The Pulse 16.15 » April 11, 2019

VOL. 16, ISSUE 15 • APRIL 11, 2019

CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

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FROM THE EDITOR VOLUME 16, ISSUE 15 • APRIL 11, 2019

BREWER MEDIA GROUP Publisher James Brewer, Sr. FOUNDED 2003 BY ZACHARY COOPER & MICHAEL KULL

EDITORIAL Managing Editor Gary Poole gary@chattanoogapulse.com Assistant Editor Jenn Webster City Editor Alex Curry Music Editor Marc T. Michael Film Editor John DeVore Contributors Rob Brezsny • Janis Hashe Sam Hilling • Matt Jones • Sandra Kurtz Ernie Paik • Rick Pimental-Habib Alex Teach • Michael Thomas Alexis Waterman • Addie Whitlow Editorial Intern Jason Dale Cartoonists Jen Sorenson • Tom Tomorrow

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Celebrating The 4 Bridges Arts Festival Establishing an arts festival that becomes an integral part of a community for almost two decades is no easy endeavor, but it’s exactly what AVA, the Association for Visual Arts, has done with their 4 Bridges Arts Festival, which kicks off its 19th year this weekend.

SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS

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MY EYES ARE UP HERE!

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We all hear it, a mantra that often reeks of elitism and pretension, yet lacks clarity and definition and most importantly, inclusion. What does it mean to “Eat Local” or to “Support Local Farmers”?

One of the more tiresome tropes of films and television sees the hapless protagonist trying to make an impression on another character by pretending to be something they aren’t.

ON THE ROAD WITH WYNN

Heads up, Chattanooga arts community, because a new wind is blowing into town.

Musician, photographer, and writer Dony Wynn is making this city his home—when he’s home.

DC FINALLY LIGHTENS UP

Captain Marvel has always been one of my favorite superheroes. I’m not referring to Carol Danvers, the superpowered Kree/human hybrid that recently broke box office records everywhere.

4 CONSIDER THIS

26 MUSIC CALENDAR

34 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

7 SHADES OF GREEN

29 MUSIC REVIEWS

37 JONESIN' CROSSWORD

20 ARTS CALENDAR

31 MIXOLOGY

37 THE COMIX

23 THE ART OF BUSINESS

33 NEW IN THEATERS

38 ON THE BEAT

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CITY LIFE · BETWEEN THE BRIDGES

Find Local Food, Support Local Farmers Main Street Farmers Market makes it easy to buy and eat green

By Alex Curry Pulse City Editor

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Being a patron of a farmers market is an investment in the local economy, the environment, and very importantly, the hardworking family farmers who grow our food.”

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E ALL HEAR IT, A MANTRA THAT OFTEN REEKS OF elitism and pretension, yet lacks clarity and definition and most importantly, inclusion. What does it mean to “Eat Local” or to “Support Local Farmers”?

What is the definition of local? In a technology-driven world, what even is a farmer anymore? How do we eat local?

Where do we find the food that’s from “closer”? Why is it easier to find beef all the way from Australia than it is to find local grass-fed beef? Why is it cheaper to buy a pork tenderloin from a Tyson megafarm in Arkansas than it is to support our next-door neighbor?

All of these questions lead us on a wild goose chase, jumping down bottomless rabbit holes in search of an answer to how our food system got so backward.

We live in a time of unfathomable food waste, hyper-consumerism, and food that has been processed to a level that would be unrecognizable by our not-so-distant relatives.

Our health as a nation is on the line.

Nearly 10 percent of adults in the United States suffer from diabetes, with impover-

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ished communities being hit the hardest.

The statistics go on and on.

Just like this rant, it has gotten out of hand. However, there are ways around it.

The Main Street Farmers Market is one of many ways that we can shift the tide back to a healthier and more locally sourced way of life.

“Being a patron of a farmers market is an investment in the local economy, the environment, and very importantly, the hardworking family farmers who grow our food,” says Holly Martin, the market’s manager. “You may have seen the bumper stickers that say, ‘No Farms No Food’ and it is absolutely true. We as consumers make a lot of food choices every day, and supporting local agriculture is one of the most impactful food choices you can make.”

Main Street Farmers Market is a producer-direct market, meaning the ven-

dors on-site have grown, raised, or handcrafted the products for sale.

“We are decidedly food-focused and every vendor has been inspected at their farm or business and vetted by our board of directors for their commitment to local and sustainably grown food,” Holly says.

“We have a carefully selected variety of vendors that sell fresh produce, cheese, kombucha, antibiotic-free meats, herbs, eggs, coffee, and chocolate.”

The market, as with most in the food world, considers the definition of local to be “food grown within 100 miles of its point of purchase or consumption.”

It may come as a surprise to some that there is a significant quantity of highquality farmers and food producers in the immediate Chattanooga area.

On April 18th, Whole Foods on the Northshore will donate 5 percent of their total sales for the day to the market, and on May 1st, the MSFM will host their annual Spring-A-Ma-Jig with live music, special guests, and food trucks to celebrate the offerings of the springtime bounty.

The Main Street Farmers Market is currently celebrating their tenth year of continuous operation. You can visit them at the Finley Stadium parking lot every Wednesday from 4–6 p.m. March through October and from 4–5 p.m. November through February. Both the CARTA bus route 9 and the free downtown shuttle have stops close by.

Visit mainstfarmersmarket.com for more information and stop by Instagram @mainstfarmersmarket. Can’t make the hours? It’s easy to develop relationships with local farmers and create a symbiotic relationship outside of market hours.

A healthy, local, sustainable lifestyle is for everyone. MSFM is a great place to start.

Roller Derby Rocks!

Cons ider This w ith Dr. Rick

Chattanooga Roller Girls kick off 2019 season

“Carry out a random act of kindness with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone will do the same for you.” — Princess Diana

With the weather warming, women all around town are shaking off their post-winter doldrums, lacing up their skates, and heading out for some fast-paced, in-your-face roller derby action.

The Chattanooga Roller Girls will be taking the track for their 2019 season opener this Saturday at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

The doors open at 4 p.m. and the Chattanooga B-Railers take on Birmingham’s Tragic City Plan B team at 5 p.m.

Then the Chattanooga All Stars will face the Tragic City Rollers at 7

p.m. in the main event.

This doubleheader is brought to you by our friends at Main Line Ink and will benefit the Orange Grove Center, a very worthy cause.

Get tickets from your favorite derby folk or online at bpt. me/4107884 up to the night before the bout.

Presale tickets are $10, or $12 at the door. Military with ID is $8, kids aged 6–12 are $5, and kids 5 and under are free.

You can also purchase tickets from any of the Chattanooga Roller Girls’ local sponsors, includ-

ing Four Bridges Outfitters, Infinity Flux, Main Line Ink, or Swann Chiropractic.

This is a family-friendly event where concessions (and even adult beverages) are available for purchase.

For more information on what the Chattanooga Roller Girls are rolling into next, check them out on Facebook under Chattanooga Roller Girls or visit their website at chattanoogarollergirls.com.

Just be prepared for a night of high energy fun and ferocity!

— Alexis Waterman

Master Chunyi Lin, founder of Spring Forest QiGong, says that every thought, feeling, and action, no matter what it is, has a direct effect on the entire Universe.

If you subscribe to this, then when you help the elderly man with his groceries, it matters. When you think kindly about your neighbor, it matters. When you sit in silence feeling gratitude for another day, it matters.

You make the world a better place.

A bit far-fetched for you? Then consider this: spend an entire day doing good deeds.

Preferably small, simple gestures that put smiles on the faces of others. You likely won’t be present for the domino effect, although it will happen. But what you will notice is how incredible it makes you feel at the end of the day.

— Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D.

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COLUMN · SHADES OF GREEN

Monarch Miracles A symbol of the soul and an indication of nature’s health

I Sandra Kurtz

Pulse columnist

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Monarchs seem to be a symbolic species for the health of all butterflies, most likely because of their relatively large size, their beauty, and their awe-inspiring migration story.”

Sandra Kurtz is an environmental community activist, chair of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance, and is presently working through the Urban Century Institute. You can visit her website to learn more at enviroedu.netw

T’S A MIRACULOUS PROCESS! WE mostly notice the end product, i.e., the beautiful, brilliantly colored orange, black, and white monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). It begins as an egg, hatches as a caterpillar that eats a lot of milkweed, molts several times and, when it’s time, fashions a green chrysalis flecked with gold around itself, hangs out awhile, and finally emerges as a fullgrown butterfly.

Wow! Such beauty strangely appearing. No wonder butterfly appearances caused some early Christians to consider the butterfly a symbol of the soul.

Others thought it the spirit of the dead.

Samantha Parker has a passion for monarch butterflies. She has been raising them for 18 years, beginning in Coconut Creek, Florida. Since 2004 she has raised them at Ascension Living Alexian Village as part of her work as Activities Director, Resident Services.

There she has enthused many residents to grow milkweed in their private spaces.

She distributes milkweed seeds and plants at Alexian in April. Residents grow the milkweed. In summer, monarchs appear and lay their eggs. Resulting caterpillars are then collected and placed in a mesh and plastic cage containing their needed milkweed plants for food. This affiliation with milkweed provides each monarch caterpillar a toxin that is poisonous to would-be predators. The cage is cleaned every day to avoid parasites.

Around 14 days later each caterpillar begins to form its chrysalis. In 8–13 more days the metamorphosis is complete. A monarch breaks out, dries its wings, and is ready to fly. While monarch caterpillars can only survive on milkweed plants, full-grown monarchs can now pollinate and get nectar from any flower. Last year 200 monarchs were raised and released from Alexian.

