The Pulse - Vol. 6, Issue 38

For The Love Of The Band

Tyner’s Elias Smith Keeps The Music Going

by Gary Poole

News, Views, Arts & Entertainment • September 17-23, 2009 • Volume 6, Issue 38 • www.chattanoogapulse.com • pulse news 95.3 WPLZ

CONTENTS T H E P U L S E • C H AT TA N O O G A , T E N N E S S E E • S E P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 0 9 • V O L U M E 6 , I S S U E 3 8

COVER STORY

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NEWS & VIEWS 7 BEYOND THE HEADLINES 11 SHRINK RAP 17 LIFE IN THE NOOG

18 ON THE BEAT 23 SHADES OF GREEN 37 ASK A MEXICAN

ARTS & FEATURES 20 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT By Michael Crumb “Collaborations,” currently on view at the Chattanooga African American Museum provides a deeply moving experience through its exposition of multiple styles that express the intimacy of human experience.

25 FILM FEATURE

By Phillip Johnston The Arts and Education Council’s Fall Independent Film Series started last week with a sold-out matinee screening of Food, Inc. With a line out the door of the Bijou, the theater rolled the film on a second screen so that no one would miss it.

29 SPIRITS WITHIN By Joshua Hurley Just as cabernet sauvignon has become the most popular high-quality red wine grape, chardonnay has taken the lead to become first class for white wine grapes.

31 TABLE SERVICE By Collen Wade When I say Amigo Mexican Restaurant, you say…. Well, most people probably would say, “Tacos”, right? That’s not necessarily the right answer anymore.

32 MUSICAL FEATURE

By Hellcat I am going to go ahead and apologize beforehand for jumping up on this soapbox, but I feel like it has to be done. I am tired of all the drama and segregation that this little tiny community of music lovers forces on itself.

Cover photography by Gary Poole

FOR THE LOVE OF THE BAND

By Gary Poole Brittany Scott is a drum major for the Tyner High School Marching Band. The petite junior walks with a settled confidence, her eyes missing nothing about the shorthanded band arrayed on a practice field next to the aged school building. In just a few days Tyner will take the field at Finley Stadium for the annual Drumline competition, and she knows there is no time to let even the flu bug, which has left holes in the line, keep the band from a serious practice.

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EDITOON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR PULSE BEATS CITY COUNCILSCOPE THE LIST POLICE BLOTTER

8 CHATTANOOGA STREET SCENES 21 A&E CALENDAR 26 MYSTICAL DUDE’S HOROSCOPE 27 JONESIN’ CROSSWORD 33 MUSIC CALENDAR 34 NEW MUSIC REVIEWS

The entire contents of this publication are copyrighted and property of Brewer Media Group.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publishers. The Pulse utilizes freelance writers and the views expressed within this publication are not necessarily the views of the publishers or editors. The Pulse takes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other materials.

The

Editoon

by Rick Baldwin

Publisher Zachary Cooper zcooper@chattanoogapulse.com Contributing Editor Janis Hashe jhashe@chattanoogapulse.com News Editor Gary Poole gpoole@chattanoogapulse.com Advertising Sales Rick Leavell rleavell@chattanoogapulse.com Leif Sawyer leif@brewermediagroup.com Contributing Writers Gustavo Arellano Chuck Crowder Michael Crumb Rebecca Cruz Hellcat Joshua Hurley Victoria Hurst Phillip Johnston Matt Jones Kelly Lockhart Ernie Paik Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D. Stephanie Smith Alex Teach Julian Venable Colleen Wade Tara Williams Editorial Intern Tara Morris Art Director Kelly Lockhart

Letters to the Editor

Art Department Sharon Chambers Kathryn Dunn Damien Power

single-handedly help rebuild New Orleans. Understand history before you make stupid assumptions.

J.L. Simone

Staff Photographer Damien Power Editorial Cartoonist Rick Baldwin Contact Info: Phone (423) 648-7857 Fax (423) 648-7860 E-mail info@chattanoogapulse.com Advertising advertising@chattanoogapulse.com Calendar Listings calendar@chattanoogapulse.com The Pulse is published weekly and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publishers may take more than one copy per weekly issue. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.

The Pulse is published by

1305 Carter Street Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 phone (423) 648-7857 fax (423) 648-7860 Letters to the editor must include name, address and daytime phone number for verification. The Pulse reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity. Please keep letters within 500 words in length.

The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news.

Member

Mexican Redneck Idiocy Is this real? [“What’s In A Mexican Name?”, Ask A Mexican] What kind of shit have you been feed? Mexican’s are like Indians in this country–they were here first, you redneck idiot! The problem with crime is ignorance, hate, and stupidity. We need to value people and culture and stop hating.

Mexican’s do work that American’s won’t–black or white. Hell, they’ve

Disappointed With City Council I’m disappointed in the zoning decision on the Signal Mountain Space House even though I understand the issues with spot zoning. The change would have been good for James’ investment. But it also would have been good for the community. Having really cool rental property close by would have been nice for family events where people come in from out of town.

By the way, I am a neighbor.

Steve Gibbons Shortsighted Government I only wish the city government understood the true ramifications of not taking care of the officers we have [“All Dollars, No Sense”, On The Beat]. Given the current shortage of officers and the time it takes to get new officers trained, our city is going to be in a terrible

position in just a few short months if turnover continues at the same pace.

Scott Montgomery National Public Lands Day On Saturday, September 26 from 8 a.m. to noon, Shiloh National Military Park will participate in the largest one-day volunteer effort for our nation’s public lands. Shiloh, in cooperation with the 16th annual National Public Lands Day and the National Park Service’s “Make America’s Best Idea Better: Volunteer Day,” is enlisting volunteers to help perform preservation maintenance on the park. Volunteers will spend the morning repainting several of the century-old cast-iron troop position markers and cannon carriages in Rhea Field on the battlefield.

National Public Lands Day is a great opportunity for people of all ages to spend time outdoors, work alongside their neighbors, and help improve the community.

Christopher A. Mekow Park Ranger Shiloh National Military Park

Send all letters to the editor and questions to info@chattanoogapulse.com We reserve the right to edit letters for content and space. Please include your full name, city and contact information.

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Pulse Beats

Quote Of The Week: “We hit these guys all of a sudden. They should be aware that it could happen in the future, but we shouldn’t do it now.”

A rundown of the newsy, the notable, and the notorious...

— Chattanooga City Councilman Manny Rico, on efforts to rescind Mayor Littlefield’s plans to charge city employees $100 to take their vehicles home.

Is High-Speed Rail Back Again?

Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN) announced last week that the U.S. Department of Transportation would award $14.2 million to accelerate an environmental impact statement for a high-speed magnetic levitation, or “maglev”, train between Atlanta, Chattanooga and Nashville. The majority of the grant will be used for the studies required in the National Environmental Policy Act identifying the corridor routes and the station locations for this proposed project.

“This funding is a game changer for the prospect of high-speed rail in the southeast and dramatically increases our chances of success in the years ahead. A high-speed rail connection between Atlanta, Chattanooga and Nashville would build the infrastructure to increase economic development and bring more people to the growing Chattanooga airport,” said Congressman Wamp. “Maglev high-speed rail could change the way Americans travel, reducing congestion on crowded roads and at busy airports. These are the types of investments that will help create quality jobs, grow the U.S. economy and help our nation be more competitive.”

A maglev train would relieve tremendous congestion in the Atlanta metro area and serve as part of a long-needed intermodal mass transit system for the United States. Maglev trains can travel at more than 300 miles per hour, which would mean true high-speed ground transportation in the 116-mile corridor from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport generally along the Interstate 75 corridor to Lovell Field and Chattanooga. A recent feasibility study determined that the Atlanta-Chattanooga corridor could also extend northwest to Nashville along the Interstate 24 alignment.

The Strange Case of the Wandering Armadillo Southerners who have traveled out West have often marveled at the armadillo, which has been likened to an opossum wearing a suit of armor. The fascination with the odd beasts has come home to Cleveland, as an armadillo that crept into our metropolitan neighbor this past summer has been mounted and placed on display at the

Here are several of the interesting agenda items set to be discussed at the September 22 meeting of the Chattanooga City Council.

Museum Center at Five Points.

The pointy-nosed varmint, dubbed Dilla the Armadillo after it was killed by a motorist in June, is enclosed in a glass case and will be available to view at the museum Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Allan Jones, the founder of Check into Cash and Jones Management Services in Cleveland, was impressed by the story of the armadillo’s arrival in the South and wanted to preserve it for future generations.

“Armadillos are migrating north into Tennessee in search of the fire ants that they feed on,” said Jones. “In the next

50 years, armadillos should be plentiful in Tennessee. We’ll be the only community around with enough forethought to preserve the very first one.”

Dilla was discovered June 8 after becoming a speed bump to an unidentified motorist traveling east on 25th Street.

The armadillo’s demise under the Interstate 75 overpass drew a large response from the Cleveland community, even prompting Police Chief Wes Snyder to visit the scene and investigate.

The nine-banded armadillo was eventually taken by animal control and kept until its adoption by a local nonprofit radio station, and then on to it’s new home in the musuem.

Chattanooga Chefs Gone Wild It’s time once again for Chattanooga’s own version of Hell’s Kitchen: The Cast Iron Cook-off this Sunday at the Chattanooga Market.

Lodge Cast Iron presents the foodie cook-off event, in which local chefs, using fresh ingredients from the Market, rustle up their best entrees hoping to be voted Cast Iron winner by the panel of judges, which this year includes UTC athletic coaches Don Shulman and Wes Moore and ESPN radio personalities Bert Caldwell and Nick Bonsanto. The star chefs are Wolfgang Poe from Red Rock Grill (returning 2008 champ), Michelle Huffman from Events with Taste, Amanda Varnell from Cooking Live, Mike Nefziger, “Chef Mike” on 95.3 WPLZ radio, and Junior Crutcher from the Jet Stream Grill.

From 12:30 1:30, judges will announce what the protein (meat) will be.

The chefs then shop for everything needed to prepare their dish right in the Market. From 1:30 to 2:30, the chefs will be cooking fast and furiously on FiveStar cooking ranges. From 2:30 to 3:30, the panel of judges will sample a plate of food from each of the chefs—and afterwards declare the 2009 Cast Iron cook-off winner.

This year’s master of ceremonies, we add in a shameless plug, is none other than Zach Cooper, publisher of The Pulse & WPLZ Pulse News Radio host.

5. Ordinances - Final Reading: a) An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 38, Zoning Ordinance, Sections 38-264 and 38-266, and by adding Section 38-527 relative to a Special Exceptions Permit for beer sales in neighborhood grocery stores. b) An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 3, Section 3-96 relative to placement of traffic directional signs and delete 3-116 regarding Business directional signs.

6. Ordinances – First Reading: a) An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 18, Section 18165, so as to provide for appeals to the public officer of notice to abate a public nuisance. b) An ordinance to amend Chattanooga City Code, Part II, Chapter 3, Article X, Section 3-102, relative to Jurisdiction of the Board.

The above four ordinances, two on final and two on first reading, are the sum of the entire legislative agenda for the September 22 meeting. Considering the length of recent meetings, one even extending over two hours, it is both a bit of a shock and a bit of a relief to see such a short agenda, one without a single resolution.

So far, that is.

The city council, especially the current incarnation, has a long habit of adding resolutions and such at the last minute. It’s perfectly legal (and all zoning matters are given a minimum of 15 days public notice), but often makes it interesting to see just what comes up at the last minute.

And, of course, one never knows who is going to show up at the end of the meeting for the public part of the agenda.

