NEWS + POLITICS + ENTERTAINMENT + FOOD / NOVEMBER 26, 2015 / ARKTIMES.COM
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Make a plan to make it home, every time you go out. Do whatever it takes to get home safely. Call a friend, arrange for a cab or designate a driver.
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NOVEMBER 26, 2015
ARKANSAS TIMES
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COMMENT The Arkansas Times & the Root Cafe proudly present Little Rock’s
F O U R T H A N N UA L
BEARD-GROWING CONTEST
HAIR TO THE THRONE S H AV E-I N C AT E G O R I E S
(must be certified clean-shaven to participate)
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Open letters to Governor Hutchinson As a proud Arkansan, Hog fan and former refugee, it’s very upsetting to see Gov. Asa Hutchinson turn his back on people who are not much different from me. As a product of the conflict in the Balkans, my family escaped war-torn Bosnia and immigrated to the U.S. We made our home in Hot Springs, opened two businesses, paid our taxes, and never once asked for a handout. I moved on to attend the University of Arkansas and now make Little Rock my home. Nothing makes me happier than an Arkansas tailgate and beating LSU. Instead of opening your arms and fostering an environment where you have the opportunity to create proud Americans, Arkansans and a new generation of Hog-calling Razorback fans, you choose to turn your back. Luckily, you don’t have the power to turn away refugees and that gives me hope, because you can’t deny future generations from experiencing the Arkansas I know and love. Amar Mekic North Little Rock The rapid actions of you and too many of your colleagues to deny shelter for women, men and children under extreme threats has left me bewildered. Our nation of immigrants, “the greatest and strongest country in history,” has always been strengthened, enriched by our historically openarmed inclusion of such threatened peoples. To doubt the ability of the United States to filter through those seeking safe harbor makes me sadly question your faith in the abilities and motivations of your fellow citizens to “protect and defend,” a proposition that dilutes the bellicose slogans we repeatedly are exposed to on both sides of the current presidential campaign. Xenophobic is a distasteful term at best and to add politically motivated to the adjective creates a very unflattering label and, as uncomplimentary a term as it is, it applies to actions formed in such a hurried collaborative effort. If only truly frightening ubiquitous problems could be dealt with as comprehensively, problems like the number of murders in Little Rock. The capital city of Arkansas, a state with one of the highest per capita gun ownership rates nationwide, but then I am sure all of those weapons are needed to protect ourselves from the Syrian hoards. The exclusion of humans from the
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welcoming protection of the U.S.A. is a pathetic exploitive maneuver that diminishes the standing of our nation in the eyes of history. Steven Rockwell North Little Rock
Waste not exclusive to government Those on the right talk about the wastefulness of government, preferring instead a set of circumstances that grants private business the power to control the economy. What the right fails to mention is that private business is just as, if not more, wasteful than government. It’s just that private companies can hide their waste in write-offs, or by passing the cost of waste to customers and employees. How many times have products gone to waste while some corporation waits out more favorable market conditions? Richard Hutson Cabot
30 Crossing needs to be reimagined I write today to urge Mayor Mark Stodola and the Little Rock Board of Directors to vote for Directors Webb and Richardson’s resolution that recognizes that the development of 30 Crossing will affect Little Rock and the Central Arkansas area for the next 50-plus years. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department’s process thus far has been based on a narrow criteria that does not include quality of life and the desirability of living in our city. AHTD’s expertise lies in engineering freeways. Its primary concern is moving traffic quickly through town. That is good for folks in Cabot, Benton, Bryant and others commuting to Little Rock. It will cut their drive time by 10-15 minutes. However, it is clear to me that Little Rock will be the loser. AHTD’s proposal will magnify an already hulking barrier in the heart of downtown. The River Market/Clinton Library area is the jewel of our city, one that has been created by pouring millions of dollars and human effort into it for the past 30 years. Should AHTD — engineers who build really good highways — be in charge of visioning our future? I believe the people visioning our future should be our city directors and citizens. The tail in this case is wagging the dog. We should bring a vision for the engineers to execute.
We all recognize that the corridor needs improvements and management, yet at this moment, no alternatives have been brought forth by AHTD despite vocal and intelligent opposition by many individuals, representatives and community groups, including: The Downtown Neighborhood Association, the Quapaw Quarter Association, the Central High Neighborhood Association, the Capitol View/Stifft Station Neighborhood Association, the Heights Neighborhood Association, the Hillcrest Residents Association, The League of Women Voters, Reps. Warwick Sabin (D-Little Rock) and Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock), eStem Principal John Bacon, the Metropolitan Area Transit Consortium, UALR Engineering Department faculty and others. While AHTD has constantly cited figures and data drawn by modeling conducted by Metroplan, they have ignored Metroplan’s central tenet that states that no freeway should be widened beyond six lanes. Why? You cannot build your way out of these traffic problems. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, quoted in Inside Business recently, said, “We can’t build enough roads to solve our transportation problems. We can’t widen enough.” “[And if roads are the only solution] the South is going to be stuck in traffic. Period.” Foxx, and many other experts nationwide, believe transportation solutions must be multimodal with roads, public transit, good walking environments and good land planning. Predicting the future and how people will behave is not as easy as multiplying numbers derived from recent and past data. An interest on the part of young people in moving to SOMA and other downtown areas is based on a desire for living in spaces that allow freedom from the tyranny of the car. For my generation, a car meant freedom. For this generation, a car is expensive, polluting and dictates an infrastructure that negatively impacts walking and biking. Other disruptors to the transportation status quo include technology that will make cars far safer and able to read traffic and navigate routes more easily. We need to take a hard look at the directions our society is taking and at what is happening all over the country where freeways are being ripped out and replaced by boulevards. Boulevards are used in all the great cities of the world to move traffic safely and dependably through human-centered environments. Boulevards also allow for corners that can be developed with shops and restaurants and businesses, for the enjoyment of walking humans
and provide a great tax base. Freeways suck our capital out of our cities. The need to embrace change in transportation planning and policy is urgent. Please vote for the Webb/Richardson resolution, which simply asks AHTD to perform a more thorough analysis of all the options. Our citizens are counting on you. Ellen M. Fennell Little Rock
From the web: In response to Gene Lyons’ Nov. 19
column, “ISIS isn’t an existential threat to the U.S.”: Had to ask what existential means. Real. The French do not like their cafe life invaded. Real fear. Music concerts are places to express joy. When gunmen appear, it turns the joy into real fear. Reading in the Wall Street Journal about the tunnels under Sinjar inspires visions of Vietnam and the futility of boots on the ground. The ideology of ISIS seems to spread like a virus. The herd of displaced fami-
lies is a terrible human suffering. Maybe ISIS is not an existential threat, but like herpes it hurts like hell. joepete1834 Do away with the distribution of the world’s income from its upward flow and quit screwing with the fragility of this thing we call Earth. Treat the causes of the disease and not the symptoms. Thanks, Dubya. You really screwed up here. wannabe conservative
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NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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WEEK THAT WAS
Quote of the Week “If for whatever reason you honestly believe in your heart that the vetted Syrian men, women and children fleeing a war-zone are unworthy of basic dignity, then please reply explaining how and why their race, creed, or simple misfortune make these people less than human. Yet if you truly do believe that we must ‘live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God,’ as you tweeted on Nov. 13, then you must not shun our most innocent.” — Little Rock native Joslyn Hebda to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, in a letter published by the Arkansas Catholic. As a college student in 2013, Hebda spent a summer aiding refugees in Jordan with a Catholic nongovernmental organization, Caritas Jordan. Hutchinson, like a majority of the nation’s governors, has said he opposes Syrian refugees being relocated to Arkansas (although states have no actual authority in dictating federal immigration policy).
Louisiana purple Louisiana, like Arkansas, is a state where Republicans increasingly control the political structure from top to bottom — until this weekend, when Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards became the new governor in a run-off election. Edwards defeated U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican who’s been tarnished since his phone number turned up in 2007 on a list of clients kept by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the socalled “D.C. Madam.” Patronage of prostitutes aside, Vitter’s chances were hampered by the dismal approval ratings of outgoing governor Bobby Jindal, a fellow Republican and failed presidential candidate (only one-fifth of Louisiana voters approve of Jindal, according to a November poll). Vitter announced he’d be retiring from the Senate next year as well. It’s difficult to say whether Edwards’ success can be replicated elsewhere in the South. A former Army Ranger, he was able to blend social conservatism with a solidly progressive stance on Medicaid expansion, public education and the state’s budget (which Jindal 6
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has run into the ground). Still, Edwards’ 12-point margin of victory gives hope to other Democrats in deep-red states.
Two children killed in handgun accidents As if the news lately hasn’t been bloody enough, Central Arkansas saw two separate tragedies this past week involving young children who got their hands on loaded guns. In Benton last Tuesday, a 2-year-old died from a .45 gunshot wound. And on Thursday, 6-year-old Eron Burks fatally shot himself, evidently while sitting unattended in an SUV in Little Rock.
Rude awakening Rude Music Inc., a company owned by guitarist Frankie Sullivan of the classic rock band Survivor, is suing Mike Huckabee over the unauthorized use of “Eye of the Tiger.” The song was played at a September rally to support Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Huckabee was the keynote speaker at the rally, which the
A better highway funding plan, by the numbers Coming soon to Arkansas: A major decision about how to fund much-needed repairs to the state’s highway infrastructure. The governor wants a “revenue neutral” plan, meaning it will avoid tax increases. In a report released last week, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families hammered home the fact that that approach will by definition suck money from other parts of state government — public education, for example — and laid out a better way forward, which inevitably involves raising taxes. Some figures to keep in mind:
$400 million
15 cents
The amount by which the annual road budget needs to be increased, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
The amount by which Arkansas’s fuel tax would need to be increased to meet that funding need.
$80
14
The estimated annual cost to an average low-to-moderate-income household if the fuel tax were raised by 15 cents.
The number of years since the fuel tax was last increased, despite fuel efficiency gains (and inflation) since 2001.
lawsuit characterizes as a campaign appearance for his (now-faltering) presidential bid. Huck said he’s being unfairly targeted by the suit, which he called “a
very vindictive and almost unbelievable kind of thing to do.” Appropriate enough, given that “vindictive” and “unbelievable” nicely characterize Huckabee’s attitudes toward LGBT people.
OPINION
How do you say thanks in Chinese? Some seasonal cheer.
T
HANKS FROM THE CHINESE: A Chinese paper company announced plans to build a $1.3 billion pulp mill somewhere amid the vast and welcoming piney woods of South Arkansas to make the material for diapers and sanitary products. Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced this as if it was his doing, rather than something working since a trip by Gov. Mike Beebe in 2012, but that’s politics. More interesting are the specifics of Arkansas’s promise of “preferential tax policies and other policy support” in a letter that Hutchinson signed. Will Arkansas loan money at a low rate and make direct cash grants to a Chinese company, even though they’ve naturally focused on locating in a cheap place to obtain the raw supply they’ll grind up for diapers?
perhaps 350 new jobs and log cutters will have a lot more business, so that’s good. I’m thankful beyond ironic belief to be alive to see Arkansas’s Republican governor engage in socialism to help Chinese communists make a bigger profit. THANKS TO LOUISIANA: Speaking of diapers: It was, yes, a “perfect storm” as all are saying that allowed a Democrat, John Bel Edwards, to defeat Republican David Vitter in the race for Louisiana governor, a rare big Democratic victory in Dixie. Vitter’s dalliance with prostitutes, including a reported In short: Arkansas, diaper fetish, didn’t help him. Nor did a one of the poorest divided Republican Party in Louisiana states in the coun— crazy vs. crazier. try, will be giving Arkansas Republicans want you to tax breaks to benbelieve John Bel Edwards is not really efit the communist a Democrat. They base this on his proMAX Chinese economy. gun and Catholic anti-abortion leanings, BRANTLEY Could Arkanforgetting that Democratic legislatures maxbrantley@arktimes.com sas even wind in Arkansas passed cutting edge pro-gun up with taxpayers (the government) legislation decades ago and have never owning a share of the means of pro- favored abortion. What’s more, Edwards duction? It does in the Big River has friends in the teachers union and the Steel Mill, where the equity partners environmental movement, is cool to charinclude retired Arkansas teachers. ter schools, and announced after his elecWho’ll pay for the road damage more tion that his top priority was not further log trucks will cause on Arkansas’s sec- harassing women or gay people, but getondary highways? Not new revenues. ting the legislature to adopt Obamacare’s Gov. Hutchinson has ruled those off the Medicaid expansion in Louisiana. That’s table for highway building in Arkansas. a DINO Comrade Asa could love, given Camden, Crossett or Arkadelphia will get how badly Hutchinson’s budget needs to
Utility seeks hike for little guy
W
hen we left Arkansas’s intrepid utility regulators in June they were facing their first test with Arkansas’s brave new utility rate reform law, which seeks to guarantee utilities higher rates for their electricity and gas but to soften the effect on big industries that use lots of power by shifting their costs to homeowners and small businesses. Let’s see how things are going down in Entergy Arkansas’s request for $167 million in new revenues and regular annual increases thereafter. All the stakeholders in the case have shown their hands in a thousand pages of testimony at the Public Service Commission, which will render its decision late this winter. You may remember that Act 725, obviously designed by Entergy, slid through the legislature last spring with virtually no stir or debate. It
sharply overhauls the way the state has regulated rate increases by utilities since the 1930s. Utility ERNEST rates once were DUMAS big issues, and a politician’s fortunes — let’s mention Jim Guy Tucker, Bill Clinton, Frank White and the much earlier Francis Cherry — rose and fell on how they handled big utility issues like the Grand Gulf nuclear project in Mississippi that hit everybody’s pocketbook. Not so much anymore. It may be unfair to say that Act 725, which favors utilities and the big industries that consume vast amounts of gas and electricity, is a product of the sudden domination of the legislature by the Republican Party, but it surely helped. The law’s
sponsor, though not its author, is Rep. Charlie Collins, Republican of Fayetteville, who is on the House Insurance and Commerce Committee, which handles utility legislation. As I have noted previously, the 2015 legislature has been unusually generous to big industry, offering to bolster Lockheed Martin’s profits with $120 million from Arkansas taxpayers if it won a big defense contract to build military vehicles in Arkansas (the company didn’t win) and referred a constitutional amendment that would remove all limits on taxpayer grants to big industries and allow cities to legally cut chambers of commerce in on the taxpayers’ generosity. The act alters the ratemaking process in both subtle and blatant ways, all of which are likely to mean that your electricity and gas bills are going to rise and far more often than in the past. It encourages the PSC to allow utilities to charge customers high enough rates to give utilities a higher return for their shareholders’ investment, called return on equity. It encourages the PSC to establish a
continue Obamacare in Arkansas. I’m thankful, fluky though it was, that the victory at least offered the hope for further flukes in the South. The Louisiana electorate is 33 percent black, vs. 15 percent in Arkansas, however, so odds of a Democratic fluke here are more remote. Even if the GOP nominated a diaper fetishist. Despite his baggage, Vitter still got 44 percent of the vote. THANKS FOR A LIVING WAGE: I’m happy to make enough money to support myself (even without a far more productive wife). I could work at UAMS. That 10,000-employee colossus has hundreds of the state’s highest paid employees on its payrolls. But they’d be in a bind without the less-valued (in monetary terms) people who mop the floors, empty the bedpans, haul the trash and do any number of other essential tasks. Do all make a living wage? I’d judge not by the annual UAMS drive to round up stuffing, meat, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and other food so that all UAMS employees can celebrate Thanksgiving. Rounding up political support for a living wage for UAMS workers would fill stomachs more days of the year, but this being Arkansas and the custodial staff not being Chinese tycoons, they’ll just have to be thankful for what they can get.
rate structure that shifts costs from big energy users like Tyson Foods and the Koch brothers’ GeorgiaPacific paper plants to homeowners and small businesses. For the first time, the law now allows Entergy and other utilities to get a rate increase every year to recover their old and future costs, rather than periodically filing a rate request and going through the cumbersome process like the one going on at the PSC now. In his testimony, Hugh McDonald, Entergy Arkansas’s CEO, generously praised the legislature for its farsightedness in passing Act 725 because the old system of cumbersome rate cases was no longer relevant to the fast-paced world of business. Utilities can now file a formula rate review plan that allows them to get new rates every year by filing data about their current and prospective costs with the PSC. The staff and other interested parties can file objections for a short period before the PSC allows the new rates to take effect. Soon after the higher rates from the current proceeding take effect next year, Entergy will CONTINUED ON PAGE 27 www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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Santa Paws Holiday Party
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Live music by Little Rock duo Fret & Worry
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Scrumptious Southern Holiday hors-d’oeuvres
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Locally brewed beer from Stone’s Throw
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Memorable free professional photos with Santa Claus
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A Fascinating History of Arkansas’s 200 Year Battle Against Disease and Pestilence
This is a great history of Arkansas that tells how public attitudes toward medicine, politics and race have shaped the public health battle against deadly and debilitating disease in the state. From the illnesses that plagued the state’s earliest residents to the creation of what became the Arkansas Department of Health, Sam Taggart’s “The Public’s Health: A Narrative History of Health and Disease in Arkansas” tells the fascinating medical history of Arkansas. Published by the Arkansas Times.