Monarchs are not the most prevalent butterflies in our area. Through sum-

mer and fall, butterfly watchers may identify up to 50 species.

Still, monarchs seem to be a symbolic species for the health of all butterflies, most likely because of their relatively large size, their beauty, and their awe-inspiring migration story.

Monarchs can fly 50–100 miles per day at a sailing speed of about 5.5 miles per hour. They flew up to 3000 miles last fall to Mexico from as far north as Canada. About now, successors will make the trip northward looking for milkweed. When they start, it looks like butterfly confetti. Scientists are still asking how they know when to leave and where to go.

The population of butterflies—including monarchs—is in decline, along with all other insects. Reasons are many, but it’s likely mostly due to agricultural practices that include pesticide and herbicide applications to crops, loss of natural habitat buffer zones adjacent to crops, loss of habitat due to urban sprawl, and severe storms.

For monarchs, it’s loss of milkweed too. Monarchs can survive only on milkweed during caterpillar stage. Being too picky is not good for population survival. Less picky species do better. Humans and rats come to mind.

Climate change may be having impacts. Warming temperatures may change the timing of milkweed growth.

If milkweed can’t grow in blistering temperatures, then there will be no monarchs. Then, too, why migrate if milkweed grows all year round in warmer temperatures? Monarchs require body

temperature of 86° F. to fly.

There are several milkweed species in the genus Asclepias. It’s a useful plant.

True, it supports monarchs, but Native Americans treated asthma and dysentery with the roots, made fishing line and thread with the leaves, and used the seedpods’ silky material to absorb papoose waste. Most are edible after boiling.

Do you want to see a live monarch butterfly? To view them indoors, visit the Tennessee Aquarium butterfly garden.

Outdoors, the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association has scheduled 11 butterfly counts beginning April 18 and ending Sept.

5. Contact Bill Haley at the Tennessee Aquarium for more information.

Butterflies can also be seen at the Pollinator Garden at the Hawthorne Road entrance to South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. School groups can visit the TN River Gardens Butterfly Pavilion by appointment only.

For personal sightings and to help monarchs, plant milkweed now. Reward your soul in the summer with the natural joy of butterflies as they flutter by.

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COVER STORY

Celebrating The 4 Bridges Arts Festival AVA shines a spotlight on four talented emerging artists

By Addie Whitlow, Pulse contributor

E

STABLISHING AN ARTS FESTIVAL THAT BECOMES AN integral part of a community for almost two decades is no easy endeavor, but it’s exactly what AVA, the Association for Visual Arts, has done with their 4 Bridges Arts Festival, which kicks off its 19th year this weekend.

4 Bridges Arts Festival will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, April 13–14, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the First Tennessee Pavilion. The festival began as a way to showcase the passion of local artists, but it’s grown to include submissions from across the country. This year’s event will include work from 150 talented artists. “[4 Bridges] has just been a consistent part of Chattanooga’s creative landscape for 19 years, and with each year it’s really grown,” said Phyllis Mescon, Director of

4 Bridges. “It started out as a smaller, community type of event, but now it’s part of the national community of art festivals.”

Admission to 4 Bridges only costs $5 and gives attendees the opportunity to view and purchase local original artwork, with some pieces under $100. AVA is also hosting a preview party Friday, April 12, which is a ticketed event and social gathering with access to some preferred pricing on artwork.

As part of AVA’s Emerging Artists program, which helps to spotlight local artists and provides ex-

hibition space at 4 Bridges, there will be four incredibly passionate Chattanooga-area artists displaying and selling their artwork.

This year’s festival is also going to include live music with help from Friends of the Festival. There will

be food trucks and food vendors as well. Mescon explained that the festival is a great opportunity to hang out downtown and support local artists, which is a tradition AVA hopes to carry right into 2020.

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COVER STORY

Colin Campbell 4 Bridges Arts Festival Emerging Artist

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OR POSTER ARTIST COLIN CAMPBELL, THE goal is to bring a new idea to something that may seem past recollection. He focuses on reclaiming aspects of different artwork and molding them into one collage-like creation to make something new and unique.

“They’re all based on old, found, vintage photography or posters, advertisements. So it’s basically that I try to take stuff that is old and forgotten and kind of remix it and run it through my own lens,” Campbell explained when discussing his posters. “I take something small and unimportant that I’ve just found in a random context and then ironically make it important by making it really large and neon.

There are a lot of collage elements

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in there, too.”

Campbell teaches art at Cleveland High School and has been teaching art at the high school level for around seven years. Although he’s spent the last two to three years making immense progress on his posters, he’s never really shown his artwork before; however, his passion for art and teaching has allowed him to help his students show their artwork instead.

“I came from [teaching] elementary school, so coming from teaching that level to, you know, juniors and seniors in high school, I knew I was really going to have to kick it up some, so I started really practicing and making my own stuff,” Campbell said. “They’re smart and creative in their own ways; they bring their own ideas and colors. And so it’s a cool place to kind of workshop ideas, especially with juniors and seniors who really like art.”

Campbell’s passion for his students and their own artwork has been one of his main motivating factors in pursuing his interest in art further. He’s spent most of his life drawing, but it wasn’t until he

In regards to his own artwork, Campbell said he really hopes that everyone sees each piece a little differently and that they bring their own lens to it. became a teacher that he really started to delve further into his art.

“My motivator has been to really push myself in stuff that I make out there because it’s kind of the same stuff I tell my students.

Practice what I preach, kind of. And allow them to get outside their comfort zones,” Campbell said.

In regards to his own artwork, Campbell said he really hopes that everyone sees each piece a little differently and that they bring their own lens to it. He uses pretty recognizable imagery, so everyone can find something they can relate to in each poster he

creates. Campbell also portrays the idea of fake nostalgia through posters, music, and advertisements. He focuses on fonts and graphic design, too.

Thanks to the Emerging Artist program with AVA, Campbell said the opportunity to show for the first time has motivated him to create even more pieces, and the experience has been awesome. Campbell will have seven to eight large posters, and several smaller ones as well, on display at 4 Bridges this weekend. As for the future, Campbell is going to keep experimenting with his posters and just see where his art takes him.

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COVER STORY

Jennifer Kring 4 Bridges Arts Festival Emerging Artist

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NSPIRATION IS SOMETHING THAT CAN OFTEN BE found in the most unlikely of places, such as in an ancient library of Reader’s Digest magazines, which is exactly what sparked the unique art processes of Jennifer Kring.

Kring is an altered book artist.

Through carving and drawing, she crafts intricate small scenes into old books that are no longer serving a purpose. Her pieces are incredibly detailed, and because she literally hollows her designs into the pages, they are also three-dimensional.

When she was left with a library of books no one wanted, she was finally able to find the art form she calls “her jam”. “[My grandmother] had a whole bunch of those Reader’s Digests, and she left them to me, and they all have these really cool, like 1970’s wallpaper-looking covers, you know. And I was like, these are awesome, but I don’t want to read these,” said Kring. “I sold a pile of them at McKay’s, and I was like, nobody else wants to read these

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either, so I don’t know. I thought, maybe I’ll just put drawings in them. Before I know it, I’m making one right after the other.”

Sometimes people will ask Kring why it seems like she’s destroying books, but her work is quite the contrary. She’s always loved reading and books, and her work is more of a way to honor them, especially since many of the books she uses have already been discarded or fallen into disrepair. She also mentioned how it’s interesting we’re living in a time where libraries are getting rid of their books; it almost seems as if we aren’t valuing knowledge as much as we did in the past.

Kring has always had an interest in art; she’s spent most of her life drawing, and she’s also dabbled

with painting and acoustics. However, it wasn’t until about three years ago that Kring was really able to discover her passion. She was a teacher for seven years, and while she loved teaching, there weren’t lot of opportunities to delve further into her art. After deciding to take a break and to take some time for herself, she finally discovered her calling, which is altered books.

“All I’m doing is living and breathing studio. Finishing stuff.

I keep trying to make stuff, and I’m like, you can’t keep making stuff. You have to finish these,” explained Kring. “I think it’s kind of like, you just have a momentum, and you can’t force that, so when it happens, you just have to sit down, shut up, and go with it.”

Kring has shown her artwork

around the southeast in the past, but she hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to do so while she was still teaching. It was a friend who encouraged her to get involved with AVA, and once she did, it didn’t take long for her to be presented with the opportunity to submit her pieces to be shown at 4 Bridges.

Kring said she’s very grateful and excited to be participating in this year’s arts festival.

“I just want to put my art more places. I know this sounds like the quintessential artist thing, but I just want to make more stuff,” Kring said. “I could kind of care less where they end up; I know that sounds bad, but I just want to be able to make more work. As long as I can keep working, I’m a happy girl. It’s all about process for sure.”

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COVER STORY

Brooke Craig 4 Bridges Arts Festival Emerging Artist

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IFE HAS MANY TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS; IT’S what makes life, well, life. An unfortunate reality is just how difficult the hard times can actually be. However, it’s often the strongest people who embrace the hard times and use them as a platform for change or creation, which is exactly what photographer and artist Brooke Craig is doing.

Craig’s artwork, which is quite varied, focuses on the idea of a diseased body, and, in turn, the idea of mortality. Some of her more prominent pieces include her medicinal self-portraits, which help to shed light on disease and medication. Her work also focuses on the idea of the feminine body and the way in which the body functions; some of her pieces have incorporated bodily fluids as a medium.

