Arkansas Times - February 12, 2015 by Arkansas Times

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ARKANSAS TIMES

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VOLUME 41, NUMBER 23 ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each week by Arkansas Times Limited Partnership, 201 East Markham Street, Suite 200, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201, phone (501) 375-2985. Periodical postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ARKANSAS TIMES, 201 EAST MARKHAM STREET, SUITE 200, Little Rock, AR, 72201. Subscription prices are $42 for one year, $74 for two years. Subscriptions outside Arkansas are $49 for one year, $88 for two years. Foreign (including Canadian) subscriptions are $168 a year. For subscriber service call (501) 375-2985. Current single-copy price is 75¢, free in Pulaski County. Single issues are available by mail at $2.50 each, postage paid. Payment must accompany all single-copy orders. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents without the written consent of the publishers is prohibited. Manuscripts and artwork will not be returned or acknowledged unless sufficient return postage and a self-addressed stamped envelope are included. All materials are handled with due care; however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for care and safe return of unsolicited materials. All letters sent to ARKANSAS TIMES will be treated as intended for publication and are subject to ARKANSAS TIMES’ unrestricted right to edit or to comment editorially.

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COMMENT

The real story of Harrison Harrison is more than a billboard. Having lived and worked here for over 40 years, I am frustrated with the reporting by national, state and regional media about my chosen hometown. The Arkansas Times has established itself as a reliable source for state news, so I am surprised that your coverage of Harrison seems clueless. That some remnant of the “Klan” does something obnoxious is a dog-bites-man story. What is newsworthy is a story of change. This historically conservative district is spontaneously and vigorously repudiating atavistic expressions of racial privilege and segregation. These people are Republicans, Democrats and independents from small businesses, corporations, education, clergy and government as well as common folk such as myself. Responsible people from all areas of our community acknowledge that our negative reputation was earned from decades of strict Jim Crow and despicable events of over 100 years ago. The Harrison I know today is an increasingly diverse and welcoming community. We accept the past, are living in a more positive present and working diligently toward an even more prosperous and inclusive future. Maybe the Times could stop viewing us as a retrograde billboard. Maybe you could send a reporter up here to see who we are now. I’m told good news doesn’t sell papers, but change does and change has been happening in Harrison. Richard Evans Harrison

include those of special education students and those for whom English is not their mother tongue, and you have a recipe for failure at schools where numerous students fall under one or both categories. The No. 1 reason that children struggle in school is powerfully linked to their socioeconomic level. Schools are not to blame for this. Researchers have long understood the connection between underachievement and levels of deprivation. To be sure, not all poor students do poorly. Nonetheless, it is unreasonable to expect students to do well when they lack basic necessities. Already poverty-stricken

children are disadvantaged when available food provides inadequate nutrition, which is directly linked to brain development and scholastic aptitude. Already they are disadvantaged when their caregivers struggle at part-time, minimum-wagepaying jobs that often pull them away from providing the supervision and guidance their children need to learn pro-social behaviors, which are also indicators of school success. Look at the six “failing” schools. Who are these students? How many are in special education? How many speak a language at home different from English?

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So the Arkansas Department of EducatheSchool Lawn and Garden Season! tion is taking overDuring the Little Rock Leave a faucet running overnight District. Whether this cures the ills of cerRunning a thin stream of water will reduce your tain “failing” schools or merely proves to chance ofsupply pipesinfreezing when temperatures Although arethe fortunate water the be too little too late andwe paves way for to have an abundant reach the low teens. private sectormetropolitan takeover remains tocustomers be seen. area, are encouraged to be good stewards Why schools fail is no black or of our water sources white by practicing efﬁcientNever outdoorthaw waterause. frozen pipe with an open flame issue. It is complex and fraught with Use a hairdryer or heat tape to thaw the pipe Customers are asked to alter timing of outdoor watering patterns to overly simplistic scapegoating from all slowly in order to avoid damaging the pipe. avoidcasting the peak time of day demand during the hot summer months sides. To continue blame at school personnel orand at society in general 221 East Capital Ave to avoid operatingdoes sprinkler systems P.O. Box 1789 little in the way of sincerely addressing between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Little Rock, AR 72203 the problem. Unfortunately, American culture wants immediate, cheap fixes and Customer Service: more about the Sprinkler easy demonsLearn at which to point our judg501.372.5161 Smart Program at carkw.com, mental fingers. or byout calling Researchuaex.edu, has long pointed that Emergencies: standardized501.340.6650 test scores alone are no true 501.377.1239 assessment of any school. Yet their use continues to drive public policy regarding You Likeus on carkw.com carkw.com education. Couple this with the No Child Facebook Tube Left Behind mandate that such test scores CAW Ark Times Avoid The Peak Ad.indd 1 4 FEBRUARY 12, 2015 ARKANSAS TIMES

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How many are on free or reduced breakfast/lunch programs? Compare these figures with those of the other schools in the district. District lines feed all too many low-income, special education and ESL students into these six schools. Meanwhile, more affluent children are funneled into the more successful schools. Welcome to the new segregation! Kenneth Leithwood, an education researcher and professor out of Canada, adroitly calls school failure a “Perfect Storm with Imperfect Solutions.” It would not be easy for any entity to address the multifaceted requirements of school improvement. Unfortunately, research points to the counter-productivity of standard interventions by many governmental agencies. But there is also evidence that supports methods for improving schools that may bode well. The key is not in requiring teachers to fill out multi-page lesson plans. Students are not failing because teachers write poor learning objectives and poor step-by-step formulae for teaching. Indeed, this tendency to lay out lesson plans in a formulaic manner that ostensibly would allow just anyone to step in, follow the plan and result in students magically learning is patently ridiculous. To the unending consternation of politicians and policymakers, good teaching cannot be fitted into a narrowly prescribed formula that just anyone can take up and make successful. There are clear things that good teachers do that ensure quality learning, and some of these can be quantified. There are also those aspects that good teachers possess that make a huge difference in quality education that cannot be put on a chart or in a lesson plan or quantified in any manner. Good teachers employ both a science and an art to teaching. It is the art of teaching that eludes quantifiability. One of the major issues that Leithwood raises is the quality of school leadership. These leaders recognize which teachers need additional assistance and provide it, and also motivate those teachers who do well to continue to do well. These leaders keep their fingers on the pulse of the schools and intervene immediately when dangers to improvement arise. These leaders further understand that the majority of teachers are committed, hard-working people who are passionate about helping young minds develop. These leaders will seek out resources needed to ensure that the passions of these teachers are realized. If the Department of Education can populate these “failing” schools with leaders such as these, then I fully support the department’s efforts. Leeann Bennett Little Rock

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FEBRUARY 12, 2015

EYE ON ARKANSAS

WEEK THAT WAS

Quote of the week “The only problem with Guantanamo Bay is that there are too many empty cells ... As far as I’m concerned, every last one of them can rot in hell. But as long as they don’t do that, then they can rot in Guantanamo Bay.” —U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, grandstanding for C-SPAN cameras in a congressional hearing over closing the military prison.

North Little Rock High School football coach Brad Bolding is being fired by his school district, in part because of an alleged violation of Arkansas Activities Association rules. It’s widely assumed the violation concerns K.J. Hill, NLR High’s star wide receiver who transferred into the district from Bryant. Hill’s stepfather evidently received a $600 payment from a private booster club, according to AAA documents. Bolding says he did nothing wrong and is fighting his dismissal; meanwhile, NLR High has forfeited all of last year’s varsity wins in football and boys basketball because “an ineligible player participated.”

Fear of needles With a debate over childhood vaccines in the national news, we thought we’d take a look at vaccination rates in Arkansas. Bad news: Arkansas ranks dead last among the states in its percentage of children aged 19 to 35 months who have received the full series of CDC-recommended vaccines. Arkansas, like 17 other states, allows parents to claim a philosophical exemption to immunization.

‘Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Education’ So read a stenciled sign at a march 6 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

BRIAN CHILSON

Scolding Bolding

MORE FOOTBAL: Little Rock’s own semipro spring football team the Arkansas Xtra kicked off its 2015 season with a 29-0 victory over the Shreveport Shock at Central High’s Quigley Stadium, Saturday, Feb. 7.

and rally of the Little Rock School District Student Association, a group of LRSD students formed in the wake of state takeover of the district. About 100 people (most of them students) turned out last week to speak out against the dissolution of the locally elected board. Hannah Burdette, a Parkview senior who helped organize the event, said, “Our intent … is to work with whoever it is in charge of student education, whether that’s the LRSD board or the Department of Education.”

Eureka springs a lawsuit Immediately after the state senate passed Sen. Bart Hester’s bill to ban local governments from creating anti-discrimination ordinances — a clear jab at LGBT people — the Eureka Springs City Council passed its own anti-discrimination ordinance. The move by Eureka Springs, which has long been a haven of tolerance toward the gay community, sets up a potential legal challenge to Hester’s bill if it should become law, as it most likely will.

PARCC, by the numbers Rep. Mark Lowery (R-Maumelle) has introduced a bill to put the brakes on a new Common Core-based standardized test that’s set to be rolled out in Arkansas schools only a few weeks from now. The test is designed by a consortium of states called PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers), which has unraveled in recent years in part because of worries that its exam is poorly designed. Even many educators who support the Common Core State Standards Initiative say that PARCC may be flawed.

The number of states participating in the PARCC consortium in 2010.

The number of states now remaining in the consortium.

$186 million The amount of a U.S. Department of Education grant funding the consortium’s development of the test.

4 The number of weeks until testing is set to begin in Arkansas. Opponents of Lowery’s bill say it’s too late to reverse course on the PARCC test in the current school year.

OPINION

Tax breaks for the deserving

’ve credited Gov. Asa Hutchinson for a workers at his bill measure of progressivity in his income signing ceremony. He responded: tax cut. The graduated income tax is out of “Because this focused whack in Arkansas because of failure to on the middle class. index it for most of its 40-year run. Obviously, we have MAX So Hutchinson knocked the top brackets Arkansans that make BRANTLEY down for taxpayers in categories between less than that, and maxbrantley@arktimes.com $21,000 and $75,000. And he proposed ini- Arkansans that make tially to take back a 2013 capital gains tax more than that. This focused on those who break that primarily benefitted wealthy have really been extraordinarily strained, and people. He gave up on part of the capital did not have some of the social program progains takeback, however, and legislation tections we have [for low-income people].” introduced this week would give it all back, Sen. David Sanders (R-Little Rock), including the total exemption for gains over defending the governor further, said the $10 million. poor had been helped by the private option So, though the super wealthy will be expansion of Medicaid, an increase in the served, one category of taxpayer has been minimum wage and the federal earned left out — the working poor, those making income tax credit. less than $21,000 a year. Roughly a third of They are simply wrong, first in asserting Arkansas taxpayers — maybe 400,000 tax fil- people making $75,000 are more “extraorers — report earned income in that category. dinarily” strained than those making less The Times’ Benji Hardy asked Hutchin- than $21,000 and then in invoking “social son about the omission of low-income program protections.”

Jobs added, not lost, thanks to Obamacare

efore suspending our fascination with Arkansas’s rocky love affair with Obamacare and its “private option” for the rest of 2015, may we re-examine a couple of the great propaganda frauds that were perpetuated during the long battles in Arkansas and nationally? No, no — not death panels again, and not Obamacare’s secret coverage of illegal immigrants, or its exemption for congressmen, or giant Medicare benefit cuts. Nearly everyone by now is on to those flimflams, although a few old folks still fear that President Obama any day is going to take away their Medicare. (My Medicare, by the way, is more generous than it was when I went on the rolls a dozen years ago.) But two hoary myths from the first days of the insurance reform in 2009

and 2010 were still around when G ov. Hutch i nson embraced the Medicaid expansion under ObamERNEST acare and perDUMAS suaded grudging Republican legislators to accept it, a few on the premise that next year it might be altered enough that they could call it something besides Obamacare. The big myths are that the sweeping insurance reforms, particularly the Medicaid expansion for the poor, are forcing tens of thousands of people onto unemployment rolls while bankrupting the country and wrecking Arkansas’s fragile treasury. Those refrains were still heard in the debate about continuing Arkansas’s version of Medic-

Food stamps? A two-income houseRepublican faith holds that poor people dine from a buffet of welfare benefits. But hold is disqualified over $20,000 in let’s look. gross family income. The earned income tax credit — a fedIn short, there are a number of federeral, not state benefit? If you earn $10 an ally financed programs to help poor peohour, for pay of about $20,000 a year, you ple. But all don’t qualify for the somearen’t eligible. times meager benefits. The minimum wage, just raised by votThe governor’s own chart showed an ers, over opposition from most Republicans average tax cut benefit from his bill of $3 for to $7.50 an hour? It provided no benefit to those making $17,000 to $30,000, all to those anyone making less than $15,600. About 20 making more than $21,000. The restoration percent of Arkansas taxpayers earn between of the full capital gains tax cut is worth $3.50 $17,000 and $30,000. for every $1,000 in capital gains (unearned The tax cliffs in Hutchinson’s bill also income on sale of appreciated assets). present problems under Arkansas’s income During the campaign, Hutchinson tax, which encourages married couples demonstrated his fear of “welfare” when to file separately to double the standard he resisted opponent Mike Ross’ push deduction. A married couple — each mak- for universal pre-K education. Hutchining $10 an hour for a household income son suggested it smacked of a welfare of around $40,000 — realize no benefits program, as opposed to a proven way from the Hutchinson tax cut, though of lifting people out of future poverty. they are presumably as strained as a Hutchinson has a thoughtful side. He single wage-earner making $40,000. should dig into the numbers. He’ll find Expanded health insurance? Many working families exempted from his tax of the working poor don’t qualify for cut with modest to no “welfare” assisthe private option Medicaid expansion. tance, certainly none paid by the state A family of two’s eligibility cuts off at of Arkansas. He might decide they are roughly $21,000. There are some dis- “extraordinarily strained,” too. counts on health insurance through the Democrats are backing legislation for health marketplace for poorer workers, the equivalent of a state earned income tax thanks to federally funded Obamacare, credit for lower income workers. With the not an expenditure of state dollars. governor’s support, it might even pass.

aid, which by July should be insuring just about all of the 250,000 Arkansans who are eligible. There were never grounds for either claim. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, run by a Republican, concluded that the Affordable Care Act would lower, not raise, federal budget deficits, and after four years it is still doing that. The CBO found no basis for predicting big job losses, although House Republican leaders predicted that 650,000 would lose their jobs. Two studies of the impact of the Medicaid expansion on the state budget, one by the Arkansas Medicaid staff and the other by economic consultants, concluded that rather than busting the budget the Medicaid expansion, even after the state assumes its full 10 percent share of its costs, will put the state treasury in the black by $630 million over the span of 2013-2021. It is like Arkansas insured all its poor and levied a tax on New Yorkers and Californians to pay for the state’s share of it. Absurd, but in a way that’s how Obamacare works for Arkansas. How can that be? After all, the Affordable Care Act is sure enough a big government program that set out to fix everything that was wrong with

the country’s health care system. But the law was designed to be palatable to the states by making them great beneficiaries with minimal burdens of their own. The states’ matching share for the Affordable Care Act is a small fraction of state costs under all the other Medicaid programs that were established in 1965 and afterward, which states always leaped upon, Arizona partially excepted. Let’s see exactly how that works so well for Arkansas. First, let’s deal with the jobs issue. Rather than massive job losses and a recession when Obamacare kicked in 15 months ago, the job market improved stunningly — 651,000 jobs in the last three months of 2013 when people signed up for Obamacare and many states like Arkansas took the Medicaid expansion, and 3,116,000 new jobs in 2014. The country added an average of 26,000 health care jobs a month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Arkansas’s economy took a similar burst of growth, lowering the unemployment rate a full 2 percent from the day people could sign up for Medicaid and adding 3,000 jobs in health care alone. State tax collections made unusuCONTINUED ON PAGE 27 www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Can ‘What’s Working’ work?