The Chattanooga City Council meets each Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Council Building at 1000 Lindsay St. For more information on the agendas, visit www.Chattanooga.gov/City_ Council/110_Agenda.asp

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Beyond The Headlines

Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Re-Maze

By Rebecca Cruz

W

hen Rock City’s Enchanted MAiZE re-opens this weekend for its 8th season at the Blowing Springs Farm just outside St. Elmo, it will boast more than a new maze design. While past maze designs have paid homage to Chattanooga’s history, or been a celebration of Rock City’s 75th anniversary, among others, this year Rock City officials have chosen a design that looks to the future of the long-standing Chattanooga attraction.

This year’s maze is not only designed in the shape of the “Recycle, Reduce, Reuse” symbol, but will be accompanied by a whole new, separate “Re-Maze”—the world’s first-ever recycled maze, complied from recycled and reclaimed materials. The foundation of the “Re-Maze” has already been laid, and visitors to the Enchanted Maze will be encouraged to bring in used plastic bottles to add to the structure.

The idea is that the more bottles that are added to the “ReMaze,” demonstrating how quickly recyclable products can accumulate, and also, as the walls become higher, the more challenging the maze will be to navigate. This is part of an ongoing effort by Rock City to “growing greener”. It’s what Rock City President Andrew Kean refers to as a “Green Way Forward” effort.

“We’ve used all previously used chain-link fence. Quality Fencing, a

partner of Orange Grove’s, donated about 1,500 linear feet. In addition, Orange Grove brought over about 45 bales of plastic bottles, each weighing about 1,200-1,400 pounds each—that’s a lot of plastic bottles. Also, we have found a lot of old timbers to use as posts. So most of our materials have been reclaimed from somewhere else.

And for the past six weeks, we’ve been collecting plastic bottles from our attractions to place in various parts of the fencing. But if you come, be sure to bring some rinsed, recyclable plastic bottles and help us build the Re-Maze. This experience symbolizes our Green Way Forward—we aim to add on and build to it over the years. Filling the fence with bottles should take a couple of seasons in itself,” Kean explains.

Rock City and Orange Grove have teamed up for this latest “Green Way Forward” venture.

All recyclable materials collected throughout the season this year will be transported to Orange Grove for recycling.

Another new addition to the Enchanted MAiZe for the 2009 season is yet another maze…the Pet Maze. Visitors will be allowed to bring their favorite canine, as long as they’re on a leash, for a stroll through the “Fido-friendly” maze.

While regular rates will be applied for visitors, there is no mention of an extra charge for Fido.

In addition to the mazes, Rock City will once again offer onsite kids’ activities and entertainment.

This year’s Enchanted MAiZE will also offer onsite hayrides, live music, Scarecrow Alley, the Cow Train, the Pepsi Playground, Fairyland Forest

“Rock City and Orange Grove have teamed up for this latest ‘Green Way Forward’ venture. All recyclable materials collected throughout the season this year will be transported to Orange Grove for recycling.”

Indie Films To Catch This Fall 1) Rage Director Sally Potter’s film tells its story through a series of lo-fi interviews with a schoolboy and his camera phone backstage at a New York fashion show after the death of a model. Potter spent two days each with 14 different actors, assisted by no one but a sound recordist.

2) Coco Before Chanel Before she was a legendary couturier, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was a headstrong orphan.

Amelie’s Audrey Tatou will be vying for an Oscar as she brings Chanel’s story to the screen.

3) A Serious Man Joel & Ethan Coen’s latest black comedy takes place at a Midwestern university in 1967, as a physics professor watches his world fall apart just as he’s up for tenure. He turns to three different rabbis for advice.

4) Whip It Ellen Page. Indie rock. Austin, Texas. And roller derby. What’s not to love?

Makeovers, pumpkin painting, inflatables, and other kid-targeted activities.

On Saturdays and Sundays throughout the season, The Mountain Music Folk School will co-produce a live daytime show. A group of local musicians formed The Mountain Music Folk School in an effort to preserve traditional music by teaching and performing.

The Enchanted MaiZe $9 adults, $7 children Thursday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.

– 8 p.m., Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sundays Noon - 6:30 p.m.

Opens Friday, September 18; operates through October.

271 Chattanooga Valley Road, Flintstone, GA, (706) 820-2531. www.enchantedmaze.com

5) The Men Who Stare at Goats George Clooney’s production partner Heslov takes the helm in this wild goose chase in Iraq.

Clooney plays a member of the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion, who reportedly use paranormal powers in an effort to end all war.

Ewan McGregor is the reporter who wonders if he’s following a real story.

6) Pirate Radio Philip Seymour Hoffman plays an American radio pirate among a group of international renegades broadcasting from a ship in Britain’s North Sea in the 1960s, and Kenneth Branagh plays the government agent trying to shut them down.

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A weekly roundup of the newsworthy, notable and often head-scratching stories gleaned from police reports from the Chattanooga Police Department, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the Bradley County Sheriff’s Department and the Dalton Police Department.

• Police officers were presented with an unusual situation when a nearly naked man was found hiding in the closet of a church daycare center last month. The man, wearing only an unbuttoned shirt, was originally issued a citation and sent home.

However, when General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon had the case come before him last week, he hit the roof and bound a charge of burglary over to the grand jury, in spite of the public defender’s office pointing out that the man had not been found with any stolen items. Moon found it unbelievable that the man was just given a citation and said the incident needs much further investigation into how such cases should be handled in the future.

• The Chattanooga Police Department Special Investigations Unit, commonly known as the Vice Squad, spent a busy evening last

week. They ran a successful street prostitution sting in the Highland Park, East Lake and Rossville Boulevard areas. Undercover officers posed as “johns” and ended up arresting eight women on prostitution charges. In addition to the solicitation charges, several of the suspects face charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, possession of drug paraphernalia, public intoxication and obstruction of a roadway.

• A popular national fast-food chain likes to tell their customers that they can “have it their way”.

However, that slogan is not meant for the employees, especially when it comes to the cash register. Yet a shift manager of a fast-food establishment on Hixson Pike was caught by senior manager having her way with the till, to the tune of more than $1,400. She was recorded on video taking money out of the register and putting it into her pocket. Authorities were notified and she was arrested and charged with theft of more than $1,000 for her part in “holding the lettuce”.

Chattanooga Street Scenes

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• A lot of people look for love in the Internet, or at least the physical aspect of love. However, police say that using a bit of common sense goes a long way towards keeping things from getting out of hand.

Which is why they were not all that sympathetic to a woman who called police to complain about a man who was e-mailing her and demanding sex. It turned out that she had been sending the man photos and videos of herself naked, and then felt uncomfortable with his responses.

Officers told her to use a bit more discretion in the future in her search for love and companionship on the Information Superhighway.

Photography by Damien Power

Early morning sunrise over the Tennessee Aquarium.

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Shrink Rap

A Labor (Day) Of Love

By Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D www.DrRPH.com

O

n a bit of a whim I was able to take off for the recent Labor Day weekend and drive to one of Tennessee’s beautiful state parks. I called a friend to meet me, packed up the truck with some provisions (including Betty Lou the wonder pup), and headed out.

I really cherish these little getaways, these wanderings (see last week’s Shrink Rap, “Not All Who Wander Are Lost”), as part of a healthy prescription for mental wellbeing. It’s a way to provide balance to living in a hectic world, and perhaps gain some perspective on any build up of worries or concerns that are a natural part of life.

Specifically, I find that little breaks throughout the year can serve to: 1. Provide some fresh scenery and surroundings in which to exhale and physically de-stress.

2. Allow for the mind to settle down, to ponder, and let thoughts, creative ideas, and answers arise naturally.

3. Offer a different way of life, if only for a few days, where there are no concerns about mowing the lawn, running errands, or any of the usual “to-do’s.”

In just a few days I was able to explore nature, eat some hearty Southern cooking, have great conversations, spend quality meditative time alone, enjoy

meeting new people, swim, read, and just relax. It isn’t that I can’t enjoy similar experiences at home, but there’s something about being away that offers a kind of freedom. Maybe it’s about feeling the permission to “just be”, whatever that may mean at any given moment. In this moment I want to be a hiker. Then later I’ll be a reader. Then a sleeper. Then… whatever feels good and right in that moment. Pretty nice, right?

Perhaps we need more of these opportunities for freedom and permission to take a deep breath and ask, “What parts of me haven’t been getting enough of my focus lately, and need some nurturing, or need to come up from the dusty depths for some fresh air? Are there areas of confusion, worry, sorrow, or pain that I’ve been ignoring? Have I not been a very good friend to myself?

Can I now give myself a little lovin’, a bit of kindness and attention? If I don’t do it here and now, if I don’t create the space to love myself, so I can be better at loving others, then when will I?” I suggest that these kinds of questions are a very worthy use of your time, whether away or at home. You likely pay attention to your bills and bank balance, to your tasks at work, to the needs of kids or older relatives, and much more, all on a daily basis. Your responsibility to yourself—your mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing—may take more conscious effort. And can be challenging as hell! Just when you feel like you’re making progress in one area

of life, another may be troubling you. For instance, you’ve worked through some difficult emotions recently—but you gained 10 pounds.

Or you’re good physically, but an addiction has reared its head… again. Or all your “tasks” are taken care of, but you feel disconnected from your Higher Power and those around you. You get the idea.

Everyone struggles, at one time or another, with this kind of balance, this type of “wellness dance.”

Remember this: Every time you treat yourself well, you give yourself the message that you are worthy.

When I arrived home, I found some wonderful meditative quotes had been sent my way, which served to keep the gentle ponderings alive, and allowed for a healthy transition back to daily life. So in the spirit of loving oneself, and pondering life’s lessons, I want to share a few favorites with you: “The best we can give each other is our love—not our advice, and certainly not our judgment.”

“Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.”

“Everything that annoys us about others can help us understand ourselves.”

“The cheapest facelift is a laugh.”

And until next time, “Being, not doing, is my first joy.” (Theodore Roethke)

“Perhaps we need more of these opportunities for freedom and permission to take a deep breath and ask, ‘What parts of me haven’t been getting enough of my focus lately, and need some nurturing?’”

Dr. Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist, minister, and educator, in private practice in Chattanooga, and is the author of “Empowering the Tribe” and “The Power of a Partner.”

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Cover Story Brittany Scott is

a drum major for the Tyner High School Marching Band. The petite junior walks with a settled confidence, her eyes missing nothing about the shorthanded band arrayed on a practice field next to the aged school building.

In just a few days Tyner will take the field at Finley Stadium for the annual Drumline competition, and she knows there is no time to let even the flu bug, which has left holes in the line, keep the band from a serious practice.

For The Love Of The Band Story and Photography By Gary Poole

As the opening notes of an easily recognizable Michael Jackson song sound out across the field, she raises her field baton in one hand and uses her other to direct the movement of the students with the precision and intensity of a drill sergeant.

Standing atop the crumbling concrete bleachers facing the practice field, band director Elias Smith keeps a critical eye on his drum majors, his dance captains and the entire band. “We may be small, and we may be missing some kids due to the flu, but they are ready to show their stuff,� he says.

For the next half hour, the band runs through their repertoire, the dancers and flag girls hit their marks,

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Cover Story and Smith subtly grooves to the sound he’s raptly listening to. For a band that persists solely on the support of parents, a few local businesses, and the determination of the students themselves, it’s an impressive performance.

To many fans of marching bands, especially the “show band” style highly popular with many Southern high schools and colleges, the annual Drumline is a day to enjoy music, dance and showmanship. To the students themselves, it is something far more important. When asked, every one spoke about how taking on other local schools head on was as important to them as it is for any of the sports teams. It’s a chance to step outside their school and show off—not only to their friends and classmates, but to the other schools and the thousands who show up at Finley Stadium for the event.

