MAY 5, 2016
COVER STORY
RECYCLING
DOES IT WORK? IS IT WORTH IT? WHY IT'S IMPORTANT. By Daniel Jackson
ARTS
LUTSKO
PUPPET REVOLUTION MUSIC
MOIRA
ETHEREAL ELECTRONICA SCREEN
IMMIGRANT
A TALE OF BROOKLYN
CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE
Help us build the new Children’s Hospital. Our Children’s Hospital has become one of the nation’s elite academic pediatric medical centers over the last 40 years. It’s also become one of the nation’s oldest. Help us raise our facilities to the same level of excellence as our world-class care. Donate at WeBelieve.build
2 • THE PULSE • MAY 5, 2016 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
Contents
CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE
EDITORIAL
Managing Editor Gary Poole Editorial Assistant Brooke Dorn
May 5, 2016 Volume 13, Issue 18
Music Editor Marc T. Michael Film Editor John DeVore Contributors Rich Bailey • Rob Brezsny Daniel Jackson • Matt Jones Tony Mraz • Ernie Paik Rick Pimental-Habib • Stratton Tingle Editorial Interns Hillary Eames • Alex Ward Cartoonists Max Cannon • Rob Rogers Jen Sorenson • Tom Tomorrow
Features
Cover Illustration BSG Studio
4 BEGINNINGS: TakeNote sessions designed to boost local music industry.
FOUNDED 2003 BY ZACHARY COOPER & MICHAEL KULL
ADVERTISING
Director of Sales Mike Baskin Account Executives Chee Chee Brown • Robyn Graves Linda Hisey • Rick Leavell Stacey Tyler • Logan Vandergriff
CONTACT
Offices 1305 Carter St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone 423.265.9494 Website chattanoogapulse.com Email info@chattanoogapulse.com BREWER MEDIA GROUP Publisher & President Jim Brewer II THE FINE PRINT: The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on music, the arts, entertainment, culture and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publisher may take more than one copy per weekly issue. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors. Contents Copyright © 2016 by Brewer Media. All rights reserved.
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7 SHRINK RAP: Never mind the cover… open the book and enjoy the story.
Recycle After Reading
Sooner or later, the paper you currently hold in your hands will be discarded. It will make up part of the 4.4 pounds the average American tosses every day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It could be trashed, sent to the landfill the State of Tennessee expects to fill up by 2018.
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Nick Lutsko's Puppet Revolution
The Puppet Revolution is upon us. Unlike the Robot Uprising or the Zombie Apocalypse, this fabulously fine following of fantastic freaks is filled with fluffy felt and funky friends.
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Semi-Vintage Ethereal Electronica
The self-described “dream-pop” band, Moira, is making their Chattanooga debut this Sunday at the Honest Pint. The Dayton, Ohio based band’s Scenic City stop is part of an exhaustive Spring/Summer tour crisscrossing the Midwest and Southeast and the rapidly growing demand for their unique flavor of semi-vintage ethereal electronica.
12 SCREEN: Screenwriter Nick Hornby crafts a powerful tale of immigration. 16 ARTS CALENDAR 19 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY 21 MIXOLOGY: Southern Comfort distills Southern roots, embraces tasty history. 24 MUSIC CALENDAR 26 REVIEWS: Jeff Zagers brews his pop alchemy, Bowles dives into the Moroccan music world. 28 DIVERSIONS 29 JONESIN’ CROSSWORD 30 TECH TALK: Tech accelerator goes year round, gets a new name.
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 3
BEGINNINGS
NEWS • VIEWS • RANTS • RAVES
UPDATES » CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM FACEBOOK/CHATTANOOGAPULSE EMAIL LOVE LETTERS, ADVICE & TRASH TALK TO INFO@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
Never Too Cool To Take Notes TakeNote sessions designed to boost the local music industry Have you ever been too cool to of the music streaming from our ask questions? I remember being MySpace page. super cool the first time my band All we had to do was record the booked a studio session. Like thing. any self-respecting On day one, the 20-year-old destined recording engineer for imminent rocktold us to set up the stardom, I strutted drum kit so we could into First Street Stu- STRATTON TINGLE record a “scratch track.” What in the dios in Cleveland, hell was a scratch track? We had no TN with five songs and a bank acclue, but also had no need to ask count poised for deposits. because the world was ours. The songs on my band’s deBig mistake. but five-track EP were certain to We set the drum kit up and prorake in mounds of cash tumbling ceeded to stumble, trip, and fall in from an avalanche of adoring through the next four days of refans overcome by the brilliance
MUSIC
cording, no questions asked. That “scratch track” ended up being the final drum track for the album. We’d just barely been able to record and mix all the other tracks before our studio time (aka budget) ran out. The main take-away for me: being cool is overrated and knowledge is undervalued. If you have any interest in the recording industry, whether you plan to record your first project or you’re a veteran recording engineer, you’ll find value in the knowledge and connections you gain at TakeNote Volume 3: Recording, a music industry panel session offered by SoundCorps at The Camp House on May 9 at 6 p.m. The event will feature a networking hour showcasing local recording studios followed by a panel session led by four expert recording engineers. Our panelists include Grammy Award-winning engineer Charlie Brocco (Kayce Musgraves, Fleetwood Mac), legendary Tree Sound Studios owner Paul Diaz (Outkast, Elton John), Hennessy Dreams studio owner Lex Dirty (Rick Ross, Rihan-
na), and producer, drummer, and Open Sky Studio owner Mike Froedge (Black Label Society). Tremont Tavern will provide dinner and beverages will be available for purchase from the Camp House. The price of admission is $10. TakeNote sessions are designed to boost the local music industry through a combination of networking and professional development. The topics covered at the quarterly sessions are based on feedback collected from musicians at SpeakUp, a music industry forum held in the summer of 2015. Avoid the pitfalls of paying for studio time without a plan or the knowledge for success. Boost your cool, ask questions, and TakeNote.
“Avoid the pitfalls of paying for studio time without a plan or the knowledge for success. Boost your cool, ask questions, and TakeNote.”
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EdiToon by Rob Rogers
Getting Calmer and Stronger With Yoga Hot Yoga Plus and Sports Barn yoga instructor Sally Bacon tells a story of a young boy who attends one of her classes. He told her he had won two awards at his school for good behavior. He credits yoga, proudly stating, “Yoga makes me strong and calm!” The yoga class he attends is 423yoga, a nonprofit yoga class working with the Glass House Collective. The Glass Street Collective is a project to “revitalize historic Glass Street in East Chattanooga.” Their
goal is to encourage creativity and build community, working with local artists and entrepreneurs to help provide opportunities to learn new arts and practices. Bacon believes that 423yoga is a perfect example of these goals being reached, because of yoga’s natural inclusiveness as a practice. Additionally, she believes that yoga can provide an outlet for emotional stress. “Especially since the Chattanooga violence has increased recently,” Ba-
IN THIS ISSUE
Daniel Jackson Daniel Jackson is an independent journalist working in the Chattanooga area. Prior to relocating to the city in 2014, he reported at a string of weekly papers covering a group of towns in central Connecticut. The Connecticut Chapter of the Society of
con notes. “We’re even more dedicated to providing a safe place for children to learn art and yoga, and to learn how to kindly express themselves in a mindful way.” 423yoga meets Tuesdays and Thursdays in Studio Everything from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Additionally, Northshore studio Hot Yoga Plus offers Saturday community classes at noon. They are accepting donations, with all of the proceeds going to 423yoga. Both classes are open to yogis of all ages and skill levels, so anyone can feel strong and calm with yoga. — Hillar y Eames
Tony Mraz Professional Journalists gave a first place award in business writing for his 2013 story about firearms manufacturer O.F. Mossberg & Sons that was published in The North Haven Citizen. He studied Communications at Bryan College and covered national events with an internship at the Washington Times. When he's not reporting, he enjoys coffee, films and reading. You can reach him on Twitter with @jcksndnl.
Arts writer Tony Mraz joined our writing family last fall and has become a regular (and valued) contributor. He is a local artist, musician and writer who grew up in Dalton before moving to Chattanooga to attend high school at the Chattanooga School
for the Arts and Sciences. After his time at the Kansas City Art Institute, he lived in Kansas City, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans and Northern California. In his career as an artist he has produced thousands of paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, murals, and works of digital art. He has written over 50 songs and is currently writing a novel. He now lives and works at his studio in Red Bank. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 5
6 • THE PULSE • MAY 5, 2016 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
COLUMN SHRINK RAP
Laughter Truly Is The Best Medicine Never mind the cover…open the book and enjoy the story
DR. RICK
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Our human minds don’t do well with vacuums, so we fill the void with past references in an attempt to wrap our minds around a person who’s unfamiliar.”
