The Pulse 10.02 » Jan. 10-16, 2013

January 10, 2013

Vol. 10 • No. 2

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

world of

WOODCRAFT

Chattanooga a new haven for artisan woodworking

By Janis Hashe

MUSIC robert earl keen ARTS THE NOOGA TIMES book REVIEW food pho facts

2 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

THIS WEEK IN THE PULSE » JANUARY 10-16, 2013

ROBERT EARL KEEN

• The Texas troubadour has built a reputation as one of the nation’s finest musical storytellers, but is often guided by several selfimposed rules and traditions that are often the antithesis of music industry standards. He returns to Chattanooga on Thursday, Jan. 17, for a show at Track 29. Richard Winham offers his observations on Keen this week in Music. »P8

On the cover » David Crewe’s retro-futuristic speaker and stand • See feature story on Page 11 ADVERTISING

Director of Sales Mike Baskin Account Executives Julie Brown • Eric Foster • Rhonda Gay • John Holland Rick Leavell • Jerry Ware • Josh Williams

CONTACT

EDITORIAL

Editor/Creative Director Bill Ramsey Operations Manager/Webmaster Mike McJunkin Contributors Rich Bailey • Rob Brezsny • Chuck Crowder John DeVore • Janis Hashe • Matt Jones Chris Kelly • Mike McJunkin • Ernie Paik Sarah Skates • Alex Teach • Richard Winham Photographers Kim Hunter • Josh Lang Cartoonists Max Cannon • Richard Rice Tom Tomorrow Interns Gaby Dixon • Julia Sharp • Esan Swan

The Pulse • 1305 Carter St. • Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone 423.265.9494 Fax 423.266.2335 Web chattanoogapulse.com Email info@chattanoogapulse.com Calendar calendar@chattanoogapulse.com THE FINE PRINT The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news. 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. We’re watching. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors. © 2013 Brewer Media. All rights reserved.

BREWER MEDIA GROUP Publisher & President Jim Brewer II

chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 3

BOWL

THE

SEEING STARS

Winkler back in town for World of Wheels For the second time in less than six months, actor Henry Winkler will visit Chattanooga in what is becoming a relatively common, if not curious occurrence.

Winkler is best known to a generation of fans as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on “Happy Days,” a G-rated hybrid of Marlon Brando and James Dean who became synonymous with the response, “Ayyyy,” and who then quite literally jumped the shark, giving birth to the term used to describe that moment when something that was once great has reached a point of decline.

More recently, Winkler, 67, has starred in the popular TV series “Royal Pains” and “Hero Factory,” as well as smaller roles in a string of TV shows since his “Happy Days” heyday (and don’t forget Night Shift, the cult comedy also starring a young Michael Keaton). So, he’s not exactly out of work or struggling for cash.

So why spend the weekend signing stills and endlessly posing (thumbs up!) with aging fans? We requested an interview with Winkler to find out, but alas the holidays intervened and nothing transpired.

Nevertheless, Winkler will return to town over the weekend for the annual World of Wheels custom car show to do just that. He was last spotted in Chattanooga in September, appearing at a benefit for the Mountain Education Fund (at which time he Tweeted, “You want friendly??? Go to Chattanooga!!!”)

Prior to that appearance, the actor was the featured speaker at Memorial Health Care System’s 2006 Family Expo in 2006.

Investigating this (obscure, some would say obsessive or idiotic) phenomenon, we dug deeper. (Ayyyy—we’re The Pulse, what do you expect? The Pentagon Papers? Watergate?) Without the benefit of an interview, the best reason we can point to is Winkler’s ties to the Children’s Action Network, which raises awareness of and provides for children’s needs. Winkler and his wife, Stacy, are founding members of the organization and seek out projects that create quality entertainment for children. Makes sense.

This would explain his trips here as the star power behind the MEF fundraiser and Memorial Hospital’s Family Expo, but not

TALK OF THE NOOG chattanoogapulse.com facebook/chattanoogapulsE SEND LETTERS TO: INFO@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

the obvious money-grab that is the autograph booth at World of Wheels where, incidentally, one can also personally encounter Danielle Colby-Cushman from “American Pickers.” Neither Pinky nor Leather Tuscadero, she is nonetheless nothing to sneeze at.

We’d not waste the time or energy on such “Happy Days” alums as Anson “Potsie” Williams or Donny “Ralph Malph” Most—or even Erin “Joannie” Moran, who most certainly could use the cash—were they to appear. After all, most of the show’s cast—excluding Winkler and star Ron Howard—recently sued seeking royalties for merchandise sold by CBS bearing their likenesses, including comic books, DVDs, T-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, lunch boxes, and other trinkets manufactured in China. The case was settled out of court last summer.

Winkler is another story.

4 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

Its no secret that former stars often pimp themselves out at conventions. That long list—which might begin with the original cast of “Star Trek”—is littered with many ex-notables who find themselves in need of an audience and money. We once encountered a depressed and overweight Val Kilmer signing 8x10 glossies of his former self in a booth at ComicCon in San Diego next to former “Buck Rogers in the 21st Century” star Erin Gray. (Gray, now 62, was, incidentally, a delight—and still a babe).

As with Kilmer, it saddens us somewhat to see him at this level. But he does meet convention-celebrity appearance criteria, so why not duck into a quiet,mid-size Southern city for a quick pile of cash on an otherwise uneventful weekend. There are worse gigs.

Welcome back, Henry.

And forgive us if we almost said “Kotter.”

stage

One-man show pays tribute to Leopold

On Friday, Jan. 11, Chattanooga storyteller Jim Pfitzer will present his oneman play “Aldo Leopold—A Standard of Change,” followed by a celebration of the conservation pioneer’s 126th birthday, complete with live music, cake and a Leopold-themed raffle. Both the play and the celebration will be at Barking Legs Theater, located at 1307 Dodds Ave. Since Pftizer’s play premiered last April in Chattanooga, he has performed it at Bonnaroo, the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Wisconsin and at venues in West Virginia, Minnesota and North Carolina.

Now according to Pfitzer, the pace of engagements is increasing dramatically as word of the play spreads. After the Jan. 11 celebration, he hits the road for eight shows in January and February in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

The play was praised by Buddy Huffaker, executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, who said, “‘A Standard of Change’ brings Leopold’s life and vision of a land ethic into the present and looks to the future for audiences both new to Leopold and those that have long looked to him and A Sand County Almanac for guidance and inspiration.”

Leopold lived from 1887 to 1948. As a scientist and forester, he was responsible for creating and implementing environmental policies that he later came to believe were misguided and harmful. Eventually, his ideas and advocacy played an influential role in the modern movement for wilderness conservation and wildlife management and in the development of what he called a “land ethic” that recog-

nized and preserved the value of biodiversity and functional ecosystems. His book, A Sand County Almanac, which laid out his ideas and described this restoration of a degraded farm, became an environmental classic and has sold more than two million copies.

When Pfitzer was researching the play, he spent two nights in the small cabin Leopold stayed in while restoring that land, which is now managed by the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Wisconsin. One of his January engagements will be at the Leopold Heritage Group in Burlington, Iowa, where he will spend the night in Leopold’s childhood home.

Tickets are $10 at the door or $11 via PayPal. For more info on the play or to purchase tickets, visit astandardofchange. com.

SCREEN

Gig City Film Festival on tap for February Can the emotive power of cinema help to solve the problem of violence and intolerance? The first Gig City Film Fest, dubbed “A Season for Nonviolence,” hopes to provide context to that probing, unrelenting question.

On Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Heritage House in East Brainerd, the festival will screen five films—“The Interrupters,” “Kinyarwanda,” “Bully,” “Erasing Hate,” and“The Intouchables”—all debuting in 2011 and each focusing on the issue with unique perspectives.

Sponsored by the Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture, the festival addresses one of the most pressing issues of today and hopes to create an interactive, cathartic experience for its audience, according to Kris Jones of the Heritage House.

A mayoral proclamation issued during Dr. Arun Gandhi’s (grandson of the late Mahatma Gandhi) visit last September to Chattanooga marked the city’s commitment to becoming a “Season for Nonviolence” city this month.

Working in conjunction with the Nashville Film Festival, the Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission and the National Coalition of Independent Film Organizations, the festival’s theme seeks to build tolerance and understanding and guide a community conversation.

The all-day festival runs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. with breaks.An all-day pass is $15; individual tickets are $5, available at the Memorial Auditorium Box Office or online at chattanooga.gov. For more information, visit chattanooga.gov or Facebook at facebook.com/gigcityfilmfestival.