“So I’m calling them medicinal self-portraits because what I’m doing is, I’m taking film, and then I’m processing it with the medications

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I take, or I paint the medications onto the emulsion side of the film.

So the different chemicals, the different pH’s of the chemicals, create a different color scheme. Through that, I’m trying to make a piece of film a body, to function as my own body,” explained Craig when discussing her self-portraits.

Craig was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare neuroimmune disorder similar to multiple sclerosis, when she was only 11 years old. Due to the debilitating nature of her disease, Craig spent a lot of time at an inpatient hospital in

Atlanta, where she was introduced to art therapy as a way to sort of express herself.

“That [therapy] kind of taught me that art can be a way of coping, but later in life, I kind of push away from that idea. I want my work to be thought of more as a healing process than coping,” Craig said.

She went on to continue pursuing her artwork, graduating from UTC with a BFA in photography and media arts in 2016. When she first began getting serious with art, Craig said she focused more on eating disorders and body image because it was something she experienced secondhand, and thus, she felt like it was something she needed to focus her art on.

“But I got to a point where I kind of realized I was making art for other people. I don’t think you can create art about what you

I don’t think you can create art about what you don’t know, so I realized I needed to start making pieces about myself and my experiences. don’t know, so I realized I needed to start making pieces about myself and my experiences,” Craig explained. “And so, it kind of just became an experiment at first, and then it grew into a practice that revolves around this idea of a diseased body and how that leads to other people questioning their own mortality.”

Since 2014, Craig has been focusing on the medicinal self-portraits as a way illustrate her diseased body. Craig is still focusing on femininity in her pieces, and she’s starting to experiment with a sort of blueprint design in her work as well.

Craig said she’s really excited to share her artwork at 4 Bridges; she wants to work on building some of the connections with the art community she lost after her time at UTC. For the future, Craig would love it if her art didn’t have to be about disease, but right now, she said, it still does.

“My art is not about bringing awareness of things, but as an artist, you have this ability to actually create change that a lot of people want but don’t necessarily do,” Craig said. “So I hope people keep making wonderful things and art keeps taking this interesting turn.”

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COVER STORY

Hollie Berry 4 Bridges Arts Festival Emerging Artist

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HEN MANY PEOPLE THINK OF ART, THEY likely think of painting, drawing, sculptures, and mediams of that nature. However, there are a lot of nontraditional art processes that aren’t as widely known, and local torch artist Hollie Berry illustrates the beautiful artwork that can be created with something as seemingly simple as flame.

“I call these torch paintings, and they’re burned into plywood using mostly propane torches. I’m the only person I know of doing this specifically; it’s kind of an offshoot of pyrography. I started doing this maybe three years ago, off and on,” explained Berry. “I’ve been working on perfecting my technique and figuring out tools I can use to get more detail using this method. I’ve gotten just about as detailed as it’s gonna get, I’m pretty sure.”

Born and raised near Houston, Berry received her BFA in studio art from the University of Texas at Austin. She and her husband moved to Chattanooga about seven years

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ago; she said the mountains were what drew them here, but they’ve since been able to discover how great the city is, too.

All of Berry’s torch paintings have a photo reference, which she studies every intricate detail of before beginning with flame because there’s no erasing.

Berry works fulltime at her studio at the Chattanooga WorkSpace, and she has also partnered with the Chattanooga Zoo to bring awareness to the animals through art, with both the “Artists in the Wild” program and her live torch demonstrations at the “Spirits in the Wild” program.

Over the past three years, Berry

said she’s completed at least 50 torch paintings. Some of her other focuses include portraits, horses, fire dancers, pets, and more. Berry is also an oil painter and equestrian artist; she has a vast library of intricate oil paintings. She’s currently working on a series inspired

by Cavalia, an exhilarating Cirque du Soleil-on-horseback type of performance.

“I usually work large, but I’ve been working smaller lately just for the festival because, with my typical work, I could fit maybe five pieces in a 10x10 booth,” said Berry. “I’m a traditional oil painter in addition to torch painting, so I usually alternate between the two.

I like being able to alternate because it’s a very different way of working, and sometimes I get tired of only one color [with the torch paintings], so it’s nice to be able to do something else.”

In regards to 4 Bridges, Berry said she’s focusing on smaller pieces; she’s bringing at least 30, with price points under $300, so she can have an adequate inven-

tory. Berry is quite familiar with AVA; she got involved with the gallery shortly after moving to Chattanooga, but she’s excited to be showing as an emerging artist at the festival.

For the future, Berry is going to keep fueling her passion for art, with the goal of earning a real livable wage. She welcomes both commissions and collaboration; she makes commissioned pieces on a regular basis, and she can also be hired for an hourly rate.

“Being an artist is just owning a small business, and the product you’re selling as a small business is the artwork, but it’s very laborious and time-consuming to create that artwork, and that doesn’t leave you a lot of time left for the business side of things, or vice versa,” explained Berry “It can eat up all your time, and then you don’t have time left to make anything. I’m anxiously awaiting the day when my income justifies the hiring of an assistant, because I definitely have enough work for an assistant to do.”

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

On The Road With The Inimitable Dony Wynn Renaissance man makes Chattanooga his home The Tragedy Of Don José Presented by the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Georges Bizet’s celebrated and once-controversial tragic opera “Carmen”, a devastating story of conflicted Spanish lovers, opens this week at the Tivoli Theatre.

The nineteenth-century French opera never saw popularity or acclaim until a decade after Bizet’s death, but it stands now as a classic of the genre and one of the most widely performed operas today.

The opera’s plot centers around Don José, a soldier stationed in southern Spain, who falls for the alluring charm of a gypsy woman, Carmen. Despite his pledge to his family and the military, José deserts both in favor of his newly found love interest, initiating his fatal ruin.

To José’s frustration, Carmen finds love elsewhere, fancying the bullfighter Escamillo. Her fleeing love sparks a bitter conflict between the bullfighter and the soldier, culminating in a showdown and fateful death within a bullring.

But who dies tragically? Who survives only to live in constant agony? Come witness the moving opera in its live grandeur to learn the answers to these pressing questions.

“Carmen” will be performed this Thursday and Saturday at the Tivoli Theatre at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit tivolichattanooga.com.

— Jason Dale

By Janis Hashe Pulse contributor

“

Raised in South Louisiana, Wynn began playing drums at age three and turned pro at age 13 (with a fake mustache).”

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EADS UP, CHATTANOOGA ARTS COMMUNITY, because a new wind is blowing into town. Actually, make that: “Wynn”.

Musician, photographer, and writer Dony Wynn is making this city his home—when he’s home. Which isn’t often, and not likely to be in the near future.

The self-described “professional nomad” made contact with the Shaking Ray Levi Society’s Bob Stagner through Facebook when he was considering leaving Austin, which makes sense, as they are both drummers deluxe.

After visiting Chattanooga for the first time last year, Wynn decided the

“sweet little town” would become his base, when he isn’t scoping out the countryside in his 21st-century “tech-ed out to the max” travel trailer. And that decision is definitely Chattanooga’s gain.

Born in Memphis and raised in South Louisiana, Wynn began playing drums at age three and turned pro at age 13 (with a fake mustache). He spent decades playing with people such as Dr. John, Patti LaBelle and Robert Plant. He was nominated by the Academy

of Country Music for Drummer of the Year in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, and collaborated for 25 years with Robert Palmer.

The Austin Chronicle wrote this in 2013: “[He] was laying down tracks in the Bahamas on Palmer’s groundbreaking 1980 synth-pop LP Clues when the band in the studio next door enlisted him for a percussion army. That was Brian Eno and Talking Heads making Remain in Light.”

It was while he was with Palmer that he began experimenting with taking photos, which quickly became an obsession. After Palmer’s untimely death in 2003, he worked with country music duo Brooks & Dunn.

But a life change was calling, he says. He “went into exile and took a vow of poverty,” one he kept for seven years.

Yet all during that time he continued to take pictures, even when he could barely afford another roll of film at Walmart. His fascination was (and is) with toxic, industrial, and abandoned sites and the strange beauty that can be found there.

“What people avoid is what I am attracted to,” he says. Self-taught, it took years before he created the technique he uses to make his pictures, which are collected by year in

“

Self-taught, it took years before he created the technique he uses to make his pictures, which are collected by year in the series called ‘Ephemerata’.” the series called “Ephemerata”.

“They document a specific moment in the Earth’s history,” Wynn’s site explains, and he goes further, calling that moment “the end of the Industrial Age.” Each photo original is an extreme close-up, “the size of a quarter”, resulting in images that evoke one-cell life forms, or deserts, or supernovas, or whatever the viewer sees in them.

“I don’t crop them,” Wynn says, noting that in this he follows the techniques of seminal French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. The images are then transferred to a 4- by 6-foot piece of Dibond aluminum as a one-of-a-kind art object. Two more images are made on high-quality art paper. Once those are sold, Wynn does not make more.

Despite spending so much time on his photography, occasionally, as he says, “risking life and limb to get the shots,” he has not abandoned music.

Director Robert Rodriguez reached

out to him years ago for help producing a song for his film Once Upon a Time in Mexico and maintains contact. He recently completely sessions work on two albums in Austin.

Here in Chattanooga, he fully expects to collaborate with the everinnovating Shaking Rays. He also looks forward to mentoring young musicians. “If there’s a brand new songwriter who needs help, I can jump into that,” he says.