Photo by Paul Turnbull Dr. Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist, author, minister, and educator in private practice in Chattanooga. Contact him at DrRPH.com, visit his wellness center at WellNestChattanooga.com and follow his daily inspirations on Twitter: @DrRickWellNest
Editor’s note: The Good Doctor is on vacation, so below is a revised version of one of his favorite columns. I was in the grocery store the other afternoon, chatting with the check-out gal and the elderly man who bags the groceries. He’s always struck me as the grandfatherly type who’d tell his grandkids interesting stories, or teach them silly card tricks, or just enjoy making them laugh. I have no evidence of any of this—it’s all in my imagination. And don’t we do this all the time with people we don’t know? We endow them with positive traits or negative traits, often based on the sound of their voice, the look of their clothing, their age, a tattoo, or whatever, using nothing more concrete than the fantasies we create from our own personal history with people who sound like that, or look like that, or have a tattoo like that. Our human minds don’t do well with vacuums, so we fill the void with past references in an attempt to wrap our minds around a person who’s unfamiliar. Once we find a category to put him or her in, then we feel we know how to deal with this person. It’s a coping skill—a way to mentally organize our world. The need to find familiarity among the unfamiliar is an automatic, largely unconscious process, and becomes particularly urgent when we’re frightened or threatened by a person (or experience) we don’t know. We all do it. If things go well—meaning, we’re open-minded and receptive to the newness—then our positive opinions gain rich color and texture as we get to know the person. Any false beliefs we started with fall away and are replaced with reality. And the accurate first impressions we created in our mind become confirmed. When it goes the other way—meaning fear of the unfamiliar leads us to be distrustful and emotionally shut down,
keeping us from finding the truth about the person—then we default to the package of stereotypical traits we believe to be true. “Judging a book by its cover” might be coming to mind right about now. So, back to the grocery-bagging gentleman. If I held a belief, a prejudice, about older folks as all being crotchety and slow, I probably would not have had a smile or kind word for this man. If I held the belief that older people are usually charming and have much to offer, I probably would try to engage with him. Fortunately, I believe the latter. But I didn’t have the chance to start up with him as he happily beat me to the punch (proving my point). Obviously not restricted or influenced by any preconceived notions about me, he easily started joking, silly, corny joking, with warmth and a smile. When I laughingly asked him if he was a bit of a wise guy, he gave me this pearl: “It’s good to be a wise guy. It’s good to laugh, because then you live longer.” And I thought: I could not have put it better myself. This gentleman was just being himself, with no worry about what I thought of him, or limitations due to what he thought of me. He concluded my afternoon chore at the market with a welcomed, pleasant exchange, and in the process, gave me something to remember: It’s good to laugh, because then you live longer. Here are a dozen more pearls for you. Some of these may be familiar (perhaps heard from your own wise elder), some may be new. Maybe they’ll even help
you live longer. • Make time to pray/meditate/ponder. • Read more books than you did last year. • Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. • Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. • Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does. • Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip. • Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. • No one is in charge of your happiness except you. • You don’t have to win every argument. • Try to make at least three people smile today. • What other people think of you is none of your business. • However good or bad a situation is, it will change. Everything changes. Until next time: “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 7
COVER STORY
Recycle After Reading: Beyond The Blue Lid Is recycling still workable? Is it worth it? Why is it so important? By Daniel Jackson, Pulse contibutor
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ooner or later, the paper you currently hold in your hands will be discarded. It will make up part of the 4.4 pounds the average American tosses every day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It could be trashed, sent to the landfill the State of Tennessee expects to fill up by 2018. Or this paper could disappear into one of Chattanooga’s blue recycling bins, dropping into the recycling economy the way the EPA says about 34 percent of Americans waste does. The curbside recycling pickup and its industry, at least in Chattanooga, is growing with new residents signing up every week. At least one recycler is in the process of upgrading its recycling abilities. This is all overshadowed by a slump in the recycling market that pushed the price for recyclables low. It’s an economy that all starts with this paper. Curbside recycling isn’t the only recycling effort in Chattanooga. It doesn’t cover the solid waste from Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant being converted to fertilizer, the city’s hazardous waste collection program, nor the efforts of large companies in the area to produce zero waste. However, with the blue bins set out to the road every week, it’s one of the most visible. “Recycling is not just beneficial to Tennessee’s environment, but is also beneficial to the economy,” 8 • THE PULSE • MAY 5, 2016 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation wrote in its 10-year plan to manage the recycling waste in the state last April. Over 20 years ago, Tennessee focused on creating an infrastructure for collecting and disposing waste, diverting it from Class 1 landfills. It had set a goal: Divert 25 percent of the state’s solid waste. The state exceeded the goal diverting 31 percent of its waste in 2011. According to the report, Tennessee’s new objective is to use materials in a more sustainable way and use recycling to improve the state economy. Furthermore, the report recommended the state boost its recycling goal and recycle 40 percent of the waste by 2025.
Recycling in the City
In one year, the city of Chattanooga increased the number of residents participating in curbside pickup by 14.5 percent. In March 2015, there were 21,255 participants in the recycling program. This March, there were 24,085 and the city was sending up 54.6 percent more tons of recyclables to Orange Grove, the organization
contracted to process Chattanooga’s recyclables. In the coming fiscal year, the city hopes to increase the number of Chattanoogans who are recycling by 20 percent. Meanwhile, the city of East Ridge collects about 125 tons of trash a week and “a good average” of recyclables weighs in at about 50 tons, according to Melvin Petty, supervisor for East Ridge Department of Sanitation. East Ridge also picks up recyclables at every school and several businesses in the city. Four years ago in September, East Ridge City Council explored recycling. They had trucks and manpower already in place. WestRock, the recycling company formerly known as RockTenn, agreed to take the waste. “We started; and it just took off,” Petty said. It currently costs East Ridge about $30 a ton to truck the waste to a transfer station on 38th Street where Republic takes it to a landfill. Sending a ton of recyclable waste to WestRock, however, earns the city $10—a net difference of $40. The City of Chattanooga is paying Orange Grove $603,492.37 for the 2016 fiscal year. This is to pay for the salaries of the people from Orange Grove to service the collection centers across the city. The city receives the revenue from the recyclables collected at the centers, though. Currently, city trucks do not service the schools in Chattanooga. They are run by the county and it’s the county’s responsibility to service those locations, according to Chattanooga officials.
Landfills and “Feel Good” Programs
But it wasn’t always this way. In 2006, then-Mayor Ron Littlefield scaled back the collection of recyclables from once a week to once a month. His administration also added the collection centers across the city. USA Today reported then the city would save $1.1 million a year. In an email to The Pulse, Littlefield explained the city was expending too much of a nonrenewable resource (oil to power city trucks) to save too little renewable ones like paper. “Working with cities across the country, I must tell you that no community has totally solved the recycling issue,” Littlefield wrote. “It’s still a question of balancing the economic and environmental realities. ‘Feel good’ programs often do more harm than good.” Initially, it appears that sending the city’s waste to a landfill is cheaper, according to Jason Silvers, recycling coordinator in Chattanooga Department of Public Works. But what must be factored is the cost of a landfill throughout its whole life. The true cost of
throwing all waste into a landfill comes when one landfill fills up and another site selected, developed and permits worked out. “Nobody wants another landfill,” Silvers said. City trucks collect trash and transports it to a transfer station operated by Santek Waste Services. For about $13.50 a ton, the company transfers the city’s trash to the city’s landfill located in Harrison. Silvers said the cost of recycling will become less expensive as more Chattanoogans participate. That way trucks travel the same distance and collect more material.
How It Works
After Chattanooga’s Recycling truck picks it up, the city’s recyclables are dumped into piles of other recyclables, cans, plastic bags, and paper at Orange Grove’s recycling center off Dodson Avenue. The sorting begins when any bags are ripped open (an inconvenience for the facility) and the jumble is sent up to the sorting floor. Other Material Recovery Facilities
(MRFs) use magnets and conveyor belts that vibrate at various frequencies to separate plastic from paper. Orange Grove employs hand sorting. While other MRFs may have shareholders to answer to, “We’re in the business to provide job training and employment opportunities for the people we serve,” said Heidi Hoffecker, director of development for Orange Grove. Orange Grove provides services to Chattanoogans with intellectual disabilities (people with Downs syndrome, or who suffered brain injuries as children, for example) educating them, providing housing and jobs. The facility stared recycling for some of the city’s businesses in 1988, sorting out glass and aluminum. Four years later, the city started a recycling pilot program picking up recyclables for 5,000 households and Orange Grove became the MRF. Recyclables move around the room in a conveyor belt, and workers pick out recyclables and drop them onto the floor below. First, out comes the
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From July 2015 to December, Orange Grove processed an average of 432 tons of recyclables a month. That’s almost double that of what the facility handled June of 2014 when it was handling about 222 tons.
