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n Former First Lady Janet Huckabee complained to the Governor’s Mansion administrator at a recent private event that she felt slighted, since neither her name nor former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s name was included as a host on the invitation. The April 15 event, which celebrated the publication of John Gill’s “Open House: The Governor’s Mansion and Its Place in History,” was hosted by Gov. and Mrs. Beebe and the Governor’s Mansion Association. Sales of the book benefit the association; name plates featuring the autographs of the six living governors — Beebe, Huckabee, Jim Guy Tucker, Bill Clinton, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor — were given to guests who purchased the books. Once the former president scheduled, organizers notified the other governors of the event date. Huckabee could not attend because of a conflict, and so the invitation, which listed the other governors as “special guests,” omitted his name. Janet Huckabee told Ron Maxwell, mansion administrator, her husband had not been given enough notice, though it was the same notice the other governors got, three weeks, and she thought his name should have been on the invitation. Observers described the encounter as a “chewing out.” Maxwell said it was not; unfortunately, the conversation occurred at the front door, as many of the 300 guests were filing out. None of the wives in attendance were formally introduced, which Maxwell said he regrets.
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n Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office set a rate of 25 cents a page for copying documents after the Arkansas Times was forced to make voluminous requests for information because office spokesmen wouldn’t answer our questions. The state Freedom of Information Act doesn’t allow state agencies to charge more than the cost of copying. We objected that the price was exorbitant. After first indicating that the cost was linked to the size of the request — the law doesn’t allow charges for labor, either — the office fell back on the defense that copies cost 25 cents and all media were being charged the same rate. This week, after many others complained about the fees, the office announced it had studied the issue further with its copy machine vendor and found the 25-cent rate had been in error. The cost should have been 11 cents, said Martin deputy Alice Stewart. She put the change down to a misunderstanding by the vendor that color, rather than blackand-white copies, was at issue. “It was an honest mistake,” she said.
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www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 3
Smart talk
Contents
Update on honors student n As the college semester draws to an end, we decided to check on Jonathan Chavez, the native of Peru and University of Arkansas Honors College student who was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over Christmas as he traveled to visit his mother in Florida. He was detained for several weeks, but ICE let him return to Fayetteville in February. Here’s the update on Chavez: He went to court in Miami on CHAVEZ: Pursuing a April 5 and the judge, whom he master’s. described as “very nice and considerate,” agreed to move the venue for his deportation hearing to Memphis to allow him to change representation. He will now be represented by the U of A at a hearing Nov. 9. Chavez says he may graduate with a degree in vocal performance in December, but more likely it will be in May 2012. He has visited both Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music and hopes to be accepted at one (he prefers the Manhattan School) to pursue a master’s degree in operatic performance. If he’s deported, he’ll still try to pursue a master’s degree in some other country, but he said he prefers to stay in the U.S., his home since junior high school. When Chavez applied to the U of A, he left blank the space where he was to enter his Social Security number. He is attending school on a privately funded scholarship.
Remembering Gus n In the “State Government” section of its 2011 telephone directory for Little Rock and North Little Rock, AT&T lists Gus Wingfield as the state auditor. Wingfield left that office in 2003. He then served four years as state treasurer. The current state auditor is Charlie Daniels.
WINGFIELD: Hasn’t been auditor since 2003.
8 Mystery man John Thurston’s strange path to the state land commissioner’s office. — By Doug Smith
10 Prepping
for summer
Swimsuits, Hot Springs kitsch, cool cocktails and music highlight our annual guide to the season. — By Arkansas Times Staff
22 Still crazy after
OLBERMANN: Returning to TV, but will be tough to find.
all these years
Where’s Keith?
Black Oak Arkansas front man Jim “Dandy” Mangrum returns to Central Arkansas for a concert on Saturday. — By John Tarpley
n Pleased by the news that Keith Olbermann is returning to television, a Little Rock resident checked to see if Current TV, which will carry Olbermann’s new program, is available in Little Rock. A Current TV website gave the heartening news that the channel is available through Comcast in Little Rock as Channel 107. But when our man checked his own Comcast digital TV, he found there was nothing between Channel 105 and Channel 111. After fighting through phone trees, countless recorded messages, and exhausting waits for someone to answer, he finally found a live person at Comcast who said that even the huge number of channels in the customer’s cable package were insufficient to win access to Current TV, which is one of a very few non-conservative news channels on American television. (Olbermann is one of a handful of non-conservative news commentators.) To get a cable package that includes Current TV, our man was told, would require his paying Comcast an extra $10 month. It would also require the customer to take his old digital box to a Comcast office and trade it for a new box. The mainstream media don’t make it easy for moderate and liberal views to get on the air. Sean Hannity is around the world before Keith Olbermann is allowed to put his boots on.
DEPARTMENTS 3 The Insider 4 Smart Talk 5 The Observer 6 Letters 7 Orval 8-17 News 18 Opinion 22 Arts & Entertainment 35 Dining 37 Crossword/ Tom Tomorrow 46 Lancaster
Words VOLUME 37, NUMBER 35
n What’s the meta? A movie review headlined “Awfully meta” went on to say that “Scream 4” is a most self-aware film, “not only aware of itself as horror film, but aware of its awareness. It is, as one of the film’s film nerds would say, quite meta.” Random House lists several meanings of meta, all of them assuring me that I’ve been wise to avoid it. Here’s one: “Pertaining to or occupying two positions (1,3) in the benzene ring that are separated by one carbon atom.” But the movie reviewer didn’t seem to have benzene rings and carbon atoms in mind. I turned to the Urban Dictionary for assistance, and found a little: “A term, especially in art, used to characterize something that is characteristically self-referential.” Now I’m sufficiently emboldened to try 4 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
Doug S mith doug@arktimes.com
to use the word, thereby making it mine. Here goes: “ ‘Riding Shotgun’ is Randolph Scott’s most meta film.” Looks good to me. The usage and the movie. n “It took another six days of fierce fighting and appalling bloodshed before he was captured, in his vest, as he tried to flee with his family in a small boat across the lagoon that dominates the city.” In American English, he was captured in his undershirt. What Americans call a vest is a waistcoat in Britain.
n While we’re rummaging through British English, here’s a passage to ponder from “Buried for Pleasure,” by Edmund Crispin. “The task was enlivened by an acrimonious discussion which was raging there when Fen entered — a discussion which involved Jacqueline, Myra, a louring youth called Harry, and a buxom village girl, Olive ... ‘We was in the gorse by fourth green. We was mollocking,’ said Harry with distinct satisfaction. ‘She’m a rare un for mollocking, is Olive.’ Olive appeared gratified by this tribute. ‘Me Grammer,’ she remarked, ‘me Grammer allus says: ‘When oats be cutting, maids be riggish.’ ” Mollocking means what you think and riggish is “wanton.” Louring is a variation of lowering; Harry was “frowning or sullen.”
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“Rep. Tim Griffin wants us to work ’til we die,” a protestor’s sign said, and The Observer wondered what Rep. Griffin’s response would be if he were there to see it. “At least!” he might say. He and the other Republican members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have not yet admitted error in their voting to end Medicare and privatize Social Security, and Griffin is famously hard-nosed. But the Second District congressman was not there, outside the Federal Building on Capitol Avenue, nor any other members of the delegation. Over the years, some have kept offices in the building, but none does now. Sen. John Boozman’s Little Rock office is just a few blocks farther west on Capitol, but it’s in a private office building, and Boozman, though he supports the Republican plan, has not yet cast an official vote for it. Griffin and brother Reps. Rick Crawford and Steve Womack have. So the protestors chose to gather at the Federal Building, on a warm weekday afternoon, to express their displeasure with the efforts to cripple two great federal social programs. “Social Security is the only income I have,” the man carrying the anti-Griffin sign told The Observer. Many in the group of 30 or so were similarly situated, workers and former workers now unemployed because of age or disability or an economy that simply produces too few jobs. People who know that living on a Social Security check is difficult. They waved signs at passing motorists — “Rich Play While We Pay,” “Stop Corporate Genocide” — and they chanted “Hands Off Social Security” and “Hands Off Medicare.” Many drivers honked in support. Alan Hughes, president of the Arkansas AFL-CIO, led chants and spoke, saying that anyone, Republican or Democrat, who supported cuts in funding for Social Security and Medicare should be removed from office at the next election. A disabled bricklayer testified, his artificial leg clearly visible in the shorts he wore. A retired union member said that Republicans and conservatives had created a myth that Social Security is about to run out of money. The Social Security Fund will have $3.1 trillion as late as 2020, he said, and “very modest” changes in the system can keep it healthy much longer. The Observer thought back to a meeting in Little Rock last summer, where
Tea Party types, many of them on Social Security and Medicare, raged against a health care plan that would be to their own benefit. The protestors here at the Federal Building are notably clearer-headed, and more loyal to their class: middle- and lowincome Arkansans. That happens to be the biggest class, too.
The iris is to The Observer as Beauty to the Beast, and so we made our annual trip to the state Capitol grounds to look at the iris in bloom. We arrived at about the same time as a group of Iris Club members who tend to the Capitol’s flowers. The iris were splendid, as always, flaunting their countless shades and combinations of purple and yellow and orange and white. The club ladies talked as they snipped and pulled: “I don’t like that Polish Princess.” “I love that Free and Easy.” One found a misidentified specimen: “That is not Raspberry Rhapsody.” The Observer discovered the Capitol iris years ago, when we were stationed at the Capitol by a great newspaper, and we’ve continued to visit them since. Actually, we believe now, our interest in iris began in our childhood, piqued by the beds at the family home. But young boys try to suppress feelings for flowers. Even now, The Observer is a little sensitive about it. When one of the ladies suggested we attend the Central Arkansas Iris Society’s annual show later that day, our first response was that we had to go to the ranch and keep rustlers away from the herd. But a few hours later, there we were at Hillcrest Hall, attending our first iris show. A significant corner has been turned, we thought. The iris here were, if anything, even grander than at the Capitol, there were more varieties, and many of them had ribbons for first, second or third place in their various categories. One of the ladies from the Capitol explained to The Observer what the judges look for. It’s not just the prettiest flower that wins. All these fabulous colors on display, and yet The Observer suddenly realized that he didn’t see a red anywhere. There is no red iris, a lady explained. People have tried to produce one for years, research has been done, some slightly reddish tones have emerged. But an iris as red as a geranium? Not in the foreseeable future. “I don’t miss it,” she said. www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 5
Letters arktimes@arktimes.com
Happy with LR One thing that you can’t deny about Little Rock is that it is a cosmopolitan, multicultural, civilized — even genteel — city. I mean, no matter how you slice it, and/or how many apparent “faults,” “lacks” or “failings” you may perceive it has, it is, after all, a state capital, and it possesses many amenities, virtues and charms that you just can’t find in many other American cities with a far greater population. As a recent arrival, an individual belonging to an ethnic minority (Latino), and someone who has lived in a fair number of large and medium-sized cities in the U.S., especially in the Far West, Southwest and Midwest, I can categorically state that Little Rock is a very good place to live. Perhaps the same cannot be said of other regions of Arkansas or the southern U.S. in general, since, as a rule, racism has a way of rearing its ugly head in many parts of the South. But Little Rock is, at least nowadays, the exception to that rule. One of Little Rock’s greatest assets is that it’s family-friendly. It is a very good place to raise kids. It shares many characteristics and values with cities and towns of the Midwest: an enduring philosophy that puts common sense as one of its highest tenets, a people first and if-it-ain’tbroken-don’t-fix-it attitude, and a downhome, simple, folksy, authentic, relaxed hospitality and friendliness. These things, coupled with “do the right thing” morals, and, of course, very, very strong family values, all add up to the city I’ve come to know and love. That is the Little Rock I encountered since the first day I moved here in May of 2009 and the one that I still marvel at every single day I have the privilege of living here. Rafael Nunez Little Rock
The KIPP record In his guest column on KIPP charter schools, (“Charter Schools’ Hidden Agenda,” 4/20/11), Dr. Paul Hewitt highlighted a new report by Western Michigan University researcher Dr. Gary Miron, and called the charter school movement “an unethical charade.” After reading his column, I feel compelled to set the record straight. I teach pediatrics in medical school and have a strong interest in how children learn. I know of KIPP’s work through my daughter, a product of the LRSD who teaches at a KIPP school in Washington. According to her experience, KIPP educators are incredibly passionate and driven, constantly seeking constructive critique in order to improve. I firmly believe this at6 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
titude is largely responsible for its success. KIPP is nationally renowned for improving academic performance in predominantly low-income kids at 99 schools in 20 states, including Arkansas. Having recently visited KIPP Delta College Prep in Helena, I have seen firsthand the transformative impact KIPP is having on students in the Arkansas Delta. The four schools in the KIPP Delta network are achieving dramatic educational gains for students living in rural poverty. KIPP Delta’s founder, Scott Shirey, has received a national Milken Educator Award for his extraordinary contribution to public education in Arkansas. In his critique of KIPP, Dr. Hewitt failed
to critically review the Miron study in two major ways. First, in calculating KIPP’s $5,700 private per-pupil revenue, Dr. Miron only looked at data from half of KIPP schools, and ignored the fact that charter schools like KIPP have to find and pay for their own facilities. The New York Times reported KIPP’s actual private revenue, which is closer to $2,500. Dr. Hewitt also repeats the Miron finding that KIPP loses 40 percent of black male students. This is simply not true. In a new report published in April, Mathematica Policy Research looked at student-level data for both KIPP and neighboring public schools, and found that
KIPP actually loses fewer black boys. KIPP has an open-door policy and encourages people to visit its schools. Dr. Miron has admitted he’s never done so. I encourage anyone interested in innovative educational systems to consider a visit, so that we may objectively identify what’s good and what needs improvement. When addressing new models in education, professors of education must not pick sides without critical review. Otherwise they are teaching our future educators a dangerous lesson: that innovation is suspicious, and the status quo is our best bet. Dr. J. Gary Wheeler Little Rock
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Recently, local and national op-ed pages have brimmed with both pro- and anti-choice positions stemming from federal and state legislators and their decisions concerning women’s reproductive rights. Though we will be debating the question of abortion forever, or for at least as long as women are deemed subservient to men, it all boils down to the simple issue of traffic control. Yes, traffic control. Here’s how it will pan out: We finally do away with safe, legal abortions sending poor, desperate women into back alleys and wealthier women to enlightened countries. But we’ll still have thousands more unwanted children. We’ll put them all in foundling homes, orphanages, out on the street or just out of sight. But the real problem will be the heavy burden this unforeseen plethora of children will place on traffic enforcement officers. For they are the ones who will have to control the gnarled traffic jams, bleating horns, and rattled nerves of all the anti-choice activists who will be rushing head-long, with unbridled enthusiasm and heart-rending compassion, to adopt the unfortunate wee ones. If fortune smiles on the future families-to-be, the children will all be physically, mentally, “socially,” aesthetically, racially and developmentally acceptable and will thus find loving homes immediately. And let’s all keep our fingers crossed that it works out that way. But there’s a caveat. To qualify for their new roles as parents, the “anti-choicers” must promise faithfully to continue to elect politicians who reside only on the moral high ground. They may never vote to fund any social programs that even hint at feeding, educating and providing medical care for future unfortunate children, thereby “keeping the stream alive.” Linda Farrell Bella Vista Submit letters to The Editor, Arkansas Times, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, AR 72203. We also accept letters via e-mail. The address is maxbrantley@arktimes. com. We also accept faxes at 375-3623. Please include a hometown and telephone number.
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The Arkansas Reporter
THE WEEK THAT WAS A P R I L 2 7 - M AY 3 , 2 0 1 1 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 ■
The U.S.A. The nation cheered the Navy SEAL team that ended a search of more than nine years by killing 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden in his Pakistani hideout.
■
■
IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR …
REPUBLICAN U.S. REP. TIM GRIFFIN. He said he’s not inclined to vote to lift the U.S. debt ceiling. The ensuing financial cataclysm appears not to shake his ideological fervor. REPUBLICAN SECRETARY OF STATE MARK MARTIN. The Blue Arkansas blog raised questions about time cards for a former employee that suggest she was paid for time not in the office. His office also came up with a suspicious story to cover pullback from exorbitant copying charges it had levied on people, like the Times, making Freedom of Information Act requests. An “honest mistake,” said the office of a charge that dropped from 25 to 11 cents a page. The ARKANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY. It reflexively opposed Gov. Mike Beebe’s idea to reform Medicaid by emphasizing preventive care and shared services. Reform could cost doctors money and that’s more important than patients’ or the government’s health. The ARKANSAS FARM BUREAU. The moss-backed organization mounted a public lobbying campaign, a la American Idol, to get farmer Stanley Reed installed as president of the University of Arkansas System. If you want open minds, progressive ideas and forward looking leadership, the last place you’d look is the Farm Bureau. The UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS. New documents demonstrate the UA systematically violated the Freedom of Information Act in secret efforts to fill the job of UA president. 8 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
BRIAN CHILSON
RAIN. It poured. Creeks and rivers rose. Homes and businesses flooded and at least one person was killed when his car was swept off a road. A Louisiana Boy Scout troop had to be rescued by National Guard helicopter when high water trapped them in the Ouachita National Forest.
How did he get here? Even in a low-level office like land commissioner, one wouldn’t expect to find a John Thurston. BY DOUG SMITH
n State Land Commissioner John Thurston is a pleasant, unassuming sort of fellow, which is about as much as can be said for any land commissioner. His is, as Thurston himself acknowledges, “a low-profile kind of job.” Indeed. Below governor and attorney general, all the state constitutional officers are little noted, and the land commissioner least. Even the lieutenant governor, whose job is baldly unnecessary, occasionally draws attention by presiding over the state Senate when the legislature is in session — a couple of months every couple of years — and appearing at public functions when the governor’s out of town. Barring a catastrophe of New Madrid Earthquake proportions, the land commissioner toils in obscurity, or, more precisely, the land commissioner’s staff toils. Unless a constitutional officer sets out to make waves, as Secretary of State Mark Martin seems to have done, longtime employees in his or her office will keep it running smoothly for the most part. There are 37 employees in the land commissioner’s office today, and most of them were there before Thurston arrived in January. Some have more than 20 years’ service. Even Nikki Heck, whose title is “communications specialist” and who sits
in on a reporter’s interview with Thurston, came to work in the office when Charlie Daniels was commissioner, a decade ago. Daniels is fairly representative of the kind of person usually found in the lesser constitutional offices — someone who’s supported and made friends with various politicians (most often, Democratic politicians), has certain political skills himself, and knows his limits. Since the voters approved term limits in 1992, these people can no longer settle down in one constitutional office indefinitely, as they once did, but they’re adapting. (Sam Jones was land commissioner for a quarter of a century, ending in the early ’80s, and was largely forgotten except when his name appeared on the ballot in election years. Lack of attention seemed to please him. He gave a bottle of whiskey to every state Capitol reporter at Christmas, and it was generally believed this was in gratitude for keeping his name out of the paper.) After Daniels was term-limited out of the land commissioner’s office, he then took over as secretary of state for the maximum two four-year terms. He’s now the state auditor, having been elected in November 2010, at the same time Thurston was elected land commissioner. Mark Wilcox, Daniels’
successor and Thurston’s predecessor as land commissioner, was term-limited out. Thurston became commissioner by defeating the Democratic nominee, L.J. Bryant, who was not especially well-known either — really well-known people don’t run for land commissioner — but more prominent than Thurston. Now 38, Thurston was born and raised in Sardis (Saline County) and graduated from Sheridan High School. He attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia before graduating from Agape College, a Bible college affiliated with Agape Church in Little Rock. He was a licensed minister for a time, ministering to prison and jail inmates, but he stopped preaching when his wife got sick, and didn’t feel like going back to it after she died. For 13 years before he was elected land commissioner, he worked for Agape Church, a nondenominational congregation. Asked what he did at the church, he said he was involved with maintenance and security, “those type of things.” He doesn’t claim that it was a highranking position. When people ask him what the land commissioner does — and they ask frequently — Thurston explains that he’s essentially a tax collector. When the owners of real property don’t pay their local property taxes, the counties convey the property to the state land commissioner for public auction. The proceeds from the sale of a particular piece of real estate are sent back to the county where the property is located. Most of the money eventually goes to the public schools. Since 2003, the land commissioner has collected more than $123 million for public schools, according to the office’s website. The office of land commissioner was created in 1868, as an appointive office. In 1947 voters approved a constitutional amendment making land commissioner an elective office. Arkansas is one of only five states that have an elected land commissioner. The Arkansas commissioner’s salary is $54,000. Continued on page 17
Corrections
We regret these mistakes in last week’s article on the Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team: • Parents of Richard Palomino of Springdale are April Mondhan and Richard Palomino. • Parents of Derek Roetzel of Springdale are Kendall and Sharry Roetzel. Also, Roetzel was No. 1 in a class of 492, not 181.
