The Pulse 11.08 » February 20, 2014

February 20-27

Vol. 11 • No. 7

politics

lucky clucker reflection on a rescue

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

MUSIC shark week on the beat an imperfect union screen legos for sale

2 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

FEBRUARY

Happenings

Publisher & President Jim Brewer II

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Mike McJunkin

THE BOWL: Civil Rights in Chattanooga... Helping out Moccasin Bend Brewing Company

Contributing Editor Janis Hashe Art Direction & Design Gary Poole Contributors Rich Bailey • Rob Brezsny • Michael Crumb John DeVore • Janis Hashe • Daniel Jackson Matt Jones • Marc T. Michael Ernie Paik • Gary Poole • Alex Teach

THE LIST: Getting your geek on with ConNooga LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR

Editorial Interns Madeline Chambliss • Dea Lisica • Leith Tigges

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

Cartoonists & Illustrators Tom Tomorrow Photographer/Webmaster Josh Lang Founded 2003 by Zachary Cooper & Michael Kull

ex

brewEr media group

Contents

M CE e LE AN Puls AR S e H IS n Th A i N ek RE t We

2014

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DESERTED BY PROGRESS Chattanooga’s food deserts remain a daily problem

ADVERTISING

By Daniel Jackson

Director of Sales Mike Baskin Account Executives Chee Chee Brown • Julie Brown Lisa Dicaire • Rick Leavell • Leif Sawyer Stacey Tyler • Jerry Ware • Candice York

Features ARTS: Two new shows open up riveting new perspectives NEW MUSIC REVIEWS: Papir’s psych-rock...Andrew Cyrille’s classic avant-garde jazz

CONTACT

Offices 1305 Carter St., Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone 423.265.9494 Website 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 music, the arts, entertainment, culture and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publisher may take more than one copy per weekly issue. We’re watching.

The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.

Contents Copyright © 2014 by Brewer Media. All rights reserved.

SCREEN: “The Lego Movie” is one long (very funny) commercial FREE WILL ASTROLOGY JONESIN' CROSSWORD

Voices

IN NEED OF A BIGGER BOAT Shark Week now a power quartet and still biting

By Marc T. Michael

honest music

JANIS HASHE: The one who was the Lucky Clucker ALEX TEACH: Pontificating on union pros and cons

local and regional shows

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chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 3

BOWL

THE

chattanooga’s weekly alternative NEWS • COMMENTARY • BULLETINS & PUSH NOTIFICATIONS AT DIAL-UP SPEED facebook/chattanoogapulsE • TWITTER @CHATTAPULSE EMAIL LOVE LETTERS, ADVICE & TRASH TALK TO INFO@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM

Pickle Barrel Makeover

“Belly Up!” to This Bar Makeover reality shows have been premiering on television screens for years, bringing viewers entertainment with programs like “The Biggest Loser,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” and “What Not to Wear.” Another option to add to the list is the Cooking Channel’s “Belly Up!,” a reality show specializing in restaurant renovations.

Host Eddie Russell makes his way across America looking to revamp bars and pubs— and now, Chattanooga’s Pickle Barrel is one venue soon to be featured.

The Pickle Barrel, long one of downtown Chattanooga’s favorite and most popular local hangouts, has always been a busy bar joint. A variety of tourists and natives frequent the unique spot to enjoy friendly ser-

vice, a comfortable setting and a full menu of all-American eats. With all of the great features this location has to offer, it seems as though “Belly Up!” is only improving an already successful eatery.

While most of the Pickle Barrel’s renovation details have been kept secret for the upcoming (and currently unannounced) episode premiere, the spot has now reopened after being shut down for several days during filming. Frequent customers are sure to notice the brand-new sign adorning the eye-catching corner building. Sticking to its tried-and-true charm, revered fried pickles, and sure to add some newcomers to the already long line of regulars, the Pickle Barrel is back and better than ever.

— Leith Tigges

MBBC Kickstarter

Bottoms Up The local beer industry suffered a loss recently with the closing of Moccasin Bend Brewing Company. But fear not—the barrel hasn’t run dry.

On Feb. 10, MBBC started a Kickstarter campaign to help reopen their doors as soon as possible: “You want to drink our beer, we want you to drink our beer. Let’s make that happen together.”

The goal is raising $20,000 to help MBBC bring their building up to code and add patron requests such as lighting for the parking lot and a wood patio for overcrowding.

MBBC is proud of being a small, self-sufficient brewery that doesn’t rely on outside investors who dictate their decisions. This means money is sometimes tight, but they’re not complaining: “when we look out in the tasting room and see it full of all you gorgeous weirdos/freaks/rednecks/hipsters/ hippies/yuppies/geeks/nerds/that-one-guywith-the-salmon-polo-that-has-two-collarspopped-and-won’t-stop-talking-about-histhree-different-gym-memberships, well—it’s worth it.”

Help save the local jewel that provides Chattanooga with tasty and unusual brews and embraces the “weird” in all people.

Pledge as little as $1 for a “heartfelt thanks and huge hug” or $10,000 to gain the power of renaming two of their employees.

4 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

Other great rewards include limited addition mugs, naming their fermenters or delivery truck, and creating your own beer from start to finish. For the nitty gritty, check out their Kickstarter page: kickstarter.com/ projects/chrishunt/moccasin-bend-brewingcompany-reopening — Dea Lisica

Local Civil Rights Doc

They Also Had a Dream When learning about the civil rights movement, we often hear about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington D.C., the bus boycotts in Montgomery, or the bombing in Birmingham.

There is no doubt that these events, and many more, forever changed our country.

Some of them ended in tragedy, but collectively the demonstrations and the people who led them brought about a sea change for the better in human rights.

Chattanooga’s part in this story remains relatively untold, from the Howard High students’ sit-in at Woolworth’s to the desegregation of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. But a documentary film is helping to change that.

Nine of Chattanooga’s civil-rights advocates shared their experiences for the film “9 United for Equality: Reflections on the Struggle of Civil Rights in Chattanooga”.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Tennessee Human Rights Commission (THRC) partnered to create the documentary in order to honor THRC’s 50th anniversary and Black History Month at UTC. Running approximately 45 minutes, the film will be shown in UTC’s University Center Auditorium on Feb. 24 at 5:15 p.m., with a reception following. The event is free and open to the public.

Visit youtube.com/vDY9mqKszm4 for a preview of the documentary.

— Madeline Chambliss

LIST

THE

pulse » PICKS

• A curated weekly selection of picks from the Chattanooga Live and Arts & Entertainment calendars by Pulse staffers.

THU2.20

FRI2.21

IT'S ELECTRIFYING!

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"Go, Dog. Go!"

• These are not your childhood electric bikes. Come learn abour the amazing advances in powered pedaling for the urban environment and discover a new world of commuting without wearing yourself out.

6 p.m. • Outdoor Chattanooga, 200 River St. in Coolidge Park, (423) 643-6888, outdoorchattanooga.com

• This play, adapted from P.D. Eastman's classic children's book, is renowned for it's ability to generate fun, learning, adventure and surprise with a minimum of words.

7:30 p.m. • Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8538, theatrecentre.com

HE'S GOT THE BEAT

CANCER SUCKS

Mike Dillon Band

No More Cancer Rock n’ Roll Benefit

• Mike has been destroying percussion and touring since 1989, and brings his drumming assault to town, along with local favorites Opposite Box, Spaceface, and Electric Tuba.

8:30 p.m. • Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644, rhythm-brews.com

• Come help the continuing fight against cancer with a night of raucous rock-n-roll from a stellar lineup of local favorites at one of North Chattanooga;s favorite watering holes.

9 p.m. • Ziggy’s Underground, 607 Cherokee Blvd.

(423) 634-1074

Getting Your Geek On At ConNooga Chattanooga is, surprisingly to some, a popular destination for geek fandom—those who celebrate the "fantastic arts" that encompass science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, gaming, anime, costuming and the like.

Last year, there were six conventions in the city (and another pair in nearby Dalton) that ranged in attendence from a few hundred to several thousand.

One of the largest Cons takes place this weekend at both the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and the Convention Center. Over 2,000 fans are expected to attend for a weekend of fun.

ConNooga bills itself as a convention for nearly all

the many genres (and subgenres) of the fandom world.

Among the guests scheduled to attend are noted author Jim Butcher, local writer Cherie Priest, fantasy artist Tim Smith, "Torchwood" actor Gareth David Lloyd, and several dozen other notables.

One of the more notable events is their Saturday morning parade through the Southside, led by one of the original television Batmobiles.

ConNooga February 21-23 Daily. Chattanooga Convention Center, 1100 Carter St. (423) 756-0001, connooga.com

SAT2.22 THINK QUICK! Improv-a-Lot • Three teams of four will be chosen to compete. Come out and see what they can come up with on the spot.

9:30 p.m. • Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, 5900 Brainerd Rd. (423) 602-8640, ensembletheatreofchattanooga.com

GET WELL NOW Medicine Tree • Ramsey Tyson, Trey Jackson, and Ian Waters marry grunge and folk rock into a cohesive whole and gather new fans with every performance. Also on stage: Gold Plated Gold and Gorgeous. Come out for a night of something new.