>> Continued on pg. 10 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 9
bags and light, filmy plastic. Then, the cardboard. And when the recyclables turn their first corner of the room, workers pick out the paper, drop them into chute and paper flutters down to the floor below. Workers continue sorting out the various plastics until almost nothing on the conveyor is left. From July 2015 to December, Orange Grove processed an average of 432 tons of recyclables a month. That’s almost double that of what the facility handled June of 2014 when it was handling about 222 tons. A worker in a Bobcat bulldozer shoves the sorted fiber recyclables, whether it be mixed paper, cardboard into an industrial baler, which squeezes out bales of office memos, homework and other newspaper bound with wire. After Orange Grove collects enough bales to fit onto an 18-wheeler container, it calls various facilities. It sold mixed paper in December for $0.02875 a pound. Currently, the facility is planning to update its sorting operation. It has $1.1 million pledged or collected out of the $1.6 million it needs for updates like, putting in a new concrete tipping floor, installing vacuums to suck up plastic bags, and machines that would help collect the glass. That also is being funded with a grant from the TDEC. Even with the machines, Orange Grove will add jobs to its operation. 10 • THE PULSE • MAY 5, 2016 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
Lean Times in the Recycling Business
For Michael Walton, the recycling business is too volatile. “It’s a business I’d never get into,” said the executive director for Green Spaces, a Chattanooga-based organization that advocates for sustainable living. Recyclers are competing against raw materials—materials purer than what they have to offer. The low oil prices benefit consumers at the gas pump, but it also means it’s more inexpensive to create new plastic with crude oil. While the price of oil will eventually rise, it’s “pinching recyclers,” in the meantime, Walton said. “It’s squeezing them.” Smaller recyclers are going out of business. Larger recyclers that have the luxury of stockpiling their materials are waiting until prices rise again. Glass is particularly difficult to sell, Walton said. For example, Orange Grove makes the least amount of money on glass. It sold clear glass for 1.6 cents per pound in December. Because the city of Chattanooga sells most of the recyclables gathered at the collection centers, it’s seen a 20 percent drop in the price of materials in the last year. Chattanooga, however, pays Orange Grove $15 a ton to handle the glass collected at the centers. It goes to such businesses as Strategic Materials in Atlanta. According to Hoffecker, it is the only
glass in the area uncontaminated enough for the company to purchase. Any kind of recycling is more valuable when there’s a clean stream, Walton said. Yet Orange Grove deals with bits of food and discovered items like clothes, diapers, Christmas trees, dead cats and electronics. WestRock is both MRF and international packaging company. It has 275 locations around the world, 23 recycling facilities, and the company’s annual report says it operates a packaging mill here. WestRock declined The Pulse’s request for an interview, but its website described what it would accept from another recycler in order to turn the materials into new products. It will not accept any mixed paper that has food waste, poisonous materials and any shipments that contain medical or hazardous waste. The specification said WestRock would accept bales that had items such as dirt, plastic bags, cans, but the contaminants could not make up more than one percent of the bale. Outthrows could make up to five percent of the shipment. These are similar recyclable materials—cardboard, paper and other fibrous materials. When WestRock is recycling newspaper, outthrow in the bales included unbleached paper. When the mill recycled corrugated cardboard, newspaper and office paper was regarded as outthrow.
Prepared for a Recycling Future?
The City of Chattanooga is better prepared for the future than they were three years ago, Walton said. It provides recycling bins for free to any resident that calls 311. But when it comes to encouraging residents to recycle more, there’s only so much a city can do. “People here, they prefer carrots to sticks,” Walton said about the incentives to recycle. Bag taxes to pay for recycling pickup, which might work in places like Switzerland, would encourage illegal dumping here. And when the local landfills finally fill, there are other ways of reducing the waste. Plasma gasification plants, which are still relatively rare, converts waste into nontoxic gas, the incombustible materials into slag. Sevier County employs in-vessel digesters, where trash is thrown in rotating drums to compost all the organic material. According to the city of Gatlinburg, the county’s recycling rate is 70 percent—the highest rate in Tennessee. “There’s so many pieces to this large puzzle,” Walton said. “It calls on people, ultimately, to get us to the future we decide we want.” Oh, and since you are at the end, look for a blue bin. Turn this paper into another newspaper. Make it go ‘round again. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 11
SCREEN SCENE
An Immigrant Lands in Brooklyn Screenwriter Nick Hornby crafts a powerful tale of modern immigration
What Is A "Good" Dinosaur? Eastgate Saturday Cinema screens delightful Pixar film Grab your snacks and drinks and head over to the Eastgate branch of the Chattanooga Public Library for an animated good time with the Eastgate Saturday Cinema. Screening this Saturday is the delightful Pixar film The Good Dinosaur, which asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? In this epic journey into the world of dinosaurs, an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and
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mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. The screening is free and is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., but you should plan to come a bit early for movie-related activities designed to entertain both children and adults. The Good Dinosaur Eastgate Public Library Saturday, 2:30 p.m. 5705 Marlin Rd. (423) 855-2689 chattlibrary.org
NEW IN THEATERS
Captain America: Civil War Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man in this eagerly awaited (and well reviewed) comic book action film. Directors: Anthony & Joe Russo Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan
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A Bigger Splash The vacation of a famous rock star and a filmmaker is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter in this delightfully offbeat film. Director: Luca Guadagnino Stars: Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson
12 • THE PULSE • MAY 5, 2016 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
D
ESPITE THE INSISTENCE OF CERTAIN PRESIDENtial candidates towards the opposite, America is an immigrant story. The reasons behind hard work and sacrifice as enduring American values are tied directly to the inherent difficulty of ancestral Americans to thrive in a foreign, unforgiving environment.
Screen JOHN DEVORE
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Nick Hornby has a talent for breathing life into female characters struggling to find their place in the world—a departure, to be sure, from his first novel, High Fidelity.”
From the Pilgrims starving through harsh winters to the Irish fleeing famine for unwelcome shores to Latin Americans harvesting the food for an unappreciative populace, immigrants, legal or not, are the fabric of the American tapestry. At every juncture in our history, those that came before have made it difficult for those that come after. And yet in spite of this short-sighted strategy, the country grew and intermingled and created a culture unique and powerfully individual. Even though it may seem that racial inequality and hatred is immense and widespread, the United States is one of the most tolerant countries in the world. This has happened through those same values brought by the immigrants that built the country. Hard work and sacrifice led us here and will continue to drive progress. Brooklyn, an Academy Award nominated film from 2015 that might have been overlooked in a controversial year and is now available on VOD, is a beautiful film about the American immigrant experience. It is quiet, thoughtful, well told and well-acted. It’s a story that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else in the world. Eilis Lacey (Saiorse Ronan) is a young Irish girl without opportunity. She works part time in a grocery store for a busybody of a woman who berates her employees, and appears to have no
future beyond a life of a quiet spinster. Her sister Rose refuses to allow this for her—she arranges for Eilis to immigrate to America, using the Catholic Church to intercede on their behalf, finding her work in a department store and a room in a boarding house with other Irish girls searching for a new start. Much of the film explores the loneliness, the otherness, the struggle of being alone in a new world. Brooklyn is where the Irish go, creating a community familiar yet strange, grasping for any semblance of home to comfort them. Eilis waits for letters from home, carrying them with her as she works, as she eats, as she lies alone in her room weeping. But it only lasts for a time, and soon Eilis finds herself in love with a young Italian plumber named Tony (Emory Cohen). But of course, tragedy strikes in her home country, just when she finds herself adapting to her new life, and calls her home to Ireland. She must then decide which home is truly her own. Brooklyn was written by Nick Hornby, his second Academy Award nominated screenplay since 2010. The first, An Education, focused again on a young woman learning to define herself outside of an abusive relationship. Last year’s film Wild, for which Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern were nominated for Academy Awards,
was also written by Hornby and featured a young woman searching for answers after the death of her mother. It seems that Nick Hornby has a talent for breathing life into female characters struggling to find their place in the world—a departure, to be sure, from his first novel, High Fidelity, which is a seminal study in the quirks of the thirtysomething male mind. Director John Crowley takes this screenplay and creates a beautiful, stunning film. Saiorse Ronan is perfect for the role, imbuing strength in spite of fragility to the character, which makes the film all the more engaging. Emory Cohen creates a character without poetry but full of heart, one that makes Eilis’s decision understandably complex. Brooklyn takes a story about leaving home and pulls the audience in through high quality story-telling and carefully crafted filmmaking. In lesser hands, the film could easily come across as sappy and forced. If anything, the story felt rushed towards the end. It’s the type of movie that could have gone on for another half hour and not felt overlong. Given that it was nearly two hours, this is quite an accomplishment. Brooklyn is a film worth seeing now, before the floodgates open on summer blockbusters. Sometimes, simple stories are better. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 13
ARTS SCENE
Nick Lutsko's Puppet Revolution Has Arrived
Lutsko talks about music, puppets, and the weird combination of the two
Time to Go Fly A Kite Chuck Jones takes to the skies with style and class April, among many other things, was National Kite Month, but that doesn’t mean you can only fly a kite one month out the year. In fact, you don’t even have to go outside. Yes “indoor kites” isn’t just a great band name but something that actually exists, made from such lightweight materials they can fly with almost no wind. Local kite maker and enthusiast Chuck Jones has been on the leading edge of the aerial art form. Jones works out of his garage on the Northside. He introduced himself, a sewing needle stuck through the fabric of his “Life is Good” tshirt, and showed off his many kites, some displayed on a folding table, others propped against his entryway steps. His collection includes rokkakus, six-sided Japanese fighter kites with appliqué designs, Chinese T-shirt-
shaped kites with homemade paper, classic diamond-shaped kites, and R2 verticals that look less like the traditional kites we know and more like flying sculptures. He has taught several workshops locally, including ones for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and at the Creative Discovery Museum. Sometimes, he said, he helps to make up to fifty kites a day. He also flies most Sundays in the Sculpture Fields, where one of the founders of the East Chattanooga Academy of Arts and Social Justice saw his work and said he had enough for a gallery opening. The result is a gallery opening this Friday at 6 p.m. for Jones at the East Chattanooga Academy of Arts and Social Justice, where his various homemade kites will be on display. — Hillary Eames
THU5.5
FRI5.6
SAT5.7
CHASING WHAT?