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www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 9
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
THE GOOD FIGHT: Verizon hosts modern rockers extraordinaire Foo Fighters on May 18. Grohl & Co. will be supported by Brit-metal gods Motörhead.
Step out To music, movies and more this summer. BY JOHN TARPLEY
T
he summer kicks off with the return of celebrated Texas rootsrocker Alejandro Escovedo, a punk veteran who fuses roots rock with literate musings and, on occasion, a heart-rending string section (see: 1994’s “Thirteen Years”). He plays his regular Little Rock venue, Juanita’s, on May 12 at 9 p.m., $16 adv., $20 d.o.s. The same night marks the return of KUAR’s annual fundraiser/variety show, Arkansas Flyer, which comes to Wildwood for its fifth year. Local musician/radio DJ Amy Garland hosts the night, which features Garland collaborators (and Little Rock’s best country act) The Salty Dogs as the house band. Fayetteville folk-duo Still on the Hill is the featured act while renowned storyteller and ASU faculty 10 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
member Gwendolyn Twillie handles the yarn-spinning, 6 p.m., $20. On May 13, early ’90s pop-punk architects Smoking Popes bring their eccentric croon-rock to Stickyz alongside esteemed Texas grrrl trio Girl in a Coma, 9 p.m., $10. Down the street at Revolution, Keller Williams, the guitar virtuoso and jam-circuit all-star behind 16 albums is set to get reliably weird and wildly technical, 9:30 p.m., $19 adv., $25 d.o.s. The always-welcome blitz of summer food festivals begins with the Jewish Food Festival offering traditional fare from deli sandwiches and chopped liver to an array of pastries, including rugelach and mandel brot (almond bread). The day-long May 15 festival also showcases paintings, jewelry
and pottery from local artists and live music from Jana Cohen and the Shechinotes, Temple B’nai Israel Stars of David Band, Memphis’ Temple Israel Ruach Band, the always-popular Meshugga Klezmer Band and more. Slobberbone, the alt-country cult act whose song “Gimme Back My Dog” was declared by Stephen King as one of the three greatest rock songs ever, plays a rare show for a sure-to-be ecstatic crowd at White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. May 17. Verizon Arena hosts a rare, country-free rock show on May 18 with alternative rock radio big-timers Foo Fighters and a band of true heavy metal legends, Motorhead, 7 p.m., $23-$43. The Rep teams up with Northwest Arkansas’s TheatreSquared to host the 2011 Arkansas New Play Fest, which features staged reading performances of professional and student plays, improv comedy and the sixth annual 24-Hour Play-Off competition. The four-day festival, which kicks off May 19 at the Argenta Community Theater, will feature presentations of Werner Trieschmann’s “Disfarmer,” John Walch’s “In the Book Of,” Robert Ford’s “The Spiritualist” and more.
Rick DellaRatta, jazz pianist and Dizzy Gillespie cohort, teams up with area musicians at the gorgeous Dreamland Ballroom for “Jazz for Peace,” a benefit concert to raise funds for African charities, May 20, 7 p.m., $35. Also that night, family-friendly gospel veterans return to Verizon at the Gaither Homecoming Celebration, 7 p.m., $24.50-$74.50. Thick Syrup Records, the Little Rock-based label that’s attracting international attention after a recent string of cult-act releases (Jad and David Fair of Half Japanese), celebrates its birthday later that same evening at White Water Tavern with a triple-bill of bands on its local roster. Detroit rockin’ supergroup Sweet Eagle, raucous garage act San Antokyo and local singer/songwriter Brian Frazier (with his full backing band) provide the tunes, 9:30 p.m. Stickyz offers up a double-header of cover acts the same weekend with Frontiers, a Journey tribute act, taking stage on May 20, 9:30 p.m., $10, and, the following night, Nevermind, a — you got it — Nirvana cover band, 9 p.m., $5. If all of this music stirs up your appetite, head to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Continued on page 15
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
Hot Springs kitsch The tourist trap lives in the Spa City. BY DAVID KOON
B
ack in the glory days — the illegal gambling, mobsters and quack medicine days — Hot Springs used to be a lot more kitschy. Tourists loved that stuff. Even when this writer was growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there were still quite a few semi-cheesy attractions, including the I.Q. Zoo (home to tic-tac-toe-playing chickens and basket-balling raccoons), Dryden Pottery, a cave and my personal fave — Tiny Town, an automaton city full of carved figurines, lovingly built by a lifelong tinkerer out of chicken wire, clay and old washing machine parts. Who wants to learn boring old science from a book when you can learn the Skinner Method from a firetruck-riding rabbit who rushes out at the sound of a bell? Good times. Hot Springs still offers quite a bit of tourist kitsch, those attractions that remind us of an easier time in America, when gas was cheap and cars were the size of Cleopatra’s sailbarge. Here are a few of our favorites.
the summertime, the alligators are housed in concrete pools in the middle of the zoo complex. (The cool weather months find the hibernation-groggy gators piled under heat lamps inside their wintering barn, separated from the gawkers by only low, two-by-four railings, a wire fence and bare inches). Add to that one of the most Stuckeys-rific gift shops in Hot Springs and a Barnum’s Museum-style stuffed Merman (!) on display, and you’ve got an old school tourist trap (and I say that in the most loving way possible) sure to take Gen-X’ers and older back to the childhood road trips of yore.
THE ARKANSAS ALLIGATOR FARM
The history of Hot Springs as a gambler’s and gangster’s playground is one of those things that a lot of Arkies have heard about, but not many have heard a LOT about. The true story of how the Spa City became a summer retreat for some of the country’s biggest gangland names gets told well at The Gangster Museum of America. Opened in 2008 and recently relocated to a new space more centrally located on Bathhouse Row, the museum could use a few more three-dimensional exhibits (it’s mostly framed photos and short films about the underworld history of Hot Springs, though there is a nice display of slot machines and gaming tables from nearby clubs shut by the state in the late 1960s), but for a history buff who wants to know more about the shady side of town and how it was alContinued on page 14
BRIAN CHILSON
847 Whittington Ave. Phone: 501-623-6172 Website: www.arkansasalligatorfarm.com Admission: Adults $6.50; children (3-12 years) $5.50; two and under free. Hours: 9:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m. daily except on Thanksgiving and Christmas
GATORS: The Arkansas Alligator Farm remains a family favorite.
Opened in 1902, the Arkansas Alligator Farm has offered generations of Arkies a glimpse at how easy it would be for them to slip a notch down the food chain. The oneacre site features hundreds of gators, from small to XXL, as well as a petting corral with whitetail deer and goats (you get a couple of slices of wheat bread to feed ’em with admission), and an attached roadsidestyle zoo full of turkeys, mountain lions, monkeys, peacocks and other creatures. In
THE GANGSTER MUSEUM OF AMERICA 510 Central Ave. Phone: 501-318-1717 Website: www.tgmoa.com Admission: Adults $10, children (6-12 years) $4; under six free. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday through Saturday.
www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 11
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
BRINGING THE HEAT PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE FUTURE HOME OF LOMBARDI LEMON LIQUEURS SWIMSUITS PROVIDED BY BARBARA GRAVES INTIMATE FASHIONS
AT LEFT: Chanley sizzles in Seafolly’s Red V halter top with ruffle and a ruched skirted bottom with frill. BELOW, LEFT: Chanley shows off L Space’s coral halter monokini. BELOW: Kersten lives on the wild side in Nanette Lepore’s bandeau black top with animal print trim with matching retro bottom. FACING PAGE, TOP LEFT: Kersten hangs out in a navy and gray mixed print bikini by Gideon Oberson. FACING PAGE, BOTTOM LEFT: Chanley stays cool in Gossip collection’s orange and white triangle top and flounced bikini bottom. FACING PAGE, RIGHT: Kersten is ready for the heat in blue tides embroidered and clean sequins triangle top with matching side tie bikini bottom by Vix.
12 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 13
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
HOT SPRINGS Continued from page 11
lowed to exist for so long, it’s genuinely fascinating. In addition to presentations on famous/infamous visitors like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone, a series of rooms focus on the town’s resident kingpins, including Owney Madden, the British mobster who came to take the waters and wound up neck deep in the underworld there; Mayor Leo McLaughlin, who made a long career out of looking the other way; and Maxine Jones, the flamboyant madam who openly ran the city’s most famous brothel. Lots of crime-geek infotainment, and you get to hold a real-life Tommy Gun at the end of it. Who could ask for anything more? JOSEPHINE TUSSAUD WAX MUSEUM
HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK DUCK TOURS 418 Central Ave. Phone: 501-321-2911 Tickets: Adults $18, children (3-12 years) $10, under three $5. Website: www.rideaduck.com/ducks Hours: Tours every 30 min. from morning until dusk on weekends. See website for more details. 14 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
No one would mistake a Hot Springs duck boat tour for a sophisticated experience: You’re hauled in a stiff-springed cargo truck through the streets of Hot Springs, while a helpful guide/driver points out the sights. Once you get to the edge of Lake Hamilton, though, that’s where the Ducks pay the bills. Down the boat ramp and into the water you go with a splash. They’ve been ferrying tourists back and forth to the lake in the Ducks for over 40 years, so it’s an experience ingrained in the memory of many an Arkansan. Sure, some might call trusting your life to a nearly-70-year-old amphibious bus built by Rosie the Riveter to haul U.S. troops during World War II a bit foolhardy. But I say: You’re on vacation, man! Live a little. I’d be remiss if I didn’t pause to note the May 1999 accident where one of the boats sank on Lake Hamilton in a matter of seconds, taking 13 souls to the bottom with it. Still, if you’re willing to take a little risk (and trust that the tour companies are keeping a much closer eye on things since the accident), riding the Ducks is one of the quintessential old-timey Hot Springs attractions, not to mention one of the activities you’ll have to check off if you want to get your Certified Arkie card.
BRIAN CHILSON
THE SHADY SIDE: The Gangster Museum of America provides a fascinating look at organized crime’s past in Hot Springs.
THE BREAD’S A LITTLE WAXY: The last supper, as depicted in wax at the Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum.
BRIAN CHILSON
Another old long-standing Hot Springs tourist draw, the Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum on Central Avenue is surely showing its age (they still have Elizabeth Taylor and a ’70s-sideburned Sir Richard Burton on display), but that lends a certain charm to the place. Once the home of the fabled Southern Club, the space became the Wax Museum in 1971, and might well be the grandpappy of all surviving Hot Springs kitsch. It’s definitely an attraction out of another, simpler age, with over 100 wax figures on display and themed rooms including Religion (with wax, 3-D representations of Da Vinci’s Last Supper and the Crucifixion), Fairy Tales (featuring characters like Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood), The Royal Grand Hall (with French and British royalty), and — my personal favorite — the World of Horrors, with poor wax bastards being subjected to some of the most horrific torments of the Spanish Inquisition, with a handy shortcut to bypass that room for the squeamish. As an added bonus, the front window of the museum features a miniature, albino version of the Big Bad Wolf that gave me night terrors as a kid.
BRIAN CHILSON
250 Central Ave. Phone: 501-623-5836 Website: www.rideaduck.com/waxmuseum Admission: adults $10, children (3-12 years) $7, two and under, free. Hours: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
BY LAND OR BY SEA: Ducks provide a unique way to see the Spa City.
BRIAN CHILSON
BRIAN CHILSON
BRIAN CHILSON
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
STEP OUT
Continued from page 11
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classic rockers R.E.O. Speedwagon. Another local establishment, the Little Rock Film Festival, celebrates its fifth year with five days of movie screenings, visiting filmmakers, workshops and, of course, parties, parties, parties, June 1-5. The festival announces its lineup and puts passes on sale May 4. Mulberry Mountain in Ozark opens up its grounds for another year of Wakarusa, the nationally-renowned, jam-heavy music festival. This year’s lineup is highlighted by hippie-circuit all-stars Umphrey’s McGee, Ben Harper and Relentless7
Church for the annual Greek Food Festival, a two-day fair of hummus, gyros, baklava, olives and more. The festival runs May 20-21. Jim Witter and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrate the hits of Billy Joel and Elton John at Robinson Center Music Hall with “The Piano Men,” 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, $20-$40. Indie-garage superstars Grace Potter and the Nocturnals swing into Revolution on May 22 as part of the “Bonnaroo Buzz Tour,” 7:30 p.m., $20. The acclaimed, award-winning stage adaptation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” closes out a successful season of touring Broadway shows in Robinson Center Music Hall. It begins a three-day stint at the downtown hall on May 24, 7 p.m., $27-$57. More theater premieres the same night when Murry’s Dinner Playhouse debuts its production of “Always Patsy Cline,” with Candyce Hinkle, who garnered GOD SAVE THE QUEEN: Wanda Jackson, the shining reviews during The “Queen of Rockabilly,” comes to Revolution on May Rep’s 2009 run, reprising her 25 to support her new, Jack White-produced comeback role of the country great. The album, “The Party Ain’t Over.” play/music revue runs through June 26. and Sound Tribe Sector 9 sprinkled A rock and roll trailblazer of the highwith a few big-time college rockers, noest caliber comes to town when Wanda tably Grammy-nominated headliners My Jackson, the First Lady of Rockabilly and Morning Jacket. The four-day festival singer behind “Let’s Have a Party” (1955), opens its gates on June 2. thought to be the first rock song cut by a Yet another four-day fest kicks off woman, comes to Revolution to support the same day when the Eureka Springs her new, Jack White-produced album, “The Blues Weekend takes to the mountain Party Ain’t Over,” 8 p.m. May 25, $15 adv., town, featuring music from John Mayall’s $20 d.o.s. right-hand man, Coco Montoya, slide Billboard-topping country singer guitar virtuoso Elvin Bishop, Southern Easton Corbin helps launch Magic blues rocker Tinsley Ellis and many, many Springs’ 2011 Concert Series on May 28. more. Fellow country artists Rodney Atkins and Classical music returns to the Spa City Blake Shelton perform on July 2 and 9, from June 5-18 with the acclaimed Hot respectively. Other highlights: ’80s foxSprings Music Festival, featuring loads of rockers Joan Jett & the Blackhearts apperformances all around town. pear June 25, modern rock radio staples 3 One of the best psych-garage acts Doors Down play July 16 and Disney teearound, The Black Angels, lands in Sticknie-boppers Kicking Daisies and All-Star yz for an evening of abrasive, but catchy, Weekend land in Timberwood Amphitheguitar rock, June 8, 9 p.m., $10. ater on June 11. The season at The Rep keeps on rollRiverfest returns to the banks of the Aring when the Hitchcock spy classic “The kansas River for another three-day festival 39 Steps” takes a turn for the comedic of music, food, crafts and cartoonish state and pulpy, starting June 10 and running pride (we love it) on May 27-29. This year’s through the 26th. music line-up includes jam-rock icons And the Arkansas Shakespeare FestiWidespread Panic; nu-metal act Papa val returns strong for a fifth year, running Roach; ’90s Canadian pop heroes Barenafrom June 16 to July 3 and featuring proked Ladies; party-starting hip-hop act Digiductions of “Othello,” “As You Like It,” tal Undergound; St. Louis rapper extraor“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dinaire Nelly; hair metal authorities Poison; Dreamcoat” and, for the kids, “The TorTexan country-rocker Pat Green; country toise and the Hare.” fiddle royalty Charlie Daniels Band, and
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www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 15
SUMMER GUIDE 2011
Drink away the pain Five booze-y antidotes to the heat. BY LINDSEY MILLAR
I
n the very near future, it will be 120 degrees outside. Or at least it will feel like it. You’ll sweat through your clothes walking from your car to work. The bushes in your front yard will burst into flames. Air-conditioning will barely be a refuge. Even in a cool room your skin will burn, the memory of the outside hell imprinted on it like a new tattoo. The only way to fight against it? From the inside, with a cool drink. Better yet, a spiked cool drink to help you forget that it’s melting outside. Below, five carefully selected suggestions.
Margarita ZaZa After only a little more than a month serving margaritas, ZaZa’s sign already brags “Best Margaritas in Town.” And why not? The Heights pizza and salad standby makes a strong case with a concoction that strikes an almost perfect balance between the sweet and the tart. The key ingredients? A lot of fresh lime juice and a simple syrup mixture that doesn’t leave you sugar-sick like so many margaritas do. Served on the rocks with a lime wedge in a frosted mug, rimmed with a thick layer of rock salt, it’s a summer classic done right.
Basil Lemon Drop Martini Ferneau Has there been a classic drink more abused than the martini? I’m talking Appletinis, Saketinis, Chocolate martinis. Hell, I’ve even seen a Balsamic Vinegar Martini. Nothing beyond gin, vermouth and an olive should go in a drink that calls itself a martini. Except for Ferneau’s Basil Lemon Drop Martini. It can take whatever name it wants. Built, I suspect, on honey, lemon, mint, vodka and muddled basil, it’s the rare cocktail that’s truly refreshing — it tastes like a better version of lemonade.
PURPOSELY INNOVATIVE. INCIDENTALLY BEAUTIFUL.
Alcohol-infused Snow Cones The Peabody Hotel’s RiverTop Parties To kick off its weekly RiverTop Parties last week, the Peabody served up that quintessential summer treat of childhood, but with a kick — spiked snow cones. Just like you’d find after a Little League baseball game in a paper cone, drenched in sweetness. So far, the flavors speak to our desire for a nostalgia buzz. There’s blue and red. Blue is called Royal Blue and it’s punched up by Blue Island Pucker DeKuyper liqueur and Shaker Vodka. Red is Tigers Blood, a blend of strawberry and watermelon flavors augmented by Watermelon DeKuyper liqueur and coconut rum. You won’t taste it, but after just one little cone, watch out: Everything will get a little wobbly.
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Capital Hotel Bar Why drink at the Capital Hotel? Because the bar has all the ingredients (and knowledge) to mix cocktails you could never pull off at home. Like a Mint Julep packed tight with perfectly crushed ice in a pewter glass. Or an Old Fashioned worth ordering just for the brandy-soaked cherries speared on a cocktail knife. Or, even more so, the Seersucker, a twist on the Sazerac, made with bourbon and ingredients no one keeps in his liquor cabinet — Aperol (an Italian apertif), Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot (an Austrian liqueur) and Lillet (a French apertif). Served cold, neat and with an orange peel, it’s a drink you’ll return to whenever you’re determined to leave summer behind.
The Adult Milkshake Purple Cow Kids love hamburgers. Kids love milkshakes. Kids love drawing on menus. Ergo, kids love the Purple Cow. Parents like all those things, too, but preferably with a tranquilizer on the side. Which is why the Purple Cow’s Adult Shake is such an inspired innovation in family dining. All of the mini-chain’s nearly two-dozen shakes are available in a 21-plus version, with an ounce of your choice of Amaretto, Irish Cream, “Creme de Mint,” Triple Sec, Kahlua, bourbon, vodka or rum. Retch, you might say, thinking of your favorite PB & Jelly shake. But Kahlua in a vanilla milkshake? That’s like a better White Russian. And that’s just hitting on the obvious. Who knows? A bourbon double-chocolate shake might be divine.