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Trump and terror
F
ormer John McCain adviser Steve Schmidt has aptly summed up the appeal of Donald Trump, saying in August that Trump says in public those things that many Republican voters “across this country are yelling at their televisions.” Last week, in the aftermath of the terrorist assault on Paris, Trump showed anew that he authentically voices the anger and frustration of a majority of the GOP electorate. As such, while the odds remain against it, the likelihood of Trump becoming the Republican presidential nominee has gone from persistent longshot to something nearing 2:1 in the past 10 days. As has been shown continually since the bizarre kickoff of his campaign in June, Trump has a knack for articulating a core authoritarianism that dominates GOP partisan activists. Authoritarianism is a world view expressing hostility to those groups that threaten to disrupt a tidy American social order and sees foreign affairs as a clear battle between good and evil that must be addressed with aggression wherever that threat asserts itself. Over the past couple of generations, such authoritarians have increasingly become the core of the GOP electorate (just as their nonauthoritarian counterparts have come to represent the healthy majority of Democratic activists). While authoritarianism and nonauthoritarianism are core personality traits, the political context can accentuate one or the other. Because of the chilling fear created by the attacks witnessed in Paris on Nov. 13 (and the lingering sense that other terroristic events will occur across the globe), perhaps the most potent activator of authoritarian sentiment has come to the fore. Of course, as Schmidt’s quote suggests, it is not just the substance but the style of Trump’s presentation that connects him to this bulk of GOP voters. And, the events of a week ago in Paris provided Trump another opportunity to show off his authoritarian rhetoric and affect in a series of outrageous statements that The Economist’s David Rennie accurately identified last week as “security theatre rather than serious security.” In addition to a hard line on Syrian refugees, Trump voiced support for a mass database capturing information on the millions of American Muslims and the ongoing surveillance (and possible closure) of mosques. Moreover,
his comments on the topics were not just delivered but performed by this master of reality television. JAY All competitors BARTH for the GOP nomination played to authoritarian sentiments on the issue of Syrian refugee entrance into the United States, but, in doing so, most — especially Jeb Bush and John Kasich — were simply unwilling to cross a line that Trump was all too willing to transgress. As Bush said Sunday, in reference to Trump’s earlier statements: “You talk about internment, you talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people. That’s just wrong.” Marco Rubio, who has legitimate political talent and continues to make slow progress in the GOP race, scored points for technical merit but not artistry in his authoritarianism. Rubio’s kickoff television advertisement is classic in its employment of authoritarian themes: “This is a civilizational struggle between the values of freedom and liberty, and radical Islamic terror. … There is no middle ground,” Rubio says in the spot, in which he speaks calmly to the camera. However, the stylistic contrast with Trump is sharp — from the employment of the word “civilizational” to the smooth voice — and Rubio’s style is mismatched with his intense rhetoric. Two other GOP candidates — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — do have the ability to employ the authentic bombast appropriate to the GOP electorate at this moment. As Christie still carries the albatross of Bridgegate, it is Cruz — along with Rubio, rising noticeably in national and early state polls — who will likely emerge as the viable alternative, particularly as he is the most natural home of Ben Carson adherents if the doctor’s candidacy fades. However, as we are now entering a monthlong holiday period where little fundamental alteration in the presidential sweepstakes will occur, Trump will enter the post-New Year’s Day homestretch to the Iowa caucus solidly ahead in national (and Iowa) surveys. While the odds remain against his nomination, the path to it is nearly as clear as any of his counterparts as Trump shows a synchronicity with the GOP electorate at this disconcerting moment in political time. www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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PEARLS ABOUT SWINE
Can’t let up against Missouri
T
PRESENTS
2015 CONCERT DATES & TIMES
Sunday, November 29 @ 3 pm Monday, November 30 @ 7 pm Thursday, December 3 @ 7 pm
All performances are free and open to the public. Trinity United Methodist Church 1101 N. Mississippi | Little Rock 501.377.1080 | rivercitymenschorus.com 10
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ARKANSAS TIMES
hree kinds of quarterbacks got a chance to crow Saturday night in Fayetteville. Two of those on the field — Arkansas’s Brandon Allen and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott — authored convincing, unprecedented bids to win AllSEC first team honors at the position, combining for an astonishing 14 total touchdowns and leading their teams to 1,110 total yards combined. The third brand of signal-caller was the armchair quarterback, who had a field day (rather, field night, stretching on into Sunday) dissecting the Razorback staff’s decisions in the final stanza of a 51-50 loss that felt like such a rude punch to the temple for those high-flying, second-place Hogs after four blissful weeks. Social media and talk-radio were ripe with second-guessing after Bret Bielema abruptly eschewed passing aggression to call three straight runs in the final minute inside the Bulldogs’ 19-yard line. The calculus here was obvious: Bielema wanted the sizzling Bulldog offense engineered by Prescott to at least burn its stock of timeouts on defense, and to position Cole Hedlund for what most observers would deem a chip-shot field goal attempt to win. Numerous flaws in this machination were also evident. You see, Allen was in the midst of another history-making night, just doing everything with such ebullience and confidence that it made no sense to reduce him to Kody Walker or Alex Collins’ delivery boy at that critical juncture. Having set a single-game (7) and career (63) touchdown pass record moments earlier by hitting an uncovered Jeremy Sprinkle for six for the third time, Allen fired off five darts to get the Hogs from terrible field position all the way into winning territory. At no point was this senior going to jeopardize a shot at winning by chucking one into heavy coverage. To be sure, Allen has thrown an interception on less than 2 percent of his tosses in 2015; Hedlund, on the other hand, was a shaky redshirt freshman with a recent history of being (a) inaccurate and (b) capable of being blocked. The entire unit has had few opportunities this fall, thus it was hardly surprising that Hedlund’s 29-yarder got smacked down easily by Beniquez Brown blitzing past Alex Voelzke on the edge. That playcalling warranted reproach
not only because it deprived Allen of a chance at heroism — you know, the ones he’s lustily embraced BEAU and capitalized WILCOX upon lately — but because it entrusted the Hogs’ bowl fate to a running game corralled by the Bulldogs all night. Collins had his least productive game in weeks, the Hogs not even generating so much as a 10-yard rush all night. Trying to push the defensive line off its heels with a run or two on first and second down made sense, but the more lumbering Walker was probably not the right choice to chew up yardage. Then, on third down, Collins could’ve been well employed as a decoy and Allen could have had a run-pass option to exploit on a rollout; instead, the junior tailback was asked to take a safe draw a couple of yards closer. It felt so wrong. Hunter Henry had a marvelous night. Drew Morgan started afire, took more physical punishment, and ceded duties to Cornelius, who answered the call with season highs in receptions (five) and yardage (81). Dominique Reed was punchless most of the night, but had a 52-yarder on the prior possession, and Sprinkle had the defense fooled multiple times leaking out into the flat. Basically, it was another game where Dan Enos’ mastery of the vertical was on display. So it was left up to tailbacks who had been well contained and a kicking unit without white-knuckle experience. Then, even had the field goal been converted, a defense that had yielded its asses off was being entrusted to keep Prescott’s five-wide array and legs at bay for the last 40 seconds or so? It was a bewildering finish to a game that should have vaulted the Hogs into commanding control of second place in the SEC West, with sights on a more prestigious bowl. Now, instead, Arkansas can finish in a second-place logjam with other teams but may lose out on some tiebreakers and suffer again for those early-season defeats to Toledo and Texas Tech when it comes to bowl pecking order. A four-game winning streak that was as fulfilling and heartstopping as any months-long stretch of games in Razorback history is over, CONTINUED ON PAGE 27
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THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE
Seeking wisdom
T
he Observer had to go in last week to get the last wisdom tooth out, the humdinger that we’d been putting off forever, hoping it would stay asleep; the one seen on X-rays parked on its side, mostly buried in the jawbone, like a tiny bus with its nose peeking out of a shed. Soon after The Observer turned 41, however, that mean mother started a slow, forward slide into the molar living happily beside it — a quiet and well-behaved neighbor, encroached on by the reckless and slovenly drunk next door — and we knew it was time. The Observer is doctor-phobic to the point of being petrified at the sight of a white coat, a trait that hasn’t served us well over the years. We tend to be a put-offer and a wait-laterer, hoping, somehow, that we’ll experience a Miracle at Lourdes to cure our ailment without having to ever fill out a form or sit on white paper. Never works out that way, though. We’re getting older now, too, so we worry. While modern medicine can do amazing things and has lengthened the span of American lives to an almost ridiculous degree, if you never take advantage of it, chances are your lifespan is going to be lengthened by only as much as whatever you can get over the counter at your local Walgreen’s. Some of that stuff has been on the shelves since 1887, and an 1887 lifespan is nothing to write home about. And so The Observer finds himself at a crossroads, between fear and fear of death. It is no place to be. But we digress. The dentist. The X-rays. The tiny bus, with stops in Opiatetown, Hurtsburg and the Liquid Diet Cafe. We went in, nervous as a cat. Because Junior has an inexplicable, incomprehensible love of llamas, Spouse had bought a tiny plastic one somewhere for his Christmas stocking. The Observer picked that up on the way out of the house, and shoved it in a pocket. Luck llama is lucky. We don’t remember a lot. Going in. Sitting down. The needle stick. The anesthesiologist saying, “I’m going to give you some medi —” and then then void. Next thing we remember is being at home, in a chair, with a mouthful of gauze. It’s strange having a gap in your memory, like a black hole. Try as we might, we
remember nothing of four or five hours other than flashes: a nurse leaning into the car as we saddled up to leave the dentist’s office, and the square rump of a black SUV sitting ahead of us at a stoplight. The amnesia is probably a good thing, too, because Spouse said The Observer sobbed like we’d lost our last friend — wept, purged tears like steam — all the way home, all the way up the stairs, all the way to the chair. Anesthesia is a funny thing, friends. Don’t ever let anybody tell you different. We’re clearly not meant to sleep like that, to be that under, down and down to sleep like the drowned. It’s probably a medical miracle in itself that we can go there and come back, like Odysseus journeying to the gray wastes of the underworld, out of the reach of pain. The recuperation has been rigorous, mostly due to how much they had to blast to get that sucker out. Not weeping like a baby bad, but bad. We spent days floating on a little cloud of Oxycodone, writing questionable Facebook comments, having text arguments with friends that we only vaguely remember now. A week later, we sit here at our desk, and the ol’ jaw still feels like we got dinged with a cue in a pool room brawl, down quite a bit from “spike through the cheek,” which is where we were last Thursday, when the jumbo-sized bottle of narcotic goofballs we’d been prescribed suddenly grew a bottom. We’re hoping that by the time comes to carve the turkey later on this week, we’ll be ready to have something more substantial than mashed taters and cranberry sauce. The good thing, however, is that the bus has departed, and will not be coming back. It has motored on over the hill, with the last painfully earned reminder of our age and wisdom we will get until we get sent back to terra firma for the next life, which we’re hoping holds off until human beings either evolve our wisdom teeth away, or gain enough wisdom as a group to simply zap those suckers to dust with lasers, soundwaves, gamma rays or some damn thing. Ah, modern medicine! Is there nothing it can’t fix, eventually?
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NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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Arkansas Reporter
THE
IN S ID ER
New ticker tape sign for downtown Little Rock A new item up for the City Board of Directors’ consideration: a “ticker tape” LED sign for the Main Street “Creative Corridor” to be placed on the Main Street Mall building at Main and Capitol Avenue. The board is being asked to waive competitive bidding. The agenda explanation: “This authorizes the City Manager to dispense with the requirement of competitive bids and to authorize the purchase of a “ticker tape” sign which is a wrap-around ten (10) mm LED display sign with a live area of 3’2” x 48’3”. It will be installed on the Creative Corridor’s Main Street Mall Building located at 101 East Capitol Avenue in Little Rock. The sign will be used to promote performances and other civic events much like the former sign in the front of the Robinson Auditorium. The purchase is 100% funded by an ArtPlace Foundation grant. ArtPlace is strongly encouraging the City obligate the funds by December 31, 2015, or risk losing the funding.” The ArtPlace Foundation is to pay the $86,840 cost. No city money is required. Bidding should be waived, the city manager said, because a local company, ACE Sign, had provided estimates for three signs “significantly less expensive than those from other vendors.” The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau will manage the sign. Hmmm. Could Capitol and Main become the center of things in a future Little Rock, like Times Square on New Year’s maybe? Presuming, that is, that the freeway builders’ plan to further harm downtown with more concrete doesn’t get in the way. Ever think how nice it would be if downtown was packed with people lingering after work, even walking/biking/busing home, rather than fleeing to a highway system designed not to create community in Little Rock, but to get people home as fast as possible under the law to Conway, Cabot and highway director Scott Bennett’s territory down in Saline County?
The right way to fund Arkansas highways
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families never quits plugging for equitable ways to provide sufficient public services for all Arkansans, not just the lucky. Latest example: a report on a better way to fund highway construction in Arkansas. Key points: • Agreed. More money is needed, maybe $400 million more per year. • Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s demand that any highway plan be “revenue neutral”
TWO WATERSHEDS: The Diamond Project pipeline (in yellow) crosses both the backup and the main supply streams for 28,000 water users in Johnson County. Clarksville Light and Water’s intake for its main supply is in Piney Bay Lake (bottom right); the orange line indicates the boundary of the watershed that feeds Piney Bay. Lake Ludwig is the city’s backup; its watershed is outlined in orange on the upper left.
The Diamond pipeline Cutting through watersheds, aquifers. BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK
T
he pipeline that Valero/Plains All American plans to lay across Arkansas to ship crude oil from Cushing, Okla., to a refinery in Memphis crosses some 500 waterways, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some of those waterways supply drinking water to municipalities and water associations, and some Arkansans, including the people of Clarksville, are concerned that there is little they can do to protect their water supply except take the company’s word for it that the pipeline is safe.
In Clarksville, the proposed route of the so-called Diamond Pipeline Project crosses three streams that supply the water intake for Clarksville Light and Water: Spadra Creek, the Big Piney and the Little Piney, which feed the intake at Piney Bay. According to an engineer at the Arkansas Department of Health, the agency’s review of the “limited geographical information available for the pipeline right of way” indicates the pipeline will cross at least 11 watersheds that are used for drinking water sources. The Diamond project, which came
to light in 2014 after the state Game and Fish Commission was informed the route could pass through wildlife management areas, is an $800 million project to build 424 miles of 20-inch pipe to transport crude from the Bakken shale and other mid-continent oil regions. A brochure produced by the company said construction would start in 2015 and the pipeline would be in service by 2016. On March 20, 2014, the same day the Arkansas Times published an article about Game and Fish concerns, ADH Engineering Section Director Jeff Stone wrote the Corps, the permitting agency for projects that cross waterways, that the route could impact the sources of drinking water for nearly 250,000 Arkansans. At that time, he asked that the Corps require the pipeline company to disclose the entire route and allow a public comment period through the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The Corps’ response was that it would “determine the appropriate level of review and permitting.” The permit that Plains All American is seeking from the Corps, a Nationwide Permit, requires no public comment period. If a section of the pipeline does not meet the criteria for the Nationwide Permit, the Corps could require Plains All American to apply for a Standard, or individual permit, for that portion and that would trigger public notices and a public comment period, according to Environmental Protection Specialist Cynthia Blansett. For a Nationwide Permit to be granted, the project cannot “result in the loss of greater than 0.5 acre of waters for each single and complete crossing.” So far, the Corps review has not determined that any of the route would require a Standard Permit. John Lester, general manager of Clarksville Light and Water, told the Times last week he thought there should be “more opportunity for the public to comment on a project of this scope.” He and Clarksville Alderman Danna Schreiber both compared the lack of notice required for the pipeline to the different regulations that required a public comment period on the Clean Line electric power lines across North Arkansas. “The reality of it is, I’ve told all the people I’ve talked to that I understand CONTINUED ON PAGE 33
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THE
BIG PICTURE
Artists to watch in 2016
For those of you who haven’t gotten out much lately, here are a few of the emerging Arkansas musicians we’re expecting great things from in coming months.
The Wandering Lake Fayetteville The Wandering Lake is the solo recording project of Fayettville’s Brian Kupillas (SW/MM/NG), who makes deeply personal and expansively produced indie-rock. His first full-length album, “Wend to Why,” was released this year, followed by the recent EP “From James’ Garden.” Both are wounded and restless and gorgeous, among the year’s best. Listen at wanderinglake.bandcamp.com.
Taylor Moon Little Rock Taylor Moon is the only woman and the only singer in Little Rock rap collective Young Gods of America, and she’s also responsible for some of the crew’s most imaginative and sonically adventurous music. Her output so far has been small, but the dreamy, robotic R&B singles “King Tut” and “Final Fantasy MMXIV” have made a huge impression, and we hear an EP is on the way soon. Listen at soundcloud.com/taylor_moon.
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INSIDER, CONT. is treacherous because it “will pay for highways by cheating us all out of things like quality pre-K, social workers for abused and neglected kids, and textbooks for students.” • “Modernizing” the gas tax is a responsible way to move forward that has been adopted in other states. An earned income tax credit should accompany this so poor people (until now left out of Hutchinson tax-cutting) can keep more of what they earn. Among the ideas: Earmark a portion of state surpluses for highways. Modernization? This is the big ticket. Raise the fuel tax by 15 cents a gallon (which would cost the average family roughly $80 a year) and index it to both inflation and rising fuel efficiency. Arkansas is not only not indexed, the rate hasn’t changed since 2001. Costs have gone up since then, you can be sure (even if your household income has not). This change could be assessed at the pump or wholesale level. We could consider a vehicle-miles-traveled tax based on miles driven. (One way to pay for those cost-inefficient freeways that the state highway department keeps widening to distant cities.) This is all too sensible to get serious consideration.
Correction
Saeuce Millz Pine Bluff The Pine Bluff rap scene thrived this year, between high-profile releases from stalwarts like ESide Shawty and relative newcomers like Saeuce Millz, who makes breathless, desperate, hyperactive street rap. Listen to “Good Gas” or “What Are We Smoking” — numb, frantic collages of trap-rap 808s, druggy adlibs and addictive hooks. Listen at soundcloud.com/toure-tmillz-miller.
