. Its list of eleven “Ridiculously Large Entrée Salads” runs the gamut of what you can do with greens and dressing. For example Zilpphia’s Persian Lime Salad, featuring grilled turkey breast, tomato, cucumber, onion, lime and buffalo mozzarella over romaine. For another: Mary Ann’s Dream, with grilled chicken breast, baby spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, cranberries, mandarin oranges, bourbon pecans and bleu cheese. Don’t that sound good?

chinese

14502 Cantrell Road 501-868-7600

300 West 3rd Street 501-375-3333

Brunch Sunday 11 am to 4 pm Lunch Mon-Sat 11 am to 4 pm Dinner Mon-Sat 4 pm to close 3610 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1464

Fantastic China

Sharing good things with good friends is the motto at Fantastic China. A Central Arkansas favorite offering the Freshest Chinese Food in town. It’s made to order with 100% Vegetable Oil. The presentation is beautiful, the menu distinctive, and the service perfect. Fantastic China is one of the heights most reliable and satisfying restaurants and a local favorite. Full bar.

Butcher Shop

Tremendous steaks, excellent service, fair prices and a comfortable atmosphere make The Butcher Shop the prime choice for your evening out. In addition to tender and juicy steaks, The Butcher Shop offers fresh fish, pork chop, 24 hour slow roasted Prime Rib, char grilled marinated chicken and fresh pasta. Ideal for private parties, business meetings, and rehearsal dinners. Rooms accommodate up to 50-60 people.

Hunan Oriental Cuisine

Hunan Oriental Cuisine is a Little Rock institution that has been serving great Chinese food for over 24 years. Come dine in a calm, relaxed atmosphere where the food can be enjoyed as it was meant to be enjoyed; fresh right out of the kitchen. Or, if you prefer to order takeout, be prepared to come pick up your food quickly, since most orders are ready in 10 to 15 minutes. Lunch Specials are available everyday. Try something different. You never know what you might come to like.

Capi’s

Lunch offers creative and fresh entree-sized salads; a daily special and homemade soup; plus superb sandwiches sure to satisfy. Serving continuously all-day, global appetizers, then Chef Capi’s fabulous After 5 Menu. Advanced acoustics in place for focused business lunches. Happy Hour all day Tue, late afternoon daily, and late night weekends. Cozy patio atmosphere under the canopy. www.capisrestaurant. com. Now serving new Saturday & Sunday brunch menu, and Sunday dinner.

Flying Saucer

“A great place to hangout, experience great beer and authentic German specialties”. The Flying Saucer definitely offers a unique range of domestic and international draft and bottled beers, carrying over 80 beers on draft and 120+ different bottled beers, many which are seasonal.

Accompanying their unique beer line-up is a menu packed with flare. Bratwurst is the house specialty served with German coleslaw, or you can try Brat Con Queso or Beer Brat Nachos. Be sure to leave room for dessert: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout Ice Cream Float offers the best of both worlds.

Buffalo Grill

The crispy off the griddle cheeseburger and hand-cut fries star at this family friendly stop and will keep you coming back. The casual atmosphere will have everyone feeling right at home. The options are endless for whatever dining mood you are in. Grilled Tuna Steak sandwhich to a loaded foot long hotdog to the crispy chicken tender salad. Buffalo Grill does not disappoint. Fast and friendly staff. Very affordable prices!

Morningside Bagels

Morningside Bagels café is a full service bagel bakery.

We serve breakfast, lox and deli sandwiches on a bagel.

Our fresh cream cheese schmears and Guillermo’s coffee compliments our bagels. We serve espresso drinks hot and iced. Our soups and bagel chips have developed their own following. Come visit with Roxane and David Tackett and enjoy.

1900 N Grant St Heights 501-663-8999

Sunday 11:30 am to 9:30 pm Mon-Thur 11 am to 9:30 pm Fri 11 am to 10:30 pm Sat 11:30 am to 10:30 pm 11610 Pleasant Ridge Drive 501-223-9966

mexican Casa Manana Taqueria

400 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-6637 6820 Cantrell Road • 501-280-9888 18321 Cantrell Road • 501-868-8822

Voted Best Mexican 2007. Featuring authentic fare from the Puebla region of Mexico, the selections seem endless at your choice of 3 locations in the Little Rock area. You will find an array of dishes ranging from the salient Shrimp Veracruzana at La Palapa out west to great Guacamole in the River Market Taqueria. Or try tasty Tostadas that share the name of the original Cantrell location, Casa Manana.

Mediterranean Layla’s

Enjoy regional specialties such as Lentil soup, a huge serving of yummy Hummus, Baba Ghannnouj or Tabbouleh.

And don’t forget about the Gyros, they’re sure to be heroes in your book!

9501 N. Rodney Parham 501-227-7272

Brazilian Café Bossa Nova 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd 501-614-6682 Tues-Sat 11am-9pm Sunday Brunch 10:30-2pm

Try something different! Café Bossa Nova serves up cozy atmosphere and unique Brazilian dishes guaranteed to satisfy and served with that special Latin flare. Don’t deny yourself one of the delectable desserts prepared fresh daily or for an A+ apertif, drink in the authentic flavor of the country in the Caipirinha~a perfect blend of lime, sugar and Brazilian sugar cane rum. Dine with them tonight!