THURSTON Continued from page 8
Before last year, Thurston had never run for office, nor been active in other people’s races. What prompted him to run? “I’d always been interested in politics and public service. When I realized there’d never been a Republican in this office, I thought this was the time to run. I’d voted Republican, but I hadn’t been heavily involved with the party.” Some Republican activists appeared as perplexed as anyone else by Thurston’s candidacy, but Thurston says that when he told Republican State Chairman Doyle Webb of his plan, Webb said, “Come on.” He borrowed money and ran a low-budget campaign suitable for a land commissioner’s race, spending a little over $30,000. He received contributions from individuals, Republican groups around the state and realtors, and ended the campaign with no debt, something he’s proud of. Some of his contributors had Agape connections, obviously. (Agape is the parent of an evangelical television network, VTN. A preacher/ promoter named Mike Murdock is one of the stars.) Mostly, Thurston drove around the state appearing at various events and putting up lots of signs. He frequently encountered his opponent and the two got along well. There are no debates in a race for land commissioner. How did the obscure Thurston win? Bryant issued a statement the day after the election: “Last night was a tough night if you happened to have a ‘D’ by your name, and our race was one of those caught up by the tsunami that swept across America on this election day.” Thurston concedes that a wave of Republicanism swept across the country in November, but he says that can’t be the whole story. If people had voted a straight anti-Democratic ticket, he said, Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, couldn’t have carried every county. Republicans won three of the state constitutional offices, the best they’d ever done, and they probably would have won more if they’d put a candidate in every race. Asked if he and Lt. Gov. Mark Darr and Secretary of State Martin confer about the problems of a Republican officeholder in a predominantly Democratic state Capitol, Thurston said there might be impromptu discussion of state business when the three meet at public functions, but, “We don’t hang out together.” (Martin and Darr have not responded to Times requests for interviews.) Has the small, modest John Thurston become a hero to Arkansas Republicans, with his surprising victory? “I’ve had people thank me for stepping up, but I think it’ll take a little time for me to be considered a pillar of the party.” As for his own Republican heroes, he mentions Winthrop Rockefeller first — “He paved the way for the Republican Party in this state” — then Abraham Lin-
coln (not all of today’s Republicans like to claim Lincoln) and Ronald Reagan (they all do like to claim Reagan). Rockefeller was a liberal, Reagan a conservative, but that sort of seeming contradiction happens in politics. Reagan always said Franklin Roosevelt was one of his heroes. Lincoln’s name was evoked once in fairly dramatic fashion during Thurston’s campaign. As Thurston tells it, he was campaigning in the Heights when a man asked if he was a Republican. He said yes, and the man then said he wouldn’t vote for him because Republicans were against black people. Thurston protested, mentioning Lincoln and his accomplishments. “I do
not believe that DNA has changed,” Thurston says. The critic was white, incidentally, like everybody in the Heights. To make sure black voters knew he wasn’t an enemy, Thurston ran an ad on a black gospel radio station — one he listens to frequently, he says — pointing out that he’d been married to a black woman. Her name was Tiffany; they met at Agape Church. She died of cancer at 28. They had no children, and Thurston hasn’t remarried. “But I am looking.” The only unpleasantness since Thurston took office involved Rep. Keith Ingram (DMarion), who wanted to take a big chunk of surplus funds from the land commis-
sioner’s control and use the money for legislators’ pet projects. Instead, the money ended up being used, with Thurston’s acquiescence, for state employees who were owed pay. Ingram also sponsored a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the offices of land commissioner and lieutenant governor. The legislature rejected it. The Ingram affair was the only time Thurston has felt the sting of partisanship, he said, and he was most hurt that Ingram didn’t discuss his projects with Thurston. “He never came by one time,” Thurston said. “That bothered me a little bit.” Even after winning the election, he still seems like an underdog.
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EYE ON ARKANSAS
Editorial n In conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau pretty well runs the Arkansas legislature. Now it seeks to extend its sinister influence into the field of higher education. (Much as the Chamber has annexed Little Rock city government, forcing the board of directors to make a $200,000 annual contribution of taxpayers’ money to help the Chamber work against the best interests of most of the taxpayers. It sounds like one of those “News of the Weird” features.) All over Arkansas, Farm Bureau agents are agitating for the appointment of Stanley Reed as president of the University of Arkansas System, a position for which he is untrained and unsuited. A former president of the Farm Bureau, Reed is complicit in all its unsavory activities: Laws to prevent cruelty to animals are resisted fiercely by the Farm Bureau, which seems to believe every four-legged creature worthy of mistreatment. The Farm Bureau encourages hateful discrimination against homosexuals. The Farm Bureau ardently supports regressive taxation. The academic world would be shocked by the hiring of Reed, but he’s apparently acceptable to the Waltons, the superwealthy family whose wishes are more like commands at the UA these days. Friends and alumni of the University should make their own voices heard to the Board of Trustees. Say no to Reed. He’d probably make more dogs and cats available for dissection in the biology lab, but the president of the state’s flagship university needs more than that to recommend him. The Farm Bureau calls for the UA to cater to in-state industry, but a university does not exist to provide eviscerators for poultry plants, nor greeters for discount stores. One of a university’s highest purposes is to enable people to see through selfserving claptrap. That is not the purpose of the Farm Bureau. n Unpopular truths do not earn speaking engagements, which is why so many speakers avoid them. One such with a high-sounding title — “chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities” — was at the Clinton School of Public Service, telling his listeners that “the center has been eroded from American politics” because party regulars on the far left and on the far right have gained control of the political process. The center has not vanished; it’s just moved to the right — for various reasons, including the influence of the corporate media. Lyndon Johnson was the last liberal Democrat to be elected president. All Democratic presidents since, including the incumbent and the one for whom the Clinton School was named, have been centrists.
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BRIAN CHILSON
It’s not a vo-tech school
ALL WET: Flooding affected several in central Arkansas early this week after rain drenched the state for much of the weekend. This home is located on Highway 161 in Jacksonville, one of the harder-hit areas.
Osama’s farewells n I write Monday morning less than 12 hours after the news that a U.S. strike force had killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan hideout. It was hard to fault President Obama’s measured announcement and his acknowledgment that bin Laden’s death was not an end of the anti-terrorism fight or the need to be vigilant. “As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not — and never will be — at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al-Qaida has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.” Measured rhetoric is not the hallmark of a former Arkansan who might seek to replace President Obama in 2012. Mike Huckabee was an early commenter on his website. “It is unusual to celebrate a death, but today Americans and decent people the world over cheer the news that madman, murderer and terrorist Osama Bin Laden is dead. The leader of Al Qaeda — responsible for the deaths of 3,000 innocent citizens on September 11, 2001, and whose maniacal hate is responsible for the deaths of thousands of US servicemen and women was killed by U.S. military. ... “It has taken a long time for this monster to be brought to justice. Welcome to hell, bin Laden. Let us all hope that his demise will serve notice to Islamic radicals the world over that the United States will be relentless in tracking down and terminating those who would inflict terror, mayhem and death on any of our citizens.” Welcome to hell, indeed. And welcome to the Christian-Muslim divide that Huckabee nurtures with relish. I was struck more favorably by Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock. He allowed a few
Max Brantley max@arktimes.com
more hours of reflection before speaking. He also claimed no insight into bin Laden’s afterlife room assignment. “The death of Osama Bin Laden is great news for the United States, our allies and the world. This is an historic moment for our nation. Let there be no doubt: this is a major achievement and a victory for all Americans, especially for the men and women of the U.S. military and intelligence communities, who have sacrificed, along with their families, for the last ten years. While Bin Laden’s death is a very important event, our nation must remain committed to vigorously fighting the war on terror in order to protect our nation from those who would do us harm.” Perhaps because Griffin has served in the military he was not so ready to throw around cheap fighting words, as Huckabee had. The punditry piled up quickly. Two contrasting views arrived just about simultaneously. Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, declared the event a time for “triumphalism and unapologetic patriotism.” At the same time, I heard from Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, a local Baptist pastor. He paid tribute to the military and intelligence victory and said bin Laden’s death was a “just conclusion.” But he added: “This is no time for triumphalism. Instead, we should give serious thought about how to reconcile human differences so that violence, hate, and cruelty don’t take root within people.” Which style do you prefer? That welcome mat to hell? Or a victory message tempered by the understanding that more than weaponry is required to solve the asymmetric puzzle of international conflicts?
BRIAN CHILSON
Polarization thwacks the legislature n One would think that Arkansas’s state political institutions would be overwhelmingly popular with the state’s citizens. The state’s budgetary health throughout the recession years has been the envy of other states. Sizable (though not irresponsible) tax cuts were enacted in the just-completed legislative session. In that same session, the state government showed that it could tackle big problems by successfully passing a corrections overhaul that is arguably the most important action by state government in this generation besides the Lake View school reforms. Gov. Mike Beebe is, indeed, the recipient of immense public approval. Last week’s Talk Business/Hendrix College poll showed the ongoing broad and deep support for the governor. At 67 percent approval, including 52 percent support among Arkansas’s Republicans, Beebe appears on his way to sharing the title of most popular Arkansas governor in the contemporary era with Dale Bumpers. (Remember that David Pryor had the ill-
Jay Barth conceived “Arkansas Plan” that harmed his standing midway through his governorship.) But, the approval of state government stops with the governor. The state’s General Assembly is not sharing in the warmth of the Arkansas public. That same poll shows that Arkansans paying enough attention to the recent legislative session to evaluate it disapproved of the legislature’s performance by 29 to 41 percent. The state’s draconian term limits provisions ensure ever-decreasing legislative experience and have turned the opening weeks of every legislative session into a lengthy orientation session for the dozens of new members working to learn the basics of the legislative process. This increasingly apparent legislative inefficien-
Is that Ann Coulter or Alice Stewart? n It’s important that you know that I hardly ever — all but never, in fact — watch Sean Hannity on Fox News. Life is too short. Hair must be washed. Fingernails must be clipped. But there happened to be wild political news last Wednesday. President Obama released his birth certificate. Donald Trump took credit for this extraction and then changed course to suggest that maybe Obama, even if a real American, didn’t deserve by grades and scores to get into Columbia and then Harvard. This was racist, of course. First this hideous being, this thing called Trump, questioned the natural-born Americanness of a president who was of a different skin color and of an uncommon, vowel-ending surname. Then, foiled, Trump essentially was given to wonder publicly how a man of that complexion could get into an elite school. So I wound up that evening surfing onto MSNBC, where Lawrence O’Donnell was going off deliciously on Trump for this offensiveness and racism. O’Donnell was lambasting his own network for keeping around such a clown as Trump on a tragically popular television program and for apologizing for him merely
John Brummett jbrummett@arkansasnews.com
by having an unidentified executive remark as follows to The New York Times: “That’s just Donald being Donald.” I became curious as to how Fox might be handling this news about its presidential frontrunner, this Trump, which is to say I was wondering how Fox would spin this uncomfortable development in service to its ongoing missions of conservative apologia and Obama hatred. So that is how I came to click over to see that Hannity was lamenting this diversion into race politics that took vital attention away from how we need to cut taxes and remake Medicare. Hannity was moderating a three-member panel’s full agreement with him, anchored in the middle by a thin blonde whom I took to be Ann Coulter. When this thin woman of long blonde hair commenced talking, spouting angry right-wing talking points angrily, I contin-
cy certainly gets some blame for the low standing of the legislature. Also partly to blame is the unwillingness of the body to pass meaningful ethics reform legislation even as taxpayer-funded reimbursements to legislators for their own “consulting services” are brought to light. However, it is another force that showed itself during the session that brought the greatest harm to the General Assembly’s public perception: partisan polarization. As all signs indicate a future with an even more intensely polarized legislature, the future does not bode well for Arkansans’ faith in their legislative voice. The Capitol building in Little Rock is a replica of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. In 2011 the Arkansas legislature similarly began copying the behavior of the hyperpartisan United States Congress, breaking with a past in which partisanship mattered relatively little in Arkansas’s General Assembly. That partisanship was shown in rhetoric that grew increasingly heated as the session’s weeks went by on issues such as health care reform, taxes, and abortion. This week’s report of the Citizens First Congress, a multi-issue progressive lobbying group, shows almost complete partisanship in the voting patterns in the state House with all but one Democrat clumped at the top of their list of supportive legislators and all but two Republicans clumped
at the bottom. (The state Senate does remain less polarized, for the moment.) Polarization turns off voters across the political spectrum. Independent voters are repelled by partisanship in any form. But, more ideologically extreme voters are also demoralized when the polarization often leads to an impasse on the issues they care most about. The prison reform package that has the promise to transform the state’s increasingly costly corrections system should have been celebrated as an achievement that showed that the legislature could do big things even in an era of polarization and term limits. However, the bill signing was overshadowed by headlines about the messy (and often partisan) congressional redistricting process that log-jammed the legislature for weeks. It is unclear which party will control the General Assembly in the 2013 session, but it is quite clear that the divided body will likely be even more polarized than this time out. The result will be a frustrated, disempowered citizenry unless legislative leaders emerge from both parties with the Beebe-esque capability to build bridges across these lines of difference.
ued to believe I was beholding Coulter. But then the camera offered a close-up and an identifying line across the bottom of the screen. This was not Ann Coulter. This was the press spokesman for the Arkansas secretary of state, the famously blundering Mark Martin. This was Alice Stewart, former press aide to Mike Huckabee and, before that, a Little Rock television news personality. She was identified as a “Republican strategist.” She told Hannity that Obama was playing the race card. She said it wouldn’t work because the nation, in 2012, would elect an economic conservative as president. I was beset by mixed emotions. Half of me was laughing at the ludicrous notion that Obama was the one playing the race card. The other half was curious as to what the Arkansas secretary of state’s spokesman was doing on Hannity ridiculing the president and getting identified not as what she was, but as some supposed Republican strategist. So, two days later, I called her at the secretary of state’s office and asked. She was terse, but sufficiently responsive. She explained that she was known to Fox from her work as a spokesman for Huckabee’s presidential campaign. She got invited to come to New York and appear. She took a day’s leave from Martin’s office and made the trip, exercising her right as a free-speaking citizen. She got Martin’s permission, she said. She said she might do the same thing
again if asked and if Martin could spare her services for the day. She got identified as a “Republican strategist” mainly for the broad convenience of the phrase and not because she maintains any ongoing business concern as a Republican strategist, she said. Was her appearance inappropriate? It’s a tough call, one I’ll fudge by saying I am less certain of its inappropriateness than of its poor judgment. The secretary of state’s main spokesman — his deputy secretary of state for public affairs — is entitled, of course, to express her personal political views on her own time and if invited to do so by a news network. But the secretary of state has certain election services duties. Stewart’s Coulter imitation on national Republican television showed an insufficiency of respect for the professional appearances of fairness and objectivity in her boss’s performance of his obligations to voters and taxpayers. Florida showed us in 2000 the bad things that can happen when your secretary of state is a hyperactive partisan. The only way Stewart could serve these two masters seamlessly would be if they were approximately the same. Let us hope, nagging and growing appearances to the contrary, that our secretary of state is not the same as a Fox blowhard.
Jay Barth is a professor of politics at Hendrix College. Ernest Dumas is on vacation.
John Brummett is a columnist and reporter for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 19
Opening ReceptiOn Mid-Southern Watercolorists’ 41st Annual Exhibition Music by Mare Carmody and Friends Light refreshments provided.
A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage
200 E. 3rd St. 501-324-9351 www.HistoricArkansas.org
Above: Coy Koi by Pat Langewis
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Join us Friday May 13 for an expanded
2nd Friday art night
Over 50 artists will be represented in 11 downtown locations. Hop on Trolley 1 which will circle the River Market Loop, jump off at Lulav and walk to Lafayette Square (both on 6th St.) to hop on Trolley 2 and enjoy the South Main Street Loop. FREE PARKING at HISTORIc ARKANSAS MuSEuM, 3RD & cuMBERLAND. FREE STREET PARKING ALL OVER DOWNTOWN AND BEHIND THE RIVER MARKET (Paid parking available for modest fee.)
123'1"-$),4-'1-%)-" #3"$4)1'&$56&7',$01'2 12&34!"0"2.,-#/08,-7"%9$,:,#,(:;"<=>?"0.#"'#@4%-#' """"""""""""""""""""""""A B$%"C-4":,%--,03"56%%2'#7)84#69#:),463;" 2$(#(7.02$;"1(-#%'#"0-4"%9$,:,# D(."044,#,(-03" ,-)(./0#,(-!"5,',# +++E:@#3%.1%-#%.E(.7
The Arkansas Pastel Society 2011 Spring Show
Artist Reception, Friday, May 13, 5-8pm Jo Magee Mary Ann Stafford Gertrude Casciano Sheilah Halderman Sister Maria Liebeck Carol Joy Young Works by Kathy Thompson Shirley Anderson Diana Shearon needlepoint, oils, watercolor, and mixed media Cathy Spann artist reception 5-8 pm Mary Nancy Henry Melanie Johnston libations and refreshments S. Caruthers Debbie Strobel church Christ Church church Christ Church Lois Davis 509 Scott Street | 375-2342 address, phone & web site LOGO Scott and 6th Streets | 375-2342 www.christchurchlr.org Teresa Widdifield Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church www.christchurch.org Susan Hurst Little Rock’s Downtown Episcopal Church Marlene Gremillion
Featuring works of art from ArtGroup Maumelle, AR League of Artists and Kathy Thompson 521 President Clinton Ave. River Market District (501) 975-9800 20 may 4, 2011 • aRKaNSaS TImES
300 Third Tower • 501-375-3333 coppergrillandgrocery.com
GypSy BISTRO FEATURED ARTIST: ROBERT WALKER
501.375.3500
200 S. CommerCe, Ste. 150 • river market DiStriCt (olD vermillion loCation)
live at the Lafayette art-music-wine Featured Artists
Jeanie Berna , Jennifer Coleman, Anne Crow, Austin Grimes, Judy Henderson, Sue Henley, Glenda Josephson, Dee Schulten, Scotty Shively, Jennifer Waymack, Betsy Woodyard, and Linda Martz Music by the Smittle Band
www.downtownlr.com
523 South Louisiana Street
live music By the smittle Band Inside Lafayette Square
come ride the free trolleys!
Artists:
JEFF HORTON and GABRIEL GRIFFITH 1219 S. Spring St. • 501.975.0052 www.hh-architects.com ShriMp, crablegS, oYSterS aNYoNe?
Arkansas Community Arts Cooperative Featured Artist Jose HernAndez 501-224-2979 • 608 Main St. (across from the Rep) Mahi aNd ShriMp paSta Salad alSo available
trolleys sponsored by
“The Smittle Band offers gorgeous, fluid lounge sounds with a trickling undercurrent of classy Americana, balanced by hushed smoky vocals and sharp, tasteful backing.” —John Tarpley, Arkansas Times
Your Friendly Neighborhood Seafood Joint Since 1975
come eNJoY A FRee PRINcIPeSSA AND THe cLASSIcAL GUITAR oF RIco NovALeS! 501.374.5100 • www.lulaveatery.com 220 West 6th Street • Little Rock Sat’S Special, “the platter”
Carefree by Lyuba Bogan
Artists: Lyuba Bogan, Sharla Chalfant, Hamid Ebrahimifar, Tim Ellison, Charles Henry James, Lisa Claas-James, Kathy Nugent, Dominique Simmons and David Warren.
Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church • 1601 S. Louisiana
Live At Lafayette Square
3003 W. Markham Little Rock, AR 72205 Mon-Thur 11am-9:30pm Fri 11am-10:30pm Sat noon-10pm
www.lroysterbar.com (501) 666-7100 www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 21
arts entertainment
This week in
Stephen Pearcy to Juanita’s
and
PAGE 24
Belew says bye bye PAGE 25
TO-DO LIST 24
CALENDAR 26
Dandyism today The sexagenarian rocker and voice behind Black Oak Arkansas is still kickin’. BY JOHN TARPLEY
T
his March marked the 40th anniversary of Black Oak Arkansas’s eponymous debut, which injected the relatively tame Southern rock landscape at the time with snarling horniness, gun-toting hedonism and backwoods mysticism. Fronted by Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, a libidinous vocalist and one of the most colorful musical exports to ever come from our state, the band spent the better part of the ’70s bringing incendiary “raunch ’n’ roll” to the national stage. The collective’s brash sexuality and taboo-flaunting act predated 2 Live Crew’s antics by decades and can still manage to get a rise out of onlookers. John Lennon called him “years beyond his time.” On the Tonight Show, Mick Jagger didn’t hesitate calling Dandy his favorite front man. Not bad for a guy who only saw six concerts before he started playing them. Now a 63-year-old grandfather of three, he’s still a dedicated road warrior. He and his retooled Black Oak Arkansas lineup still gig prolifically, albeit to much smaller crowds than he drew in his heyday.