10 p.m. • JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blv., (423) 266-1400, jjsbohemia.com

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6 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

2/11/14 9:31 AM

POLITICS

The One Who Was the Lucky Clucker But for 9 billion others, their life is pain, their death the same

By Janis Hashe

A

t first, of course, I thought it was dead.

On Monday, Feb. 10, I’d pulled up at a red light at the corner of Main and Broad when I saw two people scrambling to lift a chicken out of the road. As this was right across from the Pilgrim’s Pride plant, I assumed it was another casualty of the trucks bringing untold numbers of birds to their deaths at the plant. Some of them never make it there, thrown from the trucks to be run over on the interstate or the roads.

“

Andrea looked in and picked the chicken up.

It squawked and scrabbled.

She—for it was a she—was a fighter.

But then I noticed the two people were not acting as though they were retrieving roadkill. I pulled into a corner lot and got out. They were huddled at the woman’s car trunk. I went over and peered in. The chicken was clearly alive and pretty clearly, miraculously, uninjured. The two Good Samaritans, though, were at a crossroads.

The man, wearing gloves, had lifted the chicken out of the street but obviously needed to move on. The woman, distraught, kept saying, “I yelled at the driver. Chickens were flying out of his truck, but he just kept driving.”

She was torn between wanting to continue to help and her

other obligations. “I have to get to work,” she kept repeating.

So there was only one thing to be done. “Let’s put it in my hatchback,” I said. “I’ll take it to Crabtree Farms. They’ve rescued at least one before.”

I knew this because a couple of years ago, The Pulse ran what in my opinion is one of the best stories we’ve ever had, Jim Pfitzer’s account of another rescued Pilgrim’s Pride chicken and the heartwarming and heartbreaking tale of its life at Crabtree.

The chicken did not try to get out of the hatchback. It hunkered down in a corner, shocked but alive. “Hang in there,” I said, as I took off.

My phone call reached Anna at Crabtree and she told me, “We can’t take it.”

My heart sank. “But I think we can find a home for it,” she added. “I’ll ask Andrea and call you back.”

And they did. A home had been found and if I just brought it over, they would hand it off to someone who kept backyard chickens. Driving to Crabtree, I heard scratching from the back of the car. “Don’t worry,” I kept saying aloud over and over, as silly as I knew that was. “You’ll be safe soon.”

Crabtree Farms in the winter is quiet, dormant, waiting for the spring. The urban farm, a Chattanooga treasure off Rossville Blvd. and 30th St., is humming with plantings and programs during all other seasons.

But Anna and Andrea were the only ones there on this day. I opened the hatchback. Andrea looked in and picked the chicken up. It squawked and scrabbled.

She—for it was a she—was a fighter. “This is the healthiest one I’ve seen,” Andrea said.

“Thank you, thank you for being willing to help,” I said about 10 times. Then I drove off.

Several days later, I emailed Andrea, partly dreading what I might hear. Had the chicken survived? Had she succumbed to the shock of what she had endured? The answering email: “We’ve been told she’s doing very well, although the other chickens in her new sisterhood are apparently shunning her. That’s completely natural—she probably looks very strange to them right now, but over time she’ll become the biggest one of them!

We’ll keep you updated on her progress.”

Not so coincidentally, I received an email from the ASPCA with the following facts about factory-farmed chickens, right around the same time: • "99 percent of the chickens we eat are bred to be sick—whether from grocery stores, restaurants, fastfood chains, even ‘organic’ chicken.

• Chickens are fed antibiotics to prevent the spread of disease—in 2010, 51 percent of retail chicken breasts tested by the FDA were contami-

nated with antibiotic resistant bacteria, which have been shown to transfer from farm animals to people.

• Most chickens, because they are so abnormally large, spend their lives lying in their waste, causing open sores.

• Chickens grow so fat so fast that they can't support their own weight or walk without pain, they can hardly breathe, and many die of heart failure.

• The chicken industry is making money while putting you and your family at risk and subjecting 9 billion animals a year to needless suffering—and everything they’re doing is legal.”

Thinking, “What’s the big deal, it’s still just a stupid chicken?” Try this train of thought: “It’s just a stupid chicken.” “It’s just a stupid veal calf.” “It’s just a stupid dog.” “It’s just a stupid horse.” “It’s just some stupid people in some country I’ve never heard of.” “It’s just a stupid homeless person.” “It’s just…me.”

Want to help make change for factory-farmed animals?

Join the ASPCA or the Humane Society and ask that they investigate inhumane transport of live animals. Demand your elected representatives vote for bills that protect animals and against ones that don’t (with no thanks to local federal elected officials, the King amendment was stripped out of the recently passed Farm Bill: see “Now You See It…Or Maybe You Don’t”, The Pulse, Sept. 12, 2013). And please, make a donation to Crabtree Farms, crabtreefarms. org. They care. Do you?

chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 7

Deserted By Progress

Chattanooga’s food deserts remain a daily problem for many. by daniel jackson

The Emma Wheeler homes sit in the southwest portion of the city, in an area bounded on two sides by train tracks, surrounded by industrial buildings and swampland.

On this particular Tuesday afternoon, the only sound filling the neighborhood of one-story brick houses is being made by a group of starlings perched on the topmost branches of gray trees.

Occasionally, someone walks over to the main building to check their mail. Others wait on the corner for the CARTA bus.

This neighborhood is one of several in Chattanooga defined as a “food desert”—meaning, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an urban area where there is low income (either 20 percent of the residents are below the poverty level, or a median family’s income is 80 percent of the larger area’s median income) and 33 percent live more than a mile from a grocery store.

There is a food desert in Hamilton Country that starts at the Georgia line and extends up into downtown and into East Chat-

8 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

tanooga. According to the Hamilton County Health Department, more than 70,000 Chattanoogans live in this food desert.

For those with means or a car, the food desert doesn’t affect them profoundly—they simply drive to the store or stores. The problem is for residents who do not have reliable access to transportation. In particular, it’s hard for those residents to get fresh fruits and vegetables.

For residents at the Emma Wheeler homes, the closest store is the BiLo on Tennessee Avenue, almost three miles away. With healthy options sitting that far off, many opt for the convenience of fast food, resulting in a poor diet that leads to a slew of health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Food deserts are a modern crisis in American cities, a problem decades in the making but only recognized less than ten years ago. Here in Chattanooga, the city has made strides in getting fresh fruits and veggies into the heart of the city—but there is a long way to go until a permanent solution is found. »

CARTA-ing food home Just before noon, the Mobile Market, a program run by the YMCA, was parked at the Emma Wheeler housing complex.

The trailer’s door was down, creating a ramp inside to the shelves of collard greens, dried beans and cans of food, and residents and employees of the housing complex browsed the aisle of food.

Residents shopping the mobile market use the store to supplement the way most usually get their food: Walk to the corner, wait for the bus, pay the $1.50 fare and take the 15-to20 minute trip to the Bi-Lo. Sharon Degraffenreid buys a lot of organic food. It may be more expensive, but it’s worth it, she says. Many of her neighbors don’t buy organic, “unaware of its benefits,” and instead opt for frozen meals.

She said shoppers who take the bus can only bring back as much as they can carry. If someone has a big family, “then it’s difficult to carry it on the bus,” she said, and trips to the store must be taken every day, or every other day. She lives with her two children and her daughter’s three kids. They have no car.

“That makes it hard,” she said.

Trips to the grocery store take at least an hour, and if she wants to go to a store downtown, she has to make a transfer. But that’s really the only option because, “You can’t put a store here if you wanted to,” she says, even a convenience store.

“Sometimes, I don’t have the money to get on the bus,” said Shirley Pittman, another customer of the Mobile Market.

Amanda Hart finds the Mobile Market convenient because when she runs out of bread mid-week, she can’t make a

quick run to the store. Hart, who is from metro Atlanta, lived near a convenience store within walking distance of her home.

But for other residents in the neighborhood like Tonya Fitch, the food desert is not a problem.

She has a car. She travels to BiLo and gets her canned goods from Save A Lot.” It’s not considered far for me,” she said. Fitch doesn’t like going to just one store because she likes variety.

It began with white flight In 2007, John Bilderback, the manager of Hamilton County Health District’s Step ONE program, would talk to Chattanoogans about eating healthy, getting more fruits and veggies in their life. Afterwards, the residents would come up to him and to say they could not afford the kind of diet he was advocating, or to ask where to get fresh produce.

“I didn’t have answers and that frustrated me,” Bilderback said.

At that time, many nonprofit groups and health departments did not have a word for what they were seeing. Then the USDA created the first definition of “food desert.’”

But the problem started well before the 2000s. In the ’40s and ’50s, Chattanooga’s neighborhoods were dense and economically varied, said Jeff Pfitzer, program officer for the Benwood Foundation and former director for Gaining Ground, an or-

ganization formed to promote local foods in Chattanooga.

“Historically, most of our urban neighborhoods had grocery and corner stores that offered healthier food options,” Pfitzer wrote in an email, adding much of this food was local back then.

But then white flight happened. Those who had education and money migrated to the suburbs. Local grocery stores made way for the supermarkets. As portions of the city’s population thinned and declined in income levels, even supermarkets found it too difficult in stay in the city.

In 2012, Food Lion closed six of its “underperforming stores” in Chattanooga as part of its plan to “strengthen its U.S. portfolio,” according to a press release from that time.