Meanwhile, he’s looking for a possible storefront space, and, as if that’s not enough, continuing to write, both blog posts and an incipient novel. (Take a look and a listen to one of his “Kinetic Tales” called “This Ain’t No BBQ” on YouTube.)

And he continues, as he puts it, to “dwell in the quiet to make as much noise as he can.”

More information about Dony Wynn’s photographs, including pricing, is available at facebook.com/ donywynnphotography

THU4.11

FRI4.12

SAT4.13

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS

“The Christians”

Creature from the Black Lagoon

The Jellicle Cats come out to play on one special night of the year: the night of the Jellicle Ball.

8 p.m.

UTC's Chamberlain Pavilion 600 Douglas St. utc.edu

What happens when a megachurch pastor has a suddent change of heart about this ministry? Come find out.

7:30 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org

Come downtown for a free showing of the classic monster movie, in conjunction with the CFF. 8 p.m.

Miller Park 910 Market St. chattfilmfest.org CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 19

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR THURSDAY4.11 Urban Farmers Market and Marketplace 3 p.m.

Miller Park 910 Market St. millerparkmarket.com Chattanooga Film Festival 4:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 chattfilmfest.org Arts for Health with Steven Dean of Operation Song 5 p.m.

The Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Naughty Knights Chess Meetup 5 p.m.

Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. 431 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 760-3600 huttonandsmithbrewing.com The 14th Amendment All A Cryin’ Film Screening 5:30 p.m.

Bessie Smith Cultural Center 200 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-8658 bessiesmithcc.org Gin is In: A Gin Tasting 6 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com 12th Annual Bryan Opportunity Scholarship Program Dinner 6:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Convention Center 1150 Carter St. (423) 756-0001 bryan.edu Mike Gardner 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Movie with Mat: Rushmore 7:30 p.m.

Hutton & Smith Brewing Co.

20 • THE PULSE • APRIL 11, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

431 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 760-3600 huttonandsmithbrewing.com Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS 8 p.m.

Chamberlain Pavilion at UTC 600 Douglas St. (423) 425-4269 utc.edu Alcoholics Not Anonymous Comedy Open Mic 8 p.m.

Barley Taproom 235 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 682-8200 chattanoogabarley.com Country Line Dancing Class 8 p.m.

Westbound Bar 24 Station St. (423) 498-3069 westboundbar.com

FRIDAY4.12 Chattanooga Film Festival 10 a.m.

Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 chattfilmfest.org Reflections Gallery Grand Opening 2 p.m.

Reflections Gallery 1635 Rossville Ave. (423) 892-3072

reflectionsgallerytn.com Beginner Embroidery: Cocktail Mixer 6 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Couple’s Massage 101 6:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Comedy Showcase!

7 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com “Deeper Roots” 7 p.m.

Bachman Community Center 2815 Anderson Pike 423) 886-4842 bachmancc.org Mike Gardner 7:30, 9:45 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Carmen 7:30 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com

CDT’s Spring Gala with Coppelia 7:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Dance Theatre 5151 Austin Rd. (423) 760-8808 chattanoogadancetheatre.com “The Christians” 7:30 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS 8 p.m.

Chamberlain Pavilion at UTC 600 Douglas St. (423) 425-4269 utc.edu Video Game Night 8 p.m.

Stone Cup Cafe 208 Frazier Ave. (423) 521-3977 stonecupcafe.com Ruby Falls Lantern Tours 8:30 p.m.

Ruby Falls 1720 S. Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544 rubyfalls.com Good, Old-Fashioned Improv Show 10 p.m.

Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com

(423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS 8 p.m.

Chamberlain Pavilion at UTC 600 Douglass St. (423) 425-4269 utc.edu Creature from the Black Lagoon 8 p.m.

Miller Park 910 Market St. chattfilmfest.org Whose Line Chattanooga 10 p.m.

Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com

Master Your Garden: Garden Expo

SATURDAY4.13 Money School 2019 8 a.m.

Brainerd Crossroads 4011 Austin St. (423) 643-4978 brainerdbaptist.org/thebx Beginner Macrame: Make Your Own Clutch 9 a.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Chattanooga Film Festival 10 a.m.

Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 chattfilmfest.org Master Your Garden: Garden Expo 10 a.m.

Camp Jordan Arena 323 Camp Jordan Pkwy.

(423) 490-0078 mghc.org/garden-expo Chattanooga River Market 10 a.m.

Tennessee Aquarium Plaza 1 Broad St. publicmarkets.us Beginner Repeat Pattern Design 11 a.m.

Chattanooga Workspace

302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Reflections Gallery Grand Opening 1 p.m.

Reflections Gallery 1635 Rossville Ave. (423) 892-3072 reflectionsgallerytn.com Master Your Money Mindset 1:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Adair Sanders Talk & Signing 2 p.m.

Star Line Books 1467 Market St. (423) 777-5629 starlinebooks.com Make and Take Jewelry: Earrings 2 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com I Hope It Doesn’t Rain Tomorrow Reception 6 p.m.

Versa Gallery 1918 Union Ave. versagallery.org “Deeper Roots” 7 p.m.

Bachman Community Center

SUNDAY4.14 2815 Anderson Pike 423) 886-4842 bachmancc.org Mike Gardner 7:30, 9:45 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Carmen 7:30 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com CDT’s Spring Gala with Coppelia 7:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Dance Theatre 5151 Austin Rd. (423) 760-8808 chattanoogadancetheatre.com Contra Dance for All! 7:30 p.m.

Spring Creek Road Baptist 1312 Spring Creek Rd. 423) 894-0700 scrbc.com “The Christians” 7:30 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Your Stories 8 p.m.

Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave.

Chattanooga Film Festival 10 a.m.

Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 chattfilmfest.org Master Your Garden: Garden Expo 10 a.m.

Camp Jordan Arena 323 Camp Jordan Pkwy.

(423) 490-0078 mghc.org/garden-exp Artful Yoga: Flow to Spring 1:30 p.m.

The Hunter Museum of Art 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org CDT’s Spring Gala with Coppelia 2:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Dance Theatre 5151 Austin Rd. (423) 760-8808 chattanoogadancetheatre.com “The Christians” 2:30 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Mike Gardner 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 21

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR MONDAY4.15 Beginner Crochet 5:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Introduction to Fluid Art 5:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Spring Belly Dance Session 5:45 p.m.

Movement Arts Collective 3813 Dayton Blvd.

(423) 401-8115 movementartscollective.com Joggers & Lagers 6 p.m.

Chattanooga Brewing Co. 1804 Chestnut St. chattabrew.com

TUESDAY4.16 Wake Up & Run 6 a.m.

Fleet Feet Sports 307 Manufacturers Rd. (423) 771-7996 fleetfeetchattanooga.com Chess K-night 5 p.m.

Mad Priest Coffee Roasters 1900 Broad St. (423) 393-3834 madpriestcoffee.com Ask a Writer: Q&A 5:30 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Beginner Handlettering 6 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com “Housing at a Glance” 6 p.m.

The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Tuesday Night Chess Club

22 • THE PULSE • APRIL 11, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

6 p.m.

Downtown Library 1001 Broad St. (423) 643-7700 chattilibrary.com Paths to Pints along the Riverwalk 6:30 p.m.

The Tap House 3800 St. Elmo Ave. taphousechatt.com “Spamalot” 7:30 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com

WEDNESDAY4.17 Introduction to Calligraphy 6 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Introduction to Reiki 6 p.m.

Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Comedy Open Mic Night 7 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Naughty Knights Chess Meetup 7:30 p.m.

The Bitter Alibi 825 Houston St. (423) 362-5070 thebitteralibi.com “Spamalot” 7:30 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com Free Kittens Open Mice Comedy 8 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400 jjsbohemia.com Map these locations on chattanoogapulse. com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com

I Go Tokyo Is Truly A Unique Boutique From petal-light porcelain to doggie kimonos

When I go into I Go Tokyo to talk with owner Margaret Armour, the Japanese inspired boutique on the North Shore is bustling. As I examine the merchandise, I listen to the conversation at the sales desk.

“I’m so glad you’re getting those,” Margaret is exclaiming to a customer. “Those are wonderful.”

Then, as she wraps the woman’s purchase, Margaret asks, “Are you able to eat something sweet?” And with that tactful question, she adds a scrumptious delicacy from Japan to the woman’s package—a gift, a thank you for visiting.

Meanwhile, I’m taking in everything. Bath towels. Baby clothes.

Plush toys. Stationary and writing implements from pencils to brushes.

Pets’ kimonos. Reusable wrapping cloth in bright prints. Phone accessories, books, stickers.

There’s something for every taste and every price point. Useful things and pretty things and just plain quirky ones. One commonality is that the quality seems impeccably high. Everything is a delight to handle. The color, the weight, the materials— these items just feel right. They make you smile.

Another commonality is that most of the merchandise is made either in Japan or by Japanese craftspeople.

That explains the value on quality. Many of the items, too, possess the ineffable quality of “kawaii”— “cuteness,” as Margaret explains to me.

Margaret discovers many of her items while traveling in Japan, accompanied by Etsuko Lammon, I Go Tokyo’s Chief Brand Manager and Margaret’s friend and interpreter.

“I’m fortunate enough to have been able to travel quite a bit in my life,” Margaret says. “Japan is progressive but very different from what I was used to. I’m proud to bring part of that culture to the states.”

Margaret focuses on working with individual artists, family workshops and small manufacturers, though you’ll see a few larger names, too.

Photos of her artisans with brief notes about them are peppered around the store, Polaroid-like memos of her journeys. At I Go Tokyo, you’re just one degree of separation from fascinating craftspeople and centurieslong histories.