BELLYDANCING
SHAKESPEARE
RiffTrax: Time Chasers
Zoe Jakes House of Tarot
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
The folks behind MST:3K take on a favorite film. 7 p.m. Regal Cinema 2000 Hamilton Place Blvd. (844) 462-7342 fathomevents.com
Bellydancing bonaza. 7 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com
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Ballet and The Bard. 8 p.m. UTC Fine Arts Center 615 McCallie Ave. (423) 425-4371 utc.edu/fine-arts-center
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HE PUPPET REVOLUTION IS UPON US. UNLIKE THE Robot Uprising or the Zombie Apocalypse, this fabulously fine following of fantastic freaks is filled with fluffy felt and funky friends. If you’ve never seen Nick Lutsko and the Puppet People play a show, you might be missing out on something that you would find to be highly entertaining.
Arts TONY MRAZ
“
Find what moves you and use it as fuel. Nothing is off limits. Always experiment. Do the thing and don’t make excuses. Rinse and repeat.”
If you can dig puppets playing rock & roll, then you will surely enjoy the performance that these gentlemen bring to the table. If you like to dress up as a furry creature or trippy puppet, then you might be in nirvana at one of their shows. Nick and the boys are one of the most intelligent, talented, friendly, and cool groups of dudes that you could ever find to entertain yourself with. Their ability to combine art, music, writing, costume, and genius publicity stunts has set them right up there next to Chewbacca and Big Bird. Do yourself a favor and check them out. We sat down with head puppeteer Nick Lutsko to find out what makes him tick. The Pulse: How did you get your start? What are your earliest experiences making art? Nick Lutsko: I don’t know if you would call it “art,” but my earliest experience making music was in 5th grade with my friend Wesley. We were a twopiece punk band called Sin¢e When? Our writing and recording process were one in the same. I would press record on Windows Sound Recorder, play guitar and incoherently scream into a computer microphone (primarily about clowns, dwarves, etc.) while Wes fol-
Photo by Amy Kenyon
lowed on drums. We recorded over 100 songs in a four-year span. None of them are listenable. I started playing in a funkrock trio called Infinite Orange my freshman year in high school, and that was my first real experience doing music. We played Riverbend and Nightfall a handful of times and recorded an album with Matt Skudlarek. We had a good run, but things fizzled out when we left for college. TP: Who are some of your influences? Favorite artists? NL: The Beatles. Bob Dylan. Tom Waits. Ween. Primus. The Beach Boys. Talking Heads. Oingo Boingo. Jim Henson. TP: What is your philosophy when it comes to creating? NL: Find what moves you and use it as fuel. Nothing is off limits. Always experiment. Do the thing and don’t make excuses. Rinse and repeat. TP: What materials and processes do you use to make the puppet costumes? NL: Lots of hot glue. Fur, foam,
felt, fuzz, fabric. All the F words basically. Cardboard. Styrofoam balls. Googly eyes. Yarn. My process is very much trial and error. You get close to my puppets and see that they’re being held together by safety pins and wads of glue. I call it punk rock puppetry. TP: How does the addition of costumes affect the performance? NL: I think it cuts through a lot of the noise. There’s a lot of great music that takes multiple listens before I really connect just because of whatever else is going on. Say you walk into a bar to drink and hang out with friends, there’s four white guys on stage and the music is great, but it doesn’t really register because you’re not there to listen to music. Replace the four white guys with giant puppet men and you’ve managed to steal their attention for a moment. In that moment, we hope the audience will make some sort of connection with the music. It’s a dirty trick, really. It’s the equivalent of a small child learning magic tricks to
earn his/her parents’ affection. But it’s so much fun. TP: Any upcoming events/projects/ recordings/etc.? NL: We’ll be headlining Nightfall on June 3rd and we’re extremely excited. After the show, we’ll be leading a puppet parade from Miller Plaza to Revelry Room for an after party with Decibella. It’s going to be a blast. We’ll have a horn section, drum line, hundreds of sock puppets to hand out, a couple giant puppets, fire dancers, art cars and art bikes, circus performers, etc. If anyone wants to contribute in anyway, bring your craziness to Miller Plaza and come march with us. MAKE AMERICA WEIRD AGAIN. Also, I’m writing and recording every day and hope to release some new music this fall. TP: Observations about Chattanooga’s art and music community? NL: The city is really beginning to embrace it and everyone is bringing their A-game. It’s amazing and I’m honored to be a part of it. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 15
ARTS CALENDAR
RiffTrax: Time Chases
THURSDAY5.5 Ooltewah Farmers Market 3 p.m. Ooltewah Nursery 5829 Main St. ooltewahnursery.com Signal Mountain Farmers Market 4 p.m. Pruett’s Market 1210 Taft Hwy. (423) 902-8023 signalmountainfarmersmarket.com St. Elmo Farmers Market 4 p.m. Incline Railway 3917 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 838-9804 lookoutfarmersmarket.com Homebuyer Orientation 5:30 p.m. 1500 Chestnut St. (423) 756-6201 cneinc.org Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day 6 p.m. Jewish Cultural Center 5461 North Terrace (423) 493-0270 jewishchattanooga.com Artwise: Distinguished Speaker Series Presents Sanford Hirsch 6 p.m. The Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Ambi Artists 6 p.m.
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Heritage House 1428 Jenkins Rd. (423) 855-9474 chattanooga.gov City Sweat: Yoga for All 6 p.m. Miller Plaza 850 Market St. (423) 265-3700 rivercitycompany.com Dale Jones 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Cinco de Mayo Celebration 7 p.m. The Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. (423) 661-3185 granfalloonchattanooga.com RiffTrax: Time Chasers 7 p.m.
PULSE PICK: DALE JONES Dale’s machine gun style delivery and animated facials combined with quick improvisations and non-stop physical comedy have made him a club favorite. Dale Jones The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com
Regal Cinema 2000 Hamilton Place Blvd. (844) 462-7342 fathomevents.com Crutchfield Benefit Organ Concert 7 p.m. First Baptist Church 401 Gateway Ave. (423) 265-3229 fbcchattanooga.org
FRIDAY5.6 67th Annual Armed Forces Day Parade 10:30 a.m. Downtown Chattanooga 503 Market St. facebook.com/chattafparade Rock the Block From the Bessie to Nightfall 5 p.m.
200 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-8658 bessiesmithcc.org “Change is Good” Opening Night Reception 5 p.m. In-Town Gallery 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com Open Studio Nights 5:30 p.m. Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Sculptures in the Sky Kite Exhibit 6 p.m. East Chattanooga Academy of Art and Social Justice 2437 Glass St. (731) 435-9975 ecaasj.com River Gallery May Exhibit Reception 6:30 p.m. 400 E. 2nd St. (423) 265-5033 river-gallery.com Zoe Jakes House of Tarot 7 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Sangria on the Southside 7:00 p.m. Stratton Hall 3146 Broad St. (423) 667-4332 sangriaonthesouthside.org Youth Theatre Presents: Really Rosie
ARTS CALENDAR
Kentucky Derby Party 7 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com Dale Jones 7:30, 9:45 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com The Floor is YOURS 8 p.m. Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Chattanooga Ballet—“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 8 p.m. UTC Fine Arts Center 615 McCallie Ave. (423) 425-4371 utc.edu/fine-arts-center
SATURDAY5.7 Elizabeth’s Outrun Melanoma 5K & Walk 8 a.m. Wolftever Creek Greenway 4910 Swinyar Dr. (423) 495-4438 memorial.org/race Rabid Raccoon 25k 8 a.m. Raccoon Mountain Park 319 West Hills Dr. (423) 821-9403 raccoonmountain.com 5th Annual Whitfield Oil Trojan Run 8:30 a.m.