22 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
The wiry frame you see above is long gone: now, at least in photos, Dandy bears more of a resemblance to Rip Torn, but the stringy sun-bleached locks, white spandex pants and ammo shell belts are still in service. However, after talking to him — rather, having him talk at me in non-stop, stream-of-consciousness — for an hour, I’m prepared to say that the body may have changed, but the manic Dandy brain is still the same. When we spoke, the first thing he mentioned was that he’s at work on a “novelty song,” which takes “Homeward Strut,” a heavy guitar track by the late guitar legend Tommy Bolin (Deep Purple, James Gang), and adds vocals from Dandy himself. Electronic vocals. Has the small-town boy taken a cue from, of all people, T-Pain? “I got the idea from that ‘K-9’ movie with Jim Belushi, where the German Shephard’s gettin’ the standard poodle in the limo and he’s goin’ ‘oh yeaaah, ohhhh yeah.’ ” It takes me a couple of days to figure out he’s talking about “Oh Yeah,” the 1985
single by Yello, but before I get the chance to digest all this or ask if he’s taking me for a snipe hunt, he’s moved on. To dismissing Christian rock; comparing the Eastern “halls of karma” (mentioned in BOA’s “Lord Have Mercy on My Soul”) to the Western “halls of judgment;” explaining why peaking on LSD is too much for him unless he’s in Hawaii, Malibu, Big Sur, in the desert or having sex; and what it’s like to be on acid during a 7.0 earthquake while on the toilet and listening to Screaming Jay Hawkins’ “Constipation Blues” on the Dr. Demento show. A conversation with Dandy is like a Black Oak Arkansas album itself: rapidfire, equal parts thrilling and exhausting, rugged with thick accents and oozing with R-rated jokes sitting right next to wild musings about hillbilly philosophy, mysticism and, especially, suspicion towards politicians and the music industry. It’s that very industry that left Black Oak Arkansas behind while propping up the band’s peers: Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, the Marshall Tucker Band. But Dandyism, the self-described “cliché, bour-
MOVIES 32
DINING 35
geoisie, bullshit” name he jokingly gives to his set of tenets, doesn’t allow for envy. “When I saw Elvis on Ed Sullivan when I was young, it looked like he was having more fun than any human I ever saw in my life,” he recalls. “Cosmic fuckin’ fun. I didn’t want to be as big as Elvis or as rich or popular: I just wanted to have as much fun as he was having. “Even if ‘they’ won’t let me be as big again in the public eye, I still have gigantic fun with the people I love and the people I know. You play for the people, it’s not about us!” “Dandyism” does, however, have room for a little post-apocalyptic fantasy. “[Concerts] are a gathering — a sacred gathering. Someday they’ll outlaw ’em. We’ll have to sneak around to do it and I’ll be wearin’ my sidearms and watching for snipers in the trees,” he cackles. “It’ll be very exciting.” And he may just see the day. With parents still kicking at 88 and 84 years, he concedes that he was born with the longevity gene. Dandy jokes, “they’re gonna have to shoot me to get rid of me.” As for now, the aging rocker shares a spread with Ricky “Ricochet” Reynolds, another original member of the band and only other Black Oak Arkansas lifer. “He’s a great cook,” he says, with Reynolds in the background. “After our second world tour, he went to culinary school for two and a half years. And he’s written about three, four books. These books are great. Fantasy books, like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ ” Dandy’s working with a pen, as well, putting the final touches on an upcoming biography, about which he’s uncharacteristically demure: “I’m not an icon: I stand on the shoulders of greatness. I ain’t no good for nothin’: I don’t save nothin’, got no pension, no retirement, no dental, don’t have nothin’ except I get to be Jim Dandy, y’know?” Black Oak Arkansas headlines “A Dandy Day at the Park,” Saturday at Riverfront Park. For more information, turn to our To-Do List on pages 24-25.
TAYLOR: Put on an intimate show.
James Taylor
April 29, Verizon Arena
n “This is a really big room you have here,” James Taylor noted early in his April 29 concert at Verizon Arena. But then he proceeded to perform and relate to the crowd like he was in a tiny coffeehouse. This was an intimate concert even with 6,863 in attendance; arena officials unexpectedly had to open one end of the upper bowl and sell more tickets when demand exceeded intended supply. The larger-than-expected crowd is clear proof of Taylor’s staying power. Since he hit the big-time with “Sweet Baby James” in 1970, Taylor has almost always been a big seller — topping the 1 million mark with albums earlier this century that included no radio hits. Another thing besides scads of material being a pop icon for 40-plus years will get you? The ability to recruit a fabulous band. This group was billed as “His Legendary Band,” and while not household names, these musicians were top-notch. Very tasty guitar work by Mike Landau, steady bass from Jimmy Johnson and a rock-solid performance from Chad Wackerman on drums and Luis Conte on all manner of percussion highlighted the night, meshing perfectly with Taylor’s patented straightforward, pleasant, melodic style. But what really set this band apart were the four back-up singers, who were used in every imaginable configuration — all, none or various combinations. Arnold McCuller has been touring with Taylor for more than 30 years, and his work on “Shower the People” was a goose bumpgenerating run of vocal gymnastics. Andrea Zahn played fiddle as well as sang, and she was there solo to support JT on a few numbers. And the predictable highlight of the night — the still gut-wrenching “Fire and Rain” — came with no back-up singing help and little in the way of instrumentation beyond Taylor’s strumming. — Kelley Bass
BRIAN CHILSON
BRIAN CHILSON
■ musicreviews
SEGER: Still getting it done.
Bob Seger
April 26, Verizon Arena
n Bob Seger first took the stage in 1961, and 50 years and countless tours later the Detroit rocker says this is probably his farewell run across America. More than a quarter-century removed from his hitmaking run through the 1970s and ’80s, 7,720 braved a stormy Tuesday night to flick their Bics, sing along and generally rock out to the vast array of hits and nonradio faves. Two of the 13 musicians who joined Seger on the stage were original Silver Bullets — bassist Chris Campbell and saxophonist Alto Reed — and this seemed like a show aimed at those who caught onto the group in its earliest days. The first three Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band albums — “Beautiful Loser,” “Live Bullet” and “Night Moves” — were heavily represented: The “Traveling Man/Beautiful Loser” combo was the highlight of the show, ending the first set with a thunderous, guitar-filled bang. To open the second set Seger pulled out “Nutbush City Limits,” the Tina Turner hit that also was on “Beautiful Loser.” Other unexpected delights included “Sunspot Baby” and “Come to Poppa,” cuts from “Night Moves” that got no radio play; in all, Seger played six of the nine tunes from that multi-platinum classic. Even someone who grew up on vintage Seger is surely tired by now of “Night Moves,” “Turn the Page” and the even more ubiquitous “Old Time Rock & Roll.” But those songs come alive and even feel fresh when done live. Over the course of 20 songs, followed by two two-song encores, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band delivered a long, strong show for his Arkansas faithful, most of whom likely will never see him again live. Thanks for the memories, Bob. — Kelley Bass www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 23
■ to-dolist BY JOHN TARPLEY
T H U R S D AY 5 / 5
‘THE STORY OF ADELE H.’
7 p.m., Arkansas Arts Center. Free.
n No doubt, the celluloid legacy of 1975 belongs to a flesh-eating shark, a pair of Brooklyn bank robbers and a sweet transvestite. But the high-water year, rounded out by intimate, contemporary dramas, saw three Greats make a turn for the uncharacteristic by plucking themselves out of their familiar modern-day settings to release ambitious, comedic period pieces: Stanley Kubrick with “Barry Lyndon,” Woody Allen with “Love and Death” and, across the pond, New Wave spearhead Francois Truffaut with “The Story of Adele H.” The French icon spent six years researching and adapting the diaries of Adele Hugo (daughter of Victor), written as the teen-ager falls obsessively in love with a British lieutenant and stalks him across the globe, adopting a series of pseudonyms along the way so as not to freak-out the officer any more than he already, rightly, is. The screening is the next-to-last installment of the Arkansas Arts Center and UALR Department of World Languages’ “Fete du Film” series.
‘PRESERVATION CRUSTACEANS’
6 p.m., River Market Pavilions. $20.
n The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas is getting a toe in on summertime crawdad madness this week when it takes to downtown for “Preservation Crustaceans,” an evening of all-you-can-handle bugs ’n’ brews to benefit the conservation group. For 12 years, the Alliance has compiled an annual list of “endangered historic places” throughout the state with the goal of raising funds to preserve the threatened spaces. A $20 donation gets you a bottomless helping of crawfish, shrimp, sausage, veggies, beer and/or drinks that won’t get you drunk. For tickets, visit PreserveArkansas.org.
F R I D AY 5 / 6
‘CRAWS FOR A CAUSE’
7 p.m., Dickey-Stephens Park. $44 adv., $55 d.o.e.
n And here, back for a fourth year, is, no doubt, the biggest crawfish boil of the year. The numbers are astronomical: somewhere in the vicinity of 5,000 people, gutting eight tons of crawfish and draining just under 90 kegs of beer. That’s something like a quarter of a million crawfish and 11,000 pints of 24 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
MS. HUGO: Isabelle Adjani (left) and Bruce Robinson (right) star in Francois Truffaut’s 1975 classic, “The Story of Adele H.,” screening at the Arkansas Arts center as part of the ongoing ‘Fete du Film’ series. beer. As always, the Bacchanalian benefits Baptist Health’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), raising money for top-ofthe-line incubator beds, which run $70,000 apiece. This year, the live entertainment duties are handled by acoustic bar-rocker Barrett Baber and always-popular poprock party band Boom Kinetic.
‘GOOD BOYS AND TRUE’ 7:30 p.m., The Weekend Theater. $14
n The Weekend Theater is set to close out its 2010-2011 season with a blunt look at sex, shock and controversy. Think Paris Hilton, Pam Anderson/Tommy Lee, Screech and, the O.G., Rob Lowe. Yep: it’s sex tape time on 7th and Chester. Penned by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (staff writer for HBO’s “Big Love,” now patching up the whole “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” wreck), the drama follows a prep-school hullabaloo that arises in the wake of someone discovering a tape that shows the high school Adonis getting rough with an undisclosed girl. Arguments, controversies, hypocrisies and taboos rise to the surface. Think “Tape,” “Another Country,” Neil LaBute and Todd Solondz. The play runs Fridays and Saturdays through May 21.
STEPHEN PEARCY
10 p.m., Juanita’s. $25 addv., $30 d.o.s.
n One of the gnarliest hair metal acts to thrust its way into the national spotlight, Ratt spent the mid-’80s turning Aqua Net and sonic sleaze into radio gold and strip club anthems with songs like “Round and Round” and “Lay It Down.” Last year, the
YOU DIRTY RATT: Stephen Pearcy, the voice behind ’80s hair metal greats Ratt, visits Juanita’s for a throwback solo show.
band made a noble attempt at a 21st century comeback with “Infestation,” its first full-length since 1999. Since, the band has filed their “indefinite hiatus” paperwork and, now, Ratt founder and frontman Stephen Pearcy is taking to the road with ex-members of White Lion, W.A.S.P. and Anthrax to showcase his solo material. All indications point towards him bringing the sinister pop-metal riffs and high metal yowl that set his band off so well decades ago.
S AT U R D AY 5 / 7
‘A DANDY DAY IN THE PARK’
2 p.m., North Shore River Walk, NLR. $15 adv., $20 d.o.s.
n How’s this for an experiment: For $15, you get a family-friendly day busting at the seams with Southern rock, fried food, cheap beer and a playground where you can drop off the kids for a few hours while you take in, well, a day of cheap beer, fried food and Southern rock. Consider it a warm-up session for Riverfest, if you will. Music kicks off at 4 p.m. with 2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase champs Tyrannosaurus Chicken, local debauchery rockers Sweet Eagle, Memphis outlaw rockers Joecephus & the George Jonestown Massacre, Crowes-lovin’ Jonesboro outfit Zach Williams & the Reformation, young blues guitar wunderkind Wes Jeans, prolifically-touring roots rockers Judge Parker and, headlining, the namesake of the event: Jim Dandy and his Southern cock-rock ’n’ rollers, Black Oak Arkansas (more on page 22). With organizers aiming to make this the first of many regularly scheduled all-day events, it’s the Little Event That Could. Seeing how Central Arkansas is sorely lacking in things like this, we’re hoping it’ll be the Big Series That Does. And for the brave, the festivities continue into the late night at Midtown Billiards. Advance tickets and more information available at BlueCollarConcerts.com. Ankle-biters 10 and under get in free.
CODY BELEW & THE MERCERS
7 p.m., Wildwood Park. $15 adv., $20 d.o.s., $50 V.I.P.
n Belew, that blue-eyed crooner/soul shouter/southern rocker/gospel wailer/ country charmer/all-around musical chameleon is getting ready to pack it up and move to Nashville, Tenn., the one and only Music City, U.S.A. And after spending years as a steady-gigging staple in local clubs, he’s bowing out with a big one. This concert — branded, a la “The Last Waltz,” as “Never Can Say Goodbye” — also kicks off Wildwood Park’s year-long “Emerging Artists” concert series, which will showcase some more of the extra-extraordinary musical talents around the state. Rodney
GO EAST, YOUNG MAN: Cody Belew, the vocalist extraordinaire and all-around man about town, is set to say adieu to Little Rock and ‘howdy’ to Nashville, Tenn., after Saturday’s concert at Wildwood, his official going-away party.
toric Homes returns to the Quapaw Quarter. Highlighting a few of the neighborhood’s most remarkable homes, the weekend kicks off with Saturday’s Evening Candlelight Tour, the annual champagne stroll through five featured houses, before taking to Trinity Episcopal for cocktails, dinner, silent auctions and live music from the Jellies. Tickets for Saturday night go for $100, but for the architecture lover with a budget in mind, the Quapaw Quarter Association will host a Sunday afternoon tour, starting at 1 p.m., with tickets at $20. This year’s featured houses include the Ragland House at 1617 Center St., the Urquhart Bungalow at 1623 Center St., the Turner-Mann House at 1711 Center St., the Rogers House at 400 W. 18th St. and the Bowman House at 1415 S. Broadway, which recently wrapped up an intensive restoration.
KANIS BOWL BASH
11:30 a.m., Kanis Park. Donations.
QUAPAW QUARTER SPRING TOUR OF HOMES 5:30 p.m., 16th and Center Sts.
n A local tradition returns this weekend when the 47th Annual Spring Tour of His-
THURSDAY 5/5
n Revolution celebrates Cinco de Mayo with “Cinco de Metal,” a night of deathcore from The Black Dahlia Murder, Michigan two-piece Beast in the Field and Atlanta black metal act Wraith, 8 p.m., $10. Even more metal is offered at Downtown Music Hall from Victory Records act Carnifex, Chicago’s Oceano and, what we can only hope isn’t false advertising, the Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza, 6 p.m. Little Rock songwriting authority Kevin Kerby returns to White Water Tavern for another insult-sprinkled solo gig, 10 p.m. At the Trinity United Methodist Church, the River City Men’s Chorus takes a shot at pop-culture gold with its latest program, “Glee Club,” 7 p.m., free. And the Dunbar Community Gardens’ “Music in the Garden” series hosts hyper-poppy local super-trio Winston Family Orchestra, 5:30 p.m., free.
FRIDAY 5/6
Block and the Real Music Lovers open the night with horn-driven soul/jazz fusion.
n In some admittedly misguided effort to either recapture a piece of my youth or, heck, to have another excuse to sweat in the sun, I bought a skateboard last month. Ten years ago, I could ollie — maybe not with the best of ’em, but I sure could bring my board into the air and back down again nonetheless. Once, a sloppy ollie morphed into a kickflip: the highlight of my summer of 2000. Now, I’m a bit taller, a pudge rounder and a lot more rickety, so I have nothing to show for my JT & Skateboard Summer Reunion Tour other than a couple dozen bruises and a loud pop in my elbow. I should leave it to the pros. But I, for one, don’t plan on missing out on the chance to see some of Little Rock’s best skaters do their thing at the Kanis skatepark. The annual benefit, to raise funds for the skatepark’s maintenance, will feature locals tackling the park’s bowl (the refurbished swimming pool) and a day packed with indie, punk and hip-hop acts from the area. The lineup: Jungle Juice, Cucurbits, 9th Scientist, Shoplift, Veridium, Well Well Well, Stone Goat, Winston Family Orchestra and Wicked Good. The Kanis Bash wraps up with an after-party at the Enjoy Life skate shop, indoor park and arts space in North Little Rock.
■ inbrief
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Robert Randolph and the Family Band bring pedalsteel driven soul/funk/gospel fusion to Revolution this Tuesday night.
T U E S D AY 5 / 1 0
ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND 8:30 p.m., Revolution. $20 adv., $25 d.o.s.
n Robert Randolph took up the pedal steel — the single most stubborn instrument this writer has ever tried to coax a sound out of — at an African-American Pentecostal Church in his native New Jersey. Long used in House of God services, the pedal steel (or, as it’s called in the church, the “sacred steel”) is used in place of a traditional church organ. After cutting his teeth with praise music, Randolph took his piece from the church to the clubs and everything since is history. And what a history it is: one that includes world tours, collaborations with the other God (Clapton), being named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone and putting on the best concert in Harding University history.
n Town Pump hosts a triple-bill of indie rock from piano-laced rockers Free Micah, Musicians Showcase finalists Year of the Tiger and Aussie-pop from Catskill Kids, 10 p.m., $3. Soul, jazz and R&B gets fused at The Afterthought when Rodney Block & the Real Music Lovers hits the stage, 9 p.m., $10. Revolution’s regular Zodiac Party returns to fete local Tauruses with a slate of DJs including Big Brown, Ewell, Sex With Robots, Mix Mafia, Michael Shane and more, 9 p.m., $10. Bar rockers PG-13 rock at a bar, this time Fox and Hound, 10 p.m., $5. Cornerstone flaunts area rappers and hip-hop crews during the regular D-Mite and Tho-D Studios Showcase, 9 p.m. Perennial party band Mister Lucky heads to Benton for a night at Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m.
SATURDAY 5/7
n ACAC cross-dresses it up on the Arkansas Queen for its annual “Drag the River” party, featuring live music from club kid Jason Dottley; emceed by female impersonators Miranda Meridian, Brittany Paige, Tionne Iman, Krystal Karrington and M’Shay Foster, 10 p.m., $50 general, $75 V.I.P. Two of the best traditional roots musicians in the state, Damn Bullet Joe Sundell and Hot Springs’ Brian Martin, boogie in White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. Jocephus & the George Jonestown Massacre provide the music for the “Dandy Day in the Park” after-party at Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. And, in the afternoon, UAMS hosts its annual Julep Cup Jaunt, featuring silent auctions, food, mint juleps, live music from The Real Thing and, of course, the Kentucky Derby, at the Fred Smith Conference Center of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute, 4 p.m., $25. www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 25
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.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4
COMEDY
MUSIC
Acoustic Open Mic with Kat Hood. The Afterthought, 8 p.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-6631196. www.afterthoughtbar.com. Aranda, Silverstone. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $15 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.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. The Derailers. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Karaoke. Hibernia Irish Tavern, 9 p.m. 9700 N Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com. Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717. Steve Bates. Cajun’s Wharf, 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel. com/CBG.
John Evans. The Loony Bin, May 5, 8 p.m.; May 6, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; May 7, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.
EVENTS
FOLKLAHOMA: White Water Tavern welcomes back the celebrated Shawnee, Okla., dustbowl chanteuse Samantha Crain and her backing band, the Midnight Shivers, this Friday, May 6, at 10 p.m.
COMEDY
John Evans. The Loony Bin, 8 p.m.; May 5, 8 p.m.; May 6, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; May 7, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-2285555. www.loonybincomedy.com.
EVENTS
“Legacies and Lunch.” The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies hosts Judge Billy Roy Wilson as part of the Legacies and Lunch Arkansas Autobiographies series. Main Library, 12 p.m., free. 100 S. Rock St. www.cals.lib.ar.us.
FILM
Little Rock Film Festival Lineup Announcement. The yearly film festival announces the schedule for its upcoming event. Clinton School of Public Service, 5:30 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.