Shackleford & Hermitage Rd. (501) 312-2748

11525 Cantrell Rd, Suite 917 Pleasant Ridge Town Center 501.225.9600

323 President Clinton Ave 501-372-8032

400 N. Bowman Rd 501-224-0012 1611 Rebsamen Park Rd 501-296-9535 11am-9pm 11am-10pm Friday & Saturday

10848 Maumelle Blvd North Little Rock 501-753-6960 Mon-Fri: 6am-2pm Sat & Sun: 7am-2pm www.morningsidebagels.com

steak

brew pub Vino’s Pizza•Pub•Brewery 923 West 7th Street 501/375-VINO (8466)

Beer, pizza and more! Drop in to Vino’s, Little Rock’s Original Brewpub! and enjoy great New York-style pizza (whole or by-the-slice) washed down with your choice of award-winning ales or lagers brewed right on site. Or try a huge calzone, our new Muffaletta sandwich or just a salad and a slice with our homemade root beer. The deck’s always open, you don’t have to dress up and the kids are always welcome (or not).

Vino’s is open 7 days, lunch and dinner. You can call ahead for carry-out and even take a gal. growler of beer to-go. And guess what?? The bathrooms have just been re-done!

asian panda Garden

2604 S. Shackleford Road, Suite G 501-224-8100.

Fresh, flavorful, all-you-can-eat sushi. With fresh and authentic Chinese dishes, nice decor, great dessert choices and excellent sushi, Panda Garden raises the bar.

34 december 9, 2010 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES

Sonny Williams

If you have not been to Sonny Williams lately, get there immediately and check out the martini/wine bar. Now you can enjoy 35 wines by the glass, 335 selections of wine, 6 single barrel bourbons and all different kinds of Scotch from the many regions of Scotland. Of course, don’t miss out on the nightly entertainment by Jeff at the piano. Sonny’s is a River Market mainstay and perfect for intimate private parties; free valet parking! As always, Sonny Williams has the best steaks in town along with fresh seafood and game. No Skinny Steaks… Call ahead for reservations (501) 324-2999

Faded Rose

Featuring the Best Steaks in town with a New Orleans flair from a New Orleans native. Also featuring Seafood and Creole Specialties. As Rachel Ray says “This place is one of my best finds ever.” Back by popular demand…Soft Shell Crab and New Orleans Roast Beef Po-Boys.

500 President Clinton Avenue Suite 100 (In the River Market District) 501-324-2999 DINNER MON - SAT 5:00 - 11:00 pm PIANO BAR TUES - THU 7:00 - 11:00 pm FRI & SAT 7:00 - Late

400 N. Bowman 501-224-3377 1619 Rebsamen 501-663-9734 Open Sunday

REAL ESTATE b

y

n

e

i

g

h

b

o

r

h

o

o

d

De ce m b er 9 , 2 0 1 0

Live the dream in this exceptional Conway home

Dream homes don’t come any better than this one at 21 Sugar Maple Ridge in Conway.

Built by Hambuchen Custom Homes, it sits on more than four acres adjacent to the fourth hole of Cadron Golf Course and features four bedrooms, five-and-one-half-bathrooms, approximately 6,000 square feet and so much more.

Attention to detail is what really sets this home apart from the others. Gorgeous professional landscaping provides an excellent backdrop for the house. You’ll find pure relaxation sitting on the back screened porch watching the koi pond and taking in the extensive rock work throughout the grounds. There is also an area for your own putting green if that’s your idea of relaxation.

Inside, the home is even more amazing. The chef’s kitchen has a Dacor doubleconvection oven, sub-zero refrigerator, granite countertops and a walk-in pantry. A breakfast bar offers a more relaxed dining option but the family is also covered for other occasions with a formal dining room and another dining area in the kitchen. The

The master bathroom is impressive.

The kitchen is a chef’s dream.

kitchen opens to a large hearth room with a fireplace where you’ll want to spend most of your family time.

The master suite and another bedroom are downstairs. The master is to the left of the foyer and has an unbelievable master bathroom. The heated floor is one sign that this home is special. Other features are a Jacuzzi tub, walk-in shower with dual showerheads, his-and-hers sinks and beautiful tile work. The remaining bedrooms are upstairs and each has its own bathroom.

Other highlights of the home are the Takagi tankless water heaters, security system, in-ground sprinkler, tornado shelter and gameroom above the garage. This is only a sampling of what this home has to offer. There is so much more to this home that it must be seen to be appreciated. It is listed with Linda Roster White Real Estate. To see additional photos, visit www.LRWHomes.com. Call Linda for a private tour or for more information at 730-1100.

Enjoy family time around the fireplace.

Extensive landscaping is beautiful. www.arktimes.com • December 9, 2010 35

REAL ESTATE by neighborhood TO ADVERTISE, CALL TIFFANY HOLLAND AT 375-2985 Investment Properties

1104 B WEST 29TH STREET 2BR/1BA fixer upper. Owner financing or cash discount. $500 down, $175 a month. 803-403-9555

Land 20 W. MARTIN - GREENBRIER LAND 25.21 acres between Greenbrier and Conway - pastureland, borders creek, city water, electric, septic on property. Perfect for horses, cattle and your dream home. $109,000

MLS# 10269741 12 ELLINGTON - GREENBRIER Wonderful 3BR/2BA spotless home on three acres, custom maple cabinets, stainless appliances, insulated windows and doors, oversized garage and beautiful landscaping. $159,900

MLS#10271293 26 VALMONT - GREENBRIER Fantastic new 3BR/2BA home, huge kitchen with island, walk-in pantry, stainless refrigerator, stained concrete floors, covered porch, walk kids to school. Built by Boone Custom Homes. $146,900

MLS# 10254807 SCRATCH GRAVEL - DAMASCUS LAND Beautiful country view on paved road, level with some hardwood trees and large barn. Public water at road. Seven acres total, buy all or 1 and 2 acre tracts. $69,900

MLS# 10274532

20 W. MARTIN, GREENBRIER $109,000. 25.21 acres off Brannon Road. Pastureland, borders creek, city water, electric, septic on property. Perfect for horses, cattle and your dream home. MLS# 10269741 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501-7301100 or 501-679-1103

Land SCRATCH GRAVEL, DAMASCUS - $69,900. Beautiful country view on paved road, level with some hardwood trees and large barn, public water at road. Seven acres total, buy all or part. Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501-730-1100 or 501-679-1103

REAL ESTATE by neighborhood

Call 375-2985 for more information.