Gordon Lee High School 105 Lee Cir., Chickamauga, GA (423) 364-6754 trojanrun5k.itsyourrace.com Signal Mountain Sparkle Day 9 a.m. Althaus Park 809 James Blvd. smtnlions.org Birds of a FeatherSpring Migrants 10 a.m. Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160 reflectionriding.org Brainerd Farmers Market 10 a.m. Grace Episcopal Church 20 Belvoir Ave. (404) 245-3682 facebook.com/ BrainerdFarmersMarket Chattanooga River Market 10 a.m. Tennessee Aquarium 1 Broad St. (423) 265-0695 chattanoogarivermarket.com Red Bank Jubilee Parade & MoonPie Festival 10 a.m. Red Bank Main City Park 3859 Dayton Blvd. facebook.com/redbankjubilee Northside Farmers Market 10 am. Northside Presbyterian Church 923 Mississippi Ave. (423) 266-7497 St. Alban’s Hixson Market 10 a.m. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
7514 Hixson Pike (423) 842-6303 facebook.com/ StAlbansFarmersMarket Chattanooga Choo Choo Jubilee 11 a.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000 choochoo.com Artful Yoga: Honoring Women 1:30 p.m. The Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Eastgate Saturday Cinema: The Good Dinosaur 2:30 p.m. Eastgate Public Library 5705 Marlin Rd. (423) 855-2689 chattlibrary.org Kentucky Derby Party 3:30 p.m. Black Creek Golf Club 4700 Cummings Cove Dr. (423) 822-2582 blackcreekclub.com Anime Binge 4 p.m. Chattanooga Public Library 1001 Broad St. (423) 643-7700 chattlibrary.org Dale Jones 7:30, 9:45 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com
Chattanooga Ballet—“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 8 p.m. UTC Fine Arts Center 615 McCallie Ave. (423) 425-4371 utc.edu/fine-arts-center Canelo vs. Khan 9 p.m. Carmike East Ridge 18 5080 South Terrace (423) 855-9652 fathomevents.com
SUNDAY5.8 Chattanooga Market: Mother's Day Celebration 10 a.m. First Tennessee Pavilion 1829 Carter St. (423) 648-2496 chattanoogamarket.com Mother’s Day Celebration 11 a.m. The Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Mother’s Day Brunch 12:30 p.m. Georgia Winery 6469 Battlefield Pkwy. (706) 937-9463 georigawines.com
MONDAY5.9 Red Bank Farmers Market 4 p.m. Red Bank United CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 17
ARTS CALENDAR
"For The Love" Movie Premier
Methodist Church 3800 Dayton Blvd. (423) 838-9804 lookoutfarmersmarket.com American Chestnut Restoration with Dr. J. Hill Craddock 6 p.m. green|spaces 63 E. Main St. (423) 648-0963 greenspaceschattanooga.org “For the Love” Movie Premier 7 p.m. Rock/Creek Outfitters 1530 Riverside Dr. (423) 265-1836 rockcreek.com Auditions for Spamalot 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com
TUESDAY5.10 East Brainerd Farmers Market 4 p.m. Audubon Acres 900 N. Sanctuary Rd. (423) 838-9804 lookoutfarmersmarket.com The Chattery Presents: Introduction to Essential Oils 6 p.m. Chattanooga Workspace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 413-8978 thechattery.org Auditions for Spamalot 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St.
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(423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com
WEDNESDAY5.11 Drawing 102 9 a.m. Townsend Atelier 301 E. 11th St. (423) 266-2712 townsendatelier.com Middle Eastern Dance 10:30 a.m. Jewish Cultural Center 5461 North Terrace (423) 493-0270 jewishchattanooga.com Main Street Market 4 p.m. 325 E. Main St. mainstfarmersmarket.com Adventures & Ales: Assault on El Capitan 7 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. 423-702-8081 thecamphouse.com NeNe Leakes 7 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. thecomedycatch.com CSA Songwriters Night 7 p.m. Heritage House 1428 Jenkins Rd. (423) 855-9474 chattanooga.gov Map these locations on chattanoogapulse. com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com
DIVERSIONS FREE WILL ASTROLOGY TAURUS (April 20May 20): Your ability to accomplish magic is at a peak, and will continue to soar for at least two more weeks. And when I use that word “magic,” I’m not referring to the hocus-pocus perby illusionists ROB BREZSNY formed like Criss Angel or Harry Houdini. I’m talking about real feats of transformation that will generate practical benefits in your day-to-day life. Now study the following definitions by writer Somerset Maugham, and have faith in your ability to embody them: “Magic is no more than the art of employing consciously invisible means to produce visible effects. Will, love, and imagination are magic powers that everyone possesses; and whoever knows how to develop them to their fullest extent is a magician.” GEMINI (May 21-June 20): According to author Vladimir Nabokov, the Russian word toska means “a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness.” Linguist Anna Wierzbicka says it conveys an emotion that blends melancholy, boredom, and yearning. Journalist Nick Ashdown suggests that for someone experiencing toska, the thing that’s yearned for may be “intangible and impossible to actually obtain.” How are doing with your own toska, Gemini? Is it conceivable that you could escape it—maybe even heal it? I think you can. I think you will. Before you do, though, I hope you’ll take time to explore it further. Toska has more to teach you about the previously hidden meaning of your life. CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Gandhi’s autobiography is on my pillow,” writes Cancerian poet Buddy Wakefield. “I put it there every morning after making my bed so I’ll remember to read it before falling asleep. I’ve been reading it for six years. I’m on Chapter 2.” What’s the equivalent phenomenon in your world, my fellow Crab? What good deed or righteous activity have you been pursuing with glacial diligence? Is there a healthy change you’ve been thinking about forever, but not making much progress on? The mood and the sway of the coming days will bring you a good chance to
expedite the process. In Wakefield’s case, he could get up to Chapter 17. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the 16th century, European explorers searched South America in quest of a mythical city of gold known as El Dorado. Tibetan Buddhist tradition speaks of Shambhala, a magical holy kingdom where only enlightened beings live. In the legends of ancient Greece, Hyperborea was a sunny paradise where the average human life span was a thousand years and happiness was normal. Now is an excellent time for you to fantasize about your own version of utopia, Leo. Why? First, your imagination is primed to expand. Second, dreaming big will be good for your mental and physical health. There’s another reason, too: By envisioning the most beautiful world possible, you will mobilize your idealism and boost your ability to create the best life for yourself in the coming months. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Anytime you’re going to grow, you’re going to lose something,” said psychologist James Hillman. “You’re losing what you’re hanging onto to keep safe. You’re losing habits that you’re comfortable with, you’re losing familiarity.” I nominate these thoughts to serve as your words of wisdom in the coming weeks, Virgo. From an astrological perspective, you are in a phase when luxuriant growth is possible. To harvest the fullness of the lush opportunities, you should be willing to shed outworn stuff that might interfere. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): On Cracked.com, Auntie Meme tells us that many commonly-held ideas about history are wrong. There were no such things as chastity belts in the Middle Ages, for example. Napoleon’s soldiers didn’t shoot off the nose of the Sphinx when they were stationed in Egypt. In regards to starving peasants, Marie Antoinette never derisively said, “Let them eat cake.” And no Christians ever became meals for lions in ancient Rome’s Colosseum. (More: tinyurl.com/historicaljive.) In the spirit of Auntie Meme’s exposé, and in alignment with the astrological omens, I invite you to uncover and correct at least three fabrications, fables, and lies about your own past. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Poet Charles Wright marvels at the hummingbird, “who has to eat sixty
Homework: Thousands of amazing, inexplicable, even miraculous events occur every day. Report yours: http:// bit.ly/Amazement times his own weight a day just to stay alive. Now that’s a life on the edge.” In the coming weeks, Scorpio, your modus operandi may have resemblances to the hummingbird’s approach. I don’t mean to suggest that you will be in a manic survival mode. Rather, I expect you’ll feel called to nourish your soul with more intensity than usual. You’ll need to continuously fill yourself up with experiences that inspire, teach, and transform you. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Anybody can become angry,” said Greek philosopher Aristotle. “That is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” I’m pleased to inform you, Sagittarius, that now is a time when you have an exceptional capacity for meeting Aristotle’s high standards. In fact, I encourage you to honor and learn all you can from your finely-honed and well-expressed anger. Make it work wonders for you. Use it so constructively that no one can complain. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): To celebrate your arrival at the height of your sex appeal, I’m resurrecting the old-fashioned word “vavoom.” Feel free to use it as your nickname. Pepper it into your conversations in place of terms like “awesome,” “wow,” or “yikes.” Use a felt-tip marker to make a temporary VAVOOM tattoo on your beautiful body. Here are other enchanted words you should take charge of and make an intimate part of your daily presentation: verve, vim, vivid, vitality, vigor, vora-
cious, vivacious, visceral, valor, victory, and VIVA! AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When he was a boy, Mayan poet Humberto Ak’ab’al asked his mother, “What are those things that shine in the sky?” “Bees,” she answered mischievously. “Every night since then,” Humberto writes, “my eyes eat honey.” In response to this lyrical play, the logical part of our brains might rise up and say, “What a load of nonsense!” But I will ask you to set aside the logical part of your brain for now, Aquarius. According to my understanding of the astrological omens, the coming days will be a time when you need a big dose of sweet fantasies, dreamy stories, and maybe even beautiful nonsense. What are your equivalents of seeing bees making honey in the night sky’s pinpoints of light? PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Sometimes, a seemingly insignificant detail reveals a whole world,” says artist Pierre Cordier. “Like the messages hidden by spies in the dot of an i.” These are precisely the minutiae that you should be extra alert for in the coming days, Pisces. Major revelations may emerge from what at first seems trivial. Generous insights could ignite in response to small acts of beauty and subtle shifts of tone. Do you want glimpses of the big picture and the long-range future? Then be reverent toward the fine points and modest specifics. ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Silence is not silence, but a limit of hearing,” writes Jane Hirshfield in her poem “Everything Has Two Endings.” This observation is apropos for you right now. There are potentially important messages you’re not registering and catalytic influences you can’t detect. But their apparent absence is due to a blank spot in your awareness, or maybe a willful ignorance left over from the old days. Now here’s the good news: You are primed to expand your listening field. You have an enhanced ability to open certain doors of perception that have been closed. If you capitalize on this opportunity, silence will give way to revelation. Rob Brezsny is an aspiring master of curiosity, perpetrator of sacred uproar, and founder of the Beauty and Truth Lab. He brings a literate, mythsavvy perspective to his work. It’s all in the stars.