LECTURES
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Clinton Library Director Terri Garner will lead a discussion about the new Clinton Center exhibit, “Revolution and Rebellion: Wars, Words and Figures,” which features two rare prints of the Declaration of Independence by Benjamin Owen Tyler and William J. Stone on loan from the Bangor Museum in Maine. Clinton School of Public Service, 12 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.
SPORTS
UALR Baseball vs. Oklahoma. Dickey-Stephens Park, 7 p.m. 400 W Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs.com.
THURSDAY, MAY 5 MUSIC
The Black Dahlia Murder, Beast in the Field. 26 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
Karaoke. Zack’s Place, 8 p.m. 1400 S. University Ave. 501-664-6444. www.zacks-place.com. Kevin Kerby. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. The Last Straw. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyfingerz.com. Michael Carenbauer, guitarist. Faulkner County Library, 7 p.m., free. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-3277482. www.fcl.org. Ol’ Puddin’haid. Thirst n’ Howl, 7:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-nhowl.com. River City Men’s Chorus: “Glee Club.” Trinity United Methodist Church, 7 p.m., free. 1101 North Mississippi St. 501-666-2813. www.tumclr.org. Ryan Couron. Denton’s Trotline, 6 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717. Steve Bates. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, May 5-6, 8:30 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens. com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel. com/CBG. Typhoid Mary. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717. Winston Family Orchestra. Part of the “Music in the Garden” series. Dunbar Community Garden, 5:30 p.m. 1800 S. Chester.
Revolution, 8 p.m., $10. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. Carnifex, Oceano, Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza. Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com. Cinco de Mayo with The Blue Party. Town Pump, 9 p.m. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road. 501-663-9802. Crisis (headliner), Crash Meadows (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com. “V.I.P. Thursdays” with DJs SilkySlim and
Derrty Deja Blu. Sway, 8 p.m., $3. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Ed Burks. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, May 5-6, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Eden’s Edge. Fayetteville Square, downtown, 5-8 p.m., Fayetteville. Go Radio, Sparks the Rescue, This Century, Select Start. Juanita’s, 8:30 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Jeff Coleman. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar. com.
Arkansas Preservation Conference 2011. The three-day conference focuses on issues central to preserving and interpreting the elements of rich Arkansas heritage, including tours of historic places, lectures and specialized sessions. For more information, visit PreserveArkansas.com. May 5-7. “Get Your Game On” Christ Lutheran Auction Night. Live and silent auctions for weekend trips, gift certificates, art and more. For more information, visit cLutheranSchool.org. Pleasant Valley Country Club, 6 p.m., $30. 1 Pleasant Valley Drive. 501-225-5622. www.pleasantvalleycountryclub.net. Hillcrest Shop & Sip. Shops and restaurants offer discounts, later hours, and live music. Hillcrest, first Thursday of every month, 5-10 p.m. P.O.Box 251522. 501-666-3600. www.hillcrestmerchants.com. Marie Interfaith Civic Leadership Award Presentation. Sen. David Pryor presents the award to Dr. Fitz Hill, president of Arkansas Baptist College. Main Library, 5:30 p.m. 100 S. Rock St. www.cals. lib.ar.us. Preservation Crustaceans Crawfish Boil. Food and drinks to benefit the Historic Preservation Alliance and the Arkansas historic Preservation Program. For more information, visit PreserveArkansas.com. River Market Pavilions, 6 p.m., $20. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info. Spring Livestock Show. An Arkansas Junior Cattlemen’s Association and Arkansas Junior Sheep Council show. For more information, visit ArkansasStateFair.com. Arkansas State Fairgrounds, May 5-7. 2600 Howard St. 501-372-8341 ext. 8206. www.arkansasstatefair.com. Symphony Designer House: “Girls Night Out.” With John Jarboe, violinist. 23 Edgehill Road, 7 p.m., $50. 23 Edgehill Road.
FILM
“The Story of Adèle H. (L’Histoire d’Adèle H.).” Directed by François Truffaut. 1975. Arkansas Arts Center, 7 p.m., free. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com.
LECTURES
Elizabeth Warren. The assistant to the president and special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury speaks. 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.
FRIDAY, MAY 6 MUSIC
Brown Soul Shoes. Markham Street Grill And Pub, 9 p.m. 11321 W. Markham St. 501-224-2010. www. markhamst.com. Chris Henry. Flying Saucer, 9 p.m. 323 President
UPCOMING EVENTS Concert tickets through Ticketmaster by phone at 975-7575 or online at www.ticketmaster.com unless otherwise noted.
Clinton Ave. 501-372-7468. www.beerknurd.com/ stores/littlerock. D-Mite and Tho-d Studios Showcase. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 9 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com. Dayton Waters. Oaklawn, May 6-7, 8 p.m. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www. oaklawn.com. DJ Ja’Lee. Sway, 8 p.m., $5. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Ed Burks. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Free Micah, The Year of the Tiger, Catskill Kids. Town Pump, 10 p.m., $3. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road. 501-663-9802. Ghost Town Blues Band. Midtown Billiards, May 7, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com. Larry Cheshier Jr., Cody Ives Band. Vino’s, 9 p.m., $8. 923 W. Seventh St. 501-375-8466. www. vinosbrewpub.com. Lucious Spiller. Capi’s, 8:30 p.m. 11525 Cantrell Suite 917. 501-225-9600. www.capisrestaurant.com. Mister Lucky. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717. Mudpuppies (headliner), Rob & Tyndall (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. PG-13. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m., $5. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www.foxandhound.com/ locations/north-little-rock.aspx. Rodney Block & the Real Music Lovers. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $10. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com. Samantha Crain. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Steve Bates. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 8:30 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens.com. Stephen Pearcy (of RATT). Juanita’s, 10 p.m., $25 adv., $30 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/ CBG. “Zodiac Party: Taurus Edition.” Revolution, 9 p.m. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.
FOUND
$19.95
ONLY AT
MAY 18: Foo Fighters, Motorhead. 7 p.m., $25-$49.50. Verizon Arena. 975-9000, verizonarena.com MAY 24-26: “Beauty and the Beast.” 7:30 p.m. Robinson Center Music Hall, Markham and Broadway. 244-8800, celebrityattractions.com. MAY 27-29: Riverfest 2011. Downtown Little Rock. riverfestarkansas.com
BENNETT’S
PRIVATE DINING ROOM BUSINESS, SOCIAL DINNERS REHEARSAL DINNERS OR PRIVATE PARTIES
CALL to RESERVE UP TO 35 GUESTS
302 MAIN STREET • LITTLE ROCK
501.372.2944
MON.-SAT. 9-5 www.bennettsmilitary.com
Mon - Thu 5pM To 9pM • Fri & SaT 5pM To 9:30pM 7811 CanTrell rd. (501) 224-9079 liTTleroCKGraFFiTiS.neT
COMEDY
John Evans. The Loony Bin, May 6, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; May 7, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.
EVENTS
Arkansas Preservation Conference 2011. See May 5. “Craws For a Cause.” The state’s largest crawfish boil features over seven tons of crawfish, drinks and music from Boom Kinetic. For more information, visit crawsforacause.com. Dickey-Stephens Park, 7 p.m., $45 adv., $55 d.o.e. 400 W Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs.com. LGBTQ/SGL Youth and Young Adult Group. Diverse Youth for Social Change is a group for LGBTQ/SGL and straight ally youth and young adults age 14 to 23. For more information, call 244-9690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook. 800 Scott St., 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St. Spring Livestock Show. See May 5.
SPORTS
“History on the Run” 5K. For more information or to register, visit MacArthurPark5K.org. MacArthur Park, 7 p.m., $10 registration. 503 East Ninth Street.
Continued on page 29 www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 27
HeLeNA
May 28
2011
aRKansas Cherry Street Pavilion
free
admission
11th AnnuAl ArkAnsAs DeltA
Fa m i ly G o s p e l F e s t deltaculturalcenter.com · facebook.com/deltaculturalcenter
WItH - Mavis Staples, The Holmes Brothers, Tim Rogers & the Fellas.
PluS - The Lee Boys, Gloryland Pastor’s Choir with Pastor Cedric Hayes, Rev. John Wilkins, The Dixie Wonders, The Fantastic Jordan Wonders, and Voices of Joy.
This festival is produced in part through a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.
141 cherry st., Helena, aR. 870-338-4350 or 800-358-0972
Delta Cultural Center is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
28 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
Why do we torture ourselves at the gym? n There’s a sound a man makes when he’s physically breaking. It’s primordial, somewhere between grunt and shriek, as if he’s calling out to his fellow Neanderthals for help. I heard it from the mouth of some poor dolt the first moment I walked into the Crossfit Little Rock facility. Within the hour, I was crawling on all fours, all the blood had left my face, and the sound was coming from me. I’ve never been one to push myself at ... well ... much of anything. In high school, I opted for golf over baseball each spring because there was no running. An MFA over a Ph.D because there was less research, less writing, and citing sources seemed like a pain. And though I’ve exercised for years, it’s been of the candy-assed persuasion. A set on a weight machine, followed swiftly by a lot of sitting on said machine and listening to bad, canned radio. In other words, my gaze is and always has been trained on low-hanging fruit. So then why, at 35, for perhaps the first time in my life, is every article of clothing I’m wearing soaked through with sweat? Why did I just attempt exercises called “burpees,” and “snatches” and — God forbid – “man-makers”? And why do my chest and arms and calves feel like they are in hellish, interminable flame? The easy answer is that this is just one brief chapter in the tome that is my early mid-life crisis. But it gets more complicated when you look around and see how many millions of men and women across this desperate and fanatical land of ours are doing the same insane shit. Gyms have always been full of these types of extremists. Marathons are obviously nothing new. However, never have there been so many marathons (and ultramarathons and “death races”), never have there been so many gyms (and, better yet, alternatives to gyms), and, most importantly, never have so many Americans taken part. Locally, our fat, middle-aged asses can train like the Hogs we always wanted to be at facilities like D-1. We can brave the sparse warehouse of Crossfit, which looks more poised for the interrogations of Torquemada or Guantanamo than exercise. Or, if you’re a more solitary sort, through programs like P90X, you can exhaust and abuse yourself in the comfort of your own living room. To put it simply, extremism has become democratized. The question, then, becomes “Why?” Why the spike? And what does the average man or woman take from programs or feats that are seemingly irrational and sometimes even unhealthy? Here are my answers: 1. This all fits in well with our bipo-
Graham Gordy lar nation. We spend everyday eating like we’re at the fair. The numbers for obesity, diabetes and deep-fried turkey purchases are staggering, so our healthy rebellion must be just as extreme. 2. Vanity. A desire to stay physically appealing long past our primes. 3. There is, at the most fundamental psychological level, an attempt to deny that we are mortal, the acts themselves the most base and basic denial that we need rest, or will one day rest eternally. 4. “Masochism.” That was the opinion of my therapist when I asked him. “Really? No more nuanced than that? Just pure masochism?” “Masochism,” he repeated. 5. Our soft, modern hands. You know who you don’t see in these gyms? Roofers. Movers. Farmers. Why would you? Those people work for a living. They’re exhausted. We, on the other hand, have removed truly strenuous work from our specialized society, so we have to make up for it by taking part in “paleo workouts” where, 20 minutes in, our bodies feel like we’re being chased by a cave lion. 6. But most importantly, I think — more than narcissism or masochism or a repudiation of death or our contemporary citified frailty — we want to find out if we can. Take the marathon. There’s not a sensible doctor on Earth who would tell you that running one is good for your body. Marathons are, however, a grueling and admirable testament to a person’s ability to make his body submit to his will. And, as with these high-intensity workouts, the goals are set and clear. Do this many reps of these exercises in this amount of time. Oh, and by the way, they’re designed to make you quit. They’re designed to make you yelp like a child. But can you finish? I’m the worst advertisement in the world for Crossfit or the like because every time anyone asks me how it was, I say, “It was horrible.” And it is. But there’s a camaraderie in standing around with fellow martyrs and telling war stories of how bad it all was. Also, despite all the pain, it’s fundamentally satisfying. I’m a writer who doesn’t enjoy the process of writing, but love having written. Exercise is no different. And when you have done all your body will allow you to do within that set time, you are contented. Inevitably. Clear. Simple. Fulfilled. In how many other areas of our lives can we say that?
CALENDAR
Continued from page 27 MacArthur Park 5K. To register, call 375-0121 or visit macarthurpark5k.com. MacArthur Park, 7 p.m., $25 adv., $35 d.o.e. 503 East Ninth Street. UALR Baseball vs. University of Louisiana. At Gary Hogan Field. UALR, May 6, 6 p.m.; May 7, 4 p.m.; May 8, 1 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.
SATURDAY, MAY 7 MUSIC
Alize (headliner), Bass & Brown (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5 and 7 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Big John Miller. Markham Street Grill And Pub, 9 p.m. 11321 W. Markham St. 501-224-2010. www. markhamst.com. Brian & Nick. Flying Saucer, 9 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-7468. www.beerknurd.com/ stores/littlerock. Cody Belew & the Mercers. The kick-off of the “Emerging Artists” series serves as Belew’s final Little Rock concert before relocating to Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit WildwoodPark.org. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 7 p.m., $15 adv., $20 d.o.s., $50 V.I.P. 20919 Denny Road. “A Dandy Day in the Park.” With live music from Black Oak Arkansas, Judge Parker, Wes Jeans, Zach Williams & the Reformation, Joecephus & the George Jones Massacre, Sweet Eagle, Tyrannosaurus Chicken. Riverfront Park, 2 p.m., $15 adv., $20 d.o.s. 400 President Clinton Avenue. Dayton Waters. Oaklawn, 8 p.m. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www.oaklawn.com. DJ Ja’Lee. Sway, 8 p.m., $5. 412 Louisiana. 501-9072582. “Drag the River.” With live music from Jason Dottley. Featuring emcees Miranda Meridian, Brittany Paige, Tionne Iman, Krystal Karrington, M’Shay Foster. For tickets, visit ACACArkansas.org. Arkansas Queen, 10 p.m., $50 general, $75 V.I.P. 100 Riverfront Park Drive, NLR. 501-372-5777. www.arkansasqueen.com. Dry County. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717. Every Knee Shall Bow. Vino’s, 9 p.m., $7. 923 W. Seventh St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. Fire & Brimstone. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 8:30 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens. com. “Inferno” with DJs SilkySlim, Deja Blu, Greyhound. Sway, 10 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-9072582. Jocephus. Midtown Billiards, May 8, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com. Joe Sundell, Brian Martin. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub. com. Katmandu. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar. com. Land of Mines. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.
westendsmokehouse.net. Paul Thorn, Sean McConnell. Revolution, 9 p.m. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom. com. Raising Grey. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m., $5. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www.foxandhound.com/locations/north-little-rock.aspx. Rare Remedy. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 9 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com. Red Suit Apparatus. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/ CBG. Two Cow Garage, Damion Suomi & the Minor Prophets. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com. Woodswyck, The Dead Will Fall, Season of Evil. Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m. 211 W. Capitol. 501-3761819. downtownshows.homestead.com.
COMEDY
John Evans. The Loony Bin, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.
EVENTS
Arkansas Preservation Conference 2011. See May 5. “Bikers Are People Too” Benefit. Benefit for Motorcycle Accident Victims. With live music from Suzi Oravec and Randy Hopkins. Terry Martin’s Lounge, 5 p.m. 5590 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-520-0446. Certified Arkansas Farmers Market. Argenta Farmers Market, 7 a.m. 6th and Main St., NLR. Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell & Cedar Hill Roads. Farmer’s Market. River Market Pavilions, through Oct. 31: 7 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info. “India for Harmony” Benefit. A Bollywood-themed night of Indian dance, auctions, fashion and live music from Little Rock Music Masti to benefit Harmony Health Clinic. For more information, visit harmonyclinicar.com. Church at Rock Creek, 6 p.m., free. 11500 W. 36th St. IV Party 2011. The signature special event benefiting St. Vincent Health System. For more information, visit StVincentHealth.com/IVParty. Pleasant Valley Country Club, 8 p.m., $175. 1 Pleasant Valley Drive. 501-2255622. www.pleasantvalleycountryclub.net. Julep Cup Jaunt 2011. The annual Kentucky Derby watch party features silent auctions, food, drinks and live music from The Real Thing. For more information, visit uamshealth.com/derby. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4 p.m., $25. 4300 W. Markham. Quapaw Quarter Association’s “Spring Tour of Historic Homes” 2011. May 7, 5:30 p.m.; May 8, 1 p.m., $20. Spring Livestock Show. See May 5. Third Street Spring Fling. Live music, local arts and pet adoption to kick off spring. For more information, visit ThirdStreetMerchants.com. Downtown, 11 a.m. 3rd St. at Rock & Cumberland.
SUNDAY, MAY 8 MUSIC
Brian Nahlen. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 9 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens.com. Championship Midget Wrestling. Revolution, 8 p.m. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. El Ten Eleven, Junk Culture. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $8. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com. Fire & Brimstone. Hilton Garden Inn, 11 a.m. 4100 Glover Lane, NLR. Karaoke. Shorty Small’s, 6-9 p.m. 1475 Hogan Lane, Conway. 501-764-0604. www.shortysmalls.com. “Margarita Sunday.” With Tawanna Campbell, Jeron, Dell Smith, Cliff Aaron and Joel Crutcher. Juanita’s, 9 p.m. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Sunday Jazz Brunch with Ted Ludwig and Joe Cripps. Vieux Carre, 11 a.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.vieuxcarrecafe.com.
EVENTS
Quapaw Quarter Association’s “Spring Tour of Historic Homes” 2011. 1 p.m., $20. Symphony Designer House: “Mother’s Day Tea.” With Becky Mitchum, violin, and Pat Qualls, harp. 23 Edgehill Road, 2 p.m., $30. 23 Edgehill Road.
SPORTS
UALR Baseball vs. University of Louisiana. At Gary Hogan Field. UALR, 1 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.
MONDAY, MAY 9 MUSIC
In This Moment, Straight Line Stitch, System Divide, The Agonist. Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows. homestead.com. Karaoke. Thirst n’ Howl, 8:30 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com. Richie Johnson. Cajun’s Wharf, through May 23, 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www. cajunswharf.com. Touch of Grey (Grateful Dead tribute act). Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.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.
EVENTS
“The Art of Performance” with Lawrence Hamilton. The Fine Arts Club’s final program of the year features a presentation and performance from Lawrence Hamilton, actor. For reservations and more information, call 396-0322. Arkansas Arts Center, 11 a.m., $10 non-members. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com.
FILM
“Man on Wire.” 2008. Documentary. Laman Library, 6 p.m. 2801 Orange St., NLR. 501-758-1720. www. lamanlibrary.org.
TUESDAY, MAY 10 MUSIC
Brian & Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, through May 24: 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. 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. Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $20 adv., $25 d.o.s. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. Sound of the Mountain. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.
DANCE
“Latin Night.” Revolution, 7 p.m., $5 regular, $7 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.revroom.com.
EVENTS
Charity Bingo Tuesday. ACAC, 6:30 p.m. 608 Main St. 501-244-2974. acacarkansas.wordpress.com. Farmer’s Market. River Market Pavilions, through Oct. 31: 7 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.
FILM
“Bridge to War Eagle.” Emmy-winning filmmakers Larry Foley and Dale Carpenter discuss their latest documentary. 30 min. To reserve seats, e-mail publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu. Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu. “Saving Private Ryan.” 1998. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Market Street Cinema, 7 p.m., $5. 1521 Merrill Drive. 501-312-8900. www.marketstreetcinema. net.
SPORTS
UALR Baseball vs. Kansas. At Gary Hogan Field. UALR, 6 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11 MUSIC
Acoustic Open Mic with Kat Hood. The
Continued on page 30
SPORTS
UALR Baseball vs. University of Louisiana. At Gary Hogan Field. UALR, May 7, 4 p.m.; May 8, 1 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.