On the Beat

alex teach

Bond of the Badge

I

was in a hot tub when a complete stranger across from me asked if “the deal about the thin blue line, about the camaraderie” of cops was as real as TV and movies makes it out to be?

Over the years, people have often ask me the same questions over and over about my job: “Have you ever killed someone?”

“Is that body armor really heavy?” “Do you really not have to pay for your gasoline?”

The repetitive “Hey! Hey, he’s the one you came for!” jokes get old after the 72nd time, but I genuinely never tire of answering these questions, no matter how many times I’ve heard them. In this case, I answered with a “Yes and no” to the man sharing the 104-degree water.

“Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to something life-and-death and the far less intense things in between, it’s all 100 percent true,” I said, “But otherwise? We’re no different than most places of business. You don’t leave an expensive flashlight lying around; we stab each other in the back over booty; and I can think of maybe only one story in which a cop was willing to give up their job for the stupid mistake of another.” I paused to reflect for a moment, and added, “But it’s like that in most places. We just get a brighter spotlight than most.”

The stranger looked puzzled, but he was attempting to disguise it. I cut ahead of his next words by saying, “You ever heard the phrase, ‘I can trust you with my life, but not my wallet’? I’m fairly certain that came from a cop.” He nodded knowingly, to my relief.

It’s not my goal to disappoint anyone or shatter any myths, but it’s also not as concrete and pervasive as Hollywood would have you believe with their conspiratorial “bad cop fests” that promote an idea for their sexy allure, that of a “line” between cops and the public they serve. Are there lines between them?

Absolutely, but not when it comes to matters that border on or clearly become of criminal in nature.

People inherently fear authority figures, and fear is an emotion that does not produce much in the way of positive thinking. That disdain, in turn, makes it difficult for the average cop who is busting his or her ass to feel even remotely appreciated for the sacrifices they make and the risks they take.

The camaraderie I speak of is less dramatic, but something that most of you can relate to. Any reader who works or has worked in the food and beverage industry knows what I’m referring to when they are on duty and another bartender or waiter or waitress comes in for service.

You don’t overtly treat them differently from other customers present, but there is an unspoken “rule” you observe known

as professional courtesy.

It is an unspoken mandate that you give them a discount that is or is not within your employers policy, just as it is an equally unspoken mandate that you, the guest, compensate your host despite the lower total on any bills they may have provided (if you get a check at all). You take care of them, they take care of you—because they “understand.”

Is that so sinister, so wrong? That is the subtle feeling I am trying to describe when talking about that bond between police officers. A silent understanding that you are dealing with another person who understands things that so few others could.

Someone who understands why you can’t just go home and talk about your “day at the office” when that day consisted of seeing a child’s corpse blackened and charred in the back of an SUV that caught fire on the interstate a few hours before—and seeing the parent that discovers it. Someone who you can talk to without ever saying a word. Now that is a bond, and most marriages don’t even have that.

That bond, that camaraderie is not about lying or cover-ups or subterfuge.

It’s about understanding and respect. And that much is true.

But trust me on the expensive flashlights. Also, don’t ever, ever bother trying to eat a Central Park burger in a hot tub.

Alex Teach is a police officer of nearly 20 years experience. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/alex.teach. chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 5

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6 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

LIST

THE

SAT01.12

» pulse PICK of the litter

Wild About Wilde

The Magic Math, The Recruits, Woodford Sessions

• Going through customs in New York in 1882, the playwright, novelist, poet and bon vivant Oscar Wilde famously quipped: “I have nothing to declare … except my genius.” That remark inspired the title of an upcoming series of classes about Wilde and his many creative outlets created by journalist and teacher Janis Hashe 10 years ago in California.

Beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 15, the five-week

• Word online is Magic Math is “friggin’ great!”

9 p.m. • The Honest Pint • 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192 • thehonestpint.com

Chattanooga author follows Wilde in America

EVENT

• In “Declaring His Genius: Oscar Wilde in North America,” Chattanooga author Roy Morris Jr. follows the adventures of the Irishborn writer, who

World of Wheels

The List is a curated selection of highlights from the live music and arts and entertainment calendars chosen by Pulse editors.

» pulse PICKS

THU01.10 MUSIC

EVENT Art + Issues: Pockets of Chattanooga • Gallery dialogue with the TFP’s David Cook.

6 p.m. • Hunter Museum • 10 Bluff View (423) 267-0968 • huntermuseum.org

FRI01.11

series will examine a part of Wilde’s life and a genre of his work each week.

Hashe knows her subject well and has visited many of the major sites in Wilde’s history: His birthplace in Dublin, Trinity University in the city where he first matriculated, Magdalen College at Oxford (where he received his “First”), the London house on Tite Street where some of his most famous work was written, and his grave in in Paris.

came to the United States in 1882 and spent nearly a year traveling the country lecturing on what he termed “the

MUSIC Cherub • Fiendishly talented Nashville duo. See Page 9.

10 p.m.• Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. • rhythm-brews.com

EVENT Aldo Leopold: A Standard of Change • Jim Pfitzer’s one-man show. See Page 4.

7 p.m. • Barking Legs Theater • 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 • barkinglegs.org

“I almost feel that I actually knew Oscar,” says Hashe, “and I love sharing what an unexpected man he was in so many ways.”

“Oscar Wilde: Nothing Except My Genius” 6:30-8:30 p.m. $150/$35 Tuesdays, Jan. 15, 22 & 29 and Feb. 5 & 12 The English Rose Tea Room 1401 Market St. (423) 622-2862 jhashe@epbfi.com

science of the beautiful.”

During the 11 months he spent in the U.S. and Canada, Wilde traveled more than 15,000 miles and delivered some 140 lectures, from Boston to San Francisco, Montreal to the Rio Grande.

Morris, a former newspaper reporter for the Chattanooga Times and News-Free Press, is the editor of Military Heritage magazine. He has published six previous books on the Civil War and post-Civil War eras.

The book is published by Harvard University Press and is available locally at Barnes & Noble, BooksA-Million and online at Amazon.com.

MUSIC The Machine • Top-notch Pink Floyd tribute by veteran musicians performing a variety of Floyd’s classics.

9:30 p.m. • Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St.• rhythm-brews.com

• Meet Henry “The Fonz” Winkler and reality show celebs at the classic car show. See The Bowl on Page 4 for more on Winkler in Chattanooga.

10 a.m.-10 p.m. • Convention Center 1150 Carter St. • worldofwheels.net

SUN01.13 MUSIC Neshawn Calloway • A “Southside Casual Classics” performance.

7:30 p.m. • The Camp House • 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-808 • thecamphouse.com

EVENT “Avenue Q” • A puppet version of “Friends,” but with more angst, expletives and full-on puppet sex.

2:30 p.m. • Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga 1918 Union Ave. • (423) 987-5141 ensembletheatreofchattanooga.com

Don’t stop now!

Sign up this month for our Auto-Renewal Package and get your first month for $135 (reg. $150)*

*Package requires 3-month commitment.

E BRAINERD 1414 JENKINS ROAD • STE 122 • 423.468.4960 NORTH SHORE 214 MANUFACTURERS ROAD • 423.580.1162 • PUREBARRE.COM chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 7

LIVE MUSIC CHATTANOOGA JAN

JOHN & THE CONNORS A DAMN FINE BAND

CHERUB with SMOOTH DIALECTS ELECTRO-POP FROM THE FUTURE!

THE MACHINE

THE BEST PINK FLOYD TRIBUTE EVER

JESSTA JAMES with ZACH DYLAN BAND

THE DELTA SAINTS

FOOT-STOMPIN’ ROOTS ROCK & ROLL

10 FRI. 10p 11 SAT. 9:30p 12 WED. 9p 16 THU. 9:30p 17

THU. 9:30p

1.18: JORDAN HALLQUIST COMEBACK TOUR 1.19: VELCRO PYGMIES 1.23: JESSTA JAMES ALL SHOWS 21+ UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED • NON-SMOKING VENUE

221 MARKET STREET

HOT MUSIC • FINE BEER • GREAT FOOD BUY TICKETS ONLINE • RHYTHM-BREWS.COM

SPECIAL ISSUE • JAN. 17 honest music

Keen Insights Robert Earl Keen: Southern Gothic with a Twist of Lemon

By Richard Winham

Robert Earl Keen 8 p.m. • Thursday, Jan. 17 $22 (advance) $25 (day of show) Track 29 1400 Market St. (423) 521-2929 track29.co

R

obert Earl Keen is a paradox. On one hand, he’s a careful writer who spends hours crafting his songs, the best of which are like Flannery O’Connor short stories set to music. Yet he doesn’t seem to care whether anyone actually listens to them. He and his band would rather play to “crazy, rowdy, drunk crowds” than to attentive audiences.