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 19
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FOOD & DRINK MIXOLOGY
Getting Comfortable, Southern Style Venerable liqueur distills Southern roots, embraces tasty history In a New Orleans bar in 1874, amidst a shortage of quality whiskey, bartender M.W. Heron created one of the South’s most unique liqueurs: Southern Comfort. A first generation Irish immigrant, Martin Wilkes Heron and other bartenders often struggled to obtain good whiskey. The main problem they faced was that during shipping from Memphis down the Mississippi River, the whiskey barrels often were in pretty rough shape. With a lack of quality product and a firm belief that whiskey should be enjoyed, Heron mixed neutral liquor with various fruits, spices and whiskey flavor to create a sweet, and more importantly, smooth concoction. The result this experimentation he named “Cuffs and Buttons”. The drink gained notoriety around New Orleans and so Heron decided to move to Memphis in 1899 to bottle and sell the liqueur. He renamed it “Southern Comfort”, and an American tradition was born. From the very beginning Southern Comfort was heralded as a triumph of American mixology. In the early 1900’s the drink won gold medals at the World’s Fair. Through the years, drinkers everywhere, including Janis Joplin— who often brought a bottle onstage with her—fell in love with its smooth taste and unique flavor profile. Today, Southern Comfort, or SoCo as it is known to its aficionados, is sold in bars across the country. A recent nonsensical advertising campaign, reminiscent of something one might see on late night Japanese television, has brought the liqueur to cultural prominence once again. But despite this modern, but ultimately disappointing, marketing attempt, tradition has been a cornerstone of the brand. The liqueur has expanded to include several variations on the original recipe, including Cherry Comfort,
“[Southern Comfort]
has led to several scars, an interesting hiking adventure with a dominatrix, and several impromptu concerts for strangers.” but the original is still considered to be the masterpiece it was in 1874. Southern Comfort is known for its sweet taste and versatile mixing possibilities. With its complex flavoring, SoCo is almost a cocktail by itself. Whether you are looking to drink it straight or mix one of several signature cocktails, SoCo is one of the best choices you can make. Armed with only a pint of SoCo and a liter of Dr. Pepper, anyone can create a story worth telling for years to come. In my experience there is scarcely a story worth telling that doesn’t begin with SoCo. It has led to several scars, an interesting hiking adventure with a dominatrix, and several impromptu concerts for strangers. It was my first taste of alcohol and a rather naïve thought that, “If all alcohol tastes this good, I don’t know why you would mix it with anything.” Despite my love for this catalyst of debauchery and spontaneity, it wouldn’t be a profile of SoCo without mentioning its critics. There is no better way to spark a barstool debate, with the exception of mentioning politics, than ordering a shot of SoCo. In my relatively short stint as a barfly, I’ve seen these critics’ fervent hatred for the drink know no bounds. And despite the several empty
glasses that usually sit in front of them, they—without fail—will articulate a nearly flawless argument against the drink. These are the people who think that you’re just not drinking real alcohol if you don’t feel like you’re pouring battery acid down your throat. They call it a drink for the weak, those who fear anything that may put a little hair on their chest. While I agree that it is the ideal drink for someone who doesn’t frequent the liquor store or bars, I still believe that just because you can drink something that burns like hell going down and fights your stomach to the point that you’d swear you swallowed two cats in heat, doesn’t mean you should. Sometimes a man just wants to enjoy his drink and there is nothing better suited for that, in my opinion, than a glass of Southern Comfort. — Alex Ward Southern Comfort and Dr. Pepper • 2oz. of Dr. Pepper • 1oz. of Southern Comfort • 3 ice cubes Add ice to a chilled tumbler, pour in Southern Comfort, then add soda and stir. Add lime wedge for garnish if preferred. This drink can be made in any size as long as you remember the ratio of SoCo to to soda is 2:1. Also try it with Ginger Ale, or good old-fashioned orange juice. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 21
MUSIC SCENE
Semi-Vintage Ethereal Electronica Dream-Pop band Moira graces The Honest Pint stage this Sunday
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Sam Killed The Bear… …and the band rocks the stage this Sunday night In the last year, the people of Chattanooga have been given the gift of a new sound in the city. Sam Killed the Bear, while only a year old, has already earned a spot as one of the hottest local bands in Chattanooga. The self-described “spawn of Asgard,” Jake plays bass while Austin plays guitar along with Ryan, and behind them, hammering away at the drums, is Chris. These four friends have gathered a major following in Chattanooga’s music scene. Their pop punk influence comes through as reminiscent of bands like Incubus, Jet, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Their heavily melodic verses are paired well with hard-hitting, heavily distorted rhythms, the secret to their live shows’ electric atmospheres. With vocalizations that flow easily and poignant lyrics, its no wonder
they have taken the city’s music scene by storm. Austin and Chris met three years ago but only began playing together once Chris’ former band The Average separated. After the split they recruited Jake and Ryan to join them in what became Sam Killed the Bear. With Chris’ reputation and connections from his previous project, the band has been able to quickly build up a following in Chattanooga as well as surrounding cities. Chattanooga’s music lovers should keep an eye on these four because surely the best is yet to come. — Alex Ward Sam Killed The Bear Sunday, 8 p.m. 41 E.14th St. (423) 521-2929 revelryroom.co
THU5.5
FRI5.6
SAT5.7
CINCO DE COLON
POLY NIGHTFALL
NASHVILLE TRIO
Carlos Colon
Polyrhythmics
Ricky Ray and the Keemosabees
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the best of Latin Hip Hop and Club Music. 7 p.m. The Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com
Nightfall is back for another season of free Friday night concerts downtown. 7 p.m. Miller Plaza 850 Market St. nightfallchattanooga.com
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Three of Nashville's most versatile musicians. 9 p.m. Puckett’s Grocery 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com
HE SELF-DESCRIBED “DREAM-POP” BAND, MOIRA, is making their Chattanooga debut this Sunday at the Honest Pint. The Dayton, Ohio based band’s Scenic City stop is part of an exhaustive Spring/Summer tour crisscrossing the Midwest and Southeast and the rapidly growing demand for their unique flavor of semi-vintage ethereal electronica is proof enough that the band is making a name for themselves.
Music MARC T. MICHAEL
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The wedding of voice and instrument in this band is sublime which would be noteworthy in any circumstance but all the more so given the relatively short time Moira has spent crafting their sound.”
In short, if you haven’t heard of them yet, you will, particularly if you continue reading this article. The group’s large, lush, layered sound belies the fact that is a mere trio, albeit it a trio of some pedigree. Alicia Grodecki contributes the vocals as well as synthesizer and Rhodes piano. No stranger to the stage, Grodecki toured nationally with synthpop band Vanity Theft before teaming up with her current bandmates to form Moira. Considering the instrumentation and direction of the band, a background in synth-pop isn’t entirely unexpected. Considerably more unexpected is the hardcore punk background of her rhythm section. Patrick Hague demonstrates a masterful command of drums and percussion, as well as sampling, an endeavor the band has expended no small amount of time and energy on. Likewise, Aaron Hardy plays the perfect complementary bass as well as doubling Alicia on synths and Patrick on samples. A word on samples and sampling; it is a technique I was admittedly skeptical of, once upon a time. I’ve
long since come to acknowledge it for what is, simply another tool in a musician’s arsenal. Like so many other tools, it may be used to good effect but it is no less capable of becoming gimmicky. Then there’s Moira, a group that elevates the technique to pure art. Any lingering skepticism on my part is long since dispelled. Minus vocals, Moira would be a very good band, producing moody, dream-like pieces that are remarkable in both subtlety and complexity. With
the vocals, however…Moira becomes something else altogether, transcendent and wholly unique. The wedding of voice and instrument in this band is sublime which would be noteworthy in any circumstance but all the more so given the relatively short time Moira has spent crafting their sound. The trio essentially invested a year in developing their sound and style, collecting and creating samples, and creating compositions that are so
wonderfully original it’s difficult to find anything to offer for comparison (there are some qualities of Gordecki’s voice that remind me of Julie Stepanek of Calamine.) Doors open for this show at 8 p.m. with the show commencing at 9 p.m. Admission is just $10 and this is a 21-and-up show. Moira will be joined by local favorites ambient/indie/prog group Mother Nurture from Cleveland and the always mind-bending “space jazz” of Chilhowee Royal.
