UNCLE LARRY'S • PUBLIC PERFORMANCE ART • PUNK CLASSIC REVISITED
VOL. 16, ISSUE 34 • AUGUST 22, 2019
Our Distant Mobility Future The past, present, and "After Car" future by David Traver Adolphus
CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE VOLUME 16, ISSUE 34 • AUGUST 22, 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 David Traver Adolphus Rob Brezsny Matt Jones Cody Maxwell Ernie Paik Rick Pimental-Habib Michael Thomas Brandon Watson Cartoonists Jen Sorenson • Tom Tomorrow
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CONTACT Offices 1305 Carter St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone 423.265.9494 Email info@chattanoogapulse.com Website chattanoogapulse.com Facebook @chattanoogapulse 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 © 2019 by Brewer Media. All rights reserved.
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Our Distant Mobility Future Cars have proven to be a surprisingly resilient invention. We’ve had them for coming up on 135 years now. We sell about $121 billion worth of them a year and while a recession or trade war may make a dip in those numbers, what else are you going to do? Ride a bus?
FOOD FOR BODY & SOUL
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PUNK CLASSIC REVISTED
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I couldn’t believe myself when I left Uncle Larry’s Restaurant for the first time. How could a place so exquisitely delicious, welcoming, and comfortable have gone without me noticing for so long?
It’s hard to believe that the 1979 rock musical comedy Rock ‘n’ Roll High School might have starred Cheap Trick or Devo instead of the Ramones, or might actually have been about disco.
PUBLIC PERFORMANCE ART
As I bump my way along the gravel road high above the Sequatchie Valley, it occurs to me I’m coming to the oddest place in the world to discuss painting in public.
RELIGIOUS CONSPIRACY
Currently, there’s a group of right-wing believers who wait in shared online spaces for an anonymous poster named Q to drop nuggets of information about political candidates.
5 CONSIDER THIS
12 ARTS CALENDAR
19 MUSIC REVIEWS
9 LOCAL HISTORY
15 JONESIN' CROSSWORD
21 NEW IN THEATERS
16 MUSIC CALENDAR
22 GAME ON!
11 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 3
CITY LIFE · BETWEEN THE BRIDGES
Cons ider This w ith Dr. Rick
Food For Body & Soul Uncle Larry serves up flavor and history By Alex Curry Pulse City Editor
“I tried killing a spider with glitter body spray. Now it won’t stop stripping and I have to call it Cinnamon.” — Unknown When you’re quiet and pondering, meditating or praying, do you ever start to think, “How did I get here? What in the world happened?” Those are the times to remember that everything you’ve thought, said and done in the past has formed your journey to this place, right here and now. It’s a positive feeling when you think about, for instance, you and your partner traveling winding life avenues, up and down the hills and valleys, to finally find each other at just the right moment. It’s a very different feeling when you’re unhappy with where you are, and unclear about where to go next. Remember that your past is what brought you to this point, and what you do now will bring you to your future. Consider starting here: In order for good things to come your way, you must first believe that you deserve them.
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If you’re skeptical of the term ‘common ground’ and see it as a pipe dream, you can find it here. Uncle Larry’s is that common ground personified.”
— Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D.
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COULDN’T BELIEVE MYSELF WHEN I LEFT UNCLE LARry’s Restaurant for the first time. How could a place so exquisitely delicious, welcoming, and comfortable have gone without me noticing for so long? I was pondering my meal as I strolled down the block, full and content with a revitalized belief in the future of Chattanooga cuisine. That feeling of comfort and home had me in such a stupor I was halfway down the block before I realized I had forgotten to pay for my meal. Uncle Larry’s is a living history. It’s a place that exists almost in the past but certainly isn’t stuck there. This is not a criticism, but a glorification of their fundamental philosophy of operation. They cherish the foundation of good food as a communal gathering. A meal here isn’t just fuel for the human body, but inspiration for the mind, nourishment for the soul, and cohesion for the city. It’s common to sit with to-
tal strangers, but they don’t stay strangers for very long. The restaurant is a place that brings all walks of life together. If you’re skeptical of the term “common ground” and see it as a pipe dream, you can find it here. Uncle Larry’s is that common ground personified. A true sense of community exists as you step through the front door. How could anyone be angry with anyone else when they are eating this well and smiling this large? Some people are just too good in the kitchen to not use those gifts and share them with their community. Despite fighting it for a long time, Larry Torrence, founder of Uncle Larry’s, is now one of those chefs. After much persuasion from his wife and other family members, Mr.
EDITOONS
Torrence opened up shop in March 2013. Now with two locations, one on MLK Blvd. and another in Ooltewah, the restaurant is running full force ahead. They serve an array of dishes representing the history of the greater American South. It ends up being a storytelling journey as much as it is a delicious meal. A plate of whiting, perch, tilapia, or catfish with an array of carefully considered sides evokes a connection with the earth and the historical diaspora that these dishes’ roots arose from. If I could pick one restaurant to represent the history of Chattanooga’s cuisine, it would undoubtedly be Uncle Larry’s. A chef who would make Michael Twitty proud, Larry Torrence is providing Chattanooga with his soul on a plate. Chef Torrence is a vessel of history and expression. It’s the story of a past fraught with difficulties that is used to create beauty and defy odds.
This is the perfect opportunity to start supporting our local restaurants. Pork chop sandwiches, hot dogs, banana pudding, okra, fried green tomatoes, and more exist for those who shy away from fish. It’ll be hard for me to ever pull myself away from my fish plate, but that passing pork chop does smell divine. This is not a place that I see myself tiring of, and my hope is that Chattanooga will feel the same way. Don’t allow yourself to be like me and let this go missed. I had to stop halfway through writing this article and head there for lunch because I couldn’t stop thinking about that tilapia and those turnip greens and white beans. Their tagline is written lightheartedly on the way in. “Fish so good it will smack ya!” On the way out, with your belly full and your spirit ready to face the world, you know you got smacked. And that couldn’t make you happier. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 5
COVER STORY
Our Distant Mobility Future A deep dive into the world A.C. (After Car)
By David Traver Adolphus Pulse contributor
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The infrastructure of roads and parking lots and garages and gas stations and refineries takes up a horrifying portion of the earth’s surface.”
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ARS HAVE PROVEN TO BE A SURPRISINGLY RESILIENT INvention. We’ve had them for coming up on 135 years now. We sell about $121 billion worth of them a year and while a recession or trade war may make a dip in those numbers, what else are you going to do? Ride a bus? There aren’t many other late-19th century inventions that are still a huge part of our lives. Sure we like Coca-Cola, but it doesn’t define us (outside of certain parts of Atlanta, maybe) and even things like Edison’s incandescent light bulb, the typewriter and the old over-the-wires telephone have largely come and gone during the car’s ongoing lifespan. And none of them have shaped not just our physical geography but our very direction as a species like the car. There are cars (or at least Toyota pick-
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ups) almost literally everywhere. They are in Antarctica and they’ve driven to the North Pole. I picked a random spot in Africa in Google maps—it turned out to be something called Batha-Ouest, Chad, a desert right in the middle of the continent. It’s about the same size as West Virginia, a little more than 20,000 square miles, but it has a little over Chattanooga’s population. I zoomed in on a stretch of desert that turned out to be 35 miles northwest of a place called Djédaa. And there it was—
a set of tire tracks worn into the dust, crossing to...somewhere. Everywhere, cars. And yet we know they can’t last forever. The infrastructure of roads and parking lots and garages and gas stations and refineries takes up a horrifying portion of the earth’s surface, more than 15 percent of many cities. Los Angeles, for example, has more than six-and-a-half square miles of surface area of parking, for cars that spend 95 percent of their time not moving. For that five percent of their lives that cars are actually driven, the United States alone used 142.86 billion gallons of gasoline in 2018. 271,804 gallons a second. It’s hard to visualize that, but it’s about an Olympic swimming pool (164 by 82 feet, six feet deep) every three seconds. A fire company might use a big two-inch attack hose to put water on a fire. It would take more than 65,000 of those hoses flowing at 250 gallons per minute to supply our gas. The National Fire Protection Association thinks there are 29,819 fire companies in the United States, so every single one of them would need at least two hoses going at full pressure, 24 hours a day. It’s like trying to get a sense of the size of the universe—it’s too big for the human mind. No one from any political or moral viewpoint can see that as sustainable. Even when we go completely electric over the next 20 or 30 years, we’ll still need all those roads and we’ll be adding an entire new layer of power deliv-
ery infrastructure, because unless those Mr. Fusions start hitting the shelves we’re trading one form of power for another. We’re never going to get flying cars, because they use orders of magnitude more energy than rolling around (see: Mr. Fusion). We’re never going to connect more than the population centers with any kind of mass transit, which leaves (currently) about 60 million people without any way to get around. There’s been a trend towards rural migration to cities for years, but don’t be surprised if that reverses. I think the combination of remote work and whatever forms of telepresence we’re going to have, with the overnight availability of just about anything, will turn the flow as people realize there’s nothing they can’t get while enjoying a rural quality of life. Which gives rise to the question: How are we going to get around After Car? There are the first hints of answers now, in ride sharing and fractional car ownership programs. But the bigger answer is, pretty soon we not only won’t need to go anywhere, we won’t want to.