“Getting up for [a quiet audience] is a little more difficult than riding the wave of a crowd of screaming, yelling, happy people,” he told blogger Blake Phillips in a candid online interview. “You’ve got to be a little more on your toes with a crowd that really listens.”

At their best, Keen’s songs are epigrammatic, sometimes Southern Gothic short stories. Take “The Road Goes On Forever (And The Party Never Ends).” If you only pay attention to the chorus (as I did for a long time), it’s a party song; a rambunctious ode to licentiousness. It’s been the centerpiece of his sets for years, but for a time that chorus backfired on him.

Many of the people coming

to his shows assumed that he lived the life he celebrated in his songs. “A lot of frat kids started showing up at shows, and it was a double-edged sword,” he told an interviewer on his website. “They were energetic—maybe too energetic—and that drove off the other people. And here are all these guys saying, ‘He’s really drunk tonight’ or somebody writing I was drunk on stage.

I never drink a beer before or

during a show. I might have a beer or a cocktail afterward, but people had this perception about me being drunk.”

He’s a walking contradiction whose stories are partly truth and partly fiction. “I think that every good piece of fiction stems from a true story,” Keen told Phillips. And when they’re spiced with a little imagination, the stories are that much better.

Keen learned that lesson long ago, along with his friend Lyle Lovett, when he was an English major and Lovett was studying journalism at Texas A&M. When they weren’t in class together they often sat talking about songwriting and playing their guitars on Keen’s porch, wearing little more than their underwear (much to the dismay of the churchgoers across the street).

Lovett had a profound influence on Keen’s writing, and eventually the two wrote a song together (that Lovett included it on his first album suggests the respect was reciprocal). Called “This Old Porch,” it details the reasons they both always return to their small-town roots. The first two verses celebrate the world they knew growing up, while the third and fourth lament its rapid decline. But the closing verse, repeated to press the point, is a paean to that peculiarly stubborn Texan spirit of revival, “And this old porch is just a long time of waiting and forgetting / And remembering the coming back and KEEN»P10

local and regional shows

Summer More Than Others with Boardwalk Carnival ($3) The Magic Math with The Recruits &Woodford Sessions ($5) Crass Mammoth with Boxing the Compass ($3) To Light a Fire with Bearhound & The Hearts in Light ($5)

Wed, Jan 9 Thu, Jan 10 Wed, Jan 16 Thu, Jan 17

Special Shows

Tess Brunet (of Au Ras Au Ras) • Sun, Jan 20 • 8 pm • Free Show!

Sundays: Live Trivia 4-6pm • Free Live Irish Music at 7pm Jan 13: Olta • Jan 27 Molly Maguires

8 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

9pm 9pm 9pm 9pm

Full food menu serving lunch and dinner.

11am-2am, 7 days a week.

35 Patten Parkway * 423.468.4192 thehonestpint.com * Facebook.com/thehonestpint

Chattanooga Live THU 01.10 Open Mic with Hap Henninger 8 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 The Magic Math, The Recruits, Woodford Sessions 9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.com John & The Connors 9:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com

fri 01.11 Unchained 8 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Jerrod Niemann 8 p.m. Track 29, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-4323 track29.co Hap Henninger 9 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 Scenic City Soul Revue 9:30 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com Ashely and theX’s 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400 Sandy & Greg 10 p.m. T-Bones, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240 tboneschattanooga.com

(423) 266-1400 Husky Burnette 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road (423) 499-9878 budssportsbar.com Kelsey’s Woods 10 p.m. T-Bones, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240 tboneschattanooga.com Stereotype 10 p.m. Raw,409 Market St. (423) 756-1919

CALENDAR@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

CHERUB • The avante garde, electro-pop duo Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber from Nashville claim to be the dance love-child of ’80s funk and pop-music from the future. Cherub offers a fresh, electrified take on risqué pop music that brings to mind timeless artists like Prince, Zapp and Roger with a live show bouncing with energy.

Local favorites Smooth Dialects open the show.

sun 01.13 Neshawn Calloway 7:30 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-808 thecamphouse.com PeeWee Moore & Friends 9 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919

FRI 01.11 10 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com

sat 01.12 Manifest 8 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Stallion

9 p.m. SkyZoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533 skyzoochattanooga.com Scenic City Soul Revue 9:30 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com The Machine 9:30 p.m.Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Big Bette & She-She Dance 10 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 Behold the Brave, Milktooth, Butch Ross 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

RAW party, redefined.

Ashely and the X’s

Saturday • January 12

Autism Benefit Show Behold the Brave • Milktooth Butch Ross & More

Thursday • January 17 Loves It

Friday • January 18 Arpetrio

Saturday • January 19 Col. Bruce Hampton, Ret.

tue 01.15 C. Lavendar: Dinner Music & Segmented Worms 10 p.m. Sluggo’s North, 501 Cherokee Blvd. shakingray.com

Husky Burnette 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road (423) 499-9878, budssportsbar.com Cherub, Smooth Dialects 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Stereotype 10 p.m. Raw , 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919

Friday • January 11

wed 01.16 Laura Thurston 8 p.m. T-Bones, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240 tboneschattanooga.com Crass Mammoth, Boxing the Compass 9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.com Jessta James, Zach Dylan 9 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Johnathan Wimpee, Andy Elliot 10 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919

Wednesday • January 23 Dirty Bourbon River Show

Saturday • January 26

Wally & Friends Benefit Show Bluesfront & The Georgia Rhythm

JJ’s Bohemia • 231 E MLK Blvd 423.266.1400 • jjsbohemia.com

SPECIAL ISSUE • JAN. 17

LIVE MUSIC & DJs THIS WEEK FRI & SAT•JAN 11/12 STEREOTYPE 1st Floor DJ REGGIE REG 2nd Floor SUN•JAN 13 PEE WEE MORE & FRIENDS Live on the 1st Floor MON & TUE•JAN 14/15 DJ SPICOLI Dancing on the 2nd Floor

WED•JAN 16 JOHNATHAN WIMPEE & ANDY ELLIOT Open Players Jams

tWO fLOOrS • One big party • Live MuSic • dancing • 409 Market St • 423.756.1919 open 7 days a week » full menu until 2am » 21+ » smoking allowed chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 9

901 Carter St (Inside Days Inn) 423-634-9191

Between the Sleeves record reviews • ernie paik

Thursday, Jan. 10: 8 p.m.

Open Mic with Hap Henninger Friday, Jan. 11: 9pm Hap Henninger Saturday, Jan. 12: 10pm Big Bette & She-She Dance Tuesday, Jan. 15: 7pm

Server/Hotel Appreciation Night $5 Pitchers $2 Wells $1.50 Domestics All shows are free with dinner or 2 drinks!

Stop by & check out our daily specials! ●

Happy Hour: Mon-Fri: 4-7pm $1 10oz drafts, $3 32oz drafts, $2 Wells, $1.50 Domestics, Free Appetizers

Facebook.com/theofficechatt

java script The Pulse takes an aromatic tour of chattanooga coffeehouses

January 24 call 423.265.9494

for advertising information

Various Artists Country Funk 1969-1975 (Light in the Attic)

T

his writer remembers a few years ago when he first heard fingerstyle guitarist Leo Kottke’s 1971 album Mudlark—in particular, the tracks “June Bug” and his take on the blues standard “Poor Boy.” Kottke’s playing is impressive, as expected, but what was particularly striking was the use of arrangements that were unusual for folk/blues numbers with a clearly funk-based rhythm section. The distinct thought was, “Why isn’t there more stuff like this?”

There is, but it’s not so easy to find. Luckily, the kind people at Light in the Attic have served up the compilation Country Funk 1969-1975 to scratch that itch that just doesn’t get scratched enough.

These tunes are not simply some kind of Johnny Cash meets James Brown Frankenstein’s monster; for the most part, they offer subtle, natural-sounding blends of electric country-rock with the key funk element of head-nod-inducing drumbeats.

On a conceptual level, these seem like novelties, but rarely do they sound like them. Also, all the artists involved seem to have a self-awareness about the seldom-trod territory into which they venture, and they play off the humor of the situation, like Jim Ford singing “I’m gonna make her love me ‘til the cows come home.” Another play on the “women are

10 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

maneaters” trope of country music comes in “Piledriver”

by Dennis The Fox, with the chuckle-worthy line “She’s a truck-driving, piledriving mean mother trucker of a girl.” Even more self-aware is the track “Lucas Was a Redneck,” infusing soul into country as a sort of musical revenge against the song’s subject, an alcoholic, racist hippie-hater.