According to Bilderback, “It was a decision made in the books” at Food Lion's corporate headquarters back in Europe.

Today, Chattanooga has an oversaturation of fast-food and convenience stores, Bilderback said. This can lead to higher rates of diseases associated with a poor diet, “Higher rates of just about everything,” like diabetes and obesity, he noted. Bilderback’s goal is to make healthy food available.

While Food Lion's pullout made the city’s food deserts worse, the headlines helped kickstart more efforts to bring fresh produce to the deserts.

Gaining Grounds just finished a four-year initiative to promote locally produced food. As part of its mission, Gaining Ground helped farmer’s markets by providing training and marketing.

Community gardens have popped up in the city, started by

organizations like Step ONE. But the only initiative to directly attack local food deserts is the Chattanooga Mobile Market.

Driving towards a solution Bilderback said the city considered a mobile market in 2011, but the idea was abandoned because the idea was thought to be not feasible. Food Lion’s pullout changed all that. Local food and charity organizations like the YMCA, Gaining Ground, Step ONE and Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities partnered to get the nonprofit running.

They modeled Chattanooga’s mobile market after the mobile market program in Nashville.

Today, the Mobile Market serves the inner reaches of the food desert, making scheduled stops around the city each week, carrying local produce and food made without high-fructose corn syrup or other preservatives.

“When you ask whether (the mobile market) did what it set out to do, there is an unequivocal answer: Yes,” said Bilderback.

Today, about 66 percent of the people living in Chattanooga’s food desert live within one mile of a weekly, Mobile Market stop.

Tara Williams was running the Mobile Market when it stopped at the Emma Wheeler homes.

She talked with the 11 customers who bought food, saying the market has a sale on Cameo apples.

William’s week begins Mon-

day at 4 a.m. when she goes to the store to stock the market.

On an average week, she’ll buy two carts worth of groceries from Walmart and head to Linda’s Produce to get the market’s produce. While the Mobile Market gets a lot of its supplies from Walmart, Williams said the program is looking for other, more local, options.

By 10 a.m. Monday, she is parked outside of Patten Towers—the market’s newest stop—open for business.

Civic groups agree that while the Mobile Market is a good intermediate solution, a more permanent solution must be found. The ideal solution, Bilderback said, is for grocery stores to go into the food desert. But economics make it more difficult than simply getting a business license at city hall.

“Chattanooga’s got a fundamental problem: Our density isn’t high enough to attract a major supermarket,” Bilderback said, adding grocery stores usually operate at a 1 to 1.5 percent profit margin, which is extremely low, and demands high volume to work at all.

A new store needs to pay startup costs that could run into the millions for the property and building.” The free market economy isn’t balancing out all the way,” he said.

At the Benwood Foundation, Pfitzer said it is incredibly economically challenging to start grocery stores in low-income communities because there is little disposable income in those areas.

“If it was easy, somebody would already be doing it—but that doesn’t stop us from trying."

chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 9

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat Shark Week now a power quartet and still biting

By Marc T. Michael

There is essentially one trick to being a power trio: You either bring it or you don’t. There is no middle ground. When drums, bass and guitar are all you have, you have got to be especially good or it falls apart pretty fast—but if you ARE especially good, the results are often sublime and masterful. That’s how I was going to introduce this piece on semi-local band Shark Week, until I discovered they were no longer a trio at the photo shoot the other day. It was disappointing. Not because being a quartet makes them less of a band. They are fantastic, but I felt like I had a good intro there and have been unable to come up with anything better.

“

Their music is smart, smarter than a great deal of what’s going around these days; smarter than the music of people I know who are twice their age and have been playing the whole time.

I spent some time with the boys on one of Chattanooga’s many scenic downtown rooftop parking garages talking about music, life and what a long damn walk it was to the top of this particular parking garage.

The first thing that struck me was that these fellows are younger than I would have guessed. I don’t think any of them has cracked 30 yet. Until that day I had never actually met them, I’d only chatted with Bijan Dhanani online and listened to their music, so my impression of their age came entirely from the maturity of their music. They play with a kind of precision and focus that a great many musicians learn the hard way, through trial and error over many years. It’s more than that, though. Their music is smart, smarter than a great deal of what’s going around these days; smarter than the music of people I know who are twice their age and have been playing the whole time. I tell you truthfully that a group of people that young with that much talent makes a tubby middle-aged half-rate guitar player such as myself want to appreciatively slam his fingers in a car door.

They’re really quite good.

10 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

Sonically, they are straight out of the late’60s/early ’70s, with center stage being an ebb and flow between guitar and vocals a la Page and Plant. Bijan’s guitar work moves seamlessly between crunchy, crunchy power chords and a lighter, more ethereal touch, depending on what’s needed at the moment.

At least as impressive as his guitar work is his ear for what works best in a given situation. He plays tastefully. There are a great many socalled guitar gods who twang when they should crunch, crunch when they should wail and wail when the rest of the band is trying to tune (and could you please shut the hell up for a minute? Dhanani, by contrast, exercises control and discipline and again this speaks to the uncanny maturity of the band’s sound.

Kip Smith also slings an axe and I’d probably write a little about that as well if I weren’t so blown away by his vocals (and clever lyrics for that matter). When I listened to the first track the band sent me, I thought, “Huh, that guy sounds like Lou Reed.” By the second track I was thinking, “No, really, that guy is kinda nailing him some Lou Reed.” By the third track I started wondering if maybe Lou Reed was playing with Shark Week. Through the awesome power of journalism and investigative reporting I confirmed that Lou Reed isn’t playing with anyone these days and that it was in fact, Kip. To be fair, he isn’t a “sound-alike”

in the Velour Subway, he just happens to share some characteristics with an iconic vocalist. Honestly, there’s a dash of Trent Reznor in there too, and occasionally some Billy Bragg.

That’s a pretty disparate group of gents, but Kip has discernible elements of all three in varying degrees depending on the tune.

But mainly he’s got soul. Strong stuff.

This brings us to the rhythm section: Adam Swafford and Nate Smith. Jokingly, Swafford expressed the sentiment, “No one ever remembers the bass player” in a voice that made me feel like maybe he’s accustomed to always getting a rock in his bag at Halloween, but the bass in this band is perfectly suited to the music and that’s saying a lot given the rather sophisticated sound of it all. The drums take the standard 4/4 rock beat and turn it sidewise with some very clever, pleasing and occasionally surprising ornamentation. Essentially the rhythm does precisely what it is meant to do, providing a foundation for the rest of the band rooted

in strong fundamentals with just enough flair to remind you that they are just as talented as the frontmen.

The themes behind their clever pop culture satire are… not uncommon, but then the themes of great art are universal and oft-repeated. It is the execution of those ideas that defines the artist and in that respect Shark Week is new, refreshing, and a band to watch, particularly after their killer performance to a packed house at J.J.’s Bohemia on Feb. 15 when faces were melted and panties were moistened.

If you don’t know about Shark Week, you’ve clearly skipped to the last paragraph of this article and should quit wasting everyone’s time, but for everyone else I will say this: In a city that is fairly bristling with talent, here are four young, talented guys who shine, who play like they’ve been together for at least a decade and who are undoubtedly on their way to bigger and better things. There is a new album coming soon. Get it.

You can thank me later.

Between the Sleeves

record reviews • ernie paik

Heavy Riffage, Passionate Good Posture

Andrew Cyrille The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (Black Saint/Soul Note)

I

n an interview with the Washington City Paper, esteemed jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille said, “...in the avantgarde there's gotta be a certain amount of precision, otherwise you couldn't live.” While “precision” may bring to mind strict metronomic rigor, in the context of free jazz this writer defines it as the ability to articulate a rich complexity in a way that feels immediate and vigorous, not clinical, fueled by experience. Known for his work both as a bandleader and as a sideman, most notably for pianist Cecil Taylor in the ’60s and ’70s, Cyrille is a masterful drummer, whose unpredictability and creativity is often transmuted into a stimulating joy: passionate, with good posture.

This new 7-CD set compiles a wealth of recordings made between 1978 and 1995 in two-tofour-person groups, outlining some of the dizzying diversity in Cyrille's career as a composer and improviser. In the film business, there's a saying that

Papir IIII (El Paraiso)

“Directing is 90 percent casting,” and translated into the jazz world, that is also true; Cyrille selects some incredible talent for his ensembles, such as saxophonist David S. Ware, heard relatively early in his career on Metamusicians' Stomp with ardent, vital playing. Difficult to grasp, Nuba is perhaps the most out-there album in this set, featuring singer Jeanne Lee and saxophonist Jimmy Lyons; the jazz poetry doesn't quite work for this writer, and the trio feels like it's holding back too much.

That's not the case on the breathtaking, exploratory Something in Return, featuring a duo with Lyons, which offers a memorable, impressionistic version of “Take the A Train” and daring, stirring performances.

The configuration on Special People is somewhat reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's Cherry/ Haden/Higgins quartet, with a classic avant-garde (an oxymoron?) sound, and The Navigator is another solid album and perhaps the most accessible of the

seven, with more of a smoky-bar feel with Sonelius Smith's piano.

Flutist James Newton is a standout on the last two albums, being simultaneously wild and elegant, often vocalizing and blowing at the same time. X Man begins like it could be an easy-listening album from the ’60s before gradually becoming more adventurous, and Good to Go, with a Tribute to Bu is almost tribal at times, with Cyrille, Newton and bassist Lisle Atkinson firing on all cylinders, closing a collection brimming with talent and inspiration.