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How are we going to get around After Car? There are the first hints of answers now, in ride sharing and fractional car ownership programs.” Almost all the pieces are in place to start imagining our post-transportation future. We still do need all kinds of things delivered, but that’s not going to last. It’s slow and sometimes complicated, but today you can 3D print in your home. At some point that will become much more accessible and while you might not make pots and pans in your study, you might get them made to order at a regional or local fabrication center and have them drone delivered an hour later. The only thing left is food and that solution is here, too. We are growing meat in a lab today and it’ll be commercially available in the next year or two. There are “cultured” (or alt-meat) proponents who think commercial animal raising will be phased out entirely by the end of the century. I think they’re being conservative and it will happen
much faster than that. Plants we can’t grow in a vat like delicious muscle tissue, but we can and do grow fruits and vegetables hydroponically. When truck distribution systems start to wither away it will become uneconomical to ship avocados 3,000 miles, so produce production too will move away from huge central locations and into smaller local operations. As our need to move things long distances by road dwindles, roads themselves will become economically unviable. At least for the next century or two, there will probably still need to be some form of infrastructure to move things so large and heavy that that can’t be made locally. Probably. One invention—a Mr. Fusion—could change that, though, and make it possible to assemble big things where they’re needed, not where the power is.
By the year 2300, we will be at the very end of the whole idea of going anywhere or moving things. When our virtual worlds are indistinguishable from the concrete one, and the footprint of meeting all of our physical needs shrinks to a neighborhood, our society will be able to take entirely new shapes that we aren’t equipped to imagine. Sure, there will be people who enjoy the satisfaction of walking in the woods or roller skating in the woods, but what they experience will be exactly the same as the person who does it from home. Matrix-like, you won’t be able to tell the difference. There will be iconoclasts who live off grid, who form back-to-the-land communes, but their ability to interact with anyone else will be severely limited. It will probably make sense from an energy standpoint for us to congregate in groups of some size, if only because it’s likely to be inefficient for everyone to supply all their own power needs, fabricate all their own goods and produce all their own food...unless we have Star Trek replicators, in which case all bets are off. How large our
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COVER STORY
population centers will be is a question we can’t answer yet, but will they be cities? Cities are an efficient use of space, and technology will only make them more livable and efficient. Dense, Northeastern-style cities have far more economic productivity density than a sprawling Houston or Phoenix, so during the waning years of cars and personal transportation, that model is the one that will predominate. The spread-out Los Angeleses of the world will develop cities within cities, areas of greater density arising out of the suburbs and recreating city cores. New construction, however, is much less economically efficient that rehabbing old, and towns and small cities which currently have dilapidated urban cores will at long last find those old main streets becoming attractive targets for redevelopment. Less and less will paved roadways physically link these population centers and our landscape will revert to what will resemble a medieval model, consisting of a small number of large cities, scattered smaller communities 8 • THE PULSE • AUGUST 22, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
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The car and the notion of easy transportation have shaped our very view of reality to such a degree that we can’t imagine another way of existing.” and occasional groups living away from society. In between, the land will be returned to nature, crossed by whatever small threads of transportation we don’t abandon. As we increasingly live physically disconnected lives, population will shrink, although there’s no reason to think we can’t vat grow people, too. Across the world the changes will come at wildly varying rates, with some places actively resisting; and resources, geography, and population density making it a long time until the tracks outside Batha-Ouest fade back into the sand. But just as the car went everywhere, it will slowly roll away, until the last diesel Mercedes 300 parks for the last time. The car and the notion of easy transportation have shaped our very view of
reality to such a degree that we can’t imagine another way of existing. It’s built into the structures of our society and forms the context with which we understand the world. Even when all of the technology to make that idea obsolete exists in the not-too-distant future, it will require generations of slowly changing the way we frame our thoughts before it is fully embraced. But for the meantime, we still have our cars, our trucks, our thousands of miles of paved road, and our neverending thirst for fossil fuels. So enjoy them while they last, for however many (or few) years we have them to rely upon. “Keep your motor running / head out on the highway / searching for adventure / and whatever comes our way.” —Steppenwolf
COLUMN · LOCAL HISTORY
The First Chattanooga Turkey Theft
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Our historian shares the timeless tale of a hungry recruit
VERY CHATTANOOGA HISTORIAN OWES A DEBT TO AN unfinished manuscript left behind by a man named Henry Wiltse, which the Chattanooga Library has so finely preserved. Here we will show our respect to a peculiar tale found in the historical notes taken by Mr. Wiltse. Cody Maxwell Pulse columnist
As the reader will soon learn, Wiltse recorded this story out of a sense of obligation to the protagonist of the tale and to preserve the simple truth the small story holds. Out of sincere respect for the unrecognized work of Mr. Wiltse and in dedication to a thief called Mr. Weathers, I feel equally obliged to make sure this shadowy piece of Chattanooga history is preserved and shared. I considered rewriting this tale and phrasing it in a more modern language. Reading the story through, however, it became obvious that I could not improve upon it. For this reason, the tale is shared here as Henry Wiltse originally wrote it down. All I feel compelled to add is a simple reminder. You, dear reader, will do well to remember that the point in recalling our history is to wisely plot our future. Turkey Story: First one stolen. By Henr y Wiltse This slight deviation from the conventional solemnity of history writing may seem frivolous, possibly digression, but it is neither. No, it is at the same time a record of an actual occurrence in history, and keeping a promise. Using a phrase more familiar than elegant, this story is “all wool”, but there is no yarn about it. In 1905 I met Mr. Weathers, an affable and sprightly man of eighty-one summers who had become interested in some history notes of mine. On learn-
ing that I was the writer, he with deep earnestness inquired: “Do you know who stole the first Turkey here in Chattanooga?” Being informed that I had not yet got around to that particular branch of history and consequently did not know, he said: “Well sir, I am the man.” Under the encouragement of several interrogatories and a cigar, he entered into details. He and a number of comrades had enlisted for service in the War with Mexico, and came down overland from Bradley County to join others and proceed by steamboat to New Orleans. The Bradley County boys were hungry upon arrival here, and stopped at a little eating house conducted by Mrs. Jenkins and her three daughters. While the fare was good enough, there was a dearth of fowls and their appetites made increasing demands for poultry. So Mr. Weathers and two others determined to go out foraging one night. Was this not a commitment to war; in truth a war measure of prime importance? To be sure. They went, but neither saw nor conquered. Mr. Weathers, however, believed that he had discovered a fair prospect, good sign, as an Indian might have said. Excusing himself later he went out alone. Sure enough—he discovered a large, comely hen in the very act of going to roost. But the season did not seem to Mister Weathers fully ripe. The witching hour had not yet arrived. Mister Weathers returned to the Jenkins home and informed his friends of his discovery. They held their first council of war.