A good amount of variety is found here, even when considering the “country funk” label bestowed upon this material, from the gospel influences on “Georgia Morning Dew” by Johnny Adams, to slide-guitar blues, all-out horn accents and unexpected moments like the harpsichord intro to “Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham”

by John Randolph Marr. The rhythmic momentum of the album carries it, with certain tracks being overshadowed by bolder standouts, but it’s an entertaining compilation that transcends novelty more often than expected.

Loren Connors & Suzanne Langille I Wish I Didn’t Dream (Northern Spy)

F

ifteen years ago, the Chelsea space that served as the home of the Brecht Forum found a convergence of four people, key to the creation of the new album I Wish I Didn’t Dream on Northern Spy Records.

Experimental guitarist Loren Connors became acquainted with Kurt Gottschalk, a no-

table DJ for the freeform New York City radio station WFMU, and Tom Abbs, now president of Northern Spy Records, would curate festivals at the location, occasionally employing artist M P Landis to create paintings while musical performances unfolded.

Years after the convergence, the cycle of inspiration continues with Connors and his partner, vocalist Suzanne Langille, making an improvised soundtrack that was recorded as the duo viewed slides of Landis’s artwork to be presented in a book with accompanying text by Gottschalk. Beginning with some of her own lyrics, plus those by poets including Keats and Denis McCarthy, Langille uses a combination of spoken words and gently sung verses delivered starkly.

Soundtracks for paintings … spoken word pieces … improvised music ... already, some of you are likely rolling your eyes. Although it sounds like the makings of an art school student’s senior project, I Wish I Didn’t Dream actually avoids being distant and incomprehensible. Its emotions are entirely clear and articulated, and while Connors’s freely flowing, ghostly, phaser-effect-laden guitar abstractions may take some getting used to, it’s an album that makes an honest attempt to engage the listener.

“Come On, Come On” has an ominous child-like playfulness, with Langille imploring, “Let’s check it out, come on, we’ll have fun,” and “Just Find Your Shoes” peaks with an outburst of “Now ... now now ... now!” Other selections are more despairing, like the title track in which Langille reveals, “Dreams make me feel so cold. I’m always lost.”

The exhausted resignation of “Gotta Work” lets its spare lyrics resonate, allowing the guitar to carrying the haunting, dread-ridden feeling for most of the song’s six minutes.

Eerie, unsettling and minimal, there’s nothing hidden.

Intellectually, there’s nothing to “get”—it’s pure mood and emotion at work here.

P8«KEEN not crying about the leaving / And remembering the falling down and the laughter of the curse of luck / From all of those passersby who said we’d never get back up.”

That same spirit animates many of the characters found in Keen’s songs. Sherry and Sonny, the two small town kids in “The Road Goes On Forever (And The Party Never Ends)” are a great example.

Sherry’s a waitress in a local bar, Sonny deals dope trying to get by while trying to pass the test to get into the Navy.

One night when a guy who’d had too much to drink stepped over the line with Sherry, Sonny “took his pool cue (and) laid the drunk out on the floor.”

They took off together, ending up in Miami Beach. Money was tight and Sonny fell in with “some Cuban refugees” dealing “in contraband.” But just as he was about to consummate the deal, the house where they were meeting was raided. Sonny jumped out of the back window with a suitcase full of cash into the arms of a cop. Sherry had pulled the truck into the alley at the back of the house and she shot the cop.

The twist in the tale—with Keen there’s always a twist— comes when Sonny gives Sherry the cash telling her he’d pulled her into this mess and she should just go back home.

The tale ends with Sherry, driving a Mercedes, reading in the local paper that Sonny’s on death row.

I must have listened to that song—and sung along with the chorus—a hundred times, but until I began writing this piece I’d never listened to the story between the choruses.

According to the faithful, “true Robert Earl Keen fans” listen to the lyrics. That may be true, but even if you don’t it’s still a hell of a party.

Richard Winham is the producer and host of WUTC-FM’s afternoon music program and has observed the Chattanooga music scene for more than 25 years.

world of

WOODCRAFT Chattanooga becoming a haven for artisan woodworking

T

By Janis Hashe

he brochure for the Chattanooga Workworking Academy’s new Southside facility reads in part, “a four year course of study designed to prepare students for careers as professional cabinet makers, woodwrights and furniture makers.”

“Woodwrights,” like “playwrights,” derives from the word “wrought.”

Things wrought with your hands, your mind, your inspiration.

Quite a lot of wood is being wrought in Chattanooga right now, and the artists and craftspeople who work in wood are beginning to see their work recognized beyond city borders. Here are some reasons why: A Craft and a Trade

MainX24 revelers could trek south down Market Street a block and visit the grand opening of the Chattanooga Woodworking Academy’s new digs.

The rough-hewn pillars and cabin-like exterior are unmistakable. But the academy itself, according to founder and director of the nonprofit, Bill Carney, has already existed in some form for four years.

The new space represents a chance to expand its offerings as interest in the ancient craft continues to Bill Carney works on a project in the studio of his new Chattanooga Woodworking Academy on the Southside.

Photo • Kim Hunter

“I would like to see people have the same good life I’ve had through working with my hands.”

Bill Carney

Founder, Chattanooga Woodworking Academy grow.

Carney, a personable man in his 60s, tells the story of a life in wood that began with his maternal grandfather, a carpenter who came from the Smokey Mountains and made a career of dam-building with the TVA. Carney’s father built houses “on the side, and by the time I was in high school, I could build

a house by myself,” he says.

He went to college thinking he’d major in engineering, but wound up in wood technology, where “a great teacher” recognized his natural woodworking talent, and before he graduated, he was already making money building furniture.

But schools began abandoning vocational classes.

Carney says there have been a couple of “lost generations”—decades in which the chance to learn woodworking skills in school evaporated for most students. The former teacher and drill sergeant decided he could and would change this in Chattanooga. “I would like to see people have the same good life I’ve had through working with my hands,” he says. »P12

chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 11

Clockwise, bottom left: Chair by Rudd Montgomery; floor lamp by Aaron Cabeen; table by Rudd Mongomery; table by Aaron Cabeen; church bureau by David Crewe.

Carney turned to friends and colleagues for private support to start the academy, which has also received help from local foundations. The first big project was refurbishing “Poe’s Tavern,” built as a log home in 1817, and now standing proudly once again in Soddy-Daisy, where it is being turned into a museum. He shows off pictures in which volunteers ages 18 to 80 stand in front of the building they helped bring back to life.

Now, in the new facility, classes begin on Monday, Jan. 14, for the four-year program, designed to turn out apprentices, then journeymen, then master-status carpenters, along with the two-year program for advanced design and furniture making, as well as classes for people who just want to learn wood skills for fun. “We have many women signed up for these classes,” says Carney, emphasizing that the age-old skill and craft is now gender-blind.

The Woodshapers

Rudd Montgomery’s great-grandfather created the original Push Hard Lumber in Florida in the 1930s, he says.

Though Montgomery didn’t learn about this history until the ’90s, he emerged from college into job paths that left him longing to be outside and working with his hands. He moved back to Chattanooga and began building homes; in 1993, working with Scott Kelley Wooden Log Homes.

“That’s when I began to find the wood I liked,” he says,

12 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

wood tells him what it wants to be.

Crewe and Montgomery agree that a new generation of woodworkers is relocating to Chattanooga and that native talent is being nurtured here as well.

The New Generation

Aaron Cabeen sands wood at his Thorton Avenue studio.

Photo • Kim Hunter

old, sometimes very old, reclaimed wood, wood that has a story to tell.

He ended up buying a sawmill on Signal Mountain, formed relationships with the local tree-cutters and in 1997 started his own version of the Push Hard Lumber Company.

David Crewe, who had followed his dad around from age 4 and learned basic wood skills from him, decided to leave an engineering career in “about 1990” and built a woodworking shop on the same mountain. His original interest was recreating classic antique furniture forms: Queen Anne, Chippendale. The two men met and an idea formed.

“About five years ago, I began looking around and decided, ‘I have to sell all this stuff in

my living room’,” says Crewe.

Montgomery, who had been showing at the Chattanooga Market since 2001, was also interested in another outlet to sell his furniture. So, nearly four years ago, the two opened Area 61 on Main Street on the Southside, a gallery that has grown to include all kinds of artwork from more than 30 artists, but which still prominently features Montgomery’s signature “fishing chairs,” “book match” furniture pieces and those with natural edges, alongside Crewe’s work, much of which combines vivid colors with classic forms.