May Books Calendar 5 Nell Dickerson (“Gone: A Photographic Plea for Preservation”), 7 p.m., TBIB. 9 Joe Yonan (“Serve Yourself”), 6 p.m., CS. 11 Marc Freedman (“The Big Shift”), 12 p.m., CS. 12 Kate DiCamillo (“The Magician’s Elephant”), 7 p.m., ANC Adams Vine Recital Hall, Blytheville. 15 John Corey Whaley (“Where Things Come Back”), 3 p.m., TBIB. 14 Eve Agee (“The Uterine Health Companion: A Holistic Guide to Lifelong Wellness”), 3 p.m., WW. Area bookstores, libraries and venues: CS: Clinton School of Public Service, Sturgis Hall, 1200 President Clinton Ave., 6835200. FCL: Faulkner County Library, 1900 Tyler St., Conway, 501-327-7482. LL: Laman Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock, 501-758-1720. ML: Main Library, 100 Rock St., 918-3000. SAC: Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., North Little Rock, 372-7976. TBIB: That Bookstore in Blytheville, 316 W. Main St., Blytheville, 870-763-3333. WW: WordsWorth Books & Co., 5920 R St., 663-9198. www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 29
CALENDAR
Continued from page 29 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. Celtic Woman. Robinson Center Music Hall, 7:30 p.m., $35-$150. Markham and Broadway. www. littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson. 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. Hibernia Irish Tavern, 9 p.m. 9700 N Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com. Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717. Mayday by Midnight. Cajun’s Wharf, 5 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www. cajunswharf.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel. com/CBG. Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Sticky to Your Guns, Close Your Eyes, Your Demise. Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m., $15. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com.
COMEDY
Tim Gaither. The Loony Bin, May 11-12, 8 p.m.; May 13, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; May 14, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.
THIS WEEK IN THEATER “Good Boys and True.” An all-male boarding school is torn apart when a disturbing videotape involving a respected prep-school senior is found on campus. By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. For tickets or more information, call 374-3761 or visit weekendtheater.org. The
Weekend Theater, through May 23: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m., $14 general, $10 students and seniors. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org. “Les Miserables.” The musical masterpiece based on Victor Hugo’s novel follows a band of French students, prostitutes and the proletariat as they fight for revolution. For tickets or more information, visit waltonartscenter.org. Walton Arts Center, through May 5, 7 p.m.; Fri., May 6, 8 p.m.; Sat., May 7, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., May 8, 2 and 7:30 p.m., $49-$69. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. “Marilyn, Forever Blonde.” Marilyn Monroe reflects on her life during what would become her final photo shoot in 1962. For tickets or more information, visit arktwks.com. Central Theatre, Wed., May 4, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., May 5, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., May 6, 8 p.m.; Sat., May 7, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 8, 2 p.m.; Wed., May 11, 7:30 p.m.; Thu., May 12, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., May 13, 8 p.m.; Sat., May 14, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 15, 2 p.m., $22.50-$32.50. 1008 Central Ave., Hot Springs. “There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom.” No one likes Bradley, the class bully and the oldest kid in the fifth grade. But with the help of Carla, the new school counselor, Bradley learns to believe in himself. In the Children’s Theater. For tickets or more information, call 372-4000 or visit arkarts.com. Arkansas Arts Center, through May 15. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www. arkarts.com.
GALLERIES, MUSEUMS NEW EXHIBITS, EVENTS
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER: “The Art of Performance,” talk and performance by Lawrence Hamilton, 11 a.m. May 9; $10 (coffee at 10:30 a.m.); luncheon afterward, $35, reserve by May 5 at 396-0322; “Fete de Mere,” 1-3 p.m. May 8, art-related Mother’s Day activities and tour in conjunction with “The Impressionists and Their Influence” exhibit. 372-4000. n Eureka Springs ARTRAGEOUS PARADE: Floats, bands, artcars, more parade down Spring Street at 2 p.m. May 7. EUREKA SPRINGS HISTORICAL MUSEUM, 95 S. Main: Photographs by Betty Maffei, reception
4-6 p.m. May 4, exhibit through May. 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun. 479-253-9417. EUREKA THYME, 19 Spring St.: Randal Thompson, photography, reception 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. May 7. 479-363-9600. FUSION SQUARED, 84 Spring St.: John Rinehart, fused glass. 479-253-4999. IRIS AT THE BASIN PARK GALLERY, 8 Spring St.: Paintings by Karrie Evenson, reception 1-4 p.m. May 7. MY SECRET EUREKA: Photographers’ walk through town led by Susan Storch, 4-7 p.m. May 6, $15. 479-253-7878. STUDIO 62, 335 W. Van Buren: Sixth annual “Art as Prayer,” work several artists, through May, open daily except Tue. 479-363-9209 THE COTTAGE INN, 450 W. Van Buren: John Willer, paintings. Reception 5-6 p.m. May 7. WILSON AND WILSON FOLK ART CO., 23 Spring St.: Open house, 6:30-9:30 p.m. May 7, featuring hand-painted vintage percolators by Blakely and Sylvia Wilson, also carved wooden cardinals. 479-253-5105. ZARKS GALLERY, 67 Spring St.: Terri Logan Trunk Show of work by jeweler. Reception 6-9 p.m. May 7. n Fayetteville FAYETTEVILLE UNDERGROUND, 1 E. Center St.: Craig Munro and Stewart Bremner, photography; Matthew Depper, paintings; Kevin Arnold, paintings; Cheri Bohn, wood and stained glass, opens with reception 5-8 p.m. May 5, First Thursday, shows through the month. Noon-7 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: “Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition,” May 6-16; “Jacqueline Golden: Inner Nature of Art,” May 7-31. 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 479-575-7987. n Hot Springs BLUE MOON GALLERY, 718 Central Ave. “Mr. Frito Lay Explains Color Theory,” paintings by Tom Richard, through May, Gallery Walk reception 5-9 p.m. May 6. 501-318-2787. GALLERY 726, 726 Central Ave.: Watercolors by Gary Weeter, through May, Gallery Walk reception
Join Us For
5-9 p.m. May 6. 501-915-8912. FINE ARTS CENTER, 6263 Central Ave.: “Civil War — Songs and Correspondences Visualized,” art inspired by Civil War artifacts, May 5-28, Gallery Walk reception 5-9 p.m. May 6. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon., Wed.-Sat. 501-624-0489. n Lake Village GUACHOYA CULTURAL ART CENTER, 1652 Hwy. 65 and 82 S: “My Life, My Landscape,” paintings, pastels and mixed media by Virmarie DePoyster, through May 27. Noon-5 p.m Tue., Thu., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri. 870-26560770
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
ACAC, 608 Main St.: “Elements,” work by Local Catz group, through May. 1-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., noon-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 398-9474. ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “A Couple of Ways of Doing Something,” daguerreotype photographs by Chuck Close, poems by Bob Holman, through July 26; “The Impressionists and Their Influence,” through June 26, $10 adults, $8 seniors, $6 youth, members free; “Michael Peterson: Evolution/Revolution,” wood sculpture, through July 3. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 3724000. ARKANSAS STUDIES INSTITUTE, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Norwood Creech: Selected Works from the Northeastern Arkansas Delta,” through June 18, Mezzanine Gallery; “Book Arts,” handmade books and journals, through May 28, Atrium Gallery; “Anticipating the Future — Contemporary American Indian Art,” work from the collection of Dr. J.W. Wiggins. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5791. BOSWELL-MOUROT FINE ART, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “Nomenclature,” work by Elizabeth Weber and Kyle Boswell, through May 7, 10 percent of all sales to benefit CARTI. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0030. CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: “Lee Nora Parlor’s Painted Photo Album,” oils inspired by photos in the artist’s grandmother’s album, through May 28. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335. GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Dominique
Continued on page 33
Mother’s Day Brunch
Sunday, May 8 • 11am-2:30 (Reservations Recommended) Adults $19.95 • Seniors $17.95 • Children $13.95 Carving Station Oven Roasted Prime Rib with Aus Jus Breakfast Bar Waffles. Omelets Made To Order Soup & Salad Bar Chicken Tortilla Soup, Garden Medley Salad, Shrimp Cocktail & More!
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‘THOR’: Director Kenneth Branagh takes a break from adapting Shakespeare for the big screen to try his hand at a classic Marvel superhero story. After being banished from his native planet Asgard for re-inciting an ancient feud, the arrogant Norse outcast finds himself on modern-day Earth, having to defend the planet from invaders.
MAY 6-8
movielistings All theater listings run Friday to Thursday unless otherwise noted.
Check www.arktimes.com for updates. Market Street Cinema showtimes at or after 9 p.m. are for Friday and Saturday only. NEW MOVIES I Am (NR) – Four short films about identity and dignity in the modern Indian world. With Juhi Chawla and Manisha Koirala. Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 7:15, 9:15. Jumping the Broom (PG-13) – Two AfricanAmerican families from different socioeconomic backgrounds spend a wedding weekend together in Martha’s Vineyard. With Angela Bassett and Laz Alonzo. Breckenridge: 1:30, 4:35, 7:35, 10:10. Chenal 9: 11:25, 2:05, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55. Rave: 10:40, 11:40, 1:25, 2:25, 4:20, 5:20, 7:05, 8:05, 9:55, 10:55. Riverdale: 11:45, 2:10, 4:40, 7:20, 9:50. The Music Never Stopped (PG) – A father struggles to bond with an estranged son who, after suffering from a brain tumor, cannot form new memories. Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 6:45, 9:15. Something Borrowed (PG-13) – A perpetually single urbanite falls in love with her best friend’s new fiancé. With Kate Hudson and John Krasinski. Breckenridge: 1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 9:55. Chenal 9: 11:35, 1:55, 4:25, 7:25, 10:10. Rave: 11:05, 1:40, 4:35, 7:20, 10:05. Riverdale: 11:25, 1:45, 4:25, 7:00, 9:25. Thor (PG-13) – The comic book hero comes to life as the cocky warrior gets banished to Earth and has to defend humans from impending doom. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Breckenridge: 1:35, 4:40, 7:40, 10:15 (2D); 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:35 (3D). Chenal 9: 11:30, 2:00, 4:45, 7:25, 10:10 (2D); 11:00, 1:30, 4:15, 7:15, 10:00 (3D). Rave: 12:00, 2:45, 5:30, 8:15, 11:00 (2D); 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 1:15, 1:45, 2:15, 4:00, 4:30, 5:00, 6:45, 7:15, 7:45, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30 (3D). Riverdale: 11:50, 2:20, 4:45, 7:10, 9:35. RETURNING THIS WEEK African Cats (G) – Two families of big cats in the wild African landscape are documented raising their young. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Chenal 9: 11:05. Rave: 11:35, 2:00. Atlas Shrugged: Part I (PG-13) – The adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel brings Tea Party icon John Galt to the big screen. With Paul Johansson and Taylor Schilling. Riverdale: 11:10, 1:20, 3:25, 5:30, 7:50, 9:55. Battle: Los Angeles (PG-13) – When Earth is brutally attacked by extraterrestrial forces, a platoon of Marines must defend Los Angeles, the final stronghold on the planet. With Aaron Eckhart, Ne-Yo. 32 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
Movies 10: 1:00, 4:10, 7:00, 9:45. Beastly (PG-13) – A modern-day, teen-age retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” using New York City as the backdrop. Movies 10: 7:55, 10:15. Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (PG13) – FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) makes his son (Brandon T. Jackson) join him in going undercover in drag at a performing arts school. Movies 10: 12:10, 2:55, 5:20, 7:50, 10:20. Blue Valentine (R) – Love at first sight takes a turn for the worse in this portrait of a young, contemporary family falling apart. With Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams. Movies 10: 1:10, 7:10. The Company Men (R) – An ultra-successful company man has to trade in his nice house and Porsche for a job in construction after a round of corporate downsizing. With Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones. Movies 10: 4:00, 10:00. The Conspirator (PG-13) – A young lawyer and Civil War veteran has to defend a woman charged in conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to kill President Lincoln. Directed by Robert Redford. Breckenridge: 4:30, 9:50. Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules (PG) – “Wimpy” Greg and his bullying older brother Rodrick have to deal with their parents’ efforts to make a brotherly bond. With Zachary Gordon. Movies 10: 12:20, 2:40, 5:10, 7:30, 9:50. Fast Five (PG-13) – The fifth installation of the “Fast and the Furious” series sees the crew in Rio, stuck between a drug lord and a tenacious federal agent. With Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Breckenridge: 1:35, 4:40, 7:40, 10:15. Chenal 9: 12:00, 1:15, 4:0, 4:35, 7:00, 7:30, 10:05, 10:25. Rave: 10:50, 12:20, 12:50, 1:50, 3:25, 3:55, 4:25, 4:55, 6:40, 7:10, 7:40, 8:10, 9:45, 10:15, 10:45, 11:15. Riverdale: 11:20, 2:05, 4:50, 7:35, 10:15. Gnomeo and Juliet (G) – Romeo and Juliet with gnomes. Voiced by James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine. Movies 10: 12:15, 2:20, 5:00, 7:40, 10:10 (2D); 12:15, 2:20, 4:30, 6:40, 8:50 (3D). Hanna (PG-13) – A 16-year-old girl, raised by her CIA agent father to be a master assassin, embarks on a mission across Europe. With Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett. Rave: 10:25, 3:45, 9:35. Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil (PG) – Red Riding Hood and the Wolf are called upon to track down the kidnapped duo of Hansel and Gretel. Voiced by Glenn Close and Patrick Warburton. Breckenridge: 1:25, 7:05. Chenal 9: 11:20, 1:35, 4:05. Rave: 11:55, 3:30, 5:55. Riverdale: 11:15, 1:50, 4:35, 7:05, 9:30.
I Am Number Four (PG-13) – A teen-age fugitive with special powers is on the run from agents trying to kill him. With Alex Smith and Timothy Olyphant. Movies 10: 12:00, 2:30, 5:00, 7:40, 10:10. Insidious (PG-13) – A realm called The Further threatens to trap a comatose child. His parents learn to battle something that science can’t explain. With Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Breckenridge: 1:35, 4:30, 7:25, 9:45. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D (G) – Justin Bieber being Justin Bieber. With young Justin Bieber and teen-age Justin Bieber. Movies 10: 12:30, 3:00, 5:30. The Lincoln Lawyer (R) – A lawyer runs his firm out of the back of an old Lincoln while working on a high-profile case in Beverly Hills. With Matthew McConaghey and Marissa Tomei. Riverdale: 11:55, 2:25, 4:55, 7:25, 10:10. Madea’s Big Happy Family (PG-13) – This is the fifth Madea movie and the 10th flick Tyler Perry’s made in five years. Five. Years. Directed, written by and starring Tyler Perry. Breckenridge: 1:40, 4:05, 4:45, 7:30, 9:30, 10:00. Rave: 10:55, 1:35, 4:45, 5:45, 7:30, 8:30, 10:10, 11:10. Riverdale: 11:00, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00, 10:15. Of Gods & Men (R) – Threatened by a group of fundamental terrorists, a group of Trappist monks in Algeria must decide whether to flee or hold their ground. Directed by Xavier Beauvois. Market Street: 1:45, 4:15, 7:00, 9:00. Prom (PG) – High school prom night sees couples come together, come apart and secrets get spilled. With Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell. Breckenridge: 4:15, 7:10, 9:40. Chenal 9: 7:05, 9:40. Rave: 1:10, 6:35. Riverdale: 11:40, 1:55, 4:30, 7:15, 9:45. Red Riding Hood (PG-13) – In a medieval village that’s haunted by a werewolf, a girl falls for an outcast orphan even though her parents arranged her to marry a wealthy young man. With Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman. Movies 10: 12:25, 2:45, 5:15, 8:00, 10:25. Rio (G) – A domesticated macaw from suburban Minnesota takes to Rio de Janeiro to find the freewheeling bird of his dreams. Voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway. Breckenridge: 1:45, 7:25 (2D); 1:15, 4:10, 7:05, 9:25 (3D). Chenal 9: 11:00, 1:30, 4:10, 7:15, 9:35. Rave: 12:05, 2:50 (2D); 10:35, 1:05, 4:10, 6:55, 9:25 (3D). Scream 4 (R) – When Sidney Prescott, now a selfhelp author, returns to Woodsboro, the masked killer emerges from hiding to wreak havoc on the small town yet again. With Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox. Rave: 8:45, 11:20. Soul Surfer (PG) – In spite of losing an arm in a shark attack, a teen-age girl with a passion for surfing returns to the ocean. With AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt. Rave: 10:40, 3:40, 7:25, 10:20. Source Code (PG-13) – A celebrated soldier wakes up in a stranger’s body and discovers he’s part of a top-secret government mission to stop a bombing in downtown Chicago. With Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan. Riverdale: 11:30, 1:35, 3:35, 5:35, 7:45, 10:00. Sucker Punch (PG-13) – A young girl escapes to a fantasy world after being locked in a mental asylum by her evil stepfather. Directed by Zach Snyder. Movies 10: 12:05, 2:35, 5:05, 7:35, 10:05. Super (NR) – An everyday guy tries to become a superhero after his wife leaves him for a scummy drug dealer. With Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon. Market Street: 1:45, 4:00, 7:00, 9:00. Water For Elephants (PG-13) – After his parents are killed, a young veterinarian joins a traveling circus to tend its animals. With Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon. Breckenridge: 1:05, 4:05, 6:50, 9:40. Chenal 9: 11:10, 1:50, 4:30, 7:10, 9:50. Win, Win (R) – A volunteer high school wrestling coach finds himself entwined in a student’s unsavory family life. With Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan. Market Street: 2:15, 4:25, 6:45, 9:00. Chenal 9 IMAX Theatre: 17825 Chenal Parkway, 8212616, 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. Market Street Cinema: 1521 Merrill Drive, 312-8900, www.marketstreetcinema.net. Rave Colonel Glenn 18: 18 Colonel Glenn Plaza, 6870499, www.ravemotionpictures.com. Regal Breckenridge Village 12: 1-430 and Rodney Parham, 224-0990, www.fandango.com.
CALENDAR
Continued from page 30
‘FAST FIVE’: Paul Walker and Vin Diesel star.
■ moviereview Better than it should be As over-the-top heist movies go, ‘Fast Five’ fares well. n You can be forgiven if during the “Fast” franchise you’ve missed a couple of installments. There have been now four sequels since the seminal “The Fast and the Furious” put the scare into Americans that their streets would be overrun by drag-racers with fuel types as surnames. That scenario didn’t come to pass, but the odd-couple duo of wanted man Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and L.A. cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) have since gone on to wreak havoc in Los Angeles, Miami, Toyko, Mexico – and now, in “Fast Five,” they’ve managed to invade Rio de Janeiro, bringing along a regular “Ocean’s 11” gang of street-smart hoods in order to pull off One Last Job. Fast cars? Check. Fantastic stunts? Check. Hot women and a pulsing, percussion-heavy soundtrack? Uh, it’s Brazil. Frankly, “Fast Five” serves up nearly everything you could want in an over-the-top heist movie. Yep, summer’s here. For a 130-minute film, “Fast Five” feels, well, fast, and it’s clear early on that director Justin Lin, making his third “Fast” movie, has no time to dwell on anything dull. The first couple of minutes (don’t miss ’em) get us from the end of 2009’s “Fast & Furious,” when Dominic had just been sentenced to 25-to-life and was on a prison bus. Suffice it that buses in these films are made to be flipped; Dom escapes, and all involved, including Brian and his squeeze, Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), flee to South America. The trio intersect on a job that sees them cutting open the side of a moving passenger train to extract some muscle cars (it’s as jaw-dropping as it sounds). Then, whoops, some of the guys they’re working with turn out to be real scoundrels, henchmen of Rio’s most powerful drug kingpin, a corporatized thug named Reyes
(Joaquim de Almeida). Some American drug agents who were escorting said cars are killed, and as the United States doesn’t take kindly to fugitives who whack drug agents abroad, Uncle Sam sends down unabashed meathead Special Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock) to bring Dom and Brian to justice. Those two, meanwhile, have decided to cripple Reyes by robbing him blind. Enter their team of tech-savvy, leadfooted crooks; devotees of the series will recognize Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon, Don Omar and the double-take-worthy Gal Gadot back in their familiar roles. It’s not a given that a cast of rappers, models and athletes would gel as well as these players do, and it sounds ridiculous to say so, perhaps, but Vin Diesel’s acting chops hold this thing together. Unlike the pro wrestler he matches wits against, Diesel seems like he’s been here before, in a good way. His sleepy-eyed calm keeps the movie chill enough that its engine doesn’t seize. Since the good guys (Dom, Brian) are really bad guys who are mostly good, and the bad guy (Hobbs) is really a good guy who’s mostly good, it’s not a stretch to see them teaming up against the bad guy who’s really bad (Reyes). But even if you can see that coming from a quarter-mile down the road, there is no way, absolutely no frickin’ way, you’re going to guess how the screenwriters get everyone through the final act. In the storied history of movie car chases, there are maybe a dozen that qualify as truly immortal. Surely there have been better car chases in cinema, but there are none more audacious and ludicrous (with an “ou”) than what caps “Fast Five.” You won’t believe a frame of it. Still, you won’t help but enjoy it. — Sam Eifling
Simmons, David Warren, recent works, through May 14. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996. GREG THOMPSON FINE ART, 429 Main St., NLR: “Benini: The Painter’s Journey,” works from his “Courting Kaos: Face of God” and “Riding Kaos: Truth and the Journey” series, through May 18. 6642787. LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St., NLR: “Visions of the Universe,” drawings and diagrams by Galileo and other astronomers, images by the Hubble Space Telescope, through May 20; “Our Lives, Our Stories: America’s Greatest Generation,” oral histories, through May 25. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 771-1995. THEA FOUNDATION, 401 Main St., NLR: “Ten Years of Thea,” press accounts on the foundation since its beginnings; North Little Rock High School Senior Art Show, through May 6. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.Fri. 379-9512. TERRY HOUSE, 7th and Rock Sts.: “Arkansas League of Artists Spring Members Show,” through May. 372-4000. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: “Student Competitive Show,” Gallery I, through May 4; undergraduate work in Gallery III. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-8977.