Ghost Bones Hot Springs The winners of the 2015 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, and purveyors of ice-cold, bass-heavy dance-punk in the tradition of Pylon, E.S.G. or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Listen at hearghostbones.bandcamp.com.
Bombay Harambee Little Rock One of Little Rock’s best and brightest young garage bands, specializing in wry, taut, angular punk rock indebted to Pavement and the Pixies. Listen at bombayharambee.bandcamp.com.
In the Nov. 13 cover story, “The Highway That Ate Downtown,” a description of traffic southbound from U.S. Hwy. 67/167 to Little Rock was “really close,” but incorrect, Arkansas Highway Department Design Build Project Director Ben Browning said. The story said drivers would “have a straight shot to I-30 via a flyover over I-40” from U.S. 67/167. However, traffic from U.S. 67/167 travels a mile on I-40 before making the flyover. “Essentially you can stay in any of the left lanes of 67 (since the far right lane will still exit to Memphis) and follow those lanes onto I-40 (you never have to merge into I-40 because the I-40 through lanes will be to the left of the 67 lanes that come in, but the I-40 traffic that wants to go south on I-30 will have to merge into the lanes coming off 67), travel down I-40 for approximately a mile and then those lanes will exit to the right of I-40, fly over I-40 and land you on I-30 southbound in the outside lanes,” Browning said. The article also said that the northbound ramp from Roosevelt Road to I-30 would expand to two lanes. “Instead, it is the northbound ramp off of I-30 onto Roosevelt that expands to two lanes after you exit (not two lanes off of the interstate),” Browning explained. www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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G IVE IT GIVE
T O M TO ME E
R AW RAW The rise and fall of Pup Dog Records, Little Rock’s greatest rap label. WILL STEPHENSON
C
hristopher Murphy became Big Dank one morning in the mid’90s when he was stopped by a police officer near a corner in Southwest Little Rock where he regularly sold crack. Murphy was an aloof, soft-spoken teenager, raised by a single mother and his uncles, who when he was a toddler used to calm him down by playing Run-DMC tapes. “That was my shit then,” Murphy told me recently. “They’d literally put the headphones on me so I’d lay down and go to sleep.” Everyone he knew was affiliated with a gang, to some degree or another, and since he was 12, Murphy had identified with the Tree Top Pirus, a West Coast gang that had improbably migrated to Little Rock in the late ’80s. He was a student at J.A. Fair, though his heart wasn’t in it. “I was a teenager then,” he explained, “wildin’ and on the prowl.” Walking down the block toward his corner one morning, with his back to the street, Murphy freestyled to an instrumental on his Walkman. At the time, he wrote about what he knew: poverty mostly, and black market economics. He noticed a car driving 14
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slowly behind him, but didn’t bother looking back. “I’m thinking it’s just an ordinary motorist trying to pass me,” he said. When he finally did turn around, he saw it was an idling police cruiser with its window rolled down. His face fell. “He heard everything,” Murphy said. “The whole time he’d been right behind me listening to me rap.” The officer stepped out of his car and searched Murphy on the sidewalk, patting him down and feeling the pockets of his jacket. Murphy knew the cop must have felt the rocks he’d stashed there, but he left them alone. This was peculiar in itself. Rather than throw him up against the side of his vehicle — standard operating procedure in these situations — the cop seemed to want to talk to him. You want to keep on doing this ’til something happen to you? he remembers the man asking him. There’s only two places you’re gonna go with this here. Murphy was mostly quiet, and a little confused. “Me coming from a single-parent household, ain’t too many people had ever come at me like that,” he told me. He asked the cop
what he suggested he do with his time instead, and, surprisingly, the cop had an answer ready. He said his name was Mark Jones, he had opened a studio on Scott Hamilton Drive, and, from what he’d overheard, he thought Murphy should come by and try recording music. As a matter of course, Murphy didn’t trust cops, and figured it was a set-up. But he began asking around about Mark Jones in his neighborhood and discovered that people knew him and vouched for him. “Lo and behold,” he said, “he had a cousin that was from my hood. He knew what was going on.” Murphy had always wanted to make music, but the idea had seemed unreasonable; he didn’t know any working artists, had no access to the necessary resources. He considered Jones’ offer for a few anxious days before finally working up the courage to get a ride out to Scott Hamilton, to see if the studio was for real. “And as far as Pup Dog Records goes,” he said, “the rest is history.”
***
Ardell Allen was in his early 20s when he met Mark Jones, who at the time — the early 1990s — lived down the hall from Allen in an apartment complex on Reservoir Road, off Rodney Parham. Allen was in the Army Reserve, had been for several years, though what he really wanted to do was make music. He idolized Dr. Dre, who was then remaking the sonic landscape of street rap in his own image, and in the process elevating the role of the producer, whose instrument was the studio mixing board. This was what Allen wanted to do, and why shouldn’t Little Rock have its own sound? He had watched as Memphis and Houston and New Orleans and Atlanta had, one after another, emerged with their own scenes, each with a distinctive regional palette. Couldn’t Little Rock be next? The city’s rap scene wasn’t nonexistent at the time, but it was liminal and disconnected — it hadn’t yet congealed into something with a recognizable identity. The Internet is littered with oneoff projects and forgotten releases from Little Rock’s early ’90s, groups like 5th Most Dangerous, Tenta B and the R.T.P., 490 Clic, Locs Off Wolfe — groups that either left town for larger hip-hop meccas or finally collapsed under the pressure of indifference, incarceration or gang violence (the hard-to-find Synquise Records compilation “The Final Frontier” is a crucial document of this era). Mark Jones had something different in mind. He wanted to build an empire, something that could leave a mark and sustain itself. Unlike his predecessors, he understood that business sense, promotion and branding were at least half the battle, and he had studied successful test-cases for ideas. “Mark was pretty ambitious about what he wanted to do,” Allen remembered. “He had a specific vision as to what he wanted.” Jones even went on a fact-finding mission to New Orleans, meeting with Cash Money Records founders Birdman and Slim Williams — responsible for discovering and disseminating talents like Lil Wayne, Juvenile and B.G. — to pick their brains. “He was going to try to follow their blueprint,” Allen said. It was admittedly unusual that a narcotics officer would want to start a street rap label. But, as everyone who knew Jones pointed out, he was unusually enterprising and enthusiastic, and preferred to stay busy. “He always had multiple off-duty jobs,” Allen remembered, recalling Jones’ stints moonlighting at restaurants and at Park Plaza Mall. “He was always working.” Jones had kids, and it isn’t easy to support a family on
a police officer’s salary. And in another, equally important sense, his work as a narcotics officer directly inspired his goals with the record label: “By him being a policeman, he came in contact with a whole lot of people,” Christopher Murphy explained. “He noticed that there was an abundance of talent around Arkansas, just sitting there. And he wanted to make a difference. He wanted there to be somewhere where dudes that was musically inclined could channel that energy.” Allen and Jones met through Allen’s roommate, the rapper Money Green, who had started a group called Victims of Society with two other friends, Black and Gak. V.O.S. (as the group became known) was to be the first project on Jones’ new label, which he named Pup Dog after his childhood nickname, Puppy. Allen was recruited to produce. Jones brought in relatives to help out on the administrative side: Robert Mays, a mainframe operator at Quality Foods who everyone called “Dirty Rob,” and Roeshelle Robinson, another aspiring producer who was billed under the name Lil’ Roe. Robinson, who was still in high school, knew his way around various instruments from performing in church, and he and Allen spent several days studying a keyboard they shared, a Yamaha SY85. “I just hit the ground running,” Allen said. “We learned how to use it together and started creating songs. After a while, I was coming up with two or three songs a day.” Allen produced every track on the V.O.S. album, “On the Run,” which was released in 1995. The album alternates between the bleak and gothic (“On Death Row”) and the smooth and stuporous (“G Shit,” “Hustlas and Playas”); to the extent that it sounds homemade, this is part of its charm. It’s a record of its era, a full-throated dispatch from a black underclass whose representation in local media was at the time almost exclusively negative and depersonalized. It was also the first project recorded at the new Pup Dog studio, an office building Jones had leased on Scott Hamilton, across the street from a video store and next door to a dry cleaner. “Dude put his heart into that place,” remembers Murphy, who by this time was already going by Big Dank and working on his own first album (advertised as forthcoming on the back cover of “On the Run”). “[Mark] even put a bed in the back,” Murphy said, “because he used to work like a hundred hours a week trying to make this thing happen. He didn’t even take his uniform off sometimes, which used to spook the shit out of me.”
For production help, Allen recruited his friend Stephen Walters, a.k.a. O.G. Groove, a multi-instrumentalist from Granite Mountain who had been spending much of his time immersing himself in Little Rock’s emergent punk scene centered around the Belvedere Pavilion in Riverfront Park. “I had to come in and try out,” Walters told me. “After one of my beats played, Mark asked [Murphy] what he thought, and he said it was tight. I played another one, he gave a thumbs up. So I was pretty much in. I became an in-house producer.” The Big Dank album, “The Hood Has Raised Me,” came out in 1996, and was followed by another solo debut, “Bo$$ Hoggin,” by Walters’ friend John McAllister, who had moved here from St. Louis and went by the name J-Mac. The Pup Dog stable continued to expand as Jones opened the studio’s doors to the wider community, attracting a range of aspiring rappers and musicians from all over Little Rock. “Anybody who wanted to come through and record, we’d charge $40 or $50 an hour,” Allen remembered. Their reputation grew as the city began to take note. “We weren’t the only ones to do it, but we were the ones who showed people how to make it sound correct,” Walters said. “Our music sounded like the music on the radio; ours were the first local rap records that sounded polished.” The Pup Dog studio became a locus of creative energy, but it was also a rare site of total cease-fire between warring gangs. The city was fractional and violent at the time, and here was a small space of neutral ground. “That was a big part of it,” Allen told me. “In the times that I was there, I would have Crips and Bloods in the studio at the same time. And nothing would happen, because they were all about the music.” As Murphy saw it, this was by Jones’ design. “We had dudes from all walks of life,” he said. “This man [Jones] would come into the ghetto, and instead of trying to bust you and send you to jail, he was trying to rehabilitate you, and he did. Dudes that had talent they didn’t even know they had, all they needed was somebody to look up and recognize it. He gave them their shot. People who did art and had no platform to showcase it, he gave them a platform.”
This man [Jones] would come into the ghetto, and instead of trying to bust you and send you to jail, he was trying to rehabilitate you, and he did.
*** It was a vision that couldn’t survive for long outside the studio. The label began hosting regular shows and release parties at a venue on Broadwww.arktimes.com
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way Street called the Big Apple (in the Broadway Plaza Shopping Center, now home to Sims BBQ). They’d bring in bigger acts, like Three 6 Mafia and Goodie Mob, and would open for them to raise their own profile. “People loved the shows,” Allen said, “but it ended up getting kinda violent. It got dangerous.” And while the label was beginning to get attention on a larger scale, it struggled to attract a loyal local following. Reporters from national publications — from respected under-
ground rap zines like Murder Dog to the country’s premier rap magazine of record, The Source — did features on the label, but they went unacknowledged in the local press. Pup Dog artists were featured on compilations like “Young Southern Playaz” and “Southern XXX-Posure,” alongside huge names like Eightball & M.J.G., Juicy J and Playa Fly, but they were hardly ever played on local radio. This last failure remains a particular sore spot for the label’s artists, who blame Little Rock’s rap radio gatekeepers for
ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHRISTMAS TREE SALE! Frasier furs and Virginia pines are all fresh at the Arkansas school for the blind and visually impaired Christmas tree sale. All proceeds directly benefit the students of the school for the blind and visually impaired. November 27 sales begin and continue until all trees are gone. 2600 WEST MARKHAM ST.
Ring in the New Year NEW YEAR’S EVE OVERNIGHT PARTY PACKAGE
$235.89 per couple • Includes two champagne flutes, dinner for two, admission to the party and lodge accommodations at DeGray Lake Resort State Park Wake up to beautiful lake views, and enjoy a New Year’s Day breakfast, guided 1st Day Hike and Eagle Lake Cruise. (Reservations required for Lake Cruise. Space is limited.)
DANCE PARTY
9 p.m. – 1 a.m. • Thursday, December 31
Live music by Redd Tape, heavy hors d’oeuvres, champagne toast and more • $35.52 per person • Wine & Beer Bar (at additional cost) Guests must be 21 and older.
RSVP at 800-737-8355
I-30 Exit 78 at Arkadelphia • DEGRAY.com 16
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ARKANSAS TIMES
inhibiting their reach. Finally, there were contract disputes and legal troubles, and by the end of the decade the emergence of more accessible digital audio software had begun to render comparatively expensive studio time an unnecessary indulgence. The Pup Dog studio was shuttered. Murphy decided to try his luck on the West Coast, and Allen moved to Georgia. John “J-Mac” McAllister went into academia (he’s now a professor at UALR, focusing on “blindness and visual impairment.”) Mark Jones, who by this point went by “Superstar” Jones, gave up on his label, and refocused his efforts on stand-up comedy. “We didn’t make enough noise,” Walters said. “That was the downfall of Pup Dog.” Allen agreed. “I just wish we could have had a little more exposure,” he told me. “I feel like it was there. It was there.”
***
One afternoon about 15 years after the label went under, Stephen Walters got a message on Facebook from a German record collector, asking if he was “the Stephen Walters from Pup Dog Records.” After talking to the man, Walters looked around the Internet and was startled to discover that the Pup Dog releases had become collectors’ items abroad. Rap fans in Europe and Japan have been buying and selling copies for several hundred dollars apiece. “These guys are trading them like baseball cards,” Walters said, lamenting that he hadn’t saved any of the original CDs, the values of which have skyrocketed. Anyone looking to purchase a copy of, say, “Recognize Where The Funk Lyes,” the label’s great 1997 compilation (with a cover featuring a mock-up of prisoners in front of Central High School), can find three used copies on Amazon, each for over $1,000. The unhappy flipside to the label’s legacy is that Mark Jones wasn’t around to see it. Jones enjoyed some success as a comic. He became a familiar local personality, appearing as “Superstar” Jones on Power 92 and KATV, Ch. 7, hosting comedy showcases and once appearing on BET’s “Comic View.” But in 2009, a local drug dealer mentioned Jones’ name during an interrogation, and the LRPD began to investigate him internally. Three years later, Jones was arrested
in a federal sting operation. The dealer (now working as an FBI informant) approached Jones and offered to pay him $10,000 for his help. According to the trial transcript, the unnamed informant had experience as a professional comedy promoter and had previously worked with Jones to bring the comedian Eddie Griffin to Robinson Center Music Hall. Now he asked Jones to provide a police escort for a marijuana shipment coming into town — if the plan went off successfully, he wouldn’t even have to leave his car. Jones, who was deeply in debt to the IRS, said yes. At the trial, Jones confessed to what he’d done. But he also asked, essentially, why did you do this me? “I admit to what I did,” he said, “I made a bad judgment, and I gotta live with that. But I would not be here now if they hadn’t sent that informant at me. I never would have done anything.” He added that during his 26 years on the police force, he’d been a “model police officer” and “was very good at what I did.” He pleaded guilty to attempting to aid and abet the possession with intent to distribute marijuana and was sentenced to 104 months in federal prison. Christopher Murphy, who still considers Jones a father figure, thinks the police department was wrong to target him. “Mark Jones was one of the best police officers in Little Rock, and I’ll tell you why,” he said. “He wasn’t trying to kill nobody. He wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. He wanted to let young black youth try and get their dreams going. He was trying to help.” “I’m never surprised when a man wants to do better,” he added. “I think every man wants more. That shouldn’t shock nobody. If a man walks past you and drops $10,000 on the ground, I bet most people would break their backs trying to pick it up, no matter how much they already got. I owe him a lot, you know what I’m saying? Because he took a chance on me. He could’ve just busted my ass and locked me up, but he looked out for me, and exposed me to the world instead.” The FBI informant had worn a wire during his conversations with Jones, and excerpts from the tapes were played at the trial as evidence of Jones’ guilt. “If I take a chance, man, it’s gonna be something that’s worth it, it’s gonna be something I can depend on,” Jones told the man. “I’m trying to get off these streets.”
‘What would it take?’
is predominantly male, as is still the case everywhere (with, of course, some exceptional Little Rock women making some incredible contributions), I really cannot remember a time here that I have felt odd or strange for being a girl who plays music — or ever feeling that someone didn’t want to play with me, or respected me less because of my gender. I think most people would assume this open-mindedness would be more the case in progressive New York rather than in the South, but I am here to tell y’all it’s the reverse, for me at least. And so that brings me to my other suggestion. I would love to see more girls playing music in Little Rock. The women already making music in this town are giants in my eyes and some of my best friends on the planet, and I just hope more women will join us. Come on in, gals, the water’s fine!
A A forum on the future Aforum forumon onthe thefuture future of of the Little Rock ofthe theLittle LittleRock Rock music music scene. musicscene. scene.
CORRENE SPERO: Wants more women to play music.