Both men also do a great deal of custom design, with Crewe recently branching out into stereo speaker cabinets, which, he says, meld his engineering expertise with his woodworking skills. Montgomery points to a piece currently at Area 61 that utilizes a hollow log as being an excellent example of how a piece of

Like the men above, Aaron Cabeen has a family history with wood. His dad was a carpenter, “and I always had a drive to use my hands,” he says. “Little did I know that he was teaching me important life and trade skills. I would regularly hear things like, ‘Be a craftsman about everything you do’. He taught me to work hard and take pride in my work.”

Cabeen’s sister introduced him to design concepts: “Theater, music, painting—she had an eye and now does home decoration,” he says.

Cabeen worked for his father every summer, honing his building skills. “We started to get some higher-end jobs with interior designers. There was something about what they did. It could literally change your mood whenever you went into a well-designed house,” he explains.

One designer began using “a couple of eccentric furniture makers who really caught my eye. She would design something and they would make it.

I asked them about the work they did and they encouraged me to make my own,” he says.

Cabeen bought some portable tools and started creating furniture out of the bed of his

truck. He started with an armoire and a foyer table. “Then I got jobs from the people we were already working for.

They let me make a couple of things.” Cabeen’s fine attention to detail and exquisite wood choices began to generate attention.

He created tables and builtins for local businesses, including The Terminal, The Honest Pint and the Warehouse, then eventually moved to the Business Development Center, where he continued to grow the business for three years, and completed the business development course SpringBoard. In December 2011, he moved Cabeen Originals to its current location at 206 Thornton Ave., where he continues to build furniture, specializing in hand-selected Appalachian woods, along with smaller pieces, such as mirrors, as well as custom wood interiors.

“I don’t have a degree, but I run a company and hire people. More and more people want something made in America,” he says.

Matt Sears majored in English in college before dropping out to take a job at an antiques refinishing shop in Athens, Ga. He became a shop foreman—and then, with his wife, moved to Portland, Ore., where she studied law and he worked with John Lake at the Portland Art Museum creating antique replicas.

But the South was calling, and in 2005, they moved to Chattanooga, which Sears was familiar with from outdoor

Chattanooga Woodworking Academy 1604 S. Market St. (423) 314-1301 chattwoodacademy @yahoo.com Area 61 Push Hard Lumber 61. E. Main St. (423) 648-9367 info@pushhardlumber.com pushhardlumber.com Cabeen Originals 3819 Calhoun Ave. (423) 521-0797 info@cabeenoriginals.com cabeenoriginals.com Haskell Sears Design 1800 Rossville Ave., Ste. B. (706) 207-0599 matt@haskelsearsdesign.com haskelsearsdesign.com

Matt Sears started Haskel Sears Design with $3,000 and a Home Depot credit card. He now employs seven people and says more young artisan woodworkers are moving to town each year.

Photo • Kim Hunter

activity expeditions. “Chattanooga is where Portland was 20 years ago, before all the traffic and the expensive cost of living,” he says. He got a job working at Greenlife Grocery, and then-owner Chuck Pruett hired him to build all the fixtures for the new store location.

“I started Haskel Sears Design with $3,000 and a Home Depot credit card,” Sears says.

“Now I have seven employ-

ees and we do work all over town.” Known for his “pipe and beam,” postmodern style that uses reclaimed heart pine, Sears is currently working on several high-profile commercial projects: fixtures inside the soon-to-open Enzo’s Grocery and the new Flying Squirrel pub at the Crash Pad, both on the Southside. The Flying Squirrel will feature a “canoe that is also a light fixture,” Sears says.

“I am also allowed to build the things I used to do, little pieces of art,” he says. “Each year, 30 or 40 more artists of my generation are moving to Chattanooga. It’s still affordable—and they are bringing businesses and starting businesses.”

Clockwise, top right: Counter bar by Matt Sears; audio speaker and stand by David Crewe; counter by Matt Sears; table by Aaron Cabeen; workstation by Matt Sears.

chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 13

Nooga Times Book Review Winder Binder Gallery & Bookstore ranks local bestsellers for 2012

By Rich Bailey

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inder Binder Gallery & Bookstore just released its 2012 bestseller list. There are a lot of familiar names if you were paying attention to books last year, plus a few surprises. Winder Binder tracks national bestsellers (combining fiction and nonfiction), local fiction and poetry and local nonfiction.

Arts

The store’s national bestseller list is led by familiar mega-hits but, surprisingly, they are outnumbered by serious fiction and a few classics. Two of “The Hunger Games” books top the list, but the third in the series is tied with Kurt Vonnegut’s 43-year old “Slaughterhouse-Five.” The overexposed (snicker, blush) “Fifty Shades of Grey” is also in a tie with one of the “Game of Thrones” novels. But the rest of the national list is made up of recent and classic literary fiction and nonfiction, including Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, David Sedaris and Harper Lee. So perhaps it’s not surprising that the local fiction and poetry bestsellers are all good stuff. The top two positions go to new books by Sybil Baker and Thomas P. Balazs, excellent fiction writers who teach at UTC. Baker’s “Into This World” takes a reluctant seeker to Korea chasing her prodigal sister and finding more secrets than she wanted. The stories in Balazs’s “Omicron Ceti III” are more magic realism and character study than the sci-fi title might imply.

Two first novels also made the list: “The Dating Dilemmas of Delilah Dunnfield” by Victoria Thurman, and “Moon Over Taylor’s Ridge” by Janie Dempsey Watts. Established Chattanooga poets are represented as well, with Finn Bille’s “Fire Poems” and the anthology “Southern Light: Twelve Contemporary Southern Poets,” edited by Bruce Majors,

14 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

Ray Zimmerman and Ed Lindberg.

The local nonfiction list tells an interesting tale. Spooky stories were big last year, with “Haunted Chattanooga” and “Chattanooga Chills” at No.’s 1 and 3. According to Smotherman, both surprised him by continuing to sell long after Halloween.

There’s also an outdoor guide called “Off-Road Trails.” And “Old Money New South,” Dean Arnold’s history of Chattanooga’s first families, is one of the store’s all-time best sellers, according to Smotherman.

But most of the remaining books on the local nonfiction list don’t actually require much reading. Five books on the list are historic photos with captions. I’m not knocking history picture books. Some of the photos are amazing. But I get an uneasy feeling when I see so much history without many words.

Thankfully, there are also some popular history books with a little more substance.

Jennifer Crutchfield’s “Chattanooga Landmarks” and “Legendary Locals” by William F. Hull (who compiled four of the picture books on the list) dig a little deeper, with Crutchfield focusing more on places and Hull on people. And Beth Roberts contributed a longer essay to the city’s most recent coffee table book, “Chattanooga’s Heroic Drive: The History of a Renaissance,” with an introduction by former mayor, now Sen. Bob Corker.

Fiction & Poetry

1. “Into This World,” Sybil Baker 2. (tie) “Cadillac Dave— Volume 1: Rebel Child Running Wild,” Dave Jackson 2. “Omicron Ceti III,” Thomas P. Balazs 4. “The Dating Dilemmas of Delilah Dunnfield,” Victoria Thurman 5. “Cadillac DaveVolume 2: The Fugitive Years,” Dave Jackson 6. (tie) “Fire Poems,” Finn Bille 6. “Cadillac Dave-Volume 4: Encounter in the Old Dominion,” Dave Jackson 6. “Moon Over Taylor’s Ridge,” Janie Dempsey Watts 9. “Cadillac Dave-Volume 3: Takin’ It To The Limit,” Dave Jackson 10. “Southern Light: Twelve Contemporary Southern Poets”

History & Non-Fiction 1. “Haunted Chattanooga,”

Still, where’s the serious history? Local historian Roy Morris regularly publishes critically acclaimed books on the Civil War and 19th century America—his latest is “Declaring His Genius: Oscar Wilde in North America,” a chronicle of the Irish wit’s U.S. tour—but rumor has it that a few interesting things have happened since the War of Northern Aggression.

Memoirs take up some of this slack, but can be a mixed bag. They shed light on interesting times, but most are not very well written. The four “Cadillac Dave” books on the list are a huge exception, chronicling the author’s odyssey from rebellious UTC student to being a federal fugitive and drug dealer to the stars and through to redemption.