P

erhaps the most striking thing about the Danish instrumental guitar/ bass/drums trio Papir is that it sounds so damn positive, in the indie rock world where being brooding and conflicted can often seem de rigueur. The group has no qualms about shaking a tambourine, and it's scientifically proven that it's impossible to feel sad while listening to a tambourine. Papir's approach offers a

modern-day take on psychedelic rock with lengthy compositions and room for improvisation; it touches certain other flavors— prog rock, space rock, the band Tortoise—without lingering too long to be pigeonholed.

The first track on the outfit's new album, IIII, begins with a lush, easygoing attitude that takes its sweet time to build slowly toward two peaks, introducing some polite wah-pedal guitar soloing and pounding bass/snare-drum interplay with nearly constant crash cymbal taps. The melodies themselves aren't complex, but it's all the layering that makes it sound like it is; this writer isn't so sure it has enough ideas to justify its 11-minute length, and somewhat (unintentionally) humorously, it approaches the end with a riff that sounds exactly like Led Zeppelin's “Four Sticks.” The second track, “IIII.II,” opens with guitar harmonics and volumepedal-shaped notes that drift in smoothly, leading to the nowfamiliar trademark Papir build and raucous climax that occurs just past the song's mid-point.

The 22-minute third track is what could be called a false epic—the whole isn't more than the sum of its parts but is merely equal. It shifts into overdrive twice, at the 5-minute and 15-minute marks, delivering some heavy, meaty chugging; during the more exploratory moments, guitarist Nicklas Sørensen doesn't overextend himself, although it feels like he could push himself a little further, both technically and improvisationally. Although this writer has some reservations regarding IIII, Papir demonstrates ample ability in two very different categories when delivering its hopeful psych-rock: building subtle layers of textures and serving up big, dumb, heavy riffage.

SHPONGLE

with The Desert Dwellers TUESDAY • FEBRUARY 25 DOORS @ 7PM • SHOW @ 8PM $16 ADVANCE • $18 DAY OF

MARCH CALENDAR 1st • TODD SNIDER 6th • SCENIC CITY ROOTS 13th • SWITCHFOOT 15th • JASON ISBELL 17th • INDIGO GIRLS 18th • MOTIONLESS IN WHITE 21st • CHERUB 22nd • JUICY J 23rd • TAJ MAHAL TRIO FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

28th • THE @TRCK29 DIRTY GUV’NAHS 3 WAYS TO PURCHASE TICKETS TRACK29.CO • (423) 521-2929 BOX OFFICE OPEN 10AM - 6PM EVERY FRIDAY

chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 11

Chattanooga Live

CHATTANOOGA

MUSIC CALENDAR

Nobunny

The Harmaleighs

LIVE MUSIC FEB/MAR

20 FRI APPETITE 9:30p 21 JOHNNY CASH BASH SAT 9p 22 CHANNING WILSON THU 9p 27 MIGHTY SIDESHOW FRI 10p 28 SAT WHO'S BAD 10p 1 SHOVELS AND ROPE SUN 8p 2 MIKE DILLON BAND

THU OPPOSITE BOX, SPACEFACE & ECLECTIC TUBA 8p FOR DESTRUCTION

POISON'D plus RED, WHITE & CREW

11TH ANNUAL JC BIRTHDAY PARTY! with DON GALLARDO

with DEEP SLEEZE

A TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON with HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF

3.4 UPTOWN BIG BAND SWING PARTY 3.6 ROGER ALAN WADE w/Chris Emerson & Ty Bennett

COMING SOON

ROAD TO NIGHTFALL FRI SAT 7/8 SIX BANDS VIE FOR THEIR SHOT!

GLASS HAMMER

THU THE PROG ROCK LEGENDS RETURN! 8p

20

ALL SHOWS 21+ UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED • NON-SMOKING VENUE

221 MARKET STREET HOT MUSIC • FINE BEER • GREAT FOOD

BUY TICKETS ONLINE • RHYTHM-BREWS.COM

THUrsday 2.20 Marion Anderson String Quartet 3 p.m. UTC Cadek Multicultural Center, 725 Oak St, (423) 425-4624 “Pickin’ at the Post” with bluegrass bands 5 p.m. American Legion Post, Trenton, Ga. (706) 657-5275 “Feel It Thursday” jam sessions/open mic 5 p.m. Mocha’s Restaurant and Music Lounge, 511 Broad St. (423) 531-4154 Red Bank Bluegrass Jam 6:30 p.m. Grace Church of the Nazarene, 6310 Dayton Blvd. (423) 877-9948, chattanoogagrace.com Prime Country Band 6:30 p.m. Ringgold Nutrition Center, 144 Circle Dr. Ringgold, GA, (706) 935-2541 Songwriter Shootout 7 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081, thecamphouse.com Forever Bluegrass 7 p.m. Whole Foods Market, 301 Manufacturers Blvd.

(423) 702-7300, boxcarforeverbluegrass.com Sacred Harp Singing 7 p.m. Folk School of Chattanooga, 4501 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 827-8906, chattanoogafolk.com Bad Tattoo 7 p.m. Las Margarita's, 1647 25th St NW, Cleveland, (423) 614-8855 Tim Neal and Mike Harris

12 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

7:30 p.m. Mexi Wings VII, 5773 Brainerd Rd. mexiwingviichattanooga.com Wait Until Dark 7:30 p.m. Ringgold Depot, 155 Depot St, Ringgold, GA. (706) 935-5290 Open Mic with Eric Shelton 8 p.m. Phibbs Bar and Grill, 96 Fieldstone Village Dr. Rock Spring, Ga. (770) 873-1780 Mike Dillon Band, Opposite Box, Spaceface, Electric Tuba 8:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644, rhythm-brews.com Battle of the Bands Finals 9 p.m. Sky Zoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533, chattazooga.com Open Mic with Hap Henniger 9 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (inside Days Inn) (423) 634-9191 Jetsam In The Noose, Get Hot Or Go Home!

9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Parkway, (423) 468-4192, thehonestpint.com DJ Puddin 9:30 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878, budssportsbar.com Nobunny, The Hussy, Citizens for the Neutron Bomb, Fast Boys 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400, jjsbohemia.com

friday 2.21 Charley Yates 4:30 p.m. Wimpie’s Country Restaurant, 9826 Dayton Pike. (423) 332-6201 Johnny Cash Tribute Show 5 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo Victorian Lounge, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000, choochoo.com Binji Varsossa 6 p.m. Cancun Mexican Restaurant & Lounge, 1809 Broad St. (423) 266-1461 cancunmexicanrest.com Danny Sample/Dave Walters 7 p.m. 212 Market St. (423) 265-1212, 212market.com Mike Phillips 7 p.m. Becky’s Restaurant and Spirits, 2503 Westside Dr. (423) 485-3873, facebook.com/ BeckysRestaurantAndSpirits Crownover, Brantley Smith, Lancaster & Company, The Harmaleighs 7 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081, thecamphouse.com Wait Until Dark 7:30 p.m. Ringgold Depot, 155 Depot St, Ringgold, GA. (706) 935-5290 Rosedale Remedy 8 p.m. Sky Zoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533, chattazooga.com Mountain Opry 8 p.m. Waldren’s Ridge Civic Center, 2501 Fairmount Pike.

(423) 886-3252 Brody Johnson Band

8:30 p.m. Phibbs Bar and Grill, 96 Fieldstone Village Dr. Rock Spring, Ga. (770) 873-1780 Logan Murrell 8:30 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 Broad St. (423) 424-3775, chattanooganhotel.com Amanda Rose 9 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (inside Days Inn) (423) 634-9191 DJ Dubkitten 9 p.m. Images, 6505 Lee Hwy. (423) 855-8210, mirage-complex.com No More Cancer Rock n’ Roll Benefit 9 p.m. Ziggy’s Underground, 607 Cherokee Blvd.

(423) 634-1074 Appetite for Destruction, Poisn’d & Red, White & Crew 9:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644, rhythm-brews.com Soul Survivor 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878, budssportsbar.com Govinda 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400, jjsbohemia.com Arlo Gilliam & Friends 10 p.m. T-Bones, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240, tboneschattanooga.com

saturday 2.22 Johnny Cash Tribute Show 5 p.m. Chattanooga Choo

Chattanooga Live

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

MUSIC CALENDAR Shpongletron V.3

Johnny Cash Birthday Bash

Thursday, February 20: 9pm Open Mic with Hap Henninger Friday, February 21: 9pm Amanda Rose Saturday, February 22: 10pm Hap Henninger Tuesday, February 25: 7pm Choo Victorian Lounge, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000, choochoo.com Songs of the Fall 7:30 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081, thecamphouse.com Wait Until Dark 7:30 p.m. Ringgold Depot, 155 Depot St, Ringgold, GA. (706) 935-5290 Sean and Laura O’Shea 8 p.m. Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse, 105 McBrien Rd, (423) 892-4960, christunity.org Dagger Blue 8 p.m. Sky Zoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533, chattazooga.com Arson, Sheri Thrower 8 p.m. Magoo’s, 3658 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge.