“Before I got here, the band had never participated in an event like Drumline,” notes Smith. “It’s one of those events that showcases the type of marching style that we do, the traditional show band style. In this area you don’t see that style a lot, you see the more corps-style bands. There are really only three show bands in this city, and Drumline is where we get to show.”

What makes the enthusiasm and determination of the students in the band even more important is a look at where they come from. Tyner, like far too many other schools in our community, is weary. Steps are worn down, buildings are sagging, the grass is threadbare in many places, cracks in the walkways and parking lots are the norm, not the exception. The band room where the

“‘No child left behind’ is a handy slogan, but the only way a child is NOT going to be left behind is if music is incorporated as part of his education.”

— Bob McGrath, Sesame Street 14

students gather to rehearse is cramped and poorly ventilated, requiring the two front doors to be left open.

Such depressing surroundings could easily lead to a student body that feels no pride, and has no desire to achieve. But in spite of the age and condition of the structures, the pride was not only obvious, it was infectious.

Heads were held high, eyes were bright, and even having a stranger in their midst with a microphone and notebook in hand did little to alter their routine. They were there to practice. That’s what they do.

There have been countless Hollywood movies and television shows about the noble teacher who comes to the run-down school, and through inspiration leads the students to an academic or sporting victory. It’s a time-honored tradition in entertainment, yet the reality is far more satisfying. Elias Smith hasn’t made a career out of being a band leader because he expects one day to see Denzel Washington portray him on the big screen. For him, the satisfaction comes from a much simpler place.

“I feel like I’ve had my own time in the bands,” Smith says. “The love for the music, seeing them get that love, seeing the music touch their lives, that is the most satisfying part for me.”

Smith himself is a musician who, while attending Maryville College, felt the pull of the marching band. He started teaching 15 years ago, and for the past 12 has been involved with marching bands, a career path that he didn’t see coming but has led to great

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personal satisfaction. His eyes glow with pride when he talks about the students he has taught and exposed to music, and it’s just as obvious the students share in that pride.

“I used to work with the high school bands on the side up in Maryville,” he explains. “And the bug hit me. A light bulb went off and said, ‘Why don’t you do what you love most?’. And it drove me right to the bands.”

Naturally, being a band director is not the easiest job in the world. Although Smith has a family of his own, he often doesn’t get home until 7 p.m. or even later. Plus there’s the travel, the weekend events, meetings with parent, boosters and businesses who help keep the band running. Not to mention the students themselves. “All the different personalities that you have in a band, trying to get all those different personalities to jell together and become one, that’s the biggest challenge of all,” laughs Smith.

But with school budgets getting tighter every year, and many other interests pulling students in different directions, Smith has seen a steady drop in interest in band. “The bands have gotten smaller, especially in this area,” he says. “I don’t think there is the same level of interest that there used to be.

I think it’s because society has become an instant type of society, and in band, learning to play an instrument takes time. Kids today want to see results quicker.”

While the background noise of students warming up filters through the closed door of his office, Smith leans forward, his face

Cover Story intense. “Since I’ve been teaching, it has pretty much been the same way. Most of the bands depend primarily on parents and businesses.

School budgets don’t affect us as much. We’re on our own to begin with, anyway. But if the band keeps visible in the community, the businesses will support them. And the businesses here do keep up their support.”

Keeping a band visible in the community, and beyond, is not cheap. Smith explains that it takes thousands of dollars just to keep the band in instruments and uniforms, and when you add in travel expenses, a band budget can easily grow into the tens of thousands of dollars. A good portion of his free time is spent keeping the money coming in to keep the band alive. Even a relatively small band such as Tyner’s can cost upwards of $30,000 a year. With family and business budgets tightening up, this is a real area of concern not just for Smith, but for band directors across the country.

So why is it so important to keep a band alive? “Music education should absolutely have to be a part of every child’s education,” says Bob McGrath, who has played the role of the music teacher on Sesame Street for more than 40 years. “‘No child left behind’ is a handy slogan, but the only way a child is NOT going to be left behind is if music is incorporated as part of his education. I’ve noticed there’s a distinct difference in kids that are involved in the arts. There’s an alertness, a sharpness, just a joy of life.”

Yet McGrath is a realist and is aware of the budget challenges school music programs face, and he says it’s unfortunate that music is often one of the first things to get cut. “Though math, science and other core curriculum are tremendously important, there’s something about a child getting involved in music that touches the imagination to a slightly different degree than some of the other subjects,” McGrath says.

“dot” on the note is exactly half the value of that note.

Students need to be able to figure out how much the “dot” equals in each case. As for science, there’s that important little something called the “overtone series,” which was developed from Pythagorean theory during medieval times.

Students learn an incredible amount of coordination through music, which isn’t unlike being an athlete.

Watching the Tyner band rehearse on the field, it was quickly apparent this was not an activity for the out of shape. But even while they are exercising their bodies, they are also exercising their minds, both learning about complex patterns—where they fit in the whole, how they can make their part sound better, what they can do to adjust tone and intonation—and the deeper philosophical implications of working as an individual within a group and creating a synergy that transcends their own abilities.

“I would like to see more support for the arts in general,” Smith says. “We put a lot of emphasis on sports, and we work just as hard, if not harder than some of these sports organizations around. If we could take that same energy that we put into sports and put it into our music programs, it would be great.

Music is so important. It is in every aspect of our lives. When we get married, we get married to music. When you go to church, there’s music. When you die, there’s music.

Music is everywhere.”

As if to highlight Smith’s statement, the blare of a trumpet sounds in the band room, and young Scott sticks her head into the office. It’s time to rehearse, and the two move to the front of the room and get things moving once again. Drumline is just around the corner, and they are representing Tyner.

“I don’t think there is the same level of interest that there used to be. I think it’s because society has become an instant type of society, and in band, learning to play an instrument takes time.”

“There’s an old cliché that you can get an 85 or 90 on a math test and that’s pretty good, but you don’t play 85 or 90 percent of the notes right, or you’ll be practicing!”

Study after study has shown how students who have gotten involved with music perform better in class as well as in their personal lives. The educational aspects of music alone go far behind just learning to play an instrument, apparent not only in the obvious learning of music history, but even math and science. To play an instrument, one has to learn to count, keep a steady rhythm, and even learn a little bit of algebra—the

Drumline $10 Advance, $15 at the door Saturday, September 27. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Finley Stadium, 1826 Carter Street.

95.3 Pulse News www.chattanoogapulse.com 9.17.09 The Pulse

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The Pulse 9.17.09 www.chattanoogapulse.com 95.3 Pulse News

Life In The Noog

What’s Up Doc?

By Chuck Crowder

T

his week I had to check the ole box of getting my annual physical at the doctor’s office. And once again the experience represented one of the most vulnerable episodes a guy can handle. Maybe that’s why they only make you do it once a year.

You see, guys are born with the inherent, yet ignorant trait of believing that they feel fine all of the time. I mean you could see one of your buddies glowing yellow with jaundice, limping down the street with his femur jutting out of his leg like baseball bat in a trash bag and if you ask him how he’s doing, he’ll likely say “I’m good. You?” That’s because as males, our role as dinosaur-clubbing providers can never be hindered by mere mortal illness or injury. Admitting weakness only puts the enemy on top. And we conquering warriors of commerce would rather drop dead than to see one iota of our kingdom jeopardized by the likes of a “sick day.”

That is, unless the sickness overcomes our brute strength with extreme nausea, headache, muscle fatigue and/or unconsciousness.

Then we whine like little kids until our women folk have paid us enough sympathetic attention to properly nurse our deflated egos back to health.

But I wasn’t sick at all the day I went in to see my doctor for this year’s poke-n-prod. Nope, I was simply ill with the idea of actually finding out what’s really going on with my health—like any guy. And the steps required to complete this discovery process made me shudder just thinking about it.

First, there’s peeing in a cup.

This normal procedure sparks the deepest paranoia in a guy because the only other time he has to do that in his life is during a random drug search (at possibly the wrong time). Plus, unlike girls, guys can’t turn the hydrant on and off at will which makes the transition from cup to commode a hat trick we’ll likely

never perfect. Besides, while the pee test is the least invasive method of detecting narcotics currently in your system, what can it tell a doctor that a blood test cannot?

Speaking of which, drawing blood is likely the next most troubling event that can occur for a dude at the doc. A guy can callously scrape his face every day with a quatro-blade death razor, slice open his hand with a box cutter or accidentally jab himself with the slip of a screwdriver without flinching, but if you come at a man’s arm with a tiny needle and the stealth precision of painlessly drawing a small vial of his precious blood, it can drive him to passing out right there in the chair. I know guys as big as houses that have admitted asking nurses if they can lie down during this part of the drill.

After that’s over, you’re sequestered in the little exam room.

Sitting there, in a paper gown, wondering when he’s coming in.

Wondering what you should tell him about your health (because guys never can remember random pain or warning signs). Listening closely for the footsteps to stop outside the door and the quick turn of the lever to break the deafening silence.

You realize at that point it’s inevitable that, as a guy, you’ll be faced with the most uncomfortable set of medical procedures two men could ever engage in together. And it all starts with “slip down your shorts, please.”

As you lie there with your boys airing in the wind he grabs the jewels and performs a testicular exam (which by the way we guys are supposed to be doing monthly, but only remember this once a year when the doc says “you know to do this yourself every month, right?”).

And then, after a minute or two of counting ceiling tiles it’s “turn over on your side please.”

This is where the rubber meets the road. For what’s to follow is the crème de la crème of uncomfortable doctor’s visit decorum. It’s at this point that you quickly try and calculate the circumference of the doc’s digits in relation to the one part of your body clinched tighter than a tick on a hound dog. Then

“You could see one of your buddies glowing yellow with jaundice, limping down the street with his femur jutting out of his leg like baseball bat in a trash bag and if you ask him how he’s doing, he’ll likely say ‘I’m good. You?’” you hear the telltale “POP!” of the rubber glove.

My doc always tries to ask some sort of question about some subject he vaguely remembers me being interested in just before he slips the jelly finger in through the out door.

And it takes every bit of composure I can muster up for my voice not to crack a little in response. I think the conversation is supposed to relax me during this frightening event. But the most relaxed I feel all year long is leaving his office, knowing it’s 12 more months ‘til I have to go again.

Chuck Crowder is a local writer and general man about town. His opinions are just that. Everything expressed is loosely based on fact, and crap he hears people talking about. Take what you just read with a grain of salt, but pepper it in your thoughts. And be sure to check out his wildly popular website www.thenoog.com

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On The Beat

Tremendous Week For The Police

By Alex Teach

L

et me begin by ending the suspense: Yes, soon enough I’ll be resuming my role of telling terribly witty and unique stories born literally from our own dark, septic back yards and streets.

Stories of heroism and incest that can only be told by pimps and thieves to those near and dear to them...and I’m not just talking about the mayor’s office. But not just yet.

This has been a tremendous week for local law enforcement and local government both, and as such I would like to take a departure from my normal fare of cynicism and disgust and show you my kinder, if not downright velveteen underside. You know it’s there, and I can prove it from some of my reader mail: “Hey, I just wanted to say that I think you’re a really big asshole.

Keep up the good work.”— Eric from Hixson “I think you’re a terrible person and I hope you get some psychiatric help. I can’t believe we dated.” — Kathy from East Brainerd “You are dangerous and should be fired. You need counseling, and not just for the booze.” —‘Lysol’ from East Chattanooga.