Decades ago, when it was a much smaller and more insular community, Chattanooga

Amy Petula and Jessica Penot 2. “Chattanooga Then and Now,” William F. Hull 3. “Chattanooga Chills,” Mark Fults 4. “Old Money, New South,” Dean Arnold 5. “Chattanooga’s Heroic Drive: The History of a Renaissance,” Beth Ellen Roberts 6. “Remembering Chattanooga,” William F. Hull 7. “Off-Road Trails,” Elle Colquitt and Jon Livengood 8. “Historic Photos of Chattanooga in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s,” William F. Hull 9. “Lookout Mountain,” William F. Hull 10. (tie) “Chattanooga Landmarks: Exploring the History of the Scenic City,” Jennifer Crutchfield 10. “Legendary Locals of Chattanooga,” William F. Hull 10. “Signal Mountain,” Mary Scott Norris and Priscilla N. Shartle

produced civic historians like the late Gilbert Govan and James Lovingood, naturalists like Emma Bell Miles and Robert Sparks Walker— whose history of the Brainerd Mission was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1932—and prolific local children’s writers like William O. and Mary Q. Steele.

I know the market for History Lite is bigger, but where are the thoughtful, well-written books based on original research or personal experience? I’m genuinely surprised that I can’t walk into a bookstore and choose from half a dozen histories or memoirs of Chattanooga’s renaissance published in the last five or 10 years. These weren’t shoved off the bestseller by more commercial products. No one is writing them. But this is the stuff I want to read, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

Screen

Southern Spaghetti Western

By John DeVore

I

t seems that in the past year, the distance between the beginning and end of most films has lengthened drastically.

In some cases, the length is justified. Some stories are too full to fit into 90 minutes. In most cases, the audience doesn’t notice the length because the film is so engrossing. However, some films, like “The Master” or “The Hobbit,” meander and at times lose the audience for the sake of the director’s vision.

Such is the case with famed director Quentin Tarantino’s latest revenge fantasy, “Django Unchained.” While entertaining, towards the end I was left wondering why it was still going and how much longer I had to wait until the obvious conclusion. I looked back at Tarantino’s films and they all have about the same running time —“Django” was only around 10 minutes longer than “Pulp Fiction.” But then “Pulp Fiction” was a breakthrough film for an exciting, upcoming director. “Django Unchained,” on the other end, is a variation on a theme first introduced in “Inglourious Basterds.”

As such, it seemed a bit much.

As I said, this is a revenge fantasy. “Inglourious Basterds” took on the Nazis with a gang of Allied Jewish soldiers who killed and mutilated the Third Reich with wild abandon. They even succeeded in rewriting history by successfully killing Adolf Hitler in a theater bombing. It was an

“Django Unchained” can be described in much the same way as “Inglourious Basterds”—simply replace the Nazis with slave-owners, Germany with the American South, and soldiers with bounty hunters. homage to war films, stylistic and funny, violent and audacious, and every bit the Tarantino film fans have come to expect.

“Django” can be described in much the same way—simply replace the Nazis with slave-owners, Germany with the American South, and soldiers with bounty

hunters. One might wonder if future Tarantino revenge films will be about other atrocities, maybe taking on the Soviets or exploring U.S. Native American policy. The story is about a German dentist with a distaste for slavery turned bounty hunter who buys a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) to help find a couple of lawbreakers and earn the reward for their heads. It turns out Django has a knack for killing and the pair team up to clean up the west of evildoers before heading to Mississippi to free Django’s wife from a wealthy planter. The film is filled with gunfights and racial epithets, familiar Tarantino storytelling and dialogue and a compelling

Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx star in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.”

musical score. I suppose this is a love note to spaghetti westerns— but there is much more spaghetti here than western, as Tarantino enjoys making sly references to cult art.

Most of the film is enjoyable.

It’s not a classic, but there are moments of brilliance as usual, although they seem to be couched in jokes rather than original ideas.

Take for instance the scene with the KKK night raid. It is likely the best sequence in the film, yet you can’t help but be reminded of “Blazing Saddles.” It’s a Tarantino take on Mel Brooks material. Of

course it’s wonderful—but it’s not necessarily original.

Most Tarantino movies are like this—reference upon reference to films that the typical audience has never seen. This isn’t because Tarantino is a thief—he genuinely loves film and wants to inspire its love in his audience. At the same time, his films sometimes work too hard at being clever. He doesn’t need to prove his knowledge of film history in every shot.

In fact, he might be better served proving his knowledge of real history. The guns in the film were very much out of touch with the time period—if repeating rifles and pistols were this accurate, reliable and widespread in the South, there might have been a different outcome to the Civil War. But then again, in his last film Tarantino changed history even more drastically, so he’s not interested in accuracy.

As much as the film felt too long, it would be hard to convince any director of Tarantino’s quality and reputation to cut it down.

I’m reminded of the film “Amadeus,” when Mozart is told by the emperor that his most recent opera has too many notes, and that he should cut a few. He responds: “Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?” Were Tarantino to ask me a similar question, I’ll admit I’d be at a loss. Such is the divide between art and criticism.

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Arts Entertainment

CALENDAR@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

THU 01.10 New Artist Spotlight: Evan Wilson 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Shuptrine’s Gold Leaf Designs, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453 shuptrines.com January Sale at Georgia Winery 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Georgia Winery, 6469 Battlefield Pkwy.

Ringgold, Ga. (706) 937-WINE georgiawines.com Lucky 13 Exhibit 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Member Show 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Ava Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org Art + Issues: Pockets of Chattanooga 6 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Bob Zany 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com

fri 01.11 New Artist Spotlight: Evan Wilson 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Shuptrine’s Gold Leaf Designs, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453 shuptrines.com January Sale at Georgia Winery 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Georgia Winery, 6469 Battlefield Pkwy.

Ringgold, Ga. (706) 937-WINE georgiawines.com Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Member Show 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Ava Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org Lucky 13 Exhibit

16 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

HENRY WINKLER • Younger audiences may recognize the veteran actor from “Royal Pains,” but to a generation Henry Winkler will always be Arthur “The Fonze” Fonzarelli from the hit 1970’s sitcom “Happy Days.” Winkler will greet fans and sign autographs at the World of Wheels custom car show this weekend.

01.11-13 • World of Wheels • Chattanooga Convention Center 1150 Carter St. • worldofwheels.net

11 a.m.-6 p.m.

In-Town Gallery 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com Overture Luncheon with Pablo Sainz Villegas Noon. Walden Club, 633 Chestnut St. (423) 756-6686 chattanoogasymphony.org Meet the Artist: Pablo Sainz Villegas 1:30 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 642-TIXS chattanoogaonstage.com World of Wheels 5-10 p.m.Chattanoooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter St. worldofwheels.net Bob Zany 7 & 9:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com “Aldo Leopold:

A Standard of Change” 7 p.m. Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org “Avenue Q” 7:30 p.m. Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, 1918 Union Ave. (423) 987-5141 ensembletheatre ofchattanooga.com BT 9:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com

sat 01.12 Sandhill Crane and Eagle Cruise 9:30 a.m.- 1 p.m.

Tennessee Aquarium Plaza, 1 Broad St. (423) 402-9960 tnaqua.org World of Wheels 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Chattanoooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter St. worldofwheels.net January Sale at Georgia Winery 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Georgia Winery, 6469 Battlefield Pkwy.

Ringgold, Ga. (706) 937-WINE georgiawines.com Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Member Show 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Ava Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org Lucky 13 Exhibit 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

In-Town Gallery 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com Art N U 12:30-3:30 p.m.

Center for Creative Arts, 1301 Dallas Road (423) 209-5929 centerforcreativearts.net Music, Meditation and Wisdom 1 p.m. Warehouse Row, 1110 Market St. (423) 267-1127 warehouserow.net Architectural Photography Workshop 2-5:45 p.m. Shuptrine’s Gold Leaf Designs, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453 shuptrines.com Bob Zany 7 & 9:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com “Avenue Q” 7:30 p.m. Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, 1918 Union Ave. (423) 987-5141 ensembletheatre ofchattanooga.com Concierto de Aranjuez 8 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 642-TIXS chattanoogaonstage.com Forgotten Flicks Part 1 with The Hearts in Light 8:30 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org

BT 10:30 p.m.

Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com

11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Ava Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org “Oscar Wilde: Nothing Except My Genius” 6:30 p.m.

English Rose Tea Room, 1401 Market St. (423) 622-2862 Story Slam 7 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com

sun 01.13 Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Member Show 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Ava Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org Lucky 13 Exhibit 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com World of Wheels Noon-10 p.m.

Chattanoooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter St. worldofwheels.net “Avenue Q” 2:30 p.m.

Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, 1918 Union Ave. (423) 987-5141 ensembletheatre ofchattanooga.com Concierto de Aranjuez 3 p.m. Volkswagen Conference Center, 8001 Volkswagen Drive chattanoogasymphony.org Open Improvisational Jam 3-5 p.m.

Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Community Arts Funding Event 6-8 p.m.