Capitol View/ Stiffts Station

400 S. VALENTINE - $109,750.

2BR/1BA updated in 2008 with HVAC, roof, kitchen, bath, flooring, paint, lighting, etc. Large fenced yard w/great deck. Walking distance to UAMS & Hillcrest. Call JoJo Carter 773-9949 or www. pulaskiheightsrealty.com for more info.

www.LRWHomes.com

123 N. SUMMIT - Rare find close to ACH, UAMS, & Hillcrest. 2 BRs and a separate office, 2050 SF. Totally updated including cherry wood laminate flooring throughout, all new plumbing & electrical wiring, new kitchen counters, sink & dishwasher, new tank-less H2’ 0 heater, wired for computer network, audio/video and IR remote, a deck, fenced yard and oversized 2 car garage. A 21X17.6 ft sunroom w/vaulted ceiling, tile floor, water proof walls, lots of windows and sunken Jacuzzi hot tub. Located in Union Depot next to AR School for the Blind. Call Clyde Butler of CBRPM at 240-4300.

Hillcrest

OUTSTANDING STARTER HOME

\

If you’re looking for a completely remodeled starter home with great workmanship, this is it! New roof, new interior and exterior paint, new kitchen cabinets with tile backsplash, new Call Rocky Herman at 240-9172 light fixtures and so much more. The tile work is outstanding. You must see this 3BR/1.5BA home. It’s worth a long look at only $79,500.

228-0018 MLS# 10265984

4101 C ST - $224,900. 3BR/2BA, 1836SF. Recently renovated! Enter MLS# 10255320onwww.PulaskiHeightsRealty. com for more photos. John Selva, Pulaski Heights Realty, 993-5442

Access Realty

Publisher’s Notice

501-730-1100 • 501-679-1103

Capitol View/ Stiffts Station

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. To complain of discrimination call HUD toll-free 1-800-669-9077. The toll-free number for the hearing impaired is 1-800-927-9275.

4924 HILLCREST AVE - $459,900.

3BR/3BA plus 3-car garage. 2600 SF. Recently renovated home on large corner lot. Call John Selva at Pulaski Heights Realty at 501993-5442.

Arkansas times presents PULASKI COUNTY Real Estate sales over $148,073 Ronald W. Shepherd, Deborah A. Shepherd to Lester McKinley, Jeffrey McKinley, L7R, River Heights, $645,000.

Kristi D. Sebera, Thomas J. Sebera to Christopher S. Seago, Brooke J. Seago, L7 B91, Chenal Valley, $556,000.

Wilcox Investment Limited Partnership to Gary T. Downs, Zachary T. Downs, Clellon S. Downs, 19-1S-10W, NW SW 20-1S-10W, $605,000.

Rector P. Morse to Bruce G. Dickey, Donna L. Dickey, 5 Farnham Loop, $499,000.

Bruce Dickey, Donna Dickey to James Vandover, Tracy Vandover, 218 Buckland Cir., $455,000.

Cindy A. Young, Steven Young to David A. Greenway, Carla Y. Greenway, 21 Foxfield Cove, $428,000.

GKJ Family Ltd Partnership to Wilcox Investment Limited Partnership, E/2 29-1N-10W, $425,000.

Jeffrey T. Francis, Melissa R. Francis to Evan W. Gregory, Jennifer S. Gregory, 2511 N. Pierce St., $398,000.

James N. Pasley, Ruth A. Pasley to Richard W. Henry, Sandra H. Henry, Ls7879, Normandy, $390,000.

Paul F. Robinson, Lucy K. Robinson to David Dunn, Leslie Dunn, L68, Longlea, $390,000.

Charles E. Hurley, Sr., Sara S. Hurley to Rupinder Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur, 3020 Overbrook Cir., NLR, $365,000.

Stephen Ferranti, Joan L. Ferranti to Christopher G. Werner, Tonya P. Werner, 31 Inverness Cir., $355,000.

Commissioner In Circuit to Metropolitan National Bank, NW SE 14-1N-14W, $355,000.

Anna M. Coleman, Anna M. Holmes, Turner Coleman to Matthew B. Finch, L28, South Normandy, $340,000.

Robin Buff, Robert Buff to David Bush, Amy Bush, 18 Broadview Dr., $335,000.

Dunmek Company to Seema Properties Inc., 7612 Counts Massie Rd., NLR, $330,000.

Billy L. Harrison to Robert L. Guthrie, L23 B15, Midland Hills, $325,000.

Michael H. Parker, Laura E. Parker to Carla Anderson, L10 B5, Altheimer, $320,000.

Wells Fargo Bank NA to Larry Graham, Lori Graham, L2 B39, Chenal Valley, $320,000.