(423) 867-1351, facebook. com/MagoosTN Hunter Underground 8 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View.

(423) 267-0968, huntermuseum.org Battle for Refuge: Six Bands, One Winner 8 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Parkway, (423) 468-4192, thehonestpint.com Logan Murrell 8:30 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 Broad St. (423) 424-3775, chattanooganhotel.com DJ Dubkitten 9 p.m. Images, 6505 Lee Hwy. (423) 855-8210, mirage-complex.com 11th Annual Johnny

Cash Birthday Bash 9 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644, rhythm-brews.com Hap Henniger 10 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (inside Days Inn) (423) 634-9191 Medicine Tree, Gold Plated Gold, Gorgeous 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blv., (423) 266-1400, jjsbohemia.com Soul Survivor 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878, budssportsbar.com Throwback Jams and Jokes Tour 11 p.m. Mocha’s Restaurant and Music Lounge, 511 Broad St. (423) 531-4154, mochajazz.net

sunday 2.23 Live Irish Traditional Music 5 p.m. Enzo’s Market, 1501 Long St. (423) 486-9312, enzosmarket.com Jazzanooga presents: The Booker Scruggs Ensemble 5:30 p.m. Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347, barkinglegs.org Squire Parsons Trio 6 p.m. New Haven Baptist Church, 1058 Graysville Rd. (423) 903-8627, newhavenbaptist.com Between the Lines 6 p.m. American Legion Post

81, 227 James Asbury Lane, Cleveland. (423) 476-4451, tnlegionpost81.org Molly Maguires 7 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192, thehonestpint.com DJ Spicolli 9 p.m. Sky Zoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533, chattazooga.com Blind Draw 9 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878, budssportsbar.com DJ Dubkitten 9 p.m. Images, 6505 Lee Hwy. (423) 855-8210, mirage-complex.com

monday 2.24 Music Monday 7 p.m. Pasha Coffee and Tea, 3914 St Elmo Ave. (423) 475-5482, pashacoffeehouse.com Babershop Harmony Group 7 p.m. All Saints Academy, 310 East 8th St. (423) 876-7359.

Big Band Night 7:30 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055, thepalmsathamilton.com

tuesday 2.25 DJ X’Phakder 6 p.m. Sky Zoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533,

chattazooga.com Ben Friberg Jazz Group 8 p.m. The Flying Squirrel, 55 Johnson St. (423) 602-5980, flyingsquirrelbar.com Code & Creativity 7 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081, thecamphouse.com Shpongletron V.3 8 p.m. Track 29, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-4323, track29.co Open Mike with Mike 9 p.m. Tremont Tavern, 1203 Hixson Pike. (423) 266-1996, tremonttavern.com Chattanooga Organized Grime Presents….

10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400, jjsbohemia.com

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

Join us on Facebook

wednesday 2.26 Jimmy Harris 7 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, Coconut Room, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202.

(423) 499-5055, thepalmsathamilton.com New Madrid, Comedy Open Mic 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400, jjsbohemia.com

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@ chattanoogapulse.com.

house ground wagyu beef burger • fries $10

10

celebrating delicious years!

m-th 5-9:30pm • fri-sat 5-10pm 1278 market st • 423.266.4400

chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 13

Arts

michael crumb

Exploring the Art Frontiers

"Cohen" by Brian Rasmussen

Two new shows open up riveting new perspectives

"Lantana" The Sculpture & Drawings of Bryan Rasmussen Tue-Sat: 11 am - 6 pm, Sun: 12 pm-3 pm Graffiti Gallery, 505 Cherokee Boulevard (423) 400-9797 hillcityart.com "The Shadow, The Window, The Frame part 1" Devon Kronenberg Mon-Sat: 12 pm-7 pm Sun: 1 pm -6 pm Below Comfort Skateshop, 1467 Market Street (423) 305-0492 facebook.com/ ComfortSkateshop

the sense of dynamism of real time. Rasmussen’s mad suspensions possess dynamic qualities in both two- and three-dimensional formats. One piece, titled “Prometheus Bound” features an iron semisphere and springs mounted to the wall under extreme tension.

We have seen dynamic sculptures here in Albert Paley’s “Moment” (West Main and Broad Street) and in certain of Isaac Duncan’s chrome

“Bridge Walker” has a turquoise color, but a red metallic face seems to change color with different angles of view.

Interestingly, Rasmussen has two sculptures named for important writers: “Cohen” and “Beckett.” These nuanced works suggest ways in which different kinds of art may inspire new art works.

Rasmussen’s drawings have a unique look.

Mounted on Masonite and faced by Plexiglas, they take on the suggestion of display cases.

These drawings are named for butterflies, and they possess a geometric, abstract character.

Each has a central band, sometimes geometric colored, sometimes not. The sides of these drawings tend to be dark-toned abstractions with a paradoxically “airy” quality to them.

It’s not that they resemble “dark clouds”—they

A

s winter slides into spring, provocative new art shows stimulate imaginations with explorations of the frontiers of fine arts media. Brian Rasmussen presents an elegant show of sculptures and drawings at Graffiti Gallery on the Northshore, and Devon Kronenberg will open an army of stunning images at Comfort Skate Shop’s gallery space.

Rasmussen has titled his show “Lantana”, in which sculptures and drawings of decid"Prometheus Bound" by Brian Rasmussen edly industrial character paradoxically take on organic names. The links suggested by these works steel works, but Rasmusbetween the natural and the industrial primarily insen has not only commitvolve geometry and dynamism. ted to dynamic forms, he Since it’s been shown that logic derives from lanhas enhanced their preguage, a reasonably parallel extension finds geometry sentation with a nuanced abstracted from nature. For example, certain efficient use of color. shears resemble parrot beaks. Also, although some His standing work sits degree of motion may be attributed to all matter, both on steel bases, and four sculptures named the natural and the industrial spheres are characterfor butterflies are upright, rectilinear ized by motion. forms that have been “split” with the segTraditionally, painting and sculpture are viewed as ments apparently sliding apart. The differstatic media, but innovative artists have sought means ent “Faces” of these forms may share a colto imbue their works with motion in order to invoke or or their colors may differ. For example,

14 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

"Beckett" by Brian Rasmussen

don’t, but their textured darker and lighter spaces do suggest movement, as if they have been somehow caught for display, and they cannot be touched.

Rasmussen believes in the elegance of art.

He aims “to show something as simply as pos-

"The Shadow, The Window, The Frame" by Devon Kronenberg

sible.” Still, viewers will discover that deep perspectives emerge from his elegant presentations. Be inspired!

Devon Kronenberg will open his show “The Shadow, The Window, The Frame— Part 1” on Feb. 28 in the gallery space below The Comfort Skate Shop at Main and Market Streets. Kronenberg’s preferred art media include print, photography and collage. He is also deeply into music, and he plays as a DJ under the name “Deep South House Technician.”

Though Kronenberg has shown, and he continues to produce spectacular paintings, which may appear at this show, he has more lately developed a process of work that combines paint, photos, and collage into an utterly new presentation.

These projects encase perspective itself, a new kind of vision.

Kronenberg explains that the “work suggests an expansion beyond the frame,” whether the subject may represent a kind of “zoom in” or a “system” that potentially expands beyond the frame. His show will feature collages and combinations of paint and collage into rhythmically visual effects.

One of the most significant art essays of the 20th century remains Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” in which Benjamin explains how two simple facts—one being that photography can reproduce art works and the other being the juxtaposition of the images into montage—es-

pecially the art of film—produce cultural changes of widespread significance.

Kronenberg seeks to evolve painting itself, sometimes by unique approaches to painting techniques, but more specifically with respect to this upcoming show, by using collage to “paint” with images. So, for Kronenberg, the “infinite reprocibility” of the image, implied by Benjamin, transforms into collage effects. The elements of those collages “are sometimes the same, sometimes different.”

Consequently, the viewer “may be engaged by the wealth of variations inherent in these ‘collage’ presentations—some are rhythmic, some more complex.” They also provide “a sense of the digital.”

Kronenberg sees “composition arising from a process in which the system of this process creates a work that is different from ‘expectation’.” He finds, “this work has a transformative quality though these works are based on reposition.”

Perception is key to all artworks, but for Kronenberg aesthetic play involves perspective. He says, “perception is complex. A functional, paradoxical [method] removes ‘practicality’ from vision, but leaving the practical subject to promote really seeing something.” In other words, “the absence of perspective created in the context where there ought to be perspective has the effect of multiplying perspective.”

No doubt: We can expect breakout work at his show!

Music for Chattanooga’s Coolest Generation

hippieradio1069.com chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 15

“One of America’s Top 101 places to visit”

Arts & Entertainment

EVENTS CALENDAR

Puccini’s “La Boheme”

Zach Sherwin

National Geographic, USA 101

THUrsday 2.20

for more info call 706.820.2531

See RockCity.com

March 8-9, 15-16 Music Food Fun for the whole family!

