HIS+HERS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2011
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RECALL RON, PT. II as the carousel turns: littlefield could emerge poorer, but remain mayor
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The Pulse His+Her Gift Guide appears again on Dec. 15. Call 423.242.7680 — there’s still time to get in the guide! chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • the pulse • 15
TOURING tennessee’S
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jim pfitzer drops into distilleries for a TASTE
CHATTANOOGA’S WEEKLYALTERNATIVE » NEWS • MUSIC • ARTS • ENTERTAINMENT » november 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
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thecomedycatch.com 2 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
Contents
CHATTANOOGA’S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE
NOV. 24-30 • 2011 • ISSUE 8.47
ChattanoogaPulse.com • Facebook.com/ChattanoogaPulse
EDITORIAL Publisher Zachary Cooper Managing Editor Janis Hashe Contributing Editor Gary Poole Art Director Bill Ramsey Contributors Rick Baldwin • Rob Brezsny Dave Castaneda • Chuck Crowder • Michael Crumb John DeVore • Allison Gorman • Sandra Kurtz Rick Pimental-Habib • Matt Jones • D.E. Langley Kelly Lockhart • Ernie Paik • Jim Pfitzer • Bill Ramsey Alex Teach • Tara V Photographers Lesha Patterson • Josh Lang Interns Beth Miller • Bruno Araujo
Cover illustration by Rick Baldwin
ADVERTISING
COVER STORY
Sales Director Lysa Greer Account Executives Rick Leavell • Michelle Pih
Whiskey Trail Tour
CONTACT
Jim Pfitzer travels the state to sip Tennessee’s finest whiskies. » 8
Phone 423.265.9494 • Fax 423.266.2335 Email info@chattanoogapulse.com calendar@chattanoogapulse.com Got a stamp? 1305 Carter Street Chattanooga, TN 37402
MUSIC
MRP2 Give Thanks
letters Please limit letters to 300 words or less. 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.
It’s been a very good year for Chattanooga’s Machines Are People Too. » 14
the fine print
FOOD
The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publishers may take more than one copy per weekly issue. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.
Man Eats Half-Formed Duck—in Hixson!
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BREWER MEDIA GROUP President Jim Brewer II
Thanksgiving Drinking Movies • Stock up the cooler and settle in with our favorite drinking films to while away those dreary post-Thanksgiving dinner hours! The List » Page 13 Will Ferrell stars in Everything Must Go.
Sushi & Biscuits columnist Mike McJunkin locates balut at local Asian market, eats it! Yumm-o. » 27
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As The Carousel Turns Recall Ron effort could backfire if charter, legal reviews favor Littlefield Chattanooga politics can often be compared to the Coolidge Park carousel: amusing to watch, the end result of a lot of time, effort and money, and if you wait long enough, the same issues come back around. Again and again. So here we are, the week we are supposed to gather with friends and family to celebrate the things for which we are thankful. For the supporters and organizers of the Recall Ron movement that dominated headlines last summer, Christmas came early in an appeals court decision that rapped Mayor Ron Littlefield’s knuckles for appealing too soon, followed by the Hamilton County
Election Commission deciding after all to schedule a recall election for next August. However, before all the wannabe mayoral candidates start printing yard signs and bumper stickers, let’s pour a heaping helping of holiday eggnog on those plans. The whole point of the appeals court decision was that mayor had challenged the election commission too soon. The court said nothing about the validity of Chancellor Hollingsworth’s initial ruling that the recall petitions did not meet a number of standards. So, the very same arguments the mayor used last time will almost certainly be trotted out again now that the election commission has made their actual decision. But, as with all things Chattanooga, you know it’s not simple as that. City Councilmember Peter Murphy, an attorney who chairs the council’s legal committee, noticed that the city charter has some ambiguous—and troubling—language regarding recall elections. The rather opaque passages could be read to show that the city council should strip Mayor Littlefield (temporarily, of
“
The city charter has some ambiguous— and troubling— language regarding recall elections. course) of his authority and place current Council Chairwoman Pam Ladd is charge of the city as acting mayor until the election is decided. Murphy believes that the charter issue is far from clear, and wants an independent attorney to weigh in. Several other members of the council agree with him—though it should be noted several of the more vocal are also widely expected to run for the mayor’s office—former Council Chairman Manny Rico described the entire debate as a “knee-jerk reaction” and urged everyone to calm down, relax and wait for all the various legal shenanigans to work their way through the system. And even if everything works out exactly the way the Recall
Ron folks wish for: a certification of their petitions, a court system that sides with them, and a scheduled and confirmed recall election date, there is still one last fly in the shoe-fly pie that is city politics. The simple fact is that Ron Littlefield has as much right as any other Chattanooga citizen to run in the recall election. He is limited from serving a third term as mayor, but this election would be to fill out the remainder of his second term. And how amusing would it be if after all the time and effort and costs expended by Littlefield’s opponents for them to see the carousel complete a full circle with the same mayor as before— if he chooses to run, that is. —Gary Poole
LAUNCHing Young Entrepreneurs
Yet another spin-off from the successful CreateHere SpringBoard program is LAUNCH, “a nonprofit initiative whose mission is to equip individuals and businesses from underserved communities with a continuum of job training, business planning and mentoring programs.”
As part of this, LAUNCH is partnering with Co.Lab, Lamp Post Group and the Chattanooga Renaissance Fund (CRF) in a yearlong after-school program at Howard High School. LAUNCH is using the program to spark students’ interests in starting their own businesses after high school or college. Students are being mentored by business and entrepreneurship majors at UTC as they work in groups to create business plans and compete for a $2,000 start-up investment from CRF. The competition will take place at UTC on March 11, 2012. “Our work also involves recruiting business professionals to become invested in the careers of individuals in the innercity through mentoring,” said LAUNCH Executive Director Hal Bowling. He noted the importance of “people [learning] about how they can partner with us to accelerate economic activity and create greater selfsufficiency in Chattanooga’s lowincome communities.” For more information, visit launchchattanooga.org. — Janis Hashe
This holiday season cash in your old gold for something special 3901 Hixson Pike • Ste.101 • 423.877.9401 4 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
EdiToon
rick baldwin
Appreciation For Food • Wasn’t expecting something like that in my local foodie surfing [“Dropping Knowledge Like Hot Biscuits”]. And I don’t mean that in the elitist way it probably comes across. I was just looking for new places to try and things to do and suddenly had some knowledge dropped on me. Gerard Chattanooga
Editor’s note: Mike McJunkin’s new Sushi & Biscuits column now appears each week in The Pulse. Extended columns appear every week on chattanoogapulse.com.
Appreciation For John Hiatt • Most of my friends and family have never even heard of Mr. Hiatt [“John Hiatt: The Road Goes On Forever”]. I have been listening to him for only 25 years, but knew some of his songs before I knew of him. He continues to amaze me with his perception on human nature and unique way of turning a phrase. He is number one on my list of great American songwriters and no one can
Letters INSIDE
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Search. Eat. Repeat.
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perform his songs quite like he can. Sherry Hynes Chattanooga
No Appreciation For Alex Teach • The Occupy Chattanooga movement would like to respectfully express our
feeling of gross misrepresentation in Officer Teach’s columns. We in no way seek trouble or arrest as was stated in the recent column. In addition, the proposal to legalize marijuana was removed from our list of demands three weeks ago and while it was mentioned by Officer Teach several times over the course of one of his recent columns, is not an accurate representation of the desires of Occupy Chattanooga. We wish to remind the readers of The Pulse that Officer Teach’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Chattanooga Police Department, which we have had excellent and genial relations with. Our movement has been, and continues to be peaceful and respectful of everyone, including those who disagree with us. Occupy Chattanooga Media Group Chattanooga
Got an opinion? Of course you do! Email your letter (300 words or less, please, with name and daytime phone number) to : info@chattanoogapulse.com. chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 5
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6 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
There’s much to be Thankful for. Let’s start at the top: Thanks... • To President Obama, for taking the bait and allowing the Republicans to take advantage of your attempt at bipartisanship (which you must have known would never work) and for not living up to your promise of being a great one-term president. Considering the likely opposition, you might win re-election based simply on the “Him? Really?” factor, but don’t look for any help from the economy. Stand by your convictions. • To Congress, for sinking to such a low approval rating that even Communist thinking ranks ahead of you in the polls. Thanks, too, for saying “no” to compromise, standing tough on gridlock and sending our nation spiraling toward the brink of economic collapse. • To the Class of 2012 of Republican Presidential Candi-
dates for providing a constant source of grist for our snarky mill. Honestly, we’d just as soon give this up, but the stakes are too high and you are too uninspiring, vapid and often just plain crazy. Some of you make us feel nostalgic for Dan Quayle. • To our 3rd District Republican Candidates, for all the same reasons as above. We’re left flat by Incumbent Chuck, who comes across as earnest—but in that uneasy, robotic, read-from-the-talkingpoints kind of way—but like most freshman, is eager to please his party elders in Washington. “He’ll do,” the rank-andfile seems to exhale. Weston, we admire your youthful vigor, but perhaps you should compile a resume before taking this leap. City council could use an infusion of fresh, young faces and your lack of experience in that setting would not be so obvious. Lady J, honey, we love you and you bring some street
game to this race—but we’re thinking the train has left the station. It’s not that you haven’t paid your dues or lack credentials—we get dizzy reading your CV—but we just don’t feel this is your horse. We could be wrong, we’d like to be wrong because, really, anyone who calls Chuck and the Party Establishment a whore deserves a vote! • To the Local Democratic Party, for nothing. We know it’s a tough gig to be a Donk, let alone a progressive mule, in this town and get elected, but you’ve got to come out to play. • To the Local Media, for being the essence of Mildly Balanced, our new favorite catchphrase. It’s like having a Mild Feminine Itch, isn’t it? (Yes, we do think so!) and it gives us the same not-so-fresh feeling!
Read DizzyTown daily at chattanoogapulse. com. Send us your Dizzyness! Email: dizzy@ chattanoogapulse.com.