The fifth installment in Arkansas Times’ new film series collaboration with the Little Rock Film Festival at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater. 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21 • $5 CALS Ron Robinson Theater • 100 River Market Avenue

8 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

ast semester, one topic was the source of an especially rich conversation in my first-year seminar course collaboratively taught with a film studies colleague. Together, two of the films we used in the class — the Jimmy Stewart classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and the 1999 dark comedy “Election” — nicely exemplify a key trend in American society over the decades: the demise of trust in democratic and social institutions in the United States. While the downward shift in social trust has been noted for years, recent surveys by both the Pew Research Center and Harvard University’s Institute of Politics show even lower levels of trust in other citizens and in key social and political institutions among millennials, the generation of the first-year students sitting in that classroom. From their lack of trust in their neighbors (only 19 percent think they can generally trust people) to their lack of trust in key institutions (from a “high” of 47 percent for the military down to only 11 percent for the media, according to the Harvard survey) to their own lack of interest in engaging as change agents (only 29 percent see public service work as appealing), the numbers highlighting millennial mistrust are consistently brutal. “Why?” was the simple question that drove the lively classroom discussion. Unsurprised by the data, the thoughtful students in that class had an array of explanations for the depressing numbers with potentially devastating consequences for American democracy over the decades to come. They pointed to the history of falsehoods on issues of life and death such as WMDs in Iraq by past presidents and a perceived overpromising by the current occupant of the White House, political leaders’ unwillingness to either talk about the issues of most importance to them or to listen to their solutions, and the failure of civics education and any legitimate input into what happened in their schools growing up (the wickedly funny school assembly scene in “Election” resonated with many of them in this regard). A final culprit, of course, is a media obsessed with scandal and with highlighting the malfeasance and failings of institutions. Ironically overshadowed by the sad and frustrating exaggerations and apparent lies of NBC anchor Brian Williams (just the sort of story that will push the numbers in these surveys lower) last week was the creation of a new media strategy by the popular news source Huffing-

ton Post with one of its goals being the rebirth of faith in political and social institutions to produce tangible, JAY positive results for BARTH citizens. Huffington Post’s founder Arianna Huffington calls the project “What’s Working” and explains it as an attempt to consciously create a more fulsome — and, therefore, more truly “fair and balanced” — take on the news by emphasizing those things that are “working.” The publication argues that it is not an attempt to balance more negative news with one-off “warm and fuzzy” stories, but instead with analyses of strategies and programs that are having a sustained impact in correcting societal ills. The concept behind the project is that once readers consistently see such legitimately positive stories, they will begin to demand national, state and local change and to see the society around them in a different light. While Huffington Post doesn’t explicitly say it, we would expect those troublesome survey numbers noted above to begin to head in a different direction. As Arianna Huffington said, “I believe that human beings, all of us, are a mixture of good and evil, if you want. And that the more we can encourage the better angels — it’s like strengthening a muscle — the more that will be the dominant behavior.” “What’s Working” makes perfect sense at a theoretical level. The key question is whether it can work as a business model. Previous efforts not unlike “What’s Working” received high praise from media observers but have failed to sustain themselves. For instance, in 1992, several North Carolina newspapers — led by the Charlotte Observer — used “consumer-oriented coverage” throughout the election season in the state. It meant that the papers avoided “horse race” coverage of the election — centered around polling results and gaffes — and instead focused on the issues that readers said were most important to them. “What’s Working” may see the same fate as such innovations of the past, but Huffington has partnered with the University of Southern California’s journalism school to ensure that the project regularly receives highquality material for a limited cost. Huffington’s publishing acumen has been doubted before; we all may benefit if she gets this one right.

In God’s name

ecause I’m not running for anything, I can give it to you straight: Christianity pretty much got out of the genocide business when church and state became separated in the United States and Europe following the American Revolution. As a consequence, all of the truly impressive mass murders in living memory were carried out by secular ideologues worshiping the nation state — a superstition to which millions of Americans are not entirely immune. More about that directly. Meanwhile, yes, President Obama was a bit tone deaf and smug in his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast last week. A band of primitive fanatics beheads innocent captives, burns an Allied POW alive and sends out a slickly produced video of the atrocity, and the president says we shouldn’t “get on our high horse” about it? He references the Crusades, a regular feature in ISIS propaganda? I suppose we can be grateful he didn’t call ISIS “folks.” Mr. President, the Crusades took place 1,000 years ago. Better to cite Oliver Cromwell, who was slaughtering my Irish Catholic ancestors a mere 350 years ago. Even so, Obama’s right. Many Christians did argue that the Bible sanctioned Negro slavery. Writing in The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates quoted Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens arguing that God made black people inferior to whites, and that “the Christianization of the barbarous tribes of Africa’ could only be accomplished through enslavement.” Coates also points out that in his infamous 1963 “ ‘Segregation Now’ speech, George Wallace invokes God 27 times and calls the federal government opposing him ‘a system that is the very opposite of Christ.’ ” Jesus being a well-know seg, of course. And what do the sad sack sheet heads of the KKK do when they want attention? They burn crosses. But yes, 19th century abolitionists also more plausibly claimed divine sanction. So did Martin Luther King. As Obama implied, history is complicated. But back to the president’s prayer breakfast remarks. Here’s the part they’re not banging on about at Fox News: “From a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris, we have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to stand up for faith … professed to stand up for Islam, but, in fact, are betraying it. We see ISIL, a brutal, vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism — terrorizing religious minorities like the Yezidis, subjecting women to rape as a weapon of war,

and claiming the mantle of religious authority.” Let’s see now: “brutal, vicious death cult,” GENE “unspeakable acts LYONS of barbarism.” This, one Republican congressman, Rep. John Fleming, calls “a case to defend radical Islam.” He asserts that the president basically declared ISIS to be “just like the patriots of the Revolutionary War.” Honestly, where do they find them? Bossier City, La., in Fleming’s case. You’d be tempted to observe that the congressman, although a physician, is either a great simpleton, or he’s confident that his constituents are. Probably both. Elsewhere, people calling themselves “conservatives” demand that President Obama pronounce the magic words “radical Islam,” or “Islamic radicalism.” Obama has steadfastly refused; doubtless for the same reasons President George W. Bush kept insisting that Islam was a “religion of peace” in the days just after 9/11. Because when you’re in a propaganda war against a theocratic splinter group that’s trying to persuade billions of Muslims that “Crusaders” are at war with their faith, it would be seriously dumb to play directly into their hands. Another problem is that many of today’s self-proclaimed conservatives are themselves religious fundamentalists offended by Obama’s gutless relativism. Diplomacy be damned. They’d only be happy with a president who denounced Islam as a false religion. “Our God is red hot; your God ain’t diddly squat.” Most also tend to be aggressive nationalists as George Orwell defined the term. In a famous 1945 essay, Orwell distinguished between love of country and the temptation to deify the nation-state — “placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.” “Nationalism,” he emphasized “is not to be confused with patriotism.” The nationalist thinks entirely “in terms of competitive prestige … his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations … Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception.” It almost goes without saying that such persons resent any and all comparisons to lesser nations and people, i.e. to all of them. This far into his presidency, it’s remarkable that Obama thinks it worthwhile to try.

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10 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Razorback roundup

his Pearls shall set an unofficial record for most bite-sized Razorback-related matter squeezed into one column space. Citing the venerable Samuel L. Jackson in the first “Jurassic Park,” I beseech thee to hold on to thine butts. We knocked the hiring of Jimmy Dykes as head women’s basketball coach pretty damned hard when it was announced. There seemed to be no logic in favoring the greatly untested but affable commentator over the likes of a proven in-state commodity like UALR’s Joe Foley, but Jeff Long gambled on it, and the mid-February report card shows a solid “B+” if you have to take out the red pen and assess it. The women’s program had been middling at best under Tom Collen, depressingly soft under Susie Gardner and, to be quite honest, not exceptional under Gary Blair, either. Frankly, but for a few sparks, the two-plus decades of SEC play had reminded Hog fans that much like in other sports, Arkansas could reasonably expect nothing better than being a mid-tier upstart from year to year. The first glance at this season’s record (148, 4-6 in league play) might lead you to believe that Dykes’ tenure will already settle into that cushy area, but there’s a lot to like about what’s going on. At his introduction, Dykes claimed his team would “guard hard, and be hard to guard.” I thought it was an unbearably cheesy way of saying the team would just, you know, do fundamental things right on offense and defense, but whatever. That groaner has at least resonated with the players, where it matters. Arkansas started SEC play with a brutal gauntlet of games and went 1-6 in the process, but the box scores showed some real positives. League titans Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Tennessee all had to scramble from behind to beat the Hogs with big second-half efforts; if anything, that kind of pattern shows that Dykes has the proverbial horses in the first half, but not enough depth with a nine-person roster to take it down the back stretch. That can and will be addressed. The hoop men yet again surged back into ranked status, gaining sure-footedness after the debacle at Florida. Arkansas smashed two hapless foes at Bud Walton by 20 last week, pounding South Carolina 75-55 and sloughing off a shaky offensive performance with smothering defense to vanquish Mississippi State 61-41. It got the Hogs to the 18-win

mark well before mid-February and sole possession of second place with a sturdy 7-3 mark, and solidified an BEAU NCAA tournaWILCOX ment C.V. that is destined to improve. Getting cold-cocked by official John Hampton & Co. at Gainesville may yet be the red-hot poker to the posterior that the team needed. Even with more sketchy perimeter shooting, Arkansas was so thoroughly superior to the Gamecocks and Bulldogs that it was of no consequence. If the mid-season lulls of Michael Qualls and Anthlon Bell can taper off quickly (Bell canned four threes against MSU, so he’s perhaps on the right path), then the team’s Portiscentric (trademark that!) offense gets less so, and the on-ball defense is only enhanced. This is a road week, but not a particularly nasty one, given that Auburn is still trying to find ways to close out games and that Ole Miss is doubtless being viewed as a revenge game since the Rebs sullied the Hogs’ unblemished home record Jan. 15. Quick notes on football recruiting: Bret Bielema and staff brought in a Top 25 class, one that is against clearly focused on line building first and skill people next. The Miller High Life-halfempty folks will yuk it up about how the ranking still lags behind much of the SEC generally, and lament the fact that K.J. Hill got loose in the final weeks. Then again, if you’re a Busch Light-halffull sort of fella, doesn’t it feel gratifying to hear Bielema talking earnestly about having three-star guys who can be coached and depended upon to improve and learn? The methodology in place within the Broyles Athletic Complex is unimpeachable: The coaches want topflight kids, untainted by the process in general, who evidence a respect for the program, the system and themselves. I get the sense that if Bielema ever has a recruit saying he wants to play the ol’ “Three-Hat Monty” routine live on ESPN, he’s going to politely ask him to just leave the one with the Hog on it to the side. Ok, last call-out: Hog baseball opens with a three-game slate at Baum Stadium against North Dakota this weekend. It’s going to be frigid but sunny up there, so for anyone who braves the temps, shoot me back a report on how the boys look.

THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE

In defense of boredom

he Observer was listening to National Pointyhead Radio when we heard a blurb for an upcoming segment about a radical experiment: having a group of volunteers give up their smartphones for a few days, just to see what they’d do with boredom. This idea isn’t all that radical to Yours Truly. We actually like boredom. We were raised on it. Like a lot of you, The Observer is a stranger here in this bright future, so full of flying cars, thousand-mile-anhour monorails and cities that gleam like forests of opal on the horizon. The Observer is the last of what might be called the Boredom Generation, Children of the Three Stations, one of them fuzzy, one about British Bodice Dramas and cooking, and one of which seemed to play only preachers and televised golf. As hard as it may be to believe, young ones, sometime around midnight, the three channels we did get would go off. Yes. No foolin’. The National Anthem would play over some pretty shots of Arlington National Cemetery, the Washington Monument and a few of our nation’s vast stockpile of roaring, Commie-fighting jets, and then the channel would go to snow until dawn. At that point, you either stared at the sparkling fuzzle until you were sober enough to stagger to bed, or you damn well turned it off and sat in the dark. While we know we’re veering into Old Coot in His Rockin’ Chair territory, we’re not bashing the future. It’s nice here, to a point. Not all the I.D. thievery, of course. Not the newspapers going under, Old Ironside dailies finally sunk not by Tricky Dick or bigots’ boycott, but by furious volleys of ones and zeroes. Not North Korea being able to blackmail us into withholding from the great human conversation a cinematic triumph about dudes farting on one another. Not Tweet Hate. Not Nigerian scammers, or that nice young lady from “The Hunger Games” getting her nudie shots stolen and distributed to every

slavering perv, or the gubmint being able to see what The Observer has been watching on Netflix. No, none of that. But we do like some things about this future. We like, for instance, being able to learn anything we ever wanted to learn. Need to change the alternator on a 1997 Dodge Neon? There’s a video for that on YouTube. There. Isn’t that nice? What we started with before we got off on alternators and three channels, though, is boredom. Boredom, we’d argue, is an absolute good that’s in dire short supply these days. The Observer as a lad got up to a lot in our boredom, before technology decided to go and stuff all our lives with so much entertainment that living is like being at a perpetual State Fair. We drew our dreams from boredom, like a sword from a stone, and made them real. We pondered the state of our sorry self and our place in the world. We wrote and played and tinkered aimlessly, comfortable in the idea that time was so plentiful as to be tiresome and therefore could never be wasted on frivolous things. We considered the dust. Junior, on the other hand, is 15, and has never known boredom. He always has something to occupy him: books; and if not books, then movies; and if not movies, then TV; and if not TV, then video games; and if not video games then the bottomless, glistening pool of the Internet. It occurs to His Old Man, too late, that this is something like tragedy. Faced with boredom, the human mind will find ways to occupy itself. In that way, boredom is the plain dirt from which all beautiful things grow. Ugly things too, but mostly lovely things. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go sit on a park bench by the river in the sun, turn off the phone, and do nothing for a while. Join us there, if you can, Dear Traveler. If you can’t, do so at some point soon. Who knows? Being bored might be the most interesting thing you do all day.