Be sure to get your Rock City Annual Pass for year-round access to all the fun! sponsored by

in partnership with

Marian Anderson String Quartet 3 p.m. Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-8658, bessiesmithcc.org String Theory at the Hunter Museum 5:30 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968, huntermuseum.org Today’s Electric Bicycles 6 p.m. Outdoor Chattanooga, 200 River St. (423) 643-6888, outdoorchattanooga.com Break Out the Bubbly: a Sparkling Wine Tasting 6:30 p.m. Back Inn Café, 412 E. Second St. (423) 265-5033, bluffviewartdistrict.com Puccini’s “La Boheme” 6:30 p.m. Carmike Majestic 12, 311 Broad St. (423) 826-2375, carmike.com Photographic Society of Chattanooga: Ron Lowery Program and Photography Boot Camp 7 p.m. St. John United Methodist Church, 3921 Murray Hills Rd. (423) 894-5210 Mornings Greeting Workshop 7 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd. Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga “Mystery of the Nightmare Office Party” 7 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839, funnydinner.com (New Date) Uncensored: Tennessee Aquarium After Hours 7 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (423) 402-9960, tnaqua.org “Tragedy: A Tragedy” 7:30 p.m. Lee University, 1120 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland.

(423) 614-8000, leeuniversity.edu Comedy Rap with Zach Sherwin

16 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233, thecomedycatch.com

friday 2.21 Houston Museum of Decorative Arts 40th Annual Antiques Show & Sale 10 a.m. Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad St. (423) 267-7176, thehoustonmuseum.org ConNooga Noon. Chattanooga Convention Center, 1100 Carter St. (423) 756-0001, connooga.com “A Woman Called Truth” 1:30 p.m. ReCreate Café, The Salvation Army, 800 McCallie Ave. (423) 756-1023, csarmy.org Blue Peacock Workshop 2 p.m. Artsy-U, 5084 S. Terr., East Ridge. (423) 321-2317, artsychattanooga.com “Mystery of Flight 138” 7 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839, funnydinner.com Karen Tarlton’s Abstract Rain Workshop 7 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd., Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga “Tragedy: A Tragedy” 7:30 p.m. Lee University, 1120 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland.

(423) 614-8000, leeuniversity.edu Ballroom Dance Classes for the Beginner 7:30 p.m. Ballroom Magic Dance Center, 4200 N. Access Rd. (423) 771-3646, ballroommagicdancecenter.com "Go, Dog. Go!" 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8538, theatrecentre.com Comedy Rap with Zach Sherwin 7:30, 9:45 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd.

(423) 629-2233, thecomedycatch.com

saturday 2.22 Scenic City Half Marathon, 5K and Charity Challenge 8 a.m. Finley Stadium, 1826 Carter St. (423) 266-4041, sceniccityhalfmarathon.com ConNooga 9 a.m. Chattanooga Convention Center, 1100 Carter St. (423) 756-0001, connooga.com What Lies Beneath? Anatomy 101 with Michael Field 9 a.m. Townsend Atelier, 201 W. Main St. (423)-266-2712, townsendatelier.com Make a Basket from Kudzu 9 a.m. Outdoor Chattanooga, 200 River St. (423) 643-6888, outdoorchattanooga.com Community Garden Start-Up Workshop 9 a.m. EPB Headquarters, 10 West MLK Blvd. crabtreefarms.org/happenings Houston Museum of Decorative Arts 40th Annual Antiques Show & Sale 10 a.m. Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad St. (423) 267-7176, thehoustonmuseum.org Red Tailed Hawk Presentation 11 a.m. Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center, 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160, chattanoogaanc.org James Conner Painting Demonstration 11 a.m. River Gallery, 400 E. Second Street (423) 265-5033, river-gallery.com Houston Museum of Decorative Arts 40th Annual Antiques Show & Sale 1 p.m. Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad St. (423) 267-7176, thehoustonmuseum.org Artful Yoga 1:30 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968,

huntermuseum.org Eastgate Saturday Cinema: “Fast & Furious 6” 2:30 p.m. Eastgate Library, 5705 Marlin Rd. (423) 757-5310, chattlibrary.org/eastgate-library Snakes of the Southeast 2:30 p.m. Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center, 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160, chattanoogaanc.org “Go, Dog. Go!” 2:30 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8538, theatrecentre.com “Mystery of the Redneck Italian Wedding” 5:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839, funnydinner.com Carol Schiff’s See Rock City Workshop 7 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd., Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga Comedy Rap with Zach Sherwin 7, 9:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233, thecomedycatch.com Winter Walk Workshop 7 p.m. Artsy-U, 5084 S. Terr., East Ridge. (423) 321-2317, artsychattanooga.com “Tragedy: A Tragedy” 7:30 p.m.Lee University, 1120 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland.

(423) 614-8000, leeuniversity.edu Avant Art Hunter Underground 8 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968, huntermuseum.org “Mystery of The Facebook Fugitive” 8 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839, funnydinner.com Improv-a-Lot 9:30 p.m. Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, 5900 Brainerd Rd. (423) 602-8640, ensembletheatreofchattanooga.com

Arts & Entertainment

EVENTS CALENDAR Katrina Brown

Stand-Up Comedy: Katrina Brown 10:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839, funnydinner.com Hunter Underground After Party 11 p.m. Easy Bistro, 203 Broad St. (423) 266-1121, easybistro.com

sunday 2.23 What Lies Beneath? Anatomy 101 with Michael Field 9 a.m. Townsend Atelier, 201 W. Main St., (423)-266-2712, townsendatelier.com ConNooga 9 a.m. Chattanooga Convention Center, 1100 Carter St. (423) 756-0001, connooga.com Community Garden Start-Up Workshop Noon. EPB Headquarters, 10 West MLK Blvd. crabtreefarms.org/happenings Houston Museum of Decorative Arts 40th Annual Antiques Show & Sale 1 p.m. Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad St. (423) 267-7176, thehoustonmuseum.org Puccini’s “La Boheme” 1 p.m. Carmike Majestic 12, 311 Broad St. (423) 826-2375, carmike.com “Tragedy: A Tragedy” 2:30 p.m. Lee University, 1120 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland.

(423) 614-8000, leeuniversity.edu “Go, Dog. Go!” 2:30 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8538, theatrecentre.com CSO Presents “Mozart Symphony No. 40” 3 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 267-8583, chattanoogastmphony.org Raise Money for the Arts: Starry Night Over Chattanooga Workshop

4 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd., Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga Jazzanooga presents Booker Scruggs Ensemble 5:30 p.m. Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347, barkinglegs.org Comedy Rap with Zach Sherwin 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233, thecomedycatch.com

monday 2.24 Five Day Painting Workshop with Hollis Dunlap 9 a.m. Townsend Atelier, 201 W. Main St. (423) 266-2712, townsendatelier.com Peacock Feather Workshop 5:30 p.m. Artsy-U, 5084 S. Terr., East Ridge. (423) 321-2317, artsychattanooga.com Gino Savarino’s Vino Workshop 7 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd., Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga “Tragedy: A Tragedy” 7:30 p.m. Lee University, 1120 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland.

(423) 614-8000, leeuniversity.edu

tuesday 2.25 “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle” 6 p.m. Chattanooga Public Library, 1001 Broad St. (423) 757-5310, lib.chattanooga.gov Wally’s Friends SpayGhetti No Meatballs Dinner & Silent Auction 6 p.m. Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad St. (423) 667-4332, wallysfriends.com Code & Creativity 7 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081, thecamphouse.com Palm Tree Sunset Workshop

ConNooga

7 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd., Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga Kissing Couple Workshop 7 p.m. Artsy-U, 5084 S. Terr., East Ridge. (423) 321-2317, artsychattanooga.com Patten Performances: Koresh Dance 7:30 p.m. UTC Fine Arts Center, Vine & Palmetto Sts. (423) 425-4371, utc.edu/finearts Shall We Dance? Chattanooga’s Ballroom Dance Club 7:30 p.m. Ballroom Magic Dance Center, 4200 N. Access Rd. (423) 771-3646, ballroommagicdancecenter.com Wine Night with Ben Friberg Jazz Trio 8 p.m. The Flying Squirrel, 55 Johnson St. (423) 602-5980, flyingsquirrelbar.com

wednesday 2.26 Open Studio - You pick the painting Workshop 6 p.m. Artsy-U, 5084 S. Terr., East Ridge. (423) 321-2317, artsychattanooga.com Ballroom Dance Classes for Groups 6:30 p.m. Ballroom Magic Dance Center, 4200 N. Access Rd. (423) 771-3646, ballroommagicdancecenter.com Twin Desire - Original by Megan Duncanson Workshop 7 p.m. Uptown Art, 2 Cherokee Blvd., Ste. 100. (423) 602-8580, uptownart.com/chattanooga United States Navy Band 7 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 642-TIXS, chattanoogaonstage.com

ongoing “Southern Spirit” 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon-Sat, 1 – 5 p.m. Sun. River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St.

(423) 265-5033, river-gallery.com “Un-Scene Chattanooga” 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Mon-Sat, 1 – 5 p.m. Sun. In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214, intowngallery.com “Pictures Tell The Story” 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon-Fri, Noon – 4 p.m. Sat Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-8658, bessiesmithcc.org “Good For You: Healthy Food on the Run” 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon-Sat, Noon – 5 p.m. Sun Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 756-2738, cdmfun.org “Poster Child: Selections from the 4 Bridges Poster Artists” 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tues-Sat. AVA Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282, averts.org “African American Art: Harlem Renaissance Civil Rights Era and Beyond” 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon-Sun, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Thurs Hunter Museum, 10 Bluff View. (423) 267-0968, huntermuseum.org “Photographic Prints” 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. – Noon Sat Gallery at Blackwell, 71 Eastgate Loop.