Jamie J. Surface, Robert Surface to Joshua P. Woodard, Jill D. Woodard, 130 Navajo Trail, Maumelle, $308,000.

Taypac Homes LLC to Arthura D. Moore, Evan D. Moore, 2 Forest Valley Ln, $300,000.

Billy Hartness Construction Company Inc. to Robert A. Reedy, 33 Chemin Ct., $290,000.

James R. Vandover, Tracy H. Vandover to Blake L. Adams, 2 Foxhunt Trail, $280,000.

Blue Magnolia LLC to Celeste Vereen, SW NW 26-2N-13W, $277,000.

Herschel M. Smith, Vicki L. Smith to Richard W. Weatherly, Betty A. Weatherly, L3, Oak Crest, $275,000.

Nuage Residential Contractors LLC to Kenneth C. Wright, 9 Sienna Lake Cove, $271,000.

Rose M. Wiley to James E. Hoskins, Sr., Karen A. Hoskins, 3225 Rock Springs Dr., Sherwood, $262,000.

Gary J. Vaile, Deborah L. Vaile to Richard L. Smith, Jan J. Smith, Payton Seelinger, Chelsea Seelinger, 2408 Fairway Ave., NLR, $255,000.

First Arkansas Bank & Trust to Jerry W. Mauldin, Valerie J. Mauldin, SW NW 13-3N-11W, WH 13-3N-11W, $250,000.

36 December 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Deann M. Murray to Antar Singh, Baljit Kaur, 8100 Baucum Pike, NLR, $250,000.

Crosswind Construction LLC to Jarrod A. Devore, Kendi R. Devore, 7617 Glenn Hills Dr., Sherwood, $250,000.

Johnny Goff Builders Inc. to Keeton Family Revocable Trust, Charles H. Keeton, Katie M. Keeton, L56 B4, Creekside, $250,000.

Florence L. Halstead to Tanglewood Limited Partnership Lllp, Pt Section 1-19N-4W (Sharp Co), $248,000.

Hollas U. Young, II, Mandy C. Young to Ronald W. Wheeler, Kimberly K. Wheeler, 123 Beaver Creek Ln., Maumelle, $247,000.

Roffmann Enterprises LLC to Phyllis J. Donahue, David Donahue, 708 Lake Tree Ln., Sherwood, $242,000.

Larry G. Jordan to Frances W. Shackleford, 1800 S. Gaines St., $240,000.

James G. White, Mary A. White to Sears Construction Development, Leasing Limited Liability Company, NE NE 33-4N10W, $236,000.

Anthony & Sue Shirley Trust, Anthony G. Shirley, Barbara S. Shirley to Kevin Grace, 8011 N. Hills Blvd., NLR, $234,000.

Geoffrey S. Riordan, Kathy P. Riordan to Scott A. Francis, Spencer F. Wilson, 504 Lasalle Dr., $232,000.

Charles Perrin, Yuka Perrin to Wells Fargo Bank NA, 14919 Lamplight Way, $227,793.

ACJ Rental Co. LLC to Jonathan Feland, L9, Maple Wood, $225,000.

Nuage Residential Contractors LLC to Randolph Rochell, Vickki Rochell, 12713 Smarty Jones Rd., Scott, $221,000.

Jerry W. Bradshaw, Donna M. Bradshaw to Noble G. Buckman, L429, Country Club Of Arkansas, $220,000.

James E. Bennett, Natalie A. Bennett to JWJ Investments LLC, L28 B13, Meadow Park, L32 B3, Greenlea, L2 Blk C, Rich Acres Replat, Blk 164, Rich Acres, Blk 178, Rich Acres Replat Mrs MA Miller’s Plantation, Ls3-4 B13, Missouri Pacific, L43 B3, Greenlea Section IV, L20 B10, Greenlea, Ls1-2 B500, Rich Acres Replat, L11 Blk B, Rich Acres Replat, $220,000.

Michael Hosch to US Bank NA, 111 Illinois Bayou Dr., Sherwood, $217,755.

Central Arkansas Foundation Homes LLC to Jacob Schimmel, Holly Schimmel, L30, Pinnacle Valley Phase II-B, $210,000.

CitiMortgage Inc. to Jaime B. Hill, Justin M. Hill, L12 B9, Chenal Valley, $210,000.

Betty A. Hadley, Sharon A. Shumate, Tim Shumate to Peggy A. Gustison, L15B, Mountain Terrace Estates Townhomes Phase 1, $210,000.

KCA Development LLC to Jonathan Hooks, Jennifer Hooks, 14805 Pride Valley Rd., $210,000.

Grant J. Matthews to Christa R. Newburg, 12 Foxcroft Village Dr., $207,000.

Carrold E. Ray, Jr. to Allen T. East, Melanie Taylor, 2518 Riverfront Dr., Apt. 3, $205,000.

David L. Sanderson to Michael McCallum, Alison McCallum, 4101 C St., $205,000.

Steven F. Williams to Gary Manion, Wanda Manion, 24 Saint Thomas Dr., Maumelle, $203,000.

Arthur L. Pearson, Barbara M. Pearson to Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., 13610 Abinger Dr., $200,000.

Charles L. Daniels, Mable L. Daniels

to Kimberly R. Strack, Kevin J. Strack, 1404 Country Club Rd., Sherwood, $200,000.

Clifton R. Johnson, Sara A. Johnson to Edward M. Merck, Josephine C. Merck, 1007 Steeple Chase Cove, Jacksonville, $196,000.

Yalounda R. Hunt to Matthew B. Arnold, Charity E. Arnold, 6940 Waterview Pl., Sherwood, $195,000.