BY BY SARAH STRICKLIN BYSARAH SARAHSTRICKLIN STRICKLIN
I
don’t think I’m going to shock anyone by saying that cities larger than Little Rock offer more in the way of cultural events. I doubt anyone reading this labors under the delusion that our art and music scene here can rival those in New York, Austin, Los Angeles, Nashville, etc. Those places have more money, more people, more venues, more academic institutions, more practice spaces, more public transportation, more studios. But a deeply altering realization for me, about a year ago, was that Little Rock’s smallness can itself be a benefit. Something I can take advantage of here, something that wasn’t possible when I lived in Austin or Chicago or Boston, is the fact that I know everyone. While this has its disadvantages when it comes to, say, dating, when it comes to making changes in the city, knowing people is game-changing. True to my age bracket, the year-ago realization came in the form of a Facebook post. Yet another dear friend was leaving Little Rock for brighter artistic horizons in larger metropolitan jungles, and I was desperate to put a finger in the dam. How do we keep our creative people if they don’t find it possible to work here? So, I turned to the digital corkboard and asked, “What would it take, realistically, for Little Rock to become a supportive city for artists and musicians?” Seven days, 90 comments, several private messages and a handful of arguments later, 20 people met to talk in the Oxford American’s Annex behind South on Main. The post, the conversations that followed, the months
of meetings and emails revealed a powerful truth: Most of the people in Little Rock talking about the condition and future of the local arts and music scene were talking about the same few things. We approached a handful of friends who are active in the music community here, and asked them their thoughts on the future of the Little Rock music scene. What is the best or worst thing about being an artist here? What does it mean to be a part of the local music scene, and what could we do to improve it? Their replies follow. To participate in the survey yourself, find the Little Rock Arts Survey Facebook page.
More touring, more women
By Correne Spero
I think one of the more nefarious aspects of trying to be a musician in cities like New York and L.A., and even Chicago, Nashville or Austin, is that everyone thinks they are about to be famous, or at least very much wants to be. And this is something that I have noticed seems to be absolutely missing from the Little Rock musical culture. In fact, most musician friends of mine here would probably laugh at such a notion, or find it mildly distasteful. There is a sort of laid-back, self-deprecating sense of humor that musicians here seem to share, and I think the fact that most musicians in Little Rock have other jobs, careers and passions, and that their egos are not entirely consumed by this quest for fame through music, is in large part responsible for the authenticity, creativity and diversity of the art here. In terms of what we could do better,
the first thing that comes to mind is the flip side of the same coin: There is just so much talent here that at times I wish more folks would just roll the dice and bet on themselves and take what they are doing to the national (and international) level. It is a joy to watch folks like Adam Faucett, Bonnie Montgomery, Kari Faux and Pallbearer really get out there and tour and show the world what Little Rock has to offer — they represent us so well. I wish at times that others would give it a go so everyone I know all over the world can hear them and see them play! When I lived in New York, both of my bands were comprised of all women, and one in particular was known for making somewhat unconventional music in terms of what was expected of women in that industry at that time (and even by today’s standards, I think). Over the years I think I have heard just about every sexist, rude and small-minded thing you can imagine from industry execs, engineers, producers, sound guys (and yes, they are still almost all guys) — you name it. I basically came to regard this as normal. While the music scene in Little Rock
Correne Spero is a member of Northern State (New York), Lucky Bitch (New York), SPERO (Little Rock) and Daughters of Triton (Little Rock).
ALEXANDER JONES: We need more avant-garde music
More avant-garde acts from out of town, more unity in town By Alexander Jones
Little Rock’s music scene is small, but it punches above its weight. We are blessed with a cadre of great musicians in this city. Even as many musicians move on to bigger, greener pastures, it has been my experience that youth, transience or new ideas always seem to replace what is lost. Every Day
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GOON DES GARCONS: Take advantage of what’s around you.
Alexander Jones is a member of the Little Rock band Bombay Harambee.
A communal show and practice space
By Ron Mc
I feel the arts in Little Rock are strong, but there is a need for consolidating efforts and information. And there is a need for fostering unity. I 18
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ARKANSAS TIMES
believe a specific and designated venue for the arts can give Central Arkansas’s creatives what they need. The arts community would benefit greatly from a permanent venue. This venue would be a place where artists can create and display their work. So, there would need to be working studio spaces as well as performance areas. This place should allow for all levels of artists to participate. The artists should help run the facility as well as have an investment in it. That way they can receive a return financially as well as creatively. Little Rock needs a venue that is run by and for its artists. I personally know poets, musicians and dancers who constantly search for places to practice and perform. And I’ve also had many conversations with visual artists, actors and songwriters who seek places where they can perfect and showcase their talents. We would love to have a home. Somewhere that everyone knows is for the arts (across social, economic, racial and hierarchal lines). All artists and all parts of the community should be invited. Ron MC is a rapper and teacher.
Goon Des Garcons is a rapper and the founder of the Young Gods of America collective.
Soak in the history
By Jeremy Brasher
One of the things I like about the music and art scenes here in Arkansas is the incredible invisible continuity and history that is all around us like air, or possibly background radiation. I say invisible because so much of the past is unknown and unseen to us. You know, getting older is like gaining an exponentially unhelpful superpower: Through your accumulated experience you accrue lots of trivial information that seems very interesting to you but likely isn’t to anyone else. I bet career historians are some of the most frustrated people on the planet — they probably drink themselves to sleep just to get by.
I’ll give you a local example just from my little corner of the subculture I came out of: It amazes and excites me to see entire new generations of punk-rock kids living in the same rent houses that my friends and I lived in some 20 years ago. The fliers on the door are essentially the same. The style is pretty much the same. I imagine their bands are eerily similar to those of their distant rental predecessors. Do they realize their place in the, uh, I guess you would say, lineage? Maybe yes, but maybe no. I can’t just go over there and regale them with stories of all the things we used to get into in their house. Or ... can ... I? No, no … gotta stop that. Gotta try not to be the guy. Of course, the inevitable flipside of this situation is that somewhere out there, someone is reading this who saw Black Flag at the S.O.B. in ’86 and wrote something similar in the Spectrum about my friends and I when we moved into their old house. Before that someone was writing about the beatnik kids living by the railroad tracks in the Arkansas Gazette and ad infinitum. It’s a real cultural Philip K. Dick situation we seem to be in around here, and not like in a bad way where we turn out to be robots or something, but in a cool way with house shows. Jeremy Brasher is a member of The Canehill Engagement and The Moving Front and a columnist on the Times’ culture blog, Rock Candy.
Give us space
By Alex Flanders Both as a consumer of art and an aspiring artist myself in Little Rock, one thing I can’t help but notice is the lack of studio resources. I know you’re working on it, Little Rock, but some of the artistic disciplines are seriously getting the shaft. How cool would it be if photographers had their own darkroom where they could develop film
Take advantage
By Goon Des Garcons
If I was to give a piece of advice to the kids of Arkansas looking to make a name for themselves in music (or anything, period) it’d probably be this: Take advantage. Take advantage of your time, your dreams, your reality and your surroundings. We all know Arkansas isn’t a place too big on progression and pushing culture, but that doesn’t mean it has to be like that forever. It all starts with us. I hear people use the “no one’s
ALEX FLANDERS: We need affordable studio space.
SHERRY L. SPEER
What the scene is not is static. Savvy, wise and generally thoughtful veterans often pine for the days when Vino’s booked Queens of the Stone Age or Green Day in its back room. But wait a minute! There are many excellent bands that continue to stop in Little Rock to ply their trade. That said, we do need to work on bringing more avant-garde artists into venues like White Water, Stickyz and Vino’s. Another consideration moving forward — in any worthwhile endeavor — is how important it is to integrate the constancy of change into existing structures that are often taken for granted by those working in the present. Hopefully other musicians, observers and music fans share my goal of bridging some of the divides I have witnessed within the Little Rock music scene. It is my hope that our beloved, but at times cliquey, scene begins to morph into a broader, deeper collective. Our city is not big enough to sustain excessively fractured mini-bubbles: country here, hip-hop there, hardcore today, and post-punk tomorrow. I admit, perhaps it is not something to be done at every show. But the best bills of the past few years have incorporated the best of each of those genres to build something less coherent, less static, but altogether more exciting.
ever come out of Arkansas” excuse as a crutch all the time when really it should serve as the greatest sense of fuel ever. This state is a diamond mine for creativity and talent that hasn’t been discovered yet. It’s like we’re this huge blank canvas that no one’s made their mark on yet. There are a couple of dashes and blotches here and there, but no definitive soundscape or aesthetic. To me that’s almost the perfect metaphor for the state as a whole. There’s just all this space and opportunity waiting to be turned into something new and refreshing. Everything’s right here for us: We just gotta take advantage. You bored in the small town you’re from? Start something. You and your friends hate doing the same things every weekend and want to introduce something new to your city? Do it. Take advantage of any and everything around you and turn your dreams into your surroundings. All it takes is a little dedication and drive. You wouldn’t believe the shit me and my friends did in three years here.
and print photos? Something community-oriented, or even a subscriptionbased space where supplies are provided. Something’s got to give! As far as musicians go, too many conversations with most of the multitalented folks around town have turned into complaints of not having a proper practice space. Therefore not practicing as a band at all. Therefore not booking any shows around town. Therefore hurting the music scene. And I get it! Too-high rental prices make vacant office spaces nearly impossible, and nobody wants their dreams haunted by sounds of a shredding guitar from the residential unit above them at 1 a.m. What I’m saying is we need space, and it’s not us, it’s you. Give us a chance; I promise we’ll make something great. Alex Flanders is host of the KABFFM, 88.3, program “GIRLS” (8:30 p.m. Thursdays).
Better avenues for promotion
By Derek Brooks
Could we create more avenues for promoting throughout the state?
For instance, where does one go to actively promote in North Little Rock? How does one get the word out other than using the Internet? Permits exist for holding a special event, but what about a permit that gives you the ability to legally promote your own music event? Something that would allow you to pass out fliers or post fliers in places like malls or light poles on street corners or wherever without having them taken down. Another idea could be to add on to an existing idea of showcasing local talent. There are events that hold a “best of” local talent, but how about one that includes anyone who wishes to participate — make it a month long event that includes music and visual art, and let the people who attend decide what they like the most. This may help other artists meet one another and cultivate the growth of the scene at the same time. And who knows what could be produced from that kind of collaborative effort? Derek Brooks is a rapper (ill_chemist) and host of the KABF-FM, 88.3, program “4817” (9 p.m. Saturdays).
Help Homeless Neighbors
Feed Their Pets
The Pet Food Pantry provides dog and cat food to neighbors who are homeless or struggling to feed their pets. Please help by contributing: • Dry dog or cat food of any brand, flavor or type. • Empty 3 lb – 7 lb dog and cat food bags. • Plastic shopping bags. • Funds to purchase food.
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ASK US ABOUT OUR HUGE WHISKEY SALE! Rules: Must be 21 to participate. One bid ticket per person per day. Call for more info. www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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Arts Entertainment AND
J FERNANDEZ, A MUSICIAN SINCE AGE 7: Traveled from Arkansas to Chicago to national acclaim for his songwriting.
Read my mind A Q&A with J Fernandez. BY JAMES SZENHER
M
y first encounter with Justin Fernandez was about 15 years ago at Vino’s. He was in a band called Bumfish, a group of mostly Parkview kids, and it was one of the first local shows I’d seen as a somewhat sheltered youth-group-attending, well-behaved kid who’d recently gotten a driver’s license and heard about the band from a friend. I remember thinking they were “punk rock” and “fun” — 20
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so, pretty much all a 16-year-old could ask for. Later, while in college at Fayetteville, Fernandez founded Tel Aviv, which had a more angsty, post-punk sound and played frequently around the Fayetteville-Conway-Little Rock circuit in the early-mid 2000s. He then moved to Chicago to be a professional cartographer, and started making music in a loft apartment by himself, releasing a string
of singles and EPs that showed a gradual progression from offbeat lo-fi pop to more finely crafted and fully formed pop songs. A full-length album, “Many Levels of Laughter,” was released in June via Joyful Noise Recordings. The music is personal and dreamy, sprawling out over the varied landscapes of psychedelia and indie-pop. Listening to the record is like looking out of an unfamiliar window, though the lyrics tend to focus inward, grounded in personal experience and introverted struggles with communication and relationships. It’s gained a fair amount of critical attention and acclaim, leading the seminal UK music magazine NME to ask, “Is J Fernandez America’s Next Great
Singer-Songwriter?” I spoke with Fernandez in October while he was still in Chicago before leaving for his current European tour. Sorry, I have to ask: How did it feel to read “IS J. FERNANDEZ AMERICA’S NEXT GREAT SINGER SONGWRITER?” in a major music publication? It’s absurd. I remember going to a bar that night, and everyone was giving me shit for that. There are some people out there who I consider to be undeniably good, and I don’t feel like I’m one of them. I feel like I’m making songs in the same way that someone who makes furniture would craft something. They’re not trying to break new ground; they’re
A&E NEWS
ROCK CANDY Check out the Times’ A&E blog arktimes.com
just trying to do a great job at what they do. [The NME article] is awesome in a way, but I don’t know that it’s true. For my family, though, who always ask about my music, having an article like that will definitely help give some legitimacy to what I’m doing. I can say, “Hey, Dad, check this out.” One of the first local shows I ever went to was your old band Bumfish at Vino’s. I remember being excited that people in Little Rock were playing live music. Can you talk a little about your early bands? I’ve been playing music since I was about 7. When I first started playing in bands, I had no clue what I was doing. I think every instance of me writing music is just me going through some sort of phase. When I was 12 to 17 that was when I realized that there was music happening in Little Rock, and that changed everything for me. Before that, all I listened to was really bad alternative rock. The people who played music in Little Rock at the time — bands like Ho-Hum, Magic Cropdusters, Soophie Nun Squad — they opened up a whole new world for me, and us getting to play music when we were that young with Bumfish was us wanting to be like those bands. I think we probably annoyed everyone when we played. I would have been so annoyed with us back then. Our songs were stupid, simple pop songs, but I was just learning how to write, just sort of copying what I heard. I think I’ve always been trying to do the same thing, but I’ve gone through different phases, where I’ll listen to something new that shows me a new way to think about pop music. I remember seeing the [Little Rock] band Chinese Girls and wanting to work on new ideas. When I moved to Fayetteville, and started working on Tel Aviv, we were trying to use our instruments in different ways, still trying to write pop music but pop that was a little darker. I think my records now are sort of a continuation of that. When I first started in Chicago, I didn’t have anyone to play music with. I wanted to see if I could do everything by myself. With the early stuff the instrumentation is crude and the recordings are sloppier. But I’ve always just been trying to make interesting pop music.
Why did you end up moving to Chicago? Do you think you could have been as successful playing here? I could have made this music when I was living in Little Rock. It would have been easier even — not to have to pay rent, to be able live with my parents. Maybe I’d have about three records by now if I had done that. I moved to Chicago mainly because of a job. I never thought there was anything lacking in Little Rock and Arkansas. Whenever I come back home, I feel like there is always something interesting going on. And I’ll talk to people from other cities, and they’ll mention bands or shows from Little Rock — everyone seems to have connections there from all over the country. I’ve read that you’re a big fan of [Guided By Voices frontman] Robert Pollard. Me, too. What do you take away from his music and how does it influence you? When I started recording this project, I was trying not to dwell too much on the details, and to just let the songs come out. [Pollard] is a guy who can just do that. Whenever I think of people who just write as much as possible, he is a perfect example of someone who comes up with ideas, records them at that moment, and then they turn out so good. They’re well-crafted pop songs but also really organic — it never feels overworked at all, and it seems so easy for him. I was striving for that at first, but I’m not sure if I ended up with that. Some of the first things I recorded for the album were more in that realm. Sometimes I’ll be at my workspace and it will all come together in an hour, but most of the time I don’t feel like I work like that. It’s more like I have to force myself, and that’s become more of the way I do things. I don’t really believe in getting inspired, that romantic idea of someone getting inspired and writing this thing from nothing. I believe I have to put in the work for it, that I’m going to sit here for an hour and keep working on it until I feel like I have something. I wish I could write like him, but for me it’s usually more of the opposite. Do you ever have a problem deciding when something’s finished?
Yeah, I have a lot of trouble with that. I just have to set a deadline. Listening to the album, I can hear some lyrical themes that emerge — like misunderstandings and communication failures, especially in “Read My Mind.” Yeah, at the time I had been dealing with these issues in most of my relationships — including friends and work. That song is about getting to a point where you’re in a relationship and it’s pretty serious, but things might not be going so well in both of your lives, and there can be this barrier sometimes. When you’re living with someone, you see them every day and there’s tension that you don’t ever want to talk about. There are things that you’re trying to communicate, and they’re trying to communicate, and you expect the other person to pick up on this stuff, but no one is really communicating. It’s a theme that comes up a lot in my life. I don’t feel like I’m the most expressive person. People say I’m hard to read, but I don’t think of myself that way. I don’t feel like I’m trying to hold back any emotion. It’s something that I’ve realized in the past couple years: that I have to tell people what I want, how I feel, etc. I feel like most of the relationships I have are built around working together, and communicating that way is where I [feel comfortable]: What are we going to work on? What are we making together? Trying to communicate outside that realm is something I’ve had to work on. I heard you were making maps as a day job? I’m working at an ad agency now, but for a while I was making maps for Rand McNally. I studied geography when I was in college; cartography was kind of appealing because there was this objective data, a science-related side of things, but there was also this whole creative side of it that was subjective, having to deal with visual hierarchies and graphic design. Do you like working at an ad agency? Yeah, it’s interesting to manipulate these huge amounts of data for marketing purposes. There’s so much data that all these companies collect from us now, CONTINUED ON PAGE 31
THE FIRST OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “Midnight Special,” Little Rock native Jeff Nichols’ new sci-fi thriller, has been released. The film, Nichols’ first big studio effort, stars Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver and Sam Shepard, and was originally set for a Thanksgiving 2015 release, but was pushed back to March 18, 2016. According to the official synopsis: “In the sci-fi thriller ‘Midnight Special,’ writer/director Jeff Nichols proves again that he is one of the most compelling storytellers of our time, as a father (Michael Shannon) goes on the run to protect his young son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government. Ultimately his father risks everything to protect Alton and help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever, in this genre-defying film as supernatural as it is intimately human.” NEXT UP IN the Arkansas Times Film Series, we’re screening Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 classic “The Last Picture Show,” starring Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepard, Ellen Burstyn, Cloris Leachman and Timothy Bottoms. Shot in vivid, hypnotic black-and-white, and nominated for eight Academy Awards, the film is a coming-of-age story based on the novel by Larry McMurtry, following a small north Texas town over the course of a year in the early 1950s. Newsweek called it “not merely the best American movie of a rather dreary year [but] the most impressive work by a young American director since ‘Citizen Kane.’ ” Pauline Kael, in the New Yorker, called it “a movie for everybody,” and in the Village Voice, Jonas Mekas called it “a perfectly beautiful movie.” We’ll show the film at the Ron Robinson Theater at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, $5.