Zoe Jakes' House of Tarot Returns To Town Zoe Jakes is coming back to Chattanooga this Friday. The uber-talented lady from Beats Antique is touring her latest project, House of Tarot. Demonstrating once again that she is one of the most creative and talented performers today, Jakes is responsible for the concept, choreography, music composition, and costume and set design for this project which opens in Asheville, stops in Chattanooga, and finishes in New Orleans.
As in Beats Antique, Jakes indulges in mythic story-telling through sound and movement, affording a nod to Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung as she brings to life the archetypes of the Major Arcana of the mystic tarot. Ms. Jakes will be joined by bellydancers from across the country including three of Chattanooga’s own: Lacy Jo, Jules Downum and Mattie Waters. The performance/theatrical happening will take place at The Camp House
at 7 p.m. with opening performances by students from Zanzibar Studio as well as the Tribe Zanzibar Dancers and special guests Lauryn Elise and Suzanne Rambo. Tickets are available for $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Do not miss this very rare opportunity to witness the mélange of artistic style and genre bringing to life the most ancient myths of humankind in a fusion of the primal and the modern that transcends language. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 23
MUSIC CALENDAR
Surfer Blood
THURSDAY5.5 Boxcar Pinion Memorial Bluegrass Festival Noon Racoon Mountain Campground & RV Park 319 W. Hills Dr. boxcarforeverbluegrass.com Chattanooga Boys Choir 6 p.m. Jewish Cultural Center 5461 North Terrace jewishchattanooga.com Rick Rushing Blues Jazz N’ Friends 6 p.m. Bluewater Grille 224 Broad St. bluewaterchattanooga.com The James Crumble Trio 6 p.m. St. John’s Meeting Place 1274 Market St. stjohnsmeetingplace.com Bluegrass and Country Jam 6:30pm Grace Church of the Nazarene 6310 Dayton Blvd. Chattanoogagrace.com Live Bluegrass 6:30 p.m. Whole Foods Market 301 Manufacturers Rd. wholefoodsmarket.com Carlos Colon 7 p.m. The Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com Jimmy Harris 7 p.m. The Coconut Room
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6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Jesse James and Tim Neal 7:30 p.m. Mexi Wings VII 5773 Brainerd Rd. mexi-wingchattanooga.com Bluegrass Thursdays 7:30 p.m. Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com Keepin’ It Local 8 p.m. The Social 1110 Market St. publichousechattanooga.com Surfer Blood, Sounds of Ceres 9 p.m. Revelry Room 41 E. 14th St. revelryroom.com Open Mic with Hap Henninger 9 p.m.
PULSE PICK: HENRY LINAREZ Venezuelan born and raised in the midst of a family of talented musicians, this virtuoso cuatro player covers a wide range of music from the entire Latin American region. Henry Linarez Saturday, 6 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org
The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com
FRIDAY5.6 Boxcar Pinion Memorial Bluegrass Festival Noon Racoon Mountain Campground & RV Park 319 W. Hills Dr. boxcarforeverbluegrass.com “Rock the Block” with DJ Fred Watson, Jiana Barnett and Jimmy Allgood 5 p.m. Bessie Smith Cultural Center 200 E. MLK Blvd. bessiesmithcc.org Polyrhythmics, Opposite Box 7 p.m. Miller Plaza
850 Market St. nightfallchattanooga.com Craig Morgan, Krystye Dalton Band 7 p.m. Engel Stadium 1130 E. 3rd St. riverbendfestival.com Bullet for My Valentine 8 p.m. Track 29 41 E. 14th St. track29.co The Floor is YOURS 8 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Roughwork 8:30 p.m. The Foundry 1201 Broad St. thechattanooganhotel.com Amber’s Drive 9 p.m. Pucketts Grocery 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Fly By Radio 9 p.m. Revelry Room 41 E. 14th St. revelryroom.com Jeremy Sakovich 9 p.m. World of Beer 412 Market St. worldofbeer.com FRO & Frenz 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com 789
MUSIC CALENDAR
Bullet For My Valentine 10 p.m. Raw Bar and Grill 409 Market St. rawbarandgrillchatt.com Rag Doll 10 p.m. Bud's Sports Bar 5751 Brainerd Rd. budssportsbar.com
SATURDAY5.7 Boxcar Pinion Memorial Bluegrass Festival Noon Racoon Mountain Campground & RV Park 319 W. Hills Dr. boxcarforeverbluegrass.com Ryan Oyer 4:30 p.m. Colledgedale Market 4950 Swinyar Dr. collegedalemarket.com Henry Linarez 6 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Roughwork 8:30 p.m. The Foundry 1201 Broad St. thechattanooganhotel.com Jeff Spirko 9 p.m. World of Beer 412 Market St. worldofbeer.com Ricky Ray and the Keemosabees 9 p.m. Puckett’s Grocery
2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Ryan Oyer 9 p.m. JJ's Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Kara-Ory-Oke! 10 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com 789 10 p.m. Raw Bar and Grill 409 Market St. rawbarandgrillchatt.com Rag Doll 10 p.m. Bud's Sports Bar 5751 Brainerd Rd. budssportsbar.com
SUNDAY5.8 Cricket & Snail 11 a.m. The Flying Squirrel 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com Mothers Day with Megan Saunders 11 a.m. The Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View Ave. huntermuseum.org John Rawiston and Kathy Veazey 1:30 p.m. The Flying Squirrel 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com
Open Mic with Jeff Daniels 6 p.m. Long Haul Saloon 2536 Cummings Hwy. (423) 822-9775 Pop Evil, Sam Killed the Bear 8 p.m. Revelry Room 41 E. 14th St. revelryroom.co
MONDAY5.9 Monday Nite Big Band 7 p.m. The Coconut Room 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Very Open Mic 8 p.m. The Well 1800 Rossville Blvd. #8 wellonthesouthside.com Open Mic Night 6 p.m. Puckett’s Grocery 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Open Air with Jessica Nunn 7:30 p.m. Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com
TUESDAY5.10 Songwriters Night 7 p.m. Heritage House 1428 Jenkins Rd. Chattanooga.gov Open Mic with Mike McDade
8 p.m. Tremont Tavern 1203 Hixson Pike tremonttavern.com
WEDNESDAY5.11 “Noon Tunes” with Jamal Traub Noon Miller Plaza 850 Market St. rivercitycompany.com The Other Guys 6 p.m. SpringHill Suites 495 Riverfront Pkwy. (423) 834-9300 Open Jam 8 p.m. Raw Dance Club 409 Market St. rawbarandgrillchatt.com Wednesday Night Jazz 8 p.m. Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Wednesday Blues Jam 8 p.m. The Office @ City Café 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com FRO & Frenz 9 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 25
RECORD REVIEWS ERNIE PAIK
Learning The Love of Sunshine, Living The Music of Morocco Zagers brews his pop alchemy, Bowles dives into Moroccan music
T
Jeff Zagers All for the Love of Sunshine (Wharf Cat)
L
ast year, the Savannah, Ga. pop alchemist Jeff Zagers released his excellent fulllength album Still / Alive on Wharf Cat, but he also released a little-heard cassette called An Archivist Privilege featuring ten covers that reveal his diverse influences, from Bob Dylan to avant-garde pioneer Yoko Ono to jazz reed virtuoso Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Now we have another covers album, entitled All for the Love of Sunshine, that reprises three tracks from An Archivist Privilege and adds another nine covers recorded in the last five years. While Zagers is no stranger to electronic accouterment, at the core of his original work is solid songwriting rather than fluff or flash, and he has a deep appreciation for artists such as Roy Orbison, Townes Van Zandt and Kitty Wells, all three of whom are represented twice. Specifically, Zagers revealed in an interview with Vice that he was obsessed with the first half of Orbison’s final album Mystery Girl, which provides the first (“You Got It”) and final
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Various Artists Music of Morocco: Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959 (Dust-to-Digital)
(“California Blue”) tracks for Zagers’ new album. Zagers seems to be a waltztime proponent, harking back to mid-20th century country and soul with floating, Casio drummer-in-a-box rhythms and warm, new-wave-esque keyboards. Source-wise, the track “Your Motion Says” stands out, being from cellist/singer Arthur Russell, who straddled the modern classical and disco worlds; Zagers’ calm, comforting voice is well-suited for it. His delivery is largely uniform throughout the album and doesn’t attempt to match, for example, James Carr’s original devastating vocals on the soul classic about infidelity, “The Dark End of the Street”; however, Zagers’ demeanor works with the genteel, emotional pain of Kitty Wells’ “A Woman Half My Age.” Stylistically, All for the Love of Sunshine sacrifices diversity for cohesion and flow; this isn’t just a random grab bag, but instead, it reflects a thoughtful plan and a sustained wistful attitude.