Matthew C. Hutsell, Angela Hutsell to Holt Short, Katherine Short, 524 Mellon St., $195,000.

James T. Watkins to Rhonda M. Thornton, 312 Auburn Dr., $190,000.

Zoran Bursac, Coniell Bursac to Heather Buckaloo, Jeffrey Buckaloo, L3 B2, Gap Creek, $189,000.

Deutsche Bank National Trust Company to Matthew T. Landers, Lauren L. Landers, 12 Shawbridge Ln, $189,000.

Billy M. Young, Brianne M. Young to Jackie D. Sublett, II, Luisa B. Sublett, 1706 Wagon Wheel Dr., $188,000.

Christopher C. Baker to Jerry L. Harda way, NW NW 22-2N-11W, $187,000.

Ron Harmon, M. D. Harmon to Stacy R. Shilling, Michelle Cox, 909 Becky Dr., Sherwood, $186,000.

Delta Trust & Bank to Davidmarcus Properties LLC, 9901 W. Markham St., $185,000.

Becky Batey to Sharon Williams, L5 B65, Lakewood, $175,000.

David Bickerstaff, Rachel Bickerstaff to Citi Property Holdings Inc., 5910 Boydston Rd., $172,635.

James W. Hennessy, Sharon S. Hennessy to Adrian E. Howell, 501 N. Cedar St., $171,000.

Quapaw Development Co. Inc. to Mary A. Tackett, 2225 Moortown Dr., NLR, $170,000.

Terry L. Smith, Jennifer Smith, Joan Smith, Jerry D. Smith to Ryan L. Veneberg, L45, Westhampton, $170,000.

Guy E. Cerrato, Charlotte M. Cerrato to Steven P. Sweet, II, Anne S. Sweet, 7 Daniel Dr., Sherwood, $168,000.

Cindy L. Rogers to Whitney Watson, 21 Colony Rd., $168,000.

Blake Adams, Riley Adams to Don & Judy Adams Family Revocable Trust, Donald R. Adams, Judith A. Adams, 7209 Amherst Dr., $165,000.

Rausch Coleman Mid Ark LLC to Vinian R. Richards, Jheanelle Richards, 1507 Myrna Ln., NLR, $162,000.

Marple Auto Sales Inc. to Louis Froud, Shannon Froud, 6107 John Harden Dr., Jacksonville, $160,000.

ODS Enterprises LLC to Arthur McGehee, 14515 Old Maumelle Rd., NLR, $156,000.

Gregory Gann, Sherry Gann to Tamara J. Achor, 12 Stanwood Loop, NLR, $155,000.

Beverly Ambort to David E. Fowlkes, Lindsey P. Fowlkes, Lot A1 B35, Park Hill NLR Replat, $155,000.

Randy E. Moody, Luanne H. Moody, Chad McCanless to William T. Gilmore, 56 Single Oaks Dr., Sherwood, $152,000.

Homebank Of Arkansas to Centre Rock Land LLC, Ls1-2 B2, Retan, $150,000.

Jordan T. Cooper, Hannah R. Cooper, James M. Cooper, Tracy L. Cooper to Seth Redican, Lauren Redican, L7 B131, Park Hill NLR, $150,000.

Virginia L. Tiemann to Jean Kidd, Judson Kidd, SE SE 35-2N-13W, $150,000.

Steven T. Wilson, Shannon Wilson, Shannon K. Taylor to Francella K. Merritt, 13710 Scarlet Oak Dr., $150,000.

Shada M. Roberts, Erick E. Roberts to CitiMortgage Inc., 4 Okemah Ct., NLR, $148,073.

West Little Rock

9204 CYNTHIA - $122,500.

4BR/2BA, 1426 SF. Great twostory home centrally located. New paint, new lighting fixtures & other updates throughout. Large fenced backyard. John Selva, Pulaski Heights Realty, 993-5442 14615 BROWN BEAR DR $299,900. Great 4BR/2.5BA, approx. 3015 SF home in the new Don Roberts School District. Plenty of space for the entire family.

Formal dining room, office, family room & eat-in kitchen all downstairs. All bedrooms have large walk-in closets and master bath & closet are huge. Side-loading garage & fully fenced yard. Call Bob Bushmiaer of Pulaski Heights Realty @ 501-352-0156 for more info or a private showing.

9 LISA COURT - $174,900. This 3BR/2BA approx. 1770 SF, 1-level home in Marlow Manor is super clean & move-in ready! Updates include new HVAC, hardwoods & carpet in bedrooms. Large eat-in kitchen, open family room & fully fenced yard make this a perfect starter home or great for someone looking to downsize. Call Bob Bushmiaer of Pulaski Heights Realty @ 501-352-0156 for more info or a private showing.

Neighboring Communities 1480 W. LAWSON RD - $189,900. All brick on 3.5 acres in Alexander! 1850 SF, 3BR/2BA, hardwoods in great room and formal DR. Bryant schools. Clyde Butler, CBRPM, 501-240-4300.

21854 WILLIAM BRANDON DRIVE - $168,500. Enjoy country living on five level acres only 15 minutes from downtown Little Rock! Like-new home with 4BR/2BA, wood-burning fireplace, granite counters, stainless appliances & more! Call Clyde Butler of CBRPM at 501-240-4300.

GREERS FERRY LAKE Spectacular view! 5 acres. Utilities, covenants, seller financing. Owner/ agent. 501-825-6200

31 BERNARD - $149,000.

Sparkles and shines like new!