I could go on and on, but you see the common thread here: Everyone, even my harshest critics, in some way wishes the best for me. “Good work.”

“Get help.” I love you too, folks...but I digress.

A tremendous week for local law enforcement, yes. The economy is in a bit of a downturn at the moment, which is itself something to laugh about. My grandparents lived through the first Great Depression and recalled things like soup lines, times when people fought each other for scraps of food in restaurant garbage cans, and men attacking trucks delivering food to hotels. Children took turns eating every other day so their siblings wouldn’t starve.

Twenty thousand people committed suicide in 1931 alone, and 2009 has been compared to that. I guess now the standard for “Great Depression” is being rejected for the next credit card with which

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you would rotate your credit, or reducing your family to one vehicle each, but it’s a problem all the same, so the mayor decided to cut costs by reducing the police department’s presence on the streets by 50 percent or cutting the cops’ pay by 5 percent (“Their choice!”).

The “tremendous” part is that the Chattanooga City Council took issue with this. As did the public, and not to mention the cops appearing on television and radio with apparent symptoms of rabies.

“There was simply no choice,” said the mayor. “This had to be done.

There is no way around this. It’s absolutely impossible to avoid this.

It is set in stone under a larger stone under a mountain of stones on a stone planet.”

So in 20 minutes, the City Council Budget, Personnel and Finance committee headed by Dr. Carol Berz found the funds from elsewhere and this problem was solved, and another created.

Money generated from the traffic enforcement cameras and speed vans would be used to keep the number of police cars doubled on the streets, but people were upset because those monies were reserved for driver education and enforcement programs.

It was Jack Benson, council chairman, who said “I don’t know about ya’ll, but the best education I’ve ever received on slowing down was getting a dang ticket.” And so that, too, was settled.

The public may never know what a deal breaker this could have been, since the Generation X, Y (and whatever trendy Starbuck’s bullshitjargon is used for the current one)— era of cops would have simply quit, slowly but surly. And thanks to the other short-term cost-saving effort of “not having a police academy”, there would be no one to replace them for a year and a half or so. And that’s the upside.

The downside was that immediately, there would have been no incoming or outgoing flow of police cars at each shift change seven days a week (hence the 50 percent reduction) upon which we predicate our patrol responses

The Pulse 9.17.09 www.chattanoogapulse.com 95.3 Pulse News

to 911. Even the SWAT team would have had to double its response time by driving to headquarters, THEN to the emergency, wherever it was. “For what savings?” you might be asking? $400,000.

Yup. Out of a $167,000,000 budget, the mayor wanted to save $400,000 by cutting the police responses in half. The council, however, has done something unprecedented and gone line by line over the proposed budget, and made changes. Reallocated money they were literally giving away, and focusing it on core issues like “safety” instead, since unlike their counterparts, they read somewhere that in economic downturns, crime goes up.

And training cops is as expensive as the lawsuits from failing miserably to answer 911 calls for help, which the city has a higher obligation to respond to than it does the creation of “spray parks”. And it is to this beleaguered end that I reveal my soft, ample and sensitive underbelly to say “Thank You, City Council.” For doing your jobs as the stewards of our tax dollars and our safety. For actually reading the charter and utilizing your statutory power.

And for as much as anything, using something sorely lacking in today’s society and the underlying issue in 90 percent of my diatribes upon the pages of the Pulse: Common Sense.

Well played, elected officials. Well played.

When officer Alexander D. Teach is not patrolling our fair city on the heels of the criminal element, he is an occasional student at UTC, an up and coming carpenter, auto mechanic, prominent boating enthusiast, and spends his spare time volunteering for the Boehm Birth Defects Center.

“ I would like to take a departure from my normal fare of cynicism and disgust and show you my kinder, if not downright velveteen underside.”

95.3 Pulse News www.chattanoogapulse.com 9.17.09 The Pulse

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Arts & Entertainment

Collaborating With You

By Michael Crumb

“C

ollaborations,” currently on view at the Chattanooga African American Museum provides a deeply moving experience through its exposition of multiple styles that express the intimacy of human experience. These contemporary works not only inform us of the complexity of the black perspective in America, but also bring the viewer into close contact with the facets of that perspective.

Rose Martin, executive director of the museum, explains with simple eloquence that these works “make you feel.” During my first encounter with this exhibit, I was quickly struck by the directness of the works and by the artists’ clear devotion to the substance of their work. Carmen Davis, curator of this exhibit, has presented the works with a kind of “woven” approach. Where one finds something new, near it are other pieces that echo works encountered earlier in one’s tour.

Most of the works are figural, employing a wide variety of media with a surety of effect. Bisa Butler’s quilt of “Marvin Gaye” (2008) applies dye and fabric like print to provide a stunning likeness.

Somewhat more expressionist, Phyliss Stevens’ quilt “Red Hot Afternoon” (2005) projects a tactile sense of frank eroticism. Frank Frazier, who was present at the opening reception, employs various media and collage in his three-dimensional jazz archetype “Ubuntu” (2007). Much simpler, but breathtaking, Chukes’ ceramic sculpture “Gypsy” blends the tactile with color into startling presence.

In fact, “presence” plays a significant role in this collection. The term “aura” explicitly connects a work to its setting, like the Statue of Liberty in New York’s harbor. Experiencing the work in its setting remains paramount. In the “Collaborations” collection, the presence of these works intimately engages the viewer. Of all the senses of the word “collaboration,” the most essential sense involves the relationship between the work and the viewer.

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You are an essential part of this collaboration.

You complete the meanings inherent in these pieces.

The sublime collage by Ariston Jacks, “X+Isador=Saturn” (2009), with its glassed-in portions, plays with this sense of setting by giving it mobility, surely paradoxical.

Elements of the collage “Witness”

by Leroy Johnson (2007) seem almost childish, but the horror of youth provides a powerful spiritual force.

Children themselves are the subject of Kirsten Williams’ “The Bringers of Light” (2008), children advancing to futurity, spiritual progress.

“Dancin with Possibilities” by Kevin Cole (2008) rushes the viewer with exuberant joy through the seemingly impossible expressionist wood construction. There are also a number of lithographic works, including John Biggers’ “Hazel” (2000) and Samella Lewis’ “Together We Stand” (2007). The sense of history and political struggle remains an important part of the presence of “Collaborations.”

Terrific paintings engage the eye; “Harlem August Rain” by Tafa (date uncertain, 1999 or 2000) and “The Long Walk Home” by William Tolliver (1989) work the oil medium so that their clear subjects verge on abstraction. “Hard Times”

by Dean Mitchell (2009) and “Blue Collar” by Mario Robinson (2006) share a commonality of subject and tone, but they push their respective media, watercolor and pastel, into powerful

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renderings. “Not Alone,” by Marjorie WilliamsSmith (2008) paradoxically possesses a unique quality of such elegant abstraction, sublime play!

A very interesting sense of the term “collaboration” can be found in the painting “Refugees” by twins Jerry and Terry Lynn (2008), in which stillness of effect emerges from a very dynamic use of color. I watched Jerry and Terry produce a performance portrait of “Algebra” from Atlanta during the Heritage Festival as “artists in motion.” More wonderful artistic play!

Such a delightful array of works in numerous styles can be found here. Go, and complete this great collaboration.

“Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art” $5 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday Noon – 4 p.m. Saturday 200 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-8658. www.caamhistory.org

A&E Calendar Friday

Thursday

“The Livery of Art: Seeing, Believing, and Chalk” Talk and booksigning with artist Barry Moser.

Free.

7 p.m.

University Center, UTC, East Fifth Street and Vine.

Send your calendar events to us at calendar@chattanoogapulse.com

AEC Independent Film Series: Food, Inc. (call for showtimes) Bijou Theatre, 215 Broad St. (423) 265-5320.

Midsouth Sculpture Alliance Conference Kick-off 5:30 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View.

(423) 266-0944.

Under the Sea: An Evening with Howard and Michelle Hall 6 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (423) 267-FISH. Lee University Presidential Concert Series 7 p.m. Dixson Center, Lee University, 1120 Ocoee St. Cleveland. (423) 614-8320.

The Education of Mr. Mayfield Book Signing 7 p.m. Rock Point Books, 401 Broad St. (423) 756-2855.

Mid-South Sculpture Alliance Take in the outdoor exhibit along the Riverwalk, or see the student show at UTC. Free.

(Riverwalk) 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Tennessee Riverwalk (Student show) 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

University Center, UTC, East Fifth Street and Vine. www.midsouthsculpture.org

Saturday

Rock City’s Enchanted Maize For its eighth year, the Maize is now the “Re-Maze”. Bring your plastic bottles! $9 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. (hours vary by day) 271 Chattanooga Valley Road, Flintstone, Georgia.

(706) 820-2531. www.enchantedmaze.com

Monday “Speak Easy” spoken word and poetry 8 p.m. Mudpie Restaurant, 12 Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9040. www.mudpierestaurant.com “Collaboration: Two Decades of African American Art” Chattanooga African American Museum, 200 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-8658. www.caamhistory.org

Fun Fridays Children’s Reading 10:30 a.m. Rock Point Books, 401 Broad St. (423) 756-2855. www.rockpointbooks.com Dearly Departed 7:30 p.m. The Colonnade, 264 Catoosa Cir. (706) 935-9000. www.colonnadecenter.org Hamlet 7:30 p.m. St. Andrews Center, 1918 Union Ave. (423) 987-5141.

Cinderella: The Musical 7:30 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 267-8583. www.chattanoogasymphony.org Sherman Golden 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m. The Comedy Catch & Giggles Grille, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. www.thecomedycatch.com The Mystery of Flight 138 8:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839.

“Bagels and Barbeque: The Jewish Experience in Tennessee” Kolwyck Library, Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. (423) 697-4448.

“HelloWorld.Show();” Create Here, 55 East Main St. Ste. 105. (423) 648-2195. www.createhere.org “Sign of the Times” Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 North Terrace. (423) 493-0270. www.jcfg.com “Root Workers and Railroad Tracks: The Work of James McKissic” Chattanooga African American Museum, 200 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-8658.

“Maggie!”

Shuptrine Fine Art and Framing, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453.

Sunday Midsouth Sculpture Alliance Conference Various Tennessee galleries.

(423) 280-0620. www. midsouthsculpture.org Mosaic Market 11 a.m. 412 Market St. (corner of 4th/Market) (423) 624-3915.

Art Until Dark Noon. Winder Binder Gallery, 40 Frazier Ave. (423) 413-8999. www. artuntildark.com Cinderella: The Musical 1 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 267-8583. www. chattanoogasymphony.org Living Glass Experience 1 p.m. Ignis Gallery, 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 265-2565.

Live Performance Art 1 p.m. Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 756-2738. www.cdmfun.org

Hamlet 3 p.m. St. Andrews Center, 1918 Union Ave. (423) 987-5141.

New Voices Poetry Reading 6 p.m. Pasha Coffeehouse, 3914 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 315-0721.

Voices of Lee 7 p.m. Conn Center, Lee University, 1055 Church St. NE, Cleveland. (423) 614-8320.

Dearly Departed 7:30 p.m. The Colonnade, 264 Catoosa Cir. (706) 935-9000. www.colonnadecenter.org Cinderella: The Musical 7:30 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 267-8583. www. chattanoogasymphony.org Sherman Golden 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m. The Comedy Catch & Giggles Grille, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. www.thecomedycatch.com

Tuesday

Wednesday

Art Café by Traci Butler 6 p.m. Lookout Mountain Gallery, 3535 Broad St. (423) 507-8117. www.lookoutmountaingallery.com “Films from the Forties: A Matter of Life and Death 6:30 p.m. Flicks Café, Chattanooga-Hamilton Bicentennial Library, 1001 Broad St. (423)757-5310.