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FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Arkansas Reporter

THE

IN S IDE R

Phillips County’s history of lynchings The New York Times recently reported on a new history of lynchings in the South, which details 3,959 victims of “racial terror lynchings” in the 12 Southern states from 1877 to 1950. It’s the work of the Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Ala., whose founder, Bryan Stevenson, hopes to raise money for memorials and force people to consider the country’s fraught racial history. It will be controversial and unwelcome in many places. Take Arkansas. It lands atop the list for counties with the most lynchings in the 12 states: Phillips County with 243. There’s a gruesome asterisk to that number. It’s inflated by 237 people killed in 1919 in the Elaine Race Riot. An entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas doesn’t include the Elaine Massacre, a number that is imprecise and also sometimes differentiated from a lynching.

Where the unvaccinated live In 2003, the Arkansas legislature decided to add to existing exemptions for religious and medical reasons another exemption to immunization: philosophical grounds. That means if you don’t want to immunize your child before sending him off to school, you don’t have to. You do have to be granted an exemption from the Arkansas Department of Health. The number of children attending Arkansas schools this year who have not received some or all shots is 6,058, according to the Department of Health. Benton County schools have the highest number of children — 863 — who have foregone one or more required immunizations. Washington County is next, with 585; Pulaski County is third, with 234; and Faulkner is fourth, with 218. Arkansas is one of only 18 states that allow exemptions to immunization requirements because of “philosophical reasons.” The others are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. The Economist magazine recently examined the politicization of vaccination, hot right now in the U.S., and how media coverage could suggest that there is actually anything to debate 12 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Walmart, Target, Walgreens sued

Only one Herbal Plus brand (purchased from GNC stores in Binghamton, Harlem, Plattsburgh and Suffolk) tested consistently for its labeled garlic. One bottle of saw palmetto tested positive for containing the plant. Tests on bottles of gingko biloba, St. John’s Wort, ginseng and echinacea revealed no DNA New York tests of herbal products from the herbs. prompts Arkansas suit. “This investigation makes one thing abundantly clear: The old adage ‘buyer BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK beware’ may be especially true for consumers of herbal supplements,” Schneiderman said. awyers in Little Rock Spokesman James Graham of and Rogers have filed Walgreen Co. told the Times that suit in the Western District federal court in Fayetteville the five products named in the AG’s against Walmart, Target and order have been removed from Walgreens stores for selling store shelves, and Target spokesherbal products that an investiman Evan Lapiska issued this stategation in New York discovered ment: “We are partnering with our contained little or none of the invendor to investigate the matters gredients advertised on the bottle. raised by the report and intend to cooperate fully with the Attorney Herbal products named in the General. While that investigation Arkansas suits are Spring Valley brands of echinacea, St. John’s proceeds, Target will comply with Wort, gingko biloba and gingseng the New York Attorney General’s (sold at Walmart); Up & Up brands request to pull these products, and of gingko biloba, St. John’s Wort will do so in all of our stores.” Walmart U.S. issued this stateand valerian root (Target); and Finest Nutrition brands of gingko ment: “Based on the testing perbiloba, St. John’s Wort, ginseng formed by our suppliers we have not found any issues with the releand echinacea (Walgreen Co.) The vant products, but in order to comsuits allege the corporations have violated deceptive trade practices, ply with the Attorney General’s STILL IN STOCK IN LR: Herbal products named in a deceptive advertising, breach of request we have stopped selling coming lawsuit. warranty and unjust enrichment. them in New York. We take this The suits were filed on behalf of Alyssa matter very seriously and will be conT. Schneiderman said six Spring Valley Clemons, suing Walgreen Co.; and Shane ducting side by side analysis because we supplements were tested from Walmart are 100 percent committed to providing Sparks, suing Target and Walmart, by stores in Buffalo, Utica and Westchesour customers safe products.” Kenneth Shemin of Rogers, Thomas P. ter, N.Y., and none “consistently revealed Thrash and Marcus Bozeman of Little Thrash said a suit against GNC is DNA from the labeled herb. One bottle of garlic had a minimal showing of garRock and several out-of-state attorneys. also being prepared. GNC declined to They are seeking class-action status on respond to the Times until it saw the lic DNA, as did one bottle of saw palthe suits, which they say involve a monmetto. All remaining bottles failed to Arkansas lawsuits filed against the other etary value of more than $5 million. suppliers. The GNC store in Park Plaza produce DNA verifying the labeled herb.” The suits were prompted by an invesMall in Midtown still has on its shelves Of the six Finest Nutrition brand herbs, tigation by the New York state attorney Herbal Plus gingko biloba, St. John’s bought from Walgreens in Brooklyn, Rochester and Watertown, “only one general’s office that found that the supWort, ginseng and echinacea. supplement tested for its labeled conThrash, Bozeman and Shemin are plements labeled as herbs contained such fillers as powdered rice, asparagus, involved in another mislabeling suit. tents: saw palmetto.” houseplants, primrose, wild carrot, pine They represent Connie Stafford, who Target’s supplements were slightly is suing Whole Foods Market Califorand soybeans. The three retailers named more reliable: Three of the six Up & Up nia Inc. for labeling some of its prodin the Arkansas cases and GNC, whose brands tested “showed nearly consistent Herbal Plus products were also found ucts as “organic” or “all-natural” when presence of the labeled contents: echito make claims not substantiated by the they contain artificial ingredients. The nacea (with one sample identifying rice), attorney general’s genetic tests, were sent suit was filed in circuit court, but fedgarlic and saw palmetto.” But the gingko cease-and-desist letters last week. eral Judge Leon Holmes ruled the case biloba, St. John’s Wort and valerian root had none of the labeled herbs’ DNA. A release from Attorney General Eric should be heard in federal court.

THE

BIG PICTURE

Trough times at the legislature Amendment 94, approved by voters in November, ended free eating and drinking on the lobby for legislators. Supposedly. But it didn’t. In an interpretation as yet untested by the toothless Ethics Commission, the legislature has interpreted the rule to open the door to unlimited freebies as long as all members of a governmental body are invited to “scheduled activities.” Below are all the opportunities (so far announced) for legislators to get wined and dined in the upcoming week. The hog trough is still open.

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INSIDER, CONT. when it comes to the importance of vaccinating children against terrible, sometimes deadly diseases: “When scientific disputes are politicised, the truth suffers. For example, in 2002 the Sunday Times ran the headline, ’The government has mounted campaigns to persuade parents the MMR jab is safe after some research linked it to autism and bowel disorders in children,’ which invites casual readers to question whether they trust the government more than the researchers. Similarly, American headlines now say ‘Vaccination debate intensifies as measles outbreak spreads,’ which can be read to mean that there is a legitimate debate about the safety of measles vaccinations.”

Another try at alcohol initiated act

FEB. 12 General Assembly 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m.: Breakfast at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of the Developmental Disabilities Provider Association. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of the Dumas Chamber of Commerce. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch at the Capitol Square Apartments, No. 13, courtesy of the Arkansas Health Care Association.

FEB. 16 General Assembly 5 p.m.-7 p.m.: Reception at Next Level Events courtesy of the Little Rock Airport Commission. 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: Prayer and Devotional Event at Capitol Room 19 courtesy of the Capitol Commission.

FEB. 17 General Assembly 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m.: Breakfast at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of Arkansas Cancer Coalition. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch at Association of Arkansas Counties Building courtesy of the Northwest Arkansas Chambers of Commerce. 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Reception at Next Level Events

courtesy of the Northwest Arkansas Chambers of Commerce. Senate 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Senate and House Insurance and Commerce Committees TBD: Phillips Management and Consulting Services.

FEB. 18 General Assembly 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m.: Breakfast at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Lunch at the Capitol Hill Building courtesy of Arkansas Alliance of Boys and Girls Club. 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.: Reception at the Clinton Presidential Center courtesy of the Arkansas Bar Association. Senate 11:30 a.m.: Lunch at the Association of Arkansas Counties Building courtesy of the Career and Technical Student Organizations. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Lunch at the Capitol Square Apartments, No. 13, courtesy of the Arkansas Health Care Association. 6 p.m.-10 p.m.: Reception at Bevis Farm, North Little Rock, courtesy of Arkansas National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge last week rejected the form of a proposed initiated act that would make it somewhat easier to mount petition drives to permit sale of alcohol in dry areas. David Couch, the Little Rock lawyer who participated in the unsuccessful ballot initiative to take the whole state wet in 2014, proposes in the initiated act to lower the number of voter signatures required to put an alcohol vote on the ballot. It’s currently 38 percent of voters in the jurisdiction’s last vote for governor. Couch’s proposal would make it 25 percent. The attorney general quibbled with the language — Couch’s proposal uses “legal voters” where the existing statute refers to “qualified electors” — but it undoubtedly will be revised. It marks a different approach. The local option law sponsored by then-Sen. Lu Hardin to make petition drives hard with a high petition requirement has deterred some, but not all, petition efforts. Drives were beaten back by liquor industry forces in neighboring counties in Faulkner and Craighead counties last year. But Saline and Columbia counties voted wet. The statewide initiated act signature count is much easier to achieve: only 62,507 in the last election. The local option election in Faulkner County required about 25,000 signatures for that one county alone. Couch’s idea would lower the number by about a third. It still seems a lot of money and effort to expend for an intermediate step toward sales by the chain retailers that have favored more alcohol sales in the state. www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

The Russian bride She liked his Kalashnikovs; he proposed. BY HEATHER STEADHAM

14 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

go to Diamond Head No. 2, a Chinese restaurant run by a Vietnamese man in a predominantly black area of Fort Smith to meet good ol’ white Southern boy Mike and his Russian wife, Katarina (their names have been changed per her request). I first met the two of them when I went to a concealed handgun carry class that Mike taught. An instructor certified by the Arkansas State Police (and former NRA instructor as well), Mike doesn’t know how many guns he owns these days. “North of 100, but I’m really not sure,” he explains of his private arsenal, which he showed Katarina on Skype before he ever visited her. “But I did have a Soviet wall!” “That didn’t scare you away?” I wonder, shoveling rice into my mouth. “I knew that he collected guns,” she says. “It was interesting. He showed me his room.” “She was proud because of the Kalashnikovs!” Mike proclaims.

“Oh yes, of course,” Katarina affirms, pulling her brown patterned silk scarf around her shoulders like a shawl. “Mikhail Kalashnikov was a national treasure in the Soviet Union. We just piss all over our firearms designers, and try to ban the products. See, in the Soviet Union, they taught them how to shoot,” Mike says. “Who is ‘they’?” I ask, bewildered. “Who taught you how to shoot?” “Teacher,” she replies airily. “You have special subject in school. They teach us how. I was 15.” “Such a late bloomer,” Mike coos. “I was 6.” He expounds upon the Russians’ school use of Kalashnikovs, and the students’ instruction in disassembling and cleaning the weapons, with great joy and pride. By wearing his camo-print buttondown shirt tucked in, Mike’s gun, in its holster attached to his belt, is in plain sight. With her auburn hair secured into a ponytail with a velour scrunchie, Katarina’s diamond and sapphire hoop

earrings and heart-shaped diamond necklace glint in the ambient lighting of the restaurant. They seem like just about any newlywed couple: They hold hands, exchange pecks. Katarina giggles when he shows me pictures on his phone of her digging for “gems” in Mount Ida (“It was wonderful!” she exclaims). “I like him. I love him. It is chemistry,” she proclaims, and I believe her. Only a much more cynical person than I would not believe her, although, admittedly, I repeatedly refer to her in my conversations with my husband as “the Russian bride.” And, in a way, she is exactly that: the modern incarnation of mail order. Katarina was born in Volzhsk in the Mari El Republic of Russia. Located a little less than 500 miles from Moscow, Volzhsk is a town of about 55,000 people that, according to Trip Advisor, has six attractions — four of which are churches. Before coming to America, Katarina lived in Volzhsk her whole

life, where her parents, who finished technical college (equal to approximately the first year of the American university system), were employed as “engineers” in a local factory. Her father died of a heart attack when Katarina was 5, and in the 40 years since, her mother never remarried. “She loves my father,” Katarina explained simply. It was this same idea of love that drove Katarina to look for a match on the Internet. “I look for suitors — relationship. And, you know, it is difficult for somebody through Internet. Dialogue different. When people correspond with you, you understood who is who, and you understood what people look for. Men sent you interest through email. I start conversation with them, but then I understood ...” They weren’t what she was looking for. Those first five or so men she talked to, from Europe and Australia, just didn’t make the cut. She talked to a couple of her friends who had met Americans (one is currently living in CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Florida, the other in Maine) and they encouraged her to look for an American through a website called Elena’s Models (“Beautiful Russian Girls of Model Quality,” the website proclaims). “You know, Russian men different. They like drink, and they doesn’t take care their family. I made decision. I look for American guy.” Luckily for her, Mike, having already begun his search for love online, was striking out with European women. “I had been on vacation to the Czech Republic to see if I could put up with my Czech girlfriend at her house. And I could not. She wanted me to get a haircut like a shark’s fin, and squat to pee, and be just a Euro-fag metrosexual. So, right before I left, she said, ‘Perhaps you should find Russian woman who appreciates the way you live.’ I had been on Elena’s Models off and on for years, but I figured anytime there’s a 23-year-old smokin’ hot Russian woman sending me an email, it’s a hairy-knuckled man in his basement trying to scam money. That said, Elena’s works real hard to keep the scammers out. So I got an email through the website from Katarina. Well, I went 16 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

“We could talk on the cell phone, when I’d get up on top of a mountain. And then she’s like, ‘Whoa! You have special clothes to kill exotic animals in!’ ” and looked at it, and she was, you know, 43 years old, no children, and she said, ‘Would you like to talk? Would you like to Skype?’ ” Hearing their story through his point of view, Katarina nods and mmhmmms as Mike continues. “Well, you can’t lie on Skype. So I thought, well, you know, for 15 bucks, I’ll see. So we started to Skype. The first time that we were on there I showed

her my hair,” that it was not like a shark’s fin, “showed her my house with the iPad, and the arms room. I didn’t wanna waste anybody’s time. You know, an American woman that goes in there and sees that is either gonna see dollar signs or just, you know, fly off because she’s a nutjob liberal. And, all that was fine.” They went on to Skype for almost a year. But it wasn’t until Mike went on

safari in South Africa and he couldn’t talk to her every day that he realized he wanted something more. “We could talk on the cell phone, when I’d get up on top of a mountain. And then she’s like, ‘Whoa! You have special clothes to kill exotic animals in!’ So I decided, well, I needed to go and make sure she was for real and didn’t have an Adam’s apple. So I took another week off and went to Russia. No Adam’s apple.” “Oh my God,” Katarina groans. Meeting Katarina in person was the first of many steps in the process of making the relationship real — and legal. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the fiancee visa (a K-1 nonimmigrant visa) allows a fiancee to enter the country for 90 days so that a marriage ceremony may take place. The couple must have met in person within two years of filing the petition. Mike went to Russia around the last week of June 2013 and got his passport stamped for proof. Two weeks after he returned to the States, he filed for the visa. “That’s another, like $900, and reams of paperwork. I thought about just flying her in to Nueva Laredo — walking her across the border.”