3BR/2BA, huge living room with cathedral ceiling, oversized breakfast area, wood-burning fireplace, large bedrooms, 2” blinds thruout. Fenced yard. MLS# 10253781 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501-730-1100 or 501-679-1103 3535 HOMESTEAD - $103,900.

Adorable 3BR/2BA split open plan with breakfast bar, side-by-side refrigerator, 2-inch faux wood blinds, laundry room and large deck with access thru kitchen and master. MLS# 10272778 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501730-1100 or 501-679-1103 5125 GALLERIA COVE - $209,000.

Stunning 3BR/2BA with open split plan, an abundance of built-ins and storage. Extraordinary lighting throughout, smooth top cooking surface, breakfast bar, walkin pantry. FP, screened in porch and fenced yard. MLS# 10268505 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501-730-1100 or 501-679-1103

Greenbrier 37 INDIAN SPRINGS - $152,000.

New construction! Charming 3BR/2BA home w/gas fireplace, breakfast bar, tile backsplash, smooth top cooking surface. Jet tub, stained & scored concrete floors. Deck with view. MLS# 10253103 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501-730-1100 or 501679-1103

No. 1111

1220 TRENTON - $123,000.

Charming 3BR/2BA with all new carpet, paint, tile, appliances including refrigerator, light fixtures, countertops, door knobs and pulls.

Must see! MLS# 10262073 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501730-1100 or 501-679-1103

edited by Will Shortz

712 N. WALNUT - $159,900.

2BR/1BA in the heart of Hillcrest.

Just 1/2 block of Kavanaugh.

Renovated kitchen w/custom maple cabinets, tile floors, solid surface counters. Enter MLS 10257444 at www.PulaskiHeightsRealty.com

Conway

Across 1 French clerics 6 President after Tyler 10 Medicinal amts.

14 General s cry 15 This and that 16 Stimulate 17 Game maker starting in 1972 18 Actress Carrie and others 19 Like wetlands 20 *Antimicrobial bit in mouthwashes [90°] 22 *Like wizards caps [90°] 24 ___ volente (God willing) 25 Really thin person 27 Tornado 30 Judgment 32 Food thickener 34 Undivided

■ CROSSWORD

Hillcrest

35 #1 hit by the Byrds … or directions for reading the answers to this puzzle s starred clues (always clockwise as indicated) 38 Mai ___ (drinks) 41 Wine: Prefix 42 “Comin ___!”

43 *Apollo 11 and 12 [180°] 48 Given the nod 49 Dance at a Jewish wedding 50 Showing signs of disuse 54 Iranian city of 1.2+ million 56 Masculine side 58 Insurance plan, for short 59 *Marriage, say [270°] 61 *Specification in a burger order, maybe [270°]

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

•

C A R D

P A Y E R

U S E T O

R A D A M I T B A • I N A P A R I R O A M S F • S

N C H T L E S I R P O P P E D E S A R S L S I O N E X O N E R N E D R I S P

T R I P O D

N O S Y

P E N D I G O R N O M A • S P S F E O R R O X Y O P • E A K Q U I S U P R I E L S N A T K N I • D E

T O R N

A C T S N A I V E

O N Z E M R T L N E T E

A A S I E R T • T E R A E R E • E S Y E E E • S S T

63 Attorney General Holder 65 Endure 67 Dessert cake 68 [I’m kidding!]

69 Nobelist Wiesel 70 Dipsomaniac 71 Jumpy 72 LP or 45 73 Biblical dry measures

1

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

24

26

31

32

35 39

40

48

49

54

33

29

52

53

42 46

56 60 65

28 34

47

50

59 64

13

37

45

55

12

23

41 44

11

27

36

43

63

22

25

30

38

Down 1 “She’s the Man” actress Bynes 2 Washes 3 Longest river in Texas 4 Off-white shade 5 Tibetan dog 6 Kind of scheme 7 West Coast brew, for short 8 Place 9 Dweller in Pristina 10 Like many TV movies: Abbr.

11 Public mention 12 Candy that comes in more than a dozen flavors 13 Farm structure 21 Short person?

23 N.F.L. coach Jim 26 St. Louis s arch, symbolically 28 “Just you wait, ___ iggins …”

29 TV warrior princess 31 Formal/informal response to “Who’s there?”

2

14

51

57

58

61 66

62 67

68

69

70

71

72

73

Puzzle by Andrew Zhou

33 Ben ___, “Treasure Island” pirate 36 “The Big Sleep” film genre 37 Shooters 38 General ___ chicken 39 Egyptian cross 40 Treating, in a way, as table salt

44 Bygone sovereign 45 Three sheets to the wind 46 Of little ___ use 47 Should 51 Five-time Olympic goldmedal swimmer 52 One overacting 53 Catnappers

55 Tumultuous 57 Old pyramid builder 60 District of Colombia?

62 Camera feature 63 Animal often seen with a bell around its neck 64 Clear (of) 66 Family girl

For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554.

Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.

Online subscriptions: Today s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

39 INDIAN SPRINGS - $166,500.

3BR/2BA new construction with gas fireplace, tile backsplash, smooth top cooking surface, microwave, pantry, jetted tub in master. Large deck with country view. MLS# 10257991 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501730-1100 or 501-679-1103 53 WIN MEADOW - $239,900.

A little bit of country with all the modern amenities! 4BR/3BA with large kitchen w/oak cabinetry, double pantry, cook’s dream island, breakfast nook with large windows. Across from 55-acre lake.