his writer would best describe his 2012 visit to Morocco as overwhelming, often being an in-your-face sensory overload with unrelenting peddlers in labyrinthine souks (markets) and hold-on-to-your-ass taxi rides, alongside unbelievably gorgeous architecture and enticingly aromatic cuisine. Regarding the compelling sounds and music of Morocco, this writer only had minor difficulties being an amateur field recorder—at one point, a boy attempted to steal his digital recorder but was thwarted after a short sprint—and they’re nothing compared to what American expatriate Paul Bowles, best known for his novel The Sheltering Sky, went through in 1959. Traveling thousands of miles in a Volkswagen Beetle crisscrossing Morocco, funded by the Library of Congress, Bowles battled punishing heat and sandstorms along with logistical issues, such as finding electrical outlets for his Ampex tape recorder in rural locales, and sometimes recorded on the sly. Bowles captured 250 recordings in 22 sessions, and he culled highlights for his original Music of Morocco collection which was released in 1972 on two vinyl LPs—a collection which for decades was unrivaled in its scope. In the hands of Philip D. Schuyler, Bowles’ compilation has new life in an expanded 4-CD edition on Dust-to-Digital, divided into a “Highlands” half, featuring Berber music, and a “Lowlands” half, with anything in Arabic or traced to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, or Europe. Nearly all previously abridged
songs were restored to their full length; two original selections were replaced with superior unpublished pieces—changes that were approved by Bowles prior to his passing in 1999—and eight additional tracks are included. A resident of Tangier for over 50 years, Bowles did not consider himself to be an ethnomusicologist—merely an enthusiast—and while certain adjectives of his might not sit comfortably with some today, describing Berbers as “barbarous” and “primitive,” his admiration for the music was sincere. It should be mentioned that Bowles imparted his own aesthetic upon the recordings, with his belief that Berber music’s aim was “to cause hypnosis” —a case that can certainly be made after listening to certain mesmerizing selections, with gradually changing vocal and instrumental repetition that enraptures for long durations. His real-time revisions included separating or even isolating performers; for example, Bowles asked a qsbah player to play solo against his wishes—customarily, this is not done, with fellow musicians sitting together in physical contact. Bowles believed his job was to capture sounds, not make sense of them. For those looking to make sense of these sounds, Music of Morocco includes a meticulously researched, exquisite 120-page book with annotations for each track. However, an unacquainted listener can simply be enveloped by the power of these songs, as Bowles often was, who pursued sound for sound’s sake.
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 27
Diversions
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Jonesin’ Crossword
MATT JONES
“Slammed”—prepare to be taken down. ACROSS 1 Jacket style named for an Indian prime minister 6 Impala, to a lion 10 Scoring advantage 14 “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” e.g. 15 “Game of Thrones” actress Chaplin 16 Safe contents? 17 “All that over your fireplace--are you trying to put Hummel out of business?” 19 Fails to be 20 Courtroom fig. 21 Beethoven wrote just one 22 Detective’s lead 23 Life sentences? 24 Yiddish interjections 26 Sweet suffix 27 Crumpled into a ball 32 “Hello, I’m ___” (recurring ad line from Justin Long) 34 Sans-serif Windows font 35 Unteach, in a way 39 It immobilizes 40 Rock venue 41 A couple of
gossip columns 42 Aim 44 When infomercials start running, sometimes 45 Wavy lines, in a comic strip 46 “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” songwriter 48 Visit Vail, perhaps 50 Talk and talk 52 Machine to watch “RoboCop” on, way back when 53 Didi of “Grease” and “Grease 2” 55 Astronomical flareups 57 Automaker headquartered in Bavaria 61 Make a clickbait list, e.g. 62 “Your hair looks like it was styled by kittens” 64 Brews that may be Scotch or pale 65 Early Nebraskan 66 Lisa, to Patty and Selma 67 Stamp inkers 68 “Cleanup in aisle four” tools
69 To-do list items DOWN 1 Zippo 2 Theater sign 3 Much of soc. studies 4 Michele’s “High School Reunion” friend 5 “Pulp Fiction” actress Thurman 6 Mishmash of a “Jeopardy!” category 7 Play thing? 8 First month on a Mexican calendar 9 “And so on” 10 Majestic 11 “You couldn’t even find your own butt on a Waze app” 12 Trivial Pursuit edition 13 Cosmetics mogul Lauder 18 Pizza destroyer of old Domino’s ads 23 “The Fresh Prince of ___-Air” 25 Home of the Mustangs, for short 27 1993 Texas standoff city 28 Speedy breed of steed 29 “Buying your
weed wearing a pot leaf T-shirt? Like that’s original” 30 Went out with 31 “Pet” irritation 33 ___ di pepe (tiny pasta variety) 36 Sucks the strength out of 37 Blue-green hue 38 Model with a palindromic name 40 How lottery numbers are chosen 43 Gear tooth 44 Text-interpreting technology, briefly 47 Champagne bucket, e.g. 48 Piece of paper 49 Australian leaf-eater 51 “Otello” librettist 54 Loch ___ Monster 56 Abbr. on a bottle of Courvoisier 57 Where the Himalayas are 58 Partakes of 59 Pack of playing cards 60 Bad time for Caesar 63 “Lord of the Rings” tree creature
Copyright © 2016 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 0778 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MAY 5, 2016 • THE PULSE • 29
COLUMN TECH TALK
Chattanooga’s Gig Tank Continues to Grow Summer tech accelerator goes year round, gets a new name
RICH BAILEY
“
Chattanooga is growing enough of its own technologyoriented startups to make it so that the program could be sustainable with local people who don’t have to worry about housing.”
Photo illustration by Violet Kaipa Rich Bailey is a professional writer, editor and (sometimes) PR consultant. He led a project to create Chattanooga’s first civic website in 1995 before even owning a modem. Now he covers Chattanooga technology for The Pulse and blogs about it at CircleChattanooga.com
What’s in a name? CoLab’s Gig Tank has been rechristened Gig Tank 365 and is migrating from a summer-only accelerator to a year-round program with two additional cohorts of technology startups in the spring and fall. The “why” is pretty straightforward. According to CoLab’s executive director and entrepreneur-in-residence, Mike Bradshaw. “Innovation doesn’t just happen in the summer. The people that fuel the innovation economy in Chattanooga aren’t just here during the summer.” After four summer cohorts, it didn’t make sense to put so much effort into building the network of mentors and support staff for only a few months’ use, tear it down, catch your breath and then start building it again almost immediately. Initially, housing was an issue. UT Chattanooga provides summer housing for about 40 out-of-town participants that would not be available during the school year. Two things finally made the change make sense, says Bradshaw. “Chattanooga is growing enough of its own technology-oriented startups to make it so that the program could be sustainable with local people who don’t have to worry about housing. The reputation of the program has also grown so that people who want to be in it will come anyway, even without housing.” A pilot spring cohort has just ended, and this year’s summer program begins May 16 with 12 startups focusing on 3-D printing, software defined networking, and healthcare. For a complete list of participants with brief descriptions, visit thegigtank.com/teams. Another evolutionary giant step, which began last year, is that Gig Tank no longer requires companies to accept a $15,000 investment in return for 5-6 percent of the company. According to
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Bradshaw, that made sense when the startup teams were very early in their development so the valuation of their companies was comparatively low. Why does this matter? Because Gig Tank is looking for startups that can become successful companies. Early engagement with a young, lower-valued company means a lower probability of ultimate success. An investment on those terms implies a total valuation of about $300,000. Most of the companies in this summer are already capitalized at about $2 million each, so they are closer to being sustainable companies. “We have attracted these teams without any equity financing at all, which we did in the first two years and in the third year for all but two or three of the teams,” he said. “Chattanooga itself is now supplying enough value for these people to come here without the equity investment. I think that’s pivotal.” Ultimately, CoLab isn’t just making a financial investment, looking for val-
ue in dollars and cents. “The equity is invested in the community. Having these companies here doing things is the payback.” The value the startups receive is primarily in the connections facilitated by Gig Tank. “I’m not going to tell you secrets you can’t find somewhere else,” says Bradshaw. “What I can do that you can’t get anywhere else is introduce you to people that can significantly enhance your prospects.” The bottom line for startups is that they will achieve results from being in the program greater than they would have achieved on their own. “As the mentor network grows, that benefit becomes that much greater. That’s what’s caused people to call us up and say ‘how to do I get into the program?’ We get mostly inbound now.” “Without the mentor network, without the industry partners none of this would work well,” he adds. “Because of that it works really, really well.”
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