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Old soldiers have a strange propensity for taking pride in their bad deeds, especially those committed under the influence of a flag. ” As a result, they built a pine-knot fire. Soon Mister Weathers went back to see how the turkey was getting along. She was still there and had apparently gone to sleep. Her awakening was a rude one. Mister Weathers grabbed her by her feet; grabbed her quite unsentimentally, grabbed her without her knowledge or consent, and with utter disregard of turkey dignity, ran, made off, “broke” as he phrased it, but in point of fact he ran away with the turkey. The fowl theft did not run so smooth as Mister Weathers had anticipated. There was a disturbing element, an intervention. The owner of the fowl had discovered what was going on. He called a halt but Mister Weathers did not halt. The owner had a gun. He fired at Mister Weathers and Mister Weathers ran with the turkey all the harder. As for the wound from the gunshot, he had the same opinion of it that Mercutio expressed of his stab wound: “’Tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ‘tis enough, ‘twill serve.” He felt blood running from every pore. He ran in every direction with the purpose of foiling his pursuer; in this
he succeeded. When he reached the house—worn, breathless, spent and dying, as he believed, a discovery awaited him. The blood he had felt trickling down his person was a mixture of perspiration, fervid imagination and uncontrolled fright. He had not been shot. The wound was in his mind’s eye. He ate none of the turkey. Indeed, he had never eaten any from that night in 1847 to the day in 1905 when we held our interview. His appetite for turkey went “glimmering with the dream of things that were” as he ran with the turkey’s claws in his hair and various parts of his flesh. He expected never to eat turkey again. After his story had been concluded, Mister Weathers insisted with childlike simplicity that he should be given credit for having stolen the first turkey ever confiscated in Chattanooga. Who could deny so reasonable a request? So here you have the story of a man and a misdeed. Through his desire for something good to eat, our poor Mr. Weathers lost his taste for the fine holiday bird. The moral of the story is plain: Poorly fed folks are prone to bad deeds. Morality pivots around hunger, you see. The anomaly, however, is that old soldiers have a strange propensity for taking pride in their bad deeds, especially those committed under the influence of a flag. More than a hundred years ago, Mister Weathers demanded his confession be set down for the ages and I, like Henry Wiltse, can see no reason to deny such a reasonable request. Especially considering that nothing has really changed. Chattanooga resident Cody Maxwell is a longtime contributing writer for The Pulse and is the author of “Chattanooga Chronicles” and “16 Cantos”. Reach him at codymaxwell@live.com
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Public Performance Art Amy Brewer-Davenport on process en plein air By Jenn Webster Pulse Assistant Editor
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If you go somewhere on purpose to paint in front of others, the act of painting itself, rather than the finished product, becomes the art object.”
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S I BUMP MY WAY ALONG THE GRAVEL ROAD HIGH ABOVE the Sequatchie Valley, it occurs to me I’m coming to the oddest place in the world to discuss painting in public—painter Amy Brewer-Davenport’s closest neighbors are crows, lespedeza, and scrub pines. Inside, too, her studio’s a self-contained aerie of orchids, boxes of craft supplies, and paintings. So many paintings. A technicolor dog grins at me—a surprise picture from a friend, Amy tells me. She paints from nature, from photos, from her imagination—“I get so bored doing one thing over and over!” After a handful of paintings in one style, she’ll move on to another. Right now she’s working on a series of crow paintings in shades of onyx and charcoal. She lets me touch one, and I imagine I’m handling the wall of some long-abandoned Roman villa. It’s an acrylic paletteknife painting on top of older, gessoedover palette knife work, she explains. “I [touched it] this very morning!” Amy says. “I always touch my paintings. I have a hard time in museums because I’m so tactile.” She shows me stacks of canvasses representing “paint parties”, where she gathers with patrons who drink and chat while they
work from one of her paintings. She paints over these canvasses and reuses them— “I gessoed eight canvasses yesterday! It’s very cathartic. It was fabulous!”—in a gesture that indicates a certain temporality to her art. She creates something, she paints over it. Creates it, gives it away. Creates it, posts it on Facebook, makes a sale. Painting in front of people, whether at “sip and paint” events, private painting parties, or multi-artist performances, puts the nature of “art” to question. If you paint en plein air—out-of-doors—you’ll get observers sometimes, of course. They’ll comment or take smartphone photos of you painting, or just stop a few seconds to glance at your sketchpad and watch the work taking shape. But if you go somewhere on purpose to paint in front of others, the act of painting itself, rather than the finished product, becomes the art object. And more and more frequently, live painting is part of the entertainment.
THU8.22
FRI8.23
SAT8.24
Flashmob Rehearsal
Mixed Media Workshop
Have you ever wanted an opportunity to perform with The Pop-up Project and in a Flashmob?! It’s your lucky month! 5:45 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. theatrecentre.com
It's a fast, fun, one day mixed media workshop hosted by Jacquie Leavitt, famed for her “tattered girls” collages. 3:30 p.m. Reflections Gallery 1635 Rossville Ave. reflectionsgallerytn.com
“Let Them Eat Brunch”
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It's the monthly drag brunch at The Palace where this month's theme is ROYALTY. 11 a.m. The Palace Theater 818 Georgia Ave. chattpalace.com
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Yisrael Kristal was a Polish Jew born under the sign of Virgo in 1903. His father was a scholar of the Torah, and he began studying Judaism and learning Hebrew at age three. He lived a long life and had many adventures, working as a candle-maker and a candy-maker. When the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945, Kristal emerged as one of the survivors. He went on to live to the age of 113. Because of the chaos of World War I, he had never gotten to do his bar mitzvah when he’d turned thirteen. So he did it much later, in his old age. I foresee a comparable event coming up soon in your life, Virgo. You will claim a reward or observe a milestone or collect a blessing you weren’t able to enjoy earlier.