UTC Department of Art Biennial Faculty Exhibit Cress Gallery, 615 McCallie Ave. (423) 425-4371.

CS Lewis Society Discussion: “Mere Christianity I” 7 p.m. Rock Point Books, 401 Broad St. (423) 756-2855. www.rockpointbooks.com

35th Annivesary Month Exhibit In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423)267-9214. www.intowngallery.com www.utc.edu/cressgallery

“Exploding Girls, Alligator Mouth” New Mixed Media Works by Emily Effler Leo Handmade Gallery, 149 River St. www.leogallery.blogspot.com

“The Pig Roast” Music, petting zoo, plant sale, dinner and drinks. $30 4 p.m. - dusk Crabtree Farms, 1000 East 30th Street. (423) 493-9155. ext. 13. www.crabtreefarms.org

Hamlet 3 p.m. St. Andrews Center, 1918 Union Ave. (423) 987-5141.

“Jellies: Living Art” Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View. (423) 266-0944.

“Bagels and Barbeque: The Jewish Experience in Tennessee” Kolwyck Library, Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. (423) 697-4448. www.chattanoogastate.edu “A World of Glass” Houston Museum of Arts, 201 High St. (423) 267-7176. www.thehoustonmuseum.com “Magnificent Fifty” North River Civic Center, 1009 Executive Dr. (423) 870-8924.

“Breaking the Mold” River Gallery, 400 E. Second St. (423) 265-5033.

Editor’s Pick: Featured Event Of The Week

“Interior, Exterior: Sweeping Environmental Experience Explored Inside Out” Artful Eye Gallery, 5646 Brainerd Rd. (423) 855-7424. www.artfuleye-gallery.com “Rediscovering the Elements” The Gallery, 3918 Dayton Blvd.

(423) 870-2443. www.redbankgallery.com “Movement” Shuptrine Fine Art and Framing, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453.

“Fresh: Emerging Artists” Association for Visual Arts, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282.

“New York Cool” Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View. (423) 266-0944.

Walking Tour of the Stone Fort area The Chattanooga History Center’s Dr. Daryl Black leads a tour of the fascinating area of downtown known as “Stone Fort.” The walk is based on Maury Nicely’s book Chattanooga Walking Tour and History Guide. $3, 7 p.m., Tuesday, September 22.

To register, (423) 265-3247, ext. 10

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Shades Of Green

Extra Bacon, Hold the Hand Sanitizer

By Victoria Hurst

A

fter sleeping for two days straight and not wanting to move, I concluded that I must have swine flu. Despite my constant wipe downs of counter tops and doorknobs, I managed to get sick. Despite my streak of anti-social activities and increased hand washing, I am laid up on the couch, with nothing to do but rest and figure out what all of this pandemic buzz is about. I am most curious (and grossed out) by the name.

As Jimmy Kimmel was quoted as saying in the New York Times, “The government does not want us to call it the swine flu. They’re calling it the 2009 H1N1 virus. The reason for the change is they want people to know you can still eat all the pork you want without any risk to your health, except diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.” Funny guy. But it is important to know that the consumption of ham, pulled pork, and the meat known to tempt even the most devout of vegans, bacon, is not to blame.

However, as Americans go on to enjoy their delicious pork products, the industry grows, and more and more pigs are shoved into overcrowded conditions in swine megafactories. These facilities are a proven breeding ground for diseases that can be spread all over the country when these products are shipped out, as is common practice for industrialized agriculture.

There are a few ways for the consumer to fight against this type of production, which is not only yielding less-nutritional food, but also causing other problems to health and the environment. Find a local meat source: Go to farmer’s markets and do some research about who is using humane, small-scale operations to ensure quality of life for their pigs.

Pigs that are raised in wholesome and caring environments will make healthier meat. Another option would be to not eat pork or meat at all—but not all people can go without their bacon.

In the meantime, the pork industry is thriving, with over ten million hogs in North Carolina alone (the state with the densest pig population) and a decreasing number of hog farms. And in economic times such as these, people buy what’s cheap.

For now, unfortunate occurrences like swine flu are here to stay. The wisest thing to do is protect yourself from getting sick. The flu shot still seems to be readily available at most pharmacies, but there are a few basic things to remember that could make a difference.

Wash your hands. With soap.

Avoid over-using the waterless hand sanitizers. They are mostly alcohol, and they work by stripping off the outer layer of oil on the skin, which prevents helpful bacteria from coming to the surface. In general, it’s better to use soap and water. However, make sure to wash thoroughly. Most people just do a quick once-over and rinse— try scrubbing your hands for the length of a song chorus. Pick a hand washing song and let loose, out loud or in your head, and keep scrubbing until you have reached the final notes.

While at work or in public, avoid touching things and wash your hands when you get home. If you are able to

do it without being rude, refrain from excessive hugging and handshaking.

Also, cut back on nail chewing and eye rubbing, as you can easily contract disease through your mouth, eyes, and nose.

Most importantly, don’t freak out.

While you can take many precautions to avoid the disease that seems to be crawling invisibly all around you, it is always possible that you will get sick.

Stress is proven to lower the immune system’s resistance: Make sure to relax at the end of the day, sleep well, and be as healthy as possible. And if you do get sick, which is always possible, try to stay home for at least 24 hours, if not a few days, and avoiding infecting others. I have read about so called “Swine Flu Parties,” where people get together with their infected friends to get sick in hopes of building up immunity to a more severe case of illness. If anyone invites you to one of these parties, politely decline. This is not a good idea. Stay in bed and relish in your online social life, do some more reading, and perhaps research some local pork resources.

“As Americans go on to enjoy their delicious pork products, the industry grows, and more and more pigs are shoved into over-crowded conditions in swine megafactories.”

Victoria Hurst is a proud resident of the Appalachian Mountains. She has recently graduated from Warren Wilson College with a B.A. in English: Creative Writing.

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New in Theaters Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Quite possibly the most amusing film title of the season, this animated treat will be the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese. Inspired by the beloved children’s book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain. As with many major studio animation releases, the film is chockfull of the voices of well-known actors, including Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris and even Mr. T. The timing of Sony’s release is unusual, as animated children’s movie are not generally released in the fall, especially when they feature 3D. However, the true appeal of the film lies in the absurdist humor that will appeal to both children and adults who are looking for something a bit lighter amid all the more serious fall films.

As freakishly-sized donuts, gummy bears, steaks, ice cream, pancakes and rashers of bacon pile up and re-shape the town into a new geography, the film could be read as a sly indictment of the human propensity to waste food resources. And name another

film that has a sequence involving headless roast chickens attacking the hero and heroine.

Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller Rating: PG

Also in Theaters Love Happens (New) Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart star in the story of a self-help author who meets the woman who might finally help him help himself.

Jennifer’s Body (New) Megan Fox stars as a high-school cheerleader who becomes possessed and begins killing the unsuspecting boys of her small town.

The Informant!

(New) Matt Damon stars in the true story of Mark Whitacre, the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history.

The Burning Plain (New) Charlize Theron’s encounter with a mysterious stranger launches her on a journey through space, time and romantic destiny.

Bright Star (New) Director Jane Campion’s true story of the three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne.

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Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself Three delinquent siblings end up in the care of their only relative: April, a heavy-drinking nightclub singer who wants nothing to do with them.

Sorority Row When a prank-gonewrong leaves one of their own dead, a group of sorority sisters try to cover it up, only to be stalked by a mysterious killer.

9 Courageous “stitchpunk” heroes fight for survival against the machines in a post-apocalyptic animated adventure.

Whiteout Kate Beckinsale stars as a U.S. marshall assigned to Antarctica to investigate a murder and drawn into a shocking mystery.

The Final Destination A group of friends escape a deadly accident thinking they’ve cheated death, only to get killed off one by one in increasingly gruesome ways.

Inglourious Basterds Brad Pitt stars in Quentin Tarantino’s violent WWII tale of soldiers, peasants and resistance fighters who collide in Nazioccupied France.

About Steve Sandra Bullock falls head over heels with a news cameraman after one blind date, and follows him around the country in a bid to win his love.

Gamer Gerard Butler stars as a futuristic gladiator imprisoned against his will in an ultra-violent mind-controlled firstperson shooter game.

Taking Woodstock A man working at his parents’ Catskills motel inadvertently sets in motion the historic concert in the summer of 1969.

Halloween II Director Rob Zombie picks up right where he left off, with the next terrifying chapter of Michael Myers’ murderous rampage.

Film Feature

They Would Do Anything For Love

by Phillip Johnston

T

he Arts and Education Council’s Fall Independent Film Series started last week with a sold-out matinee screening of Food, Inc. With a line out the door of the Bijou, the theater rolled the film on a second screen so that no one would miss it. This week’s selection is a documentary of a different sort, but one just as important: Michael Orion Scott’s film The Horse Boy, a beautiful picture of a family’s love for their ailing son, a love that manifests itself in an unconventional journey across the world to heal the little boy’s raging autism.

Rupert and Kristin Isaacson had an idyllic romance. According to Rupert, when he first saw Kristin he knew she would one day be his wife. He took special measures to ensure this would happen when he asked her to marry him on their first meeting. They married and settled in Texas, Rupert working in journalism and human rights, Kristin teaching psychology.

When their son Rowan was born 2002, everything had seemingly fallen into place for them as a family. But it all fell shockingly apart when Rowan was diagnosed with autism in 2004.

Unlike some cases of autism, Rowan Isaacson’s case is debilitating.

At 5 years old, he was still not potty trained. It was impossible for him to interact with his peers and his tantrums—caused not by physical

circumstances but by events inside his brain—made him inconsolable, leaving his parents at a dead end when it came to helping him.

Anyone who has suffered from mental illness or walked alongside someone who is struggling will immediately identify with the Isaacsons. To see any child suffer is unbearable, but to see Rowan suffer so uncontrollably and inconsolably while knowing that nothing can be done to stop the pain is nothing less than heartbreaking.

The only thing that the Isaacsons found that calmed their son’s raging mind were animals—particularly horses. Confronted with a horse, Rowan’s tantrums would stop and his mind become calm. Animals would run to him and be uncharacteristically gentle. This puzzled Rupert and caused him to do some more research.

Having worked in Africa with human rights organizations, Rupert was aware of traditional healing ceremonies performed by tribal shamans. He had seen people cured of a variety of illnesses, but eventually found that the only place that still practiced Shamanism was Mongolia, the country where, coincidentally, horseback riding originated.

Not knowing what to expect, the family flew to Mongolia and started their journey in the plains. In the film, it comes as a shock when they are made to kneel on the grass next to a man beating a loud drum, and allow themselves to be whipped by a shaman while little Rowan screams in a tantrum in the background.

Kristin is even asked to wash herself with a special soap to rid her of a black spirit. “You have to stand in the direction of your country,” the

shaman advises, “and you have to wash your lower body where Rowan was coming out [during birth].”

Think what you will of these extremes. The Horse Boy is not a call to embrace shamanic tradition as the key to healing a child of severe autism. In fact, even Rowan’s mother Kristin remains skeptical in the end as to whether the shamans were the key to Rowan’s healing. Rather, the film is about fidelity and how commitment to the health of an ailing child is the most necessary component for renewal.

The family journeys through the mountains, where Rowan’s tantrums worsen as comforts are stripped away and the days achieve no pattern of normalcy. He is incontinent, constantly screaming, but his parents never lose their patience. Rooted in deep love for him, the spare hopeful moments are enough to keep them going.