On the Beat
alex teach
Unofficial Response: AR-15s “ A week ago Wednesday, the Chattanooga Organized for Action generic email address asked a generic councilperson a question on the generic purchase of AR-15s for its police department. Below is their email reprinted in its entirety for perspective: City Council Representative, Last night the City Council approved the purchase of 30 AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifles (commonly referred to as “M16s”). Previously the City of Chattanooga had put out a bid for these weapons. We would like to know why the City of Chattanooga feels that these assault rifles, which are created for the sole purpose of killing many and killing often, are a priority for our City? Thank you for your time and consideration, Chattanooga Organized for Action This being a matter of public record and I being a quasi-public figure, I felt it appropriate to give Chattanooga Organized for Action a public response for such an excellent rhetorical question. Let’s start right away with your belief that these are “weapons that are designed only to kill people, and lots of them”. In all fairness, if the Council
was buying them for mass murderers, you’d be right; but in your rhetorical madness, you forgot these were for “police officers”. Rifles are indeed meant for stopping/killing efficiently...but you’re mistaking the cops for whom you call 911 for mass murderers at banks, schools, churches, and businesses. I know you fight for space in such small minds but they’re, like, two totally different groups of people. How about a quick geography quiz: Columbine. North Hollywood (Bank of America). San Ysidro, CA (McDonalds). Fort Hood, TX (Nidal Hasan). Stockbridge, Georgia (daytrader mass murder). Do these sound at all familiar? Single-shot AR-15s are for those rare instances when people wear body armor and walk into a school and kill people with rifles. Or walk into a McDonalds and kill people with rifles. Or walk into a business they were fired from and kill people
with rifles. I literally wish I was making those examples up. Does it happen often? No. But when it does, is that when you want to bid out for weapons, and wait on approval…billing… and shipment? Are you aware that there are people out there that kill en masse? That rob stores wearing body armor pistols are useless against? Have you HEARD of this happening, even once? Why, just last April there was a guy in the news that was wearing that exact armor that allowed him to shoot a Chattanooga policeman in his back and another in the face as their .45 caliber bullets refused to stop him. A rifle would have stopped that. (An AR-15, specifically.) “Bad things” happened at those places I mentioned, and despite your apparent prejudice (or in fairness, ignorance), cops didn’t cause those. Barack Obama and George Bush didn’t even cause those. Crazy people caused those, and cops were sent in, with tools, to stop them. That is why we need cars and guns. Rifles are tools. Same as handcuffs, pistols and police cars. They don’t send in Occupiers to mass murder scenes, or firemen, or taxi drivers; they send cops with training and
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tools. It saddens me that Chattanooga Organized for Action folks have somehow never heard of people walking into schools, churches, businesses, restaurants and homes and killing people en masse. But then, they didn’t know their argument was invalidated by the fact the C.P.D. already does carry those weapons, for decades, in fact. Through training and professionalism, they never knew it. What I can help them with, however, is suggesting that when referring to AR-15s to the council and specifying that they are “commonly referred to as M-16’s”, word to the wise: You look somewhat idiotic. That’s like saying “The Ford Focus is commonly known as the Honda Accord.” See? Dumb. Looking stupid kills your credibility, at
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least to others not on the same level of ignorance on the topic they’re criticizing. Keep your focus: It’s not rifles you hate, it’s the freedom of speech you hate cops using, explaining things like this when we should be silent and speak only when spoken to like a child or “proper wife”. In fact, responses like this are why you hate cops, because they cast a light on a world you try to believe doesn’t exist. Turns out we’re humans too, but we deal with problems differently because we work face-to-face with bad things that “judgment and ideals” (and camping) don’t actually work with. Tools. Crazy People. It’s not complicated, and it’s sure not a threat...I have 30 years of proof, locally and personally, to show you how wrong you are. VERY disappointing of you, but I have to admit…very entertaining. When Chattanooga Police 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. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook. com/alex.teach.
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r e v i R y e k s i h W S C y r D n u R Dont a
Jim Pfitzer’s Stories & Ceremonies Along The
P
Tennessee Whiskey Trail ick one,” he said,
pointing to a stack of barrels in the corner. The white oak barrels to which Mike Williams referred contained Tennessee Whiskey, but we weren’t in Lynchburg or Tullahoma. This was the old Yazoo Brewery building, home of the Tennessee Distilling Company, makers of Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey in Nashville. I pointed to a heavily stained barrel, and Williams set two tasting glasses on the pallet next to it, then with a small, battery-powered drill began boring into the side of the keg. “Some day I’m gonna buy a real drill,” he said
with a chuckle as his drill strained. Eventually he penetrated the oak, unleashing a steady brown stream. Williams filled both glasses, then staunched the flow with a wooden plug. The whiskey smelled oaky and sweet, and produced a pleasing peppery burn on my tongue. “This is 120-proof,” Williams said. “Barrel strength.” He bottles his whiskey at 86-proof, but a sip of this stronger concoction led me to asking why he didn’t bottle it just like this. “I’m thinking about it,” he replied. We poured the remnants of the cask-strength whiskey on the floor near the drain, and re-filled our glasses from a bottle. The smooth character and vanilla were still there in the 86-proof, but the complexity was slower to emerge. Down the
8 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
hatch, a pleasant bitterness lingered. As we sipped our whiskey on that drizzly Wednesday morning, I was drawn to the two giant copper stills dominating the room, but Williams was more interested in an unassuming, vertical stainless steel cylinder nearby. Clear moonshine whiskey, straight out of the still, is pumped through sugar maple charcoal in that cylinder. The charcoal grabs fatty acids, pulling them out of the whiskey and mellowing it, a process unique to Tennessee Whiskey known as the “Lincoln County Process”. Williams’ whiskey story begins at the end of the eighteenth century when his family moved to Tennessee just after the Whiskey Rebellion proved the government’s ability to militarily defend its
whiskey taxation. The “West”, as the Tennessee frontier was known at the time, was far enough removed from New England that the Feds had a hard time collecting their taxes, making it a perfect place for folks wanting to make whiskey without interference. The family never became big production distillers, but whiskey was clearly in Williams’ blood. When he was 16 and putting off a science project that entailed creating a water map of Middle Tennessee, Williams’ father made an announcement. The family was to visit Jack Daniel’s Distillery, and along the way they would stop at every trickle of water for young Mike to collect samples. When he tested the sample from the cave spring in Lynchburg, Williams found it to be identical in pH and composition to the water on the family property, and an idea was formed. Some years later, when Williams turned 50, he decided the time was right. He stole the name Tennessee Distilling Company from a company that moved to Indiana after Prohibition, and borrowed the name of his whiskey from the maiden names of his paternal grandmother and great-grandmother. When the first Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey left the distillery in the spring of 2011, the whole family had a hand in bottling, corking, sealing and labeling. At the end of the line, Williams put his thumbprint on every bottle. When I arrived at Jack Daniel’s the next morning, a small crowd was already waiting. Promptly at 9 a.m., the doors were unlocked and we streamed inside, where Randall Fanning was looking for me. He led me out back to a fancy golf cart for a ride to the Revenuer’s Office—a small building where the Master Distiller hosts tastings. According to Fanning, that office once housed five government tax collectors—“three to watch us and two to watch the other three.” The tasting room was warm and cozy with old plank floors, wooden tables, leather-backed chairs, and used whiskey barrels supporting nearly every horizontal surface. Master Distiller Jeff Arnett, a trim, mid-forties man with a tightly cropped mustache and goatee was there to greet us, and we promptly sat down to an elegant presentation. Tradition and history were clearly on Arnett’s mind as he talked about Jasper Newton Daniel, the five-foot-two
gentleman with size four feet who is known to the world as “Jack”. According to Arnett, “Jack” was all about great whiskey that didn’t taste like the competition. To that end, he used less rye than was typically found in bourbon, but really, “It’s all about the water,” he said, echoing Williams’ sentiment. To keep things consistent, the yeast at Jack Daniel’s is DNA-tested every year to make sure it hasn’t changed. As for that traditional charcoal mellowing, Jack Daniels uses 72 giant vats packed with ten feet of charcoal each. The charcoal is replaced every three-to-six months at a cost of $10,000 per vat. To illustrate the importance of that Lincoln County Process, Arnett poured glasses from bottles of 140-proof clear whiskey labeled “Before Charcoal Mellowing” and “After Charcoal Mellowing”. Anyone who has tasted moonshine can relate to the former. A hard bitter hit the back of my throat, and burned going down. But with the latter, the flavor was in the mouth, the finish remarkably smooth. Three brown whiskeys in glasses in front of me looked pretty much identical, but the bottles of Gentleman Jack, Old No. 7, and Single Barrel Select told very different stories. From the screw top on No. 7 to the thick bottom on the Single Barrel bottle, it was obvious that I was looking at different classes of drink. My assessment of Gentleman Jack as being “a little frou-frou,” was not well received, but Arnett acknowledged that this whiskey—which is run through the charcoal a second time after aging—is for somebody who “doesn’t have a strong tolerance for oak” and tends to sell to women and men who are not big whiskey drinkers. Jack Daniel’s has nearly two million barrels of whiskey on hand, most of which is mixed for consistency to become Old No. 7. Single Barrel Select, however, is the result of individual barrels selected by the Master Distiller for their distinct character, then bottled in single barrel batches. As a result, each barrel is different and each bottle is labeled with a barrel number so that if a consumer likes a bottle, they can look for another one from the same barrel. We tasted from barrel 11-5449, or the 5,449th barrel from the year 2011 and found it to be creamy and vanilla, with a very nice bitterness. I found this 94-proof Arnett categorized as “for a more discerning drinker,” to be head and shoulders above Old No. 7. » page 10
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After our tasting, I joined a group of around 30 visitors for a tour with Jesse James (no kidding, that is his name). We followed the path of the whiskey from spring water to sour mash, from still to barrel, to bottling. A polished storyteller, James told us how Jack got into whiskey-making under the tutelage of a Lutheran minister who quit under pressure from his congregation and sold his still to his young apprentice, and how Jack broke his foot kicking a safe out of frustration, leading to infection, and ultimately, his death. The distillation building at Jack was a maze of stainless steel and copper tanks, pots, lines, and gauges reminiscent of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, and the workers (though not Oompah-Loompahs) efficiently monitored the system on a bank of brightly colored computer screens and seemed a world away from Williams and his little hand drill.
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10 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
In Kelso, TN, I visited Prichard’s Distillery. Incorporated in 1997, Pritchard’s sold their first product in 2001, but it wasn’t Tennessee Whiskey. Those first bottles contained a spirit not usually associated with Tennessee: rum. Since then, Phil Pritchard has made quite a name for himself with a variety of flavored rums, sweet liqueur, bourbon—and Tennessee Whiskey. Pritchard offered me a chair in front of his cluttered desk in an old classroom. Behind him, the original chalkboard and map of the world still hung on the wall. He seemed at first to be about making liquor and letting the product do the talking, but he quickly proved to have much to say. In Nashville and Lynchburg, Tennessee Whiskey was defined for me as containing a minimum of 51 percent corn, produced in Tennessee, distilled at less than 160-proof, filtered through a bed of sugar maple charcoal, and aged for a minimum of two years in new charred barrels. But when I asked Pritchard about the Lincoln County Process he gave me a sideways look. Lifting a thick book from his desk, he said “I keep this here for people like you,” then opened it and began to read. Directly from the Code of Federal Regulations, Pritchard shared definitions of bourbon and whiskey. Never did I hear the words Lincoln County Process or sugar maple charcoal. “Final authority?” he asked, adding, “If it ain’t in this book, it ain’t law.” As far as Phil Pritchard was concerned, he was making a product as authentically Tennessee Whiskey as anybody, and federal law seems to support him. “Charcoal has an infinite appetite for oils that contain flavor,” he said in defense of his method. “You filter that out and you filter out flavor. We don’t filter anything out of our liquor.” Pritchard also emphasized the impor-
tance of using white corn in his whiskey. “The sugar content is higher than in the feed corn most distillers are using.” Eventually we made our way to another room in the old schoolhouse for tasting. An assortment of souvenir glasses and T-shirts adorned one wall, on a table at the end of the room stood an array of open bottles. Pritchard was right about his Tennessee Whiskey being different. The oak was there, and the sweetness of the white corn was strong, but like the clear “Before” product I had sampled earlier in the day, Pritchard’s whiskey had a bite, and called into question what Tennessee Whiskey really is. Eager for me to sample all of his products, Pritchard filled little plastic tasting cups faster than I could taste them. As I sampled the offerings, trying to keep them straight, Pritchard’s phone rang repeatedly with a Dixie ring tone. This Southern entrepreneur CEO had nobody screening his calls for him. When he had to leave the room for a moment, he gestured to the bottles. “Help yourself,” he offered. “I’ll be right back.” Later I asked about the motto I saw printed on all his products: Torav Cyn Plygav. “You’ll have to break me before I yield,” he said with a smile. As we left the tasting room, he offered to autograph a bottle of his Double Barreled Bourbon. He signed a bottle with a fancy gold paint pen then took me outside and pointed down the road. “Head out this way,” he said. “Turn left just after the river. It’ll save you ten minutes. Once you get to Tullahoma, you’re on your own.” I understood Pritchard’s directions as I wandered through a Tullahoma neighborhood looking for Dickel. Eventually I found the sign I had missed and reached
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my destination just before closing time and was struck by the sign out front. Established 1870 George A. Dickel Home Of Tennessee’s Finest Quality Sippin’ Whisky. Whisky. Canada and Scotland spell it one way, the rest of us the other, but it was important to George Dickel to use the traditional Scottish spelling as he claimed his whiskey to be as good as any Scotch. Master Distiller John Lunn was in Kentucky on the day of my visit, but tour guide Stephen Sharketti met me in the visitors’ center and quickly proved to be a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide. We began at a display showing exactly how Dickel is made, emphasizing the now familiar (and slightly controversial) Lincoln County Process. Like Jack, George had only one recipe for his family of whiskies and they strictly follow old traditions. Unique to Dickel, is the practice of chilling the whisky to 40 degrees before mellowing. Fats, said Sharketti, are more easily “grabbed” by the charcoal if they are congealed, and Dickel believed that winter produced finer whisky. Sharketti also told me about the “Angel’s Share”—the amount of whisky that evaporates out of the barrels during aging. Tradition says it goes to the angels, but Sharketti told me not to believe it. “That was made up by a couple of drunk Irish guys in the warehouse,” said the fair-skinned redhead with a laugh. Sharketti is one of only 34 people employed by Dickel, and just six are distillers—
something he expressed pride in. Ironically, however, Dickel is owned by Diagio, a British conglomerate that employs more than 20,000 people, and has offices in 80 countries.” Yet Dickel feels as homespun as any Tennessee distiller, something Sharketti attributes to the philosophy of their parent. “They buy companies because they are successful the way they are,” he said. “They don’t try to change them.” I was struck by the openness of the tour. I was encouraged to walk right up to open vats of bubbling mash, and allowed to take pictures all along the way. Always telling stories, Sharketti was eager to share with me how deeply engrained in our pop culture Dickel is. He showed me a photo of Frank Sinatra on the night of his Sands premiere with commemorative Dickel bottles on all the visible tables, and talked about Captain Kirk’s dark alter ego drinking it. My favorite story from the tour was the legend of how Dickel’s Old No. 8 whisky got its name. According to Sharketti, in the 1800s George and Jack were making whiskies in the same county. When Jack went to the government for his license, he was granted the seventh one issued. The next man through the door was George. If I learned anything about Tennessee Whiskey that day, it was the importance of story. All four companies I visited use corn, barley, rye, and the “best limestone spring water”. They all age their liquor in new charred oak barrels, and they all take great pride in that stuff called Tennessee Whiskey, but behind all these commonalities, the individuals, histories, and claims could not have been more different.
HOME DECOR
3 0 1 w. 2 5 T H S T. • T U E - S AT 1 0 - 6 2 6 7 . 7 8 4 7 • T H E R U G R AC K . C O M
chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 11
12 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
CALENDAR
LIST
THE NOV. 24-30
THANKSGIVING DAY
WED11.23
THUR11.24 MUSIC Machines Are People Too
Lord T & Eloise with John Perry, soCRo • The creators and universal masters of ARISTOCRUNK grace us with their splendor. To all our high-class ladies in million dollar boots! $5. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192. honestpint.com
• Digital freaks unite! $8. 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. rhythm-brews.com
MUSIC Triptophan Dance Party 2011
» pulse pick OF THE LITTER
• DJC and Dan Weeks join local favorites Spoon and Jericho for a special Turkey Day freak out. $3. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192. honestpint.com
Movies To Drink By
FRI11.25 MUSIC
Let’s face it, if you have to do Thanksgiving Dinner with the family, at least you can look forward to the joy that is witnessing one or more family members experience a total alcoholic breakdown. But in case that doesn’t happen, we’ve prepared a list of classic drinking films to fill the void. Bottoms up!
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) The best damn alcoholic (and actor) of all time (Richard Burton) turns in a fabulous alcholic performance alongside (real-life) brazen wife (Elizabeth Taylor). Drunken Master (1978) The movie that made Jackie Chan a star. As Wong Fei-Hung, Chan mixes martial arts, comedy and hyper-powered hooch in a staggering display of 100-proof chop-socky! Shakes The Clown (1991) With Bobcat Goldthwait coming to town on Dec. 16 for a standup show, it’s time to review his classic writing-directing debut as the king of alcoholic clowns. Leaving Las Vegas (1993) The best alcoholic move ever made and the best Nic Cage movie ever (which is not a stretch). Drunk and desparate Ben dumps his miserable life to drink himself to death in Vegas. With Elisabeth Shue. Nice. Breakfast With Hunter (2003) When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro, Hunter S. Thompson famously said. Here, he does, drinking copious amounts of alcohol and not much else.
» pulse picks
Uncle Lightning, Sweet GA Brown, Get Hot or Go Home • JJ’s Bohemia 5-Year Anniversary Weekend kicks off. We’re so happy you were born, JJ’s! $5. 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. reverbnation.com/venue/jjsbohemia
EVENT Grand Illumination • The party boats are more fun every year. Free. 7 p.m. Can be viewed from both river banks. chattanoogapresents.com
SAT11.26 MUSIC Bohannons, Hidden Spots • Tune in tonight and rock JJ’s fifth birthday. $5. 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. myspace.com/jjsbohemia
EVENT Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center • Visit the red wolves! (423) 821-1110. chattanooganaturecenter.org
SUN11.27
Something Old, Something Perfect
MUSIC Grace Adele, Olta
Unique is the watchword at the annual Antiques and Collectibles Sunday• Chattanooga Market• 11.27 • Every holiday gift list has at least one “OMG, they’re sooo hard to buy for.” Find them something no one else ever will at the Chattanooga Market. Pick up something for yourself while you’re there. Free. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tivoli. Chattanooga Market, First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Reggie White Blvd. (423) 648-2496. chattanoogamarket.com
• Adele’s guitar speaks for itself. Free. 12:30 p.m. & 2 p.m. First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Carter St. 1826 Reggie White Blvd. (423) 648-2496. chattanoogamarket.com
EVENT “Eternal” • Take in Loy Allen’s glass and Clayton Bass’s paintings. Free. 1 – 5 p.m. River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St., (423) 265-5033, ext. 5. river-gallery.com
chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 13
Music
Machines Love Turkey Day, Too By Dave Castaneda Want an escape from the family on Thanksgiving Day? Dance off those T-Day pounds off at Rhythm & Brews with Machines Are People Too, Elk Milk, and Deep Fried Five’s Sideproject—Dilly Power! A lot has been going on with Chattanooga’s rowdy pop outlet MRP2, as they have been working heavily behind the scenes touring and working on new material. The band is set to record their new album at the end of the month and it is expected to come out sometime in 2012. Things are happening with the band that not a lot of people know about. For starters, they are beginning to gain traction by being picked up by reputable booking agencies and management companies. I got to ride along to one of these shows in Murphy, NC, and seeing how new fans react to their shows is magical. It’s like seeing somebody open up a present for the first time and not expecting the awesomeness that will be unveiled upon opening it. Progress has been good to MRP2 and all the hard work has paid off extensively. Earlier in the year, the band got picked up by agents at APA Talent & Literary Agency, which represents a large, diverse range of clients, including bands, musicians, comedians, and speakers. APA’s client list includes acts such as Boombox, Robert Plant, Public Enemy, Rise Against, Flogging Molly, Paul Oakenfold and Run-DMC, just to name a few. This has helped out the band tremendously
honest music
Machines Are People Too
Machines Are People Too, Elk Milk, Dilly Power $8 • 10 p.m. Thursday, November 24 Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. rhythm-brews.com
local and regional shows
Tryptophan Dance Party 2011
Thu, Nov 24
7pm
John Lathim & Company
Sun, Nov 27
7pm
Wed, Nov 30
9pm
Thu, Dec 1
9pm
Ray Cashman (Nashville) with Mark “Porkchop” Holder and Marty Adams
($3)
Kristin Cothran and the Darkside (Nashville) with Nigel Gibson ($3) Live Irish Music following the Irish Session players ever Sunday night FREE SHOWS start at 7pm
14 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
when it comes to tours and shows this year, and aided them to secure some really good tours and gigs. This fall, MRP2 has toured with Philadelphia-based band The Movement on different dates throughout venues in the Southeast. The band has gotten opportunities to play at venues like The Orange Peel in Asheville and The Masquerade in Atlanta. Another big gig the band got to play through the agency was a Greekfest in Tuscaloosa, AL, opening up for
G. Love and Special Sauce. There the band played in front of 6,000 new fans and got the opportunity to show Alabama how Chattanooga gets rowdy. Shortly thereafter, MRP2 got the chance to play Next Big Nashville: Soundland opening up for Foster the People, Cults, and Reptar. After Soundland, the band took off to tour in different cities, playing Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Lexington, St Louis and more. While in St. Louis, the boys at MRP2 got to play with one of their favorite bands, Miami Horror. The way their booking agency has been helping them out is tremendous—and you can tell that they will be able to continue to grow next year. The band never forgets their roots while on the road and always gives major props to the place where they birthed their creative baby. MRP2 has taken some other bands, such as Elk Milk, on the road with them. A band like Machines Are People Too gaining traction like this is great for Chattanooga because it is wonderful to see bands help each other out and spread the word about how much creativity is wak-
ing up here in the Valley. One of the biggest things to happen to MRP2 this year was being picked up by Red Light Management. This is a large management company that helps artists build themselves up by being their networking guide. Red Light helps artists find different services that will benefit the musicians as they grow, such as licensing songs (TV, movies and commercials), music attorneys, labels, booking agencies and more. What’s so big about this is that Red Light has helped build up some of the biggest household names in the music industry, including Pretty Lights, Dave Matthews Band, Alicia Keys, Les Claypool, Gogol Bordello, Drive-By Truckers, and Dinosaur Jr. The manager dealing with MRP2 specifically has helped manage The Black Keys and is currently working to help MRP2 build their name. Come out and enjoy some rowdy music at Rhythm & Brews this Thanksgiving! One of our favorite bands is growing—and the Chattanooga family needs to celebrate the success that these boys have experienced this year.
What 35 Patten Parkway was meant to be. Full food menu serving lunch and dinner. 11am-2am, 7 days a week.
HIS+HERS HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2011
The Pulse His+Her Gift Guide appears again on Dec. 15. Call 423.242.7680 — there’s still time to get in the guide! chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 15
HIS+HERS
Outfit the cyclist on your list with the finest in accessories this season
gift guide Cycle Sport Concepts
516 E. Main St. 423.531.7623 Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. csctenn.com
A
B D C
Cooler weather is here and Cycle Sport Concepts has you covered from head to toe. For those of you who commute to work we have apparel to keep you warm, lights to keep you safe, and locks to keep your bike secure. In addition to the gear, bicycles that are perfect for the downtown commute or riding down the Riverpark are in stock starting as low as $380! A. Specialized Balaclava • $30 B. Specialized BG Gel Wiretap glove • $45 C. Specialized Street Smart Helmet • $60 D. Knog Frog Strobe • $25 pair or $12.50 each E. Knog Party Frank lock • $20
www.CSCTENN.com
• New bicycles purchased from Cycle Sport Concepts come with a lifetime of free tune-ups. • Ask about Specialized S-Card financing and our layaway program. • As always, all bicycles are below MSRP! Bring this ad with you and receive a FREE Grand Opening water bottle while supplies last!
E
HIS+HERS gift guide Lesha Patterson Photography
423.667.7533 leshapattersonphotography.com
How much do you have to see to know she’s beautiful? Four girls go to dinner for a girls’ night out. One mentions “boudoir” photography. Two girls gasp. The other smiles, a little smirk. “What?” asks one. “Nothin’,” says the girl. Unique, creative and armed with a “license to be eclectic,” Patterson’s vibe has been described as “contagious” and “addictive” by her subjects. “I strive to make every session as unique as the individual while keeping it simple and fresh,” she says, “to let the personality shine above all else, creating a personally timeless image.” Patterson specializes in boudoir, tasteful nudes and ‘pin-up girl’-style sessions, which are considered on the fringe of society’s acceptable behavior—but every woman secretly wants to try it once in her life. “I keep it simple, classy, and timeless,” she says. “Most women say it’s empowering. Afterwards they feel giddy, buzzed, sexy and beautiful. You go through a transformation and you take it with you.” To arrange a private consultation for your intimate photo session, contact Lesha at (423) 667-7533.
16 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
HIS+HERS Plum Nelly Shop & Gallery
330 Frazier Ave. 423.266.0585 Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. plumnellyshop.com
Chattanooga’s No. 1 gift shop offers unique jewelry and gifts Plum Nelly opened its doors in 1972. Ever since then, it has been the place to find unique gifts. Plum Nelly offers a wide variety of jewelry, pottery, handblown glassware and giftware — much of which is made by local and regional artists. Our knowledgable staff knows the story behind every item and can help you with your gift-giving needs. Offering gift and bridal registry and shipping services. Recently voted the No. 1 gift shop in Chattanooga. Stop in and see why!
Unique Gifts for the Holidays Locally made jewelry, art, glassware and much more...
330 Frazier Ave Mon-Fri: 10-6 Sat: 10-5 423.266.0585 plumnellyshop.com
HIS+HERS gift guide Southern Surgical Arts
One North Shore 200 Manufacturers Road Suite 105 423.266.3331 southernsurgicalarts.com
This holiday, give the gift of beauty Southern Surgical Arts is the cosmetic surgery practice of Carey Nease, M.D., and Chad Deal, M.D. You’ll notice that our surgeons deliver surgical expertise that is combined with artistic ability in a personal, caring environment from the moment you walk into our office. Drs. Nease and Deal are both Board Certified Cosmetic Surgeons. Their practice at Southern Surgical Arts is 100 percent committed, focused, dedicated to cosmetic surgery. They do nothing else but face and neck lifts, cosmetic breast surgery, tummy tucks, liposuction and SmartLipo, mommy makeovers, vaginal rejuvenation and other cosmetic procedures and services that can enhance your appearance and improve your self-confidence.
chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 17
stuffit! This Season, Be Original.
stylish. unique.
stocking stuffers and gift ideas
WildBleu Pajamas Moisture-wicking keeps you cool and dry while you sleep. So soft and comfy, the perfect gift for Mom.
Custom Jewelry. Like No Other. benchvizion.com
Buy, Sell& Trade
Get Grumpy for the Holidays
ELLIE’S
Warehouse Row 1110 Market Street 423.531.3054
moccasin bend brewing co.
benchvizion.com
lisa cutler
FIVE-TIME WINNER OF
locally made bags with style
CHATTANOOGA’S BEST BEER SERIES
Unique Gifts for the Holidays Plum Nelly 330 Frazier 423.266.0585 plumnellyshop.com
15% off any One Item! with coupon
One North Shore 200 Manufacturers Road Suite 222 (423) 755-8858
Tasting room open Friday, Saturday and Sunday (423) 821-6392 4015 Tennessee Ave in St. Elmo like us on facebook!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
DIPLOMAS family photos
FINE ART
posters
•
prints
PORTRAITS
Original Art | Custom Framing
Creative Custom Framing And Original Art For Your Holiday Gifts and Memories!
SPARKLE PRETTY DRESSES COZY SWEATERS JACKETS AND MORE
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4520 Hixson Pike
(423) 877-1391 benchvizion.com Mon-Fri 10-6 Sat By Appt
Find us on Facebook
421 MARKET ST. (NEXT TO PANERA BREAD) (423) 755-8867
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK FOR QUICK INFORMATION ABOUT SALES & PROMOTIONS!!
18 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
‘Tis the season for benchvizion.com Massage Envy Spa gift cards. Ready to gift in any denomination at Massage Envy Chattanooga.
345 Frazier Avenue • Next to Regions Bank • (423) 757-2900
Between the Sleeves
ERNIE PAIK
If you are like this writer, then you have some kind of mental egg timer that goes off about six minutes into a long song, when you realize that the song hasn’t ended yet. Then, your next thought is, “This better be worth it.” ComRhys Chatham poser and musician Outdoor Spell Rhys Chatham seems to be keenly (Northern Spy) aware of internal human clocks, creating often minimalist pieces that can mark time with carefully chosen milestones. This writer had an “egg timer” moment, listening to Chatham’s 18-minute track “Crossing the Sword Bridge of the Abyss” from Outdoor Spell, and soon after that six-minute mark, as if on cue, to purposefully stimulate the listener, it erupts with attentiongrabbing, feverish, high-pitched trumpet squealing. Lately, Chatham is best known for his huge electric guitar ensembles (various configurations use between—no joke— 100 and 400 guitarists) that marry punk
rock with minimalist classical music. Lesser known is his trumpet work, like that heard on Outdoor Spell, which at times seems even more daring and audacious than his guitar work. It may seem odd to call a piece that consists largely of the sound of blowing raspberries to be “daring,” but that applies to the aforementioned track, which is thickly layered and both ridiculous and formidable. It doesn’t seem to be Chatham’s intent to demonstrate any apparent conventional proficiency; instead, he wrenches out as many odd bleats, splats, and squeals as possible before allowing sustained tones to dominate. In addition to long trumpet notes, the mesmerizing title track uses Chatham’s wordless vocals, which have a somewhat didgeridoo-quality to them. “Corn Maiden’s Rite” is strangely compelling, sounding like a discordant beehive with beats from a hand-struck cajón, and the 12-minute free improv number “The Magician” combines Chatham’s bleats, which gradually become more manipulated as the song progresses, with additional musicians on electric guitar and drums acting scattered-brained, closing an album that is simultaneously maddening, absurd, and awe-inspiring.
In his new book Retromania, music writer Simon Reynolds believes that we are at a tipping point of pop culture regurgitation, where originality is hindered. The “innovation versus imitation” battle is nothing new, though— just recently, for Klang example, I revisited a Down Beat interOther Doors (Allos Documents) view with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis from 1987, where he confronts the charge that he’s “muddling through a swamp of sentimental nostalgia” instead of being an innovator. It’s clear that this is a subject pondered by Chicago clarinetist James Falzone, who was approached to perform a tribute to swing bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman in 2009, on his 100-year birth anniversary. Falzone agreed to do it—and the album by his band Klang, Other Doors, is one of the results—but refused to be mired in the past; this is neither a conventional homage nor an update of Goodman’s work. In the CD’s liner notes, Falzone says,
“The greatest thing I can do to pay respect to a jazz musician of the past is to be a jazz musician of the present.” The Klang quartet is tight and focused, with Falzone surrounded by expert players Jason Roebke on bass, swiftly-rising-star vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and Vandermark Five drummer Tim Daisy. Those expecting bombastic big band numbers on Other Doors won’t get them—no flashy Gene Krupa-style drumming, no huge brass blasts. However, spirited moments, such as the rendition of “Stompin’ at the Savoy” with guest trombone solo from Jeb Bishop, are plentiful. These are balanced with more pensive numbers with hazy and complicated moods, and one highlight is Falzone’s composition “Goodman’s Paradox,” which has chaotic, free moments built into the structure, breaking away from tradition. Other Doors is not an album of blind reverence but one that takes inspiration and provides challenges; it’s important to study the past, but it’s even more important to not repeat it. Music writer Ernie Paik reviews new CDs every week in The Pulse. For review information, email info@chattanoogapulse. com.
Artistic Excellence
SCENIC CITY dance center
Chattanooga’s Premier Dance Facility Now eNrolliNg studeNts
423-702-5062 offering Multiple dance disciplines Age 3-adults 6435 lee Highway (old McKay Building) Chattanooga
www.sceniccitydance.com info@sceniccitydance.com chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 19
Chattanooga Live Thur 11.24
Thursday • November 24 Milele Roots Thanksgiving Show Friday • November 25 Uncle Lightning Sweet GA Brown Get Hot or Go Home Saturday • November 26 Bohannons Hidden Spots + More Tuesday • November 29 Huskey Burnette Mark “Porkchop” Holder Thursday • December 1 JUCIFER
Sushi Bar Restaurant Nightclub 409 Market Street 423.756.1919
$2 DRAFT M DJ T SPICOLLI Open Mic 50 NIGHT W DUBSTEP T PARTY UPSTAIRS Monday Night FOOTBALL
¢
WINGS $3 SUSHI ROLLS WED. & THURS!
WEEKEND!
FRI sat
1
$ BEER
10-11
PM
LIVE MUSIC WITH
1
CRANE
$ BEER
10-11
PM
LIVE MUSIC WITH
STEVIE MONCE
Party on Two Floors!
1st Floor: Live Music • 2nd Floor: Dancing
Milele Roots 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. myspace.com/ jjsbohemia Jacey Kross 8 p.m. The Delta Queen, 100 River St. (423) 468-4500. .deltaqueenhotel.net Gentleman’s Jazz Quartet 8 p.m. The Lounge at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsathamilton.com Tryptophan Dance Party 9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192. thehonestpint.com Dubstep 9 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919. myspace.com/ jimstriker Machines Are People Too, Elk Milk, Dilley Power 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. rhythm-brews.com
Fri 11.25 Dave Walters Trio 8:30 p.m. The Foundry (at the Chattanoogan Hotel), 1201 Broad St. (423) 756-3400. chattanooganhotel.com Soul Survivor 9 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956. sugarsribs.com Get Hot or Go Home, Sweet GA Brown, Uncle Lightnin’: JJ’s Birthday Bash 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. myspace.com/ jjsbohemia Crane
20 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
PULSE PICK The Bohannons Tune in tonight and rock JJ’s fifth birthday. $5 • 9 p.m. • JJ’s Bohemia • 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400 • myspace.com/jjsbohemia 9 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919. myspace.com/ jimstriker Crunk Bone Jones and The Married Men 9 p.m. Southside Saloon and Bistro, 1301 Chestnut St. (423) 757-4730. southsidesaloonandbistro.com Pete Boubel 9 p.m. The Office (inside Days Inn), 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191. Find them on Facebook. Toneharm 10 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. Find them on Facebook. Davey Smith Band, Scarletta 10 p.m. Rhythm &
Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. rhythm-brews.com Bounty Hunter 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. budssportsbar.com
Sat 11.26 Bare Your Teeth, The Good Ole Boys, So Shall We, Backbreaker 7 p.m. The Warehouse, 412 Market St. (423) 757-1569. warehousevenue.com Roger Hurricane Wilson 8 p.m. Charles and Myrtle’s Coffeehouse, 105 McBrien Rd. (423) 892-4960. christunity.org Na’imah, Freestylez
8 p.m. Ziggy’s Underground, 607 1/2 Cherokee Bvld. (423) 265-8711. myspace.com/ziggysundergroundmusic Dave Walters Trio 8:30 p.m. The Foundry (at the Chattanoogan Hotel), 1201 Broad St. (423) 756-3400. chattanooganhotel.com Soul Survivor 9 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956. sugarsribs.com Hargerty & DeYoung 9 p.m. Southside Saloon and Bistro, 1301 Chestnut St. (423) 757-4730. southsidesaloonandbistro.com The Bohannons, Hidden Spots: JJ’s Birthday Bash 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. .myspace.com/ jjsbohemia
Stevie Monce 9 p.m. Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919. myspace.com/ jimstriker Billy Hopkins 9 p.m. The Office (inside Days Inn), 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191. Find them on Facebook. Nathan Farrow 10 p.m. T-Bones Cafe, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240. tboneschattanooga.com The Breakfast Club 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. rhythm-brews.com IckyBod CrankiN 10 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. Find them on Facebook.
Sun 11.27 Grace Adele 12:30 p.m. Chattanooga Market,
901 Carter St (Inside Days Inn) 423-634-9191
Regular Gigs Thursdays
Mondays
Ben Friberg Trio
Music Monday
7 p.m. Table 2, 232 E. 11th St. (423) 756-8253. table2restaurant.com
7 p.m. Pasha Coffee and Tea, 3914 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 475-5482. pashacoffeehouse.com
Jimmy Harris
7 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsathamilton.com
Open Mic Night
7:30 p.m. The CampHouse, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081. thecamphouse.com
8 p.m. Tremont Tavern, 1203 Hixson Pk. (423) 266-1996. tremonttavern.com 8 p.m. Southside Saloon & Bistro, 1301 Chestnut St., (423) 757-4730. southsidesaloonbistro.com
Wednesdays Jimmy Harris
6:30 p.m. Table 2, 232 East 11th St. (423) 756-8253. table2restaurant.com
6:30 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsathamilton.com
7 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsathamilton.com
Saturdays Johnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo Victorian Lounge, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000. choochoo.com
Ben Friberg Trio
7 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. (423) 634-0260. Find them on Facebook.
DJ ScubaSteve’s Jenntastic Wednesdays 9 p.m. Holiday Bowl, 5518 Brainerd Rd. (423) 899-2695. holidaybowlbrainerd.com
Billy Hopkins
Sunday, Nov. 27
Sunday Night Football • $5 Pitchers
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Server Appreciation Night
$5 Pitchers • $2 Wells • $1.50 Domestics
All shows are free with dinner or 2 drinks! Stop by & check out our daily specials! Happy Hour: Mon-Fri: 4-7pm $1 10oz drafts, $3 32oz drafts, $2 Wells, $1.50 Domestics, Free Appetizers
1829 Carter St. (423) 648-2496. chattanoogamarket.com Olta 2 p.m. Chattanooga Market, 1829 Carter St. (423) 648-2496. www.facebook.com/ chattamarket John Lathim and Company 7 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192. thehonestpint.com
Tue 11.29 Husky Burnette, Mark “Porkchop” Holder 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400. myspace.com/ jjsbohemia
Jimmy Harris
7 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsathamilton.com
Sundays
Wed 11.30
Irish Music Session 3 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192. thehonestpint.com
Saturday, Nov. 26: 9pm
Troy Underwood
Ben Friberg Trio
Jimmy Harris
Pete Boubel
Tuesdays Open Mic with Mike McDade
5 p.m. Chattanooga Choo Choo Victorian Lounge, 1400 Market St. (423) 2665000.choochoo.com
Friday, Nov. 25: 9pm
8 p.m. The Coconut Room at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsathamilton.com
7:30 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St., (423) 634-0260. marketstreettavern.com
Johnny Cash Tribute Band
No show: Happy Thanksgiving!
Big Band Night
Blues Jam with Rick Rushing
Fridays
Thursday, Nov. 24
Rick Rushing
Prime Cut Trio 8 p.m. The Lounge at The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Rd. (423) 499-5055. thepalmsath-
PULSE PICK
Facebook.com/theofficechatt
Grace Adele Adele’s guitar speaks for itself. Free 12:30 p.m. & 2 p.m. First Tennessee Pavilion 1826 Reggie White Blvd. (423) 648-2496 chattanoogamarket. com
Nightly Specials
amilton.com Nathan Farrow 9 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Rd. (423) 499-9878. budssportsbar.com Ray Cashman 9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192. thehonestpint.com Amber Fults Band, Mark “Porkchop” Holder 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644. rhythm-brews.com
Send live music listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@ chattanoogapulse.com. chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 21
Tragic.
Stop Violence. Give Hope. 92 domestic violence fatalities were reported last year in Tennessee. Partnership’s Family Violence Center has been breaking the cycle of violence and giving hope to victims for 25 years.
Call 755-2700 to stop the violence.
Visit StopViolenceGiveHope.org to give hope.
22 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
Magic.
The Pulse His+Hers holiday GifT Guide 2011 aPPeaRiNG iN This issue & oN deC. 15 Call 423.242.7680 for advertising information
Art of the City
Realignment At The Hunter By Michael Crumb The lower gallery at the Hunter Museum has been re-hung with many remarkable works from the permanent collection, including a fascinating group of American Impressionists. This installation will run for a long time, so folks will have an opportunity to revisit this show. There are also more pieces than I can discuss within this space, so please be aware that masterpieces await outside of these margins. Hunter Director Daniel Stetson expresses his gratitude to the Benwood Foundation for its assistance with regard to this assemblage. Stetson remarks on how well American art shows us how American history has progressed during the past century. Stetson also emphasizes a particular relevance to the Chattanooga community in the exhibition of a dozen works by George Cress, the artist from whom the UTC Fine Arts Gallery takes its name. Viewers will now have the chance to examine Cress’s stylistic variations. Clearly, with Cress’s work, the relationship of paint to his subjects and to light has great significance, and Cress will take this fascination with paint into the realm of abstraction. One of the most interesting aspects of this entire installation shows how artists continually seek to find new ways to use paint to render their subjects of choice. Looking back to the 19th century, William Michael Harnett’s “Still Life With Ginger Jar” (1876, oil on canvas) renders the numerous objects within its compositional field with a natural accuracy assured and impressive. Harnett uses a fine gold to show detail on a pineapple and gilt edging on the pages of a book, presumably to show a lighting highlight, granting this piece a dynamism of light, a particular moment that enlivens the stasis of the other objects. Still, this gilt also shows a painterly “effect” that enhances the whole work, not likely to be considered as “impressionistic”, but nonetheless, inspired.
sioned” their works differently, but I wonder if this primary impulse was not more “medial” than “perceptual”. These artists find a dynamic balance between subjects and the strokes used to render them. They show aesthet“The White Fence” by George Bellows ic ambitions that don’t Mary Cassat’s “Baby Bill in His just portray Cap and Shift, Held by His Nurse” “light”, but the air itself. After all, (1890, pastel on paper) focuses most photography had already arisen as of its natural rendering on this a “realist” medium, but the fusion of child’s face and torso, with other accurate rendering and awareness details diminishing in proportion of paint’s capabilities creates amazto their distance. The nurse’s face ing paintings. seems half-rendered, and backThe George Bellows’s pieces “The grounds are indicated by lines we White Fence” (1920, oil on canvas) may now call more expressionistic, and “The Model, Early Study” (1917, and which we find common in tolithograph, 8) are in different meday’s galleries. dia, but both show Bellows’s forceOther paintings in the Impresful line renderings, even to the exsionist group emphasize the metent of impasto oil strokes and the dium as much as the subject, and contrast of stark delineation with strategies of strokes and lines dimore fanciful lines in the lithorect our impressions of these works, graph. well beyond recognition of their Childe Hassam’s “French Tea ostensible subjects. We are often Garden” (1910, oil on canvas) has told that Impressionist painters “vicompositional complexity, and it
invites inquiries concerning its central figure, yet her contemplation and serenity, her essential stillness, paradoxically emerges from the leafy, floral renderings. Compare with Everett Shinn’s “Actress in Red Before Mirror” (circa 1910, pastel on paper), where impressionist and realist renderings contribute to compositional complexity, charging the whole with dramatic energy. This actress holds a mirror, checking her hair in the larger mirror, which itself reflects another figure, a woman in a black outfit. All the skills of rendering supports an indefinite narrative, and this piece stands on the threshold of expressionism, because these conditional elements suggest an essence of paint. The John Sloan etchings “Fifth Avenue Critics” (1905) and “Night Windows” (1910) are so finely detailed, yet motion overcomes stasis, and these pieces have a satirical voice, commenting on both the beauty and vicissitudes of urban life. The artist comments from within his subjects, another expressionist tendency, for the frames seem to show beyond their subjects. This installation provides a splendid panorama of innovation. American Impressionists Hunter Museum of Art, 10 Bluff View (423) 267-0968. huntermuseum.org
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Eat In - Take Out - Take & Bake - Catering
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chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 23
Arts & Entertainment Thur 11.24 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Grateful Gobbler Walk 8 a.m. Coolidge Park, 150 River St. gratefulgobbler.org. (423) 710-1501. Turkey Trot 8 a.m. Sports Barn East, 6148 Lee Hwy. (423) 893-4889. sportsbarn.net
Fri 11.25 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Open House/ Artist Demo: Deanna Cain, Judy Klinch, Michael Thiele 10 a.m. River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St. (4230 265-5033, ext. 5. river-gallery.com Art till Dark: Holiday Market Noon. 40 Frazier Ave. (423) 413-8999. arttildark.com Autumn Color Cruise 12:30, 3 p.m. River Gorge Explorer, 1 Broad St. (423) 265-0698. tnaqua.org North Pole Limited 5:45, 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Grand Junction, 4119 Cromwell Rd. (423) 894-8028. tvrail.com Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com Mystery of Flight 138 7 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839.
24 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
funnydinner.com Jodi White 7:30, 10 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. thecomedycatch.com It’s a Wonderful Life 7:30 p.m. The Gem Theater, 700 Tennessee Ave., Etowah. (423) 263-3270. Grand Illumination on the River 8 p.m. Ross’s Landing, 100 Riverfront Pkwy. 8 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8534. theatrecentre.com Live Team Trivia 9 p.m. Amigo’s Mexican Restaurant, 5450 Hwy 153. (423) 875-8049. chattanoogatrivia.com Stand Up Comedy: Justin Leon & Jake Baker 9:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839. funnydinner.com Female Impersonation Show Midnight. Images, 6065 Lee Hwy. (423) 855-8210. imagesbar.com
Sat 11.26 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Winter Wonders Exhibit 10 a.m. Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 648-6043. cdmfun.org No Bones About It! 10 a.m. Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (423) 648-2496. tnaqua.org Helping Hands Exhibit
10 a.m. Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 648-6043. cdmfun.org Art till Dark: Holiday Market Noon. 40 Frazier Ave. (423) 413-8999. www.arttildark.com Autumn Color Cruise 12:30, 3 p.m. River Gorge Explorer, 1 Broad St. (423) 265-0698. tnaqua.org Mystery at the Nightmare Office Party 5:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839. funnydinner.com North Pole Limited 5:45, 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Grand Junction, 4119 Cromwell Rd. (423) 894-8028. tvrail.com Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com It’s a Wonderful Life 7:30 p.m. The Gem Theater, 700 Tennessee Ave., Etowah. (423) 263-3270. Jodi White 7:30, 10 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Rd. (423) 629-2233. thecomedycatch.com Mystery at the Redneck-Italian Wedding 8 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839. funnydinner.com Lantern Tours 8:30 p.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Stand Up Comedy with Justin Leon & Jake Baker
10:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839. funnydinner.com Female Impersonation Show Midnight. Images, 6065 Lee Hwy. (423) 8558210. imagesbar.com
Sun 11.27 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Chattanooga Market: Antiques & Collectibles 11 a.m. First Tennesee Pavilion, 1826 Reggie White Blvd. chattanoogamarket.com Autumn Color Cruise 12:30, 3 p.m. River Gorge Explorer, 1 Broad St. (423) 265-0698. tnaqua.org It’s a Wonderful Life 2 p.m. The Gem Theater, 700 Tennessee Ave. Etowah. (423) 263-3270. North Pole Limited 5:45, 7:30 p.m. Chattanooga Grand Junction, 4119 Cromwell Rd. (423) 894-8028. tvrail.com Sunday Slasher Films 7 p.m. Sluggo’s Vegetarian Café, 501 Cherokee Blvd. (423) 752-5224. Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com
Mon 11.28 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy.
(423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com Live Team Trivia 6 p.m. Bart’s Lakeshore, 5840 Lake Resort Ter. (423) 870-0770. chattanoogatrivia.com
Tue 11.29 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com Songwriter’s Line-up 7 p.m. The CampHouse, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081. Live Team Trivia 7:30 p.m. BrewHaus, 224 Frazier Ave. (423) 531-8490. chattanoogatrivia.com
Wed 11.30 Deck The Falls 8 a.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544. rubyfalls.com Main Street Farmer’s Market 4 p.m. Main St. at Williams St. Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com Live Team Trivia 7:30 p.m. Buffalo Wild Wings, 120 Market St. (423) 634-0468.
Ongoing “Pearls” Shuptrine Fine Art Group, 2646 Broad St. (423) 266-4453. shuptrinefineartgroup.com “Color in Freedom: Journey along the Underground Railroad” Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. (423) 266-8658. Sandra Mendez Photography Exhibit (through Nov 29) Southern Adventist University, 4881 Taylor Cr. Collegedale, TN. (423) 236-2000. southern.edu Tropical Holiday Adventure Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (423) 6482496. tnaqua.org “Vistas and Visages” (through Nov. 30) North River Civic Center, 1009 Executive Dr. Ste. 102. (423) 870-8924. “Show 36” (through Nov. 30) In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423)267-9214. intowngallery.com Polar Express 10 a.m. & 5 p.m. Imax Theater at the Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (800) 265-0695. tnaqua.org Enchanted Garden of Lights 6 p.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mountain, GA. (800) 854-0675. seerockcity.com
Email calendar items to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com.
Fast Forward
C.A.F.E. Grants Blend Taste And Talent
Community Arts Funded Event) opened its doors on the second Sunday a year ago October. We presented three artists to a sold-out evening. Diners/ jurors paid $10 to participate in this debut grassroots adventure on the Southside, bringing artists and community together for a fascinating experience, and it was an instant success. Five emerging area artists from all disciplines were awarded an average of approximately $360 each, and nearly $3,000 was collected by the end of the season through additional contributions to the evening.
By Miki Boni Applying for an artist’s grant is a monumental game of jumping through hoops and courting hope. Is it a private granting foundation with its own values and priorities? Who are the jurors? What are their personal tastes? Is my work too innovative or controversial to be deemed “fundable” within their defined categories?’ It’s a very subjective process in an economy where both private and government grant monies are drying up faster than the autumn leaves. I’ve thought a lot about all this while hanging out in my studio painting, staring into space waiting for a solution to a problem on my canvas, or cleaning my brushes. What about emerging artists who need to jumpstart their careers without viable resources? What if I hadn’t been helped along the way by a supportive sponsor, someone who believed in my work? During one of those thought-filled afternoons, NPR playing in the background, a story came on about a fantastic solution to just this conundrum. It was called InCUBATE, a grassroots Chicago grant program, in which one Sunday a month, people are invited to a storefront location where soup is served by guest chefs using local ingredients. There is a charge of $10 per person, and all the income from the evening is given as a microgrant to support a creative project. Area artists get to present their ideas, and the grant is awarded at the discretion of the jury of Sunday Soup customers. It was truly an Aha! moment. I knew it would be a perfect fit for an up-and-coming small Southside storefront community arts center that had recently opened on 48 E. Main called Planet Altered. I made an appointment to share my idea with owner Linda Sines. She was open, and supportive, and felt it was ideal for Planet Altered. And so it began. C.A.F.E. Grant (an acronym for
Now into its second season, I’ve chosen to step back, and moved on to other challenges, but the C.A.F.E. evenings live on. Some of last season’s artists are returning to share the outcome of the projects their grants helped to make happen. It is a wonderful way to show new artists what’s possible, and give them the incentive to complete their projects. It is not an intimidating environment, but rather a supportive one. And those who would like to enjoy an evening of community, great soup selections, and an opportunity to further an artist’s career can call ahead for reservations. It’s also a perfect time to catch up with friends and neighbors—if you can get a seat. Last year’s C.A.F.E. sold out every month. The next evening is Sunday, December 11. C.A.F.E. Grant Projects can be anything related to the arts, in disciplines that include, but are not limited to, painting, photography, music, dance, poetry, film, clay. For more information, or to download an application, go to www.planetaltered.com, or call (423) 400-4100.
C.A.F.E. 6-8 p.m. • December 11 Planet Altered 48 East Main St. (423) 400-4100 planetaltered.com chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 25
Screen
john devore
A Life In The Shadows The danger of rumor is that the truth matters so little. Even the innocent truth can be forever damaging if the context is changed. The world of men is easily subverted by muted conversation in quiet corridors. Clint Eastwood’s latest film, J. Edgar, is an examination of the life of a man whose legacy is rooted in the careful application of rumor. Hoover was a man interested in facts and data collection, one who founded modern criminal-justice tactics, was moral to the core and saw danger at every corner. He collected information only for its usefulness to his cause. Through this collection, he managed to keep control of the agency he founded for nearly 38 years and through multiple administrations. He was undoubtedly a fascinating man. Oddly enough, Eastwood’s characterization of J. Edgar Hoover isn’t one of the shadowy government agent. Instead, he focuses largely on Hoover’s sexual preferences and relationship with Clyde Tolson, his right-hand man. But Hoover’s controversial secret isn’t as interesting as the powerful agency he created. It was Hoover’s lack of a social life that led him to the position that made him famous. His idea of a date is to show off how quickly he can use a card catalogue. To J. Edgar, the world is a card catalogue, waiting to be sorted, filed and referenced at key moments. He is a powerful patriot, one who wants to protect his noble countrymen from the Bolsheviks and the subversives. Every crime scene contains vital clues that can lead to arrests and
peace. He is certain of his judgments and strictly moralistic in his opinions. Every detail of a man is instantly perceived by Hoover. This attention to detail and strict adherence to code were instrumental to the foundation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We follow Hoover and his agents through the “crime of the century” kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and the arrests of bank robbers like Baby Face Nelson. We watch as Hoover collects blackmail materials on sitting presidents in order to hang on to his power. Through all of it, we get the impression that Hoover is genuinely trying to serve his country and maintain order. However, his strict codes of conduct and discipline leave little room for social change, which makes him label Martin Luther King, Jr. as a Communist agitator. Throughout the film, he is uncompromising and obsessive, traits that served him
26 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
well earlier in his career. But as the world changes, Hoover doesn’t—and he must increasingly gather information to keep his worldview mainstream. If the filmmakers had left the film at that, we would have something worthwhile. The drama of an absolutist struggling in a pluralistic world makes for great storytelling opportunities. However, Eastwood spends too much time on the idea of a closeted gay man hiding himself from the world and those close to him. Hoover may very well have been gay. He may have had a lifelong relationship with Clyde Tolson. But it wasn’t central to his life. The idea here may have been to highlight the irony of a man who used the private sex lives of politicians as ammunition in his quest for power having his own sexual secret hidden in plain sight. The filmmakers may have been arguing that many of his actions and policies were directly influenced by his perception of homosexuality and his inability to admit his desires. These are Leonardo DiCaprio stars as J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar.
certainly avenues worth pursuing. But if that were the case, the film does not do a good job of developing these ideas. It’s as if it combines two movies with different perspective. Neither was sufficiently developed, unfortunately. Leonardo DiCaprio does an excellent job in his depiction. In the film, Hoover has a tendency to monologue and lecture, and DiCaprio embodies a man who loves to hear himself talk. Other characters are less effective. Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts are fine in their roles, but the characters aren’t especially convincing, so the actors have nowhere to take them. The actors portraying Robert Kennedy and Richard Nixon might as well have been impressionists. Also, aside from the underdeveloped themes, the makeup for the film is not very good. The movie depicts these characters from their mid-20s until their early 70s, so it was necessary to age them. I’ve seen better age makeup in high-school stage productions. In the end, J. Edgar is overly ambitious. There was just too much to cover. J. Edgar Hoover had too many facets to fit into a two- hour film. Clint Eastwood usually makes very good movies. I’m sure he will again. At least, that’s the rumor.
J. Edgar Directed by Clint Eastwood Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts Rated R Running time: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Sushi & Biscuits
MIKE MCJUNKIN
Balut To You Too “What is THAT?” I love that question. What Andrew Zimmern calls “deep-end dining” is more available here in the Scenic City than you might think. Recently, I was doing a little from a chicken egg, a bit strong shopping at my favorite Asian but not especially unusual. WARNING! market, Asian Food and Gifts What is left looks like an This article at 3639 Hixson Pike. Locally H.R. Geiger teleportation gone contains graphic owned and operated, they are horribly awry. But typical of descriptions of cheaper and provide higherthese deep-end foods, it tastes foods that may quality products than any big much better than it looks. Not be disturbing to chain supermarket. If you are a surprisingly, it tastes like sweet, some readers. seafood fan, browse their freeztender duck and practically disDiscretion is ers filled with prawns, clams, integrates in your mouth with advised. mussels, squid, octopus and all just a few chews. The bones and types of fish. They carry quail, beak are not formed enough to black chickens, and even pork offer much resistance, and debelly at lower (or competitive) prices than pending on the age of your egg there may anywhere in town. or may not be any tiny feathers to contend Their produce section is stocked with with. Balut may be dipped in salt or a sauce hard-to-find items like Chinese eggplant, of vinegar, garlic and chili, or lime and pepThai chili peppers, bitter melon, and lemper, then chased down with a beer. ongrass (although I get the pre-shredded, While you may not be ready to substitute frozen lemongrass from the freezer. It lasts balut for brats at your next cookout, findlonger, is cheaper, and is much easier to ing that unfamiliar or seemingly hard-touse). Right next to produce is an entire secget ingredient for the dish you just saw on tion of ramen-type noodles imported from the Food Network may not be as difficult a half-dozen Asian countries in a mindas you think. Small, locally owned shops blowing variety of flavors, from chicken to are a goldmine of low-cost, quality ingrebeef marrow to duck. dients. What is a specialty ingredient at a As I made my way to the checkout counbig supermarket is just food in many ethnic ter, I noticed a stack of large eggs just bemarkets. Ask questions, buy local, and eat hind the counter. They were too big to be consciously! chicken eggs, and since they were sitting Hot Off The Griddle out at room temperature, I knew I had just • Good Dog has added some seasonal found balut in Hixson, TN. and locally sourced items to their menu. If you have never heard of balut, it is a halfNew seasonal soups, sides, and cupcakes formed duckling still in the shell, incubated are now on their already tasty menu. For for about 18 days before it is boiled—similar the meat-in-tube-form aficionado, Good to a hard-boiled duck egg. This is a popular Dog now case their own sausages in house. street food, often eaten while drinking beer • Hair of the Dog just introduced some in the Philippines, Laos, Thailand, Camnew items. The Bowl of Balls is sweet and bodia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Are you still tangy, Just the Tips sirloin tips are perfect with me? with mashed and noodles, and the Beer & Cooking balut is just like cooking a hardBacon Mac & Cheese uses thick-cut pepper boiled egg, boil for about 20 minutes. You bacon and a beer-based cheese sauce. then crack open the top portion of the shell, If you have any news about restaurants, peel it back and drink the “soup” (basically menu changes, new chefs, great local food the warm, embryonic fluid). It tastes like a producers, markets or shops, send it to clean, sweet duck broth with a hint of boiled mike@chattanoogapulse.com egg yolk. Next, peel away the rest of the shell to expose the yolk, the white and the half-formed duck. Mike McJunkin is a foodie, chef, musiThe white (or albumen) is covered with cian and, in his spare time, keeps our comblood vessels spreading out like tributarputers and networks running smoothly. Got ies across a map, hard to look at and rarely a tip for the column? Email him at mike@ eaten. I recommend skipping that part. The chattanoogapulse.com. yolk is unremarkable, tasting like a yolk
don’t be
fooled bIGGeR IS betteR 138-A Market Street • 423-265-4108
chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 27
Free Will Astrology ARIES
(March 21-April 19): “Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing,” said rocket scientist Werner von Braun. I think it’s an excellent time for you to plunge into that kind of basic research, Aries. You’re overdue to wander around frontiers you didn’t even realize you needed to investigate. You’re ready to soak up insights from outside the boundaries of your understanding. In fact, I think it’s your sacred duty to expose yourself to raw truths and unexpected vistas that have been beyond your imagination’s power to envision.