In Chattanooga, live painting demonstrations have accompanied hip hop performances, poetry readings, and dance shows. At one event, the painter turned her canvas around at the end of the show to display a Lautrec-like impression of the audience. At another, a potter worked in clay, reproducing the woman-centered theme of the evening with the curves of the work on her wheel. What does it mean when people come, not to see your painting or pot, but to watch you paint or throw clay? “Sometimes it makes me a little uncomfortable,” Amy says. “Sometimes I think it’s cool. I want people to see I’m having fun with this and want to go home and make something of their own.” She’s applied to a contest that’s all about performance painting: at Art Slam in Knoxville, you set up a prepared canvas and have three hours to complete a painting, as passersby watch you work. “I’m super-excited,” says Amy, toes wiggling. “I hope I get in!” Amy, who’s also a belly dancer, relates dancing to her work as a painter. “They’re all some form of expression,” she says “whether movement of the whole body or through the movement of your brush. Sometimes I feel just as sore from painting as I do from a performance.” At other live painting events, of course, everyone’s painting. Last week, for instance, Amy was at Hutton &
Smith for an event where participants worked from her sample painting to create paintings of beer glasses with imaginative backgrounds. “Usually they have a fun time playing with paint,” she says. Even though the exercise is based on imitation, “It’s not necessarily to have their creative license wrenched behind their back. I’m not so much a bossy painter, but there are steps [I can show them].” Amy likes helping people build confidence as they begin painting or develop their skills. “My biggest thought for people who are inclined to be artistic but are shy about it is, ‘Don’t be’,” she says. “My goal in life is to encourage people to express themselves and learn the tools… to express themselves comfortably so they aren’t worried about judgment, or whether someone’s already done it, or whether they’re good enough.” Whether the human is good enough, or whether their work is good enough? Amy makes me question the distinction. When it’s done en plein air, we have the joy of seeing a spark wherever it chooses to settle: in the rough texture of acrylics under the fingers, the notes of a well-known sonata—or in the hesitation of the dancer who stands center stage, deciding whether to step right or left, the hesitation of the brush over the canvass—the act itself brought to light. Find Amy Brewer-Davenport’s work at facebook.com/amybdart or amybdart.com
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Sailors have used compasses to navigate since the eleventh century. But that tool wasn’t enough to guide them. A thorough knowledge of the night sky’s stars was a crucial aid. Skill at reading the everchanging ocean currents always proved valuable. Another helpful trick was to take birds on the ships as collaborators. While at sea, if the birds flew off and returned, the sailors knew there was no land close by. If the birds didn’t return, chances were good that land was near. I bring this to your attention, Libra, because I think it’s an excellent time to gather a number of different navigational tools for your upcoming quest. One won’t be enough. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What do you want from the allies who aren’t your lovers? What feelings do you most enjoy while you’re in the company of your interesting, non-romantic companions? For instance, maybe you like to be respected and appreciated. Or perhaps what’s most important to you is to experience the fun of being challenged and stimulated. Maybe your favorite feeling is the spirit of collaboration and comradeship. Or maybe all of the above. In any case, Scorpio, I urge you to get clear about what you want—and then make it your priority to foster it. In the coming weeks, you’ll have the power to generate an abundance of your favorite kind of non-sexual togetherness. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): As the CEO of the clothes company Zappos, Sagittarius entrepreneur Tony Hsieh is worth almost a billion dollars. If he chose, he could live in a mansion by the sea. Yet his home is a 200-square-foot, $48,000 trailer in Las Vegas, where he also keeps his pet alpaca. To be clear, he owns the entire trailer park, which consists of 30 other trailers, all of which are immaculate hotbeds of high-tech media technology where interesting
people live. He loves the community he has created, which is more important to him than status and privilege. “For me, experiences are more meaningful than stuff,” he says. “I have way more experiences here.” I’d love to see you reaffirm your commitment to priorities like his in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. It’ll be a favorable time to do so. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Medical researcher Jonas Salk developed a successful polio vaccine, so he had a strong rational mind. Here’s how he described his relationship with his non-rational way of knowing. He said, “It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It’s my partner.” I bring this up, Capricorn, because the coming weeks will be a favorable time to celebrate and cultivate your own intuition. You may generate amazing results as you learn to trust it more and figure out how to deepen your relationship with it. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian environmentalist Edward Abbey once formulated a concise list of his requirements for living well. “One must be reasonable in one’s demands on life,” he wrote. “For myself, all that I ask is: 1. accurate information; 2. coherent knowledge; 3. deep understanding; 4. infinite loving wisdom; 5. no more kidney stones, please.” According to my analysis of the astrological omens, now would be an excellent time for you to create your own tally of the Five Crucial Provisions. Be bold and precise as you inform life about your needs. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “We may be surprised at whom God sends to answer our prayers,” wrote author Janette Oke. I suspect that observation will apply to you in the coming weeks. If you’re an atheist or agnostic, I’ll rephrase her formulation for you: “We may be surprised at whom Life sends to answer our entreaties.” There’s only one important thing you have to do to cooperate with this experience: set aside your expectations about how help and blessings might appear. ARIES (March 21-April 19): It’s not cost-efficient to recycle plastic. Sorting and processing the used materials to make them available for fresh stuff is at least as expensive as creating new plastic items from scratch. On the other hand, sending used plastic to a recycling center makes it far less likely that it will end up in the oceans and waterways, harming living creatures. So in this case, the short-term financial argument in favor of recycling is insubstantial, whereas the moral argument is strong. I invite you to apply a similar perspective
to your upcoming decisions. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): African American slaves suffered many horrendous deprivations. For example, it was illegal for them to learn to read. Their oppressors feared that educated slaves would be better equipped to agitate for freedom, and took extreme measures to keep them illiterate. Frederick Douglass was one slave who managed to beat the ban. As he secretly mastered the art of reading and writing, he came upon literature that ultimately emboldened him to escape his “owners” and flee to safety. He became one of the nineteenth century’s most powerful abolitionists, producing reams of influential writing and speeches. I propose that we make Douglass your inspiring role model for the coming months. I think you’re ready to break the hold of a certain curse—and go on to achieve a gritty success that the curse had prevented you from accomplishing. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): For twenty-five years, businessman Don Thompson worked for the McDonald’s fast food company, including three years as its CEO. During that time, he oversaw the sale and consumption of millions of hamburgers. But in 2015, he left McDonald’s and became part of Beyond Meat, a company that sells vegan alternatives to meat. I could see you undergoing an equally dramatic shift in the coming months, Gemini: a transition into a new role that resembles but is also very different from a role you’ve been playing. I urge you to step up your fantasies about what that change might entail. CANCER (June 21-July 22): “The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot,” wrote author Audre Lorde. As an astrologer I would add this nuance: although what Lourde says is true, some phases of your life are more favorable than others to seek deep and rapid education. For example, the coming weeks will bring you especially rich teachings if you incite the learning process now. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The American idiom “stay in your lane” has come to mean “mind your own business,” and usually has a pejorative sense. But I’d like to expand it and soften it for your use in the coming weeks. Let’s define it as meaning “stick to what you’re good at and know about” or “don’t try to operate outside your area of expertise” or “express yourself in ways that you have earned the right to do.” Author Zadie Smith says that this is good advice for writers. “You have to work out what it is you can’t do, obscure it, and focus on what works,” she attests. Apply that counsel to your own sphere or field, Leo.
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 11
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR THURSDAY8.22 Federico Fellini’s ‘I, Vitelloni’ 2, 7 p.m. Heritage House Arts & Civic Center 1428 Jenkins Rd. (423) 855-9474 chattanooga.gov Naughty Knights Chess Meetup 5 p.m. Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. 431 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 760-3600 huttonandsmithbrewing.com Alley Hour 5:30 p.m. Cooper’s Alley 10 E. 7th St. Flashmob Rehearsal 5:45 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com Beginner Beading 6 p.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Art Wise: Distinguished Speakers Presents Barbara Lynes, Ph.D. 6 p.m. The Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org iPhoneography: Editing Photos 6 p.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Burpie 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Revolt She Said Revolt Again 7:30 p.m. Cadek Hall 725 Oak St. utc.edu