Abandoning any adult agenda, they press on even through their own great discomfort.

The film features interviews with leading scholars and autism experts including Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen (cousin to Sacha Baron-Cohen of Borat fame) of Cambridge University and Dr. Temple Grandin, author of a book about using autism to better understand animal behavior. Their expert opinions give the film an added sense of immediacy, but constantly seeing the Isaacsons go through hell to bring their son a sense of peace is never less than powerful.

At one point, Rupert and Rowan run through the plains of Mongolia through herds of goats before a

brilliant sunset when the cameraman catches up with an exasperated Rupert. “Quite an adventure,” the cameraman says to him.

Panting and sweating, Rupert looks into the camera and simply says, “I love my son.” A huge smile breaks across his face as he runs to catch up.

Yes, the film makes us aware of autism, but it’s in a moment like this that we get to glimpse what love it truly about. The power of a father’s fidelity is the lasting effect of The Horse Boy and the spark that ignites a flame of hope that burns all the way to Mongolia and back.

The Horse Boy (part of the AEC Fall Independent Film Series) Directed by Michel O. Scott Not Rated Running time: 93 minutes

95.3 Pulse News www.chattanoogapulse.com 9.17.09 The Pulse

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The Mystical Dude's Horoscopes Virgo (August 23 – September 22): There’s immense pressure to discipline selfexpression, particularly challenging because of excitingly new people you could relate to instead, leaving you in limbo (Thursday). The trick is to not make a decision, but simply get practical; analyze and review the pros and cons of each side (Tuesday and Wednesday). Don’t say too much to others as that could make you worry, but you’ll be closer to that conscious motivation to develop self-worth and personal resources, starting by digging deep into the intense emotions raised by romantic involvements (Wednesday).

Libra (September 23 – October 22): You’re chatting about the improved life/ work approach you’re adopting and then…opening your mouth was too premature? Rather than take back what’s been iterated, simply keep thoughts to yourself for a while longer. There’s more transmutation to undergo before presenting yourself anew. Sunday presents a practical flow of feelings to someone who was a hidden foe.

Now you’ve gone back into the past to forgive, things can change. The realization of this move towards harmonization sees you motivated to make further changes to your vitality and life awareness (Wednesday).

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21): The group that you’ve put effort and responsibility into still acts unpredictably, even though you’ve personally discovered new and radicalized ways to creatively express yourself or your children (Thursday). Messages and chit chat that’s too critical or over analyzed doesn’t help matters (Saturday), especially when unconsciously you want fairness and equality for all. A helpful and humble associate assists you to understand that intense determination to control your ambitious thinking (Sunday), which leads you to look deeply into what’s missing in relationships (Wednesday) and the Scorpionic tendency to create emotional ultimatums.

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21): Increasing limitations make you feel restricted in the public eye, which also affects your professional status (Thursday). In contrast, you’re pulled into making sudden changes around the home, newly crafting previously unorganized areas. Avoid confusions and don’t set in stone future plans; more details are yet to be discussed around what service you’ll offer (Friday/ Saturday). Become aware how to charm and cooperate helpfully with authority figures, and you’ll gather powerful techniques to change your finances long term (Sunday). New friends motivate you to take control your self-worth (Wednesday).

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19): It’s exciting shaking down thinking processes for something radical and progressive yet keeping practical core beliefs together. Better cooperation with a teacher or long-distance partner helps you develop a stronger and empowered outlook (Sunday). It’s difficult to put into words the changes you’d like to introduce and still be understood! Remember to simply observe the passing of thoughts and not make important decisions about who or what to believe in, because a relationship achievement temporarily puts you in the limelight (Wednesday) and sees you saying unconventional and surprising things.

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18): Talk of resources and financial situations becomes confusing and delayed. You were already promoting your ideas further when a catch drew it back to limiting arguments based around your unique contributions and someone else’s hard work teaching you values. By Sunday, developing a flexible cooperative trust with a partner helps you to recycle the old and hidden psychic garbage that you need to sort through in order to change yourself. Wednesday sees you forced to recognize the power of harmony with another; review old, stubborn thoughts and allow for change.

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Pisces (February 19 - March 20): You’ve set up a working partnership that looked stable until money was mentioned; now everything’s shifted to two opposing camps.

You’re holding your unique individual approach and restricted in any commitment with others.

This stand-offish position pulls you apart and a cooperative charm is called for to harmonize and align with friends and associates (Sunday) leading to a critical review of previously set partnership boundaries and a chance to rethink your approach (Tuesday). Wednesday sees you become conscious of fair distribution of resources: it rubs against your original power plan.

Aries (March 21- April 19): How’s daily life and fulfilling routine tasks going? Are you torn between feelings of tiresome drudgery and a simultaneous need do something completely different, caught in a dilemma of settling both sides at once (Thursday)? So what’s the solution? Firstly, don’t get stressed and let things affect your health! Next up, focus on your skill set, the things you’re already good at. Admit you’re cramming in too much other stuff and let go of the unobtainable things, at least for now, or a partner gets confronted by your ambitious ruthlessness (Wednesday).

Taurus (April 20 - May20): It’s a challenge attempting to get the best out of recreational and leisure activities whilst also trying to change your future plans around to get more freedom (Thursday). The best answers to purely focus on making yourself (and your children) feel special—if it takes superhuman efforts, just take things slowly, which is the opposite of what friends are urging. A helpful solution that allows for transformation appears Sunday, but it seems that blocks your work efforts on Monday, so you have to speak out independently. Watch what you say!

Gemini (May 21 - June 20): If you’ve put lots of effort into your domestic life and you’re still left with a bleak house, what’s been happening to your unpredictable reputation (Thursday)? You’ll be stressed trying to keep both things, even though Geminis are skilled at juggling two sides simultaneously!

Try keeping the excitable ambitions contained enough to allow proper home boundaries to be put in place. A family social Sunday helps you fathom relatives deeper than before, and by Wednesday you’re enthusiastically challenged to act detective-like, sourcing out the deeper truth behind a romantic situation.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22): It could well be driving you a little crazy that you have to keep your relatives happy and do what’s expected when all you’re thinking about is getting far away on some exciting adventure (Thursday)! Keep the dream alive whilst holding the reins tight on personal boundaries and… learn your lessons. Talking sweet to your partner on Sunday helps things along, but Tuesday and Wednesday see you struggling with words: denial is easier to say, followed by truth later. You’ll take it back in three weeks—but it’ll do for now.

Leo (July 23 – August 22): “Money, money, money, it’s so funny”…not.

You’re coming to terms with personal values and self-worth, and there’s a struggle going on: out there you feel plentiful resources are waiting, if you can just get connected. So what’s the problem? Leo does have a natural tendency to sit back and expect everything on a plate, does it not? Thus you got to make efforts! Get down to some helpful routine work and skill preparation Sunday and conquer those fears Tuesday to allow for an outspoken freedom of speech on Wednesday.

Julian Venables is a British astrologer whose worldwide travels bought him to Chattanooga.

Email themysticaldude@gmail.com for a personal consultation. Visit www.mysticaldude.com to discover more about the local astrology group, classes and the free podcast on iTunes!

JONESIN’

By Matt Jones

“Dietary Restriction” –don’t go over your limit.

Across 1 Gentle farm animal 5 Motor scooter model 10 Canadian Indian 14 Cookie served crumbled in some drinks 15 Rods with wheels 16 Gordie on the ice 17 Guy who grows tubers in Tubingen?

20 Up to this point 21 1936 Summer Olympics track star Jesse 22 “Hasta ___!”

25 Humdinger 28 Bird in hieroglyphics 29 It’s a nice piece of glass 30 Diamond figures 34 Revolutionary fixing flats in California?

38 Mining find 39 Wager 40 Abduction ship, in tabloids 41 The Jaguars, on some scoreboards 42 10-minute film about baseball’s Darryl?

46 Pro grp.

47 Like ___ of sunshine 48 Peek-___ 49 Column type 51 Way too proper 53 Flower part 56 “Shush!”

58 Yiddish outburst high up in Colorado?

64 “___ Love Her” (Beatles song)

65 Journalist ___ Rogers St. Johns 66 Prefix before “dynamic” 67 Subservient response 68 Components of entertainment centers 69 Showy light Down 1 Bump locale?

2 “___ ‘Friends’ Electric?” (1979 Gary Numan song) 3 Debussy’s “La ___” 4 Speech full of hot air 5 She makes a living off of letters 6 Former Montreal player 7 It seems like it’ll never end 8 Humane Society adoptee 9 Drunk-skunk connection 10 Dish on a Chinese menu 11 Tattoo flower, often 12 McGregor of “Angels & Demons” 13 Wriggly critters 18 Author Rand 19 “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done ___ Me)” 22 Alcoholic morning drink 23 Scrubs a space mission

24 SF team, to fans 26 Insult preceder?

27 Full of foliage 29 Czar named “The Great” 31 Teens’ summer work opportunities, usually 32 Location of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World 33 Adult shop purchase, perhaps 35 “Charlotte’s Web” author’s monogram 36 Steel for use in concrete 37 Romaine lettuce, alternately 43 Singer with the 1974 #1 hit “Rock Me Gently” 44 Squash handful 45 Hispaniola resident 50 Clearasil rival 51 Edible pockets 52 Stephen of “The Crying Game” 53 Supercomputer company since the 1970s 54 Optimally rated 55 Some TV screens 57 Home of the Runnin’ Rebels 59 ___-jongg 60 Like 123, but not 456 61 Word before maiden names 62 Precious metal: Sp. 63 Hither and ___

©2009 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #0432

Solution To Last Week’s Puzzle

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Spirits Within

A Truly Superb Chardonnay

By Joshua Hurley

F

or the last three weeks, Riley’s Wine and Spirits on Hixson Pike in Hixson has introduced three favorites in a series of 13 weekly selections entitled “Great Buys of the Week’’. If you’ve missed the previous three issues of The Pulse, here's where we pick some of our favorites from among our large selection of wine, port, Scotches, bourbons, vodkas, rums, whiskeys, gins, tequilas and other spirits, and share them with our readers.

This week, we are picking a chardonnay from the winery of Sonoma Cutrer. Just as cabernet sauvignon has become the most popular high-quality red wine grape, chardonnay has taken the lead to become first class for white wine grapes.

Although other white wines run a close second, it’s chardonnay that’s planted extensively around the world. It’s relatively easy to grow, and the grape’s flavors can be described as buttery, creamy, nutty, smoky and steely, which means lean but well balanced and high in acidity.

Sonoma Cutrer was established in 1981 by Brick Jones to focus on chardonnay wines. Jones employed a cadre of wine experts, including Terrence Clancy, Brad Webb, Bill Bonetti, Robert Haas, David Reid and Chuck Bennett, and put together a state-of-the-art winery that soon became the envy of California’s wine industry.

Sonoma Cutrer built prototype sorting tables and cooling tunnels to preserve the highest quality grapes.

In addition, Cutrer was one of the first wineries in California to use membrane presses to crush whole clusters of grapes and to construct a temperature-aged humidity-controlled cave-like cellar for barrel aging.

Cutrer spares no expense in the production of their wines, and for many wine customers ''Sonoma Cutrer'' is synonymous with top-shelf chardonnay.

The winery produces three different types of chardonnay—Russian River Ranches, Les Pierres and

this week’s pick—Sonoma Cutrer Vineyard. Les Pierres and Cutrer are vineyard designated, which means that the wine is made from grapes from the specific vineyard named on the wines label. In the United States, a vineyard name on the label means that 95 percent of the grapes in the bottle came from the named vineyard on the label.