One requirement they were not aware of (and is not listed on the Immigration Services website): a physical for Katarina. “She had to travel from Volzhsk to Moscow, which was what — a nine-hour one-way train trip? To go get her physical and go to the embassy to get interviewed. And then the assholes made her take another one when she got here! Another $400.” I begin to tally up costs in my head — from Mike taking additional time off work, to his plane ticket to Russia, Katarina’s two physicals and fiancee visa and train trips and plane tickets, not to mention the fees he paid for membership to Elena’s Models. “You must really like her,” I declare. “Yeah,” he confirms. “I am diamond,” Katarina supplies. Once married, according to the Immigration Services website, the foreign spouse may apply for permanent residence and remain in the United States while the green card application is being processed — yet another step Mike was ignorant of. “Silly us, you know, we figured that once you actually got married, that the clock stopped on the 90 days. So in January (2014) we

got the marriage license. And then we went over to the thing, ’cause it was like, well, how would they know? You’ve obviously gotta tell somebody. And then some bitch over at the immigration place said, ‘Oh! Well, that doesn’t mean anything! She’s just — she’s only got 90 days or she won’t have a status. She can’t stay here indefinitely with no status.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s not the plan, you know, but that’s not how we understood it.’ And then she said, ‘Well, it’s only a $1,010’ or something like that and I said, ‘Well, you know, in your boss’ economy, that’s a lot of money.’ So then we had to come up with the money to change her status, from K-1 to resident alien. The Fort Smith immigration office is so poor in customer service they’re under investigation. The way they act — they wear their nametags turned around so you can’t report ’em.” When it comes to diamonds, I guess you get what you pay for. Katarina seems to be quite the sparkling diamond to me. An only child, she graduated from medical college to become a nurse. For 15 years she worked in the medical field, serving as an ER

nurse, where she had to treat gunshot wounds. As revered as the medical profession is in America, however, it held no prestige in Russia, and the poor pay matched the lack of respect. Katarina went on to nearby Kazan University to study Russian language and literature, eventually becoming a Russian college teacher. Throughout it all, she lived with her mother. A 68-year-old retiree, her mother lives alone now that Katarina has moved to the States. “She is my best friend,” Katarina laments. “I miss my mom. Not country, but my mom.” She tries to soften the blow by talking to her mother every single day. She visited her mother for a month in August, right after she received her green card. It is unlikely, however, that Katarina’s mom will return the favor: “It’s a long way. Long flight.” Which means that Katarina’s mom will most likely spend the rest of her days living alone in the small flat they shared, which Katarina loved. “My flat not big. Is small. It is two bedroom. And living room and bathroom. One bathroom. Kitchen, hall, balcony and toilet. And also, we have garden. I love gardening. In Russia I

have sweet apples tree and arugula, and some vegetables like you can raise, like tomato. I like strawberry. We have pink strawberry — nice — and cherries, gooseberries, oh my God!” She pulls out her digital camera to show me pictures. Besides her mother, the only thing Katarina misses from her old country is food. “What do you miss most, foodwise?” I ask her. Mike jumps in: “All of it. It was an adventure at first. When she first got here, I was in Dallas for the Dallas Safari Club convention, so I flew her in to Dallas so I could just drive her the rest of the way home and cut one airport off that she’d have to deal with. So, the first night, I knew that she liked soup, so we went to Pappadeaux’s and I got her gumbo. She didn’t like it. Too spicy. So, next night, I had a banquet at a barbecue place, so I ordered her smoked chicken, because I knew she liked chicken. ‘It’s not done! Look! It’s raw! It’s pink! It’s raw!’ So I knew that by the next day, she’d eat something ’cause she hadn’t ate in two days. We went to — what was it? — Salvatore’s Pizza in Dallas, which is like a neighborhood pizza joint.” Mike imitates Katarina in falsetto: “‘Oh, pizza. I don’t like pizza. I don’t want CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

pizza.’ So we ordered a special chicken Parmesan dinner for her and everyone else ate pizza. See, I’ve ate pizza in South Africa, I’ve had pizza in Czech Republic, I’ve had pizza in Russia, and it all sucks.” Katarina retorts, “I love Larry’s Pizza here.” “And she’ll eat Pizza Parlor pizza.” “Larry’s Pizza’s the best,” she corrects. “And she now likes barbecue!” Mike proclaims. “I told him that someday I will be a real American woman.” Now that’s a prediction I bet Mike

hopes will never come true. He told me he gave up on finding an American mate as “the local gene pool is not very deep or far across. Every woman’s got three kids by five daddies, and she’s still pissed at the last one. And it’s just, you know, I just gave up on it.” It’s pretty obvious he prefers the Russian cultural mores: “Women are feminine. Everybody doesn’t have a tattoo. Everybody wears real clothes to go out. You don’t see people in flip-flops and pajamas. It is much more conservative.” But it’s not just that Mike finds the culture more attractive; a first marriage

at the tender age of 21 left a bad taste in his mouth. “He was young and stupid,” Katarina explains. “Yes, dear, I was,” he concurs. “Oh, this age,” Katarina recalls, “I study. I never think about marriage so young. When I was this age, I thought I will marry maybe 30, 35, maybe 40. Not early, like he.” “Yeah, it wasn’t one of my sharpest moves.” “He was fool love.” The two of them seem pretty foolishly in love to me, as Mike proudly

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shows me a video of Katarina shooting an automatic rifle. So what’s next for these fools? “Do you want kids?” I ask. “Boiled,” Mike retorts. “No, I’ve been there and done that and I don’t want any more. I have one. My daughter lives in Fayetteville with the other fruits and nuts. And my granddaughter lives down here with her father. My daughter is of the opinion that her childhood was as bad as the Vietnam War because she now suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome from it.” “Fruits? Nuts?” Katarina asks. This is not the first time I’m afraid she doesn’t really know what’s going on around her in this English-language world. While she took German in college and English in university, she is still learning our language. She asks why I’m interviewing her, and she nods and smiles vacantly when I try to explain that I’m a story collector — that I like to hear interesting tales and to write them up for others to read. When I asked her if she taught Chekhov in her Russian literature courses, she replied, “No,” and I thought surely this must be due to a misunderstanding of my pronunciation rather than a neglect of the man who was best beloved by the Russian literati, second only to Tolstoy. It is Mike’s Southern twang that Katarina seems to hear best. Overall, Katarina is happy here. “I like people. I like culture. I like States. I feel comfortable here.” And she has her man, who seems hopelessly devoted to her, in his way. “I believe that there’s a 90 percent success rate with international marriages. And I think that part of that has to do with just the sheer bullshit you have to go through together in order to get everything done. Both people have too much invested to ... make it fail.” Mike had to pay for the agency’s introduction services, but Katarina did not. “I was to look for somebody who will be with me in my life,” Katarina explains. “You wanted forever?” I ask. “Yes, of course.” She giggles as she looks through more pictures of Russia, of her mother, of digging for gemstones. “He promise me that he always will remember that I’m diamond for him.” Mike is excellent as the hen-pecked hangdog: “Yes, dear.” “If one day he forget about it, he lose me!” she proclaims in the lightest tone imaginable. “Yes, sir!” Mike replies with the deference of a Russian soldier. He better get it right this time. It could be that not all diamonds are forever.

VOTE!

FINAL ROUND

READERS CHOICE AWARDS 2015

LITTLE ROCK & NORTH LITTLE ROCK Overall Last year’s winner: The Pantry 2015 finalists: Brave New Restaurant, Big Orange, The Root Cafe, South on Main New Last year’s winner: Not applicable 2015 finalists: Baja Grill, Kemuri, Pantry Crest, Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co. Chef Last year’s winner: Matthew Bell (South on Main) 2015 finalists: Peter Brave (Brave New Restaurant), Donnie Ferneau (Good Food By Ferneau), Alexis Jones (Natchez Restaurant), Scott McGehee (Big Orange, Local Lime, Lost Forty, ZAZA Fine Salad & Wood Oven Pizza Co.) Server Last year’s winner: Joann Sims (Cache Restaurant) 2015 finalists: Brad Knighten (Big Orange), Kelly Lambert (The Pantry), Scott Robertson (Brave New Restaurant), Sheri Smith (South on Main) Bakery Last year’s winner: Community Bakery 2015 finalists: Boulevard Bread Co., Rosalia’s Family Bakery, Silvek’s European Bakery, Sweet Love

Gluten free Last year’s winner: Dempsey Bakery 2015 finalists: Baja Grill, Big Orange, Izzy’s, Local Lime Home cookin’ Last year’s winner: Homer’s Restaurant 2015 finalists: Bobby’s Country Cookin’, David Family Kitchen, Kitchen Express, Sweet Soul Ice cream/cool treats Last year’s winner: None, new category 2015 finalists: Loblolly Creamery, LePops Gourmet Ice Lollies, Red Mango, Yogurt Mountain Indian Last year’s winner: Star of India Restaurant 2015 finalists: 4square Cafe and Gifts, Banana Leaf, Taj Mahal

Breakfast Last year’s winner: The Root Cafe 2015 finalists: Delicious Temptations, Mugs Cafe, Mylo Coffee Co., Red Door Restaurant

Japanese Last year’s winner: Sushi Cafe 2015 finalists: Hanaroo Sushi Bar, Igibon Japanese Food House, Kemuri, Mt. Fuji Japanese Restaurant

Burger Last year’s winner: Big Orange 2015 finalists: Buffalo Grill, David’s Burgers, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, The Root Cafe

Winners will be announced in the April 2 issue of the Arkansas Times. An awards party for all winners and runners-up will be held after the issue at the Pulaski Technical Culinary and Hospitality Institute on April 7.

Fun Last year’s winner: Big Orange 2015 finalists: The Fold, Local Lime, South on Main, Stickyz Rock ’N’ Roll Chicken Shack

Italian Last year’s winner: Bruno’s Little Italy 2015 finalists: Ciao, Graffiti’s, Ristorante Capeo, Vesuvio Bistro

Buffet Last year’s winner: Franke’s Cafeteria 2015 finalists: Larry’s Pizza, Star of India Restaurant, Taj Mahal Indian Cuisine, Tokyo House

Vote online at arktimes.com/readerschoice2015

Fried chicken Last year’s winner: Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken 2015 finalists: Popeyes, Slim Chickens, South on Main, Stickyz Rock ’N’ Roll Chicken Shack

Barbecue Last year’s winner: Whole Hog Cafe 2015 finalists: Chip’s Barbecue, Corky’s BBQ, HB’s Bar-B-Q, Sims Bar-B-Que

Brunch Last year’s winner: Trio’s Restaurant 2015 finalists: Loca Luna, Red Door Restaurant, The Root Cafe, YaYa’s Euro Bistro

We’re nearing the final round of our annual readers restaurant survey. We’ve tallied the nominations from the first round, determined the top four vote getters and added the WINNER from last year – for a total of five finalists. The final round of voting runs from February 16 through March 6. That’s three weeks to vote for your favorite restaurants in Arkansas.

Food truck Last year’s winner: Southern Gourmasian 2015 finalists: Katmandu MoMo, The Pie Hole, Southern Salt Food Co., Waffle Wagon

Business lunch Last year’s winner: Capital Bar & Grill 2015 finalists: Brave New Restaurant, Cache Restaurant, Copper Grill, One Eleven at the Capital Butcher Last year’s winner: None, new category 2015 finalists: Butcher & Public, Edward’s Food Giant, Hillcrest Artisan Meats, Hogg’s Meat Market Catfish Last year’s winner: Flying Fish 2015 finalists: Burge’s, Cock of the Walk, Faded Rose, Lassis Inn Chinese Last year’s winner: Fantastic China 2015 finalists: Chi’s Chinese Cuisine, Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking, Fu Lin Chinese Restaurant, Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co.

Mexican Last year’s winner: Local Lime 2015 finalists: Baja Grill, Cantina Laredo, Casa Manana, La Hacienda Other ethnic Last year’s winner: Layla’s Gyros and Pizzeria 2015 finalists: Cafe Bossa Nova, kBird, The Pantry, Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe Pizza Last year’s winner: Damgoode Pies 2015 finalists: Pizza Cafe, U.S. Pizza, Vino’s, ZAZA’S Fine Salad & Wood Oven Pizza Co. Place for kids Last year’s winner: Playtime Pizza 2015 finalists: All Aboard Restaurant and Grill, Big Orange, Larry’s Pizza, Purple Cow Restaurant Romantic Last year’s winner: Not applicable 2015 finalists: Brave New Restaurant, Cache Restaurant, One Eleven at the Capital, South on Main Sandwich Last year’s winner: None, new category 2015 finalists: Boulevard Bread, Hillcrest Artisan Meats, The Root Cafe, Whole Hog Cafe Seafood Last year’s winner: Brave New Restaurant 2015 finalists: Bonefish Grill, Flying Fish, Oceans at Arthur’s, The Oyster Bar

Coffee Last year’s winner: Boulevard Bread Co. 2015 finalists: Community Bakery, Mugs Cafe, Mylo Coffee Co., River City Coffee

Steak Last year’s winner: Sonny Williams’ Steak Room 2015 finalists: Arthur’s Prime Steakhouse, The Butcher Shop, Doe’s Eat Place, Faded Rose

Deli/gourmet to go Last year’s winner: Hillcrest Artisan Meats 2015 finalists: Boulevard Bread Co., Bray Gourmet, Good Food by Ferneau, Jason’s Deli

Vegetarian/vegan Last year’s winner: The Root Cafe 2015 finalists: Cafe Bossa Nova, Izzy’s, Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co., The Veg

Desserts Last year’s winner: Trio’s Restaurant 2015 finalists: Community Bakery, LePops Gourmet Ice Lollies, The Pie Hole, South on Main

Wine list Last year’s winner: Not applicable 2015 finalists: Cache Restaurant, By the Glass, One Eleven at the Capital, SO Restaurant-Bar www.arktimes.com

31 NOVEMBER 9, 2011 ARKANSAS TIMES

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Arts Entertainment

BRIAN CHILSON

AND

HAUNTINGLY GOOD: Ghost Bones’ winning set in Round 2 was remarkably tight and dynamic.