ONGOING MUSEUM EXHIBITS
ARKANSAS INLAND MARITIME MUSEUM, NLR: Tours of the USS Razorback submarine. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 1-6 p.m. Sun. 371-8320. CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: Exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957. CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss,” through May 22; “Revolution and Rebellion: Wars, Words and Figures,” two original engravings of the Declaration of Independence produced by Benjamin Owen Tyler in 1818 and William J. Stone
in 1823, through May 22; “Historical Figures of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars,” figurines by George Stuart, through May 22; exhibits about policies and White House life during the Clinton administration. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $7 adults; $5 college students, seniors, retired military; $3 ages 6-17. 370-8000. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. Third St.: “Reel to Real: ‘Gone with the Wind’ and the Civil War in Arkansas,” artifacts from the ShawTumblin collection, including costumes and screen tests, along with artifacts from the HAM collection, including slave narratives, uniforms and more; through April 30, 2012; “Empty Spaces,” digital media by Jasmine Greer, through June 5; “Signs and Signals: Claire Coppola, Michael Davis Gutierrez and Marilyn Nelson,” mixed media, through May 8. 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. MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS MILITARY HISTORY, MacArthur Park: “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; 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. 3764602. MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, Ninth and Broadway: “Southern Journeys: African American Artists of the South,” works by 55 AfricanAmerican artists, through Aug. 11; exhibits on African-Americans in Arkansas, including one on the Ninth Street business district, the Mosaic Templars business and more. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 683– 3593. OLD STATE HOUSE, 300 W. Markham St.: “An Enduring Union,” artifacts documenting the post-war Confederate and Union veteran reunions in the state; “Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and Its Reputation,” the evolution of the state’s hillbilly image. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685. WITT STEPHENS JR. CENTRAL ARKANSAS NATURE CENTER, Riverfront Park: Exhibits on wildlife and the state Game and Fish Commission.
www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 33
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n Taziki’s Greek Fare is adding a new location in West Little Rock. The new franchise of the Alabama-based chain will be at 12800 Chenal Parkway in the Chenal Creek Shopping Center, next door to Cold Stone Creamery. Tommy Keet, who co-owns the new outlet and the one that opened on Cantrell in September 2008 with his brother Jake Keet and his father Jim Keet, said the new space will include a party room, but otherwise look similar to the Cantrell restaurant and serve an identical menu. Look for Taziki’s on Chenal to open within the next five months, he said.
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 ADAMS CATFISH CATERING Catering company with carry-out restaurant in Little Rock and carry-out trailers in Russellville and Perryville. 215 N. Cross St. All CC. $-$$. 501-374-4265. LD Tue.-Sat. ALLEY OOPS The restaurant at Creekwood Plaza (near the Kanis-Bowman intersection) is a neighborhood feedbag for major medical institutions with the likes of plate lunches, burgers and homemade desserts. Remarkable Chess Pie. 11900 Kanis Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-221-9400. LD Mon.-Sat. B-SIDE The little breakfast place in the former party room of Lilly’s DimSum Then Some turns tradition on its ear, offering French toast wrapped in bacon on a stick, a must-have dish called “biscuit mountain” and beignets with lemon curd. Top notch cheese grits, too. 11121 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-554-0914. B Wed.-Fri.; BR Sat.-Sun. BOBBY’S COUNTRY COOKIN’ One of the better plate lunch spots in the area, with some of the best fried chicken and pot roast around, a changing daily casserole and wonderful homemade pies. 301 N. Shackleford Road, Suite E1. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-9500. L Mon.-Fri. BOGIE’S BAR AND GRILL The former Bennigan’s retains a similar theme: a menu filled with burgers, salads and giant desserts, plus a few steak, fish and chicken main courses. There are big screen TVs for sports fans and lots to drink, more reason to return than the food. 120 W. Pershing Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-812-0019. D daily. BUFFALO GRILL A great crispy-off-the-griddle cheeseburger and hand-cut fries star at this family-friendly stop. 1611 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-296-9535. LD daily. 400 N. Bowman Road. Full bar, Beer, All CC. $$. 501-224-0012. LD daily. CATFISH CITY AND BBQ GRILL Basic fried fish and sides, including green tomato pickles, and now with tasty ribs and sandwiches in beef, pork and sausage. 1817 S. University Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-7224. LD Mon.-Sat. CHEERS IN THE HEIGHTS Good burgers and sandwiches,
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■ dining Artful ingredients, Pizza Hut prices Palio’s isn’t perfect, but it’s way cheaper than it should be. n This writer is a true-blue urbanite, dedicated to preserving the core of Little Rock and making it a vibrant place to be again after years of neglect. Folks have made a lot of progress on that front, we’re happy to say, and downtown is a place to live again, with a growing collection of great restaurants and some old faves that never left. That’s a really long way of saying that, if we can help it, we don’t venture out to far-west Little Rock all that much. The neighborhoods along Chenal Parkway and Cantrell seem to be content to continue stretching toward the sunset like the arm of an amoeba, and we’re fine watching that from afar, thanks. Still, there are some good restaurants out that way, and when we head west, it’s usually to chow down. One new place that seems to have a lot of promise is Palio’s Pizza Cafe on Rahling Circle. Just across from the Chenal Promenade shopping center, Palio’s looks like a trendy local pizza cafe, but it’s really the latest link in an 11-restaurant chain that began in the bedroom communities north of Dallas. While it isn’t perfect, it’s cheaper than most, and a lot better than most pizza you can score in the price range. Though some might read the words “chain restaurant” and quickly turn the page, there’s something to be said for the small chains — the ones far south of giants like Papa John’s, but a little north of Mom’s Pizza. What a chain of 10 or 11 locations says to us is: The people where it started thought it was good enough that investors were willing to gamble good folding cash on the idea that it could work elsewhere. Think Five Guys Burgers or the growing Whole Hog Barbecue empire. Our mama taught us to trust our neighbors, so with that idea and those sterling examples in mind, we decided to give Palio’s a shot. The decor is cozy, with bright colors, intimate seating, dimmed lighting, a small fireplace and a cafe feel. The menu feels cozy as well: a nice slate of salads, calzones, pastas, desserts and pizzas, but not so many that you end up feeling overwhelmed. Most of that is at just-abovefast-food prices (between $6 and $9), which is welcome in an age of $4-a-gallon gas. We might try some of their other choices on a return visit, but this go-round was all about the pizza. We were hungry, so from the menu of 18 tasty-sounding choices we picked two. First was the King, their version of the supreme, with pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, black olives, red onions and red, yellow and green bell peppers. Meanwhile, the
BRIAN CHILSON
what’scookin’
GOOD-LOOKING PIE: Palio’s king pizza comes with a generous amount of fresh toppings. veggie lover in our midst tried the Mediterranean, which features baby spinach, roma tomatoes, red onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, feta and mozzarella. (Small specialty pizza $8.99, medium $11.99, large $13.99, extra large, $17.99.) The biggest problem with our visit arose after we ordered. We were prepared for a wait, as good pizza takes time. But we wound up waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting. The place didn’t seem inordinately full on the Wednesday night we visited, but we wound up waiting over 30 minutes. If we’d been drinking with friends, the time would have likely flown by, but we weren’t, and it didn’t. When our pizzas made it to the table, they sure looked great. The first thing to note is the crust. If you’re a lover of Chicago style or thick-crust pizza, you might want to go elsewhere. Palio’s claim to fame is a thin crust — not crackery-thin, but thinner than most; sweet and a bit chewy, but with a nice crunch. The toppings were very generous and seemed fresh as could be. What caught our eye on the King, for example, were the thick slices of red, yellow and green bell pepper, which were just crunchy enough to call them al dente. The rest of the toppings on the King went together fine as well, melding with that crust to make a dang fine pizza. The real star of the show, however, turned out to be the Mediterranean (something that surprised this writer quite a bit, given our card-carrying carnivore status). Loaded up with fresh veggies, artichoke hearts and a complicated blend of mozzarella and feta cheese, it was downright delectable — though it won’t
be swinging us over to the Vegetarian Dark Side anytime soon. While neither the King nor the Mediterranean was an artisan-grade pizza like you might get from one of the local pizza joints that hold a greasy little space in our heart, they were pretty dang good — not to mention several giant steps above a place like Pizza Hut or Papa John’s and at a similar price point. That came into sharp focus when it came time to pay the bill. Where we would have expected to go upwards of $40 for two comparable pizzas elsewhere, we managed to get away from Palio’s for a little over $25 (including soft drinks), thanks to a “manager’s special” on the back of the menu that lets you buy any large pizza at $13.99, and get the second large with an equal or lesser number of toppings for just $8 bucks. In short, Palio’s is a great deal, especially for a fresh, complex and interesting pizza. Next time we’re in the area and jonesin’ for a cut-rate pie, we’ll definitely keep it in mind.
Palio’s Pizza Cafe 3 Rahling Circle 821-0055 Quick Bite
For those who have gone gluten-free, Palio’s offers the option of a gluten-free crust. They can also whip up a whole-wheat crust for you if requested.
Hours
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Other info
Beer and wine. All CC accepted. Delivery available in a limited area. Small number of outdoor dining tables. www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 35
BARBECUE CROSS EYED PIG BBQ COMPANY Traditional barbecue favorites smoked well such as pork ribs, beef brisket and smoked chicken. Miss Mary’s famous potato salad is full of bacon and other goodness. Smoked items such as ham and turkeys available seasonally. 1701 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-265-0000. L Mon.-Sat., D Tue.-Fri. 6015 Chenonceau Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-7427. LD daily. FATBOY’S KILLER BAR-B-Q This Landmark neighborhood strip center restaurant in the far southern reaches of Pulaski County features tender ribs and pork by a contest pitmaster. Skip the regular sauce and risk the hot variety, it’s far better. 3405 Atwood Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-888-4998. LD Tue.-Sat. HB’S BAR B.Q. Great slabs of meat with fiery barbecue sauce, but ribs are served on Tuesday only. Other days, try the tasty pork sandwich on an onion roll. 6010 Lancaster. No alcohol, No CC. $-$$. 501-565-1930. L Mon.-Fri. MICK’S BBQ, CATFISH AND GRILL Good burgers, picnic-worth deviled eggs and heaping barbecue sandwiches topped with sweet sauce. 3609 MacArthur Dr. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-791-2773. LD Mon.-Sat. SIMS BAR-B-QUE Great spare ribs, sandwiches, beef, half and whole chicken and an addictive vinegar-mustard-brown sugar sauce unique for this part of the country. 2415 Broadway. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-6868. LD Mon.-Sat. 1307 John Barrow Road. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-2057. LD Mon.-Sat. 7601 Geyer Springs Road. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-562-8844. LD Mon.-Sat.
Edited by Will Shortz
care in very nice surroundings out west. 11600 Pleasant Ridge Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-223-9966. LD daily. IGIBON JAPANESE FOOD HOUSE It’s a complex place, where the food is almost always good and the ambiance and service never fail to please. The Bento box with tempura shrimp and California rolls and other delights stand out. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-217-8888. LD Mon.-Sat. VAN LANG CUISINE Terrific Vietnamese cuisine, particularly the way the pork dishes and the assortment of rolls are presented. Great prices, too. Massive menu, but it’s user-friendly for locals with full English descriptions and numbers for easy ordering. 3600 S. University Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-570-7700. LD daily.
Across 1 Pursuit of a goal 6 Yoda, for one 10 Altar locale 14 Thompson and Watson 15 Two eighth notes, for iTunes, e.g. 16 Empty, in math 17 Cause to cower 18 Oater fare 19 Understand, slangily 20 What a smudge may indicate 22 Foreman portrayer on “House” 23 Typewriter keyboard format 26 Blufferʼs undoing, in poker 28 Use oneʼs scull 29 *Like a baby girlʼs laundry? 34 Bag brand
ANSWER
■ CROSSWORD
SANDY’S HOMEPLACE CAFE Those unfamiliar with the East End’s industrial district may find themselves a bit astray trying to navigate the steel and mortar jungle that surrounds Sandy’s, but the food inside is worth getting lost for. The unassuming, beige lunch joint offers some of the most delicious rib-sticking, gut-packing soul/comfort grub around. The portions? As much as you can possibly handle. Today’s buffet offered up the usual chicken pot pie, white rice, okra, cabbage and other fixins along with the daily specials, fried chicken livers and chicken fried steak. Side servings of bread — rolls and crunchy-skinned hot water cornbread — are plucked right out of an industrial heater. What makes Sandy’s such a rarity in a sea of similar places is that the food is as good and reliable as it is filling. And, more than anything else: inexpensive. We walked away smiling with a full lunch, a slice of rich pecan pie and a glass of tea for $8, flat. All this is no secret to the working guys of the district. But for downtown office folks and college students looking for a cheap, filling bite served off the beaten track, give Sandy’s a shot. Calorie counters, however, need not apply. 1710 E. 15th St. 501-375-3216. 10 a.m.-2:40 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
No. 0330
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36 One going before a judge 37 Corrida wear 39 Done for 40 Eye problems 42 Theocratic state 43 Often-mocked cars of the past 45 Jackʼs love in “Titanic” 46 Possessing many pesos 47 Like light from stars moving away from us … or like the answers to this puzzleʼs starred clues? 50 Confirm-deny link 51 Opportunities for discussion 52 “___ touch!” 54 Vista part: Abbr. 56 He had a Blue Period 60 Dolly the matchmaker
61 Grow wearisome 62 ___ de Torquemada, Spanish inquisitor 66 Abe or Ike 67 They may clash 68 City on the Mohawk 69 Like the Atacama 70 Scrubbed, as a mission 71 Material for a baking dish
Down 1 “And that proves it” 2 Thurman of “Pulp Fiction” 3 Creature on Australiaʼs 50cent coin 4 Not so off the wall 5 Feature of some sandals 6 Happy people TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE dance them O O I D A S P E N 7 Color of raw silk S N S A S T O L E 8 Ill-humored T C A F E T E R I A 9 Still being tested F L A T F E E T 10 Pasta variety E E C O R P H A N 11 *Newspapers M A D R S O N E read by royalty? V T I M E S L A W 12 Not stay in the I S T O F F A T E bucket, say R A T E D A 13 Some lodge O R Y T O T E M S members N E R C A E X E L 21 “Sealed With T E R A L L F I N I ___” A L O N E S A L A D 23 Canine, to a tot S N O R N I E C E 24 Bravery, in K I N K O R D E R Britain
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Puzzle by Erik Wennstrom
25 *Illness caused by eating Cheetos? 27 Key near F1 30 ___-Grain cereal bars 31 Stevie Wonderʼs “Songs in the ___ Life” 32 Take forcibly 33 Priestʼs assistant 35 Freshen
38 Bull pen sound 41 Comes across as 44 Ukr., e.g., until 1991 48 Come to pass 49 Quarrel 53 Like a chimney sweep 54 Matterhornʼs locale
55 “A ___ technicality!”
57 “Aladdin” parrot 58 Pipe problem
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63 Atlantis docked with it 64 Sleuth Ventura 65 Tenor ___
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: Todayʼs 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.
EUROPEAN / ETHNIC KHALIL’S PUB Widely varied menu with European, Mexican and American influences. Go for the Bierocks, rolls filled with onions and beef. 110 S. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-0224. LD daily. BR Sun. THE PANTRY Owner and self-proclaimed “food evangelist” Tomas Bohm does things the right way — buying local, making almost everything from scratch and focusing on simple preparations of classic dishes. The menu stays relatively true to his Czechoslovakian roots, but there’s plenty of choices to suit all tastes. There’s also a nice happy-hour vibe. 11401 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-353-1875. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. STAR OF INDIA The best Indian restaurant in the region, with a unique buffet at lunch and some fabulous dishes at night (spicy curried dishes, tandoori chicken, lamb and veal, vegetarian). 301 N. Shackleford. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-227-9900. LD daily.
ITALIAN DAMGOODE PIES A somewhat different Italian/pizza place, largely because of a spicy garlic white sauce that’s offered as an alternative to the traditional red sauce. Good bread, too. 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 6706 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 10720 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 37 East Center St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 479-444-7437. LD daily. LUIGI’S PIZZARIA Excellent thin-crust pizza; whopping, well-spiced calzones; ample hoagies; and pasta with tomatoey, sweet marinara sauce. 8310 Chicot Rd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-562-9863. LD Mon.-Sat. NYPD PIZZA Plenty of tasty choices in the obvious New York police-like setting, but it’s fun. Only the pizza is cheesy. Even the personal pizzas come in impressive combinations, and baked ziti, salads are more also are available. Cheap slice specials at lunch. 6015 Chenonceau Boulevard, Suite 1. Beer, Wine, No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-3911. LD daily. VESUVIO Arguably Little Rock’s best Italian restaurant is in one of the most unlikely places — tucked inside the Best Western Governor’s Inn within a nondescript section of west Little Rock. 1501 Merrill Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-225-0500. D daily. VILLA ITALIAN RESTAURANT Hearty, inexpensive, classic southern Italian dishes. 12111 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-219-2244. LD Mon.-Sat.