MLS# 10257940 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501-730-1100 or 501-679-1103

Sherwood 400 MAXINE - $119,000. 3BR/2BA, 1452 SF all brick home on corner lot w/a fully fenced yard! Heated and cooled craft room/workshop, new roof in 2010. Clyde Butler, CBRPM, 240-4300

Sell your homes in

Conway

REAL ESTATE

1110 TRILLIUM - $152,000. Newly refreshed 3BR/2BA split plan w/ new countertops, kitchen faucet and paint throughout. Gas log FP, wood floors and fenced yard. Close to schools! MLS# 10266757 Linda Roster White Real Estate, 501730-1100 or 501-679-1103

Great rates for Realtors & FSBO! Call Tiffany at 375-2985 for pricing and availability.

by neighborhood

December 9, 2010 37 www.arktimes.com • december

Between 12/12s n It’ll be another birthday next week for Sagittarius Assmunch. I won’t tell you how many there have been in all, but this will be the tenth one in Century 21. There were several more back in Century 20.

Francis Albert Sinatra and I shared a passel of those, but neither of us went back far enough to get together and celebrate with Gustave Flaubert.

I use birthdays like Binx Bolling used movies and J.A. Prufrock coffee spoons — to measure my life’s progress by what I’ve learned from one to the next.

Between one pair of December 12ths, for example, I learned that there’s no Santa Claus, and between another pair I learned that oh yes there is. I don’t remember now which of those revelations came first, or which one I still cleave to here in middle geezery, but I know they were both milestones. Game-changers.

Twixt another pair of 12/12s I learned what it’s like to have a fang. It was better the following year to learn what it was like to have had a fang and to have got shed of the rascal. First time I’d heard the term genetic anomaly. Old Lady Harper turned my celebrity mouth into a kind of traveling juvy dental-health exhibit. If I’d had a Tom Sawyer streak, I could’ve charged cash money.

One year birthday-to-birthday I

Bob L ancaster learned that if you get into a grudge fight with a water moccasin the size of a pulpwood billet, the sumbitch will stalk you to the ends of the earth if you don’t finish him off.

Fortunately, once you’ve killed a water moccasin that’s the end of his story, however epic; whereas with the great white shark, as I learned one year from Jaws 2, and another year from Jaws 3, and another year from Jaws 4, and so forth, the tale of vengeance has only just begun when you shoot the air canister and blow his giant ass up. His mate will come after you then, stumping over dry land if it has to. Then his Mom, like Grindl’s. And on down through his next of kin.

One birthday year I learned that it’s only deceivers, usually self-deceivers, who say they love it when a plan comes together, because plans never come together. S—t happens, and sometimes it is fortuitous s—t, but that isn’t a plan coming together; it’s just luck.

One year I realized that society doesn’t

C

make a place for us as it did back when the choices were all made coon-ages before, the slots pre-assigned, inured to influence by true love or hairy hands. Earl or serf might be your lot but you knew from infancy. Now we aren’t guaranteed a place; we have to make ourselves one; and hold it against the sooners and encroachers; and if we don’t have the stomach or starch or guile for that, and if our stars don’t ever align, then the best we can hope for is to be able to glom successfully for the duration. Or hit the lottery.

A jungle out there. Rats racing. Dog eat dog. Glad I’m not having to start out again. I know how lucky I was.

One year — one of the early ones I guess it was — I learned that that dog-eatdog in the graf preceding doesn’t refer to actual blueticks and Pekinese eating one another. Little did I know that such figures of speech would come to be my stockin-trade, how I made a place for myself when my own moron planlessness came together.

Another birthday year I learned the hard way that you don’t just make the casual assumption that a handgun is unloaded that someone negligently left lying around the house.

One year I learned that cats have absolutely no sense of responsibility but they’re very discreet, not to say circumspect.

One year I learned that it’s much easier

S

LASSIFIED LASSIFIED

$$$HELP WANTED$$$ Extra Income! Assembling CD cases from Home! No Experience Necessary!

Call our Live Operators Now! 1-800405-7619 EXT 2450 http://www. easywork-greatpay.com (AAN CAN)

CARRIER WANTED

NLR AREA MUST HAVE OWN TRANSPORTATION WEDNESDAYS & THURSAYS CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION

501-951-7729

50 Driver Trainees Needed Now! Learn to drive for Covenant Transport! Earn $700 per week!

No Experience Needed! Benefits & 401K, Local CDL Training. Gets you job ready! 1-888-248-1364 Paid In Advance! Make $1,000 a Week mailing brochures from home! Guaranteed Income! FREE Supplies! No experience required.

Start Immediately! http://www. homemailerprogram.net/

Education ”HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in just 4 weeks!! FREE Brochure. Call NOW! 1-800-5326546 Ext. 97 http://www.continentalacademy.com (AAN CAN)

ARVEST BANK CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Financial Service Representative (FSR)

Instruments

GREAT FOR CHRISTMAS!! Couch for sale. Beautiful stain-resistant ultra suede sectional, 4 piece.

Purchased at Cantoni in Dallas for $3,200. Barely used, asking $1,500. call 501-607-3100 can send pictures upon request.

BluesBoy Jag electric cigar box guitars. Great Holiday Gifts! 501837-3878 www.jagshouse.com

Adoption PREGNANT? CONSIDERING 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) (AAN CAN)

RVs HUGE PUBLIC AUCTION-250+ Travel Trailers, Camp Houses, & Mobile Homes. Saturday, Dec 11 @ 10am Carencro, LA.NO MINIMUM PRICES!!! Online Bidding Available 225.686.2252 Lic#136 www.hendersonauctions.com

Part-Time positions are available in the Little Rock area. Hours are Mon-Fri 3:00pm to 7:00pm and Saturdays 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Must be able to do 7-8 business days of training. Arvest offers excellent benefits and rewarding incentive programs. To apply for a position visit our website http://www.arvest.com under Careers.