Ghost Bones scares away competition

The Showcase continues Thursday, Feb. 12. BY JAMES SZENHER

ot Springs’ Ghost Bones took the second round of the 2015 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase last Thursday, edging out Pizza D regulars Big Still River. The Bones’ resurrected late-’70s sound captivated the judges and impressed the crowd enough to get them to obey the command hanging above the stage and “DANCE!” Big Still River opened the night with a rock-solid set of eclectic variations on traditional bluegrass themes. The vibe was fun, relaxed and casual, like an afternoon fish fry, and the band made everyone feel like we were part of a family reunion. Judge Derek Brooks noted, “They made their set feel more intimate, and made Stickyz feel smaller.” “Brings me back to a time when music was honest, unfiltered and true,” Judge Joe Holland said. The ’River handily won the vote of the crowd: They had a large group of 20 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

supporters in front cheering for them. The standout for me was “Don’t Shut Me Out” with its strong vocal delivery and raw emotion. A few judges noted that some of the group’s songs weren’t originals, but they were impressed nevertheless with the chops of the bass player, who could bow as well as pluck. “Double points for the man-bass,” as guest judge Maxwell George wrote. Next up was The Federalis, who came into Stickyz presumably after having hunted down Pancho and Lefty to provide 30 minutes of what judge Shayne Gray called “swamp/outlaw alternative rock; Kings of Leon meets the Arkansas Fouke monster.” The lead singer had an air of swaggering self-awareness, noting that “all our songs are about whiskey or women.” My favorite part of the set was at the end when the drummer and lead guitarist switched instruments, and the drummer launched into an eruptive behind-the-back guitar solo. Judges all

agreed that they wanted to see more guitar chops from the drummer. Ghost Bones’ victorious set came third, winning over a dwindling crowd with a remarkably tight and dynamic set with no filler. The band brought energized interpretations of late ’70s post-punk/art school rock with maximum style. From the button-down shirts, steady but tireless disco-like pulses of the rhythm section and entertainingly unhinged facial expressions of the guitarist, which matched his erratic and innovative playing, to the icy seductiveness of the lead singer, with her detached but intense performance, this band had the full package. Judge Mitchell Crisp encapsulated the sound better than I ever could: “The rush of youth and boredom and kicking and making out against a chain link fence and being on the verge of trouble but too ecstatic to care.” Closing out the night was Little Rock’s Black Horse, who despite playing last was filled with explosive gusto. “Loud, tight, fast … alright!” George said. Black Horse played short, tight punk songs with distinct melodies and pedalto-the-medal pace driven by drummer Daniel Olah, who you might recognize from any number of other bands around town. “Finally someone is beating the shit out of the drums!” Holland noted. “He’s attacking the drum set without mercy!” Brooks said. At one point Olah lost a drumstick and began furiously playing with his bare hand. I thought the three-piece garage rockers were compelling and I dug many of the songs but felt that they maybe would have

benefited from a less hasty sound check (one of the drawbacks of playing last, for sure). Here’s the lineup for Round 3, which will be at Stickyz starting at 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12:

Young Gods of America

A talented (and prolific) young collective of hip-hop artists whose online tracks (ygoa.tumblr.com) have impressed the Times’ Will Stephenson, who noted that the group represents “the long overdue emergence of Little Rock hip-hop’s next generation.”

Brothel Sprouts

A Fayetteville-based group that describes its sound as “psychedelic country pop” and “cosmic comfort rock.” The group sounds unrelentingly fun, and maybe a little insane, which I’d like to see more of in the showcase. I’m not sure what “post-nap sarcasm” means, but I can’t wait to find out.

Landrest

Another gem from Hot Springs’ indie rock scene, these newcomers are mostly a mystery to me. Their 2014 album is full of varied styles, with nice portions of alt-country-tinged rockers, ethereal ballads and driving anthems.

Becoming Elephants

Hailing from Conway and grounded by propulsive drumming and jazzy Jaco-like bass stylings, this instrumental prog-rock group is sure to impress with excellent musicianship and interesting dynamics.

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

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A&E NEWS THIS MONTH IN THE ARKANSAS Times Film Series (co-sponsored by the Little Rock Film Festival), we’re showing Charles Burnett’s legendary 1978 independent film “Killer of Sheep.” Filmed in L.A.’s Watts neighborhood in the early `70s, it’s a gorgeous and powerful and deeply mysterious document of its time and place, set to music by Dinah Washington and Louis Armstrong and Earth, Wind & Fire. The New York Times has called it “an American masterpiece, independent to the bone” and the Washington Post described it as “unlike any American film of its time or any other ... See ‘Killer of Sheep.’ Then see it again, and again. It’s one of those truly rare movies that just get better.” And as Chicago Reader’s Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, “Charles Burnett is the most gifted and important black filmmaker this country has ever had.” The screening will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21. Tickets are $5. JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY, Relapse Records has provided the important public service of reissuing the debut album/demo, “Xenoglossalgia (The Last Stage of Awareness),” by seminal North Little Rock doom metal band Rwake, originally released in 1998. A collage of demonic energy, pitch-black emotional turmoil, spacey samples and genre-evading twists and turns (Popol Vuh synths, folk-rock interludes), the record is heavy and unpredictable and great. Purchase it now on iTunes or on vinyl, limited edition silver vinyl or CD via Relapse’s site (relapse.com/ rwake). COMING UP IN MARCH: FLEETWOOD Mac plays at Verizon Arena (3/11); at White Water Tavern, Cedell Davis plays a record release show (3/6), soul singer Leon Bridges returns (3/9) and German punk duo DYSE shares a bill with the Venezuelanborn guitarist Felix Martin (3/20); at Revolution, the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finals (3/6) and Wade Bowen (3/13); at Juanita’s, Modern Lovers front man Jonathan Richman (3/1), Whitechapel (3/12) and Circa Survive (3/23); at Stickyz, Lincoln Durham (3/4), Barrett Baber (3/7) and Sons of Bill (3/24); at South on Main, The Amy Garland Band (3/4) and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (3/19).

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Books from tHE ArkAnsAs timEs

tHE UniQUE nEiGHBorHooDs of CEntrAL ArkAnsAs

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ALmAnAC of ArkAnsAs History

Full of interesting voices and colorful portraits of 17 Little Rock and North Little Rock neighborhoods, this book gives an intimate, block-by-block, native’s view of the place more than 250,000 Arkansans call home. Created from interviews with residents and largely written by writers who actually live in the neighborhoods they’re writing about, the book features over 90 full color photos by Little Rock photographer Brian Chilson.

This unique book offers an offbeat view of the Natural State’s history that you haven’t seen before – with hundreds of colorful characters, pretty places, and distinctive novelties unique to Arkansas. Be informed, be entertained, amaze your friends with your new store of knowledge about the 25th state, the Wonder State, the Bear State, the Land of Opportunity.

Payment: check or credit card Order by Mail: arkansas times Books P.o. Box 34010, LittLe rock, ar 72203 Phone: 501-375-2985 Fax: 501-375-3623 Email: anitra@arktimes.com Send ______________ book(s) of The Unique Neighborhoods of Central Arkansas @ $19.95 Send ______________ book(s) of A History Of Arkansas @ $10.95 Send ______________ book(s) of Almanac Of Arkansas History @ $18.95 Shipping and handling $3 per book Name _____________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip _______________________________________________________ Phone ____________________________________________________________ Visa, MC, AMEX, Disc # ___________________________________ Exp. Date _______

www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

THE TO-DO

LIST

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK & WILL STEPHENSON

THURSDAY 2/12

VICTORIAN MAGIC LANTERN SHOW The long, essentially untraceable prehistory of film has been variously expanded over the years to include drama, dance, stage magic and (why not?) an earthen bowl dating back to 3200 B.C. (the dancing goats painted on the rim constitute, according to scholars, a kind of early animation). The clearest, most direct ancestral line, though, is in the rich tradition of optical toys and mechanical illusions beginning before the time of Christ with the development of the camera obscura. The king of these devices was the magic lantern, to be demonstrated at the Old State House, a kind of proto slide projector that often looked something like a steam locomotive or an ornate cabinet or a small cannon. They were developed in the 17th century and later modified and tricked out as the Thaumatrope, the Zoetrope, the Praxinoscope, the Phenakistiscope, the Kinematoscope and a whole succession of other scopes until the invention of celluloid and the motion picture camera. Magic lanterns were once associated, for reasons that might be obvious, with magic and more specifically the devil. Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens called his version the “lantern of fright,” and another innovator, Thomas Walgensten, named his the “lantern of fear.” They were used to raise the dead in parlor seances, to conjure real-time ghostly apparitions given body by literal smoke and mirrors. In the 18th and 19th centuries, theatrical productions called phantasmagorias relied entirely on magic lanterns to present nightmarish and visually ambitious collective hauntings. As the innovator Étienne-Gaspard Robert put it, “I am only satisfied if my spectators, shivering and shuddering, raise their hands or cover their eyes out of fear of ghosts and devils dashing towards them.” (Robert’s fans included Charles Dickens.) His colleague Johann Georg Schröpfer became so convinced by his own show that he shot himself after promising an audience he’d be resurrected. He never was, but wouldn’t that have been something? WS 22 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

SARA BLANCETT

7 p.m. Old State House Museum. Free.

BEFORE YOU RUN: North Little Rock’s Whale Fire plays at this month’s 2nd Friday Art Night at the Historic Arkansas Museum, 5 p.m. Friday, free.

FRIDAY 2/13

2ND FRIDAY ART NIGHT

5 p.m.-8 p.m. Downtown galleries. Free.

The Historic Arkansas Museum (200 E. Third St.) will mark the monthly after-hours gallery walk by opening two new exhibitions and serving up beer and music as well: Art fans will be able to see “Public Face,” paintings by John Harlan Norris, and “She,” ink and watercolor by Lisa Krannichfeld, while listening to Whale Fire and sipping on chocolate stout by Stone’s Throw Brewery. The Butler Center (401 President Clinton Ave.) is open-

ing an exhibit of photographs from its permanent collection and continues shows of painting and sculpture by Robyn Horn and photographs of Arkansas’s vernacular architecture by Geoff Winningham. There, the Rolling Blackouts will perform. Maura Miller will be the featured retail shop artist. The Arkansas Society of Printmakers exhibition is at the Cox Creative Center just around the corner (120 River Market Ave.), and “Life by Design,” paintings by Elizabeth Weber, Dan Thornhill and Ashley Saer, continues at the Capital Corp. Group a block

south (200 River Market). Gallery 221 (Second and Center) is celebrating Valentine’s Day eve with its show, “Love and Romance of Art,” featuring work by Tyler Arnold, Kathi Couch, Jennifer “Emile” Freeman, Brenda Fowler, Greg Lahti, Sean LeCrone, Elizabeth Nevins, Mary Ann Stafford, Gino Hollander, Siri Hollander, Fire Flies Metal Art and Rae Ann Bayless jewelry. The Old State House Museum (300 W. Markham) will offer chamber music by Geoff Robson and Felice Farrell from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; the museum will be open until 8 p.m. LNP

preoccupied with the lowest common denominator. This is unimaginative and sour and probably classist. More to the point, why is nobody awaiting the “redemption” (Rolling Stone’s word) of Maxwell? “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite,” Maxwell’s 1996 debut, is every bit as seminal and era-defining as “Brown Sugar,” and while he’s often been well reviewed and admired (I think I remember Hilton Als once comparing him to Joni Mitchell and E.E. Cum-

mings in the same breath), he’s so far largely been denied the iconic-visionary-auteur status accorded to his more famous and less prolific colleague. This weekend, Afrodesia Studio of Performing Arts (at 9700 Rodney Parham Road) does its part to correct this imbalance, staging a tribute concert dedicated to the classic album and featuring Tim Anthony, Alvin Ayers, Tiko Brooks, Mr. Eye Candy, Ryan Davis and more. WS

FRIDAY 2/13

‘MAXWELL’S URBAN HANG SUITE’ TRIBUTE

9 p.m. Afrodesia Studio of Performing Arts. $10.

The recent deification of D’Angelo by the media-industrial complex is exciting and well deserved, but there’s also a hint of genre tokenism to the whole thing, an ahistorical implication that D’Angelo was a sui generis talent too good for a genre (’90s R&B) that was otherwise

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 2/12 The Capital Hotel hosts Fashion Hour at 5 p.m. to celebrate the first day of New York Fashion Week. The Ron Robinson Theater screens “The Godfather” at 7 p.m. UCA presents comedian Emma Willmann at the Student Center Ballroom in Conway, 7 p.m. Sarah Stricklin and John Willis perform at 109 & Co. at 7 p.m. Comedian Todd Yohn is at the Loony Bin 7:30 p.m., $7 (also 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, $10). Round 3 of the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase is at Stickyz featuring The Brothel Sprouts, Landrest, Becoming Elephants and Young Gods of America, 9 p.m., $5. Mat Mahar plays at White Water Tavern with Fret and Worry, 9:30 p.m.

FRIDAY 2/13SUNDAY 3/1

‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’

7:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. Sundays). The Weekend Theater. $20.

The Weekend Theater is not known for treacle, but sometimes you’ve got to leaven your season — one that includes dramas about mothers with bipolar disorder and AIDS — with a musical everyone can sing to. So the theater follows up the existentialist torment that is Sartre’s “No Exit” with “The Sound of Music.” It’s an ambitious production, this multiple-award-winning, movie-history-making Rogers and Hammerstein classic, since the actress in the role of Maria von Trapp will be up against the seraphic voice of Julie Andrews embedded in the minds, and they will be many, of “Sound of Music” fans in the audience. But lots of children, a love story involving a postulate and a stern widower, and the sinister sweetness of “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” can make for a good night at the theater. The theater adds two Thursday performances to its regular Friday-Sunday lineup for this production: Dates are Feb. 13-15, 19-22 and 26-March 1. Elizabeth Reha directs the cast of 30; Samantha Fish plays Maria and Jimmy Walker plays Capt. Georg von Trapp. LNP

FRIDAY 2/13 Local comedy troupe The Main Thing performs an original production, “Frost Bite Me!” 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, $22. Arkansas Sounds presents Mountain View songwriter Charley Sandage and Harmony at the Ron Robinson Theater, 7:30 p.m., free. Four-piece a capella group Anonymous 4 performs selections from their new release, “1865,” at Christ Church, 7:30 p.m., $25. Iron Born, Death Trap, In Rage, Ritual, Terminal Nation and Mail Bomber play at Vino’s at 8 p.m. Mountain Sprout plays at Kings Live Music in Conway with the Whole Famn Damily, 8:30 p.m., $5. Red Dirt country group Turnpike Troubadours plays at Revolution with Paul Cauthen, 9 p.m., $15 adv., $20 day of. Benjamin Del Shreve is at Stickyz at 9:30 p.m., $7, and Mulehead plays at White Water Tavern at 10 p.m. A HUNDRED LIES: Malcolm Holcombe returns to White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. Wednesday.

SATURDAY 2/14 WEDNESDAY 2/18

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE

9 p.m. White Water Tavern.