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FEATURING DIGITAL LIGHT PROJECTION & DOLBY DIGITAL SOUND
SHOW TIMES: WED, NOV 25 – THURS, DEC 3
TRUMBO R | 1:45 4:25 6:45 9:30
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES PG13 | 2:00 4:20 6:45 9:00
BROOKLYN PG13 | 2:00 4:25 7:00 9:30
SPECTRE PG13 | 1:30 4:15 7:00 9:45
THE GOOD DINOSAUR PG | 2:15 4:15 7:15 9:15
BRIDGE OF SPIES PG13 | 1:45 4:20 7:00 9:45
CREED PG13 | 1:45 4:15 6:45 9:30
SUFFRAGETTE PG13 | 2:15 4:20
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN PG13 | 2:00 4:20 7:00 9:20
THE NIGHT BEFORE R | 7:15 9:20
HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 PG13 | 1:30 4:15 7:00 9:45
WHITE CHRISTMAS
DEC, 8
1954 7PM $5
NOW SERVING BEER & WINE • GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
21
THE TO-DO
LIST
BY BENJAMIN HARDY AND WILL STEPHENSON
FRIDAY 11/27
DIKKI DU & THE ZYDECO KREWE 9 p.m. White Water Tavern. $7.
Dikki Du is the alter-ego of Troy Carrier, brother and former bandmate of Chubby, as in the great Grammy-winning Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band. The family is south Louisiana music royalty — Troy claims to have played music since he was 9 years old. His father owned a club in Lawtell, La., called the Offshore Lounge, where Troy spent his childhood playing washboard with aging zydeco veterans. (As far as I know, this is the correct and possibly the only way to learn zydeco.) The band’s shows — as you can see for yourself on YouTube — are wild and celebratory and physical. Carrier is an accordion virtuoso, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Also, and this should maybe go without saying, if you’re at all interested in seeing live zydeco in Little Rock, White Water is the ideal place to do it. WS
SATURDAY 11/28 DOUBLE-TIME: Chicago rap legend Twista performs at Envy (formerly Elevations), 9 p.m. Thursday.
VINO’S 25th ANNIVERSARY 8 p.m. Vino’s.
THURSDAY 11/26
TWISTA
9 p.m. Envy (formerly Elevations).
Among other things, Chicago was the birthplace of house music, the city where DJs like Frankie Knuckles and Jesse Saunders took disco to its hypnotic, synthetic, alien extreme. Chicago rapper Twista grew up going to house clubs like The Factory and The Hole in the Wall — it’s where he claims he got his hyperactive flow, trying to keep time with fast and stuttering dance music. Wherever it came from, it’s
distinctive: He used to hold the Guinness World Record for fast-rapping (he got up to 598 syllables in 55 seconds), maybe the goofiest hip-hop-related accomplishment ever. He’s made his flow a crucial, purposeful part of his identity in a way that few other rappers have. It’s in his name, “Twista,” and his album titles, like “Runnin’ Off at Da Mouth” and “Adrenaline Rush” (a great record). He’s flirted with the Billboard charts over the years, though he’s always been mostly a rapper’s rap-
per; Chicago artists, especially, from Kanye to Chance the Rapper, have often tried to lift him up in tribute. Why is Twista performing in Little Rock on Thanksgiving night? I have no idea — it wouldn’t be prudent to speculate. But it’s a great opportunity for anyone looking to blow off his extended family. Or, I don’t know, bring them along! Little Rock rap legend E-Dubb opens, at the brand new late-night club Envy, formerly known as Elevations. WS
THURSDAY 11/26-SUNDAY 12/13
‘THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK CHRISTMAS MUSICAL’
7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Studio Theater. $20.
Armadillo Acres is north Florida’s top-shelf “mobile-living community,” a booze-soaked, sunny, Southern free22
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ARKANSAS TIMES
for-all for geriatrics and social misfits alike. Stucco-pink, swaying palms, Miller Lite, plastic patio furniture. This is the setting for Betsy Kelso and David Nehls’ “The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical,” which imagines a “freak bout of amnesia” striking the trailer park, and the farce that would result. It’s the holiday
production marking the 60th season of the Community Theater of Little Rock, which proudly considers itself “Central Arkansas’s oldest and finest theater tradition.” Admission is $18 for adults and $16 for military, students and seniors. They stress: “This show is not recommended for children under 13 years of age.” WS
They should put it on a stamp, or a plaque, or name a holiday after it: The corner of Seventh and Chester streets is a Little Rock landmark. In the mid-’80s it was Urbi et Orbi, a heady New Wave art gallery and performance space — the novelist Jack Butler wrote about it for the Arkansas Times and called it “Little Rock’s little Soho.” Then it was DMZ, the local punk scene’s center of gravity. (There’s a great Facebook group called “I lived at DMZ” that will give you a visceral sense of what it meant to people — it’s a nostalgic gut punch whether you frequented the place or not.) For a period of time it was even a vaguely pretentious acid house club called Nemesis, with geometric shapes on the outside walls; its slogan then was, “Little Rock’s only key to the future.” But for 25 years it’s been Vino’s — perennial punk incubator and corruptor of the city’s youth — and it’s been a good run. If you missed the venue’s storied ’90s heyday, you can get a glimpse Saturday night at its 25th anniversary party, featuring comeback performances by Big Boss Line, Go Fast and Lollygadget, plus sets from Ebo and the Tomcats and Bonnie Montgomery. Also like the old days: Pizza slices and beer will be available for the throwback price of $1.50. WS
IN BRIEF
FRIDAY 11/27
MONDAY 11/30
ARKANSAS JUSTICE FORUM
12 p.m. Clinton School of Public Service. Free.
This July, Bill Clinton did a fairly remarkable thing for a former president: He admitted he was wrong about a signature piece of policy, the 1994 omnibus “three strikes” crime bill that helped fuel the rise of mass incarceration in the U.S. “I signed a bill that made the problem worse and I want to admit it,” Clinton told the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at the NAACP’s annual meeting this summer. Then again, “the problem” — the U.S. constitutes 5 percent of the world’s population but contains 25
percent of the world’s prisoners — has grown too big to ignore, especially for a family that sees itself returning to the White House a little over a year from now. It’s not surprising the NAACP and liberal stalwarts like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for American Progress want to put fewer people behind bars. The remarkable thing is that today they’re joined by the tea party-affiliated FreedomWorks and by Koch Industries (yes, those Kochs). It also makes sense: Fiscal hawks see bloated prisons as one more example of government waste, and libertarians are suspicious of restrictions on civil liberties. Thus was born the Coalition
for Public Safety, a new national initiative that binds together left and right in a push to reform criminal justice. That the coalition is sponsoring a onehour panel discussion on the topic at Bill Clinton’s own graduate school shows just how much the conventional wisdom has shifted since ’94. Panelists will include two state legislators at the forefront of prison reform efforts in Arkansas, Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson (R-Little Rock) and Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock). They’ll be joined by Kelly Eichler, general counsel for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and Jerry Madden, a former Texas legislator. BH
The Green Corner Store presents a Holiday Pop-Up Shop through Nov. 29. Comedian Tim Kidd is at the Loony Bin at 7:30 p.m., $7 (and at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, $10). The Heat plays at the Afterthought at 9 p.m., $7. Memphis swamp soul group Marcella and Her Lovers performs at Maxine’s, in Hot Springs, with Otherwise, 9 p.m., $5.
SATURDAY 11/28 The Promenade’s Celebration of Lights (at the Promenade at Chenal) begins at 3 p.m., free. The Big Dam Horns plays at Cajun’s Wharf, 9 p.m. FreeVerse plays at the Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. Fayetteville garage punk band Pagiins plays at Maxine’s, in Hot Springs, with Dangerous Idiots and Heels, 9 p.m., $5. Possessed by Paul James, the recording moniker of Florida folk songwriter Konrad Wert, plays at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $7. Local partyfunk band SYNRG performs at Juanita’s 9 p.m. Little Rock singer-songwriter John Willis performs at South on Main with Cody Belew (featured on season three of NBC’s “The Voice”), 9 p.m., $10. Little Rock psychoblues favorite Tyrannosaurus Chicken plays at the White Water Tavern at 9:30 p.m.
TUESDAY 12/1 Vino’s screens the 1943 blackmagic noir “Dead Men Walk” at 7:30 p.m. in the back room, free. Local ambient instrumental-piano project Glass Wands plays at White Water with the indie rock band Greater Pyrenees, 9 p.m.
WEDNESDAY 12/2 THE WEARY KIND: Ryan Bingham plays at Revolution at 8 p.m. Tuesday, $20 adv., $25 day of.
TUESDAY 12/1
RYAN BINGHAM
8 p.m. Revolution. $20 adv., $25 day of.
Ryan Bingham grew up all over the state of Texas. He got into bullriding in his late teens and spent several years working the rodeo circuit. According to his (unusually morbid) Wikipedia page, “Ryan’s mother drank herself to
death and his father committed suicide.” His voice has a thorny, gruff, rustic elegance to it — like he’s talking down to you, but it’s OK, because he’s obviously had it much worse. Rolling Stone said Bingham “sings like Steve Earle’s dad,” which is significant mostly because he is 26 years younger than Steve Earle. It’s on account of all of these things that he was recruited in 2009 to write songs for
the movie “Crazy Heart,” the one where Jeff Bridges played a grizzled honky-tonk legend. Bingham wrote its Golden Globewinning theme song, “The Weary Kind.” His new record is called “Fear and Saturday Night,” and, according to Rolling Stone, he wrote most of it “alone in an airstream trailer, parked in the mountains of California without electricity or cell phones.” WS
Comedian Cowboy Bill Martin is at the Loony Bin at 7:30 p.m., $7. Finger Food plays a free show at South on Main as part of the Oxford American’s Local Live series, 7:30 p.m. R&B singer and Tech N9ne affiliate Stevie Stone performs at Revolution with Yak Boy Fresh, 9 p.m., $10. Chi Chi Valdez hosts Drag-eoke at Sway, 9 p.m. L.A. thrash metal stalwart Heretic plays at Vino’s with Conviction, 9 p.m. Alt-metal band All That Remains plays at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville with Devour the Day, Audiotopsy and Sons of Texas as part of “The Order of Things” tour, 7:30 p.m., $20. www.arktimes.com
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AFTER DARK 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.
THURSDAY, NOV. 26
MUSIC
Karaoke. Zack’s Place, 8 p.m., free. 1400 S. University Ave. 501-664-6444. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.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. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 8 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com. Twista. Envy, 9 p.m. 7200 Col. Glenn Road. 5623317.
FRIDAY, NOV. 27
MUSIC
All In Fridays. Club Elevations. 7200 Colonel Glenn Road. 501-562-3317. Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe. White Water Tavern, 9 p.m., $7. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. The Heat. Afterthought Bistro and Bar, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www. afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Marcella and Her Lovers, Otherwise. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com. Route 66. Agora Conference and Special Event Center, 6:30 p.m., $5. 705 E. Siebenmorgan, Conway. The Schwagg with Friends of the Phamily. George’s Majestic Lounge. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 8 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com. Tragikly White. Revolution, 9:30 p.m., $10. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/new. Upscale Friday. IV Corners, 7 p.m. 824 W. Capitol Ave. White Chocolate (headliner), Richie Johnson (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.
21 SONGS: Little Rock’s John Willis performs at South on Main with Cody Belew (featured on season three of NBC’s “The Voice”), 9 p.m. Saturday, $10. p.m., $7-$13. 12th and Cleveland streets. 501221-7568. www.blsdance.org. Contra Dance. Park Hill Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $5. 3520 JFK Blvd., NLR. arkansas-
countrydance.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.
Book your holiday luncheon parties now! We can accommodate just about any size lunch gathering in one of our private party rooms. Lunch, Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-2 p.m. | Dinner, Mon.-Sat., from 5:00 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Rd. | 501-375-5351 | @CajunsLR | cajunswharf.com Complimentary shuttle service from area hotels.
COMEDY
“A Fertile Holiday.” An original production by The Main Thing. The Joint, 8 p.m., $22. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Tim Kidd. The Loony Bin, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.
DANCE
Ballroom dancing. Free lessons begin at 7 p.m. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 8-11 24
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
ARKANSAS TIMES
417 PRESIDENT CLINTON AVE LITTLE ROCK, 501.244.9670
CUSTOM SUITS & ACCESSORIES FULL SERVICE TAILORING FREE TAILORING ON IN-HOUSE PURCHASES PICK UP & DELIVERY AVAILABLE
EVENTS
Holiday Pop-Up Shop. The Green Corner Store, Nov. 27-29, 11 a.m. 1423 Main St. 501-374-1111. www.thegreencornerstore.com. LGBTQ/SGL weekly meeting. Diverse Youth for Social Change is a group for LGBTQ/SGL and straight ally youth and young adults age 14 to 23. For more information, call 501-2449690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook. LGBTQ/ SGL Youth and Young Adult Group, 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St.
SATURDAY, NOV. 28
MUSIC
Big Dam Horns (headliner), Chris DeClerk (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Cody Belew and John Willis. South on Main, 9 p.m., $10. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. southonmain.com. FreeVerse. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www. afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. K.I.S.S. Saturdays. Featuring DJ Silky Slim. Dress code enforced. Sway, 10 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-492-9802. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-
4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. National Park Radio (album release). George’s Majestic Lounge. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226. Pagiins, Dangerous Idiots, Heels. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com. Pickin’ Porch. Bring your instrument. All ages welcome. Faulkner County Library, 9:30 a.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org. Possessed by Paul James. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $7. 107 River Market Ave. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. SYNRG. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $15. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 8 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com. Tyrannosaurus Chicken. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www. whitewatertavern.com. Vino’s 25th Anniversary: Go Fast, Ebo & The Tomcats, Big Boss Line, Bonnie Montgomery, Lollygadget. Vino’s. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.
COMEDY
“A Fertile Holiday.” An original production by The Main Thing. The Joint, 8 p.m., $22. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Tim Kidd. The Loony Bin, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.
EVENTS
Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell and Cedar Hill Roads. Hillcrest Farmers Market. Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. 2200 Kavanaugh Blvd. Historic Neighborhoods Tour. Bike tour of historic neighborhoods includes bike, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby’s Bike Hike, 9 a.m., $8-$28. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001. Holiday Pop-Up Shop. The Green Corner Store, through Nov. 29, 11 a.m. 1423 Main St. 501-3741111. www.thegreencornerstore.com. Pork & Bourbon Tour. Bike tour includes bicycle, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby’s Bike Hike, 11:30 a.m., $35-$45. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001. The Promenade’s Celebration of Lights. The Promenade at Chenal, 3 p.m., free. 17711 Chenal Parkway. 501-821-5552. chenalshopping.com.
SUNDAY, NOV. 29
MUSIC
Irish Traditional Music Session. Hibernia Irish Tavern, 2:30 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com. Karaoke. Shorty Small’s, 6-9 p.m. 1475 Hogan Lane, Conway. 501-764-0604. www.shortysmalls.com. Karaoke with DJ Sara. Hardrider Bar & Grill, 7 p.m., free. 6613 John Harden Drive, Cabot. 501-982-1939. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.
EVENTS
Artist for Recovery. A secular recovery group for people with addictions. Quapaw Quarter United
Methodist Church, 10 a.m. 1601 S. Louisiana. Holiday Pop-Up Shop. The Green Corner Store, 11 a.m. 1423 Main St. 501-374-1111. www.thegreencornerstore.com.
MONDAY, NOV. 30
MUSIC
Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. 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. Ryan Bingham, Jamestown Revival. George’s Majestic Lounge. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226.
EVENTS
Capital Hotel Christmas Tree Lighting. Capital Hotel, 6:30 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com.
LECTURES
Arkansas Justice Forum. Clinton Presidential Center, noon 1200 President Clinton Ave. 3708000. www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org.
TUESDAY, DEC. 1
MUSIC
Gil Franklin & Friends. Holiday Inn, North Little Rock, first Tuesday, Wednesday of every month. 120 W. Pershing Blvd., NLR. Glass Wands, Greater Pyrenees. White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. 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. Karaoke Tuesday. Prost, 8 p.m., free. 322 President Clinton Blvd. 501-244-9550. willydspianobar.com/prost-2. Karaoke Tuesdays. On the patio. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 7:30 p.m., free. 107 River Market Ave. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. 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. Ryan Bingham, Jamestown Revival. Revolution, 8 p.m., $20 adv., $25 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/new. Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com.
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
“Dead Men Walk.” Vino’s, 7:30 p.m., free. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 2
MUSIC
Acoustic Open Mic. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. 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. Finger Food. South on Main, 7:30 p.m., free. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. southonmain.com. Gil Franklin & Friends. Holiday Inn, North Little Rock, first Tuesday, Wednesday of every month. 120 W. Pershing Blvd., NLR. Heretic, Conviction. Vino’s. 923 W. 7th St. 501375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Karaoke. MUSE Ultra Lounge, 8:30 p.m., free. 2611 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-6398. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.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. The Order Of Things Tour: All That Remains, Devour the Day, Audiotopsy, Sons of Texas. George’s Majestic Lounge. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226. Stevie Stone, Yak Boy Fresh. Revolution, 9 p.m., $10. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/new.