MEXICAN CASA MANANA Great guacamole and garlic beans, superlative chips and salsa (red and green) and a broad selection of fresh seafood, plus a deck out back. 6820 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-280-9888. BLD daily 18321 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-8822. BLD daily 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-327-6637. L Mon.-Sat. LAS DELICIAS Levy-area mercado with a taqueria and a handful of booths in the back of the store. 3401 Pike Ave. NLR. Beer, All CC. $. 501-812-4876. LONCHERIA MEXICANA ALICIA The best taco truck in West Little Rock. Located in the Walmart parking lot on Bowman. 620 S. Bowman. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-6121883. L Mon.-Sat. www.arktimes.com • MAY 4, 2011 37
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38 may 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
A house with many stories
MAY 4, 2011
The 2011 Quapaw Quarter Association Spring Tour BY KATHERINE WYRICK PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN CHILSON
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he Quapaw Quarter Association Spring Tour is one of the few occasions when it’s not only okay to be an unabashed voyeur; it’s actively encouraged. This year the tour includes five historic homes, one of which we were fortunate enough to visit beforehand to bring you this sneak peek. When we arrive at The Turner-Mann House (c. 1906), the home of Jay Barth and Chuck Cliett, we’re greeted by a dark-eyed beauty named Eleanor, the couple’s setter mix. She emits several nervous barks, but our other hosts appear more agreeable. Barth, a political science professor at Hendrix, and Cliett, a lawyer with the Mitchell Williams firm, purchased the home in 2006. It was, as they say, “walkin ready” after the major restoration done earlier by Chuck Heinbockel and Jeanette Krohn. Over the past five years, they have mostly attended to normal home maintenance and upkeep, but have created an enviable upstairs library and converted a sleeping porch off the back stairs into a home office. The two Continued on page 40
hearsay ➥ Where the wild things are. L&L BECK GALLERY in the Heights has a new exhibit for May, entitled “The Wild Ones,” a group of paintings featuring various wild animals. ➥ Chichi, Babi. Check out the Sachin + Babi Fall 2011 Trunk Show, May 10-11, at B.BARNETT. If you want to fully appreciate the designs of this husband and wife duo, you’ve got to see them in person. ➥ The main Nima event. Don’t miss the BARBARA JEAN Nima Fall 2011 Event, May 10–11. ➥ Grills and thrills. Join Donnie Ferneau at EGGSHELLS on May 9, 6 p.m., for cedar plank grilling. ➥ Mama needs a drink. KITCHEN CO. offers a Mother’s Day Class with Wine Pairing on May 7, 5-7 p.m., with Aaron Walters. On May 10, Walters does brunch with crème bruleé French toast, 6-8 p.m. May 11, Beth Robinson offers Runza, 6-8 p.m. Should be lots of funza. ➥ What’s old is new. The EVOLVE guys just returned from the vintage market in L.A. and came back with armloads of goods, including vintage cowboy boots, t-shirts, snap button shirts and Lacoste and Penguin polos. ➥ Aspiring to great heights. The strip mall in the Heights that houses Burge’s and By Invitation Only among other businesses just got a mini-makeover in the form of a grandiose sign which renames the row of shops “R ST. CENTER.” At least it’s not “R. St. Centre” or “Shoppes at R St.” ➥ Belliissimo! BELLA BOUTIQUE celebrates Mother’s Day! Shop on Thursday, May 5, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and enjoy 20% off storewide while you enjoy wine and cheese. From me to me, vintage “Mom” plate from Pennsylvania Trading Co. —Katherine Wyrick CHECK OUT MOTHER’S DAY GIFT IDEAS PAGE 42-43
The mantel in the master bedroom is adorned with work by Arkansas artists. Painting by Mary Ann Stafford. ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • MAY 4, 2011 39
attention To Details Designed with you in mind with natural and handcrafted rich leathers, stitched and formed for exceptional fit and comfort.
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(Above) Barth’s collection of Niloak Pottery, in Ozark Dawn, makes a pretty mantle.
Real Prices • Real Savings www.shoecoNNectioNoNLiNe.com
9100 N RodNey PaRham, LR 501-225-6242 2806 Lakewood ViLLage dR., NLR 501-753-8700
(Left) A very cool silhouette installation by an artist friend from Phoenix.
HOME
Continued from page 39
love the location and the distinctive history of the house and its style—a Prairie Box, woodshingle exterior, with mostly Arts & Crafts style on the interior but with some Victorian touches. An out-building now used for storage was once an apartment for the priest associated with the Catholic School that included the house as part of its complex. The 5,000-square-foot home was origi-
nally built as an investment by developer Susan Turner. Architect George Mann, the designer of the Arkansas State Capitol and first owner, supposedly remodeled the upstairs bath using the same marble that was used in the Capitol. The Catholic School, run by a German order of nuns who lived in the convent next door, began about 1957 and closed in the late 1960s. Next the residence of Mrs. Jessie O’Flarity, when the Heinbockels acquired it in 1989, it was in deteriorated condition, with only one working bathroom; they rewired, replumbed,
The 2011 Quapaw Quarter Association Spring Tour will be held May 7 and 8 (Mother’s Day weekend). The Saturday Candlelight Tour, from 5:30-7:30 p.m, allows visitors to stroll the quiet streets while enjoying champagne, wine and savories at several locations. Cocktails, dinner and dancing to the music of the Jellies will follow until 10:30 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. The Garth will be lit by Bylites’ “floating moon.” Party favors have been provided by Aromatique, and there will be a small silent auction. Saturday night party decorations are being artistically handled by Dan and Sandra Cook with their able assistants. The Tours include four other wonderful homes: the Ragland House (c. 1890); the Urquhart Bungalow (c. 1880); the Rogers House (c. 1914); and the H.A. Bowman House (c. 1887); all are located within easy walking distance of each other. On Sunday, a rubber-wheeled trolley will provide transportation along the Tour route between the houses, and street activities will include musicians, games, food carts, and a lemonade stand. 40 MAY 4, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES
This illuminated chair, called “The Eudora,” was made by a family member for the Cooper Hewitt Design Competition.
removed and replaced the roof, removed remaining plaster and installed sheetrock, refinished floors, and removed the enclosure that obscured the grand front porch (one of its finest features). The house had been covered with asphalt siding, which was removed, as was the asphalt paving over the entire side and rear yard. The original sink for the marble bath was found in the basement and reinstalled. The restored front porch and main floor remain true to the period. Glass-paneled doors between the two front parlors allow them to be closed off from one another or from the dinThe owners have filled their home with work by Arkansas arting room. Double pocket ists. (top) painting by Baxter Knowlton, (bottom) painting by doors between the main Matt McLeod rooms offer generous spaces for entertaining when open and a more intimate atmosphere when closed. Beautiful oak floors and hand-painted borders along the ceilings fill the house, as well as the owners’ collection of artwork by Arkansas artists. The sunny kitchen carries through the Craftsman-style diamond shapes from the Saturday, May 7 original butler’s pantry in its glass cabinets Candlelight Tour and backsplash. 5:30-10:30 p.m. The bottom level, now Jay’s office, holds $100 per person his collection of political memorabilia as well as other ephemera and vintage nicknacks Sunday, May 8 (including an enormous plastic sneaker big Afternoon Tour enough for a small child to fit in). It also con1:00-5:00 p.m. tains an office, kitchenette, living room and $18 per person in advance full bath. $20 per person day of tour Both big animal lovers, Jay and Chuck have made several dog-proofing accomReservations for both tours may modations, including interior gates that their be made at www.quapaw.com or contractor discovered underneath the house. at Curran Hall, 615 East Capitol Eleanor, now at rest in Chuck’s office, seems Avenue. to approve of these improvements.
Best Mother’s Day Gift!
Charms while you wait, May 6th and 7th Choose from Necklaces, Bracelets or Rings!
2616 Kavanaugh Blvd. • Little Rock 501.661.1167 • www.shopboxturtle.com
2011 Spring Tour of Homes
The PerfecT GifT for
MoTher’s Day! Gift Cards Available
support your community Small Town
Pleasant Ridge Town Center 11525 Cantrell Rd • 501.716.2960 M-F 10-6 • Sat. 10-5 solematesboutique.blogspot.com ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • MAY 4, 2011 41
Make a good impression
A bit flashy but still fun, this hummingbird ring would look lovely alighted on her finger.
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Friday, May 13, 6-9pm Runaway Planet To Perform M2 Gallery Pleasant Ridge Town Center
ickets to the Arkansas Arts Center’s wonderful new exhibit, The Impressionists and Their Influence, would, naturally, make a superb Mother’s Day gift. Even better would be presenting those tickets with some goodies from the gift shop that’s been constructed to complement the show. Allow us to recommend the following items.
Jewelry Loan Services, LTD
A bouquet of flower emery boards makes a practical yet pretty gift. Each petal can be plucked off as needed.
INSTANT, CONFIDENTIAL CASH LOANS ON FINE JEWELRY
Let Us Help You! Located in Crown Jewelry, where there is always a GIA Graduate Gemologist on site. 150 Brookswood Road Sherwood, AR
Let mom know she’s a star with Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” umbrella and pillow.
Tell mama she’s the balm with this sunny petal rings with lip gloss inside.
501-590-3238
WWW.THEGOODEARTHGARDEN.COM
For info call 501-868-4666
MISTING
SYSTEMS
Jerry Bailey (of the Capital Hotel), Kirk Bradshaw (chair of Dinner on the Grounds) and Alan Napier (also of the Capital)
42 MAY 4, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES
Grounds for a party Popular Our House fundraiser returns with additional event
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inner on the Grounds is a casual, outdoor southern supper at sunset featuring traditional cuisine, drinks and live jazz entertainment by Lagniappe. Now in its sixth year, the 2011 event will take place Friday, May 6th in the beautiful gardens of the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion. Over 450 supporters attended last year’s event, and even more are expected this year. The attire is summer casual (seersucker, anyone?). This year an additional
event later that evening, “After House for Our House,” co-sponsored by the Capital Hotel and The Oxford American, will take place at the hotel at 9 p.m. At an affordable $45 a ticket, this event hopes to draw a younger crowd. Guests will enjoy musical entertainment from True Soul Review which was featured in the OA’s Southern Music Issue. For sponsorship or ticket information, contact Our House Development Assistant Manon Jacob at 501-374-7383 extension 228 or by email at events@ourhouseshelter.org.
Gift ideas for MOM Every mom is a multi-tasker, so FitFlop footwear— shoes that give you a workout while you walk—make a fitting gift. SHOE CONNECTION Wow her with the Marco Bicego bracelet from CECIL’S
Pamper your hard-working mother with the AHAVA Dermund Trio gift set from REJUVENATION CLINIC & DAY SPA. Includes intensive hand, foot and body creams.
She’ll be bowled over by this earthenware bowl, entitled “The Plant Room,” by Julie Holt. GALLERY 26
Help mom de-stress with yoga classes or a massage from ARGENTA HEALING ARTS.
Charmed, I’m sure. These delicate charms from Joella Peck are popular with celebs and everyday moms alike. Get yours personalized at BOX TURTLE this Friday or Saturday—just in time for Mother’s Day.
A gift certificate from The GOOD EARTH is perfect for earth mothers.
Central Arkansas Sprinkler Smart
Get Smart!
The Sprinkler Smart program can help you save money, water and your landscape. Learn more at www.carkw.com/or www.uaex.edu • 501-340-6650 The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. University of Arkansas, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and County Governments Cooperating
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • MAY 4, 2011 43
NATIVES GUIDE
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1. Arkansas Burger Co., 2. Buffalo Grill, 3. Capital Bar and Grill, 4. Cotham’s in the City, 5. EJ’s Eats and Drinks, 6. Frostop, 7. Hunka Pie, 8. Midtown Billiards, 9. The House, 10. Town Pump
Central Arkansas burger joints C entral Arkansas loves its burger joints. Whether the patty is smashed, hand-formed or rounded; char-grilled or griddle-fried; whether the buns are seeded or splittopped or buttered and toasted, there’s a burger for every preference. Arkansas Burger Co. The Rock ($6.50 with a bag of chips) is the burger to order here. It’s two hand-formed patties with a nice light burger crust, flavored with a little salt, pepper and burger seasoning, split by a slice of cheese. The sesame-seed bun is buttered and toasted. You’ll need two hands and a big mouth and appetite. 7410 Cantrell Road. 663-0600. CC. Beer and wine. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Buffalo Grill Try the cheeseburger ($6.29 with potato chips). The lightly charred, hand-formed patty is seasoned with salt and pepper and served on a toasted sesame-seed bun. You’ll never be able to eat all the chips. 1611 Rebsamen Park Road. 296-9535. 400 N. Bowman Road. 224-0012. CC. Full bar. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Capital Bar and Grill This could easily be the best burger in the state. Fresh chopped Creekstone beef, a housemade bun and pickles highlight the expert care put into assembling Capital burger ($9 with Parmesan fries). It’s usually cooked just right, too. Add 44 MAY 4, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
pimento cheese for a real treat. 111 W. Markham. 374-7474. CC. Full bar. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.
Cotham’s in the City While the Hubcap Burger has achieved a certain level of fame, the regular cheeseburger ($7.29 with fries) is probably a more reasonable choice. Half the size of the hubcab, the griddle-charred beauty comes with melted-on cheese, purple onion, iceberg shreds, tomato and pickles under a seedless bun. The excellent house seasoning is available for sale. 1401 W. Third St. 370-9177. CC. No alcohol. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon.-Fri. EJ’s Eats and Drinks A bright, paprikaseasoned, smashed, half-pound patty is the basis for the EJ’s Burger ($6.50 with homemade chips). It and every other burger on the menu come with cheese, and the default condiment is mayonnaise on a split top bun. Green leaf lettuce, tomato slices and paperthin ringlets of purple onion provide the freshness. The house potato chips are outstanding, especially the BBQ chips. 523 Center St. 666-3700. CC. Beer and wine. 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri. Frostop Go for the Big Daddy ($7.95, $10.95 combo with fries and drink) here. Served on a seeded, specially made eight-inch bun, buttered on the inside, the smashed burger is Greek-seasoned, likely by Cavender’s, and big enough
that they probably flip it with a spatula the size of a tennis racket. Pickles and mayo on the bottom give the burger a distinctive flavor, and there’s a generous amount of cheese melted on top of the patty. Iceberg lettuce, a full layer of tomato slices and onion ringlets fill it out. 4517 JFK Blvd., NLR. 758-4535. CC. No alcohol. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., noon6 p.m. Sun. Hunka Pie Though the Bombay Burger with its deep garam masala flavors charms and the Asian Turkey Burger with its cashews and slaw intrigues, the real winner here is the Worchestershireand-onion flavored traditional Hunka burger ($4.50 with chips) that owner (and often sole operator) Chris Monroe expertly serves up from the griddle. The bonus is the particularly buttery signature buns from Boulevard Bread Company, which give the juicy, thick, smashed burgers an amazing flavor. The Whole Shebang ($9) gets you a burger, fries, drink and a slice from the marvelous, ever-changing pie selection. 7706 Cantrell Road. 224-1104. No CC. No alcohol. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Midtown Billiards Brave the smoke and strangeness for one of Arkansas’ best burgers ($6). The atmosphere may be questionable at times but the griddle is spotless and the cumin-laden burger patties are drool-worthy. The seedless is buttered heavily and Romaine lettuce pieces, tomato, hamburger dills and
white onion ringlets come standard. Don’t get fancy, just order yours with everything and pick off what you don’t want. Side items are truly superfluous. 1316 Main St. 372-9990. CC. Full bar. 3 p.m.-5 a.m. daily. The House Any burger touting itself as “great” needs to live up to the name. Fortunately, The House’s signature burger ($9.50 with side item) does just that, with a tight-packed lean Wynn Farms beef patty served with a special house mayo on a Boulevard Bread Company bun with fresh lettuce, tomato, sweet red onion and pickles. 722 North Palm. 663-4500. CC. Beer and wine. 11 a.m.11 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 11 a.m.-midnight Fri., 10 a.m.-midnight Sat., 10 a.m.- 11 p.m. Sun. Town Pump One of the best-conceived burgers in Little Rock, the thick Pump Burger ($5.95 with homemade chips) is a cooked-to-order (and usually a little rare) patty that’s served on a seedless bun coated in Swiss and Cheddar cheeses and a generous handful of black olives. For best effect, ignore the onion ringlets, romaine lettuce and pickles and enjoy the Remoulade-style sauce on the other side of the bun. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road. 663-9802. CC. Full bar. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-midnight Sun. For a more expansive guide, visit arktimes.com/nativesguideburgers.
TRAVS HOME FOR 8 STRAIGHT! REPLICA PINSTRIPE JERSEYS TO FIRST 2000 ADULTS ON SATURDAY MAY 14TH
THURSDAY, MAY 12 THRU THURSDAY, MAY 19
“an Italian dining experience everyone is talking about”
Come Dine For Mother’s Day! Open Sunday, May 8 • 11am -3pm
Traditional Favorites and Modern Cuisine Inspired by the South of Italy
LunCh
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Rooting around n A squirrelly guy I know accosted me recently and demanded I produce a birth certificate in order to prove I’m qualified to write a newspaper column. This took me by surprise. As many newspaper columns as I’ve written over the years and generations and centuries — well, it seems like that sometimes — I’d never heard that you have to have credentials before you can take up the trade. Or that you’re obliged to haul them out for inspection every time some nut asks you to. I had ignorantly assumed this to be an open-access occupation. If you had the hankering, and could find someone who’d pay hard coin to rent your blather, then by all means knock yourself out. You didn’t need brains, a heart, or courage. You didn’t need passion. You didn’t need an agenda. Contrary to Bob Dylan, you didn’t need to serve somebody. You didn’t need talent or sense enough to come in out of the rain or somebody to make excuses for you or to take the heat for you. Most important, you didn’t need qualifications, credentials, permission. Like King Bertie, you only needed a voice. If the voice was fluent, that made it better. If it was wise, better still. Maybe in the old USA that was true. In these parlous times with stupidity ascendant, not so much.
Bob L ancaster The old liberal bias is gone from the media, if it ever existed. It might come back, but not before Jesus does. That is, not anytime soon. It’s been replaced or supplanted by a sanctimonious, last-refuge patriotic, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynist, pro-gun, anti-abortion, anti-science, antienvironment, anti-union, pro-rich, economically clueless and gerontologically hostile bias. A populist knock-off or igmo-pekoe bias usually called conservative because its adherents like the sound of the word. It reminds them of John Galt or Rush Limbaugh, their prick heroes. To get in on this act, you do have to have an agenda. Or you have to agree to promote an agenda that’s assigned to you in the form of “talking points.” These talking points are mailed or tweeted to you by orange or nerdy toadies for a cabal of sour old billionaires (sob’s) whose objective is to gain ownership or control of the 1 percent of American assets and resources that they don’t already own or control. You have to serve them if you want to write a column
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taking their side. They’ll give you a card. It’s the only credential you’ll need. If you can’t get an op-ed job then at the local daily, it won’t be because you’re outclassed. Stray from the talking points and you’re likely to be called in for a performance review. This process apparently involves a close examination of your birth certificate, and it’s at this point that I lose track of what’s going on. Why all the attention to birth certificates? I might could understand it a little bit if it was only the birth certificate of a black president you wanted to get shed of. I mean, c’mon, when you succeed in putting Lightning Nicodemus in the White House, it has to mean that Kingfish and Algonquin J. Calhoun and others of the Mystic Knights of the Sea, or their rascal types, done put one over on us regular folks. And in their conspiriating, they might’ve forgot to provide him with a birth certificate that would’ve gitimized his lection. Or they might’ve whereased and therefoed some damning information onto the bogus birth certificate such as his favorite philosopher is ol’ Moe Hammed or his hobbies include palling around with terrorists. Or what Bro. Huckabee said about the Mau-Mau connection and preferring the madrassa over the Rotary Club. Or the Kiwanis. Whichever one has the Four-Way Test My birth certificate, on the other hand, has nothing on it that’s interesting much less scandalous. It tells how old my parents were at my debut and how they made a
living. It notes that we were white people, the only other race-box option in use then being “colored.” Meaning white wasn’t a color back then, I guess. Otherwise, nada. No eye color. No telltale scars or ugly growths. No gene markers. No hunch I might grow up to be Commie or Mussulman. No wry comments from whoever filled the thing out back in that distant epoch when dragons roamed the land, and Whigs, when as yet unfossilized mastadon bones lay scattered around the landscape and gasoline was available for less than a dollar a gallon and they didn’t charge you extra for the lead that they put in it or the lead that they didn’t. I’d bet your birth certificate — and most of them — is just as unremarkable and just as unrevealing. My guess is that the Sour Old Billionaires have developed guidelines for making political deductions about outliers and suspected backsliders from the place-of-birth information on the longform BCs. So if you were born in England, well, so was Charles Darwin. In Germany, so was Karl Marx. In Greece, among old pervs who considered reasonable discourse a virtue. In Scandanavia, the workers’ paradise. In the Philippines, here only to screw one of our American nurses out of a job. In Mexico, no need to say more. Etc. Maybe you have a better theory about this latter-day birth-paper fixation. Let me hear.
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LASSIFIED LASSIFIED Legal Notices
TO: JOHN WILLIAM GLASGOW You are notified that Melinda Glasgow, whose attorney’s address is below, filed a Petition for Declaration of Death on February 2, 2011. A hearing was concluded on April 13, 2011 and the Court issued an Order Declaring Death. A copy of the Order shall be delivered to you or your attorney upon request. You are notified that you must appear and respond by filing your objection to the Order within one hundred eighty (180) days of April 27, 2011, which is the date of the first publication of this Warning Order. In the event of your failure to do so, the effect of the order shall be permanent. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal as Clerk of the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas this 19th day of April, 2011. SIGNED: Larry Crane Pulaski County Circuit Clerk Nate Coulter, Ark Bar. No. 85034 Wilson, Engstrom, Corum and Coulter Post Office Box 71 Little Rock, AR 72203 Telephone: (501) 375-6453 Facsimile: (501) 375-5914
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