The last time Malcolm Holcombe came through Little Rock I went to see him at White Water and was surprised by how funny he was. Surprised, because Holcombe’s music is decidedly unfunny. He’s a great, vivid songwriter of fugitive struggle and Southern disaffection, expert at telling shattering dive-bar stories in quick, sad scenes. His voice is so hoarse you feel like you’re getting secondhand smoke just by hearing it. He also has awful posture and long hair and is more than anything else a physical performer, sliding back and forth in his chair and twisting his guitar around and kicking up his legs. “I didn’t think Malcolm would make it out,” Justin Townes Earle once said of him, after years of grinding and service industry ano-

nymity in Nashville. “I was afraid that he was going to become another one of those famousafter-death songwriters. Malcolm’s whole thing was always unpredictable. He’d disappear for a week, then come back and do something insane.” He still says and does things that are insane, but he has “made it out.” And yeah, he’s funny. He filled the gaps in his set with these incredible absurdist parables, which reminded me of Charles Portis or Eugene Ionesco. He told stories that began normally and inevitably U-turned into profound incoherence. There were also aphorisms, which he might have been inventing on the spot. “The moral of this story,” he said before one song, “is if your dog tells you what to do and his lips aren’t moving, don’t do it.” And later: “Maybe you’ve got too big a glass if it’s half empty.” WS

The “Sweetheart Mardi Gras” Parade kicks off at noon at the intersection of Main and 24th streets, $25. The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra presents “Dancing and Romancing,” a Valentine’s Day program, at Pulaski Academy’s Connor Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. (with another performance 3 p.m. Sunday), $19-$58. Kings Live Music in Conway hosts the Hendrix Hat Trick Music Festival, featuring Esme Patterson, COIN and The Weeks. KABF presents the “My Bloody Valentine” 3D Dance Party at White Water Tavern, 9 p.m., $5. SOULution plays at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $7. TP and The Feel are at Afrodesia Studio for Performing Arts, 9 p.m., $10. Folk-Americana duo The Lowest Pair play at South on Main, 9:30 p.m., $10. Sway hosts “Fresh Fish,” a drag talent competition inspired by RuPaul’s Drag Race.

www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

AFTER DARK Ten High, Teenagers, Prahnas. The Lightbulb Club, 9 p.m. 21 N. Block Ave., Fayetteville. 479444-6100. Turnpike Troubadours, Paul Cauthen. Revolution, 9 p.m., $15 adv., $20 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/ new.

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

COMEDY

THURSDAY, FEB. 12

“Frost Bite Me!” An original comedy by The Main Thing. The Joint, through March 14: 8 p.m., $22. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Todd Yohn. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., $10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-2285555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

MUSIC

3 Kings Mardi Gras Party. Kings Live Music, 9 p.m., $5. 1020 Front St. No. 102, Conway. Ace’s Wild (headliner), Chris DeClerk (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com. Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round 3. With The Brothel Sprouts, Landrest, Becoming Elephants and Young Gods of America. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. “Inferno.” DJs play pop, electro, house and more, plus drink specials and $1 cover before 11 p.m. Sway, 9 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Irish Traditional Music Sessions. Dugan’s Pub, 7-9 p.m. 401 E. 3rd St. 501-244-0542. www. duganspublr.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Mat Mahar, Fret and Worry. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m., $5. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www. whitewatertavern.com. Open Jam. Thirst n’ Howl, 8 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com. Open jam with The Port Arthur Band. Parrot Beach Cafe, 9 p.m. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994. RockUsaurus. Senor Tequila, 7-9 p.m. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-224-5505. Sarah Stricklin, John Willis. 109 & Co., 7 p.m. 109 Main St. 501-374-3710. https://www.facebook.com/109Co. Swing Band Reunion. Another Round Pub, 6:30 p.m. 12111 W. Markham. 501-313-2612. www. anotherroundpub.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-370-7013. www.capitalbarandgrill.com.

COMEDY

Emma Willmann. University of Central Arkansas: Student Center Ballroom, 7 p.m. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Todd Yohn. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m., $7. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

Fashion Hour at the Capital. Capital Hotel, 5 p.m. 111 W. Markham St. 501-374-7474. www. capitalhotel.com. Matchbook Wine Tasting. The Joint, 7 p.m., $10. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

FILM

“The Godfather.” Ron Robinson Theater, 7 p.m. 1 Pulaski Way. 501-320-5703. www.cals.lib.ar.us/ ron-robinson-theater.aspx.

DANCE

Ballroom Dancing. Free lessons begin at 7 p.m. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 8-11 p.m., $7-$13. 12th and Cleveland streets. 501221-7568. www.blsdance.org. “Salsa Night.” Begins with a one-hour salsa lesson. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $8. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.littlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

LGBTQ/SGL weekly meeting. For LGBTQ/SGL and straight ally youth and young adults ages 14 to 23. 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St. 244-9690. Stonewall Democrats 4th Annual Valentine’s Gayla. Sway, 7 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. TRYING TO FEEL AT HOME: Americana duo The Lowest Pair plays at South on Main 9:30 p.m. Saturday, $10.

SATURDAY, FEB. 14

FRIDAY, FEB. 13

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, “Dancing and Romancing.” Connor Performing Arts Center, Pulaski Academy, 7:30 p.m., $19-$58. 12701 Hinson Road. Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. See Feb. 13. Harley Hamm. Another Round Pub, 9 p.m. 12111 W. Markham. 501-313-2612. www.anotherroundpub.com. Hendrix Hat Trick Music Festival. With Esme Patterson, COIN, The Weeks. Kings Live Music, 8 p.m., $5. 1020 Front St. No. 102, Conway. I’m An Island, The Brothel Sprouts, The Soggy Sheets. The Lightbulb Club, 9 p.m. 21 N. Block Ave., Fayetteville. 479-444-6100. K.I.S.S. Saturdays. Featuring DJ Silky Slim. Dress code enforced. Sway, 10 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501492-9802. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. The Lowest Pair. South on Main, 9:30 p.m., $10. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. southonmain.com. Lucious Spiller Band. Revolution, 9:30 p.m., $6-$10. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www. rumbarevolution.com/new. My Bloody Valentine 3D Dance Party: A KABF Benefit. White Water Tavern, 9 p.m., $5. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Pickin’ Porch. Bring your instrument. All ages welcome. Faulkner County Library, 9:30 a.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org. Ramona and The Soul Rhythms (headliner), Richie Johnson (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-3755351. www.cajunswharf.com. SOULution. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $7. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyz.com.

MUSIC

Alex Summerlin. Another Round Pub, 9 p.m. 12111 W. Markham. 501-313-2612. www.anotherroundpub.com. All In Fridays. Club Elevations. 7200 Colonel Glenn Road. 501-562-3317. Anonymous 4. Christ Episcopal Church, 7:30 p.m., $25. 509 Scott St. 501-375-2342. Benjamin Del Shreve. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $7. 107 Commerce St. 501-3727707. www.stickyz.com. Big Dam Horns (headliner), Trey Johnson (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Charley Sandage and Harmony. Ron Robinson Theater, 7:30 p.m., free. 1 Pulaski Way. 501-3205703. www.cals.lib.ar.us/ron-robinson-theater. aspx. Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. Dance night, with DJs, drink specials and bar menu, until 2 a.m. 1620 Savoy, 10 p.m. 1620 Market St. 501-221-1620. www.1620savoy.com.

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Chamber Music with Geoff Robson. Part of Second Friday Art Night. Old State House Museum, 5 p.m. 300 W. Markham. 501-324-9685. www.oldstatehouse.com. Iron Born, Death Trap, In Rage, Ritual, Terminal Nation, Mailbomber. Vino’s, 8 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Maxwell Urban Hang Suite. Featuring Tim Anthony, Mr. Eye Candy, Alvin Ayers, Tiko Brooks and Ryan Davis. Afrodesia Studio, 9 p.m., $10. 9700 Rodney Parham Rd. Mountain Sprout, The Whole Famn Damily. Kings Live Music, 8:30 p.m., $5. 1020 Front St. No. 102, Conway. Mulehead. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Route 66. Agora Conference and Special Event Center, 6:30 p.m., $5. 705 E. Siebenmorgan, Conway. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-370-7013. www.capMake money by italbarandgrill.com.

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24 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

MUSIC

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-370-7013. www.capitalbarandgrill.com. TP and The Feel. Afrodesia Studio, 9 p.m., $10. 9700 Rodney Parham Rd.

COMEDY

“Frost Bite Me!” An original comedy by The Main Thing. The Joint, through March 14: 8 p.m., $22. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-3720205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Todd Yohn. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., $10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-2285555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

DANCE

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

EVENTS

63rd Annual Home Show. Verizon Arena, 6 p.m. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-975-9001. verizonarena.com. Cupani’s Cupidon Valentine’s Day Party. Statehouse Convention Center, 5 p.m., $49.99. 7 Statehouse Plaza. Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell and Cedar Hill Roads. Fresh Fish. A local drag talent competition based on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Sway. 412 Louisiana. 501907-2582. Hillcrest Farmers Market. Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. 2200 Kavanaugh Blvd. “Sweetheart Mardi Gras” Parade. Begins at the intersection of Main and 24th streets. South Main Street, Little Rock, noon, $25. South Main Street.

SUNDAY, FEB. 15

MUSIC

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, “Dancing and Romancing.” Connor Performing Arts Center, Pulaski Academy, 3 p.m. , $19-$58. 12701 Hinson Road. Gorilla Music Presents: Battle of the Bands. Juanita’s, 5 p.m., $10. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Irish Traditional Music Session. Hibernia Irish Tavern, first and third Sunday of every month, 2:30 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Stardust Big Band. Arlington Hotel, 3 p.m. 239 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-7771.

EVENTS

63rd Annual Home Show. Verizon Arena, 6 p.m. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-975-9001. verizonarena.com.

MONDAY, FEB. 16

MUSIC

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Monday Night Jazz. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., $5. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com.

Open Mic. The Lobby Bar. Studio Theatre, 8 p.m. 320 W. 7th St. Richie Johnson. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com. UCA Jazz Ensemble and Dixieland Band. University of Central Arkansas, Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.

LECTURES

“Reinventing the Classroom, Rethinking Education.” Dean Harry Lewis, Harvard University. Sturgis Hall, 6 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5200. clintonschool.uasys. edu.

All American Food & Great Place to Watch Your Favorite Event

TUESDAY, FEB. 17

MUSIC

Fat Tuesday Party. Willy D’s Dueling Piano Bar, 7 p.m. 322 President Clinton Ave. 501-244-9550. willydspianobar.com/willyds. Four on the Floor, Mothwind, Josh The Devil and The Sinners, Crisco Kids. TC’s Birthday Bash day one. Pizza D’Action, 8 p.m. 2919 W. Markham St. 501-666-5403. Hudson Falcons, Dressed for the Occasion, James and The Ultrasounds. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m., $6. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-3758400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Jeff Ling. Khalil’s Pub, 6 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Music Jam. Hosted by Elliott Griffen and Joseph Fuller. The Joint, 8-11 p.m., free. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Rod Picott. The Lightbulb Club, 7 p.m. 21 N. Block Ave., Fayetteville. 479-444-6100. Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com.

Shop shop LOCAL ARKANSAS TIMES The Bigg Fat Tuesday Party Is Coming Back! Make plans now to join us Feb. 17 at the best Fat Tuesday spot in the Rock! Contests, Giveaways, Specials, Good Times and More!

upscale

COMEDY

downtown

Stand-Up Tuesday. Hosted by Adam Hogg. The Joint, 8 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

“Latin Night.” Juanita’s, 7:30 p.m., $7. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.littlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

Trivia Bowl. Flying Saucer, 8:30 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-8032. www.beerknurd. com/stores/littlerock.

FILM

“Queen of Outer Space.” Vino’s, 7:30 p.m., free. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18

MUSIC

Acoustic Open Mic. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196.

day–Saturday

Piano Bar Tues A Chicago style Speakeasy & Dueling Piano Bar. This is THE premier place to party in Little Rock. “Dueling Pianos” runs seven days a week. Dance & Club music upstairs on Wed, Fri & Sat. Drink specials and more! Do it BIGG!

e Bar

Martini & Win

Of Wine - 335 Selections s - 35 By The Glas rld Wo e Th s ros Ac m - Fine Spirits Fro m Every - Scotch List Fro and Region Of Scotl Bourbons - 6 Single-Barrel

Open 7 Days A Week • 8pm-2am Shows Start at 8:30pm

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

In The River Market District 501.324.2999

sonnywilliamssteakroom.com Free Valet Parking

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

MOVIE REVIEW

“…I will make it felony to drink small beer.” —2 Henry VI, Act IV, scene ii STUPIDER ‘JUPITER’: Channing Tatum in silly ears, with Mila Kunis.

Space glop ‘Jupiter’ doesn’t ascend to sci-fi epic level. BY SAM EIFLING

“T Come to Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre’s Bard Ball 2015: The Taming of the Brew and sample big-flavored beers, a catered buffet, silent and live auctions, and music by AST music director Mark Binns! You’ll also get a taste of our 2015 season as stars of previous AST productions perform songs from Fiddler on the Roof!

when & where Saturday, Feb. 28, 7 PM at The Venue, 1069 Markham St., Conway

TICKETS $40 in advance (online at arkshakes.com) $50 at the door $500 per table of 10 Tickets include admission, food, and beer tastings; “bottomless cups” are available for a suggested $20 donation at the event.

CONTACT Mary Ruth Marotte, 501.428.4165 mrmarotte@arkshakes.com

THANKS TO OUR 2015 SPONSORS

Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre is proud to make our home on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas

26 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

he Matrix” is almost 20 years old now, a figure that seems longer when its shadow sits over the subsequent films by its writer/ directors, Andy and Lana Wachowski. First there were the lackluster sequels, which arrived as a matching set of first-wave nostalgia in 2003. The Wachowskis wrote “V for Vendetta,” at least, making another dent in the culture with the resurgence of a mischievous strain of online anarchism that has adopted that film’s aesthetic (in the form of Guy Fawkes masks). There were the unremarkable adaptations “Speed Racer” and “Cloud Atlas.” And now, “Jupiter Ascending,” a return to form, a sci-fi epic with all the ambition and scale befitting a spiritual descendant of “The Matrix.” This outer-space steampunk epic is such a casserole of overindulgent special effects and half-penciled Big Ideas, you have to wonder who would’ve thrown $176 million at this script to make it. Then you imagine the Wachowskis pitching it as “The Matrix” meets “Dune,” and the thought of a studio rolling those dice isn’t as crazy as the movie itself. But make no mistake, what they came out with is a giant, regrettable mess. Here’s the premise: Mila Kunis is a Russian immigrant in Chicago whose family cleans houses for their meager existence. Channing Tatum is a — wait, come to think of it, what was Channing Tatum? He’s trying to protect Mila Kunis, because she’s actually some kind of intergalactic royalty who’s supposed to inherit Earth and who might instead be killed by the deep-space aristobrats who want to steal the planet, but what exactly is he doing? Anyway, he’s there to protect her and maybe kiss her at some point. He’s part wolf, which means he gets to wear silly ears along with a frosted goatee and gravity boots he uses to surf through the air, because he apparently used to have wings and no longer does. Maybe this all made for too much backstory, because wow, is he stiff. For the first time in at least the past three years, someone managed

to make Channing Tatum boring. The villains are the extraterrestrial, squabbling heirs to several planets, led in flagrant evilness by Eddie Redmayne, a real actor, who can actually act. Here he whispers menacingly while the too-loud score blots out what he’s saying. He puts out the hit on Mila Kunis by luring her to a medical clinic, or something, where Channing Tatum arrives to save the day, whizzing around the room in gravitydefying boots and shooting lasers at Roswellian alien assassins. Then he takes Mila Kunis to Sean Bean’s house, where the men fight and Mila Kunis realizes she can control bees. Then she gets kidnapped and dragged into space. Eventually there’s a showdown on Jupiter, which it happens is Mila Kunis’ name in the movie. Because sure, why not. Between point A and point B, there’s a lot of pointlessness, as well as unintelligible, leather-jacketed flying lizards; weird magic/science; hairdos straight out of “The Hunger Games”; explosions; the fate of mankind under threat; and who knows what all else. Visually the whole enterprise moves at a speed that shows you how meteorites must feel as they burn up in the atmosphere. Your eyes scramble around the screen in hopes of making sense, only to learn from your brain that none exists. This is a space adventure that took the wrong three “Star Wars” movies as its touchstone for storytelling. “The Matrix” in 1999 broke ground for incorporating spectacular special effects into the story it was telling. But its pacing that revealed the story was spellbinding. There’s no equivalent in “Jupiter Ascending” to the austere scenes of Laurence Fishburne calmly and cleanly explaining just what the hell is going on, no slow burn of Keanu Reeves gradually discovering (along with the audience) just what this new world holds. In their latest, the Wachowskis try to do too much, too fast. Maybe they had to, though: Sequels to this expensive jumble will be very slow in coming.