Margaret shows me Koransha porcelain, made by the same family for 300 years.

“This was originally made only for the Emperor,” she tells me. “My products come from a side branch of the family. I’m the only person in the U.S. to carry Koransha porcelain.”

It’s feather-light, translucent as an eggshell or a wisp of chiffon.

Moving on, we look at handpainted earrings, five different studs on a strip for you to mix and match.

Cosmetics, elegantly packaged as an artist’s kit. Hand-woven scarves the sheen of eggplant and sunset from Chattanooga’s Japanese Sister City, Tono.

We stop at a display of cloths, more or less the size of handkerchiefs, that are beautifully printed and oh-so-soft.

“Japan is a gift culture,” Margaret explains, holding one of the cloths, which you could use to wipe a toddler’s face or wrap a small present. I get that; I’m already mentally filling up my birthday and Christmas gift lists.

“These are the things my kids want to buy when we go to Japan,” Lammon, who is from Japan, notes. “You find everything here in Japan, but not all in one store.” Looking at Margaret, she adds affectionately: “She’s just as unique as her boutique.”

The partnership does seem beautifully quirky. Lammon was a freelance translator while her children attended school, and she’s also a fitness instructor at local gyms. Margaret worked as a nurse. When she left her first career, she wanted a complete change.

“The whole purpose of the store is just to have fun with it,” she says.

“It’s the atmosphere you find in Japan. Safety, fun, serenity, happiness.

I am currently working on my website to accept orders so I can share a little bit of Tokyo with the world.”

The website, at igotokyostore.com, contains beautifully photographed illustrations of featured merchandise, as well as links to I Go Tokyo’s Instagram account, instagram.com/ igotokyostore/, where I Go Tokyo fans can be on the lookout for new products and see upcoming events and Japanese cultural education at the store.

Margaret points me to a set of super-kawaii plush figures near the register. The characters represent odd items you might find in the corner, and they have their own vehicle.

“How can you stay upset at a smiling dust ball in a pink car?” she asks.

Of course, you can’t. That’s the whole point. The store is more than a cultural boutique; it’s a spot of happiness guaranteed to brighten every guest’s day. Come visit I Go Tokyo and experience the unique vibe for yourself.

I Go Tokyo is located at 205 Manufacturer Rd., Ste. 106. Visit them online at igotokyostore.com or instagram.com/igotokyostore

CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 23

THE MUSIC SCENE

Hey! My Eyes Are Up Here!

DDS has their tongues firmly in cheek Jazz Improv Trio Gets Radical Fresh off the release of their collaborative album What Is To Be Done, the distinguished ensemble of Nels Cline, Larry Ochs, and Gerald Cleaver are an unlikely trio of radical jazz improvisation.

Audiences never know what to expect with this trio, as their mid-performance experimentation and blaring soundscape reflect their collaborative work, while new sounds blend spontaneously during their sensational show.

While jazz is often a quiet art form, jazz improvisation isn’t. The sounds of mellow pianowork and soothing trumpets contrast with the loud, frantic hollering between the raving saxophone and booming drums that define the trio’s approach to jazz improvisation. Believe me when I say that their performance might be louder than some of the local punk shows found in the city.

To improvise mid-performance requires that a highly proficient musician have a firm grasp on both their instrument and how their bandmates are playing, knowing exactly what sounds will work in unison and which ones won’t.

When executed successfully, the improv work of Nels Cline, Larry Ochs, and Gerald Cleaver allows for an idiosyncratic experience that cannot be replicated after its conclusion, as what is improvised on stage one night is changed the next night, and then the next night, and then the next night.

Nels Cline, Larry Ochs, and Gerald Cleaver will be performing at Barking Legs Theater on Dodds Ave. this Monday at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit barkinglegs.org — Jason Dale

By Marc T. Michael Pulse Music Editor

“

Most of us figure out sooner or later that you can never expect to really be happy until you’re comfortable in your own skin.”

24 • THE PULSE • APRIL 11, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

O

NE OF THE MORE TIRESOME TROPES OF films and television sees the hapless protagonist trying to make an impression on another character by pretending to be something they aren’t.

This fails catastrophically and then the best friend/guardian angel/murderous talking dog steps in to say, “Dude! You just have to be yourself!”

It’s true, of course, which is why despite being so tiresome, we still watch. It’s relatable.

Out here in the real world most of us figure out sooner or later that you can never expect to really be happy until you’re comfortable in your own skin. This is not only true for bands and musicians; it may well be doubly or triply true.

The world is eaten up with world-

weary singer/songwriters who haven’t experienced anything yet, angry punk bands struggling to find something to be good and mad about, and wouldbe “gangsta” hip hop artists who struggled on the well-lit, crime free streets of suburbia.

All this is the preface to why I find humor in a band so endearing. I’m not talking about artists whose whole modus operandi is humor, a la Tom Lehrer, Weird Al, or our own Alex Volz. Those guys are all great at what they do, and I love ‘em, but I’m talking about the bands whose main

“

The additional humorous riffs, clearly the result of some guys saying, ‘Hey, let’s have some fun with this,’ takes a great EP and turns it into something truly special.” thrust isn't humor, who still manage to throw a laugh in from time to time.

I enjoy hearing a group who, while they may take their craft seriously, do not take themselves too seriously.

You have to be comfortable in your own skin to pull that off. With their latest release, Hey! My Eyes Are Up Here, Double Dick Slick once again demonstrates that they’re secure enough in their talent and skill to have some fun with it.

The EP consists of five songs, but eleven tracks. The other six are “commercials”, “the news”, and other associated commentary, and taken as a whole, it makes for a very entertaining package. The tunes themselves are classic DDS; part early Van Halen, part Primus, part hardcore “you will never date my daughter” music. It’s

great stuff that demonstrates a broader dynamic than you might expect.

Without the interstitials, it would be a solid collection worthy of admiration and whatever they’re charging for it. The additional humorous riffs, clearly the result of some guys saying, “Hey, let’s have some fun with this,” takes a great EP and turns it into something truly special.

So many of the bands that attempt to do what DDS does, and there are tons of them, invariably lack the chops or attitude to pull it off. They all sound the same, either because they lack creativity, or because their creativity is stifled by a commitment to image.

DDS suffers from no such deficiency; their creativity is evident in every track, the lot of which manage to successfully combine rock, funk,

hardcore, and a terrifying vocalist into something wholly their own.

There can be no question that they take pride in what they do; you can’t be that good at it if you don’t. And yet their lack of ego and selfimportance frees them up to “be themselves”, a liberating quality that makes way for some of the most entertaining and listenable hardcore tracks you’re likely to encounter.

The EP is Hey! My Eyes Are Up Here! and it’s slated for release later this month.

I hope the release coincides with a supporting show or series of shows, because not only can I already see the ideal double or triple header of supporting guests, I can say without hyperbole that the only thing that better than hearing this new set of tunes would be seeing it live.

James Leg Comes Home To JJ's Bohemia

This Friday, JJ’s Bohemia plays host to one of the most exciting concerts of the year as Chattanooga’s own James Leg takes the stage, hot off an extensive European tour.

Known for raw, blistering performances, Leg holds nothing back on stage, seemingly offering himself up as a ritualistic musical sacrifice for the benefit of the audience.

This alone would be cause for excitement, but this evening will also feature the much-loved Ashley

and the X’s, another group whose live performances are potent musical juju. The two powerhouse acts will be joined by perennial favorites SunSap and Sleazy Sleazy, making for an evening of exhilarating musical talent, all set to start at 9 p.m. Friday.

Suffice it to say, by the time the bar announces last call, there won’t be a dry…eye… in the place. Step up, strap in, and hang on for dear life as the coterie of top-notch performers takes you on a wild and breathtaking ride.

— MTM

THU4.11

FRI4.12

SAT4.13

Funk You

The Royal Hounds

The Young Fables

This "funk" oriented outfit projects multiple musical styles focusing on dance driven grooves and powerful vocals.

9 p.m.

Songbirds South 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co

An evening of high energy, old school rock and roll with Matheus Canteri, one of the fastest pickers out of Nashville.

9 p.m.

HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com

A modern traditional country duo comprised of three-time American Idol vet Laurel Wright and Wesley Lunsford.

8:30 p.m.

Puckett’s Restaurant 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com

CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 25

LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR THURSDAY4.11 James Crumble Trio 6 p.m.

St. John’s Meeting Place 1278 Market St. stjohnsrestaurant.com Thursday Night Jazz 6 p.m.

The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Papa Sway 6 p.m.

1885 Grill 3914 St Elmo Ave 1885grill.com Live Harp Performance & Cats & Wine 6 p.m.

Naughty Cat Cafe 3742 Tennessee Ave. naughtycatcafe.com Danimal & Friends 6 p.m.

WanderLinger Brewing Company 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Steve Busie 6:30 p.m.

Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Toby Hewitt 7 p.m.

Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Maria Sable 7:30 p.m.

Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Jesse James & Tim Neal 7:30 p.m.

Mexi-Wing VII 5773 Brainerd Rd. (423) 296-1073 Double Cross 7:30 p.m.

The Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com Keepin’ It Local 8 p.m.

The Social 1110 Market St. publichousechattanooga.com Funk You with Masseuse 9 p.m.

26 • THE PULSE • APRIL 11, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

Roger Alan Wade

Songbirds South 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Open Mic Night 9 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Bug Hunter, Scenic 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com

FRIDAY4.12 Binji Varsossa 6 p.m.