COMEDY
Cowboy Bill Martin. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m.; $7. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-
5555. www.loonybincomedy.com. The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group. The Joint, 8 p.m., $7. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.
DANCE
Little Rock Bop Club. Beginning dance lessons for ages 10 and older. Singles welcome. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 7 p.m., $4 for members, $7 for guests. 12th and Cleveland streets. 501-350-4712. www.littlerockbopclub.
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
COMEDY
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 www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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AFTER DARK, CONT.
THEATER
“The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical.” The Studio Theatre, through Dec. 13: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., $18. 320 W. 7th St. “Out of Order.” Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, through Dec. 27: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m.; Sun., 5:30 p.m. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 501-562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.
NEW GALLERY EXHIBITS, EVENTS ARGENTA GALLERY, 413 Main St.: “Revelation,” 18 pastel and mixed media works by Virmarie DePoyster, opens with reception and gallery talk by the artist 6-8 p.m. Dec. 3, show through Jan. 4. 912-6567.
From the pioneering collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Our America T H E L AT I N O P R E S E N C E I N A M E R I C A N A R T
Nuestra América L A P R ES E N C I A L AT I N A E N E L A R T E ES TA D O U N I D E N S E
October 16, 2015 – January 17, 2016 Free Admission Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support for the exhibition has been provided by Altria Group, the Honorable Aida M. Alvarez, Judah Best, The James F. Dicke Family Endowment, Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins, Tania and Tom Evans, Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino, The Michael A. and the Honorable Marilyn Logsdon Mennello Endowment, Henry R. Muñoz III, Wells Fargo and Zions Bank. Additional significant support was provided by The Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Support for “Treasures to Go,” the museum’s traveling exhibition program, comes from The C.F. Foundation, Atlanta. Our America is sponsored in Arkansas by (at time of printing):
Donna and Mack McLarty The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston Consulate of Mexico in Little Rock Alan DuBois Contemporary Craft Fund
501 East Ninth Street, Little Rock arkansasartscenter.org Above: Emilio Sánchez, Untitled, Bronx Storefront, “La Rumba Supermarket,” late 1980s, watercolor on paper, 40 x 59 1/2 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Emilio Sánchez Foundation, © Emilio Sánchez Foundation
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ARKANSAS TIMES
Pine Bluff ARTS AND SCIENCE CENTER FOR SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS, 701 S. Main St.: “Arkansas Women to Watch: Organic Matters” work by Dawn Holder, Sandra Luckett, Katherine Rutter and Melissa Wilkinson selected by the Arkansas committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, opens with reception 5-7 p.m. Dec. 3, show through Jan. 21; “(un)distorted — Perceptual Paintings by Matthew Lopas,” through Dec. 5; “Pictorialist and Modernist: Howard Stern Photographs from the Permanent Collection”; “Pine Bluff Art League Exhibition”; “Exploring the Frontier: Arkansas 1540-1840.” 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat. 870-536-3375.
NEW MUSEUM EXHIBITS ROGERS ROGERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM, 322 S. 2nd St.: “A Rogers Christmas,” Hawkins House, Nov. 29-Jan. 3; “Rebels, Federals and Bushwackers,” through Dec. 6. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon., Wed.-Sun., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tue. 4796210-1154.
CALL FOR ENTRIES
The Department of Arkansas Heritage is taking applications for grants for Heritage Month events in May 2016. The year’s theme is “Arkansas Arts: Celebrating Our Creative Culture.” Deadline to apply for the grants of up to $5,000 is 4:30 p.m. Dec. 7. The arts theme was chosen in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Arkansas Arts Council. Application packets and more information are available at www.arkansasheritage.com or from the agency, 323 Center St., Suite 1500, fax 501-324-9154, randy@arkansasheritage.org. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program and the Arkansas Humanities Council are sponsoring a filmmaking contest for high school students. Films must be between five and 15 minutes long and be about an historic site (including archeological sites, buildings, or other places with historic significance at least 50 years old or older) for AETN’s “Student Selects: A Young Filmmakers Showcase.” Winning films will be screened in May 2016 at the Ron Robinson Theater. Find more information at www.aetn. org/studentselects. The Arkansas Arts Council is accepting appli-
cations for Arts in Education and Arts for Lifelong Learning minigrants to schools and other institutions for 10-day residencies. For more information, contact Cynthia Haas, Arts in Education program manager, at 324-9769. The Ozark Foothills FilmFest in Batesville is accepting submissions for the 15th annual festival scheduled for April 1-2 and 8-9 next year. Cash prizes will be awarded in several categories; entry deadline is Dec. 15. For more information, go to filmfreeway.com/ festival/ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.
CONTINUING GALLERY EXHIBITS ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art,” 93 works by 72 artists from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, through Jan. 17; “Life and Light: Photographic Travels through Latin America with Bryan Clifton,” through Feb. 14. 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., 200 River Market Ave., Suite 400: “Longevity,” paintings by Emily Wood, printmaking by Melissa Gill, photographs by Joli Livaudais and sculpture by Sandra Sell, through Jan. 1. 374-9247. BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Earth Work: Photographs by Gary Cawood”; “Arkansas Pastel Society National Exhibition,” both through Feb. 27; “Photographic Arts: African American Studio Photography,” from the Joshua and Mary Swift Collection, “Gene Hatfield: Outside the Lines,” both through Dec. 26. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5790. BOSWELL MOUROT FINE ART, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “Drawing Value,” trompe l’oeil charcoal drawings by Trevor Bennett. 6640030. CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: “In Arkansas Territory,” paintings by John Deering, through Dec. 24. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335. CHRIST CHURCH, 509 Scott. St.: Paintings, mixed media and printmaking by Diane Harper, through December. 374-9247. CHROMA GALLERY, 5707 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Work by Robert Reep and other Arkansas artists. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0880. COX CREATIVE CENTER, 120 River Market Blvd. “Art Connection: Imagination Uncrated,” through December. 918-3093. DRAWL, 5208 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “The Flatlander,” depictions of the Delta by Norwood Creech. 240-7446. GALLERY 221, Second and Center streets: “Fall into Art Show and Sale,” annual gallery artists exhibition. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 801-0211. GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: 21st annual “Holiday Art Show,” work by 66 Arkansas artists, through Jan. 9. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996. GALLERY 360, 900 S. Rodney Parham Road: “Pressure,” printmaking by Nora Messenger, Christian Brown, Kristin Karr, Amery Sandford, Slade Bishop, Alli Thompson, Jack Sims, Emily Brown and Jennifer Perren, through Dec. 24. GINO HOLLANDER GALLERY, 2nd and Center: Paintings and works on paper by Gino Hollander. 801-0211. GREG THOMPSON FINE ART, 429 Main St., NLR: “Charles Harrington — The Journey,” landscapes, through Jan. 9. 664-2787. HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: Paintings by Mason Archie and Dean Mitchell, Gal-
DUMAS, CONT. lery II. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 372-6822. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM GALLERIES, 200 E. Third St.: Woodcuts by Neal Harrington and David Carpenter, “Layers,” photographs by Kat Wilson, through Dec. 6; “Growing Up … In Words and Images,” paintings by Joe Barry Carroll, through Jan. 3; “Art. Function. Craft: The Life and Work of Arkansas Living Treasures,” works by 14 craftsmen honored by Arkansas Arts Council; “Suggin Territory: The Marvelous World of Folklorist Josephine Graham,” through Nov. 29. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351. L&L BECK ART GALLERY, 5705 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “Still Life,” paintings by Louis Beck, month of November. 660-4006. LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St.: “Infamy: December 1941,” through Dec. 7. 758-1720. M2GALLERY, Pleasant Ridge Town Center: “Fall Group Show,” work by Brian Fender, Nancy Hillis, R.F. Walker, Taylor Shepherd, Tansill Stough and Catherine Nugent. 2256271. MATT MCLEOD FINE ART GALLERY, 108 W. Sixth St.: Work by McLeod, J.O. Buckley, Taimur Cleary, Kathy Strause, Alice Andrews, Max Gore, James Hayes, Harry Loucks and Angela Davis Johnson. 725-8508. MUGS CAFE, 515 Main St., NLR: “Blue Lines and Black Ink,” original comic book art by John Lucas and Dusty Higgins, through Jan. 13. 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 960-9524. RED DOOR GALLERY, 3715 JFK, NLR: New work by Matt Coburn, Paula Jones, Theresa Cates and Amy Hill-Imler, new glass by James Hayes, ceramics by Kelly Edwards, sculpture by Kim Owen and other work. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 753-5227. STEPHANO AND GAINES FINE ART, 1916 N. Fillmore St.: Carved wood sculpture by actor Tony Dow, through Feb. 8. 563-4218. THEA FOUNDATION, 401 Main St., NLR: “Girl Talk,” sculpture by Mia Hall and Morgan Hill, through November. 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 379-9512. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: “Marianela de la Hoz: SpeculumSpeculari,” egg tempera paintings, through Dec. 8. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-8977.
file its 2016 formula plan for another rate adjustment. McDonald and other company experts also praise the new law’s emphasis on giving big industries a break at the expense of other ratepayers. McDonald, Vice President Mike Maulden and Grant Tennille, the former director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, testified that lower energy costs for big users would bring new industries into the state and create lots of new jobs, which would be good for everyone, including the homeowners and small businesses that will bear the brunt of higher rates. The company wants the PSC to allow it a much bigger return on shareholders’ equity than the 9.5 percent the PSC nominally allowed in its last rate case, which McDonald said panned out to be only about 5 percent this year, which is about the
lowest in all of regulated industries. The company wants 10.2 percent. A big question has been how the traditional adversaries, the attorney general and the PSC staff, who are supposed to look after the interests of all ratepayers, would interpret the law and treat the company’s requests. Attorneys general since Jim Guy Tucker in the 1970s have been adversaries, particularly in fighting the transfer of big industries’ energy costs to homes and small businesses. Leslie Rutledge, the new attorney general, has distinguished herself as a friend to utilities and big industries like those of the Koch brothers by opposing all federal rules to require them to clean up poisonous emissions from plants. It should be said that Entergy, while no doubt welcoming Rutledge’s efforts, has moved on its own to meet clean-air and smokestack rules.
Remarkably, Rutledge so far has followed the example of her predecessors by opposing the cost shift to homeowners and small businesses and the company’s proposed return on equity. Her experts ridicule the company’s and big industries’ theories that lower rates for big users will bring a flood of new industries and jobs to the state. An economist at Louisiana State University said it likely would create few, if any, new jobs and that the economic harm to general ratepayers from absorbing big industries’ costs would more than offset any economic development. But the attorney general and the staff are softer on the annual rate review, apparently because the law now seems to demand it. The test will be in the private settlement negotiations that will start next month. Will the ratepayers’ voice be heard there?
PEARLS ABOUT SWINE, CONT. but stakes remain high with Missouri arriving after Thanksgiving. And there are major positives to exploit on Senior Day, not the least of which will be celebrating Allen as he races onto the field for the final time in his hometown. Having broken many passing records and put himself comfortably in position to obliterate a couple more this week, the young man’s transition from unnerved and unsteady to steely and poised is the story of this team for 2015. He’s had the best single season ever for a Razorback quarterback, has attracted more professional scouting attention that anyone ever could have imagined him receiv-
ing, and buoyed an injured and fragile bunch in the face of extreme adversity and criticism this fall. Missouri plays competent defense and wants to escort head coach Gary Pinkel into retirement on a high note. This will not be the time for Arkansas to ease back on that throttle that had been stuck all the way forward, because the Tigers will be fighting for bowl eligibility in their own right. And the Hogs’ defense simply cannot be soft again, with Missouri having the weakest offense in the conference all season thanks to quarterback upheaval and skill position deficiency. If the
Hogs want to erase the foul stench of the loss and finally appease home stadium fans who have been frankly a bit deprived for high-caliber content this year, then it’s going to be up to Allen to make his last All-SEC push his most valiant one, and for the defensive line to rediscover the nasty streak it found just days ago at Baton Rouge. A 7-5 regular season may end up falling a shade shy of where many speculated this team could finish, but closing with a 5-1 flurry over the final six games and boosting its bowl standing would likely absolve the team from any criticism for falling short.
1620 SAOY
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NOVEMBER 26, 2015
27
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) $$$ Expensive (over $20/person) CC Accepts credit cards
CORE BREWING AND DISTILLING, the Northwest Arkansas craft beer titan with pubs in Springdale, Rogers, Fort Smith and Fayetteville, plus a brewery taproom in Springdale, has announced it will open a tasting room at 411 N. Main St. in North Little Rock’s Argenta District. Jeff Genova, pub operations manager for Core, said the Argenta space will be much like Core’s other tasting rooms in Northwest Arkansas, with all the Core beers on tap and seating in both the main room and on a patio. “The biggest thing we do with our tasting rooms,” he said, “is to help educate people about craft beer, and bring our fantastic beer that we’re very proud of to the people of the state.” A feature of the Core experience is that its tasting rooms, while serving popcorn and hotdogs, allow patrons to bring in food from outside. “We like to support the restaurants that support us,” Genova said. “The restaurants that have our beer on tap, we usually have their menus so people can get takeout or get food delivered. You’re welcome to get any food delivered, or even bring in home-cooked food into our pubs.” Genova said that remodeling work on the space started early this week, but adds that when the space will open depends on the permitting process with the ABC. He said he’d like to see the Argenta Core location open before the first of the year.
DINING CAPSULES
AMERICAN
1620 SAVOY Fine dining in a swank space. 1620 Market St. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-221-1620. D Mon.-Sat., BR Sun. SADDLE CREEK WOODFIRED GRILL Upscale chain dining in Lakewood, with a menu full of appetizers, burgers, chicken, fish and other fare. It’s the smoke-kissed steaks, however, that make it a winner — even in Little Rock’s beef-heavy restaurant market. 2703 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-0883. SAM’S SOUTHERN EATERY Shreveport, La., chain features large menu of salads, shrimp, fried fish, po’boys, burgers, cheesesteak sandwiches and more. Also in Pine Bluff: 1704 E. Harding Ave., 879-774-1974. 6205 Baseline Road. 501-562-2255. SIMPLY NAJIYYAH’S FISHBOAT & MORE Good catfish and corn fritters. 1717 Wright Ave. No alcohol, all CC. $-$$. 501-562-3474. BLD Mon.-Sat. SLICK’S SANDWICH SHOP & DELI Meatand-two plate lunches in state office building. 101 E. Capitol Ave. No alcohol. 501-375-3420. BL Mon.-Fri. 28
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
ARKANSAS TIMES
BRIAN CHILSON
WHAT’S COOKIN’
DECONSTRUCTED VEAL OSSO BUCCO: Tender, though a bit on the salty side.
Still good after 30 years Grafitti’s knows comfort Italian food.
T
o list all the Little Rock restaurants that burned hot and later flamed out since Graffiti’s opened its doors in 1984 would be a daunting task. Much easier would be listing the handful or so that have 30-plus-year histories. Such is the nature of the restaurant business. Graffiti’s is one of several iconic local eateries that tie back to Restaurant Jacques and Suzanne, the city’s first truly fine dining establishment. (Purple Cow, Cafe Prego, Ciao, Ciao Baci and Restaurant 1620 are others.) None still
paired with decent tomato slices (very decent for November, actually) on field greens with basil and pine nuts, lightly drizzled with a nice balsamic vinaigrette. We have long been fans of the osso bucco at Graffiti’s and had settled on the classic veal dish before we arrived. We’re used to osso bucco being served on the bone, but this time it was already deconstructed when it arrived — several very tender pieces in a rich reduction sauce that was almost too thick and definitely a bit too salty. The accompanying three triangles of cheese polenta were tough and dry. At $34 we expected better overall. Our dining companions were happy with their Chicken Mediterranean ($15), chunks of tender chicken breast paired with a large quantity of red, green and yellow bell pepper slices, mushrooms and onion over angel hair pasta. The light sauce was bright with lemon and capers, which gave it a nice saltiness. Classic lasagna ($12) featured a very rich marinara, plenty of Italian sausage and gooey ricotta, served bubbling hot in a chafing dish. It wasn’t as thick as some, but it had multiple layers and there was easily enough to satisfy our friend. Another companion chose tortellini ($11), which arrived in the same style dish, also bubbling hot, with the same rich marinara, but with plenty of small pasta pillows stuffed with a very creamy cheese. She declared it simple but good, Italian comfort food. We chose only one dessert — the near-perfect caramel custard ($6), light but rich with a thin but very richly flavored caramel sauce. The menu’s description is simply “the best in town,” and we must heartily agree.
Graffiti’s has former J&S disciples as its owners, but all soldier on successfully. Graffiti’s is a lively place, bordering on boisterous, but it’s a friendly and comfortable space with a clientele that seems familiar with the restaurant — and often with one another. We were part of a large group for a weekday dinner, and the service and pace of the meal were perfect. We had a few quibbles with the food but no major complaints. We started with a caprese-style salad ($7) — two fresh mozzarella slices that were grainier than most but very tasty,
7811 Cantrell Road 224-9079 littlerockgraffitis.net QUICK BITE The menu at Graffiti’s is comprehensive, so dinner can be as light or heavy as you want. But do make sure to save room for dessert. The caramel custard is superb, and there are other classic selections available. HOURS 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. OTHER INFO Credit cards accepted, full bar.
BELLY UP Check out the Times’ food blog, Eat Arkansas
LET LAMBRECHT’S TOFFEES BE YOUR SIGNATURE GIFT FOR THE HOLIDAYS. FIND THEM HERE!
arktimes.com
DINING CAPSULES, CONT. SPECTATORS GRILL AND PUB Burgers, soups, salads and other beer food, plus live music on weekends. 1012 W. 34th St. NLR. Full bar, all CC. $-$$. 501-791-0990. LD Mon.-Sat. SPORTS PAGE One of the largest, juiciest, most flavorful burgers in town. Grilled turkey and hot cheese on sourdough gets praise, too. Don’t want a burger or sandwich? They have good daily lunch specials. 414 Louisiana St. Beer and wine, all CC. $-$$. 501-372-9316. L Mon.-Fri., D Fri. SUFFICIENT GROUNDS Great coffee, good bagels and pastries, and a limited lunch menu. 124 W. Capitol. No alcohol, CC. $. 501-372-1009. BL Mon.-Fri. 425 W. Capitol. No alcohol, all CC. $-$$. 501-372-4594. BL Mon.-Fri. SUGIE’S Catfish and all the trimmings. 4729 Baseline Road. No alcohol, all CC. $. 501-5700414. LD daily. T.G.I. FRIDAY’S This national chain was on the verge of stale before a redo not long ago, and the update has done wonders for the food as well as the surroundings. The lunch combos are a great deal, and the steaks aren’t bad. It’s designed for the whole family, and succeeds. Appetizers and desserts are always good. 2820 Lakewood Village Drive, NLR. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-758-2277. LD daily. WHITE WATER TAVERN Good locally sourced bar food. 2500 W. 7th St. Full bar, all CC. $-$$. 501-375-8400. D Tue., Thu., Fri., Sat.
ASIAN
IGIBON JAPANESE RESTAURANT It’s a complex place, where the food is almost always good and the ambiance and service never fail to please. The Bento box with tempura shrimp and California rolls and other delights stand out. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-217-8888. LD Mon.-Sat. KIYEN’S SEAFOOD STEAK AND SUSHI Sushi, steak and other Japanese fare. 17200 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-7272.
LD daily. KOBE JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE & SUSHI Though answering the need for more hibachis in Little Rock, Kobe stands taller in its sushi offerings than at the grill. 11401 Financial Centre Parkway. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-225-5999. L Mon.-Sat. D daily. THE SOUTHERN GOURMASIAN Delicious Southern-Asian fusion. We crave the pork buns. Made the transition from food truck to brickand-mortar in 2015 to rave reviews. 219 West Capitol. Beer and wine, all CC. $-$$. 501-3135645. LD Mon.-Sat.
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BARBECUE
CAPITOL SMOKEHOUSE AND GRILL Beef, pork and chicken, all smoked to melting tenderness and doused with a choice of sauces. The crusty but tender backribs star. Side dishes are top quality. A plate lunch special is now available. 915 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, all CC. $-$$. 501-372-4227. L Mon.-Fri. CROSS EYED PIG BBQ COMPANY Traditional barbecue favorites smoked well such as pork ribs, beef brisket and smoked chicken. Miss Mary’s famous potato salad is full of bacon and other goodness. Smoked items such as ham and turkeys available seasonally. 1701 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, all CC. $-$$. 501-265-0000. L Mon.-Sat., D Tue.-Fri. SIMS BAR-B-QUE Great spare ribs, sandwiches, beef, half and whole chicken and an addictive vinegar-mustard-brown sugar sauce unique for this part of the country. 2415 Broadway. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-372-6868. LD Mon.-Sat. 1307 John Barrow Road. Beer, all CC. $-$$. 501-2242057. LD Mon.-Sat. 7601 Geyer Springs Road. Beer, all CC. $$. 501-562-8844. LD Mon.-Sat.
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ALI BABA A Middle Eastern restaurant, butcher shop and grocery. 3400 S University Ave. No alcohol, all CC. 501-379-8011. BLD Mon.-Sat. CONTINUED ON PAGE 31
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NOVEMBER 26, 2015
29
MOVIE REVIEW
The glare of the ‘Spotlight’ With Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo. BY WILL STEPHENSON
T
his is neither here nor there, but in March 2001 a young reporter named Kristen Lombardi published a front-page story in the Boston Phoenix titled “Cardinal Sin,” about the institutional cover-up of sexual abuses committed by a Catholic priest named John Geoghan — a cover-up that went all the way to the top of the local hierarchy, the Archbishop of Boston. It was a big story for a journalist at the beginning of her career, and a big story for an alternative weekly, a free paper that lacked the ample staff and resources enjoyed by its daily competitors. Lombardi was suitably proud of her accomplishment.
7 P.M. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17 WE’RE SHOWING
“I got really involved,” she remembered recently in an interview with Boston Magazine. “It’s really hard not to get AIMING THEIR ‘SPOTLIGHT’: McAdams (from left), Keaton and Ruffalo, as Boston Globe reporters, take on the personally involved city’s powerful Catholic hierarchy. in these kinds of stories.” by the paper’s Spotlight unit, an investhe reporters work the phones and About 10 months after Lombardi’s tigative team that works independently knock on doors and neglect their piece, in 2002, after the Phoenix had run from the Globe’s newsroom and specialwives and eat dinners of cold pizza several more cover stories and editorials izes in long-term projects, went on to and loneliness. They want the truth, and they won’t take no for an answer, following up on the initial story, the Boswin a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, and is now ton Globe — the most prestigious local the subject of a new film, “Spotlight.” lawyers and readers and editors be daily — ran the first of a series of articles And while Lombardi’s prior reporting damned. Mark Ruffalo’s interviewon the same topic. That series, reported wasn’t acknowledged in the Globe’s ing mannerisms deserve a movie in pieces, it earns an offhand mention in themselves: His shoulders hunched, the movie — it’s early and quick, you his notebook unobtrusive, his eye concould easily miss it. A defense attorney tact spare but movingly empathetic. and crucial source on the priest abuses “We spend most of our time stumbling — hesitant to participate in the Spotlight around in the dark,” the Globe’s editor, crew’s story — tells the Globe reporter Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), says at played by Mark Ruffalo to “just read one point, and it’s a line you can imagthe story in the Phoenix.” It’s all there ine wide-eyed J-school kids sprinting already, is his point. Ruffalo’s response? to the nearest tattoo parlor to com“Nobody reads the Phoenix.” memorate. Consider me biased — I work for an One of the film’s best (only?) visual understaffed alt-weekly — but a movie gags is a riff on the same subject: a about the raucous Phoenix would have shot of the Boston Globe headquarters at the very least been more fun than flanked by a billboard for the then-ubiq“Spotlight,” which combines the lanuitous AOL. As if to remind viewers that, guid pacing of a post-war art film with sure, things seem rough for newspapers the arid art-direction of “The Office.” now, but hasn’t the sky always been fallThere’s nothing particularly cinematic ing? After all, the Globe is still around, — nothing visually or structurally interand how did AOL’s plans for new-media esting — about the movie. Like a police world domination pan out? procedural in which we already know The film reminds you of all this stuff the ending, it’s a film about process, — it’s part of its project — but it reminds drudgery, the labor of investigation. you of other things, too. It reminded me This is what critics have appreciated that work should be compelling and about the early Oscar contender: It’s dry fulfilling. It reminded me that organiand patient and reflective, recalling “All zations that insist on moral superiority the President’s Men” and, consequently, are usually immoral. The film reminded the golden age of newspapers. A vote for me, too, of the writer Janet Malcolm’s “Spotlight” is a vote for the undying value most famous quote: “Every journalist of old-school shoe-leather reportage. who is not too stupid or full of himself to notice what is going on knows that I’m susceptible to this message, and to the entertainment value of slow, what he does is morally indefensible.” maze-like procedurals — so I enjoyed Most of the time this seems true, and $ the movie a lot. Like good detectives, then sometimes it doesn’t.
RON ROBINSON THEATER | 100 RIVER MARKET 30
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
ARKANSAS TIMES
5
READ MY MIND, CONT. people are always looking for how to make sense of it, so I’ve been helping to plot that data, looking at which people make a certain amount of money, who finishes college, between what ages, etc. But, I’m going to be leaving this job soon, heading on tour for about three months. They’ve been pretty flexible with me working remotely, coming in when I can, but three months is too long of a break. How do you feel about quitting your job to go on tour? I’m worried about what’s going to happen afterwards, but it’s not the first time I’ve had to make this kind of decision. Working with other musicians, I feel surrounded by people who have to do temp work, who don’t usually hold a job for a long time. You get used to routines that you have, but sometimes you have to break them. I’ve always had on and off periods, where I was working for
a while and unemployed for a while.
A Growing Economy.
Where all will you be playing? We’ll be on tour throughout the East Coast, then to Europe for a month, then in December some West Coast dates, but we’re trying to come through Arkansas at the very end. It’s my first time touring Europe — we’re going to play several shows in the U.K., at the Primavera [Sound Music Festival] in Spain, and different festivals throughout. I’m going to try to record in a studio in London for a couple days, while I’m visiting friends there.
For many in central Arkansas, public transit is a dependable route to more employment opportunities. With daily paratransit and bus service across Pulaski County, we offer riders access to thousands
Anything else in the works? A new album? I would like to have something ready for next year, but I’m not sure if it will be possible. I have songs that I’m ready to work on. I get tired of the songs that I have pretty quickly. I need to start writing new ones soon, because you can really suck the life out of your songs going on tour.
of jobs. Whether taking people a few miles from home or to a neighboring city, our buses help hardworking employees get to work safely and affordably. THERE’S A LOT RIDING ON PUBLIC TRANSIT.
DINING CAPSULES, CONT. STAR OF INDIA The best Indian restaurant in the region, with a unique buffet at lunch and some fabulous dishes at night (spicy curried dishes, tandoori chicken, lamb and veal, vegetarian). 301 N. Shackleford. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-227-9900. LD daily.
ITALIAN
DAMGOODE PIES A somewhat different Italian/pizza place, largely because of a spicy garlic white sauce that’s offered as an alternative to the traditional red sauce. Good bread, too. 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer and wine, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 6706 Cantrell Road. Beer and wine, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-6642239. LD daily. 10720 Rodney Parham Road. Beer and wine, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-664-2239. LD daily. 37 East Center St. Fayetteville. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 479-444-7437. LD daily. GUSANO’S They make the tomatoey Chicagostyle deep-dish pizza the way it’s done in the Windy City. It takes a little longer to come out of the oven, but it’s worth the wait. 313 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, all CC. $-$$. 501-374-1441. LD daily. 2915 Dave Ward Drive. Conway. Full bar, all CC. $$. 501-329-1100. LD daily. NYPD PIZZA Plenty of tasty choices in the obvious New York police-like setting, but it’s fun. Only the pizza is cheesy. Even the personal pizzas come in impressive combinations, and baked ziti, salads are more also are available. Cheap slice specials at lunch. 6015 Chenonceau Blvd., Suite 1. Beer and wine, all CC. $-$$. 501-868-3911. LD daily. VESUVIO Arguably Little Rock’s best Italian restaurant. The cheesy pasta bowls are sensational, but don’t ignore the beef offerings. 1315 Breckenridge Drive. Full bar, all CC. $$$. 501-246-5422. D daily.
LATINO
CANTINA CINCO DE MAYO Friendly, tasty American-ized Mex. 3 Rahling Circle. Full bar, CC. $$. 501-821-2740. LD daily. CASA MANANA Great guacamole and garlic beans, superlative chips and salsa (red and
green) and a broad selection of fresh seafood, plus a deck out back. 6820 Cantrell Road. Full bar, all CC. $-$$. 501-280-9888. LD daily 18321 Cantrell Road. Full bar, all CC. $-$$. 501-8688822. LD daily 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, all CC. $-$$. (501) 372-6637. BL Mon.-Sat. THE FOLD BOTANAS BAR Gourmet tacos and botanas, or small plates. Try the cholula pescada taco. 3501 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-916-9706. LD daily. MARISCOS EL JAROCHO Try the Camarones a la Diabla (grilled shrimp in a smoky pepper sauce) or the Cocktail de Campechana (shrimp, octopus and oyster in a cilantro and onion-laced tomato sauce). 7319 Baseline Road. Beer, all CC. $-$$. 501-565-3535. Serving BLD Fri.-Wed. SUPER 7 GROCERY STORE This Mexican grocery/video store/taqueria has a great daily buffet featuring a changing assortment of real Mexican cooking. Fresh tortillas pressed by hand and grilled, homemade salsas, beans as good as beans get. Plus soup every day. 1415 Barrow Road. Beer, No CC. $. 501-219-2373. BLD daily. SUPERMERCADO SIN FRONTERAS Shiny, large Mexican grocery with a bakery and restaurant attached. 4918 Baseline Road. Beer, all CC. $$. 501-562-4206. BLD daily. TAQUERIA JALISCO SAN JUAN The taco truck for the not-so-adventurous crowd. They claim to serve “original Mexico City tacos,” but it’s their chicken tamales that make it worth a visit. They also have tortas, quesadillas and fajitas. 11200 Markham St. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-5415533. LD daily. TAQUERIA SAMANTHA On Friday and Saturday nights, this mobile taqueria parks outside of Jose’s Club Latino in a parking lot on the corner of Third and Broadway. 300 Broadway Ave. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-568-5264. D Fri.-Sat. (sporadic hours beyond that). TAQUERIA Y CARNICERIA GUADALAJARA Cheap, delicious tacos, tamales and more. Always bustling. 3811 Camp Robinson Road. NLR. Beer, all CC. $-$$. 501-753-9991. BLD daily.
@rrmetro
rrmetro
rrmetro.org
www.arktimes.com
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South on Main’s free Local Live Series takes place each Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. and showcases some of the best Arkansas talent. This month, don’t miss
NOVEMBER 25 FRIENDSGIVING WITH BONNIE MONTGOMERY & FRIENDS NOVEMBER 28 CODY BELEW & JOHN WILLIS (AFTER HOUR SHOW) DECEMBER 2 LOCAL LIVE: FINGER FOOD DECEMBER 4 BIJOUX (AFTER HOURS SHOW) DECEMBER 9 LOCAL LIVE: MARQUIS & MOOD DECEMBER 16 LOCAL LIVE CHRIS MILAM ALL PERFORMANCES AT SOUTH ON MAIN
DEC 2
It’s the official start of the holiday mini tour with select beers to choose from at your local OLD CHICAGO PIZZA & TAPROOM in North Little Rock. Sample them all, and earn your exclusive tee shirt for bragging rights well into the New Year. Stay up to date on all events at Facebook. com/OldChicago and oldchicago.com. Let’s face it, you are going to want a cold beer before then. Stop by on Black Friday for Evil Twin tap takeover, and try some new varieties by Brooklyn-based brewery.
Hey, do this!
DECEMBER
NOV 26
Go! Running hosts the annual TURKEY TROT, a fun neighborhood run on a 3, 4 or 6.5-mile course through the Heights and Hillcrest in Little Rock. The event is free with a canned food item or donation to the Arkansas Foodbank. The running store located at 1819 N. Grant Street serves as the starting and finish line. Pop in for light refreshments after the run. Start time is 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
Presented by UALR Friends of the Arts is the 5th annual 6X6 HOLIDAY ART SALE preview and reception on Thursday, December 3 from 6-8 p.m. at the UALR Applied Design Studio at University Plaza, Suite 300. Admission is $35 and includes a silent auction, art sale, live music, hors d’oeuvres and wine. For more info, visit ualr.edu/ giving/event/6x6. n The Arkansas Shakespeare Theater welcomes TERRENCE MCNALLY, one of America’s most important playwrights, to UCA for a residency December 2-4. On Wednesday, December 3, join him and guests at an intimate cocktail party at the UCA President’s House from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 and include hors d’oeuvres and wine. All proceeds benefit AST’s 10th season. For more info, visit arkshakes.com. n The Arts& Science Center for Southeast Arkansas opening reception for ARKANSAS WOMEN TO WATCH 2016 ORGANIC MATTERS opening reception is December 3rd, 5-7pm with guest curator Courtney Taylor.
KEVIN B. PHOTOGRAPHY
Start a new tradition with your little sugarplums at the annual NUTCRACKER TEA. This year, it will be held on Sunday, December 6 at the Capital Hotel with two seating times, 1:30-3 p.m. and 3:30-5 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include high tea, decadent sweets, a performance by Ballet Arkansas and photos with the Sugar Plum Fairy. For tickets, visit www.balletarkansas.org. n Ballet Arkansas presents THE NUTCRACKER, the world’s most beloved ballet, with Tchaikovsky’s magical score performed by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, December 11-13. All performances take place at Maumelle Performing Arts Center. For show times and tickets, visit www. arkansassymphony.org and www. BalletArkansas.org.
HOLIDAY POPS! is the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s longest running and most popular show each year. The event brings holiday cheer to all music lovers. Tickets are $19-$58. Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. All performances take place at Pulaski Academy’s Connor Performing Arts Center. For more info, visit arkansassymphony.org. n CELEBRITY ATTRACTIONS continues the 2015-16 Broadway season in central Arkansas with Neil Berg’s Broadway Holiday for four performances at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center. The number one touring Broadway concert in America, Broadway Holiday brings Broadways greatest together for a cherished holiday event. Enjoy favorites from hit shows such as Les Miserables and Dreamgirls, through ground-breakers like West Side Story and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to current blockbusters like Jersey Boys and Wicked. Performances are at the Maumelle Performing Arts Center with showtimes Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $35-$60 and are available by phone at 244-8800 or 800-982-ARTS (2787) or online at ticketmaster.com
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Black Friday and cold beer belong together. After surviving (or successfully avoiding) the big crowds, tuck into Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom in North Little Rock for a TAP TAKEOVER featuring selections from Clown Shoes Brewery. The Winter Mini Tour is coming. Be there on December 2 for the kickoff party from 6-8 p.m. Sample an assortment of seasonal and themed beers through January 3. Record five visits on your members card during this time, and receive a limited edition hoodie. Stay up to date on all events at Facebook. com/OldChicago and oldchicago.com.