Cutrer owns a total of 410 acres of vineyards. The Russian River Ranches consists of 210 acres. Les Pierres, located in the Sonoma Valley, consists of about 100 acres, and the Cutrer Vineyard consists of 100 acres. The winery is located on the Russian River northwest of Santa Rosa, Calif. The Russian River starts in Mendocino County, runs south into Sonoma County, and then west as the river turns towards the Pacific Ocean just north of Forestville, Calif. The climate is quite cool, which is ideal for the growth of chardonnay grapes. The soils of the Cutrer Vineyard reflect the geological history of the area, from its origin of ocean floor to the volcanic eruptions of Mount St. Helens. Volcanic ash filtered through soil layers has left the grounds deficient in nutrients and water. The resulting stress on the vines benefits the quality of the fruit by significantly reducing the size of the cluster and enhancing the flavor of the juice. The Cutrer Vineyard stands hardly a dozen miles from the Pacific shore.

Featuring sandy hillside soils that rise nearly 300 feet above sea level, the vineyard is carefully watched over.

Cutrer’s 2006 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is usually only offered to Club Cutrer members and restaurants, but is now available for our customers only at Riley Wines and Spirits. The 2006 Cutrer Sonoma Coast Chardonnay displays distinct aromas of ginger with lemon zest, joined by some toasty coconut, melon and caramel alongside a mineral, flinty cedar-chest oakiness, overlaid by a note of honeysuckle. Mostly the aromas complement the palette; you’ll taste lemon, apple, pear, pineapple and cantaloupe with a long finish of spicy French oak. Sonoma Cutrer-Sonoma Coast Chardonnay pairs well with all types of poultry, goat cheese and salads. Cutrer was awarded number one in Wine and Spirits 20th Annual Restaurant Poll, and is available at Riley’s Wine and Spirits.

“Cutrer spares no expense in the production of their wines.”

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Table Service

Always A Friend at Amigo Mexican Restaurant

By Colleen Wade

W

hen I say Amigo Mexican Restaurant, you say…. Well, most people probably would say, “Tacos”, right? That’s not necessarily the right answer anymore.

Fernando Cordero, the 25-year-old owner of Amigo Mexican Restaurant in Hixson, is intent on growing his restaurant. He doesn’t want to change the image of Amigo Mexican Restaurant—just augment it. Since taking over the Hixson location nearly two years ago, Cordero has begun building a team to put his innovative ideas into play. He has hired a front-of-house manager, a kitchen manager, and, most recently, a bar manager.

Together, these four lay out the plans to bring Amigo Mexican Restaurant in Hixson back into its own.

Cordero has plenty of experience in a restaurant setting. He started working in his family’s restaurant at age 12. That’s right—at 12, Fernando Cordero was washing dishes. At 14, he moved into the role of server, and by the time he was a senior in high school, Cordero was managing one of his family’s restaurants in Cleveland. Working alongside Cordero was David Gonzalez, now front-of-house manager at Amigo Mexican Restaurant in Hixson.

Braulio Espinoza, the kitchen manager, has been part of the Amigo team for six years now. Dave Beardsley, bar manager, is the newest staffer. Don’t let that fool you, though—Beardsley comes from a background of training bar managers for a similar chain of restaurants. With all that combined experience, as well as cutting-edge ideas, we can expect great things from this group.

Already, you can see changes taking place in Hixson. Cordero has begun remodeling the restaurant. He plans to move the entrance and make room for more seating. He has added menu items, six to be exact, and several of those have become bestsellers already. Two of the hottest sellers are Tilapia Tacos, grilled tilapia with pico de gallo mixed in, wrapped in two layers of tortillas and topped with a chipotle cream sauce, and

“chiminanas”, a deep-fried banana wrapped in a crispy flour tortilla, tossed in cinnamon and sugar, drizzled with honey and chocolate, and served up with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Beyond adding to the menu, Cordero and crew have made subtle changes in current menu items.

They have instituted better control over recipes and seasonings and made changes in the way some items are presented. They have worked hard to create the most pleasant dining experience available. Cordero and team strive to make sure food is served in a timely manner and that each guest receives the same treatment they would get if Cordero himself were serving them.

Naturally, Cordero wants to keep diners satisfied and coming back; but it goes beyond that for the restaurateur. In the early ’90s, Cordero’s father branched off from Monterey, a chain opened by his wife’s godfather in Atlanta in 1974. The first Amigo

Mexican Restaurant was opened in Johnson City, Tennessee, and several more soon sprung up in both Johnson City and the Chattanooga area. Today, Cordero, his older brother, and cousins control the company started by his father. Says Cordero, “This is a family-type of restaurant.”

While change is afoot at Amigo Mexican Restaurant in Hixson, some things remain the same.

There are still 75-cent hard-shell beef or bean tacos on Monday nights, and they still have karaoke in the bar on Thursdays and Sundays. Cordero and his group of managers have found the perfect balance of tradition and innovation, and given that blend a home at Amigo Mexican Restaurant in Hixson.

Amigo Mexican Restaurant has five locations, including East Ridge, Brainerd Road, Red Bank, Dayton, and at 5450 Hwy 153 in Hixson, (423) 874-8049, www.amigorestaurantonline.com.

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Music Feature

One Life, One Love, More than One Venue

By Hellcat

I

am going to go ahead and apologize beforehand for jumping up on this soapbox, but I feel like it has to be done.

I am tired of all the drama and segregation that this little tiny community of music lovers forces on itself.

It’s like we are some sort of twisted sadist set out to destroy ourselves. I do not understand it. I have spent the better part of the last five years trying to comprehend it, and wondering if there is anything I could do to make it better, but I am at a loss.

Whenever I feel this way, sometimes it helps to bring it to my readers, to see what they have to say about it. So: Hey, Chattanooga, let me explain to you what exactly I am talking about, and then I would love to get some perspective on it.

OK. Basically, we have several venues downtown. Those venues could be doing so much better. All of our local bands could be doing so much better. But here is the one drawback. The cool factor. The cliques and the scenesters, the hipsters, and the who’s who; all of it is tearing apart any chance of a good turnout to a local show. As a booking agent and a promoter, I can say that I do know what I am talking about.

that said, “We would never come see a show at Midtown.” What makes this worse is that this guy is a local musician and plays in two frequently booked bands. What is this about?

What is this war of the venues? Isn’t it about the music? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand that we have our favorites, and that’s fine. But why discriminate between venues if you like the band?

In this economy, both local musicians and local venues that support our local music scene depend on your loyalties and love for music to stay afloat or to make that album you so desperately want to hear. If we keep denying support to locals, we are only hurting ourselves by shooting our progress in the foot and slapping the facilitators of our scene in the face. What did Midtown ever do to you? Did it talk about your momma?

I don’t think it did, sir.

This isn’t the only time I have heard this type of remark. It is a common occurrence, a ridiculous and childish response that has become increasingly noticeable at local shows.

We are almost forcing local bands to have to play in town at least two small shows a month and hit two different venues to play in front of all their fans, instead of just having one big show at whichever venue they choose.

But, no, that would be too easy.

Some people may not realize this, but you turning up your nose at a certain venue can really hurt the band and their future show opportunities in this market. Think about it. If you aren’t going to a show to see a band you actually like, because you only go to JJ’s Bohemia or Champy’s, then you, my friend, are absurd, and I would hate to see your attempts at mathematics because your logic is a bit off.

Oh, and I am not playing favorites here. There are some people that will not set foot in Rhythm & Brews, which cost them the opportunity to see Dinosaur Jr. Some of our cool kids would rather sit at home than go see Vertigo at The

“In this economy, both local musicians and local venues that support our local music scene depend on your loyalties and love for music to stay afloat or to make that album you so desperately want to hear.”

Let me give you an example. One of my favorite bands, The Icons, have played at both JJ’s Bohemia and Midtown Music Hall. When I was text-reminding all of my friends about the event, I got a text back

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Low Down, and I guarantee there are some shows worth a look at Ziggy’s and The Riverhouse, but heaven forbid you get your white belt dirty.

I don’t make it out to every show and every venue. I don’t pretend that I have heard every band in this market, but I will tell you this: If I have heard it and I like it, I will go watch them play in an alley if they want to play in an alley. It’s called support; unconditional support.

Maybe I am the jerk for assuming that people would go out of their particular comfort zone to support something they like or believe in, but I like to pretend that people aren’t as fickle as they are, and that Chattanooga fans are some of the best. I am not trying to point fingers—I am just trying to raise awareness here. Chattanooga has become one of the most complexly difficult places to book because of all of the conditions that must be met to get 100 people in one room. I know that just recently I booked Superdrag for JJ’s Bohemia, because while they are a bigger band, most of their fan base probably wouldn’t support a Rhythm & Brews show. I also put Fair to Midland at Midtown with the Mighty Sideshow because their fans are more prone to show up there than anywhere else now that Club Fathom is no more.

Why can’t we just all get along and agree to love music, no matter where it is?

Music Calendar Friday

Thursday

porterdavis with Slim Pickens porterdavis takes you back to your American roots. $7 9 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market Street, (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com

Send your calendar events to us at calendar@chattanoogapulse.com

Jessica Blake 7 p.m. Magoos, 3658 Ringgold Rd. (423) 867-1351.

Open Mic with Gabriel Newell 7 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. www.marketstreettavern.com Johnston Brown 8 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd, #202.

(423) 499-5055.

Matt Urmy amd Billy Hopkins 8:30 p.m. Mudpie Restaurant, 12 Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9043.

The Bridge with Matt Butcher 9 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com Zan Teddy, Packaway, Handle Somebody’s Darlin 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. www.myspace.com/jjsbohemia

Dr. Dog with Coral Castles Psychedelic Philly cheesesteak rockout with Dr. Dog. Free.

7 p.m.

Nightfall, Miller Plaza, 850 Market Street, (423) 265-0771. www.downtownchattanooga.org

Saturday Melissa Greener 8 p.m. Charles & Myrtle’s Coffeehouse, 105 McBrien Rd. (423) 892-4960.

Eric Nelson, Bring the Witch, True Stereo, The Unsatisfied, 40-oz Folklore 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400.

The Pool 9 p.m. The Tin Can, 618 Georgia Ave. (423) 648-4360. www.thetincanchattanooga.com The Captain Midnight Band, The Incredible Heat Machine 9 p.m. The Low Down, 306 Cherokee Blvd. (423) 468-3593.

Toneharm 10 p.m. Midtown Music Hall, 820 Georgia Ave. (423) 752-1977.

Gabriel Newell 10 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Old Tyme Players 6 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. www.marketstreettavern.com

The Ben Friberg Trio 7 p.m. Table 2, 232 E. 11th Street, (423) 756-8253. www.table2restaurant.com

Tim Lewis 6 p.m. Big River Grille Hamilton Place, 2020 Hamilton Place Blvd.

(423) 553-7723.

Hap and Jacks Open Mic 8 p.m. The Lowdown, 306 Cherokee Blvd. (423) 468-3593. myspace.com/thelowdownchatt

Open Mic with Hellcat 8 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919. www.myspace.com/97977279

Ben Friberg Jazz Trio 6:30 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market Street, (423) 634-0260.

Billy Hopkins 8 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260.

Billy Hopkins 8 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260.

Preston Parris 8 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. www.budssportsbar.com

DJ at The Palms 9 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd, #202.

(423) 499-5055.

Open Mic with Mike McDade 9 p.m. Tremont Tavern, 1203 Hixson Pike. (423) 266-1996. www.tremonttavern.com

Forest Magic, Desalation, Wilderness of Intelligience 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400.