(423) 894-7112 “Laurel Nakadate: Strangers and Relations” 10 a.m.– 5 p.m. Mon-Fri, University of the South, 735 University Ave., Sewanee.

(931) 598-1000, sewanee.edu

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@ chattanoogapulse.com

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chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 17

Screen

john devore

Flashy, Fun—and Designed to Sell You Things “The Lego Movie” is one long commercial “ A

s a parent, it’s hard not to be cynical about children’s movies. In general, these films are aimed at the parents as much as the kids, often filled with adult puns and knowing humor far over the heads of the supposed audience. A lot of the animated fare that finds its way into the multiplex straddles the line between audiences, many times erring too far on the side of adult entertainment.

Then, of course, there is the inevitable media bombardment, with constant advertisements for toy tie-ins and McDonald’s Happy Meals. These films seem to be made for the sole purpose of encouraging children to nag their parents for more stuff. It’s been this way since I was a child, and if anything, the movies have at least improved in quality.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe just how far Hollywood will go to combine advertisement with entertainment. Enter “The Lego Movie.” This is a film that is well made, funny—but completely cynical at the same time.

Whether it’s intentionally as meta as it appears is up for debate, but make no mistake, the criticisms made about American consumerism in the subtext are abundantly on display in the film’s actual purpose. “The Lego Movie” is one long, high-quality commercial, chock-full of nostalgia and devoid of real heart.

The story takes place in the Lego world, where everyone is virtually the same. Everything comes with instructions, from where to eat, what to listen to, and how to make friends. The hero, Emmet (Chris Pratt) is a generic construction worker who finds himself inexplicably in a race against time to save the world from the evil President Business (Will Ferrell). Business wants to make everything uniform, using a ultimate superweapon (known to us as Krazy Glue) to freeze the world in place, exactly as it’s meant to be. On the opposite side is the rebel faction of Master Builders, who want to construct their own world as they see fit. It’s an argument over order vs. chaos, adulthood vs. childhood, black vs. white.

Of course, this is as complicated as the film gets and on the whole it works well

18 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

It’s the subtext beneath the subtext that is so fascinating.

The movie is an advertisement for Legos, plain and simple.

for a children’s movie. Much of the film is told through what one would assume is the eyes of a very creative and clever child, with random plot points and silly asides. At the same time, the film wants to make jokes about Starbucks and pop music and suburban living, laughing at the boredom inherent in everyone being the same. But it’s the subtext beneath the subtext that is so fascinating.

The movie is an advertisement for Legos, plain and simple. They want you to buy their play sets, play their video games, and visit their theme parks. They cleverly list the sets they have available for purchase in the narrative of the film, including several outdated sets that I have no doubt will soon have a re-issue. Despite the fun story, despite the humor, despite the undertone of creativity, it’s important to remember that Lego has one goal. That goal is to remind the audience that it doesn’t matter how you play with Legos, as long as you

play with Legos. Buy these toys and you’ll have as much fun as the characters on screen.

More telling is how engaged I was in the film until the end (spoilers ahead—skip to the end if you haven’t seen the movie and intend to). This is a really fun film that pulled me into the narrative and held my attention very well. When the narrative revealed itself as a frame story, my perspective suddenly changed. As the camera panned out to reveal the basement of Will Ferrell’s character, I felt like I’d been had. I remembered that the movie is based on toys, toys that cost money. In some cases, these toys cost a lot. The price of admission for my family would only buy a small set of Legos for my son. I realized that someone would have to be Will Ferrell to have such a large a collection. My investment in the film never recovered, and I spent the remainder of the movie noting one reminder after another that it was just propaganda for a toy company. If anything, that realization was the most entertaining part of the film.

I understood what I was paying for at the outset; I’m fairly savvy as a consumer and movie-goer. It was a chance to do something with my family for an hour and a half, something flashy and colorful to distract my four year old for a few minutes. But I wasn’t prepared for the self-aware contradiction that is “The Lego Movie.” It would be an excellent discussion piece for a media studies class. The film is an example of why cynicism and realism are often the same thing.

NICKEL CREEK

Monday • April 21 • $39 Advance and Day Of On Sale Friday at 10AM via Track29.co • Box Office • (423) 521-2929

SATURDAY FEB. 22 | 8 PM PURCHASE TICKETS 423-267-0968 huntermuseum.org ADVANCE TICKETS $40 for Avant-Art members $50 for non-Avant-Art members DAY OF EVENT $60 @ the door (based on availability) Dress is “Gallery Casual” FOR MORE INFO

PARTY IN THE BASEMENT OF THE HUNTER MUSEUM! Buy tickets now for Chattanooga’s most exciting art-focused event.

Enjoy great food, beverages, entertainment and a silent auction of art geared towards the new collector.

Smash & Grab A suggested donation of $25 gets you entered into the Smash & Grab drawing. Names will be drawn throughout the night. Attendees whose tickets are drawn have 30 seconds to enter the special Smash & Grab gallery and grab a work of art to add to their personal collections. Increase your odds of winning with more chances! Receive five chances with a $100 donation.

LIVE music from THECREATIVEUNDERGROUND www.huntermuseum.org | Avant-Art Facebook page #hunterunderground chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 19

Free Will Astrology Saving Mobile Lives

1906 Gunbarrel Rd. 423-486-1668

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M-F 10am-7pm Sat: 11a-4pm Closed Sunday

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Can you craft a compelling 650-word short feature or profile—and a longer, in-depth feature worthy of our cover? If so, let’s talk. The Pulse is seeking a few good freelance writers to join our stable of news, feature, music, political, fashion and arts writers.

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If you’ve got the “write stuff,” we want your voice in The Pulse.

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rob brezsny

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): From 2010 to 2012, Eric Garcetti worked as an actor on the TV cop shows The Closer and its spin-off series Major Crimes.

He played the mayor of Los Angeles. Then in 2013, he ran for the office of L.A.’s mayor in real life, and won. It was a spectacular example of Kurt Vonnegut’s suggestion that we tend to become what we pretend to be.

Your assignment Pisces, is to make good use of this principle.

I invite you to experiment with pretending to be the person you would like to turn into.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): A woman from New Mexico wrote to tell me that after reading my horoscopes for three years in the Santa Fe Reporter, she had decided to stop. “I changed my beliefs,” she said. “I no longer resonate with your philosophy.” On the one hand, I was sad that I had lost a reader. On the other hand, I admired her for being able to transform her beliefs, and also for taking practical action to enforce her shift in perspective. That’s the kind of purposeful metamorphosis I recommend for you, Aries. What ideas are you ready to shed? What theories no longer explain the nature of life to your satisfaction?

Be ruthless in cutting away the thoughts that no longer work for you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In Arthurian legend, Camelot was the castle where King Arthur held court and ruled his kingdom. It housed the Round Table, where Arthur’s knights congregated for important events. Until recently, I had always imagined that the table was relatively small and the number of knights few. But then I discovered that several old stories say there was enough room for 150 knights.

It wasn’t an exclusive, elitist group.

I suspect you will experience a similar evolution, Taurus. You may be wishing you could become part of a certain circle, but assume it’s too exclusive or selective to welcome you as a member. I suspect it’s more receptive and inclusive than you think.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The renowned Lakota medicine man Sitting Bull (1831-1890) wasn’t born with that name. For the first years of his life he was known as Jumping Badger. His father renamed him when he was a teenager af-

20 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

Research later revealed that the plaster had been applied by 18th-century monks to prevent the statue from being looted.

I foresee a comparable sequence unfolding in the coming weeks for you, Leo. What will it take to free a valuable resource that’s concealed within a cheap veneer?

ter he demonstrated exceptional courage in battle. I’d like to see you consider a similar transition in the coming months, Gemini.

You’re due to add some gravitas to your approach. The tides of destiny are calling you to move more deliberately and take greater care with the details. Are you willing to experiment with being solid and stable? The more willing you are to assume added responsibility, the more interesting that responsibility is likely to be.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The English noun “offing” refers to the farthest reach of the ocean that is still visible as you stand on the beach. It’s a good symbol for something that is at a distance from you and yet still within view.

I suggest that you take a long thoughtful look at the metaphorical offing that’s visible from where you stand. You’ll be wise to identify what’s looming for you in the future so you can start working to ensure you will get the best possible version of it.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A large plaster Buddha statue was housed at a modest temple in Bangkok, Thailand from 1935 to 1955. No one knew its age or origins. In May of 1955, workers were struggling to move the heavy ten-foot icon to a new building on the temple grounds when it accidentally broke free of the ropes that secured it. As it hit the ground, a chunk of plaster fell off, revealing a sheen of gold beneath. Religious leaders authorized the removal of the remaining plaster surface. Hidden inside was a solid gold Buddha that is today worth $250 million dollars.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Holistic health teacher Deepak Chopra suggests that we all periodically make this statement: “Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance and a miracle. I relinquish all regrets, grievances, and resentments, and choose the miracle.” Is that too New Age for you, Virgo? I hope you can drop any prejudices you might have about it and simply make it your own. It’s the precise formula you need to spin this week’s events in the right direction—working for you rather than against you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the savannas of Africa, waterholes are crucial for life. During the rainy season, there are enough to go around for every animal species to drink and bathe in comfortably.