Planet Altered, 48 E. Main St. (423) 400-4100 planetaltered.com Bob Zany 7:30 p.m.

wed 01.16

Pablo Sáinz Villegas • Perhaps the world’s leading classical guitarist, the young Spanish musician Villegas comes to Chattanooga to teach a master class at the Tivoli Theater, followed by a performance with the Chattanooga Symphony on Saturday and at the Volkswagen Conference Center on Sunday. Meet him before both events on Friday.

01.13 • 1:30 p.m. • Tivoli Theatre • 709 Broad St. (423) 642-TIXS • chattanoogaonstage.com

The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233. thecomedycatch.com

mon 01.14 January Sale at Georgia Winery 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Georgia Winery, 6469 Battlefield Pkwy.

Ringgold, Ga. (706) 937-WINE georgiawines.com Lucky 13 Exhibit

SPILLING THE BEANS

The Pulse wakes up with The Coffee Issue on Jan. 24!

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11 a.m.-6 p.m.

In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com

tue 01.15 Lucky 13 Exhibit 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Member Show

New Artist Spotlight: Evan Wilson 9-6 p.m. Shuptrine’s Gold Leaf Designs, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453 shuptrines.com January Sale at Georgia Winery 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Georgia Winery, 6469 Battlefield Pkwy.

Ringgold, Ga. (706) 937-WINE georgiawines.com Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance Member Show 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Ava Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org Lucky 13 Exhibit 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com Rapid Learning Whitewater Kayak Skills Practice 6-8 p.m. Brainerd Recreational Complex, 1010 N. Moore Road (423) 425-3600 chattanooga.gov

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By Mike McJunkin

L

et’s take a trip back to 2009. It was a simpler time, when people cared what Brian Boitano was cooking, what Fabio Viviani would do after “Top Chef,” and Gordon Ramsay still hadn’t traded a Michelin Star to Walmart for a plastic sack full of shekels. That same year, America collectively “discovered” a Vietnamese dish that is so delicious and life affirming it’s name should only be spoken in reverent whispers. I am, of course, talking about pho.

If you have never eaten a well prepared bowl of pho I cannot begin to express how terribly sorry I am. The first time pho graced my tastebuds with its heavenly flavors, the earth stood still and me thinks me heard the goddess Ambrosia breathlessly pour the word “Yes” into my welcoming ears. I am far from alone in my fearsome addiction to this wonderland of tastes and textures. As early as 2009, the Center for Culinary Development conducted a survey asking people about their comfort food preferences and pho was listed as a favorite comfort food for both Gen Xers and Gen Yers. Fast forward to 2013 and pho has developed an almost cult-like following, particularly in larger cities and areas with large ethnic

18 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

populations. Chattanooga, on the other hand, is essentially a pho desert, a wasteland dominated by General Tso’s chicken and greasy pork egg rolls that have lulled the populace into a MSG-laden slumber, unaware of the magical nectar that awaits the uninitiated and the unaware.

So what is pho? For those of you who are sadly unfamiliar with pho (pronounced FUH), it’s essentially a noodle soup, but that’s like saying a Bugatti Galibier is essentially a sedan. The broth is the star of the dish, typically made from beef marrow bones or oxtails and is seasoned with a stunning array of ingredients that can include charred onions, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorns and fish sauce, among others. The

broth simmers anywhere from eight to 24 hours, creating flavors so complex and intoxicating the aroma alone will render you speechless. Meat options range from cooked beef to thinly sliced raw beef that cook in the hot broth just before serving. Some Westernized versions will offer a selection of chicken, seafood or a vegetables-only version for the herbivores in your group.

When your bowl of pho arrives at the table you will also be given a plate of bean sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil, sliced chili and lime wedges to add to your dish. You will also have hoisin sauce and hot chili sauce available at the table for seasoning to taste. Or at least you should.

Resist the urge to dive into the bowl immediately. First, sample the broth then add a squeeze of lime, black pepper and sliced chilis to suit your taste. Next, add some of the bean sprouts, cilantro and basil to your bowl (remove the stems) and push them down to the bottom of the bowl along with any pieces of rare beef that are still pink. Now, squeeze a 50/50 split of hoisin and chili sauce into a small saucer and mix together to form a spicy, sweet and richly

flavorful dipping sauce that is a revelation on its own.

Now your pho is ready to eat. Pair pieces of beef with the basil, cilantro and sprouts, dipping them into the sauce mixture. Alternate with sips of broth and bites of noodle while trying not to disturb other diners with your orgasmic moans of pleasure. Often times, noodles and meat are eaten first, while the broth is saved for the end when it’s perfectly acceptable to tip the bowl up instead of spooning it into your mouth.

Yes, Chattanooga is a pho desert, but there is a flowering oasis that can save us all from a torturous, pho-less existence. Seoul Restaurant on Perimeter Drive is my favorite out of the only two places I have found in town that serve pho (the other is Old Saigon on Dayton Boulevard). Seoul’s owner, Sarah Kim, explained that her pho broth simmers for a full 24 hours using extremely fresh and all-natural ingredients. It certainly shows in the finished product. Her pride and attention to detail is apparent even in the restaurant itself. It’s meticulously maintained, spanking clean and you can sing along to the cheesy Top 40 hits drifting out of the overhead speakers if you’re so inclined.

The bliss and unfettered delight that comes from that steaming hot bowl of this magical soup is unlike any warm fuzzies you may get from chicken noodle soup and is exponentially more comforting, whether you’re battling a cold, a hangover or just want to taste one of the great foods of the world. Trust me, it’s that good.

Mike McJunkin brings exotic, gourmet foods to the office and never shares. Prod him on his Facebook page at facebook. com/sushiandbiscuits.

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Jonesin’ Crossword

Free Will Astrology

matt jones

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

What does it mean when the dwarf planet Pluto impacts a key point in your horoscope? For Capricorn gymnast Gabby Douglas, it seemed to be profoundly empowering. During the time Pluto was close to her natal sun during last year’s Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals, one with her team and one by herself. Luck had very little to do with her triumph. Hard work, selfdiscipline, and persistence were key factors. I’m predicting that Pluto’s long cruise through the sign of Capricorn will give you an opportunity to earn a Gabby Douglas-like achievement in your own sphere—if, that is, you can summon the same level of willpower and determination that she did. Now would be an excellent time to formally commit yourself to the glorious cause that excites you the most.

“Mixology”—take two ingredients and stir.

Across

1. 1 Chill, as with your homies 5. Perro’s housemate 9. Champion skier Phil 14. Epps of “House” 15. Tortilla’s cousin 16. How storybooks are read 17. Long-running PBS show 18. Stud stakes 19. Describes in words 20. Chess computer + thick directory?

23. More up to it 24. Like some January forecasts 25. Obedience school command 27. Carrier based in Sigtuna, Sweden 28. News notices 32. Bop on the head 33. Hit, in olden times 34. Samuel on the Supreme Court 35. Source of wealth + source of mozzarella?

39. Ready to rest 40. Seize 41. Award given by

a cable station 42. Aziz of “Parks and Recreation” 44. They house engines, for short 47. Biblical verb ending 48. ___ standstill 49. Toto’s type of terrier 51. Colorful bubbly + Dallas Mavericks shooting guard?

56. Home of Jumeirah Beach 57. Hot rock 58. Figure on a car sticker 59. Insts. of higher learning 60. Corporate honcho 61. Take ___ from 62. Gives the thumbs-up to 63. Benedict of “The A-Team” 64. His ___ (cribbage term; anagram of SNOB)

Down

1. Fit and Civic 2. “The Far Side” organism 3. Subjects of gazing 4. Trix flavor

5. Metal band known for its foam costumes 6. Duncan appointed to the Obama cabinet 7. “Damages” actor Donovan 8. Gift giver’s command 9. Peninsula in SE Asia 10. Sacha Baron Cohen character 11. It’s reached after returning from a long journey 12. Meets by chance 13. Mag workers 21. One of 26 for Stevie Wonder 22. They can crash 26. Ring decision 29. Lucy of “Elementary” 30. Airport abbr.

31. Picture puzzle 32. Put your hands together 33. “Ghost Hunters” network 34. Continent home to the world’s newest nation 35. Genre for Talking Heads and Killing Joke 36. Class including salamanders and toads

37. Olympics chant 38. Teddy bear exterior 39. Average grade 42. Place where you need a PIN 43. Completely got 44. Total disaster 45. Marinade alternative 46. Website to see if your favorite urban legend is really true 48. “Prelude to ___” 50. Jordan’s capital 52. Army’s football rival 53. Skirt length 54. Done with 55. Fire 56. The Swell Season, e.g.