AFTER DARK, CONT. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. Brian and Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com. Drageoke with Chi Chi Valdez. Sway. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Malcolm Holcombe. White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Open Mic Nite with Deuce. Thirst n’ Howl, 7:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com. RL Grime, Djemba Djmeb, Tommy Kruise. Juanita’s, 8 p.m., $20. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Roy Hale. Another Round Pub, 6:30 p.m. 12111 W. Markham. 501-313-2612. www.anotherroundpub.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-370-7013. www.capitalbarandgrill.com.

COMEDY

The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group. The Joint, 8 p.m., $7. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Kristin Key. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m., $7. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.

DANCE

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

LECTURES

Lunch with TED. This month’s theme: “Life is a Grand Adventure.” Ron Robinson Theater, noon, free. 1 Pulaski Way. 501-320-5703. www.cals.lib. ar.us/ron-robinson-theater.aspx. “Teacher Retention and Recruitment to Influence Educational Equity.” Jonathan Crossley, former Arkansas Teacher of the Year, Sturgis Hall, 6 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5200. clintonschool.uasys.edu.

POETRY

Wednesday Night Poetry. 21-and-older show. Maxine’s, 7 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-321-0909. maxineslive.com/shows. html.

ARTS

THEATER

“Camelot.” Walton Arts Center, Feb. 17-19, 7 p.m.; Feb. 20-21, 8 p.m.; Feb. 21-22, 2 p.m., $36-$74. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. “The Sound of Music.” The Weekend Theater, through March 1: Thu.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m., $20. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www. weekendtheater.org.

NEW GALLERY EXHIBITS, EVENTS ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “Mid-Southern Watercolorists 45th Annual Juried Exhibition,” Feb. 13-April 12, Strauss Gallery; “How to Kill,” war images in watercolor by Robert Andrew Parker, Rockefeller Gallery,

AFTER DARK, CONT. through March 8. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000. ARKANSAS CAPITAL CORP. GROUP, 200 River Market Ave., Suite 400: “Life by Design,” paintings by Elizabeth Weber, Dan Thornhill and Ashley Saer, reception 5-8 p.m. Feb. 13, 2nd Friday Art Night. 374-9247. BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Captured Images,” photographs from the permanent collection; “Reflections on Line and Mass,” paintings and sculpture by Robyn Horn, through April 24; “Of the Soil: Photography by Geoff Winningham,” through Feb. 28. Reception 5-8 p.m. Feb. 13, 2nd Friday Art Night, with featured retail artist Maura Miller and music by the Rolling Blackouts. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5790. COX CREATIVE CENTER, 120 River Market Ave.: Arkansas Society of Printmakers exhibition, reception 5-8 p.m. Feb. 13, 2nd Friday Art Night. 918-3090. GALLERY 221, Pyramid Place, Second and Center streets: “Love and Romance of Art,” works by Tyler Arnold, Kathi Couch, Jennifer “Emile” Freeman, Brenda Fowler, Greg Lahti, Sean LeCrone, Elizabeth Nevins, Mary Ann Stafford, Gino Hollander, Siri Hollander, Fire Flies Metal Art and Rae Ann Bayless, through Feb. 15, reception 5-8 p.m. Feb. 13; “Politics in Art” opens Feb. 16. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. gallery221@gmail.com. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM GALLERIES, 200 E. 3rd St.: John Harlan Norris: “Public Face,” Feb. 13-May 3; Lisa Krannichfeld: “She,” Feb. 13-May 3; “Capturing Early Arkansas in Depth: The Stereoview Collection of Allan Gates,” through April 5; “The Great Arkansas Quilt Show 3,” juried exhibit of contemporary quilts, through

May 3; “Arkansas Made,” ongoing. Reception 5-8 p.m. Feb. 13, 2nd Friday Art Night, with music by Whale Fire, chocolate stout from Stone’s Throw Brewing. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351. NORTH LITTLE ROCK HISTORY COMMISSION, 506 Main St.: “African-American Legislators, 18681893,” through Feb. 27. 371-0755. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: Lecture by Taimur Cleary, in conjunction with his exhibition, “Façade (To Face),” 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17, Fine Arts Room 161. BENTONVILLE CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way: Lecture by Pat Musick and Jerry Carr on “Our Fragile Home” installation at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville, 4-5 p.m. Feb. 15; “Van Gogh to Rothko,” masterworks from the AlbrightKnox Gallery, includes work by titular artists as well as Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Paul Gaugin, Henri Rousseau, Amedeo Modigliani, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Richard Diebenkorn, John Beech, Joseph Kosuth, Roy Lichtenstein and others, Feb. 19-June 1; permanent collection of American masterworks spanning four centuries. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Thu.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed., Fri.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun., closed Tue. 479418-5700. FAYETTEVILLE WALTON ARTS CENTER, 495 W. Dickson St.: “Our Fragile Home,” installation by Pat Musick and Jerry Carr, Joy Pratt Markham gallery, through March, reception 5-7 p.m. Feb. 16. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat. 479-443-5600.

DUMAS, CONT. ally healthy gains. That’s what happens when the federal government pumps more than a billion dollars a year into a poor economy, creating new income and jobs and raising income-, salesand excise-tax payments. But Republicans ran for legislative seats last year on the warning that when Arkansas started having to pay some of the Medicaid costs (5 percent) in 2017 we would have a fiscal crisis and when it reached 10 percent in 2020 the state would in effect be bankrupt. The governor himself wondered how Arkansas would find $200 million, which he expected Arkansas’s share to be after 2020. It’s just arithmetic. This year, the state saves roughly $89 million because Washington permanently picks up Arkansas’s roughly 30 percent share of certain categories of patients, and the savings will continue to rise. Statefunded institutions like the medical center and prisons are saving $33 million this year in charity care that taxpayers are no longer paying for. That number will rise, too. Because more than 300,000 people are buy-

ing health plans under Obamacare the companies are paying premium taxes to the state. Last year, they added $20 million to the treasury. Add them up: $89 million + $33 million + $20 million = $142 million. So Obamacare and the private option in effect are adding $142 million to the treasury this year and cost it nothing. That does not count how much additional income, sales and excise taxes that $1.4 billion in federal payments are producing this year. The state Department of Finance and Administration refuses to engage in dynamic scoring, the popular Republican economic model that predicts how many times money turns over in the economy and how much in taxes and jobs it produces. If the state pays $200 million for the Medicaid expansion in 2021 it means that the federal government would send $1.8 billion to the state. You do the scoring. A consultant’s analysis in 2012 said the private option would produce cumulative net savings for the state of $630 million through 2021. The much-feared fiscal crisis would occur only if the legislature abolished the program.

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FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Dining

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

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

WHAT’S COOKIN’ AS IF YOU NEEDED ANY MORE PROOF of just how much the Arkansas beer scene is booming, along comes the latest addition to the Little Rock area: the Little Rock Brew Bus. It’s a full-service tour and transportation company fronted by Little Rock businessman Donavan Dossett, offering craft beer tours of Central Arkansas. Dossett tells the Times the bus came about in a brainstorming session as he and his partners saw a void in this area. With a background in marketing and tourism industry, Dossett has been a small-business owner for a while. He wanted to do something unique to the area, especially with the growing craft beer scene, like he’d seen while living in Denver, with its thriving beer community. He’s starting with one bus, but future plans call for multiple buses acting as continuous shuttles through Central Arkansas’s brewery scene, with pickup and drop off at Diamond Bear Brewing Co. in North Little Rock. He’ll also be putting together special tours with larger charter buses such as the Hot Springs Craft Beer Festival bus on May 30, which includes a VIP ticket, round-trip transportation from Little Rock to Hot Springs, plus giveaways and more for $100 per person. It will also feature a pickup and drop off at Diamond Bear. Tickets for that tour are on sale on the Diamond Bear website. Dossett is also gauging the interest of area beer lovers in a trip to the 6th annual “Memphis Brewfest” on April 18. Possible trips to the Northwest Arkansas area and a trip to Memphis to visit its brewers are under consideration as well. He’s hoping to get the local shuttle up and running as soon as this coming Valentine’s Day weekend.

DINING CAPSULES

AMERICAN

ACADIA A jewel of a restaurant in Hillcrest. Unbelievable fixed-price, three-course dinners on Mondays and Tuesday, but food is certainly worth full price. 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630. D Mon.-Sat. BEST IMPRESSIONS The menu combines Asian, Italian and French sensibilities in soups, salads and meaty fare. A departure from the tearoom of yore. 501 E. Ninth St. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-907-5946. L Tue.-Sun., BR 28 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

kBird

600 N. Tyler 501-352-3549 Quick Bite The dining room at kBird is smallish and the seating is communal. Only two guys work in the kitchen. At lunch, it often gets crowded and, if you get caught behind a group of orders, the food comes slowly. That’s OK with us. Just be prepared. Or call in takeout. Facebook is the best place to get a full sense of the menu. Hours 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays. THAI COMFORT FOOD: kBird’s scrumptious Pad Thai.

Thai triumph kBird is the word.

here are a lot of reasons you probably haven’t tried kBird, purveyor of Little Rock’s most delicious and authentic Thai cuisine: It spent its first two and a half years as a food truck that rarely moved beyond a hidden parking lot off an alley that runs parallel to Beechwood Street in Hillcrest. Richard Glasgow, kBird’s chef and owner, is as amiable and funny and interesting to talk to as you might expect anyone who quit practicing law to cook Thai food would be, but unlike a lot of his peers in the food truck and start-up restaurant world, he’s not a self-promotional wizard on social media. When he moved kBird to a brick-and-mortar location in November, his initial announcement that he was open came via a YouTube video of The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” (“the bird, bird, bird, bird is the word …”) posted without commentary on Facebook. The restaurant’s new home is only slightly less hidden than its old one: It’s in a space previously occupied by Palette Catering on the corner of Tyler and Woodlawn in an otherwise residential part of Hillcrest. There’s no sign on the small building, aside from a piece of paper taped to the door with Thai writing and hours in military time on it. It doesn’t get much more traditional restaurant-y inside, either. There, you’ll find a handful of mismatched tables and an L-shaped bar in front of a window and the large, open-air kitchen. A handwritten menu hangs over a cardboard box that’s sometime marked “cash register” and occa-

sionally has an abacus resting on top of it. Navigate that — which isn’t difficult, just different — and you can’t go wrong. We’ve cooked enough Thai food to know that ingredients and technique are what separate pedestrian from excellent fare. You can use brown sugar, but hand-grated palm sugar is better. You can use onion, but shallots are better. You can use ginger, but galangal is better. Glasgow makes all the “better” choices at kBird (including refusing to use a food processor; a pair of massive mortar and pestles sit on an island in the kitchen). So dishes like Pad Thai ($10, or $9 with tofu) and Thai Fried Rice ($10 with chicken, $9 with tofu) become not just comfort food you get because they’re greasy and egg-y, but the comfort food you get because they’re the best versions of those dishes you’ve ever had. Ditto for the Red Curry ($10 with catfish, $9 with tofu, $8 with veggies) and the Green Curry Pork ($10) — familiar fare that stands out among other Thai cuisine in Central Arkansas because the curry pastes are made in house, the vegetables (longbean, Thai eggplant, Thai pumpkin) are authentic and the meat is high quality and always local. After you’ve gotten your bearings, we recommend following a course that’s served us well recently: Order the most exotic thing on the menu. Earlier this week that meant the Dtom Yam Goong ($7 for 16 oz., $10 for 32 oz.), a complexly flavored gulf shrimp soup built on a chicken and pork stock and flavored with chilies, fish sauce, Thai chili sauce, lime juice, galangal, lemongrass and

Other info Credit cards accepted, no alcohol.

lime leaves (don’t eat any of those latter three). It gave us the same sense of restorative power that Vietnamese pho often does. In December our ordering plan directed us to the Hor Mohk Curry Catfish, banana leaves stuffed with catfish fillets, coconut cream, red curry paste, lime leaf, Thai basil and fish sauce and steamed. It was delightful — like a Thai tamale. Back to this week’s menu: The Khaao Soi Gai (Chiang Mai-style curried noodles with chicken) is described by kBird as “happiness in a bowl,” and who could turn that down at lunch? The happiness derives from a drumstick and another (indefinable) chunk of chicken in this noodle-filled sweet and spicy red curry soup topped with cilantro and crispy-fried noodles. Don’t worry how you’ll eat the chicken: It falls off the bone with a little tug of your spoon, and the reward is a new, rare flavor that we suspect you’ll only find at kBird. The sticky rice on the side just makes for more joy in the bowl. Meanwhile, two of us decided to add two fried chicken wings ($3 per) to our twoentree order. They’re listed under the snack portion of the menu after all. But two or three of these monsters from Falling Sky Farms — easily the biggest wings we’ve seen — could make a meal. Despite being stuffed, we gobbled up these wonderfully spiced and artfully fried morsels. Get them when you see them on the menu. They often sell out. The restaurant’s abbreviated hours stem from zoning restrictions placed on the space after a previous restaurant occupant somehow upset neighbors. Here’s hoping they realize what a gem they have in that space now, and in the not-too-distant future Glasgow can petition to extend his hours a bit later into the evening. And maybe even serve beer.