12 • THE PULSE • AUGUST 22, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
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
FRIDAY8.23 Mixed Media Workshops with Jacquie Leavitt 3:30 p.m. Reflections Gallery 1635 Rossville Ave. (423) 892-3072 reflectionsgallerytn.com Chalkboard Lettering 101 7 p.m. Hamilton Place Mall 2100 Hamilton Pl. Blvd. chattanoogaworkspace.com Kim Printz Artist Showcase 7 p.m. Frequency Arts 516 Tremont St. facebook.com/frequencyarts Burpie 7:30, 9:45 The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Revolt She Said Revolt Again 7:30 p.m. Cadek Hall 725 Oak St. utc.edu Improv “Movie” Night 8 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com 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
SATURDAY8.24 Chattanooga River Market 10 a.m. Tennessee Aquarium Plaza 1 Broad St. publicmarkets.us Macrame and Mimosas 10 a.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com West Village Green Farmers Market 10 a.m. Westin Chattanooga 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com “Let Them Eat Brunch” Drag Brunch 11 a.m. The Palace Theater 818 Georgia Ave. (423) 803-6578 chattpalace.com Bryan Powell Book Signing 11 a.m. McKay Books 7734 Lee Hwy. (423) 892-0067 mckaybooks.com Improv for Business 2 p.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Bobby Stone Film Series presents Pavarotti 3, 7 p.m. Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com Burpie 7:30, 9:45 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233
thecomedycatch.com Revolt She Said Revolt Again 7:30 p.m. Cadek Hall 725 Oak St. utc.edu Your Stories 8 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com Once a Month 9 p.m. The Palace Theater 818 Georgia Ave. (423) 803-6578 chattpalace.com Whose Line Chattanooga 10 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com
SUNDAY8.25 Collegedale Market 11 a.m. Collegedale Commons 4950 Swinyar Dr. collegedalemarket.com Chattanooga Market 12:30 p.m. The Chattanooga Market 1829 Carter St. chattanoogamarket.com Bobby Stone Film Series presents Night of The Iguana 6 p.m. Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com Rock n’ Roll High School 6 p.m. The Palace Theater 818 Georgia Ave. (423) 803-6578 chattpalace.com Revolt She Said Revolt Again 7:30 p.m. Cadek Hall 725 Oak St. utc.edu Burpie 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com
MONDAY8.26 Lunch And Learn Seminar: How To Protect You And Your Family From Identity Theft 1 p.m. Chattanooga Public Library 1001 Broad St. (423) 643-7700 chattlibrary.org Marbled Clay with Loren Howard 1 p.m. Scenic City Clay Arts 301 E. 11th St. (423) 883-1758 eniccityclayarts.org Summer 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. (423) 702-9958 chattabrew.com Introduction to Enneagram 6 p.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Book Binding 7 p.m. Frequency Arts 516 Tremont St. facebook.com/frequencyarts
River City Dance Club 7:45 p.m. Peace Strength Yoga 3800 St. Elmo Ave. (813) 731-9581 rivercitydanceclub.com Comedy Open Mic Night 9 p.m. The Honest Pint 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.com
TUESDAY8.27 Chess K-night 5 p.m. Mad Priest Coffee Roasters 1900 Broad St. (423) 393-3834 madpriestcoffee.com Homebuyer Ice Cream Social 5 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Tuesday Night Chess Club 6 p.m. Downtown Library 1001 Broad St. (423) 643-7700 chattilibrary.com Coming Alongside: What to Say (and Do) When People Are Suffering 6 p.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St. (423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com
Paths to Pints along the Riverwalk 6:30 p.m. The Tap House 3800 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 682-8234 taphousechatt.com Painting like the Old Masters (Glazing II) 7 p.m. Frequency Arts 516 Tremont St. facebook.com/frequencyarts Open Mic Comedy 7 p.m. Common General 3800 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 521-0065 Poetry, Pups & Pints 7:30 p.m. Stone Cup Café 208 Frazier Ave. (423) 521-3977 stonecupcafe.com Comedy Tap Takeover 8 p.m. Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. 431 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 760-3600 huttonandsmithbrewing.com
WEDNESDAY8.28 Main Street Market 4 p.m. 522 W. Main St. mainstfarmersmarket.com Debt Management 101 5:30 p.m. The Chattery at Chattanooga WorkSpace 302 W. 6th St.
(423) 822-5750 chattanoogaworkspace.com Artsperiences! 6 p.m. Mad Knight Brewing Company 4015 Tennessee Ave. (423) 825-6504 madknightbrewing.com Creating Depth and Perspective 7 p.m. Frequency Arts 516 Tremont St. facebook.com/frequencyarts Chattanooga Film Festival Presents: Bullitt 7:30 p.m. Miller Park 910 Market St. chattfilmfest.org Naughty Knights Chess Meetup 7:30 p.m. The Bitter Alibi 825 Houston St. (423) 362-5070 thebitteralibi.com Film Night 8 p.m. Cooper’s Alley 10 E. 7th St. Open Mic 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 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 13
THE MUSIC SCENE
Punk Classic Comes To The Palace Get ready to rebel like Riff Randell along with The Ramones By Ernie Paik Pulse contributor
“
Escaping the suburban doldrums is part of the ultimate teen antiestablishment fantasy, along with getting your favorite rock musicians to play for you and seeking revenge on fascist school administrators.”
I
T’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE 1979 ROCK MUSICAL comedy Rock ‘n’ Roll High School—the beloved film about teen rebellion and an obsession with punk rock (and pizza)— might have starred Cheap Trick or Devo instead of the Ramones, or might actually have been about disco music.
During a key moment in the film’s planning, director Allan Arkush was presented with the idea of starring the Ramones by Warner Bros. Records. “I thought ‘Holy s**t, that’s a great idea,’ because they were as far as possible from suburban life,” said Arkush via phone from Los Angeles. Escaping the suburban doldrums— conveyed by the movie’s ecstatic opening song, “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker”, about breaking away—is part of the ultimate teen anti-establishment fantasy, along with getting your favorite rock musicians to play for you and seeking revenge on fascist school administrators. “As I grew up in the ’50s, there was a general suspicion about rock n’ roll that the older generation had,” said
Arkush, who drew from personal experiences for the film’s story. “The culture was changing.” “That combined with the fact that I was bored in high school and dreaming up things like motorcycle races in the hallway,” said Arkush. “Or else [I’d] be dreaming that a band like the Yardbirds or the Rolling Stones were going to come to my high school.” “I had a bunch of principals, teachers, and faculty pushing back on anything that I wanted to do or any sort of self-expression,” said Arkush. “All of that added to a feeling of rebellion, but not in a way where I went out and stole cars. Intellectual rebellion.” This year marks the 40th anniversary of the cult classic, with various celebrations across the nation—including a
screening of the film this Sunday at The Palace Theater (818 Georgia Ave.) at 6 p.m. featuring a specially recorded video introduction by Arkush—and a 40th anniversary edition Blu-Ray release by Shout! Factory this November. Arkush plans to celebrate the anniversary with several cast members, the legendary filmmaker Roger Corman (the film’s executive producer) and Gremlins director Joe Dante (who co-wrote the story with Arkush). “A bunch of us are going to go out for pizza, OF COURSE,” said Arkush, with laughter. “And just to say, ‘Oh my god, it’s been 40 years, and it’s still going.’” “One of the points I wanted to make in the movie is that music fills in your fantasy life,” said Arkush. “It helps you through emotional things when you’re a teenager. The music helps define who you are, what you dress like, and who your friends are.” Arkush is a true music lover, with an enormous record collection and an eagerness to talk not only about punk rock but also artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, and Sonic Youth.
THU8.22
FRI8.23
SAT8.24
Umphrey’s McGee
The Happy Fits
Brownout
Guitar wizardry, acoustic balladry, funk grooves... it all comes together in a unique highenergy concotion. 8:30 p.m. The Signal 1810 Chestnut St. thesignaltn.com
Their mix of rocking guitars and electric cello created a unique dynamic, blending together unforgettably. 7 p.m. Miller Plaza 850 Market St. nightfallchattanooga.com
This 9-piece band produces music that is unflinchingly progressive yet stays true to their funk/soul/blues roots. 8 p.m. Riverfront Nights 201 Riverfront Pkwy. riverfrontnights.com
14 • THE PULSE • AUGUST 22, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
JONESIN' CROSSWORD
Allan Arkush and The Ramones
Music has frequently intersected with his film career, with directing credits including Elvis Meets Nixon, the remake Shake, Rattle and Rock! (starring Renée Zellweger and serving as a prequel to Rock ‘n’ Roll High School) and The Temptations miniseries, which earned Arkush an Emmy Award. “If you were to ask why this movie is still being played 40 years later, it’s because people love the Ramones and the character of Riff Randell,” said Arkush. Riff Randell, the film’s protagonist played by P.J. Soles, is a huge Ramones fan who wants to present them a song she wrote (the film’s title track) and defiantly rallies her fellow students at her high school. Among the film’s biggest fans are women who viewed the movie as a child and saw Riff Randell as a role model. “They tell me how much they loved Riff Randell and the fact that she didn’t
take shit from anyone,” said Arkush. “She defined who she was. They felt empowered and took her as an example of what was possible.” Arkush and Joey Ramone bonded over music and were close friends until his death in 2001. “I would go over to his apartment in New York, or we’d call and he would play me records,” said Arkush. “You never left that apartment without a gift. He’d give you a CD or give you a sweatshirt.” “We would go down to get something to eat in the East Village where he lived, and it’d be a three-block walk,” said Arkush. “It would take you an hour because so many people would come up to him and want to talk to him and just say how they felt about him and about the music.” “He had this sort of connection with all these people. These people felt this, and he was respectful of it,” said Arkush. “Which is why he was always late for everything.”