Cancun Mexican Restaurant 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 Preston Ruffing 6:30 p.m.

Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Tim Lewis 7 p.m.

El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Kevin Kinney of Drivin’ n Cryin’: An Evening of Stories and Songs 7 p.m.

Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co

Leon Bridges 7 p.m.

Memorial Auditorium 399 McCallie Ave. tivolichattanooga.com Jessie Jungkurth 7:30 p.m.

Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com New Grass Express 8:30 p.m.

Puckett’s Restaurant 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Lord Huron 8:30 p.m.

The Signal 1810 Chestnut St. thesignaltn.com Emerge with Camp Normal & Seven Stones 9 p.m.

Songbirds South 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Cosmic Collective & ETC 9 p.m.

WanderLinger Brewing Company 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Amber Fults 9 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Roger Alan Wade 9 p.m.

Tremont Tavern 1203 Hixson Pike tremonttavern.com Jordan Hallquist 9 p.m.

The Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com The Royal Hounds 9 p.m.

HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com Ashley and the Xs, Sunsap, SLZSLZ 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com

SATURDAY4.13 Binji Varsossa 6 p.m.

Cancun Mexican Restaurant 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 No Big Deal 6 p.m.

The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Papa Sway 6:30 p.m.

Las Margaritas 4604 Skyview Dr. Naomi Ingram 6:30 p.m.

Jeff Tweedy

Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Northwoods Revival 7 p.m.

Charles & Myrtle’s Coffeehouse 105 McBrien Rd. christunity.org Stellar’s Jay 7 p.m.

Hutton and Smith 431 E. MLK Blvd. huttonandsmithbrewing.com Forever Bluegrass 7 p.m.

Westbound Bar 24 Station St. westboundbar.com Tim Lewis 7 p.m.

El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Ryan Oyer 7:30 p.m.

Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Crooked Wits 8 p.m.

WanderLinger Brewing Company 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com The Young Fables 8:30 p.m.

Puckett’s Restaurant 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com

10,000 Days: A Night of Tool 9 p.m.

Songbirds South 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Pete Boubel 9 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Monday Night Social 9 p.m.

HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com Soundsystem Takeover 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com

SUNDAY4.14 Nikki Michelle 11 a.m.

Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com Carl Pemberton 11 a.m.

Westin Chattanooga 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Stephen Busie Noon 1885 Grill 3914 St. Elmo Ave

1885grill.com James Hatem 1:30 p.m.

Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com The Other Brothers 2 p.m.

WanderLinger Brewing Company 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Bluegrass Jam 4 p.m.

Fiddlers Anonymous 2248 Dayton Blvd.

(423) 994-7497 Open Mic with Jeff Daniels 6 p.m.

Long Haul Saloon 2536 Cummings Hwy. (423) 822-9775 A Choral Spring Concert: Forces of Nature 7:30 p.m.

Ackerman Auditorium 4881 Taylor Cir. southern.edu Jeff Tweedy 7:30 p.m.

Walker Theatre 399 McCallie Ave tivolichattanooga.com Bluetech with Paradiso and Synaptic Flow 9 p.m.

Songbirds South 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co

MONDAY4.15 Open Air with Jessica Nunn 6 p.m.

The Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com Megan Howard 6:30 p.m.

Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Monday Nite Big Band 7 p.m.

The Coconut Room 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Nels Cline, Larry Ochs, Gerald Cleaver 7:30 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Very Open Mic with Shawnessey Cargile 8 p.m.

The Well 1800 Rossville Blvd. #8 wellonthesouthside.com

TUESDAY4.16 Preston Ruffing 6:30 p.m.

Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Colors of Grace 7 p.m.

Brainerd Baptist Church 300 Brookfield Ave. brainerdbaptist.org Danimal 7 p.m.

Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Space Jam Open Mic with Xll Olympians 7 p.m.

Barley Taproom 235 E. MLK Blvd. chattanoogabarley.com GuitarChattanooga Presents: Rene Izquierdo 7:30 p.m.

Chattanooga State Humanities Theatre 4501 Amnicola Highway chattanoogastate.edu CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 27

LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR WhiskeyDick

Eric Kirkendoll 7:30 p.m.

Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Live Jam Session with Freddy Mc & Friends 8 p.m.

Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com Open Mic with Mike McDade 8 p.m.

Tremont Tavern 1203 Hixson Pike tremonttavern.com WhiskeyDick, 110 Watt Vipers 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com

WEDNESDAY4.17 David Bingaman 6 p.m.

1885 Grill 3914 St. Elmo Ave 1885grill.com Lon Eldridge 6:30 p.m.

Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com John Paul White ft. Erin Rae 7 p.m.

Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co

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Jesse James Jungkurth 7 p.m.

Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Maria Sable 7:30 p.m.

Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Jazz in the Lounge 8 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Randall Adams 8 p.m.

The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Priscilla & Little Rickee 8 p.m.

Las Margaritas 1101 Hixson Pike (423) 756-3332 Zeck Dallas 9 p.m.

The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Boom Boom Shake, Jill Babb 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Map these locations on chattanoogapulse. com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com

ERNIE PAIK’S RECORD REVIEWS

Madalitso Band Wasalala (Bongo Joe)

A

contender for the flat-out happiest album of the year, just a few months in, is the new album Wasalala from the duo Madalitso Band from the southeast African nation of Malawi.

Lead singer Yobu Maligwa, who also plays the babatoni—a giant, homemade onestringed bass—and Yosefe Kalekeni on four-string guitar, backing vocals and homemade foot drum have recorded an entrancing and infectious album for their first international release; after busking locally for years, the duo performed for the first time outside their country in 2017 and has since toured Europe.

Madalitso Band’s homemade instruments are simply

functional on one level, while having a certain charm on another level; while the constant, simple drum beat provides a basic pulse at optimal dance tempos, there’s a rawness provided by the frequent buzz of rattling strings that becomes a defining sonic characteristic rather than a flaw.

Maligwa’s bass notes zip and glide with vigor, making sliding interjections, and at times, he’ll simply linger on a single note with increasing intensity, as if trying to extract as much excitement as possible from that note with relentless repetition.

Musically, the entire album is upbeat and bright, but lyrically, there are stories that are wildly divergent in subject and tone.

The album’s title track “Wasalala” (“She Glows”) concerns a dumpster-diving orphan girl who ends up leading a successful life, and other tracks such as “Mita” are simple yet passionate love songs. However, “Naphiri” is sung from the point of view of a tormented, beaten wife whose husband finally tells her to “just pack and go.”

Kalekeni strums elementary guitar chord progressions and harmonizes with Maligwa, whose bold singing is unabashedly cheery, like on “Nambewe” where he abso-

lutely radiates energy.

One telling moment on Wasalala comes at the end of “Mita” where some chuckles can be heard; clearly, the duo is having an absolute blast while making the recording, and it’s a joy that can’t be faked nor contained.

Various Artists Sleeplaboratory1.0 (Whitelabrecs)

W

riter Dave Barry suggested that instead of “Rocka-Bye Baby”, which ends tragically, parents should sing his song “Go to Sleep” as a lullaby for babies, which goes: “Go to sleep / Go to sleep / Go right straight to sleep / And stay asleep until at least 6:30 a.m.”

A case could be made that ambient music—which Brian Eno described in his liner notes

to Music for Airports as “intended to induce calm and a space to think” and “as ignorable as it is interesting”—is the modern equivalent of the lullaby.

The compilation Sleeplaboratory1.0, which marks the 50th release on the British label Whitelabrecs which has a focus on ambient music, features 16 tracks that are intended to induce sleep as either conscious or subconscious listening.

As the collection was being produced, the label owner Harry Towell was anticipating the arrival of his first child, and he wanted Sleeplaboratory1.0 to also work its placid magic on babies as well as adults.

It’s only fair to judge art within its own genre and with consideration of the artists’ intentions—for example, one shouldn’t criticize a comedy film for not being scary enough—but the aim to simply be sleep-inducing, of course, is not enough. With a consideration for aesthetics, the question then is, how can something be soothing but not boring or insipid?

Fortunately, Sleeplaboratory1.0 maintains a fair balance, often keeping things interesting on a micro level, rather than macro level, by avoiding

sudden shifts and focusing on sounds, tones, and timbres themselves. Many of these tracks are hazy and vague with long, sustained synthetic notes, and although amorphous, many still depend subtly on Western scales for general agreeability.

Field recordings are sometimes employed, like on Janek Schaefer’s opening track “Night in Narnia”, which includes the sounds of a wilderness stroll, and nature is often evoked, like on Sven Laux’s gorgeous “Sleep in C Minor”, which uses waves of strings that are reminiscent of the gentle pulses of ocean waves.

Generally, the mood is hopeful and peaceful on the collection, although certain tracks are more complicated, like “Nocturnal Mood” by Polaroid Notes, which is mildly sinister, as if something isn’t quite right.

Two of the album’s best tracks are right at the end; “Autonomy” by Floor Overhead offers dramatic builds and blissed-out guitar strums, and the closing track “With Z”

by Daliah constantly moves on a melodic level among gentle metallic plink sounds—but by that time, if the album has done its job, the listener may already be asleep.

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FOOD & DRINK · MIXOLOGY

Back Porch Sippin’ Time Northern or Southern Long Island Iced Tea? Try both and decide!

T Sam Hilling

Pulse contributor

“

If you’re Old Man Bishop in the Prohibition era, you’re definitely going to see the benefits of a drink that gets you as intoxicated as possible as discreetly as possible.”