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DINING CAPSULES, CONT. Sat.-Sun. BIG ORANGE: BURGERS SALADS SHAKES Gourmet burgers manufactured according to exacting specs (humanely raised beef!) and properly fried Kennebec potatoes are the big draws, but you can get a veggie burger as well as fried chicken, curried falafel and blackened tilapia sandwiches, plus creative meal-sized salads. Shakes and floats are indulgences for all ages. 17809 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-1515. LD daily. 207 N. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-3798715. LD daily. BIG ROCK BISTRO Students of the Arkansas Culinary School run this restaurant at Pulaski Tech under the direction of Chef Jason Knapp. Pizza, pasta, Asian-inspired dishes and diner food, all in one stop. 3000 W. Scenic Drive. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-812-2200. BL Mon.-Fri. BJ’S RESTAURANT AND BREWHOUSE Chain restaurant’s huge menu includes deep dish pizzas, steak, ribs, sandwiches, pasta and award-winning handcrafted beer. In Shackleford Crossing Shopping Center. 2624 S. Shackleford Road. Beer, All CC. 501-404-2000. BLACK ANGUS CAFE Charcoal-grilled burgers, hamburger steaks and steaks proper are the big draws at this local institution. Now with lunch specials like fried shrimp. 10907 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-7800. LD Mon.-Sat. BOBBY’S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty homemade desserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Thu.-Fri. BOSTON’S Ribs and gourmet pizza star at this restaurant/sports bar located at the Holiday Inn by the airport. TVs in separate sports bar area. 3201 Bankhead Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-235-2000. LD daily. BOUDREAUX’S GRILL & BAR A homey, seatyourself Cajun joint in Maumelle that serves up all sorts of variations of shrimp and catfish. With particularly tasty red beans and rice, jambalaya and bread pudding. 9811 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-6860. LD daily. BOULEVARD BREAD CO. Fresh bread, fresh pastries, wide selection of cheeses, meats, side dishes; all superb. Good coffee, too. 1920 N. Grant St. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-6635951. BLD Mon.-Sat., BL Sun. 400 President Clinton Ave. Beer and wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-374-1232. BLD Mon.-Sat. (close 5 p.m.), BL Sun. 4301 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-526-6661. BL Mon.-Fri. 1417 Main St. Beer and wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5100. BL Mon.-Sat. BREWSTERS 2 CAFE & LOUNGE Downhome done right. Check out the yams, mac-and-cheese, greens, purple-hull peas, cornbread, wings, catfish and all the rest. 2725 S. Arch St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-301-7728. LD Mon.-Sat. BROWN SUGAR BAKESHOP Fabulous cupcakes, brownies and cakes offered five days a week until they’re sold out. 419 E. 3rd St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-4009. LD Tue.-Fri. (close at 5:30 p.m.), L Sat. BUTCHER SHOP The cook-your-own-steak option has been downplayed, and several

menu additions complement the calling card: large, fabulous cuts of prime beef, cooked to perfection. 10825 Hermitage Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-312-2748. D daily. CACHE RESTAURANT A stunning experience on the well-presented plates and in terms of atmosphere, glitz and general feel. It doesn’t feel like anyplace else in Little Rock, and it’s not priced like much of anywhere else in Little Rock, either. But there are options to keep the tab in the reasonable range. 425 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-850-0265. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. CAJUN’S WHARF The venerable seafood restaurant serves up great gumbo and oysters Bienville, and options such as fine steaks for the non-seafood eater. In the citified bar, you’ll find nightly entertainment, too. 2400 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5351. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. CAMP DAVID Inside the Holiday Inn Presidential Conference Center, Camp David particularly pleases with its breakfast and themed buffets each day of the week. Wonderful Sunday brunch. 600 Interstate 30. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-975-2267. BLD daily, BR Sat.-Sun. CAPERS It’s never been better, with as good a wine list as any in the area, and a menu that covers a lot of ground — seafood, steaks, pasta — and does it all well. 14502 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-7600. LD Mon.-Sat. CHEDDAR’S Large selection of somewhat standard American casual cafe choices, many of which are made from scratch. Portions are large and prices are very reasonable. 400 South University. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-614-7578. LD daily. CHICKEN KING Arguably Central Arkansas’s best wings. 2704 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, CC. $-$$. 501-771-5571. LD Mon.-Sat. 5213 W 65th St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-5573. LD Mon.-Sat. COAST CANTINA A variety of salads, smoothies, sandwiches and pizzas, and there’s breakfast and coffee, too. 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-371-0164. LD Mon.-Sat. COMMUNITY BAKERY This sunny downtown bakery is the place to linger over a latte, bagels and the New York Times. But a lunchtime dash for sandwiches is OK, too, though it’s often packed. 1200 S. Main St. No alcohol, CC. $-$$. 501-375-7105. BLD daily. 270 S. Shackleford. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-1656. BLD Mon.-Sat. BL Sun. COPELAND’S RESTAURANT OF LITTLE ROCK The full service restaurant chain started by the founder of Popeye’s delivers the same good biscuits, the same dependable frying and a New Orleans vibe in piped music and decor. You can eat red beans and rice for a price in the single digits or pay near $40 for a choice slab of ribeye, with crab, shrimp and fish in between. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-312-1616. LD daily. COPPER GRILL Comfort food, burgers and more sophisticated fare at this River Marketarea hotspot. 300 E. Third St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3333. LD Mon.-Sat. CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE Home-cooking with plenty of variety and big CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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FEBRUARY 12, 2015

DINING CAPSULES, CONT.

hearsay ➥ Whippersnappers LR is partnering with First Assembly Church in North Little Rock on Sharing Our Lunch, a project to help feed hungry children in Arkansas. Drop off any of the following items at Whippersnappers and get 15 percent off your entire purchase at Whippersnappers: Mac and Cheese, peanut butter, cereal, soup, juice boxes, canned vegetables/fruit, canned meats, ramen noodles, pop tarts, or any other non-perishable food item. No perishable foods, glass, homemade, opened or expired items will be accepted. The offer lasts through the end of March. ➥ B. Barnett has 75 percent off all fall and winter clothing and accessories. ➥ Gallery 221’s latest exhibit, “Politics in Art” opens Feb. 16 and features carefully chosen works from select private collections. “From the earliest monarchs to modern day political parties, politics have fueled the flames of artists’ creations for centuries,” Jenn Freeman, gallery manager, said. “With an ample selection of such great and powerful works here at Gallery 221 we are incredibly excited to be able to bring some of these great works to our customers.” ➥ Over at Cantrell Gallery, the owners have decided to extend the birthday celebration vibe from last month, which marked the gallery’s 45th anniversary and celebrate co-founder Helen Scott’s birthday this month. During February, if you bring in any new, complete custom framing order, say “Happy Birthday, Helen!” and receive two free cupcakes from their next door neighbor, SweetLove Bakery. As a Cantrell Gallery employee for details. ➥ The Arkansas Flower and Garden Show is scheduled for Feb. 20-22 at the Statehouse Convention Center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 20 and 21 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 22. Tickets are $10 for adults, and children $12 and under get in free. There is also a three-day pass available for $15. For more information, visit www.argardenshow.org/ index.htm. 30 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

portions. Old-fashioned breakfast served all day long. 2618 S. Shackleford Road. No alcohol, All CC. 501-225-7100. BLD daily. 3101 Springhill Drive. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. 501-945-9373. BLD daily. CRUSH WINE BAR An unpretentious downtown bar/lounge with an appealing and erudite wine list. With tasty tapas, but no menu for full meals. 318 Main St. NLR. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-374-9463. D Tue.-Sat. DAVE’S PLACE A popular downtown soupand-sandwich stop at lunch draws a large and diverse crowd for the Friday night dinner, which varies in theme, home cooking being the most popular. Owner Dave Williams does all the cooking and his son, Dave also, plays saxophone and fronts the band that plays most Friday nights. 201 Center St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-3283. L Mon.-Fri., D Fri. DAVID FAMILY KITCHEN Call it soul food or call it down-home country cooking. Just be sure to call us for breakfast or lunch when you go. Neckbones, ribs, sturdy cornbread, salmon croquettes, mustard greens and the like. Desserts are exceptionally good. 2301 Broadway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3710141. BL Tue.-Fri., L Sun. DELICIOUS TEMPTATIONS Decadent breakfast and light lunch items that can be ordered in full or half orders to please any appetite or palate, with a great variety of salads and soups as well. Don’t miss the bourbon pecan pie — it’s a winner. 11220 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-225-6893. BL daily. DIZZY’S GYPSY BISTRO Interesting bistro fare, served in massive portions at this River Market favorite. 200 River Market Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3500. LD Tue.-Sat.

THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION, OFFICE OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL SERVICES IS SEEKING PROPOSALS FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES TO VICTIMS OF CRIME. Application and instructions can be found on the website listed below:

FAMILY VIOLENCE AND PREVENTION SERVICES ACT (FVPSA)

The FVPSA program assists in the establishment, maintenance, and expansion of programs and projects to prevent incidences of family violence and to provide immediate shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents that meet the needs of all victims, including those in underserved communities.

STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (STOP/VAWA)

The STOP program provides services to adult women who are victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking or dating violence through improved responses and coordinated efforts between law enforcement, prosecution, and court and advocacy professionals.

VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT (VOCA).

VOCA provides direct services to crime victims who have suffered physical, sexual, financial or emotional harm as a result of the commission of a crime by another person or persons. The program supports community-based organizations that serve crime victims, including domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child abuse programs, and victim service units in law enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices, hospitals, and social service agencies. Services may also be provided to underserved victims, such as survivors of homicide victims and victims of drunk drivers.

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85, Hixson, TN left us Tuesday, December 16, 2014, in her home. She was proceeded in death by Allan D. Kennedy, her beloved husband of sixty-two years; her parents, Robert and Helen Pegg; step-mother Elizabeth Pegg; sisters, Betty Moore (Bob) and Joanne (George) Stathers, and much loved brother-in-law, Ron “Remember Sealy. me with She is survived by: daughter, smiles (love) Dayna Kennedy (Barry) Rich, and laughter, Hixson, TN; son, David (Karen) for that is Kennedy, North Little Rock AR; how I will six grandchildren: Jason (Divya) remember Sharp, Ashley Kennedy (Scott) you all. If Douglas, Amanda Rich (Charlie) you can only Floyd, Elizabeth Kennedy (Joseph) Buchman, Megan Kennedy remember (Drew) Walker, and Boyd Rich; her loving brother Robert (June) me with Pegg and sister Bonnie Sealy, and numerous dearly loved nieces tears, and nephews. then don’t Helen was born in Richeyville, PA, August 27, 1929, graduremember ated from Brownsville High School. She received her RN from Western Pennsylvania Hospital, School of Nursing, Pittsburg, me at all.” 1949, before joining the Air Force, where she attained the rank — Laura of Second Lieutenant and met Allan. She worked all areas of Ingalls nursing and taught classes at Southwestern Community College Wilder in Dowagiac, MI. Helen had resided in Hixson since 2007. As in the many communities she lived, Helen continued to live her training, voluntarily assisting her neighbors with care and practical edification that allowed them improved quality of life and independence. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to West Penn Hospital Foundation, 4818 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburg, PA 15224, (412) 578-4427, Wounded Warrior Project, (877) 958-2233.

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LIBERTYCOM LLC HAS OPENINGS FOR THE POSITIONS:

HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS NEEDED FOR DEPRESSION TREATMENT STUDY Volunteers needed for a study looking at the effectiveness of two FDAapproved antidepressants in depressed people who are receiving hemodialysis. Eligible participants will attend one-hour study visits weekly or bimonthly for 12 weeks.

PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT (LIB1501) w/Master’s degree in Info. Sys., Tech., Engg.(any) or rltd & 2 yrs of exp. to work on design, configure, test computer hardware, networking software & operating sys software. Dev. solutions to complex apps problems, sys admin issues or network. SOFTWARE ENGINEER/POWERBUILDER (LIB1502) w/Master’s degree in Comp. Apps, Comp. Sci., Engg (any) or rltd & 2 yrs of exp. to work on dev., create, work & modify pre & post SRS estimation, Issue Log, UTC,RCA, DME functionality & Xcelys job rltd keywords in Powerbuilder 10.5 & Oracle 10g environment. SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER (LIB1503) w/Bachelor’s degree in Comp. Sci., Engg (any),

Tech or rltd & 5 yrs of exp. to work on design, dev., implementation & support of software components that enhance or extend the reach our client software dvlpmt initiatives. Must be skilled in designing, coding, testing, implementing config changes to software apps to meet both functional & tech reqmts.

We are a small trucking company adding to your region two local every-other day farm pickup routes and delivery to Little Rock, AR Turner Plant. HOME ON A DAILY BASIS PAID PER ROUTE AND DELIVERY PAID WEEKLY Driver must have a Class A license with tanker endorsement and meet all DOT guidelines If Interested contact Kevin Hensley with America’s Best Carrier LLC at 417-254-0322 or 417-962-2697

SR. SOFTWARE ENGINEER/SAP (LIB1504) w/Bachelor’s degree in Com. Sci.., Business Admin., Engg. (any), Tech. or rltd & 5 yrs of exp to analyze, map business process in SAP env. Dev., review project plans, identify, resolve issues & communicate status of assigned projects to users & mgr. SOFTWARE ENGINEER (LIB1505) w/Master’s degree in Com. Sci, Comp. App., Engg(any), Tech. or rltd to dev., create & test general comp. apps software specialized utility programs including front end web components & server side J2EE/Java Code. Interact w/ business for reqmt gathering, analysis preping design document, effort estimation, customization, data migration, code review, production release, post production support & project coordination. SR. SYSTEMS ANALYST (LIB1506) w/Master’s degree in Com. Sci., Comp. Apps, Engg(any),Tech. or rltd & 2 yrs of exp. to gather, analyze & doc. business reqs. Dev., doc, revise sys design proc., test proc. & quality stdrds. Prep speci. Proj. docs for business objects universe & Cognos framework mgr. Work location is Little Rock, AR w/reqd travel to client locations throughout USA. Please mail resumes to Libertycom, LLC, 303 West Capitol, Suite # 270 & 325, Little Rock, AR 72201, USA or email to info@libertycom.com

MUSIC & LYRICS

BY RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN February 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, March 1, 2015 7:30pm Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays 2:30pm Sundays

Antidepressant treatment will be provided at no cost. Participants will be compensated for their time.

For more information, please call (5O1) 526-8487 All calls are confidential.

EXPANDING OPERATIONS

$20 Adults • $16 Students & Seniors For more information contact us at 501.374.3761 or www.weekendtheater.org

C U S T O M F U R N I T U R E tommy@tommyfarrell.com ■ 501.375.7225

1001 W. 7th St., LR, AR 72201 On the corner of 7th and Chester, across from Vino’s.

Support for TWT is provided, in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the DAH, and the NEA. www.arktimes.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

MUSICIANS SHOWC ASE ‘15 February 12 Round 3! Round 2 Winner: Ghost Bones

ROUND 3 9pm

9 pm - Brothel Sprouts 10 pm - Landrest 11 pm - Becoming Elephants 12 am - Young Gods of America

10pm

LIVE AT STICKYZ!

$5 cover 21+ $10 under 21 11pm

A crowd vote is part of the judging. Come out to support your favorite band.

Pick up the 2015 Showcase Tee! Featuring artwork designed by Keith Carter of States of Mind Clothing. Participating bands listed on back Only $10 Cash & CC accepted

12am

32 FEBRUARY 12, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES