The Pulse - Vol. 7, Issue 47 by Brewer Media Group

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

FREE • News, Views, Music, Film, Arts & Entertainment • November 24, 2010 • Volume 7, Issue 47 • www.chattanoogapulse.com

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

President Jim Brewer, II Publisher Zachary Cooper Contributing Editor Janis Hashe News Editor / Art Director Gary Poole Director of Sales Rhonda Rollins Advertising Sales Rick Leavell, Townes Webb Calendar Editors Bryanna Burns, Reginald Owens Graphic Design Jennifer Grelier Contributing Writers Gustavo Arellano, Rob Brezsny Chuck Crowder, Michael Crumb Rebecca Cruz, John DeVore Joshua Hurley, Matt Jones D.E. Langley, Ernie Paik Alex Teach, Tara V. Editorial Cartoonist Rick Baldwin Editorial Interns Blake Hampton, Reginald Owens Contact Info: Phone (423) 265-9494 Fax (423) 266-2335 Email Inquiries info@chattanoogapulse.com Calendar Submissions calendar@chattanoogapulse.com The Pulse is published weekly and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publishers may take more than one copy per weekly issue. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.

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Brewer Media 1305 Carter Street Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 Letters to the editor must include name, address and daytime phone number for verification. The Pulse reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity. Please keep letters within 300 words in length. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news.

24 2010

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Contents

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Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

AL Y DE e NU DA GUI uls AN LI G he P HO PIN in T OP ek SH we

NOVEMBER

12 HIS TIME IS GOLDEN By Chuck Crowder

Rick Davis of Rick Davis Gold & Diamonds has seen it all in his 36 years in the scrap gold-buying business. “The most unusual thing that’s ever come in was a 14k gold toilet about the size of a silver dollar. Had a movable lid and all. I think I gave them $400 for it,” he recalls.

news & views

feature stories 18 POST T-DAY PARTY PLEASURES By Tara V. After dinner with the family, sitting through embarrassing stories you will never live down or dodging snot rockets from your mature 8-year-old cousin, it is time to get the heck out of there and PARTY!

25 ART BEYOND THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION By Michael Crumb The Cress Gallery at UTC is currently showing a collection of contemporary Chinese art titled “Le deluge, après mao”. This collection features 25 pieces in a broad range of styles and media.

30 VOLDEMORT VS. SAURON By John DeVore There are now seven films in the “Harry Potter” series. If this seems like a lot, consider the “Friday the 13th” series, which has 12 films and one reboot; or consider the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, with eight films and one reboot.

5 6 11 17 29 38

PULSE BEATS BEYOND THE HEADLINES SHRINK RAP ON THE BEAT LIFE IN THE NOOG ASK A MEXICAN

everything else 4 5 8 19 20 26 34 32 36 37

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CITY COUNCILSCOPE POLICE BLOTTER NEW MUSIC REVIEWS MUSIC CALENDAR A&E CALENDAR SPIRITS WITHIN DINING OUT FREE WILL ASTROLOGY JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Letters to the Editor Bad Police Work Did any of the Red Bank Police officers not pay attention in criminal justice 101 class, which teaches that you must have just cause because entering the premises? Simply taking the words of a bondsman does not qualify. Why did they not do what is called “investigative work” before kicking in doors? Now this poor couple is without a home and being kicked out of the street because of a mistake. I think the entire Red Bank Police Department needs to go back to the police academy and pay attention this time. Serenity Monopy Explosive Situation Why have our city’s authorities not evidenced more interest in the person who felt a need to have a large quantity of destructive explosives in his or her home? Sixty-one sticks of dynamite is not useful for ANY constructive or practical purpose. It is suited only for massive destruction. Surely the citizens living in the vicinity have the right to expect that civil authorities would protect them from someone who so gravely endangers their lives, and brings that person or persons to account for this action. The

Furniture Bank’s offices and warehouse are at 700 East 11th Ave. If anyone has a spare mattress, please help out this holiday season. Bill Laudeman Need For Mattresses The Chattanooga Furniture Bank is in dire need of mattresses. There are 80 families on a waiting list for furniture, but they all have one thing in common—they need beds more than any other piece of furniture. We have no mattresses in stock, so that’s the only thing holding up the furniture bank in serving them. Doesn’t mean they won’t be out of kitchen tables or chairs later (like this summer) but right now it’s mattresses. Kelley Nave United Way of Greater Chattanooga Thanksgiving Garbage Collection In order for City employees to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, garbage and curbside recycling will not be collected on Thanksgiving Day. All garbage and/or recycling collection falling on the Thanksgiving Holiday (Thursday, November 25) will be collected on Saturday, November 27. In addition,

Residential Refuse Collection Centers will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, and the Recycling Convenience Centers and the Wood Recycling Center will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving. With the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas day, the City of Chattanooga Department of Public Works picks up garbage and recycling on all holidays. Richard J. Beeland City of Chattanooga

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

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Pulse Beats

Quote Of The Week:

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

“Whatever we have to pay the camera company will be expensive and, without the camera revenue, we’re going to have to have a tax increase.” — Red Bank City Commissioner Ruth Jeno, responding to Mayor Monty Millard’s announcement that the city is planning to do away with the controversial traffic cameras.

Habitat Home Means Beginning Anew For The Allen Family Thanks to the City of Chattanooga and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga, Carla Allen and her children now have a new simple, decent, affordable, safe and energy-efficient home in Alton Park. Things have not always been easy for Carla, By the time she turned 24, she had four children and was living on her own. The family initially lived in public housing before receiving a housing choice voucher and moving to a rental house. Although the housing choice voucher offered more stability than public housing, Carla felt it was not the best scenario for her family—the neighborhood where she rented was filled with drug activity. Carla readily acknowledges many of the challenges she has faced are the result of decisions she made when she was young. However, she has never allowed herself or her children to use their circumstances as an excuse. She has always challenged her family to work hard and aim high. After working at Shaw Industries for the last four years and moving her family to a position of self sufficiency, Carla felt there was no better time than now to push her family to the next level: homeownership. Carla is proud of the fact that she has been able to nurture her children and help them

thrive even though they live in a neighborhood that has more than its share of violence and drug activity. Her oldest child, Frederick, is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee, while Shaquille, 15, Ty-Neisha, 12, and 10-year-old Venyetta remain at home. “It is a privilege to work with Carla to help her achieve her dream of homeownership,” says Connie O’Neal, director of family services with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga. “We hope that the family’s new home will support Carla and her children as they work to build a stronger and more stable future for their family.” The Allen family’s home is the first of seven homes to be developed by Habitat in partnership with Neighborhood Stabilization Program efforts being coordinated by the City of Chattanooga’s Department of Neighborhood Services and Community Development. “We are grateful for the city’s support in this construction of this home, and the others to be built through this partnership,” says Pete Palmer, Habitat’s Execu-

tive Director. “Looking ahead, Habitat hopes to continue the neighborhood focus of this program by partnering with area foundations, businesses, groups and churches to address community needs. Our skill set is the construction of new simple, decent, affordable and safe homes, but by coming alongside other organizations with different lines of service in specific neighborhoods, our homes, combined with their efforts can create greater impact than each of us may be able to achieve alone,” he says. The Allen family home also marks the beginning point for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga’s commitment to third-party certification of its builds to EarthCraft House standards for energy efficiency. “Because wise use of energy is increasingly important to our community, having our homes formally certified helps raise awareness of the impact that careful use of materials and technology can have on the energy efficiency of a home, and helps the public have confidence that we are building a quality, energy-efficient home for our partner families,” says Dennis Neal, LEED AP, Habitat’s Director of Construction and Land Development.

Here is one of the more interesting agenda items set to be discussed at the Tuesday, November 30 meeting of the Chattanooga City Council.

5. Ordinances - Final Reading: c) An ordinance deannexing certain territory adjacent to O’Grady Drive, Scenic Waters Lane, and Tipton Lane which are currently within the City of Chattanooga upon the request of the Little, Fryar, Shown, and Tipton families. The final public hearing on a request by a group of Lookout Valley landowners wishing to deannexed, who claim the city has not followed through of providing sewer service and road improvements to their properties. One of the underlying issues is the fact that the owners of the former Crittendon property wish to convert their land to a resort facility and believe they would be better suited dealing with the county instead of the city. The Chattanooga City Council meets each Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Council Building at 1000 Lindsay St. For more information on the agenda and minutes from past city council meetings, visit www.Chattanooga.gov/City_Council

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Beyond The Headlines

When Baseball Is More Than A Game By Rebecca Cruz

o you love baseball? Do you go through withdrawals this time of year, eagerly anticipating the next season? Do you love the way baseball changes lives? “Whoa—I like baseball, but it’s just a game,” you say? Well, don’t tell Keith Landecker or the other coaches of the Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth Baseball League, because that’s exactly what they’ve been doing for years—transforming lives through baseball.

I’ve shared the stories of how this league has improved the lives of kids through teaching them “America’s favorite sport.” The Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth coaches do more than teach the fundamentals of the game. They have become positive male role models for countless teenagers. Both on and off the field, the coaches teach their players valuable life lessons: respect, diligence, hard work, racial relations, discipline, how to be a team player, and more. Off the field, the coaches require their players to show respect for themselves and others, work hard in school, and be good examples for kids younger than themselves. Many of the players live in single-parent homes. Many can’t afford equipment or uniforms, nor do they have a parent who can transport them back and forth to practice or games. So the coaches provide this for them. When Keith Landecker isn’t working his full-time job as program director and afternoon host at WJTT Power 94, he’s coaching his players, showing up for their special school events, transporting them from one place to another, feeding them, or laboring over the Tyner baseball field, where the

kids practice and play their games during the season. As if that wasn’t enough for one man to provide, Keith pays for most of the expenses incurred by his team out of his own pocket. Just months ago, a lack of resources forced Keith to turn away more than 100 kids wanting to join the league. Although the coaches were able to find places for all of the kids on other teams, I still wonder what impact this league, with a mission much more important than just winning the next game, could have had on those boys. That’s when I got involved in the effort to drum up support for the boys already participating, as well as others who wanted and needed to be in the league. After months of meetings, joining forums, presenting to individuals and groups, and partnering with other organizations, we found ourselves right back at square one. Keith and the kids needed several hundred dollars to purchase dirt to fill holes in the field, among many other needs, and there was no money coming to help, or volunteers to step in—until just a few days ago. That’s when, as if purposely planned just in time for Thanksgiving, a miracle came our way. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Pete Cooper and his staff, the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga now has a fund set aside for financial support for the league. And Pete Cooper has already drummed up $2,000 of support for the Urban Baseball Fund. That much-needed money will be used immediately for field improvements, as well as for regular maintenance. The Landeckers had planned to use the money they had set aside for Christmas in order to purchase that dirt—so this was no small gift. The very next day, I received word from Callie Starnes at WRCB TV-3 that Keith has been chosen as a semi-finalist for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes those “unsung

“Chattanooga now has a fund set aside for financial support for the league. And Pete Cooper has already drummed up $2,000 of support for the Urban Baseball Fund.”

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

heroes” who, behind the scenes, go above and beyond to make a positive impact in our community. Keith was reluctant to be thrown into the spotlight, as he has been with this nomination. “I didn’t ask for this,” he replied after getting the news. It was only by explaining to him that this was an opportunity to share the stories of the boys playing in the league, and, the possibility that this attention may motivate volunteers and other supporters to come forward, that Keith decided, reluctantly, to accept his “pat on the back.” The story Callie Starnes is putting together about Keith Landecker and the Cal Ripken/ Babe Ruth Baseball League will air on WRCB TV3 on Thursday, December 9, at 6 p.m. WRCB TV3 will also air the story the following morning on the Today Show. Though we’re feeling especially grateful this Thanksgiving, there is still much more work to be done. We’ll need more support for field maintenance and a long list of other costly needs, as well as volunteers. If you love baseball, and want to share the love of the game, or if you believe that investing time and resources into improving the lives of some deserving young people is worthwhile, this is your chance to step up the plate. Contact me at Rebecca@ BrewerMediaGroup.com, or contact the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, www.cfgc.org.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

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

• Quite often, good police work means being in the right place at the right time. Such was the case with several burglary arrests last week, where officers were in the neighborhoods right as the thefts were taking place. A burglary call at a Swann Road residence was quickly solved when officers spotted the suspect vehicle within minutes of the call. They pulled it over and found property from the burglary— along with items from another recent burglary—in the vehicle, which led to the arrest of two men. Then a few minutes later, another burglary-in-progress call came in for a Mandarin Circle resident, where two men were spotted carrying a big-screen TV from the house. When officers arrived, both men fled on foot. One was quickly apprehended. A search of his vehicle, which was nearby, turned up additional items taken in the burglary. • Nearly everyone at one time has had to put up with a bad roommate. In prison, though, there is not much you can do about it other than put up with the inconvenience. However, accusing a disliked cellmate of rape (when it did not happen) is not going to make life any easier. An inmate at the Hamilton County

Jail made just such a complaint, and after investigating, he was charged with filing a false report after detectives concluded with he had fabricated the complaint. According to information obtained during the investigation, the inmate stated he was not happy with his cell assignment and wanted to be moved to another. • A father who caught his teenage son with a pack of cigarettes contacted Bradley County authorities, accusing a local retailer of selling smokes to the boy. So, investigators sent an undercover 17-year-old male to the store to attempt to buy cigarettes. The youth went to Waterlevel Highway store and was allowed to not only purchase a pack of cigarettes but a lottery ticket as well. Detectives monitoring the purchase cited the store’s owner on misdemeanor charges of unlawful sale of cigarettes to a minor and unlawful sale of a lottery ticket to a minor. No word from authorities if the lottery ticket was a winner, and if so, who gets to keep the winnings. • Some people just don’t seem to notice security cameras, even those that work around them every day. A member of the cleaning crew at Bradley Central High School has been caught stealing from student lockers. Three students reported

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Notable TV Shows Ending This Season

tennis shoes, water bottles and clothing missing from their lockers. When the school resource officer viewed school security video for the area where the lockers are located, he saw a supervisor on the cleaning crew opening lockers and moving articles to a clear garbage bag. The man was arrested at the school for the thefts, which were valued at around $244. School officials made a special point that the man was employed by a private janitorial service and was not an employee of Bradley County or the Bradley County School System.

1. Larry King Live, CNN. Ending after 26 seasons. 2. The Oprah Winfrey Show. Ending after 25 seasons. 3. Smallville, CW. Ending after ten seasons. 4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent, USA. Ending after ten seasons. 5. Ace Of Cakes, Food Network. Ending after ten seasons. 6. Medium, CBS. Ending after nine seasons. 7. Entourage, HBO. Ending after eight seasons. 8. Big Love, HBO. Ending after five seasons. 9. Friday Night Lights, NBC. Ending after five seasons. 10. Hannah Montana, Disney Ending after four seasons. While most of the attention on cancelled shows centers on the spectacular failures—shows like Fox’s Lonestar or ABC’s My Generation, both of which lasted just two episodes—some of the longer-running shows on TV are also going away this year. Though some (like Oprah) will likely be around for years to come.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Shrink Rap

By Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D

Homo for the Holidays Editor’s Note: The good doctor returns after a short break. His column will now run the last week of the month. This is one of our readers’ favorite Dr. Rick columns. So back by annual demand:

“The human condition is such that it’s easier to maintain the status quo than it is to rock the boat in an attempt to create healthy change.” Dr. Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist, minister, and educator, in private practice in Chattanooga, and the author of “Empowering the Tribe” and “The Power of a Partner.” Visit his web site at www.DrRPH.com

f you are someone who adores spending intimate, quality holiday time with your family, sitting around the Thanksgiving table with siblings, in-laws, aunts, uncles and assorted others, raise your drumstick high! Count your blessings because you may well be among the fortunate minority.

My best friend in California is like that. She has a terrific family. Sure there’s an occasional affair or divorce scandal thrown in now and then for color. Or a young male cousin eschews the family business for a life in the theatre. But through ups and downs they form a very loving (and fun-loving) clan. Once a year all the women go on a shopping, partying, beaching weekend, while all the men go on a camping, golfing, hunting-and-gathering weekend. Outsiders are welcome at their holiday tables, and there’s always a gift under the tree with my name on it. But I don’t hear of too many stories like theirs. Partly because of my line of work, but also because I don’t think a lot of families genuinely get along so well. Too many unresolved issues and unspoken rivalries. Prickly histories. Big pink elephants in the middle of the room that no one talks about. A colleague once said to me that the term “dysfunctional family” is a redundancy, and I’m apt to agree.

Let’s face it: There’s a degree of dysfunction in every family. Why? Several reasons: There’s no such thing as perfect parenting. Adult children screw up. Addictions happen. Illness and death take their psychological toll. And the human condition is such that it’s easier to maintain the status quo than it is to rock the boat in an attempt to create healthy change. Old habits die hard with us humans, and while it may be better to forgive, it’s also harder. If you’re the black sheep of your family with, for instance, political, spiritual, sexual, or other leanings that diverge from the “accepted” clan rules—some spoken and some not—then you probably know how it feels to be the outsider. Sure, maybe as a kid you had great fun spending summers playing volleyball and croquet in Grandmother’s back yard. But now maybe you’re the one they roll their eyes over. Maybe you’re the one who married out of your race or religion. Or maybe you’re the one who’s gay. Every family has ’em. Every single family. Read that again: Every. Single. Family. You may not know who for sure, but you have your suspicions. Scurry around the limbs of your family tree for a closer look, sweep aside your denial and you’ll find them. And you know, for an unaccepted or closeted gay person the holidays can be an exercise in prolonged agony. Fielding endless questions from Aunt Grace about when you’re going to find a nice girl (lesbians read: nice boy) to settle down with. Enduring Uncle Hank’s homophobic jokes and cringing as your loved ones, your clan, laugh. Politically you’re miles apart, and sometimes you can’t believe you come from these people. You’re

from gay Pluto and they’re from Mars-aphobia and you’re a galaxy away from seeing eye to eye on anything. So you drink more spiked punch, scarf down more tryptophan, and silently count the minutes till you’ve served your sentence. Know anyone for whom this may be true? Someone you love and care about perhaps? Could you unknowingly be putting your son or daughter, niece or nephew through this? Because I gotta tell ya: a shocking number of families do. One thing that has become very clear to me since moving to the South is the tremendous struggle over “the gay thing.” Gay folks are struggling for understanding from their loved ones, and loved ones are struggling to reconcile their feelings for their own kin, with the beliefs they are taught from (some) pulpits. It’s hard. And there aren’t easy answers. But there are questions for you to ask yourself. Are you an accepting person? A loving person? Someone open to opening the envelope a bit wider? This Thanksgiving, here’s my advice for you, whether you be gay or non-gay. Be thankful for your brain, and think hard about how your words and deeds affect others. Be thankful for your sage inner voice, and come from a place of compassion every chance you get. Be thankful for whoever is in your clan, and let them know it—often and without hesitation. Break bread, pass the yams, and raise a glass in honor of each and every person at your table, without prejudice. Till next week, I leave you with this Native American saying: “The Creator never made anyone different without giving them something special.”

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Cover Story

“The most unusual thing that’s ever come in was a 14k gold toilet about the size of a silver dollar. Had a movable lid and all. I think I gave them $400 for it.” 12

His Time Is Golden By Chuck Crowder

There’s gold at the bottom of them

there jewelry boxes! Everybody seems to have something in the way of this precious metal lying around—and there’s money to be made from parting with old “keepsakes” not worth keeping.

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Whether it’s the wedding band from that “starter marriage,” a gold tooth that’s come loose, a class ring from the school you’d like to forget, the serpentine gold necklace that adorned the outside of your turtleneck back in high school, or the “nugget” ring or “splash” pendent made from your first round of scrap gold that seemed like a good idea during that ill-fated fashion jewelry craze back in the ’80s, everyone can likely dig up some sort of bullion to turn into bucks. Heck, even old cell phones, computer motherboards and electronic circuit boards have small amounts of gold in them. Rick Davis of Rick Davis Gold & Diamonds has seen it

Cover Story “Lack of knowledge about the weight of their gold and unfamiliar terms like pennyweights, grams and troy ounces confuses many seeking a buyer for their gold.” all in his 36 years in the scrap goldbuying business. “The most unusual thing that’s ever come in was a 14k gold toilet about the size of a silver dollar. Had a movable lid and all. I think I gave them $400 for it,” he recalls. As people start sifting through their unwanted or damaged jewelry in times of economic strife, nothing rings Rick’s register or puts more money in your pocket than selling your gold for cold hard cash. Why? Because unlike the dollar’s up-anddown value, gold continues to stay afloat as one of the most valuable valuables in existence. According to experts, a total of about 160,000 tons of gold has been taken out of the Earth. But that is only a fraction of what’s available. In fact, if formed into a single gold cube, all the gold that’s been mined so far wouldn’t quite cover a tennis court. And, 95 percent of that gold is held in either vaults or is tied up in jewelry manufacturing. So there’s a fixed quantity of gold available in the world. However, gold buyers, like consumers, aren’t hoarding gold for gold’s sake. “The price of gold has risen in the past three years from roughly $400 an ounce to today’s value of $1,400 an ounce,” said Davis. “Just last year I purchased nearly $13 million in gold alone.” A jeweler, pawnbroker, gold refiner or scrap-gold dealer will buy the stuff in the back of your jewelry box at a price based on the weight of its gold content, minus a handling fee. They melt down the jewelry, extract

the gold and sometimes some of the hardening agents and resell it or use it. You can take the money and run—or if they like a certain piece and you’d like some replacement bling, many jewelers will trade your old jewelry in for something you like better. Selling your scrap gold, however, may seem like an intimidating process (unless you really need the cash right away and don’t even have time to think about it). According to PR Newswire, consumers report the primary obstacle in selling unwanted gold jewelry is confusion about their gold’s true value. Lack of knowledge about the weight of their gold and unfamiliar terms like pennyweights, grams and troy ounces confuses many seeking a buyer for their gold. The gold content of jewelry is indicated in karats. Solid gold jewelry is 24 karats. Lesser jewelry has less gold content and more of other metals and hardening agents. According to BankRate.com, gold buyers will only pay for actual gold with few exceptions, because other metals contained in jewelry generally have no resale value. Likely the gold content of any piece of jewelry will be marked on it somewhere—on the inside of a ring or bracelet and on the clip of a necklace or the back of an earring. For instance, a 14-karat piece of jewelry may actually have “14 karat” inscribed on it in tiny lettering or the lettering may say “14/24” or “14K.” According to EHow.com, scrapgold dealers generally negotiate the final buying price according to their www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Cover Story costs, their appraisal of weight and fineness, the quantity for sale, and market fluctuations in the price of gold. They buy in the range of 10 to 50 percent less than the full market value. Buyers have to resell to scrap processors and also risk a fall in the market price of gold. For bearing those risks and expenses, they always pay less than the full market value. “We perform all of the tests necessary to properly determine the value of your gold and then pay you about 90 percent of its value,” says Davis. “We offer a fair price based on the market value at that given time.” If you sell gold jewelry for its scrap value, you’ll lose much of its retail value, perhaps 75 percent or more, according to MSN.com. The scrap price is based on the value of the metal alone and doesn’t reflect the craftsmanship or any aesthetic or antique value, let alone emotional attachment you or family members may have to the piece. Selling gold as scrap is a great

flaws, you’ll likely get a higher profit selling it “as is”. If you wonder what your gold jewelry is really worth, have it appraised. According to MSN.com, you can find credentialed appraisers at the web sites of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers and the American Society of Appraisers. “Do your homework on the value of the jewelry you’re wanting to sell. Ask how the price was determined before agreeing to the transaction,” Davis suggests. “And for goodness sake, never agree to send your valuables in an envelope through the mail. There’s no record or proof that it has been mailed or received—and it’s not insured, although many mail-in firms would like you to believe otherwise.” So if you’re sitting on potential riches in your bedroom’s bureau, consider all of the options for getting the most bang for the bucks coming your way before letting go of your precious gold.

“The price of gold has risen in the past three years from roughly $400 an ounce to today’s value of $1,400 an ounce.” option if jewelry is broken or so damaged that it wouldn’t be worth repairing. However, an alternative to scrapping gold and still taking advantage of the high price of the metal might be to sell unwanted pieces as jewelry, rather than throwing them in the ol’ melting pot. Try listing desirable pieces on an auction site or selling it through a jeweler or antique store on consignment. If the piece is attractive and fashionable without

Tips For Preparing To Sell Scrap Gold 1. Separate your scrap gold into their various karat fineness (i.e., 10k, 14k or 18k). You may need a magnifying glass to see the number inscribed on the piece. There’s also the possibility that some of the gold is actually just gold-plated, which a dealer would determine with certainty by using a chemical test. 2. Determine the gram weight of each group by using a gram scale. 3. Determine today’s price of gold. You can find this on the Internet. The price of gold fluctuates according to supply and demand.

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

4. Divide today’s gold price by 31.1 to get today’s gold price per gram. 5. Multiply by the fineness of the gold. For each group of gold, divide the karat by 24, then multiply that number by today’s gold price per gram. 6. Multiply the price per gram by the weight in grams. If you have 10 grams of 10KT gold and you calculated the price at $12.06 per gram, then your scrap gold is worth 10 x $12.06 = $120.59. Source: WikiHow.com

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

On The Beat

By Alex Teach

Gate Rape “E

“We now have a choice of intimate pat downs (now rapidly gaining fame as ‘Gate Rapes’) or taking a neon outline of your Special Naughty Parts for low-level bureaucrats to pore over.” When Officer Alexander D. Teach is not patrolling our fair city on the heels of the criminal element, he is an occasional student, carpenter, boating enthusiast, and spends his spare time volunteering for the Boehm Birth Defects Center. To contact him directtly, follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/alex.teach

nhanced Security Procedures.” To some, this is a phrase for the price of security in an era in which people wear shoes and freakin’ underwear filled with explosives in their efforts to kill people for no other reason than their citizenship and geographic locations.

To others, it’s a phrase that stands for one of my all-time favorite left-leaning catchalls: “HITLER GERMANY!” (i.e.: “Driver’s licenses are like HITLER GERMANY!”, “Traffic enforcement is like HITLER GERMANY!” or “Requiring citizenship or proof you are not deceased to vote is like HITLER GERMANY!”, etc.). As a fan of extremes in general, I’m both excited by this controversy and conflicted by it at the same time. You see, as my more loyal readers have gathered, I’m not one for gray areas; there’s not a lot of debate as to how I feel about a given topic. Yet I too am looking for middle ground here, which likely explains why this is such a hot-button media topic at the moment. Take the once-hot death penalty: Brace yourself, because I feel it is clearly contradictory. “Killing for killing” isn’t just illogical, it’s hypocritical—yet there are some people in this world that simply “need killing.” (Yeah…that’ll come back to haunt me when taken out of context upon my first run for Senate). Ted Bundy? John Wayne Gacy, Jr? There’s no rehab there; Doctors Drew and Phil combined can’t save assholes like those, even in the depths of this hug-a-thug society we now live in. I’m sure it would be more compassionate to some

to let them live 23 hours a day at taxpayers’ expenses, but at the end of the day I agree with the American justice system (comprised, therefore, of American men and women) that the predators of human beings need to be removed from society, despite the uncivilized fashion in which it must do so. Like war, it’s a messy but ultimately necessary choice in order to maintain a civilized society. Airport screenings, though? Tough stuff there…but due to a predominantly Muslim penchant for blowing loaded airplanes out of the sky to make a point that, ironically, most Americans haven’t the slightest interest in, we now have a choice of intimate pat downs (now rapidly gaining fame as “Gate Rapes”) or taking a neon outline of your Special Naughty Parts for low-level bureaucrats to pore over. This is a choice right up where with picking between being struck in the face or the gut (or voting Republican or Democrat), but you have to admit, it’s not one not arrived at randomly, because even the most liberal Americans will agree that “loaded airplanes exploding and crashing into Mother Earth” is not only upsetting, it’s not very ecologically sound, and we have to do something to reduce the chances, right? So here we are. I have no issue with nearnude photography of myself in public (which thanks to Google searches I can prove most definitively), but even I agree that the pat downs being administered currently go farther than I have ever encountered without having first ingested at least a bottle of wine and hearing “Big Poppa” by Notorious B.I.G. or anything by Enigma in the background. The alternative, however, is risking having the goddamn plane you’re traveling in exploding, which, comparatively, is far more intimate than someone “brushing my junk”.

“HITLER GERMANY!” you still cry…and I see your point. But for all the weight we put on noble phrases like Ben Franklin’s quote about “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither”, I believe those who use such as a shield for something as extraneous as “flying” are ultimately just stupid purists trying to apply 18th-century ideology to 21st-century specifics. Not only did Ben Franklin not have the option of mass commercial air travel, he didn’t have to deal with extremists like Richard Reid or Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab willing to use their gonads as Ground Zero for powdered explosives. Franklin’s quotes were written in a time in which it was rude to do anything but line up in an orderly fashion and then shoot at each other; this has changed, folks. If you really want to “terrorize” America and get its attention, I think you should find a way to interrupt the ability to text or use Blackberrys in general, but until they give up on blowing planes out of the sky, we’re simply going to have to make some sacrifices Ben Franklin and even Thomas Jefferson may have agreed with. Flying on a plane isn’t a “right”; it’s a choice. In order to do so, we’re going have to have to give up some of those liberties, just as we have to carry a picture ID to drive a car and occasionally (God forbid) have its picture taken in plain view on public roadways when caught speeding. There have to be Rules for the safety of others. Civilization is neither created nor sustained by anarchy or the desire to “do what you want” in general. You don’t have to like the “enhanced precautions”, but fortunately you also don’t have to fly. Perspective, folks. We have to have it. (But I would appreciate a little wine and music prior to my next screening.)

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Music Feature

Post T-Day Party Pleasures By Tara V.

ast week we got to talk about the giving season and some of the things you can do to support your community. With this in mind, I am going to imagine that we all joined a nonprofit, dropped a new present in the Toys for Tots box, or helped an elderly woman with her groceries. Now that you have done your part, it’s time to give thanks to the most important person of all: Yourself. After dinner with the family, sitting through embarrassing stories you will never live down or dodging snot rockets from your mature 8-year-old cousin, it is time to get the heck out of there and PARTY! On my list of “thankfuls”, listed right before “the platypus” and followed by “coffee”, is the “ability to party.” The word “party” is defined in many ways, but the one I enjoyed the most went like this: “A group gathered for a special purpose or task”, and the two groups I’m discussing this week will both have the special purpose and the task of melting your face off. The rock-n-roll cornucopia begins Friday night at Rhythm & Brews. Warming up the night will be the debut of a new local rock band with many familiar faces, Glowing Bordis. The band consists of those local pilgrims Danimal Pinson, T.J. Greever and Jonathan Susman. You may know Danimal and T.J. from some band called Up with The Joneses and Mr. Jonathan from groups such as Hopsing Project and The Flints. All great bands—but another thing that is sometimes hard to be thankful for is change. This band came together when Jonathan returned to Chatt in September of this year. From here, the fusion of rock, grunge, and Oreos deep-fried in Coca-Cola began. With this in mind, T.J.’s description of the band’s journey to the mainland comes as no surprise: “Glowing Bordis was born out of a bottle of Jager, half of a Kool Filter King, a slice of

leftover pizza, 5 gypsy tears, a 7-year-old bag of chips from The Stone Lion, a chicken salad Phat Wrap, one partially drank PBR from the Nautilus Building floor, and the belief that Rock-N-Roll can save your soul!”. A mouthful but with the personality these kids possess, I am thankful to remember that rockn-roll can indeed save your soul. Headlining is Atlanta’s own Drivin N Cryin. Glowing Bordis will also be playing December 1 at Rhythm & Brews with American Bang, and you can look forward to their web site glowingbordisband. com and Facebook page coming soon. After your Friday night basting, it will be time to pull out the leftovers and head to Market Street Tavern on Saturday night for a trio of young men that has carved its way into our hearts with its hip hop, electro, ’80s dubstep crunkness: Toneharm. State Looper (Dave Webb), Scratch Dent (Scott Kent), and the Archbishop (Zac Bishop) will celebrate five years of Thanksgiving grooves. Their first booking was in what they call “Chattanooga’s best venue”, Lamar’s. While that may be up for debate, we can all agree to be thankful for velvet walls and stiff drinks. The boys have evolved into a local centerpiece when it comes to partying. Keeping true to their turntable roots, they bring a masterpiece of vinyl hits, battle mixers, loud speakers, and just a cluckin’ good time. Scratch Dent shared a few thoughts that I thought represented the feel of the group and event perfectly, “We know we would not be doing this if it wasn’t for the people who come and see us, ask us when the next show is, and our friends. Simply put, we are thankful for our friends and having this anniversary on Thanksgiving gives us a chance to see all of our extended family (the fans from over the years), especially the one who come back in town for the holiday.” Toneharm will also bring their holiday leftovers on December 11 for a benefit show in the Outdoor Center at Coolidge Park. “Two Thumbs Up” proceeds will go to a personal friend who endured a virus attack to his heart and had no insurance. You can find “Two Thumbs Up” as well as

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

their “Toneharm: 5 Years” Thanksgiving event and the group itself on Facebook. This year, be thankful for yourself and whatever event you decide to head to. Just remember to be careful on that full tummy. We don’t need our local servers working harder after you let go of the Jager bombs, PBR, and Grandma’s pineapple casserole. Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Years: Toneharm $3 9:30 p.m. Friday, November 26 Market Street Tavern, 850 Market Street Age 21 and up

Drivin N Cryin with debut of Glowing Bordis $15 9:30 p.m. Saturday, November 27 Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market Street Age 21 and up

New Music Reviews Tom Zé Studies of Tom Zé (Luaka Bop) Trying to concisely define “American music” is impossible, and the same is the case for music from Brazil, which can go far beyond bossa nova. David Byrne founded the label Luaka Bop first and foremost as a music fan, wanting to share remarkable music from Brazil and other non-Western countries—in doing so, the label helped people to expand their perceptions and hear foreign music as, well, not-so-foreign. Byrne was so impressed by Tom Zé’s music—which combined adventurous, quirky methods within Brazilian pop frameworks—that he devoted the entirety of volume four of the Brazil Classics series to Zé; that admiration continues strongly today with the arrival of a handsome boxed set on Luaka Bop entitled Studies of Tom Zé. The box’s centerpieces are three vinyl albums (also available individually on CD): the aforementioned Brazil Classics 4, which features most of 1975’s Estudando o Samba (“Studying Samba”) plus two recent studio albums, Estudando o Pagode (“Studying Pagode”—pagode being a type of samba) and Estudando a Bossa (“Studying Bossa”). A 7-inch single features two previously unreleased songs from Zé’s performance at the Barbican in London in 2001 with the band Tortoise; the excellent “Politicar” features tight melodic passages with staccato vocals, and “The Letter” starts out reserved before Zé goes a bit unhinged with peculiar singing, punctuated with exaggerated sniffing sounds—the audience is clearly tickled. Also included is a nicely designed booklet and an hour-long CD featuring a conversation between Zé, Byrne, and guitarskronk-master Arto Lindsay (who serves as Zé’s translator), originally transcribed in BOMB Magazine in 1993; the stories are interesting and amusing, but frankly, the pace is a bit slow. (Hint: bombsite.com features an annotated transcription.) Hearing Zé’s music for the first time is an arresting experience, and it’s the kind of startlingly inventive music that you immediately want to share with others to see their reactions. Zé’s trademark elements are widely present on the three included albums, including the use of dissonant, non-obvious, yet tantalizing guitar melodies; even more distinctive are the unusual vocal sounds and affectations that he and his cohorts use, to characterize and capture moods; one track might feature animalistic sounds while another uses faux coital gasps. Sure, the music of Tom Zé can be studied, but his playful, quirky, and irresistible style delivers many immediate pleasures.

By Ernie Paik

Sun City Girls Funeral Mariachi (Abduction) The trio Sun City Girls has a catalog that’s so unbelievably diverse, it’s like the band has some kind of mission to stir up every possible reaction from a listener, from delirious enjoyment to frustration and offense. Over 27 years, dozens of albums, and countless international genres and styles plundered (and invented), Sun City Girls seemed to have a peculiar relationship with its fans; “love/hate” is not adequate, and it’s more like the band dared people to like everything it threw at them, no matter how insane or inaccessible or superfluous, underscoring just how complicated and singular a group it was. Fans could agree on a few albums—Torch of the Mystics is rightfully often cited as one of the band’s strongest—which mostly could be loosely classified as having a focus or some semblance of consistency. The group ceased to exist after drummer/multiinstrumentalist Charles Gocher’s death in 2007, so Funeral Mariachi, assembled from the band’s last sessions, serves as the final studio album. On the opener, “Ben’s Radio,” Alan Bishop cycles through a variety of foreign accents and falsettos over acoustic guitar strums before a two-note groove is established; Richard Bishop’s reverberating guitar saunters in and gets progressively wilder and more frantic. As expected from Sun City Girls, the album unfolds with a confusing mix of flavors from north Africa, Indonesia, and the Middle East, but a few songs into Funeral Mariachi, an unexpected mood emerges: things get mellow and—gasp!—deeply beautiful. With a simple, repeated melody and wordless singing, “Vine Street Piano (Orchestral)” is a genuinely touching song, and “Come Maddalena” is a reverent Ennio Morricone soundtrack cover song; much of the album’s second half goes into spaghetti western soundtrack territory, delivered with a gentle touch. Sun City Girls could never be accused of holding back, but listening to Funeral Mariachi arouses a small amount of frustration, bringing to mind the question, “Why aren’t there a lot more Sun City Girls albums this satisfying?” It’s the enigmatic last chapter of one of the most challenging, maddening, and compulsively creative bands ever. Sun City is a retirement community in Arizona, making the band’s name a joke akin to “The Girls of AARP,” and somewhat like a schoolgirl who pesters a boy out of affection, Funeral Mariachi presents the schoolgirl grown up—a gorgeous end of a career after a lifetime of teasing.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Music Calendar Thursday Spotlight

Cadillac Saints with the The Marvin Styles Band Saints return for a T-Day show. $7 9 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com

Thursday Jimmy Harris 6:30 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. www.thepalmsathamilton.com Crossfire 9 p.m. The Lounge at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. #202. (423) 499-5055. www.thepalmsathamilton.com Cadillac Saints with The Marvin Styles Band 9 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com SOULEDOUT! Classic and Modern Soul with DJ K7 10 p.m. The Social (next to Public House), 1110 Market St., Ste. 101. publichousechattanooga.com DJ X'PhakDer 10 p.m. Midtown Music Hall, 818 Georgia Ave. (423) 752-1977 www.midtownmusichall.com

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Friday Spotlight

Friday Johnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo Victorian Lounge, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000. Ben Friberg Trio 6 p.m. Table 2, 232 E. 11th St. (423) 756-8253. www.table2restaurant.com Jimmy Harris 6:30 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. Heartcake Party, Tyler Melashenko, This Day Will Tell, Set Apart, Everybody Loves The Hero 7 p.m. The Warehouse, 5716 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge. myspace.com/warehousetn Michael Renno Harrill 8 p.m. Charles & Myrtle's Coffehouse, 105 McBrien Rd. (423) 892-4960. Find them on Facebook. Dave Pope Quartet 8:30 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 South Broad St. (423) 756-3400. www.chattanooganhotel.com The Micks 8:30 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs Downtown, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956. www.sugarsribs.com Jordan Haloquist 9 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919. Collins Brothers 9 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5600 Lakeshore Dr. (423) 870-0777. www.bartslakeshore.com

DJ and Dancing 9 p.m. The Lounge at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. Mark Holder 10 p.m. Tremont Tavern, 1203 Hixson Pike. (423) 266-1996. www.tremonttavern.com Toneharm 5-Year Anniversary Party 10 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. Breakfast Club 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com DJ Banjo Chalice, William Lightning 10 p.m. Discoteca, 304 E. Main St. (423) 386-3066. Find them on Facebook. Milele Roots with Icky Bod Crankin 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find them on Facebook. Soul Survivor 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. www.budssportsbar.com Sandy & Greg 10 p.m. T-Bones, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240. www.tboneschattanooga.com

Saturday Johnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo Victorian Lounge, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000.

Milele Roots with Icky Bod Crankin’ Work off some of that turkey, mon! $7 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK. Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find JJ’s on Facebook.

Jimmy Harris 6:30 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. www.thepalmsathamilton.com Becoming The Archetype, I The Breather, To Speak of Wolves, Thaddeus, Deadfall Six, Gears of Insanity 6:30 p.m. The Warehouse, 5716 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge. myspace.com/warehousetn Roger “Huricane” Wilson 8 p.m. Charles & Myrtle's Coffehouse, 105 McBrien Rd. (423) 892-4960. Find them on Facebook. Dave Pope Quartet 8:30 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 South Broad St. (423) 756-3400. www.chattanooganhotel.com The Micks 8:30 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs Downtown, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956. www.sugarsribs.com Leverage 9 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919. www.myspace.com/jimstriker

Music Calendar

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

Saturday Spotlight

Roger “Hurricane” Wilson Guitarist has played with Les Paul, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Charlie Musselwhite, to name a few. $10 suggested donation 8 p.m. Charles & Myrtle’s Coffeehouse, 105 McBrien Rd. (423) 892-4960. www.christunity.org

DJ and Dancing 9 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5600 Lakeshore Dr. (423) 870-0777. www.bartslakeshore.com DJ and Dancing 9 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. www.thepalmsathamilton.com Moonslew 10 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. www.marketstreettavern.com Karaoke with DJ Stoli 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. www.budssportsbar.com Riot Punch, Opposite Box 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find them on Facebook. Drivin’ N Cryin’ with Glowing Bordis 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com

Sunday Spotlight

Sunday

Tuesday

Open Mic w/Jeff Daniels 4 p.m. Ms. Debbie’s Nightlife Lounge 4762 Highway 58, (423) 485-0966. myspace.com/debbieslounge Sunday Slasher Movie Night with Night of the Wolf 8 p.m. Discoteca, 304 E. Main St. (423) 386-3066. Find them on Facebook. DJ and Dancing 9 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5600 Lakeshore Dr. (423) 870-0777. www.bartslakeshore.com Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, Cary Ann Hearst 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find them on Facebook.

Ben Friberg Trio 6:30 p.m. Table 2, 232 E. 11th St. (423) 756-8253. www.table2restaurant.com Lightning Billy Hopkins 8 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. www.marketstreettavern.com Open Mic with Mike McDade 9 p.m. Tremont Tavern, 1203 Hixson Pike. (423) 266-1996. www.tremonttavern.com Future Virgins, The Babblers, Fast Boys 8 p.m. Discoteca, 304 E. Main St. (423) 386-3066. Find them on Facebook. Tim & Reece 9 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5600 Lakeshore Dr. (423) 870-0777. www.bartslakeshore.com Karaoke with DJ Stoli 9:30 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. Tristen 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find them on Facebook.

Monday Close Your Eyes, The Victory Lap Kids, Axiom, In The Era, My Friend The Captain 7 p.m. The Warehouse, 5716 Ringgold Rd., East Ridge. myspace.com/warehousetn Big Band Night 8 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. DJ & Dancing 8 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5600 Lakeshore Dr. (423) 870-0777. www.bartslakeshore.com Karaoke with DJ Stoli 9:30 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. www.budssportsbar.com

Wednesday Jimmy Harris 6:30 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd., #202. (423) 499-5055. Ben Friberg Trio 7 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260.

Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs British singer/songwriter brings her signature sound to JJ’s. $7 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK. Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find JJ’s on Facebook.

DJ Spins – Karaoke Contest 9 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5600 Lakeshore Dr. (423) 870-0777. www.bartslakeshore.com Nathan Farrow 9 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. www.budssportsbar.com American Bang with Glowing Bordis 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. www.rhythm-brews.com Open Mic with Mark Holder 10 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. Find them on Facebook. Got a gig coming up that you want to tell the world about? Send us your information (the basic when, where and time) and we will list it here in the weekly music calendar. Email the particulars to us at calendar@chattanoogapulse. com at least ten days before the event for inclusion here.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Arts & Entertainment

Art Beyond the Cultural Revolution By Michael Crumb

he Cress Gallery at UTC is currently showing a collection of contemporary Chinese art titled “Le deluge, après mao”. This collection features 25 pieces in a broad range of styles and media; images that include pensive and dramatic moods and images that provoke shock and wonder involve the viewer in a deep aesthetic experience of genuine rarity for Chattanooga. This show was curated by Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzy, chair of Asian art at Bard College in New York. Ruth Glover, curator of the Cress, assisted in mounting this fascinating show, which features a number of works in various electronic media. Some of the allure of Asian art comes from the difference with which basic cultural tenets are viewed, especially from a nation like China that possesses such a deep cultural history. An excellent example here involves Miao Xiaochun’s “Fullness” (2008). This chromogenic print features two zones of imagery. The upper involves line representation of mathematical precision, including, uppermost, a spider. My own experience of this work depends largely on the recognition of this spider as “maya”, which weaves the web of illusion, the term for which is “maya” itself. I believe this to be Buddhist iconography, and Carl Jung has presented this image of the spider in his work. A couple of weeks ago, in my discussion of Charlie Newton’s work, I mentioned the difficulty of presenting spiritual states in Western art. Here, the viewer is confronted by the sort of facility, perhaps better, familiarity with complex spiritual states that form the ancestral heritage of an Eastern artist.

The lower zone of this work involves an archetypal, surreal presentation of figures experiencing “fullness.” My own guess here is that these many figures, all naked and bald images of the artist himself, represent his own thoughts overwhelmed by the fullness of this illusion of the real. In this meditation, realistic representation is technically absent, although the viewer will recognize fruit, generic beverages, clocks and snow. Allusions to Dali and Bosch are evident, but it seems more that Xiaochun situates such works to his own vision, rather than just accepting them as the overpowering icons of Western art that we have known them to be. Xiaochun also presents computer-animated videos “Macrocosm,” which is related to “Fullness,” and “The Last Judgment in Cyberspace,” which, to me, conveys essentialist poetry. Western art has known “action painting” for a generation or so, but there exists no scale for comparison with Eastern ink painting. Daozi’s “Crown of Thorns” astonishes, both for its elegance and for its spontaneity. Make a pilgrimage to this painting. There remains far too much work here to discuss in detail its variances and nuances. For a few other highlights, let me mention first Gao Li’s photographic print on Chinese rice paper “Danger Path,” a high mountain pass traversing to Tibet. In Cui Xiuwin’s “Angel No. 7” (2006), I found (maybe) a couple of angels. She also presents a video construction called “Ladies.” The fiercely antagonistic satire of the Gao brothers’ “The Forever Unfinished Building No. 4” drives a massive welter

“From the sculpted paper heads by Longbin Chen (2009) to the freefloating steel characters by Zhao Suigang (2009), works draw us into deep contemplation.”

of American and Chinese cultural iconography into the inescapable conclusion of cruel dysfunction. The lowest phase also portrays an installation intricacy mixed with the iconographic assault. This absorbing work will confront the onlooker with a view from a deep foreign intelligence. Americans have been used to viewing our own culture through our own lenses, as well as exporting our culture. The Gao brothers return their own wave to us. From the sculpted paper heads by Longbin Chen (2009) to the free-floating steel characters by Zhao Suigang (2009), works draw us into deep contemplation. Watch Zhao Liang’s “City Scenes’ film (2004-5) or the digital animation of “Tang Lady: Bubbling Pond” (2009) by Nina Guo and Lorin Rosen, and you will find your consciousness nudged in new ways. There’s much to be enjoyed here. Don’t miss the other half of our world.

“Le deluge, après mao” On view through December 14 Cress Gallery, UTC Fine Arts Center, Vine and Palmetto Sts. (423) 304-9789. oneweb.utc.edu/~artdept/cressgallery

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

A&E Calendar Highlights Thursday

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from The Pulse!

A Woman, a Gun & a Noodle Shop

Well-reviewed Chinese version of the Coen Bros.’s Blood Simple. 12:35, 2:55, 5:20, 7:45, 10:10 p.m. Majestic 12, 311 Broad St. www.carmike.com

Grateful Gobbler Walk 8 a.m. Coolidge Park, 150 River St. (423) 265-0771. www.partnershipfca.com 2010 Turkey Trot 9 a.m. Sports Barn, 6148 Lee Hwy. (423) 855-0091. www.kidneyfoundation.com Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. www.seerockcity.com Deck the Falls Ruby Falls, 1720 South Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. www.rubyfalls.com Member’s Choice Photographic Art Exhibit The Gallery at Blackwell, 71 Eastgate Loop. (423) 344-5643. “Eternal” Exum Gallery, 305 W. 7th St. (423) 593-4265. “‘le deluge, après mao’ China’s Surging Creative Tide” 9:30 a.m. Cress Gallery of Art, Corner of Vine and Palmetto St. (423) 425-4600.

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

Friday

Last Friday on Main

Stroll the shops and galleries on the Southside for a special shopping expedition. Free 5 – 7 p.m. Main Street, downtown. Find them on Facebook.

Saturday

Holiday Open House on the NorthShore

From South on Friday, go North on Saturday for live music and entertainment—plus shopping. Free 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. NorthShore, Frazier Avenue and surrounding streets

Friday Morning Art Therapy Group 10 a.m. Rivoli Art Mill, 2301 East 28th St. (423) 322-2514. www.jasmilam.com 5th Annual NorthShore Merchants Collective Holiday Open House 10 a.m. Frazier Ave. www.northshorechattanooga.com Native American Heritage Day 10 a.m. 2 North Shore at 301 Manufacturers Rd. Working Artist Open House 10 a.m. River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St. (423) 265-5033. www.river-gallery.com Grand Illumination Members Program 6 p.m. Hunter Museum of Art, 10 Bluff View. (423) 266-0944. www.huntermuseum.org Grand Illumination on the River 6 p.m. Ross’s Landing, Riverfront Pkwy. Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. www.seerockcity.com

Babes in Toyland 7:30 p.m. Walker County Community Theater, 10052 North Hwy. 27, Rock Spring, GA. (706) 375-7705. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever 7:30 p.m. The Gem Theatre, 700 Tennessee Ave., Etowah. (423) 263-3270. www.gemplayers.com A Christmas Story 7:30 p.m. The Colonnade Center, 264 Catoosa Cir., Ringgold, GA. (706) 935-9000. www.colonnadecenter.org Christmas Spectacular 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000. www.choochoo.com Chattanooga Ghost Tour 7:30 p.m. Walnut Street Bridge, 1 Walnut St. (423) 821-7125. Janet Williams 7:30, 10 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. Female Impersonation Show Midnight. Images, 6065 Lee Hwy. (423) 855-8210.

Sunday Brainerd Farmers Market and Holiday Mart Brainerd United Methodist Church, 4315 Brainerd Rd. Mosaic Market 11 a.m. 412 Market St. (corner of 4th/Market). (423) 624-3915. Art Til Dark Noon. Northshore, Frazier Ave. (423) 413-8999. arttildark.wordpress.com Polar Express 3D Noon. IMAX Theater at the Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (800) 265-0695. www.tnaqua.org Babes in Toyland 1 p.m. Walker County Community Theater, 10052 North Hwy. 27, Rock Spring, GA. (706) 375-7705. A Christmas Story 1 p.m. The Colonnade Center, 264 Catoosa Circle, Ringgold, GA. (706) 935-9000. www.colonnadecenter.org Thanks-GIVING Music 6 p.m. Mountain Arts Community Center, 809 Kentucky Ave. Signal Mountain, TN. (423) 886-1959. www.signalmountainmacc.org

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. www.seerockcity.com Babes in Toyland 7:30 p.m. Walker County Community Theater, 10052 North Hwy. 27, Rock Spring, GA. (706) 375-7705. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever 7:30 p.m. The Gem Theatre, 700 Tennessee Ave., Etowah. (423) 263-3270. www.gemplayers.com A Christmas Story 7:30 p.m. The Colonnade Center, 264 Catoosa Cir., Ringgold, GA. (706) 935-9000. www.colonnadecenter.org Christmas Spectacular 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000. www.choochoo.com Janet Williams 7:30, 10 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. www.thecomedycatch.com

Antiques & Collectibles Day at the Market Pick up an antique along with your goat cheese.

11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Chattanooga Market, First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Carter St. (423) 266-4041. www.chattanoogamarket.com

Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D 11 a.m., 2, 3, 6 p.m. IMAX Theater at the Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (800) 265-0695. www.tnaqua.org Polar Express 3D Noon. IMAX Theater at the Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (800) 265-0695. www.tnaqua.org The Best Christmas Pageant Ever 2:30 p.m. The Gem Theatre, 700 Tennessee Ave., Etowah. (423) 263-3270. www.gemplayers.com Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. www.seerockcity.com Janet Williams 8 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. www.thecomedycatch.com “Happy Holidays” Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, 201 High St. (423) 267-7176. www.thehoustonmuseum.com

A&E Calendar Highlights Monday Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. www.seerockcity.com Speak Easy: Spoken Word and Poetry 8 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. www.facebook.com/theofficechatt Hunter Invitational 2010 Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View. (423) 266-0944. www.huntermuseum.org “Spirituality of Light” Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 N. Terrace Rd. (423) 493-0270. www.jewishchattanooga.com Charlie Newton: A Retrospective Exhibition Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. (423) 266-8658. www.bessiesmithcc.org “Women’s Work” Bill Shores Frame and Gallery, 2 North Shore, Manufacturers Rd. (423) 756-6746. www.billshoresframes.com

Tuesday “Spirituality of Light” Meet the Artists Reception 5:30 p.m. Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 N. Terrace Rd. (423) 493-0270. Flicks Café: L’enfant 6 p.m. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library, 1001 Broad St. (423) 757-5310. Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. Christmas on the Promenade 6:30 p.m. Southern Adventist University, 4881 Taylor Cir., Collegedale. (423) 236-2880. International Soccer Match, Mexico and Columbia Under-30 Teams 7 p.m. Finley Stadium, 1826 Reggie White Blvd. www.chattanoogafc.com UTC Men’s and Women’s Choruses 7:30 p.m. UTC Fine Arts Center Roland Hayes Hall, 725 Vine St. (423) 425-4601.

Wednesday World Aids Day Ceremony Noon. Renaissance Park, Northshore. www.chattanoogacares.org Main Street Farmers Market 4 p.m. Main St. at Williams St. www.mainstfarmersmarket.com Rock City’s Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd., Lookout Mountain, GA. www.seerockcity.com The Christmas Rose 7 p.m. Harvest Deaf Ministries, 1314 Old Three Notch Rd., Ringgold, GA. (706) 375-7107. www. harvestdeaf.org “Tripple Whipple” Exhibition River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St. (423) 265-5033. www.river-gallery.com “Color Zone” Reflections Gallery, 6922 Lee Hwy. www.reflectionsgallerytn.com Tennessee Aquarium’s Tropical Holiday Adventure 10 a.m. Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (800) 265-0695.

Editor’s Pick: Featured Event Of The Week

Grand Illumination on the River

Would someone put me on one of these boats? Holiday tradition launches the Christmas season. Free 6 p.m. Mini Holiday Market 7 p.m. Lighted Boat Parade 8 p.m. Lindsay Fussell Dancers followed by Singing Santa 8:40 p.m. Fireworks Finale Ross’s Landing, plus viewing in Coolidge Park.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Life in the Noog

By Chuck Crowder

The Rocket Man L

“He played his own songs with a newfound fervor that was a little more exciting than just going through the ‘greatest hits’ motions.”

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

ike 10,000 fellow Chattanoogans, last week I witnessed Elton John and Leon Russell grace the stage of the Roundhouse for what would be the concert event of the year. And I must say that it proved to be what everyone expected—and more.

The two paired up for what would be one of the most interesting “big box” performances I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen plenty). For three-and-a-half hours Leon and Elton played their own material with their respective bands as well as teaming up on stage for a “dueling piano” review of the ENTIRE album they just recorded together. And I’m glad they did. The 40 plus average age crowd didn’t seem to mind either, as most still remember Leon in his heyday as vividly as Elton. Plus, the five-star review of the collaboration in Rolling Stone helped justify the potential quality of the new material before they ever played one note of it. While most in attendance were expecting to hear more of Elton than Leon, the pairing was way more interesting than previous double-header tours like Elton’s god-awful few with Billy Joel. At least we were treated to a true master at work, and one of Elton’s idols, rather than simply a peer. It made for a much more interesting experience. I grew up on Elton. He was the consummate FM radio icon whose songs seemed to appear three or four times an hour as I cruised around town in my parents’ Country Squire station wagon (with faux wood side panels) in the ’70s. But having music-savvy parents, I also remember Leon.

“Tight Rope,” “Lady Blue” and “Delta Lady” also lit up the airwaves back then. So this seemingly unlikely pairing isn’t as outlandish as one might imagine. Like Russell, Elton cut his chops in the LA piano-songwriter flood of the early ’70s—right there along with the likes of Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson and even John Lennon for a brief time. Some fans seem to forget that, and instead remember the ridiculous, flamboyant outfits Elton donned to help set himself apart from the rest. This time, Elton chose to leave the boas back in Atlanta. Maybe his days of “look at me” attention haven’t followed him into his elder years, or maybe it was just out of respect for the music, and his longhaired, long-bearded cowboy-hat-sporting sidekick. I think it was a little bit of both. Not only did Elton strongly encourage the crowd to bestow upon his co-star the respect he deserved, but he also played his own songs with a newfound fervor that was a little more exciting than just going through the “greatest hits” motions. Elton played extended jams at the end of “Rocket Man” and “Bennie & The Jets” which showed that he might have rediscovered the passion he likely felt at the piano when he and Bernie Taupin were penning them way back when. He also threw in older, lesserknown classics like “Take Me To The Pilot” and “Burn Down The Mission” instead of expected hits like “Crocodile Rock,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Honky Cat.” The last time I saw him was also at the Roundhouse back in 1984. Luckily this was

before the crap he spat out in the late ’80s and early ’90s, so he did play a lot more from his early catalog—including opening with the 11-minute “Funeral For A Friend” suite from the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road LP. Now, 26 years later, he recalled that the last time he was in Chattanooga was a solo performance in 1999, although by the hesitation in his voice I’m convinced he’s probably reminded by a handler of the last time he’s played any particular town just before hitting the stage. But at least we’re on his radar every decade or so, and for that I’m thrilled. As with any show, there were a few things that disappointed me. One was the way the promoter handled the show. In an effort to sell more tickets, and hopefully sell out, the show was originally promoted as just “Elton John.” No mention of Leon, or how much of the show he would encompass (although it was a pleasant surprise). Another thing that annoyed me beyond belief was the “top down” ticket-selling process. I purchased my “best available” tickets five minutes after they went on sale months ago and received upper level. My friend purchased tickets from the box office the day of the show and got 15throw floor seats. So they’re punishing early adopters and rewarding those last-minute “might go if there’s still good seats available” casual fans? Bogus. However, the one abominable screw-up of the night was the crowd silently getting up to leave at the show’s “end” despite the stage lighting configuration screaming “if you want it, they’ll be another encore.” But I guess after nearly four hours in a plastic seat at our ages the call of the Lay-Z-Boy is more tempting than ONE MORE SONG!

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Film Feature

Voldemort vs. Sauron By John DeVore

here are now seven films in the “Harry Potter” series. If this seems like a lot, consider the “Friday the 13th” series, which has 12 films and one reboot; or consider the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, with eight films and one reboot.

The difference is that the films detailing Harry Potter’s fight against evil have been consistently good. I don’t know that there is another franchise that can say that. Even the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” franchises, which were immensely popular and generally well received, have had some terrible moments (we all want to forget about Star Trek IV and V and Jar Jar Binks should never be mentioned). But Harry Potter fans are seldom disappointed in the films. Certainly, the scope of such a project is immense, and with seven long, detailed books teeming with diverse characters and subplots, some things are going to be left out. But to the fans, even those unfamiliar with the source material, each movie is better than the last. I have no doubt that fans will be pleased with the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; the movie is executed well, visually attractive, and has a cavalcade of incredible British actors. But to the casual viewer, like me, “Deathly Hallows” is slightly confusing, a little slow, and full of fantasy clichés derived directly from J.R.R. Tolkien. I admit that I am not really a Potter fan. I was bored by the first book and didn’t bother with the rest. I’ve seen four or five of the films, out of order and usually in the passive form of cable television. However, my wife is an enormous fan, one who defends the series against all enemies, foreign and domestic. She has served as a good resource; she has spent a lot of time explaining to me the intricacies of the plot, woven in a relatively predictable manner by J.K. Rowling. As I said, I have seen most of the films. I have always been impressed with the series’ ability to remain committed to

exciting, self-contained stories that begin in one place and end in another, and yet intertwine the overarching threads of the epic throughout. Each film is excellent on its own. I can watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets or Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban and know who the characters are and where the plot is going. The series has been cast well, directed well, and written well. However, “Deathly Hallows” is the culmination of the epic story, making the overall battle of good and evil the focus. Much is required of the viewer; one must be able to recall events, characters, and objects from across the entire series. Characters in the film do a good job at reminding the audience of what has happened in the past, but this makes the dialogue heavy with exposition and explanation, keeping the fact that we’re watching a movie at the forefront of our thought processes. I don’t know if there is a better way to do it; newcomers to the franchise would be better served catching up of the previous films than by seeing “Deathly Hallows” and working their way back. As a fan of the “Lord of the Rings” books, required reading for all fantasy fans, I couldn’t help but see correlations to, and sometimes blatant stealing from, “Lord of the Rings” in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The evil Voldemort (Sauron) was (mostly) killed before the series starts, but had hidden parts of his soul in Horcruxes (the Rings of Power), which bind his essence to the world. He has regained corporeal form as a noseless, snake-like man and wants to dominate the magical world with iron-fisted control, using his Death Eaters (Ringwraiths) as enforcers. In “Deathly Hallows”, Harry and friends trek hobbit-like across starkly beautiful, wooded, mountainous landscapes, carrying with them a Horcrux in the

“To the casual viewer, like me, ‘Deathly Hallows’ is slightly confusing, a little slow, and full of fantasy clichés derived directly from J.R.R. Tolkien.”

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

form of a golden locket on a chain (The One Ring). The locket/ One Ring affects the wearer negatively, causing our intrepid wizards/witches to have irritating and irrational arguments. The locket has to be destroyed, in order to destroy the piece of Voldemort’s soul found within. Luckily, our heroes can just hit it with a magic sword, avoiding a long walk through orcinfested lands to the fires of Mt. Doom. I understand that much fantasy ultimately comes from Tolkien’s tales of Middle Earth (which Tolkien himself took from a variety of other sources), but I wish that Rowling had hidden her inspiration a little more cleverly. Even minor details, like Ron’s receipt of the Deluminator (the star-glass, Light of Eärendil) from Dumbledore, scream of thievery. It distracts from what might otherwise be a good story. My hope is that this series might lead others to Tolkien; however, given Tolkien’s more difficult prose and the rabid nature of Harry Potter fans, I won’t hold my breath. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is what exactly what fans expect and is done with careful attention to detail; it is a film for fans. For everyone else, I’m sure there are other choices that aren’t two-and-a-half hours long.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 Directed by David Yates Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint Rated PG-13 Running time: Two hours and 30 minutes

The latest local news and information updated multiple times a day - www.chattanoogapulse.com www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

The Pulse • Dining Out Spotlight

Hill City Pizza: A Pizza the Pie for Everyone Review by D. E. Langley A newcomer to Frazier Avenue, Hill City Pizza opened their doors after extensive renovations this September. Named for the North Shore neighborhood’s moniker prior to its annexation by the city, they’ve taken to the spirit of the area with gusto. Hill City Pizza is Located in the space formerly occupied by Mudpie, but the owners have distinctly transformed the space to suit their own vision. The downstairs is open and spacious, with tables lining the walls. A full bar occupies the back wall, featuring, appropriately enough, Chattanooga Brewing Company’s Hill City IPA,º among the draft beer selections. A backdoor patio provides another pleasant place to dine when weather permits. The upstairs is a world unto itself. It was completely renovated, and now features pool and darts, a second full bar, and seven televisions that offer NFL Sunday Ticket and an array of other sports options. A family-friendly place for a fun night out, the entire building is non-smoking. It’s also a godsend for the late-night crowd, as they serve food until closing, generally about 2:30 a.m. I asked co-owner John McClellan why they chose pizza—or, perhaps more appropriately, why Chattanoogans should choose them for pizza, given all the other available options. “This is a destination,” he replied without hesitation. “People come here, shoot a few games of pool while they wait, and then hit the rest of Frazier or go down to Coolidge Park.” But, he said, those who are just looking for a slice of pie will be in for a treat as well. “Our pizza is spectacular. The dough is hand-mixed and hand-tossed daily, and everything is made in-house.”

Hill City offers 14-inch pizzas, either whole or by the slice. As with any pizzeria, you can build your own pie, but they offer several of their own creations. The Taco Pizza is a great example of their creativity. It uses enchilada sauce as the base, and is topped with seasoned beef and cheddar cheese, and finished with lettuce, sour cream, and tortilla chips! Other selections include a barbecue pizza, available with pork or chicken, and options for vegetarians and meat-lovers alike. In addition to their pizzas, they offer rotisserie chicken and pulled pork as well as smoked chicken wings, all with the option of a sweet red, a spicy red, or a unique spicy white barbecue sauce. Wraps include a Turkey, Bacon, and Avocado, a Cuban-style, and a Tropical Chicken Salad option, replete with pineapple, oranges, almonds, raisins and curried mayo. The tropical undercurrent to the menu continues in the selection of sides, which

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

include Caribbean-spiced sweet potatoes, a Jamaican-style corn muffin, and a Montserrat Callaloo—mustard greens cooked with tomato, okra, and onions. But even with all those intriguing choices, the name itself suggests the reality of the situation at Hill City Pizza. Most people are going to stop in for the pies—as well they should. I chose the Barnyard, Hill City’s designation for their pizza designed with carnivores in mind. Embellished with thick slices of Italian sausage, crisp pieces of bacon, ground beef and sausage, and Canadian bacon, and finished with asiago cheese, it has in McClellan’s words, “almost too many toppings.” With apologies to James Agee, when it comes to pizza, almost too much is just enough for me. If the pie could have been better, I certainly can’t put my finger on how. The toppings were copious, each bite providing a savory mouthful that went perfectly with the aforementioned Hill City IPA. But, as any pizza enthusiast will tell you, a pizza is only as good as its crust. Hill City’s? Fantastic. Perfectly browned on the bottom, with crisp edges giving way to a soft, chewy interior. It was truly so good that each slice I ate ended with a bite of toppings, as I kept switching sides until the crust was gone. So, how to sum up Hill City Pizza? “We had a vision here—location, quality, and atmosphere—and it worked perfectly,” McClellan explained. “The neighborhood is great, our core is spectacular pizza, and we have a really laidback, fun place.” It’s nice when someone makes my job easy. Hill City Pizza, 12 Frazier Avenue. Open 11 a.m. to close, seven days a week. Call (423) 702-5451 for more information.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Riley's Spirits Within Beaujolais Nouveau Fit for a King By Joshua Hurley Every year, wine lovers around the world await the third Tuesday of November for the French red wine holiday favorite Beaujolais Nouveau. This fruit-forward, crowd-friendly red wine mixes easily with most holiday cuisine and offers something for every wine lover sitting at your table. This November, Riley’s Wine and Spirits proudly offers Georges Duboeuf 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau as our official holiday “Great Buy”. With Great Buys, Riley’s Wine and Spirits on Hixson Pike in Hixson picks something special from the area’s favorite selection of wine and spirits from around the world and shares it with the readership of The Pulse. Beaujolais is not a grape but an area, located in the southern part of the France’s Burgundy region. It covers 35 miles, starting at Lyons, and running north to Macon. Beaujolais differs from all the other growing areas in Burgundy because gamay is the primary grape grown there, instead of pinot noir. Beaujolais offers a climate ideal for gamay grape cultivation. Its production of gamay and the fermentation technique “carbonic maceration” give Beaujolais wines a light-red color, intense fruit characteristics and lower alcohol content. What is carbonic maceration? This is a process in which whole bunches of freshly picked grapes are put uncrushed into large vats filled with carbon dioxide and wine yeast. In this process, the bunches on the bottom are crushed by the weight of the bunches on top, with fermentation beginning with the exuded juice. This first step of fermentation creates even more carbon dioxide gas, which envelopes

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

the uncrushed grapes on top and blocks air exposure. Soon, fermentation begins within these top bunches, then they exude juice and the whole lot is pressed. Lastly, the vat is fermented in the standard way. Beaujolais Nouveau is made using only the best grapes from the region and is only seven to nine weeks old when it’s released. It’s young and meant to be drunk early. No cellaring is needed, nor is it possible. George DuBoeuf is the largest wine producer in France and best known for his Beaujolais wines. In fact, over time, George DuBoeuf has earned the nickname “the king of Beaujolais”. He was born in France in 1933. By the age of 8, he was working in his family’s vineyard crushing grapes. In the mid-1960s, he founded Georges DuBoeuf wines and has since turned a small family vineyard into a world-renowned winery. Georges Duboeuf 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau displays all the characteristics of a classic gamay wine: medium bodied, fruit forward and a high acidic level. It reminds me of a lighter-style pinot noir. Its purple color delivers mesmerizing aromas and flavors of candy apple, sweet cherry and strawberries, followed by a sweet-and-sour fruit finish that quite definitely puts the 2010 in a different category from all other past vintages. The verdict: Great—but not as good as the 2005, the best ever! Nevertheless, it’s likely to satisfy your annual Beaujolais jones. Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2010 is available while supplies last at Riley’s for $10.99 plus tax. Cheers!

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Free Will Astrology SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): It’s Experiment with Your Self-Image Week—a time when it would be invigorating to shift and play with your identity. During this reinvention phase, you might find you can change yourself on the inside simply by rearranging yourself on the outside. So have fun wearing clothes you’ve never donned before. Entertain yourself with a new hairstyle. Speak in foreign accents or use words you don’t usually utter. Amuse yourself with a variety of novel approaches to walking, laughing, gesticulating, and moving your face. Think of your persona as a work of art that you love to tinker with. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t,” said physician James Gordon. “It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.” That’s why you may soon appear to the casual observer, Capricorn, as someone who’s able to call on enormous reserves of willpower. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you are now more amenable to change than you’ve been in a long time. In fact, I suspect that in the coming weeks you’ll be willing and even eager to initiate transformations that seem heroic to people who are addicted to the status quo. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): All belief systems, ideologies, philosophies, and religions are mostly wrong, even though many of them have chunks of useful information that contribute to the common good. Said another way, absolutely no one has the whole truth, but pretty much everyone has a part of the truth. Now it so happens, Aquarius, that your little fraction of ultimate wisdom is currently clearer and stronger than usual. That makes you especially valuable to your gang, family, or tribe. It doesn’t mean you should be the supreme arbiter of correct thinking forever, but it does suggest that right now you should exert extra leadership with forceful grace. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Think back over the course of your life and identify any worthy ambitions that got irretrievably blocked or frustrated or squandered. Once you’ve named those lost chances, do a ritual in which you completely let go of them. As much as possible, give up all regrets. Flush the sadness. Forgive anyone who interfered. Wipe the slate clean. Only by doing this can you open the way to an opportunity that’s lurking just outside your awareness. And what exactly is that opportunity? Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know what I was talking about. Your ability to find it requires you to do the preliminary work of purging your remorse for missed opportunities. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Should you rely on hard facts or soft feelings? Would it be advisable to trust your tried-and-true medicine or else a potion brewed from the tongue of a snake, the feather of a crow, and a mandrake root? Can you get better results by mingling with staunch allies or with rebel upstarts who have a knack for shaking things up? Only you can decide on these matters, Aries. My opinion? You’ll probably generate more interesting developments by going with the feelings, the mandrake root, and the upstarts. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “We cannot have any unmixed emotions,” said poet William Butler Yeats. “There is always something in our enemy that we like, and something in our sweetheart that we dislike.” I hope that’s OK with you, Taurus. In fact I hope you regard that as a peculiar blessing—as one of the half-maddening, half-inspiring perks of life on earth. The fact is, as I see it, that you are in the thick of the Season of Mixed Emotions. The more graciously you accept that—the more you invite it to hone your soul’s intelligence—the better able you’ll be to capitalize on the rich and fertile contradictions that are headed your way.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Louisiana porn star Stormy Daniels considered running for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010, although she eventually dropped out