But the dry season shrinks the size and number of the waterholes.

The impala may have to share with the hippopotamus, the giraffe with the warthog. Let’s use this as a metaphor to speculate about your future. I’m guessing that the dry season will soon be arriving in your part of the world. The waterholes may dwindle. But that could ultimately prove to be a lucky development, because it will bring you into contact with interesting life forms you might not have otherwise met. Unexpected new alliances could emerge.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In his book The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, literary scholar Jonathan Gottschall muses on the crucial role that imagination plays in our lives. “[The] average daydream is about fourteen seconds long and [we] have about two thousand of them per day,” he says. “In other words, we spend about half of our waking hours—one-third of our lives on earth—spinning fantasies.” I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because you are entering a phase when your daydreams can serve you well. They’re more likely than usual to be creative, productive,

and useful. Monitor them closely.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Eighth Symphony in a mere two months during the summer of 1943. He worked on it in an old henhouse on a former chicken farm. The location helped relax him, allowing him to work with extra intensity. I wish you could find a retreat like that for yourself sometime soon, Sagittarius. I think you would benefit from going off by yourself to a sanctuary and having some nice long talks with your ancestors, the spirits of nature, and your deepest self. If that’s not practical right now, what would be the next best thing you could do?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Is there one simple thing you could do to bring a bit more freedom into your life? An elegant rebellion against an oppressive circumstance? A compassionate breakaway from a poignant encumbrance? A flash of unpredictable behavior that would help you escape a puzzling compromise?

I’m not talking about a huge, dramatic move that would completely sever you from all of your burdens and limitations. I’m imagining a small step you could take to get a taste of spaciousness and a hint of greater fluidity. That’s your assignment in the coming week.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): There are 15,074 lakes in Wisconsin, but more than 9,000 of them have never been officially named.

That’s strange to me. In my view, everything is worthy of the love that is bestowed by giving it a name. I have named every tree and bush in my yard, as well as each egret that frequents the creek flowing by my house. I understand that at the Findhorn community in northern Scotland, people even give names to their cars and toasters and washing machines. According to researchers in the UK, cows that have names are happier: They produce more milk. Your assignment, Aquarius, is to name at least some of the unnamed things in your world. It’s an excellent time to cultivate a closer, warmer personal relationship with absolutely everything.

You can read free excerpts of my most recent book at http://bit.ly/ PronoiaFree2. Tell me what you think at Truthrooster@gmail.com

Jonesin’ Crossword

matt jones

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Across 1 ___ fly (baseball play) 4 Junkies 11 Took a chair 14 Elec. text-reading method (hidden in SOCRATES) 15 Store that sells golf balls 16 One of the five W’s 17 Where to hold your hands while guiding a horse?

20 Muppet friend of Rosie 21 ___ buco (Italian veal dish) 22 Actress Meg or Jennifer 23 Slumber 25 Nintendo princess 26 Acted like the “Supermassive Black Hole” band?

32 Cray or pay ender 33 Jai alai balls 34 “All in favor” word

37 Treater’s pickup 38 Make trivial objections 39 Actor Chaney 40 AARP group 41 Laugh-worthy 43 Big klutz 44 “I couldn’t be there--I had to sell my steam press” and others?

46 “Funeral Blues” poet W.H. ___ 50 Volks ender 51 Play a mean guitar 52 Put your hands together 56 Word before mail or monger 57 Shaw or Lange, no faking?

60 Sweeping under site 61 Deal incentives 62 Paddle’s cousin 63 Startled sounds 64 Fortitude 65 Abbr. in an apt. classified

Down 1 Sensitive areas 2 Lacking the basic structure of life 3 “Law & Order” settings 4 Bee-related prefix 5 007’s first film foe 6 Four-footed furry friends 7 AOL and NetZero, for two 8 Jimmy of shoes 9 How-___ 10 Canines with puffy tails 11 Sty food 12 “Get ___ of yourself!”

13 Harding who made headlines in 1994 18 Gallagher who didn’t smash melons 19 0-0, say 24 High school assembly goal 27 Designer’s concern 28 Davy Crockett died defending it, with “the”

29 “___ On Up” (“The Jeffersons” theme) 30 New York State Thruway city 31 Course with lettuce 34 Everglades critter 35 Really ramped-up response to “Ready?”

36 Electrical ___ 41 Grate remainder 42 Murphy has one 45 “If I Only Had the Nerve” singer Bert 46 “The Jetsons” dog 47 “I’m listening” 48 Barrel scrapings 49 Mental picture?

52 Largest island on the Caribbean 53 “The Grey” star Neeson 54 Prefix with matter 55 Ball-___ hammer 58 Drift boat attachment 59 “My Life ___ Dog” (1985 film)

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Copyright © 2014 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. 0663 chattanoogapulse.com • february 20-27, 2014 • The Pulse • 21

On the Beat

alex teach

An Imperfect Union Officer Alex pontificates on union pros and cons There are more than 800,000 police officers in the United States.

By most standards that is a fairly large employee workforce, but the number is well diluted by the fact that those officers work for nearly 18,000 different law enforcement agencies across America.

That said, those officers are subject not just to disease and dismemberment and perforation and stress as one might expect to hear, but also the same thing every other employee in America is exposed to: Bosses that make your work life comparable to smoking a hard turd in high-heat. And what happens when workers get pissed off in large numbers, no matter what their profession? They generally get together and do something about it.

Naturally I’m talking about unions, but in Tennessee that is a word that means very little for police officers in particular since Tennessee does not have collectivebargaining laws. Here, we have associations and fraternal organizations that serve in the place of a more traditional union in other states (some as close as Kentucky), and while that means we are not afforded the protection of contracts in the way most private employees enjoy, it never upset me too much because we never had and never would utilize the number-one tool in the toolbox of unions: The abil-

“

Let people draw their own conclusions.

Revisionist history is actually a reason we need unions—and the right to choose which unions we, in fact, want representing us.”

ity to strike. That is not to say these associations do not have any advantages, mind you, because in lieu of the big stick known as going on strike, Tennessee law enforcement associations use their voices. And as it turns out? People listen.

The first group I joined was called the Southern States Police Benevolent Association with about 34,000 members from Arkansas to Florida. After a business dispute with them (specifically on how they handled business), I switched to what is currently the largest orga-

nization in America, the Fraternal Order of Police with its current roster of 325,000 officers nationwide.

(While these are huge, just one of the NYPD’s associations has more than 50,000 members, the wellknown New York City Patrolman’s Benevolent Association.)

Without going into detail, I have been fairly active in these type of organizations based on the strong conviction that policemen should not only expect fair and equitable treatment from their employers, but also on the fact that they see things their employers historically preferred not be made public for political reasons (actual crime rates versus crime rates published with cooked-books as to not scare away future tax-paying customers, etc.)

The unions provide a voice for these officers who would otherwise have little to no protection in regards to their present and future careers, just like any other employee in any other profession.

And at last, the reason I’ve said all this? To show that I am personally a believer in union representation, and it’s with that credibility that I express joy in the local Volkswagen plant employees voting down representation from the United Auto Workers.

It turns out the majority of the employees decided they didn’t want representation through an organi-

zation whose reputation in recent decades was sandwiched somewhere between the Enron Corporation and Paula Deen, and in a state where they had no real power. Done deal, right?

Alas, no. The employees voted them down, and it was quickly determined by pundits and thinskinned pro-UAW types that they must have been “scared into” voting it down by state and US senators warning them of UAW follies.

Did they vote it down because they didn’t want to hand $900,000 a year in wages to a dying organization equated with failure and corruption so that at the end of the day, they would essentially be doing all the negotiating for themselves? That it was a shit-deal? No, that couldn’t be it. They were voted down because State Senator Bo Watson and Republican politicians carry that much water in the bluecollar soul. That makes more sense to pundits.

If I don’t like Barack Obama’s insistence on raising the debt ceiling rather than controlling spending, it doesn’t mean I’m a racist. It means I just disagreed with something. And if I don’t like the UAW, it doesn’t make me anti-union; it just means I don’t like the UAW specifi-

cally. I get to decide these opinions for myself, so when someone waving the flag of fairness ironically doesn’t even allow me to have my own opinion, it just flies all over me.

I think it just pisses me off that yet again, even after a clear democratically administered and supervised defeat, you can’t possibly have an opinion for the reasons you yourself articulate.

Let people draw their own conclusions. Revisionist history is actually a reason we need unions—and the right to choose which unions we, in fact, want representing us.

Congratulations, VW employees.

Keep your chin up. No matter what people tell you you’re really keeping your chin up for, in their opinions.

When officer Alexander D. Teach is not patrolling our fair city on the heels of the criminal element, he spends his spare time volunteering for the Boehm Birth Defects Center. Follow him on Facebook at www. facebook.com/alexteach

MORE MONEY FOR YOUR GOLD! CHATTANOOGA’S #1 GOLD BUYER wants to give you MONEY for your jewelry!

Get paid TOP-DOLLAR just like Rick’s thousands of satisfied customers!

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RICK DAVIS GOLD & DIAMONDS 5301 Brainerd Rd at McBrien Rd • 423.499.9162 22 • The Pulse • February 20-27, 2014 • chattanoogapulse.com

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When organic just won't do

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