“Some More Words”—this time, themeless. ACROSS 1 “The Liberator of Italy” 10 REO Speedwagon lead guitarist Dave 15 1995 hit for Tripping Daisy 16 “Skip to ___” 17 Final stage, often 18 Apportion 19 Doesn’t lose money or turn a profit 21 Isn’t 100% 22 Greek New Age keyboardist 23 Smart remark 25 “Uncle” of early TV 26 Universal plan in Japan, for short 27 Currency where the “soberano” variety replaced the “fuerte” in 2018 32 Detective, often 34 Simian 35 It followed “and”
in the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song, early on 36 Back out 37 Puts up a fight 38 “R.I.P.” singer Rita 39 Editorial writer 42 Indian princess, once 44 “Downsizing” star 49 Team obstacles 50 Unprocessed video 52 Mates of vacas 54 Insufficient 55 Of the kidney 56 Coincidental 57 Northern California town that once had a palindromic bakery 58 A bridge from Philadelphia is named for her DOWN 1 Lead singer Haynes on the
1996 hit “Pepper” 2 Prefix with phobia 3 Dolphins QB Josh nicknamed “The Chosen One” 4 “___ honor” 5 “Perfect Strangers” cousin 6 Long stretch 7 Fireball 8 Villain whose real name is revealed to be Dougie Powers 9 Most sickly 10 Reddit Q&A session 11 Balloon material 12 Close associations 13 Hammer home? 14 Periphery 20 Choice word 24 Dwarf planet named for a Greek goddess 25 Do well on a hole, maybe 27 Collection of
air pressure data 28 Mozart fan, perhaps 29 She played Glinda in “The Wiz” 30 Land in a riviere 31 Bounce 33 Former shipping nickname 35 Wooden hideout in more wood 40 Nursery rhyme trio’s place 41 “That’s a ___ on me!” 43 Saturated 44 Ornamental mat 45 Rose petal extract 46 Cibo ___ (triphop group that split in 2017) 47 Gazes extremely rudely 48 Requisites 51 World Cup cheers 53 Infamous 1974 bank-robbing gp.
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. 950 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 15
LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR THURSDAY8.22 The Hamiltones 6 p.m. Bessie Smith Cultural Center 200 E. MLK Blvd. bessiesmithcc.org John Carroll 6 p.m. 1885 Grill 3914 St. Elmo Ave. 1885grill.com James Crumble Trio 6 p.m. St. John’s Meeting Place 1278 Market St. stjohnsrestaurant.com Danimal & Friends 6 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Thursday Night Jazz 6 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Open Mic Thursday 6 p.m. Stone Cup Cafe 208 Frazier Ave. stonecupcafe.com Maria Sable 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Haley Labelle 7 p.m. Charlie’s BBQ & Bakery 2309 E. Main St. (423) 541-1500 Toby Hewitt 7 p.m. Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Open Mic Night 7 p.m. Gate 11 Distillery 1400 Market St. gate11distillery.com Social Grace 7:30 p.m. Cambridge Square 9453 Bradmore Ln. cambridgesquaretn.com Ryan Oyer 7:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St.
16 • THE PULSE • AUGUST 22, 2019 • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
westinchattanooga.com Bluegrass Thursdays 7:30 p.m. The FEED Co. Table and Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com Jesse Jungkurth & Friends 7:30 p.m. Mexi-Wing VII 5773 Brainerd Rd. (423) 296-1073 Molly Tuttle 8 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Umphrey’s McGee 8:30 p.m. The Signal 1810 Chestnut St. thesignaltn.com Open Mic Night with Jonathan Wimpee 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Cosmic Shift 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Doom Flamingo 11 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co
FRIDAY8.23 Summer Music Weekends 8:30 a.m. Rock City Gardens 1400 Patten Rd. seerockcity.com Binji Varsossa 6 p.m. Cancun Mexican Restaurant 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 Naomi Ingram 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com The Happy Fits 7 p.m. Miller Plaza 850 Market St. nightfallchattanooga.com Tim Lewis
7 p.m. El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Striking Matches 7 p.m. Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Zech Dallas 7 p.m. Oddstory Brewing Company 336 E. MLK Blvd. oddstorybrewing.co Courtney Daily Band 7:30 p.m. Cambridge Square 9453 Bradmore Ln. cambridgesquaretn.com Naomi Ingram 7:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Heatherly 7:30 p.m. Puckett’s Restaurant 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Stellar’s Jay 8:30 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Monday Night Social 9 p.m. HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com Rock Eupora, Lewis and Clark, El Rocko 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Randall Adams 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Outlaw 45 9 p.m. Sky Zoo 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 521-2966 Amber Fults 9 p.m. The Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com Rumors Fleetwood Mac Tribute
9 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Ryan Oyer 9 p.m. Tremont Tavern 1203 Hixson Pike tremonttavern.com Gino Fanelli 10 p.m. The Social 1110 Market St. publichousechattanooga.com Voodoo Slim 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar 5751 Brainerd Rd. budssportsbar.com
SATURDAY8.24 Summer Music Weekends 8:30 a.m. Rock City Gardens 1400 Patten Rd. seerockcity.com Danimal 10:30 a.m. Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com Pea Pickin’ Hearts 12:30 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium Plaza 1 Broad St. publicmarkets.us Binji Varsossa 6 p.m. Cancun Mexican Restaurant 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 Deep Fried Allstars 6 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com The Briars 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Tryezz 7 p.m. Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. 431 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 760-3600 huttonandsmithbrewing.com Jason Lyles 7 p.m. Edley’s Bar-B-Que
Dirty Dozen Brass Band 205 Manufacturers Rd. edleysbbq.com Tim Lewis 7 p.m. El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Willie Kitchens and Friends 7:30 p.m. Cambridge Square 9453 Bradmore Ln. cambridgesquaretn.com Megan Howard 7:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Maya Trippe 7:30 p.m. Puckett’s Restaurant 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Brownout 8 p.m. Riverfront Nights 201 Riverfront Pkwy. riverfrontnights.com Heart Hunters 8 p.m. Charles & Myrtle’s Coffeehouse 105 McBrien Rd. christunity.org Lewis and Clark, Lillian 8 p.m. Barley Taproom 235 E. MLK Blvd. chattanoogabarley.com Dirty Dozen Brass Band 8 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co
Outlaw 45 9 p.m. Sky Zoo 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 521-2966 Sullivan Band 9 p.m. HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com Dolphin Group, Top Nachos, Tongues of Fire 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Travis & Heather Kilgore 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Voodoo Slim 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar 5751 Brainerd Rd. budssportsbar.com
SUNDAY8.25 Summer Music Weekends 8:30 a.m. Rock City Gardens 1400 Patten Rd. seerockcity.com David Ingle 11 a.m. State of Confusion 301 E Main St. soconfusion.com Mark Andrew 11 a.m.