Wax Revolution, Bring Your Own Vinyl Night 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400.

Native Chattanoogan in support of new album, Notes on the Human Condition. $17 7 p.m.

Roland Hayes Concert Hall, UTC, corner of Vine and Palmetto St. www.utc.edu

Monday

Blue Eyed Grass, Nashville Duo 9 p.m. Riverhouse Pub, 224 Frazier Ave. (423) 752-0066.

Ronday Trio and Robosapien 9 p.m. The Low Down, 306 Cherokee Blvd. (423) 468-3593.

Gringo Star, The Howlies, Rayons 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400.

Dave Matthews Tribute Band 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644.

ThunderSnake 10 p.m. Midtown Music Hall, 820 Georgia Ave. (423) 752-1977.

Ashley Riviera 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878.

Marujah 10 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. www.marketstreettavern.com

Sunday Becoming an Archeatype, Beyond Bethel, Axion, Thyne 7 p.m. The Warehouse, 5716 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge Her and King’s County 7 p.m. Riverfront Nights, Ross’s Landing.

Tim Lewis 8 p.m. Top of the Dock, 5600 Lake Resort Ter. (423) 876-3356.

Horn of Moses 8 p.m. Ziggy’s Hideaway, 607 Cherokee Blvd. (423) 634-1074.

Nathan Farrow 8 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd, #202.

(423) 499-5055.

Kathy Tugman 8 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 South Broad St. (423) 424-3775.

Eric Lee 8 p.m. Riverhouse Pub, 224 Frazier Ave. (423) 752-0066.

Brian Minshaw

I Declare War, Failing the Fairest, On Paradise Boulevard, At Light’s End 7 p.m. The Warehouse, 5716 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge.

Tim Lewis 8 p.m. Top of the Dock, 5600 Lake Resort Ter. (423) 876-3356.

Kathy Tugman 8 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 South Broad St. (423) 424-3775.

Milquelizard, Murder in the Mirror 8 p.m. Ziggy’s Hideaway, 607 Cherokee Blvd. (423) 634-1074.

Sweet and Low 8 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd, #202.

(423) 499-5055.

Nathan Farrow 9 p.m. The Tin Can, 618 Georgia Ave. (423) 648-4360. www.thetincanchattanooga.com

Uncle Billy and Friends 8 p.m. The Tin Can, 618 Georgia Ave. (423) 648-4360. www.thetincanchattanooga.com Roger Alan Wade 9 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878.

All You Can Eat Comedy and Shake It Like A Caveman Music and laughter together. $7 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400. www.myspace.com/jjsbohemia

Nathan Bell, Angaleena Presley 12:30 p.m. First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Carter Street.

(423) 648-2496. www.chattanoogamarket.com Lou Wamp & Friends, Gerle Haggard, Bluegrass Pharoahs 4 p.m. Crabtree Farms, 1000 E. 3rd St. (423) 493-9155. www.crabtreefarms.org Open Mic w/Jeff Daniels 4 p.m. Ms. Debbie’s Nightlife Lounge 4762 Highway 58, (423) 485-0966. www.myspace.com/debbieslounge Irish Music 6:30 p.m. Tremont Tavern, 1203 Hixson Pike. (423) 266-1996. www.tremonttavern.com Open Mic Gene’s Bar & Grill, 724 Ashland Terrace, (423) 870-0880. myspace.com/genem14

Editor’s Pick: Featured Event Of The Week Gringo Star, Howlies, The Rayons This is a don’t-miss bill with Atlanta’s crazy Gringo Star and power-pop-new-wave with The Rayons.

This moniker may be a fairly groan-worthy play on the Beatles’ drummer’s name, but there’s certainly nothing off putting about their sound. $7, 10 p.m.

Saturday, September 19 JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400. www.myspace.com/ jjsbohemia

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New Music Reviews Merzbow 13 Japanese Birds Volume 8: Kokuchou (Important)

“A Pollock painting isn’t simply a random mess; similarly, the music of Tokyo artist Masami Akita, the man behind Merzbow, isn’t just random noise.”

Various Artists Esopus #12: Black and White (Esopus)

It makes sense that the Seattle quartet the Intelligence has a home on the garage rock label In the Red, but the band seems to be driven by an urge to smash genres, not content to do basic retreads of gritty, nostalgic rock. Every track on the group’s latest album, Fake Surfers, seems to go in a different direction; however, each falls in with a sound identity marked with a carefully crafted low-fidelity antisheen. There’s a bit of pop/rock from

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As the story goes, according to filmmaker Stan Brakhage, an inebriated Jackson Pollock once demonstrated that his painting style was not a result of “chance operations” by flicking paint across the room and hitting his target—a doorknob—that was 35 feet away. A Pollock painting isn’t simply a random mess; similarly, the music of Tokyo artist Masami Akita, the man behind Merzbow, isn’t just random noise.

Merzbow is an unequaled act and revered by many both in and out of the noise world, including Sonic Youth and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, and over Akita’s prolific career, he’s been able to explore noise from just about every angle. A case in point is his insane 50-CD compilation Merzbox, the most impressive noise release ever and also one of the most audacious releases in musical history, which demonstrates abundantly the wide range of moods that can be evoked using noise. Merzbow’s current effort is similarly ambitious; between January of this year and next January, Merzbow is releasing 13 monthly installments of his project 13 Japanese Birds. It’s inspired by composer and ornithologist Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux, a set of 13 piano pieces, each of which uses a different bird’s song. the British Invasion workbook and some proto-punk thrashing about, but there are always a few odd elements lurking in each song, like a no-wave dissonance or scrappy weirdness, along the lines of early Residents or Chrome material.

“Debt & ESP” begins like it might be replicating some sick electronics from Throbbing Gristle, but it’s just a fake-out—the real song starts up with a great, dumb rhythmic tug, like a bratty teenage son of “My Sharona.”

“Saint Bartolomeu” shimmies into the room, and you can practically envision the teenagers twisting away to it, until the strangeness creeps in and engulfs the song with unexplained sounds. Synthetic beats and tones get dirtied up on “I Hear Depression,” which sounds like some lost post-punk era b-side, and “Warm Transfers” is a peculiar, cavernous

By Ernie Paik

The latest release, Volume 8: Kokuchou, begins with the powerful track “Mesmerism,” which centers on a distorted loop, enhanced with feedback and piercing noise shrieks with wavering frequencies. It’s followed by the 24-minute “Black Swan,” on which Akita plays the drums (as he does on this entire series) relentlessly and freely, aligning somewhat with a grindcore style but with a more disorderly approach; at the 9-minute mark, the drums let up slightly, bringing the listener’s attention to the shattering electronic screams. “Colored Rain” wanders with damaged, synthetic nature sounds that are somewhere between drizzle and a crackling forest fire, and the plodding “Ushiwaka 2” features relatively conventional drumbeats threatening to go out of phase with a looped beat. It’s a harsh, chaotic and demanding album; it’s also a compelling album, and that’s no accident. ditty, with reverb-drenched drum beats, a swinging acoustic guitar, and unabashedly cheery whistling.

There’s even a foray into rockabilly, “Universal Babysitter,” with a loopy slide guitar, and the album closes with its shortest track, “The Unessential Cosmic Perspective,” which could be a bizarro-world take of the Fall, but without the Mark E. Smith ranting.

With 12 songs clocking in at a little over half an hour, no track is long enough to wear out its welcome, and the Intelligence happily delivers the goods without an insider smugness or being insufferably blasé. They clearly enjoy straying away from the middle of the road and staying on their toes; they avoid sounding boring by simply not being bored.

The Intelligence will play JJ’s Bohemia on September 21.

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Ask A Mexican

The Triumph of Guatemala

By Gusatvo Arellano themexican@askamexican.net

Dear Mexican, We gabachos get differing reports regarding the Reconquista. Some say it’s a genuine movement, well underway. Others claim it’ll never happen, but that it’s useful as a slogan that both antagonizes white America and energizes young Mexicans.

Let’s say for now that it’s a genuine movement destined for success. What would victory look like? I mean culturally, politically, etc.?

Would the ideal situation be for Mexico to annex the Southwest, or would it be preferred as a separate political entity, where Spanish is the language and Mexican culture is upheld, but without the drawbacks of being actually part of Mexico (kind of like the situation with Taiwan and China)?

As I think about it, I guess what I’m trying to ask is how much influence does U.S. culture have on Mexicans that have lived in this country for a while? Do they start to appreciate some aspects of the American way of life enough to want to retain them into the future, or would everything American be rejected?

— Curious Gabacho in Oregon Dear Gabacho, You were doing such a good job, but that Know Nothing doubt at the end—¿qué chingada? OF COURSE Mexicans appreciate the American way—if it wasn’t the case, you wouldn’t have seen so many of us screwed over by the mortgage meltdown. Gotta keep up with the

Gonzalezes, you know?

But you really want to know what we wabs have in store for the Reconquista. Very simple. First, we exile Carlos Mencia. Then we’ll intermarry with all races to further the melting pot us Mexis created but you gabachos usurped. Some anchor baby will become presidente, equipped with a college degree just to f*** with y’all.

Being good students of American history, we’ll make sure not to discriminate against minorities like ustedes did. The United States will continue stronger than before, and with no real change because Mexicans didn’t come to this país to turn it into another Mexico. But we’ll become too American—eventually, our growing sloth will be our downfall, and the Guatemalans will destroy us all.

Dear Mexican, From which states do the majority of Mexicans in the United States come from? I often see window and bumper stickers with the names of Mexican states. Do Mexicans distinguish themselves with statehood pride, apart from Mexican pride?

— Stately Señor Dear Gabacho, Segunda question first: yes, just like Americans do, and just like goombahs distinguish their heritage as, say, either Sicilian or Genovese. First pregunta: It depends on where you live in los Estados Unidos. Numbers on the breakdown of how many Mexicans from a particular state have invaded the U.S. are notoriously inexact, with neither American or Mexican ethnographers providing accurate stats

due to the double curveball of pochos who still identify with their parents’ states (like your humble wab—¡puro Jerez, Zacatecas, cabrones!) and illegals.

Historically, the top states sending Mexicans to el Norte were from the northern and central parts of the country—Sonora, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Michoacán and the like—due to proximity, socioeconomic strife, and chain migration. But with the advent of the Reconquista, different Mexicans go to different places, and a lot of them are Mexicans gabachos never knew existed. California has the largest communities of folks from Oaxaca, many who don’t even speak Spanish as a first language.

In Chicago, the dominant group is the chingones from Durango, whose main contributions to Mexi culture are Pancho Villa and pasito duranguense. It seems every third Mexican in Texas who ain’t Tex-Mex comes from northern Mexico, specifically Nuevo Leon, Tamaulimpas, and Chihuahua. And so many people from the central Mexican state of Puebla have migrated to the Big Apple in the past couple of decades—more than half of all Mexicans in the city, according to the Institute for Mexicans Abroad— that those in the know call it Puebla York.

So, gabachos: know your Mexicans so you better know how to hate.

Quick hint: tell those from Jalisco they’re little better than nayaritas…

“The United States will continue stronger than before, and with no real change because Mexicans didn’t come to this país to turn it into another Mexico.

We’ll become too American— eventually, our growing sloth will be our downfall, and the Guatemalans will destroy us all.”

Ask the Mexican at themexican@ askamexican.net, myspace.com/ocwab, find him on Facebook, Twitter, or write via snail mail at: Gustavo Arellano, P.O. Box 1433, Anaheim, CA 92815-1433.

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The Pulse Real Estate Guide

To list your Residential or Commercial Real Estate, Contact Rhonda Rollins at (423) 242-7680