EOE/AA 38 DECEMBER 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES 38 December 9, 2010 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Electric Cigar Box Guitars Great Holiday Gifts

501-837-3878 www.jagshouse.com

Real Estate Custom built home on your land. $$ Energy Star Certified $$ As low as $48 per sq. ft. Call today 501-407-9522

Rentals Rental Properties- 2 & 3 BR townhouses & homes. MoveIn Special: 1st month rent $299, deposit $325. Nick: 501-7735450

Advertise Your events, businesses or services here for as little as

$50!

Call Challis to find out how.

375-2985

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Metrology Lab • Quality Assurance Inspector • Quality Engineer Quality Test Technician • Reliability Engineer • Technician I-Engineering

www.BEIPrecision.com

Legal Notices No t i c e of Filing A pplica tion for permits to sell wine and beer in cafe or restaurant. Notice is hereby given that the undersigned has filed an a pplica tion with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division of the State of Arkansas for permits to sell and ser ve wine and beer with food on the premises described as:1900 w. 3rd St., Little Rock, AR, Pulaski County.

Said application was filed on November 17, 2010.

The undersigned sta tes that he is a resident of Arkansas, of good moral character; tha t he has never been convicted of a felony or other crime involving moral turpitude; tha t no license to sell alcoholic beverages by the undersigned has ever been revoked within five (5) years last past; and, that the undersigned has never been convicted of violating the laws of this State, or any other State, relative to the sale of controlled beverages. Telly Noel for Twelve.

WWW.ARKTIMES.COM

$$ Earn Extra Income! Easy work processing refunds from home on your computer. No experience needed! Great pay! FT/part-time. Start Mon. Call Now 1-800-568-7047

Furniture

The premier manufacturer of optical encoder-based positioning equipment for the space, military, and range/instrumentation markets, BEIPSSC‘s high-tech, state-of-the-art facility produces thousands of reliable sensor systems for critical applications each and every year.

FIND JOBSONLINE @

Employment

to uglify a pretty site than it is to prettify a site that’s been an old tire dump for three generations.

One year I learned bullwhip theology — no, really! —from Rev. Lash Larue, who’d been my favorite movie cowboy when I was a mere lad. It was pretty crappy theology, but the pulpit visual aids were unsurpassed in my experience. Even Old Milwaukeed far past his prime, Bro. Lash could snap off the lighted end of the tent organist’s Pall Mall faster than an eye could see, or faster than mine could anyway.

One year I learned from M. Sartre that Hell is other people. As if there’d ever been any question about that.

One midterm birthday-to-birthday span, I developed an anxiety that it was all getting irretrievably away from me, whatever it was, nothing I could do to stop it — a terrible vertiginous feeling, more acute the following year, moreso with each passing year, until relatively recently, when the piquancy began to fade to a kind of bittersweet. Not so troubling now — now that it has morphed from a quietly desperate sense that it’s slowly slip-sliding away to the mildly disappointed certainty, with echoes and hot-dog wrappers, that it’s gone. That Elvis has left the bldg.

And won’t be back.

And just since the most recent birthday, relief in knowing when it starts to sing that it’s going to be OK.

The Nation’s Leading Wildlife Control Firm for over 28 Years Over 120 Offices Coast-to-Coast

FLIPSIDE

Holiday Massage Special! $45 for a one hour massage*

• Bats, Raccoons, Squirrels, Bees, Skunks, Opossum, Armadillo, etc.

• Animal Removal, Repairs, Prevention • Attic Cleanups, Deodorization & Insulation

Pamper yourself or use as a great holiday gift!

www.CritterControl.com (501) 834-8727 1-800-CRITTER

(501) 663-0402 2723 Foxcroft, Suite 311 • Little Rock www.abetterumassage.com *Hurry! Offer expires December 31st.

Couch for sale. Beautiful stain-resistant ultra suede sectional, 4 piece. Purchased at Cantoni in Dallas for $3,200. Barely used, asking $1,750.

Vintage Santa oil paintings 6x6 $100 • ready to hang Jeannie Stone 479-747-0210 j@jeanniestone.com

Psychic Reader & Advisor Looks into Past, Present, Future Specialized Reading in Tarot Card-Metal Object-Shakra call & consult for an appointment

501-223-9046

20 years public experience All major credit cards accepted Newest LocatioN DowNtowN LittLe rock river market

Call 501-607-3100 can send pictures upon request.

AnimAl P.i.

Sparky the Squirrel WINTER is near and so are the animals

free estimates statewide!

• Professional and Humane animal removal and rePair

• loCallY owned • no Hidden Costs

SeaSonal DiScountS

Call Today! (501) 628-4682 Bats, Squirrels, Raccoons, etc.

Spike

3 year old male needs a good home. He is good with kids and other dogs. His family is moving to a smaller apt and is unable to keep him. He would be a great addition to a loving family. kelli_dawn92@yahoo.com.

Macximize

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

• 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

For Sale in Central Arkansas? find it at

arkansasautobuyer.com 8,743 New and Used Cars and Trucks Online This Week!

Photos! Descriptions! Prices! Only One Click Away!

www.arktimes.com • December 9, 2010 39