The Edwin Hotel 102 Walnut St. theedwinhotel.com Carl Pemberton 11 a.m. Westin Chattanooga 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Gino Fanelli Noon 1885 Grill 3914 St. Elmo Ave. 1885grill.com Danimal and Friends 12:30 p.m. The Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com Kofi Mawuko 12:30 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium Plaza 1 Broad St. publicmarkets.us Michael Hitchcock 1 p.m. Southside Social 1818 Chestnut St. thesouthsidesocial.com South For Winter 1:30 p.m. Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com The Other Brothers 2 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Dragon Fly Effect Benefit Concert 3 p.m. Songbirds South
41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Monthly Jazz Jam 3 p.m. Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org 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 The Molly Maguires 7 p.m. The Honest Pint 35 Patten Pkwy. thehonestpint.com Whitehall, Daddy’s Beemer 8 p.m. The Spot of Chattanooga 1800 E. Main St. facebook.com/1800EMain Pedro The Lion, MeWithoutYou 8:30 p.m. The Signal 1810 Chestnut St. thesignaltn.com
MONDAY8.26 Open Air with Jessica Nunn 6 p.m. The Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com Monday Nite Big Band 7 p.m. The Coconut Room 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Blues Night Open Jam 7 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.co Open Mic Night 7 p.m. Fiddler’s Anonymous 2248 Dayton Blvd. (423) 994-7497 Very Open Mic with Shawnessey Cargile 8 p.m. The Well 1800 Rossville Blvd. #8 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 17
LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR TUESDAY8.27 Mark Andrew 6 p.m. 1885 Grill 3914 St. Elmo Ave. 1885grill.com Acoustic Bohemian Night 6:30 p.m. Mexi-Wing 9 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 468-3366 Danimal 7 p.m. Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Billy Anne Crews 7 p.m. Charlie’s BBQ & Bakery 2309 E. Main St. (423) 541-1500 Space Jam Open Mic with Xll Olympians 7 p.m. Barley Taproom 235 E. MLK Blvd. chattanoogabarley.com Open Mic Night 7 p.m. The Bicycle Bar 45 E. Main St. facebook.com/TheBicycleBar Gino Fanelli 7:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Pickin’ N Pints 7:30 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com The Marcus King Band 8 p.m. Walker Theatre 399 McCallie Ave. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.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 The Shady Recruits 9 p.m.
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JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com
WEDNESDAY8.28 Jerry Fordham 6 p.m. 1885 Grill 3914 St. Elmo Ave. 1885grill.com Webb Barringer 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Songwriters Stage 7 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. thecamphouse.com Jesse James Jungkurth 7 p.m. Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Nathan Warner Quartet 7 p.m. Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Open Mic & Jam Night 7 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Jimmy Dormire 7:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com 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 Ricky Cole 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
MARC T. MICHAEL’S RECORD REVIEWS
New Music From The Bardos, The ExLaws
The Bardos Garage Tapes Vol. 1 and 2
The ExLaws Rossville Skyline
A
dish whose only real appeal is its novelty; otherwise it is mediocre fare at best. A master chef is certainly capable of creating elaborate dishes but with equal facility may prepare a delicious meal from the most basic ingredients. In this latest outing, Houck is that master chef, combining basic ingredients in clever and tasteful ways to create music that is unique, unpretentious, and a pleasure to hear. Why isn’t it more complex? Houck certainly has the chops to pull off the proggiest prog-rock if he cared to. It isn’t more technically complicated because it doesn’t need to be. The ability to say more with less is the hallmark of highlevel artistry and Houck has it in abundance. Vol. 2 follows the same approach, but is peppered with some slightly darker sounding material, reminiscent of Nick
be Houck, who possesses the twin skills of playing with some of the most musically creative and intelligent folks around and also being one of them, has released a new project under the name The Bardos. My age being what it is, my physician has advised me to avoid straining metaphors, so rather than filling in a mad lib of superlatives I’d never actually use in any other situation, I’ll be a bit more direct. Vol 1. is stylistically very much like the Beatles at the beginning of their experimental phase, long after the bubblegum pop of the early days and before the self-indulgent high weirdness of later years. To offer an analogy, an amateur chef or “foodie” will try to “dress up” their lack of experience and/or skill by overusing complicated techniques and unusual ingredients to create a
Cave’s solo work. Houck has an uncanny ability to create a perfectly peaceful, happy scene and inject it with an air of menace, a certain “things are not what they seem” quality. Understand that these are meant to be only the most general descriptions of the work represented here, which actually covers significantly more ground than “tasty retro” and “spooky”. “Hunter’s Moon” is a personal favorite with a positively Western feel, while the preceding track, “Milk and Moonshine, a Libation”, is as dreamy and ethereal as it comes. In fact, the two-disc compilation is perhaps best described as a private tour through the mind of one of the most musically creative artists in the area, encompassing a range of styles that all blend seamlessly into a complete work. Houck is of the best male vocalists around, and certainly one of the most distinctive. His voice is the unifying element throughout these tracks. Like a certain rug, it really ties the room together in this smartly curated collection of fascinating and highly listenable tunes. The music is ready for sampling and purchase via Bandcamp now, and its combination of quality and variety makes it a set you’ll listen to over and over again.
T
he ExLaws have a new album up for grabs and lordyloo, what an album! These cats have been consistently cranking out excellent tunes for quite a while and have a more impressive discography than many a famous group. At the heart of their success is a simple enough formula. Step one, write incredibly catchy tunes. Step two, grab instruments, step behind a microphone and wail. Gritty, dirty, raw, powerful… those are just some streamof-consciousness adjectives that describe the music of the ExLaws and Rossville Skyline is no exception. You’d be hard pressed to find more “from the gut” music than this band makes and it is beautiful in all its gravelly passion. Nominally outlaw country, the early rock and blues influences are unmistakable. The album is not what you’d call pretty. If it were, it wouldn’t be worth a damn. No, in lieu of pretty, the ExLaws don the mantle of dirt and calluses, faded denim and whiskey, and—to quote the late Donald Dunn— it’s powerful enough to turn goat piss to gasoline. Let’s be clear, though: a thing doesn’t have to be pretty to be beautiful, and there is some beautiful music on this album. Vocal duties in the ExLaws are shared between two members. One (one of the most prolific
and talented songwriters I have ever met), has a voice that epitomizes all of the qualities of the band listed so far. The other is less back-lot gravel, more worn leather, and between them, the duo brings to life the smartly written lyrics which, all roughand-ready qualities aside, are poignant, heartfelt, and at times, quite touching. Consider it “cowboy poetry”. The instrumentation is less “well-oiled machine” than “indestructible tank”, absolutely appropriate for the music and the spirit of the band. Understand, that doesn’t mean sloppy or unprofessional, it means confident and capable and exactly the way you’d hear a band play live in a crowded, smoky, roadside bar as opposed to the crisp, clean perfectionism of a pristine studio. The track list alone gives you a sense of what the group is all about. “Dixie after Dark”, “Murder is My Name”, and “The Lights Are Going Out in Arkansas Tonight” could all be original tunes by Johnny Cash if he were a young man today. I don’t say that lightly. The songwriting is absolutely top-notch and, taken with the hard-as-nails delivery from the band itself, one is left with the impression that here is a band for whom honesty and sincerity are first. Above all other things, here is a band that wears its scars with pride.
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CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 19
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FILM & TELEVISION
The Family Plumbs RealLife Religious Conspiracy Series struggles to tackle its complex subject
The Genius Of Federico Fellini There was a period in the 1950’s when a new wave of Italian filmmakers challenged the Hollywood studio system that dominated much of the film world, introducing edgy, avant-garde films that pushed the boundaries of what was considered “acceptable” for movies. One of the greatest of that group was director Federico Fellini, who nearly singlehandedly influenced an entire generation of filmmakers, greatly expanding the world of film. Fellini’s first international success was a frankly autobiographical film that establishes many of the formal and thematic concerns that he would return to throughout his career. Set in the director’s hometown of Rimini, I, Vitelloni portrays the antics of five young “vitelloni”, or layabouts, who while away their listless days in their small seaside village. “One of the screen’s great portrayals of the hell-raising and malaise of young men in their 20s.” —Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune. Winner of the Silver Lion at the 1953 Venice Film Festival, and tied for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1954 New York Film Critics Circle awards, I, Vitelloni will screen this Thursday at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Heritage House Arts & Civic Center on Jenkins Rd. Come and see for yourself why Fellini is still revered to this day. — Michael Thomas
By John DeVore Pulse Film Editor
“
Conspiracies are easy to latch onto because our brains are hardwired to find patterns. It’s how we evolved to survive.”