HE LONG ISLAND ICED TEA is a drink with a controversial history. It has two competing origin stories, tracing it back in one case to the Long Island we all think of, in New York, and another to right here near home.

The second Long Island is in Kingsport, Tenn., the home of a 1920’s moonshiner named “Old Man Bishop”.

The cocktail has two defining characteristics: one, that when it’s made right it (supposedly) really does taste like iced tea, and two, that it contains a truly absurd amount of alcohol. Almost all recipes will include at least five different liquors combined to create a drink of roughly 22 percent alcohol concentration. Whew.

Now, if you’re Old Man Bishop in the Prohibition era, you’re definitely going to see the benefits of a drink that gets you as intoxicated as possible as discreetly as possible. Mix a little bit of everything you’ve got in the cabinet along with a dose of makeshift mixer, and you’re well on your way to a very drunk place.

Whether or not it really tastes like tea…well, things were different back then. After Bishop died, his son Ransom supposedly perfected the mix. If you like the idea of downing the old-school version of this cocktail, here’s Bishop’s recipe: • 1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon • 1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lime • 1/2 oz. rum • 1 oz. vodka • 1 oz. whiskey • 1/2 oz. gin

• 1/2 oz. tequila • 1/2 oz. maple syrup ​Mix thoroughly, then layer in 5 oz. of soda water and/or cola. Top off with cubed ice.

Fast forward about 50 years and you reach the second origin story: an innovative bartender working at a club in Long Island, New York. Robert “Rosebud” Butt worked at the Oak Beach Inn and in 1972 entered a contest to create a new cocktail using triple sec. His version is like a classed-up, city-slicker edition of the Prohibition brew, though he’s certain he invented the combination himself.

With drinks, like recipes, you can never quite be sure who started it or where the influences came from, but given that a variation on the Long Island Iced Tea was mentioned as early as 1961 in a Betty Crocker cookbook, it’s safe to say old Rosebud got his inspiration from somewhere.

Long story short, his new version of the drink became an immediate hit both at the OBI and all over Long Island, and within a decade was known worldwide.

If you ask me, I’ll never trust a Northerner who says they know Jack Daniel’s about iced tea, but if you’re interested in the New York recipe, here’s how Rosebud tells you to make it: • 2 cups ice cubes • 1 part vodka • 1 part gin • 1 part white rum • 1 part white tequila • 1/2 part triple sec • 1/2 part sour mix • 1 splash Coke • Lemon wedges for garnish Nowadays Mr. Butt maintains a website defending the honor of his invention, and even goes so far as to explicitly denounce the Tennessee origins. Ain’t that a kick in the rear!

CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 31

FILM & TELEVISION

DC Finally Lightens Up Shazam! is a promising twist for the franchise

By John DeVore Pulse Film Editor

“

Shazam! is delightful and funny, lighthearted and whimsical— all things not generally associated with DC films.”

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C

APTAIN MARVEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF my favorite superheroes. I’m not referring to Carol Danvers, the superpowered Kree/human hybrid that recently broke box office records for Marvel Studios, much to the chagrin of internet trolls everywhere.

I’m referring to Billy Batson, the young man who, after meeting a wizard looking for a champion who is pure of heart, can transform into a mighty hero by speaking the word “Shazam!”

The original Captain Marvel was created as a Superman clone in 1939 by Fawcett Comics. It was eventually sued out of existence by DC Comics in a $400,000 lawsuit ($4 million in today’s currency) despite at one time being more popular than the Man of Steel.

DC later acquired all of the rights to the characters in Fawcett Comics, but before they did, a small upstart named Marvel had created their own character and trademarked the name. And thus

began the confusion.

Shazam! is the official name of the character now, I think, although it seems difficult for a superhero to introduce himself when saying his own name makes him transform from one façade to another. This is just one of the many entertaining things about the new DC film Shazam!, directed by David S. Sandberg.

Shazam! is delightful and funny, lighthearted and whimsical—all things not generally associated with DC films. For the moment, DC seems to have abandoned a cinematic universe à la Marvel Studios. Shazam! is the first film post Justice League and it is easily the best of

pack, thanks to a great script and charismatic lead, Zachary Levi.

The story begins by introducing its villain, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) as a young boy. It appears the great wizard Shazam has been looking for a pure hearted human to pass on his powers to, but they must be able to resist the temptations of the “seven deadly sins”, demons who seek to sow chaos among the human race.

Sivana is summoned to the wizard lair, but is unable to resist the temptation, and Shazam banishes him back to the world. Many years later, Sivana has found the wizard again using the considerable resources at his disposal thanks to his father’s company. Sivana takes possession of the stone that holds the demons back and allows himself to be possessed by the demons. This forces the wizard to speed up his search.

He arrives at Billy Batson (Asher Angel), an orphan runaway looking for his mother, but staying with a foster family. After Billy defends his disabled foster brother from some bullies, he proves himself worthy and is granted the powers of Shazam! (Zachary Levi). Given that Billy is 14, he uses these powers to buy beer, perform feats of

“

For a long time, comic book movies have shied away from the mystical aspects of the source material to try to stay rooted in quasi-reality,”

strength, and charge people for selfies. That is, until he is finally confronted by Sivana and must fight for what he believes in.

Granted, there’s a lot of disbelief that must be suspended to take the characters in Shazam! at face value. For a long time, comic book movies have shied away from the mystical aspects of the source material to try to stay rooted in quasireality, but thanks to films like Thor and Doctor Strange, studios have finally started to embrace the sillier aspects of the art form.

Films like Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy have also allowed for a more humor-based storytelling, which DC films certainly need. The result is a genuinely fun movie for a younger audience.

As I mentioned, Shazam! is played by Zachary Levi, of Chuck fame, and he is near perfect in the role. I say near perfect because at times he seems more childlike than the real Billy Batson, who for

most of the film is somewhat sullen and morose. But then, it must be a lot of fun being super-powered, so you can explain some of the difference away.

The disconnect between the two characters isn’t all that distracting, however. It’s something you might notice long after the film is over.

Overall, Shazam! is a step in the right direction for DC. I’m not sure where the character goes from here, however. The film is an origin story, but I wouldn’t say that that characters themselves are begging for a sequel. I don’t know what else there is to develop for Billy, as most of his problems are solved through the course of the film.

I would be fine with Shazam! being stand alone, a fun story that doesn’t lead to anywhere new. A one-film character arc is so rare nowadays. This won’t happen, of course. Shazam! is a film about wish fulfillment. The studios will wish for more money.

✴ NEW IN THEATERS ✴

Hellboy Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.

Director: Neil Marshall Stars: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane

Missing Link Mr. Link recruits explorer Sir Lionel Frost to help find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight, this trio of explorers travel the world to help their new friend.

Director: Chris Butler Stars: Hugh Jackman, Zach Galifianakis

CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 33

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY future works of art or the generous effects you want to have on the world.

ROB BREZSNY ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Qing Dynasty controlled China from the mid-seventeenth century to the early twentieth century. It was the fifth biggest empire in world history. But eventually it faded, as all mighty regimes do. Revolution came in 1911, forcing the last emperor to abdicate and giving birth to the Republic of China. I’m inclined to think of your life in 2019 as having some similarities to that transition. It’s the end of one era and the beginning of another; a changing of the guard and a passing of the torch. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to be very active in deciding and visualizing the empire you want next.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I hope that sometime soon you’ll acquire a new source of support or inspiration.

Now is a phase of your astrological cycle when you’re likely to attract influences that are in alignment with your deep values. This addition might be a person or animal. It could be a vibrant symbol or useful tool. It may even be a fantasy character or departed ancestor that will stimulate vitality you haven’t been able to summon on your own. Be on the lookout for this enhancement.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet David Hinton analyzed the Chinese word for “poetry.” Its etymological meaning is “words spoken at the fertility altar.”

Let’s make that your theme, even if you don’t write or read poetry. I suspect the coming weeks will be a favorable time to take a vow or utter a solemn intention in front of a homemade fertility altar. The oath you speak might express a desire to boost your use of your physical vitality: your lust for life, your adoration of the natural world, or your power to produce new human life. Or your vow to foster your fertility could be more metaphorical and symbolic in nature: the imaginative intimacy you will explore or the creativity you’ll express in

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Christopher Robin Milne was the son of author A. A. Milne, who wrote the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. He said there are two ways to navigate through life.

Either you “take a bearing on something in the future and steer towards it, or take a bearing on something in the past and steer away from it.” So in his view, “There are those who look ahead and pull and those who look behind and push.” I’m hoping that in the coming weeks and months, you will make a delighted commitment to the first option: taking a bearing on something in the future and steering towards it. I think that approach will inspire you toward the most interesting success.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The national animal of Finland is the brown bear.

The national insect is the ladybug and the national instrument is a stringed instrument known as the kantele. As for the national author, it’s Aleksis Kivi, who produced just one novel that took him ten years to write. He also published a short collection of odes and a few plays, adding up to a grand total of less than 800 pages of work. I think that the efforts you make in the coming weeks could have a disproportionately large impact, as well, Leo. What you lack in quantity will be irrelevant compared to the sheer quality you generate.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I follow the blogger Evanescent Voyager because she makes me cry with sad joy and exultant poignance on a regular basis. One of her other fans wrote her a love note I could have written myself.