DEC 3
DEC 6 & DEC 11-13
DEC 18-20
NOV 27 & DEC 2
DEC 8
As part of its Classic Movie series, Riverdale 10 will screen 1954’s WHITE CHRISTMAS starring Bing Crosby. Tickets are $5. Showtime is 7 p.m. Riverdale is still Arkansas’ only movie theater serving beer and wine. For all screenings and show times, visit riverdale10.com.
NOV 27-DEC 29
Food, Music, Entertainment and everything else that’s
FUN!
Plan a holiday getaway to historic HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK. Soak in the thermal waters that made the Spa City famous. The Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa offers special packages this month, including a Spa Package and Festival of Lights Package. At the end of the day, unwind at the hotel bar named one of Refinery29’s Top 15 Favorite Hotel Bars in the World last year. For reservations, call 501-609-2575 or visit arlingtonhotel.com.
DEC 4-6
The Arkansas Craft Guild’s 37TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE will take place in Hall 4 of the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock with beautiful handmade pieces for everyone on your Christmas list. Admission is $5 at the door. Show hours are Friday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Enjoy free admission to “Art After Hours” from 5-8 p.m. on Friday night and Saturday’s early bird special from 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
NOV 29, 30 AND DEC 3
RIVER CITY MEN’S CHORUS invites you to celebrate Holiday 2015! Led by conductor David A. Glaze, the chorus will perform on Sunday, November 29 at 3 p.m.; Monday, November 30 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, December 3 at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church at 1101 N. Mississippi in Little Rock. All concerts are free and open to the public.
DEC 4-JAN 3
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre presents DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID. Fall in love with the classic Hans Christian Andersen story and Disney film in this adaptation for the stage featuring all of your favorite songs and the funky Calypso beat under the sea. Show times are WednesdaySunday at 7 p.m. Matinees are at 2 p.m. For tickets and info on special events, visit therep.org.
TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA returns to Verizon Arena for their annual holiday spectacular. This year’s show, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” features crowd favorites fused with rock, classical, folk, Broadway and R&B sounds. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $52.50-$92 and available online at ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800-745-3000.
DEC 12
Located in Galaxy Furniture in North Little Rock, The Southern Fox hosts a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE from 3-6 p.m. with refreshments provided.
DEC 19
Verizon Arena hosts the ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS men’s basketball team as they take on the Mercer Bears. Tickets are $25 and on sale now. Tipoff time to be announced. Visit verizonarena.com for details. Go Hogs!
DEC 23, 26 AND 27
The greatest show on earth comes to North Little Rock for RINGLING BROS AND BARNUM & BAILEY’S LEGENDS, featuring legendary circus acts and artists from around the world. Free to all ticketholders is the All-Access Pre-show, which starts an hour before show time and allows patrons to get autographs and take photos on the arena floor. Tickets are $20-$60. For show times, visit verizonarena.com.
WANNA KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE?
Check out Arkansas Times December 17 issue for the lowdown on the best parties and happenings!
THE DIAMOND PIPELINE, CONT. has been provided information only on the route of the Diamond pipeline through eastern Arkansas, and asked to be provided “direct notification of the entire pipeline right of way/route in Arkansas, so that we may determine the proximity to public water sources, assess potential threats to the respective surface intake, wellhead, or aquifer and notify the public water systems nearby. This is particularly critical for the western portion of the pipeline, where ADH has already determined that 11 watersheds with
surface intakes are likely located in close proximity to the pipeline ROW.” Under state law, oil pipeline companies may take private property through eminent domain, something that came as a surprise to residents whose property lies in the path of the pipeline route. Arkansas also does not regulate pipeline siting. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality requires pipeline companies to apply for stream crossing permits. The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regulates pipelines only after their construction. Clarksville Light and Water manager Lester said his “backup position” is to work with Plains All American “to make sure everything possible is being done to protect” the watershed. “That would be, ‘Where are your valving features for closing installed? What is the thickness of the pipeline wall? How deep are you going to go?’ My concern is if I don’t get things in writing it may never happen.”
Statewide tour made possible in part by the Windgate Foundation.
arkansas women to watch 2016
ORGANIC MATTERS acnmwa.org
OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, December 3, 2015 5–7 pm; Ar tist Talks 5:30 Free Admission
ASC
ASC701.org
More tour info at
dawn HOLDER sandra LUCKETT katherine RUTTER melissa WILKINSON guest curator COURTNEY TAYLOR ASC701.org
our country needs to increase our resources, that we should not be dependent on Middle Eastern oil. I’m not against the project. My concern is as the general manager of Clarksville Light and Water and the protection of our watershed.” Lester said he’s been informed by Plains All American that the company will drill under the streams and rivers it will cross. “I can’t understand why they chose this route,” he said. The pipeline company has said it was told by the Corps of Engineers that it should use the route, but the Corps has said that’s not exactly true; it advised the company to cross on private, rather than public, land. The company has acquired all but one needed right of way in Johnson County, Lester said. Clarksville Light and Water serves 28,000 customers in Clarksville, Scranton, Coal Hill, Hartman, Knoxville, Lamar and three water associations. Alderman Schreiber said the company has assured leaders that the pipeline is “state of the art,” but she said the Exxon pipeline’s devastating Pegasus break in Mayflower showed they were “ticking timebombs” and that the city had to protect not just today’s residents but the people “living here in 50 years, 100 years.” ADH engineer Stone informed Col. Jeffery A. Anderson of the Corps in a letter mailed last Friday that the Diamond Project’s White River crossing will place the pipeline 100 feet below the channel bottom within a regional aquifer, the Middle Claiborne Aquifer Memphis sand, which is “of great importance for both public and domestic supply in Southeast Arkansas. The nearest public safety wells tapping the Memphis sand are approximately 3.5 miles south of the river crossing. What safeguards will ensure that prompt leak detection and repair will protect the aquifer?” He also asked if there were an alternative route that would be less risky. Stone also informed the Corps that the pipeline will cross within 800 feet of the Hughes Community Water Association Shell Lake well and through an area designated by the Health Department as a wellhead protection area. He asked the Corps of Engineers to require Plains All American to stay “at least 1,700 feet from this well.” Stone also noted that the ADH
Arts Science Center Arts & Science Center for& Southeast Arkansas 701 South Main Street Pine Bluff, AR 71601
Sponsored locally by MaryRoss Taylor in memory of her mother, Betty S. Abbott www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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Tis the Season
W
2015 Holiday Gift Guide
hy fight the crowds at the big box stores on Black Friday when you can shop local and support the small business owners who are friends, family and neighbors? Local retailers are the backbone of our communities and supporting them adds to the culture of our neighborhoods. We encourage you to take a look at some of the neat finds from our local friends and shop small, not just on Nov. 28 for Small Business Saturday®, but all during the holiday shopping season.
Play for the Planet
Made from 100% BPA-free recycled milk jugs, these playthings aren’t just good for the environment; they’re fun to play with too! Find this super cool rocket and other earth-friendly toys at Green Corner Store.
Be Cool
For the adventurers on your lists, Ozark Outdoor is your one-stop destination. We love the Icemule Coolers which are billed as “the world’s most portable high-performance coolers”. They’re perfect for every outdoor adventure and are available in different sizes and colors. A really cool (pun intended!) perk is that they can be worn as a backpack or thrown in boat.
ROCKET Detachable top capsule. Two flip-down doors. Includes two astronauts.
Beautifully Vintage
Vintage jewelry always brings a smile, especially when turquoise is the star! Find a striking collection of signed Florenza, Coro and Monet vintage costume jewelry including beautiful Venetian glass lampwork beads and other oneof-a-kind gifts at South Main Creative.
KNIFE SALE
BUY 1 GET 1
HALF OFF
NOW OPEN
Sale begins on November 23rd & runs through December 24. 34 34
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ARKANSAS TIMES ARKANSAS TIMES
(501) 687-1331 4310 Landers Road, NLR M-F 8-5 Sat. 9-5
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
Works of Art
Works by local artists make unique gifts. Find these and other pieces at the Arkansas Craft Guild Annual Showcase Dec. 4-6 at the Statehouse Convention Center.
“AARONPILLOWS” Original photography and graphic-designed pillows by Aaron Gschwandegger, Melbourne, Ar.
“RYAN” Pendant with Australian bolder opal and Chalcedony drop by Ryan Rathje, Jasper. Ar. “REDVIOLET” Hand-dyed batik fabric bowl with lid by Linda MacMillan, Pencil Bluff, Ar.
Painted Gourd by Kathleen Keefe
Layering in Style
Crafted from supererfine Merino wool spun in Italy, this double-zip e-zip sweater jacket is a do-it-all piece that’s t’s perfect for layering ng as the temperatures res dip. We’re especially ally partial to the suede de trim and elbow patch atch detailing. Find thiss chic piece and more ore at Mr. Wicks.
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NOVEMBER 26 2015 NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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2015 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE Well Groomed An Artful Mix
Cooking is not dull when it comes to this set of four, ffun un and colorful plastic mixingg bowls by Zak Design available ilable at Krebs Brothers. The chefs hefs on your list will thank you. u.
Barakat Bespoke has specialty all-natural shaving items for the men on your list this year.
Higgins Hand Made Goods – Made in Arkansas, ONE-OF-AKIND safety razor
Crown Shaving Co. aftershave tonic Prospector Co. compressed towel tablets
Hudson Made beard and shave soap
Prospector Co. badger shave brush
Happy Feet
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These Crescent 1902 Socks found at The Southern Fox are not only fashionable; they’re warm too. The best part? They’re great for men and women and make excellent stocking stuffers.
% OFF
We’re ready for the holidays!
Rhea
Drug Store A Traditional
Pharmacy with eclectic Gifts. Since 1922
2801 Kavanaugh Little Rock 501.663.4131 36 36
NOVEMBER 26, 2015 NOVEMBER 26, 2015
ARKANSAS TIMES ARKANSAS TIMES
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
Buy it! Find the featured Bu OZARK OUTDOOR 5514 Kavanaugh Blvd. 664.4832, ozarkoutdoor.com THE GREEN CORNER STORE 1423 Main St., 374.1111 thegreencornerstore.com SOUTH MAIN CREATIVE 1600 Main St., 414.8713
P
Shop with us on Small Business Saturday - November 28th
Cheers!
Get an early jump on prepping for Santa’s arrival with these cute Mr. and Mrs. Claus glasses found at Rhea Drug. They’re also the perfect gift to celebrate a newly-married arried couples’ first Christmas together. ogether. 5924 R STREET LITTLE ROCK 501.664.3062
Party Time
What better way to accent ent holiday gatherings than withh colorful napkins marking thee occasion? Stop by Rhea Drug rug for a wide variety of colors and a styles.
Winter Accessories in stock!
Gerard Bertrand Thomas Jefferson Sparkling Cuvée Cremant De Limoux Reg: $19.99 Sale: $14.99
Bring on the Bubbles Giving a bottle of bubbly is a great way to celebrate the different types of relationships on your list. #theeverydayommelier at O’Looney’s Wine & Liquor can help you making your selection.
304 MAIN ST. (INSIDE GALAXY FURNITURE) 375-DESK (3375)
Shop
items at the following locations:
P
Get more information at the ARKANSAS CRAFT GUILD’S CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE online at facebook.com/ChristmasShowcase
THE SOUTHERN FOX Inside Galaxy Furniture 304 Main St., NLR, 375.DESK (3375)
MR. WICKS 5924 R St., 664.3062
RHEA DRUG 2801 Kavanaugh Blvd. 663.4131, facebook.com/rheadrug
KREBS BROTHERS RESTAURANT STORE 4310 Landers Rd., NLR 687.1331, krebsbrothers.com BARAKAT BESPOKE 417 President Clinton Ave., 224-9670 barakatbespoke.com
O’LOONEY’S WINE & LIQUOR Rahling Road @ Chenal Parkway 821.4669, olooneys.com
on Small Business Saturday November 28! Come see Arkansas’First GREEN LIVING store. 1423 Main Street, Suite D · Little Rock (501) 374-1111 · thegreencornerstore.com ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT www.arktimes.com www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26 2015 NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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ARKANSAS TIMES MARKETPLACE
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TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION, CALL LUIS AT 501.375.2985
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cindy@movingtomac.com • 501-681-5855
Drivers Please be aWare, it’s arkansas state laW: Use of bicycles or animals
Every person riding a bicycle or an animal, or driving any animal drawing a vehicle upon a highway, shall have all the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except those provisions of this act which by their nature can have no applicability.
overtaking a bicycle
The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on a roadway shall exercise due care and pass to the left at a safe distance of not less than three feet (3’) and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken bicycle.
anD cyclists, Please remember...
You’re vehicles on the road, just like cars and motorcycles and must obey all traffic laws— signal, ride on the right side of the road and yield to traffic normally. Make eye contact with motorists. Be visible. Be predictable. Heads up, think ahead. 38
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
ARKANSAS TIMES
Abundant love, unconditional devotion for your babies future is my promise to you EX PD - Karen 877-492-8811
D DEC. 3, 1 PMM Warner, OK (918) 557-4560
wwwww.cattleinmotion.comom
+ + + + + + + + + +
SENIOR PROGRAMMER ANALYST
Master’s with 3 yrs exp or Bachelor’s with 5 yrs exp; Major: CS, Engg, Math or equiv; Other suitable qualifications acceptable) – Little Rock, AR. Job entails working with and requires experience including: SQL, PL SQL, SQL Server, Oracle, COBOL, Java, J2EE, Unix, GUI, Visual Basic, .Net, Web Services, HTML, XML, RPM, Rational Suite, Clear Case and Clear Quest. Relocation and travel to unanticipated locations within USA possible. Send resumes to: ProtechSoft Inc, Attn: HR 303 West Capitol Avenue, Suite #340, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORK The City of Maumelle will be accepting applications for the position of Director of Public Works to oversee all aspects of the day-to-day operation of the Department of Public Works, Street, Sanitation and Animal Service.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES: Supervision of Department supervisors to ensure proper operation within the department. Assist street maintenance supervisor with reviews of construction plans and conduct pre-construction meetings, required inspections, and final construction inspections to the City. Ensure Maumelle Transfer Station has State and Federal required forms and bonds prior to street dedication. Maintain responsibility of Building Maintenance supervisor of proper operation of traffic signals on Maumelle Blvd., oversee construction and keep records of cost, employee, materials and equipment, design and construct all signage for City of Maumelle, perform traffic studies, and inspection of sidewalks, and handicap ramps in the construction phase to ensure compliance with ADA requirements. Responsible for funds, property and equipment and supervisory of employees in accordance with the City’s policies and applicable laws include interviewing, hiring, training, planning assigning and directing work. Complete other duties and tasks as needed or assigned. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have an Associate’s degree or equivalent from an accredited college or technical school; and seven (7) years related experience and/ or training or equivalent combination of education and experience, and four (5) years of managerial experience-governmental accounting experience is preferred. STARTING SALARY: Commensurate with education and experience that exceed the minimum qualifications may be considered for a higher starting salary. The application process will begin immediately. Applications must be received, post marked, email or fax dated no later than Friday, January 15, 2016. NOTE: Online applications and Resumes will not be accepted by themselves. A City of Maumelle Employment Application must be completed. Please go to the City of Maumelle web page (www.maumelle.org) and click on the Human Resources Department to print an application. Completed applications should be mailed to: City of Maumelle – Human Resources Department – 550 Edgewood Drive, Suite 555 – Maumelle, Arkansas 72113. For questions, you may contact the Human Resources office at (501) 851-2784, ext. 242 between the hours of 7AM and 5PM Monday-Friday . EOE – MINORITY, WOMEN, AND DISABLED INDIVIDUALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY. This ad is available from the Title VI Coordinator in large print, on audio, and in Braille at (501) 851-2785, ext. 233 or at vernon@maumelle.org.
ARKTIMES.COM/RESTAURANTS16
SINCE 1981, ARKANSAS TIMES has asked readers to vote for their favorite restaurants. Our annual Readers Choice Restaurant Awards are the first, and most renowned restaurant awards in the state.
and around the state in the 35 categories. You may only submit your votes once, but you can return to your ballot as often as you need during the voting period. Only online votes will be accepted.
We’re introducing new rules for the survey this year:
After Dec. 16, we will determine the top four vote getters for each category. Those four and last year’s winners will then advance to a final round of voting that will run Jan. 12 through Jan. 30.
From Nov. 19 through Dec. 16, vote online at arktimes.com/ restaurants16 for your favorite restaurants in Central Arkansas
The winners will be announced in the March 17 issue of the Arkansas Times, and the awards party will be held on March 15 at the Pulaski Technical Culinary and Hospitality Institute. We’re excited about this new voting system and look forward to your participation and the final results.
www.arktimes.com
NOVEMBER 26, 2015
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NOBODY KNOWS BALANCE BETTER THAN MOM.
BY TEACHING YOUR KIDS TO BALANCE WHAT THEY EAT, DRINK AND DO, YOU’RE PROVIDING A LESSON THAT WILL SERVE THEM WELL FOR A LIFETIME. AND AMERICA’S BEVERAGE COMPANIES WANT TO DO OUR PART TO HELP SUPPORT YOUR MESSAGE. IN MORE PLACES THROUGHOUT YOUR COMMUNITY, WE’RE STOCKING BEVERAGES IN SMALLER PORTION SIZES, PROVIDING MORE LOW AND NO-CALORIE OPTIONS AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY REDUCE CALORIES. LEARN ABOUT OUR EFFORTS TO SUPPORT BALANCE AT BALANCELITTLEROCK.ORG
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