Jonesin’ Crossword created By Matt Jones. © 2013 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 0605.

20 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘nice doggie’ until you can find a rock,” said humorist Will Rogers. I hope you’ve been taking care of the “nice doggie” part, Aquarius—holding the adversarial forces and questionable influences at bay. As for the rock: I predict you will find it any minute now, perhaps even within an hour of reading this horoscope. Please keep in mind that you won’t necessarily have to throw the rock for it to serve its purpose. Merely brandishing it should be enough.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Do

you know the word “cahoots”?

Strictly speaking, it means to be in league with allies who have the same intentions as you do; to scheme and dream with confederates whose interests overlap with yours. Let’s expand that definition a little further and make it one of your central themes in the coming week. For your purposes, “cahoots” will signify the following: to conspire with like-minded companions as you cook up some healthy mischief or whip up an interesting commotion or instigate a benevolent ruckus.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Writ-

ing at io9.com, Charlie Jane Anders provides “10 Signs You Could Be the Chosen Savior.” Among the clues are the following: “How often does someone comes up to you on the street, point at you, gibber something inarticulate, and run away?”

“How many robot/clone duplicates of yourself have you come across?”

“Is there a blurry black-and-white photo or drawing from history that sort of looks like you?” Now would be a good time for you to take this test, Aries. You’re in a phase of your astrological cycle when your dormant superpowers may finally be awakening—a time when you might need to finally claim a role you’ve

rob brezsny

previously been unready for.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

“Dear Rob the Astrologer: I have a big question for you. If I could get access to a time machine, where would you suggest I should go? Is there a way to calculate the time and place where I could enjoy favorable astrological connections that would bring out the best in me? -Curious Taurus.” Dear Curious: Here are some locations that might be a good fit for you Tauruses right now: Athens, Greece in 459 B.C.; Constantinople in 1179; Florence, Italy in 1489; New York in 2037. In general, you would thrive wherever there are lots of bright people co-creating a lively culture that offers maximum stimulation. You need to have your certainties challenged and your mind expanded and your sense of wonder piqued.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Will archaeologists find definitive evidence of the magical lost continent of Atlantis in 2013? Probably not.

How about Shambhala, the mythical kingdom in Central Asia where the planet’s greatest spiritual masters are said to live? Any chance it will be discovered by Indiana Jonesstyle fortune hunters? Again, not likely. But I do think there’s a decent chance that sometime in the next seven months, many of you Geminis will discover places, situations, and circumstances that will be, for all intents and purposes, magical and mythical.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): There’s a spot in the country of Panama where you can watch the sun rise in the east over the Pacific Ocean. In another Panamanian location, you can see the sun set in the west over the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing weird is involved. Nothing twisted or unearthly. It’s simply a quirk of geography. I suspect that a similar situation will be at work in your life sometime soon. Things may seem out of place. Your sense of direction might be off-kilter, and even your intuition could seem to be playing tricks on you. But don’t worry. Have no fear. Life is simply asking you to expand your understanding of what “natural” and “normal” are.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Metaphori-

cally speaking, a pebble was in your shoe the whole past week.

You kept thinking, “Pretty soon I’ve got to take a minute to get rid of that thing,” and yet you never did.

Why is that? While it wasn’t enormously painful, it distracted you just enough to keep you from giving your undivided attention to the important tasks at hand. Now here’s a news flash: The damn pebble is still in your shoe. Can I persuade you to remove it? Please?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Even

when you know exactly what you want, it’s sometimes crucial for you not to accomplish it too fast. It could be that if you got all of your heart’s desire too quickly and easily, you wouldn’t develop the vigorous willpower that the quest was meant to help you forge. The importance of good timing can’t be underestimated, either: In order for you to take full advantage of your dream-cometrue, many other factors in your life have to be in place and arranged just so. With those thoughts in mind, Virgo, I offer you this prediction for 2013: A benevolent version of a perfect storm is headed your way.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Art-

ists who painted images in caves 30,000 years ago did a pretty good job of depicting the movements of four-legged animals like horses. In fact, they were more skilled than today’s artists. Even the modern experts who illustrate animal anatomy textbooks don’t match the accuracy of the people who decorated cave walls millennia ago. So says a study reported in Livescience.com (http://tinyurl.com/CaveArtMagic). I’d like to suggest this is a useful metaphor for you to consider, Libra.

There’s some important task that the old you did better than the new you does. Now would be an excellent time to recapture the lost magic.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): After

evaluating your astrological omens for the coming months, I’ve decided to name you Scorpios the “Top Sinners of the Year” for 2013. What that means is that I suspect your vices will be more inventive and more charming than those of all the other signs. Your so-called violations may have the effect of healing some debilitating habit. In fact, your “sins” may not be immoral or wicked at all. They might actually be beautiful transgressions that creatively transcend the status quo; they might be imaginative improvements on the half-assed way that things have always been done. To ensure you’re always being ethical in your outlaw behavior, be committed to serving the greater good at least as much as your own selfish interests.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Here’s the horoscope I hope to be able to write for you a year from now: “Your mind just kept opening further and further during these past 12 months, Sagittarius—way beyond what I ever imagined possible. Congrats! Even as you made yourself more innocent and receptive than you’ve been in a long time, you were constantly getting smarter and sharpening your ability to see the raw truth of what was unfolding.

Illusions and misleading fantasies did not appeal to you. Again, kudos!”

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22 • The Pulse • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • chattanoogapulse.com

Life in the Noog

chuck crowder

Cooper’s Union T

his is the first column I’ve written since Zach Cooper stepped down as publisher of The Pulse. Even though my presence in The Pulse offices is as uncommon as free donuts, I feel like someone’s missing over there. I know those few who do hold down a desk are saddened by his darkened office.

And they should be.

Zach isn’t just a good friend and a great publisher, but he also has a magnetism about him that makes you want to jump on board for the good ideas, and step away if he displays any inkling of skepticism. He’s not a writer, a designer, a salesman or janitor—and he doesn’t claim to be any one of those. He’s the glue.

He’s the cheerleader. He’s the “face” of the paper. So while The Pulse will chug along as usual—even with more of my useless blathering—it has lost a big part of its soul.

As you pick up this paper and casually flip through it’s pages, there are two key people you have to thank for its existence. One is Jim Brewer, who purchased The Pulse a few years ago in order to keep it alive.

He saw how people love this tabloid creature for whatever reason and knew that Chattanooga—as a highly progressive city— needed The Pulse on its newsstands. He blew fresh wind into its sails and has stuck by it through thick and thin (mainly thin) despite every business instinct that might have pulled him in the other direction. Without Jim (and our advertisers, of course), we might not still have The Pulse. However, without the second person we need to thank—Zach Cooper— there wouldn’t have been a Pulse in the first place.

Ten years ago, as they gently stepped over the remains of several failed previous attempts by oth-

Ten years is a long time to do anything, but for the publisher of an alt-weekly paper it can seem like a lifetime. ers, Zach and Michael Kull thought that Chattanooga needed a good weekly paper and set out to create one, a paper that had room to explore the things that make Chattanooga cool and a publication that is also unafraid to blow the whistle on those things about our town that just plain suck.

Zach Cooper has always been the type of dude who soaks up brilliantly cool things like an unquenchable sponge. He’s always the first to see the new local band, experience the new local exhibit, eat at the new local restaurant or know what anyone should do around town on any night in question. He knows what’s what. But he also knows what’s not. Zach will be the first person to point the bullshit finger at anything that stinks around town without fear or favor. He knows that not

all news is good, and sometimes the pressure of print can call attention to things that need a little fixing.

But you can only do that for so long—every damn week—before you have to sit down and rest. And after 10 years, it was time for Zach to leave the soapbox to someone else.

I get it. I’ve dropped back and punted several times in my career. Sometimes change is the best direction, even when you’re not sure where you’re headed.

Cleansing the palette, reenergizing and taking on something new with the same fervor you first applied to the last project can do wonders for you.

Ten years is a long time to do anything, but for the publisher of an alt-weekly paper it can seem like a lifetime. Despite popular belief, it’s highly unlikely you’ll strike it rich publishing a weekly paper in a city of our size. The operating costs are high and the support, while spirited, is limited. There is tremendous satisfaction knowing that you’re producing a product that is as beloved in this town as fireworks, until the grand finale. Then all you have left is smoky sky and a lawn chair to carry home. But if I know Zach, wherever he lands will be the scene of the next big explosion. And he’ll be the one lighting the fuse.

Chuck Crowder is a local writer and man about town. His opinions are his own.

chattanoogapulse.com • JANUARY 10-16, 2013 • The Pulse • 23