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I
T’S THE ERA OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN AMERICA. It feels as though they’ve never been more prevalent, more accepted, more shared. Currently, there’s a group of right-wing believers who wait in shared online spaces for an anonymous poster named Q to drop nuggets of information about political candidates. They accuse them of child rape in the basement of pizza parlors without basements. They are sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of 50,000 indictments of government employees. They were disappointed beyond measure when JFK Jr. didn’t appear at CPAC to save the country and order the arrest of Hillary Clinton. We have those who believe wholeheartedly that the Earth is flat (I know because I got a letter from one once after my review of Hail, Caesar!). We have parents who refuse
to vaccinate their children because they think that the medical community is making enormous amounts of money from preventing childhood diseases. Conspiracies are easy to latch onto because our brains are hardwired to find patterns. It’s how we evolved to survive. It’s important to discern which patterns matter—a task which is becoming ever more difficult. The Family is a limited series on Netflix that presents an idea that sounds like a conspiracy—that a group of extremist religious conser-
vatives have been systematically placing themselves in positions of power in the U.S. government and around the world. The group is notoriously difficult to nail down, shrouded in secrecy, and hardly ever discussed. The Family should be something that is easily dismissed. That it can’t be is the very definition of unsettling. The series is inspired by “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power”, a book by journalist Jeff Sharlet. Sharlet spent years investigating the archives of The Family, even living for a month at one of their compounds. What he describes is a very cult-like culture, where young men are recruited to serve at the feet of power in D.C., with the ultimate goal of spreading their version of Christianity around the globe. Their version of Christianity is a strange one—Sharlet claims that they aren’t very Biblical. They ignore most of the Bible and distribute amongst themselves a book simply entitled “Jesus”, which has only the words and stories of Jesus Christ from the New Testament. Given my understanding of Christianity from my own tradition, this is very much outside the mainstream. Southern Baptists are taught that the entire Bible points to the divinity of Jesus. Take away parts of it, and the divinity would lost. Sharlet
“
Ultimately, the series fails to really capture the full picture of the subject. It’s too big, too slippery, too hidden.”
argues that The Family’s view of Jesus is one of strength and power, not love and charity. Their leader, Douglas Coe, sat with every President since Eisenhower as a spiritual advisor of sorts. He could be found in the halls of Senate and the House of Representatives, but the public and the media knew very little about it. This was by design—Coe saw strength in secrecy. He also saw strength in authoritarianism. He argued that Christianity would be more successful if it was modelled after leaders like Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Jesus, as well as most dictators, demands that He comes before others. Before self. In this way, Christianity would dominate. In addition, Coe and the Family would preach that leaders are divinely appointed. The elite rule because God wants them to. Power is given by God and therefore the right leaders are in position. Their mistakes should be forgiven. It’s a gross exaggeration of the “render to Caesar that what is Caesar’s” lesson. The series argues that this idea
doesn’t stop the Family from trying to nudge the Lord towards certain individuals. They try to convert leaders to their way of thinking— they might send envoys to dictators and war criminals in the name of Jesus to pray with them. This is either harrowingly cynical or hopeless naïve. It’s really hard to tell. There’s a lot about the series that’s hard to understand. It has many interviews with current and former members—including former Chattanooga Congressman Zach Wamp—who all claim that The Family is simply a prayer group to support leaders in their faith. Which sounds an awful lot like plausible deniability. The Family hosts the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington and the amount of power congregated in one room is too big to ignore. Ultimately, the series fails to really capture the full picture of the subject. It’s too big, too slippery, too hidden. The Family tries to contextualize something that seems sinister. It never quite gets there.
✴ NEW IN THEATERS ✴
Angel Has Fallen Secret Service Agent Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat. Director: Ric Roman Waugh Stars: Gerard Butler, Piper Perabo, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith
Ready or Not A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game. Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett Stars: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE PULSE • 21
COLUMN · GAME ON!
The Never-Ending Monster Game With nearly endless content, MH:W will eat you and your time alive
I Brandon Watson Pulse columnist
“
Sega has designed what feels like a living ecosystem from exotic jungles, windswept deserts, and ethereal coral forest complete with glowing aerial jellyfish.”
When not vaporizing zombies or leading space marines as a mousepad Mattis, Brandon Watson is making gourmet pancakes and promoting local artists.
HAD TO LIVE WITH MONSTER HUNTer: World for almost a year to really grasp just how crazy this game is. Let’s get a few things clear: I’m not big on Sega games post Genesis era, Japanese style games annoy me, and I avoid online games like they have cooties. So, I was apprehensive when I decided to see what all the fuss was about. My apprehensions were crushed beneath the feet of a towering, fire-breathing Anjanath, a Super Saiyan T-Rex! I wasn’t sure what to make of Monster Hunter: World at first—a vast fleet of hunters with their cat gremlins are marooned by a mountainous magma Kaiju on the way to a mysterious continent full of wacky wildlife; it’s like Jurassic Park but with psychedelics. The character design is over-the-top Japanese cosplay fodder that blurs the lines of cuteness and badassery. The world is magical and a joy to explore right down to the weird insects crawling on trees. Sega has designed what feels like a living ecosystem from exotic jungles, windswept deserts, and ethereal coral forest complete with glowing aerial jellyfish. Visually it’s gorgeous; there is a lot to look at even at the main hub, which looks like something out of Peter Pan’s nightmares. Then there are the monsters. The entire reason this game exists. These massive creatures are practically levels in and of themselves. Beautiful blue-scaled Ice Dragons, weird puffy bat things, ferocious iguanas with dreadlocks, and tar monsters who armor themselves with monster bones. That’s just the start; after a near thirty-or-more-hour campaign there will be a good chance you haven’t seen or slain everything. Each big monster requires a different strategy and gear loadout in order to be faced effectively. Some are susceptible to poison while other are immune to fire and poisons. Mastering the bestiary
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and pre-hunt loadouts is paramount to MH:W. Also, being front seat to epic monster fights in the heat of your own hunt is thrilling. Watching a massive creature being carried off by a larger one to vanish over a tree line is a surreal spectacle to behold. As amazing as this game looks, it does have a steep learning curve for gameplay. It’s not exactly an RPG, but a gear-intensive action game. Which means the way you play is determined by which weapon system and battle dress you choose. With fourteen weapon systems to choose from, it can be daunting to figure out which one works the best. Each system has a branching craft tree that offers boons and grievances that balance them out. Thankfully, these are available at the start, so you can play around and build up your mastery over time. Believe me, knowing your weapon’s flaws and strengths can make or break your experience. The weapons are some of the most fantastic, appearing to be ripped from over-the-top anime. The menacing Gunlance was my first go-to. It’s a six-footlong, bladed lance and shield that offers maximum armor at the cost of maneuverability and speed, but it also fires explosive shells from an attached bore and cylinder. Then it’s complete with a powerful explosive suppository specifically designed to be rammed up a monster’s backside with devastating effect. Eventually I would fall in love with the Insect Glaive (a staff and telepathically linked bug creature) because it offers
maximum maneuverability by allowing for vault jumps and sweet acrobatics. Plus, having a wild looking Mothra-thing perched on my hunter’s arm looks amazing. Let me be clear that—neat design and gameplay mechanic aside—MH:W is a grinder of epic proportions. There is an endless list of things to do pre and post campaign, there is an endless list of monsters to slay or trap, and with the ability for online co-op with three other hunters, this is a near-endless game. The grindy aspects can be daunting because specific monsters require specific buffs and perks from specific gear load outs. If you have the patience and the time, the feeling of getting everything together to beat down that epic flying spikey monster and build that sexy suit of armor is pure bliss. MH:W is a game that never ends and with the Iceborne expansion releasing on September 6th with updated weapons, new areas to explore, and new massive monsters to hunt, it’s sure to be more of the breathtaking lunacy of videogame entertainment. If you can get past the grind and learning curves, MHW can provide some of the most frustrating fun paired with unrivalled longevity.
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