It said, “Your emotional brilliance and thoughtful passion break me into pieces and then weave me back together with more coherence than I had before reading you. I revere your alchemical talent for undoing me so you can heal me; for lowering my defenses so I can be open to your riches; for demolishing my habitual trance so you can awaken my sleeping genius.” I believe that in the coming weeks, life itself will offer to perform these same services for you, Virgo. I urge you to accept!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Love is no assignment for cowards.” That’s a quote attributed to the ancient Roman poet Ovid. What did he mean?

Was he foreshadowing the wisdom of pop singer Pat Benatar, who in 1983 told us, “Love is a battlefield”? Was

Homework: What other sign would you want to be if you could take a vacation from your actual sign? Why? Write Freewillastrology.com Ovid implying that to succeed in the amorous arts we must be heroic warriors prepared to overcome fears and risk psychological dangers? Probably.

But I will also point out that it takes as much courage to create fun, interesting togetherness as it does to wrestle with the problems that togetherness brings. You need just as much bravura and panache to explore the sweet mysteries of intimacy as you do to explore the achy mysteries of intimacy.

Keep these thoughts in mind as you marshal your audacity to deepen and expand your best relationships in the coming weeks.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The literal meaning of the French term jolie-laide is “pretty and ugly.” Bloggers at wordsnquotes.com define it as follows: “It’s a fascinating quirkiness that’s irresistible, like a face you want to keep looking at even if you can’t decide whether it is beautiful or not.” Jolie-laide overlaps with the Japanese term wabi-sabi, which describes a person or thing that is lovely because of its imperfection and incompleteness. I bring these facts to your attention because I think you have extraordinary potential to be a master embodier of both jolie-laide and wabi-sabi in the coming weeks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): As Czech playwright Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) matured, he became a political dissident who opposed the Soviet Union’s authoritarian grip on his country. Eventually he was a key player in the Velvet Revolution that banished Communism. When Czechoslovakia emerged as a new democracy, its people elected him president. Havel later thanked Lou Reed and the band the Velvet Underground for fully awakening his liberationist leadership. He said their unruly music stoked his longing to establish a culture where total creative freedom was possible. I mention this, Sagittarius, because now is a favorable time to identify the music or art or films or literature that might fuel your emancipation in the coming months.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn author J. R. R. Tolkien toiled on his masterpiece The Lord of the Rings for twelve years. Once he finished, it wasn’t published for more than five years. So seventeen years passed between the time he launched his precious project and the time when it reached an audience. I don’t think you will need that much patience in shepherding your own venture to full expression, Capricorn. But I hope you’ll summon as much faith in yourself as Tolkien had to rouse in himself.

To do so will bring out the best in you!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Released in 1998, The Prince of Egypt is an animated film that tells the story of the Hebrew prophet Moses. In the climactic event, the hero uses magic to part the waters of the Red Sea, allowing his people to run across the sea floor and escape the army that’s chasing them. To make that sevenminute scene, 28 professional animators labored for 318,000 hours. In the coming months, you could create your own version of that marvel, Aquarius. But you’ll need a team to help you, and that team is not yet ready to go. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to get it ready, though.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean businessman Steve Jobs testified that taking LSD was “one of the two or three most important things” he ever did in his life. It opened his mind in ways he felt were crucial to his development. What are the three most important things you’ve ever done, Pisces? I invite you to revisit at least one of them, and see if you can take it to the next step of its power to inspire you. What if it has even more to offer you in your efforts to become the person you want to be?

Rob Brezsny is an aspiring master of curiosity, perpetrator of sacred uproar, and founder of the Beauty and Truth Lab. He brings a literate, myth-savvy perspective to his work. It’s all in the stars.

CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 35

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JONESIN' CROSSWORD

EDITOONS

“Normcore”—parse that carefully.

ACROSS 1 “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin 5 Barry Manilow’s club 9 Cold shoulders 14 Apiece 15 “Chocolat” actress Lena 16 Records, informally 17 Lucy’s neighbor with a nasty attitude?

19 Rico, to Napoleon Dynamite 20 Lover of suffixes?

21 “___ I Believe” (2018 song by Clean Bandit) 23 ___ de vivre 24 “It sucks being a young horse,” e.g.?

27 Sweat equity concept 29 “Hotel California” band 30 Big scallion 31 In actuality 35 “La ___” (Debussy composition) 36 NPR host Shapiro

37 Color in a Patriots uniform 40 10,000 square meters 44 All-night party 45 Like a venomous snake 48 Room for negotiation 50 Studs and labrets that are a bargain?

54 Pioneer Boone, folksily 55 Hand sanitizer additive 56 Actress Lawrence of “The Cool Kids” 59 Bush Supreme Court appointee 61 Completely stocked with enemies?

63 Hands, in Spanish 64 Small spot of land 65 It may have rings and needles 66 Dating app motion 67 Falcons’ home?

68 “Gone Girl” actress Ward

DOWN 1 Humvee forerunner 2 Promising words 3 Claudia once married to David Copperfield 4 Roxette hit of 1989 5 Dot-___ bubble 6 Acid used in soapmaking 7 “Shine” instrument 8 Per ___ (yearly) 9 “Law & Order: ___” (spinoff that will break a record for longevity) 10 Lego series with its own 2017 movie 11 Straighten, as a hose 12 Writing credit 13 Comes down in icy drops 18 Shakespearean king 22 Work on ___ 25 Inc., in Australia 26 Back muscle 27 Nightmare street of film 28 Greens ___

32 Have a picnic, e.g.

33 Monk’s title 34 Mattress filler 37 Unadjusted stat 38 Actress Longoria 39 “Who ___” (Cincinnati Bengals chant) 40 Natural vantage point 41 Thought transference 42 Pet you water 43 Director Roth 44 Passes on a present 45 Fester’s family 46 Mariner’s set of rules 47 Pressed sandwiches 49 Be covetous of 51 Like some D&D characters 52 Awaken 53 Honeycomb components 57 On an even ___ 58 Piece of mind?

60 Sugar suffix 62 Rent out

Copyright © 2019 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents perminute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 931 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 37

COLUMN · ON THE BEAT

Staying Human Under Pressure The job isn’t the numbers. The job is the neighbors.

T Alex Teach

Pulse columnist

“

When you never look past your dashboard, your activity log sheet, your coworkers’ patrol cars, you never see the faces on the streets and behind the windows of those you’re also there for.”

When officer Alexander D. Teach is not patrolling our fair city on the heels of the criminal element, he spends his spare time volunteering for the Boehm Birth Defects Center.

HE THING ABOUT WORKING a district is you never know how good you have it until it’s gone.

(Okay, aside from all the terrible things that happen, but that’s another story.)

I remember being nervous about “getting a bad part of town” on my first random assignment out of the academy. It’s not fear, mind you; if you’re afraid to work ANY part of a town you were in the wrong academy. No, it’s about the pressure of failing the people around you.

At first you think that pressure is about letting down the veteran cops who are already working the area, keeping up with experience and confidence you haven’t even begun to accumulate yet.

Getting to them quickly enough when they need back up, making sure no one else was coming into your district to write reports YOU should be writing, making sure your stats were on par with your coworkers to keep the boss happy. It’s an obsession you focus on while also trying to figure out just what the hell you’re doing call after all and day after day. Intellectual tunnel vision.

What goes missing from the equation, however, is why you’re really there: The People.

When you never look past your dashboard, your activity log sheet, your coworkers’ patrol cars, you never see the faces on the streets and behind the windows of those you’re also there for. It’s not that you don’t interact with citizens; they are the source of your calls for service. But in trying to learn now to “be” a cop and how to fit in with them, you allow that mental divide to be created that separates you from those faces.

It’s necessary on some levels, but you wind up missing out on the joy of working a district and instead wind up sitting in

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your cruiser alone bitching about everything rather than refueling the passion that got you there by meeting actual people and becoming, however distantly and intermittently, a part of their lives.

I was called to a house once early on in which the resident, an elderly widow, wanted me to help clean out her gutters because rain water was overflowing them and drenching her when she had to get in and out of the house in the rain. “The nerve,” I thought to myself.

Wasting an emergency responder’s time with yardwork? Who do they think I am? Oh! the sweet indignation. I was trying to find a polite way of getting out of this without getting a complaint so I could get back to “real” police work when I actually started thinking about my last question. Who DO they think I am?

Well apparently this poor lady thinks I’m the only one she could think of to help clean out her gutters.

She had no husband or children in town to assist, and most of the neighbors she knew had passed and there was of course an obvious fixed income issue here. So I crunched those numbers, came up with an answer, and did what I didn’t want to do: I asked her if she had a ladder and reached into a pouch on my belt to pull out rubber gloves usually reserved for blood and I by-God cleaned me out some gutters using a dead man’s ladder. Emergencies are different from person to person.

That’s some low-hanging fruit as far

as non-standard police services go (leaving the elderly or kids hanging like that definitely bothers some more than others), but that’s the kind of thing you stop getting a chance to do as you progress through your career through either promotion or transfer to different units. As my career winds down now the best I can hope to do by end of business is populate the hell out of a spreadsheet…and how does that compare to the tangible accomplishment of fixing the chain on a kid’s bike or recovering a stolen car that belonged to an uninsured working single mother? Exactly.

For those currently doing The Job or those reading that are considering taking on The Job, take a few moments to consider what I’m getting at. Street corner dealers repopulate like puddles during rain. Working wrecks for insurance companies and breaking up drunks fighting make for better stories… but that kid looking at you while you fix his bike or the single mom that got to keep her job because you looked for her car instead of forwarding it on to a detective to “get around to”? That IS “The Job”.

Do it well. Even the less sexy parts.

CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • APRIL 11, 2019 • THE PULSE • 39