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

By Rob Brezsny

Truthrooster@gmail.com because it was too expensive. I admired one of her campaign strategies: She went on a “listening tour,” traveling around her state to hear what potential constituents might want to tell her. I encourage you to embark on your own listening tour in the coming weeks, Gemini. It will be prime time for you to find out about everything you don’t even realize you need to know. Adopt a mode of maximum receptivity as you ask a lot of questions. Wipe your mind clean of assumptions so you can get all of the benefits possible from being innocent and curious. CANCER (June 21-July 22): I love astrology. It excites my imagination and helps ensures that my relationship with the world is never too literal or prosaic. It anchors me in the paradoxical insight that although many things are out of my control, I have huge amounts of free will. My study of the mysterious meanings of planetary omens provides guidance, keeps me humble, and is a constant reminder that poetry provides an understanding of reality that’s as useful as science. On the other hand, astrology sometimes feels oppressive. I don’t like any system, even one as interesting as astrology, to come between me and the raw truth about reality. I aspire to see the actual person who’s in front of me, not be interpreting everything she does through the lens of her horoscope. Now I urge you to do what I’ve just done, Cancerian: Express your appreciation for something in your life that provides beauty and power, even as you also critique its downsides. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Bees pollinate apples. Butterflies perform the same service for lilies and moths do it for tobacco. Horse chestnut requires the help of hummingbirds to pollinate, wild ginger needs flies, and oak trees depend on the wind. The world’s largest flower, the rafflesia, can be pollinated by elephants’ eyebrows as the beasts use their trunks to search for nectar. My point is that in the natural world, fertilization is species-specific. Bees don’t pollinate lilies and butterflies don’t pollinate horse chestnut. A similar principle holds true for you, Leo. Can you name the influences that fertilize you? Now’s a good time to get very clear about that, and then seek out a more focused connection with those influences. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Native Americans took care of the land better than the white people who appropriated it, but they were by no means masters of sustainability. Recent research reveals they had a sizable carbon footprint, pumping lots of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as they cleared and burned forests. (More info at tinyurl.com/NativeCarbon.) Taking a cue from that little shock, I’m encouraging you to see if there are aspects of your personal past that should be reinterpreted. The astrological omens suggest that you’d be wise to revise some of the stories you tell about what happened to you way back when. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): British engineer John Reid wants to translate dolphins’ speech into human language. For years, he has been working on the Cymascope, a machine that will help him analyze the basic patterns of dolphin grammar and vocabulary. I encourage you to be inspired by his efforts, Libra. It is now an excellent time for you to devote your ingenuity to improving the way you communicate with alien species like black sheep, fallen angels, feral mavericks, your mother-in-law, odd ducks, co-workers who resemble raccoons and bears, and zombies who don’t share your political views. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): An African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I think that sums up the choice you have before you. There is something to be said for going fast; it may be that you can get as far as you need to go by starting immediately and speeding along by yourself. On the other hand, the distance you have to cover may be beyond your ability to estimate in the early days. If you think that’s the case, you might want to opt for the slower-paced power of a joint operation.

JONESIN’

Across 1 Greased up 6 180 degrees from NNE 9 Whip it, whip it real good 13 It follows diciembre 14 “Yeah, I bet you do...” laugh 15 Lotion additive 16 Aspire toward 17 “Light bulb” moment 19 Pattern studied by Dexter Morgan 21 “Iron Man 2” director Jon 22 Extra-wide shoe size 23 Air quality watchdogs: abbr. 26 Have ___ for (require) 27 It’s tested with a toe 30 Name a price 31 Late Sex Pistol Vicious 32 Fill full of bubbles 33 Air transport for Bruce Wayne’s alter ego

“Crunchy On The Outside”

36 Center of the Turkish government 39 Where riders may stand 40 Sine’s reciprocal, in trig: abbr. 43 All organisms in one area, collectively 45 Winter coat 47 36-down rival 48 Stephen of “The Crying Game” 49 Some time ago 51 Like fish for fish & chips -- or this puzzle’s four theme entries 53 Show with dilithium crystals 56 Experts 57 Drug unit 58 Before, to poets 59 “The Bottle Let Me Down” singer Haggard 60 From the beginning 61 Double curve 62 Fall flower Down 1 Female NASCAR racer/eco-activist ___ Munter 2 Stoic

–fry that sucker!

3 Word between “never” and “seen” 4 Ate away 5 Backs, in anatomical terms 6 Stadium replaced by Citi Field in 2009 7 Sevensome 8 The good guys wear them in westerns 9 Bert who played The Cowardly Lion 10 Pie ___ mode 11 Archie Arnett, to Amy Poehler 12 “Over here!” 16 Patsy and Edina’s Britcom, to fans 18 Herman with a Broadway show 20 ___ bone (pelvis component) 23 Vowel in Greece 24 Iguana or chihuahua 25 “All your base ___ belong to us” 28 Acrobat Reader maker 29 Abbr. at the top of

sheet music 31 Black Hills Spruce, e.g. 33 Emeril noise 34 Noah’s mountain 35 Less contaminated 36 47-across rival 37 Pen point 38 Boxing stats 40 Harm, as an economy 41 Buzzing pest that sucks 42 Dealmakers? 44 Breakfast skillet ingredients 45 Lion gangs 46 Tijuana Brass bandleader Herb 50 Edward James Olmos’s “Battlestar Galactica” role 51 It may get waxed 52 Manages, with “out” 53 Toots & the Maytals genre 54 The only threeletter element 55 IPA part

Crossword created By Matt Jones. © 2010 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #0495.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse

Ask A Mexican

By Gustavo Arellano

Why Mexicans Should Learn How To Dance To Tropical Music “The highlight of my three days in Denver was a debate on the Reconquista between archKnow Nothing Tom Tancredo and myself.”

Have a question? Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net, be his fan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or ask him a video question at youtube.com/askamexicano!

Dear Mexican, I am a mutt. My father’s father was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. My mother’s father was an illegal immigrant from Ireland. My surname is Mexican and is usually mispronounced by gabachos and pendejos alike. I look more Irish than Mexican. And as my father never spoke it at home, the only Spanish I know is from three years of waiting tables at Norms, where the Mexican waiters called bad Mexican tippers pinche indios. While I prefer Patrón and Negra Modelo over Jameson and Guinness, I also prefer Metroid and the Replacements over Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Morrissey. My fondest gastronomical childhood memory is of mi abuela frying up chicharrones from the remnants of chile verde preparations one day while telling me how her papi (a second-generation New Mexican) didn’t want his daughter marrying a surumato, or dirty Mexican. I get WTF stares when I walk into Taqueria Zamora on Bristol for a chorizo-and-egg burrito. I get WTF stares when I inform pendejo gabachos why I don’t appreciate their beaner jokes. I know I’m not a Mexican. Se que no soy un gabacho. I don’t even think of myself as un pocho, although I imagine that’s where you’d say I fit best. I’m just tired of getting shit from everyone on both sides of the invisible race border that exists everywhere in our lives in Orange County and the Southwest in general. And what do I teach my two little girls who look even whiter than me? — Nada Pero Cansado

The Pulse | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | November 24, 2010 | www.chattanoogapulse.com

Dear Nothing But Tired, Actually, I’d call you a leprecano (halfMexican, half-leprechaun), but my thoughts of which racial category you fit in should matter nothing—you call yourself what you want to call yourself, and tell those who have a problem que se vayan a la chingada. Teach your girls that people will harass them for their mixed heritage—but that’s OK because anyone who clings to doctrinaire tests of ethnic identity, who can’t accept that people’s concept of nationality, race, and ethnicity vary and intersect, is deluded and, frankly, pendejo. The only other point I’ll make is to thank you for introducing surumato into the Mexican’s Rolodex of Racism. Cabrones: a surumato is the New Mexican version of wab, which is to say it’s the historical term those New Mexicans who considered themselves “Spanish” and called themselves manitos used to ridicule newly arrived Mexicans. And Know Nothings say all Mexis are a united front—if only! Dear Mexican, Can you please explain to all gringos that not all the Mexicans know how to dance salsa, merengue and other Latino dances? — El Cometa Mexicano Dear Mexican Comet, Only the surumatos don’t. The manito Mexican knows his tropical dances thanks to cumbia (the slow shuffle originally from

Colombia that all Mexican groups regardless of genre incorporate into their repertoire), Perez Prado (the King of Mambo that, while technically Cuban, enthralled the world while being based in Mexico) and the fact gabachas would rather dance to tropical rhythms than our corny-ass mestizo polkas and waltzes. Take a class, tonto, and watch the chicas’ chonis come off. GOOD MEXICANS OF THE WEEK! The entirety of the Chicana/o Studies department at Metro State College of Denver. Last week, they brought in the Mexican to the Mile High City as part of their Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship program. It’s named after an iconic Chicano activist in Denver who deserves national recognition (buy The Life and Times of Richard T. Castro: Bridging a Cultural Divide by Richard Gould to learn more about his amazing, too-short life), and I gave lectures around the city about Castro’s legacy amid my usual shameless self-promoting. The highlight of my three days in Denver was a debate on the Reconquista between arch-Know Nothing Tom Tancredo and myself. Before an audience of over 300 and a good thousand online, we shocked the nation: we had a civil discussion on a topic on which we were diametrically opposed, and we just might do it again. Gracias, Metro, for having the huevos to indulge me in my locura, and everyone else: send your kids and donations allá.

www.chattanoogapulse.com | November 24, 2010 | Vol. 7, Issue 47 | The Pulse