TAURUS
(April 20-May 20): In Woody Allen’s film Midnight in Paris, the Ernest Hemingway character says, “All cowardice comes from not loving, or not loving well enough.” Given the state of your current astrological omens, Taurus, that is an excellent piece of advice. I suspect you are going to be asked to call on previously untapped reserves of courage in the coming weeks—not because you’ll have to face physical danger but rather because you will have a chance to get to the bottom of mysteries that can only be explored if you have more courage than you’ve had up until now. And the single best way to summon the valor you’ll need is to love like a god or goddess loves.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “When I see your face, the stones start spinning!” wrote the poet Rumi. “Water turns pearly. Fire dies down and doesn’t destroy. In your presence I don’t want what I thought I wanted.” I think you need to be in the presence of a face like that, Gemini. You’ve got to get your fixations scrambled by an arresting vision of soulful authenticity. It’s crucial that you get nudged into transforming your ideas about what you really want. So go find that healingly disruptive prod, please. Do you know where to look? CANCER
(June 21-July 22): “All my life I have longed to be loved by a woman who was melancholy, thin, and an actress,” wrote 19th-century French author Stendhal. “Now I have been, and I am not happy.” I myself had a similar experience—craving a particular type of women who, when she finally showed up in the flesh, disappointed me. But it turned out to be a liberating experience. Relieved of my delusory fantasy, I was able to draw more joy from what life was actually giving me. As you contemplate your own loss, Cancerian, I hope you find the release and deliverance I did.
28 • The Pulse • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • chattanoogapulse.com
rob brezsny
LEO
(July 23-Aug. 22): If you traveled 300 million years back in time, you might freak out in abject fear as you encountered dragonflies as big as eagles and cockroaches the size of dogs. But since you’re quite safe from those monsters, there’s no need to worry yourself sick about them. Similarly, if you managed to locate a time machine and return to an earlier phase of your current life, you’d come upon certain events that upset you and derailed you way back then. And yet the odds are very high that you’re not going to find a time machine. So maybe you could agree to relinquish all the anxiety you’re still carrying from those experiences that can no longer upset and derail you. Now would be an excellent moment to do so.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): To
prepare for her role in the film The Help, actress Jessica Chastain forced herself to gain 15 pounds. It was tough, because she normally follows a very healthy diet. The strategy that worked best was to ingest a lot of calorie-heavy, estrogen-rich ice cream made from soybeans. To be in alignment with current cosmic rhythms, it would make sense for you to fatten yourself up, too, Virgo—metaphorically speaking, that is. I think you’d benefit from having more ballast, more gravitas. It’s nearly time to take an unshakable stand for what you care about most.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In a
famous Monty Python sketch, a Hungarian tourist goes into a British tobacconist’s store to buy cigarettes. Since he doesn’t speak English, he consults a phrase book to find the right words. “My hovercraft is full of eels,” he tells the clerk, who’s not sure what he means. Libra, I foresee you having to deal with communications that are equally askew. Try your best to figure out the intentions and meanings behind the odd messages you’re presented with. Your translating skills are at a peak, fortunately, as are your abilities to understand what other people are saying.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): There are modern Chinese painters who use oil paints on canvas to create near-perfect replicas of famous European masterpieces. So while the genuine copy of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” is worth over $100 million, you can buy an excellent copy on the Internet for less than $100. If you’re faced with a comparable choice in the coming week, I suggest you take the
latter. For your current purposes, you just need what works, not what gives you prestige or bragging rights.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21): “It is a tremendous act of violence to begin anything,” said Sagittarian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. “I am not able to begin. I simply skip what should be the beginning.” I urge you to consider trying that approach yourself, Sagittarius. Instead of worrying about how to launch your rebirth, maybe you should just dive into the middle of the new life you want for yourself. Avoid stewing interminably in the frustrating mysteries of the primal chaos so you can leap into the fun in full swing. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The Golden Gate Bridge spans the place where San Francisco Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. It wasn’t easy to build. The water below is deep, wind-swept, beset with swirling currents, and on occasion shrouded with blinding fog. The American Society of Civil Engineers calls the bridge one of the modern Wonders of the World. Strange to think, then, that the bridge was constructed between during the height of the Great Depression. Make it your symbol of power for the coming weeks, Capricorn. Formulate a plan to begin working toward a triumph in the least successful part of your life. AQUARIUS
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s an excellent time for you to get an entourage—or if you already have one, to expand it. For that matter, it’s a perfect moment for you to recruit more soldiers to help you carry out your plot to overthrow the status quo. Or to round up more allies for your plans to change the course of local history. Or to gather more accomplices as you seek to boldly go where you have never gone before. So beef up your support system. Boost the likelihood that your conspiracy will succeed.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): If you expand your concept of what you’re capable of, you will receive a specific offer to move up a notch. If you perform your duties with intensified care and grace, you will be given new responsibilities that catalyze your sleeping potential. The universe doesn’t always act with so much karmic precision, but that’s how it’s working in your vicinity right now. If you resolve to compete against no one but yourself, you will be shown new secrets about how to express your idiosyncratic genius.
Jonesin’ Crossword
matt jones
Chattanooga’s
Chattanooga’s
STOP BY ANY TIME. OPEN 24/7. WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE SINCE 2003 •
chattanoogapulse.com
Chattanooga’s
Chattanooga’s
WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE • SINCE 2003
“No Way!”— let’s clean it up. Across
1. Summarize 6. Yellowfin tuna 9. Pinocchio’s was apt to grow 13. North of the IranContra hearings 14. Fanged movie creature, for short 15. Tree of Knowledge spot 16. Japanese city 17. “___ le roi!” 18. Part of a November count 19. They offer hypedup sermons? 22. “Traffic” org. 23. German region with lots of coal (anagram of SARA) 24. Type of insurance 27. What paintings do, in an art gallery? 33. Weather vane dir. 34. “In the Valley of ___” (2007 Tommy Lee Jones film) 35. Planet featured in “Attack of the Clones” 36. Herbie the Love Bug, for more mature audiences? 40. Related to a pelvic bone
41. Boxing Australians 42. “Do the ___” (soft drink catchphrase) 43. Gollum-like phrase for getting a strike in bowling? 46. KISS frontman Simmons 47. “Zip-___-Doo-Dah” 48. Plant on college buildings 50. They’ve cleaned up the four theme entries above 57. “Switched-On Bach” synthesizer 58. “___ Lap” (1983 film) 59. Surname of the brothers behind “It’s Your Thing” 60. Part of Julius Caesar’s dying words, supposedly 61. Count starting word 62. Unit for light bulbs 63. Nutjob 64. Four Monopoly properties, for short 65. Defeat crushingly
DOWN
1. It may be saved for dessert 2. Actress Lanchester 3. Scottish family 4. Martial art meaning “the way of harmonious spirit”
5. What the V sign symbolizes 6. Two-time Indy 500 winner ___ Luyendyk 7. Lake ___, Ariz. (current home of the former London Bridge) 8. Polar covering 9. Worse than a hasbeen 10. Funk 11. Collector’s collections 12. Carbon compound suffix 14. Commercial skipper, perhaps 20. Italian woman’s name 21. Butthole Surfers lead singer Gibby 24. Anticipate 25. Jermaine, to Prince Michael 26. “Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get” author 28. Helmet ___ (reality show prop) 29. “SNL” alum Oteri
WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE • SINCE 2003
WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE • SINCE 2003
30. Put up with 31. “Two Women” actress Sophia 32. Lerner’s “My Fair Lady” collaborator 34. Do a cryptographer’s job 37. Speed trap tool 38. King with big hair 39. Calf told to “git along” 44. Finder: keeper::loser___: 45. It precedes lands, world or regions 46. Drywall component 49. Bridal covers 50. ___ speak 51. “And your little dog too!” dog 52. Without 53. Twisted, like a smile 54. “Being ___: A Puppeteer’s Journey” (2011 documentary) 55. Stink up the joint 56. Last word of a New Year’s song 57. “Spaceballs” director Brooks
Jonesin’ Crossword created By Matt Jones. © 2011 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 0547. chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 29
Life in the Noog
chuck crowder
Chuck’s World-Famous Column “
Throughout my life I’ve been bombarded with promotional claims for products and services containing superlatives, the validity of which has always confused me, assuming these distinctions are in fact real. Seems nothing is worth your time, attention or hard-earned money unless it’s the best, fastest acting or new and improved. I understand that adjectives are meant to make something ordinary sound extraordinary, but there needs to be some sort of litmus test to ensure that things remain just good enough to be true. I will say that the label “new and improved” always sounds promising, and believable. Why wouldn’t you “improve” the “newer” version of something? Otherwise you’d just have the “original formula”. I prefer the “extra-strength” version for my money. If anything is to be considered the “number one” whatever, there must be some sort of quantifiable data to support the claim. We all agree on that. Whether it’s sales that determine the “number-one movie at the box office” or “the number-one record on the Billboard charts,” scientific studies that award “the number-one pain reliever” (or is that sales too?) or simple statistics, like what determines “the number-one leading cause of death among columnists”. That would be frustration, of course.
Most superlative “awards” are subjective, albeit some walk a finer line than others. A recording artist may release either a “greatest hits” or “best of” compilation of previous work. The “greatest hits” aren’t always the “best of”, unless there aren’t enough “hits” to make a complete album or the music is too bad for there to be a “best of”. Either way, these compilations are always a safe bet for the casual fan. The term that annoys me the most, however, is “world famous”. You hear people make claims all the time such as, “This is my Aunt Ruthie’s world famous apple pie” or “My boy is world famous for his pinewood derby car designs”. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if your Aunt Ruthie, son—or the wares in question—hasn’t ever ventured
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past the tri-state area, let alone into a foreign country, then they cannot by Magellan’s standards be considered “worldly”, let alone “world famous”. Besides, you can’t be “famous”, never mind “world famous”, unless you’ve achieved a level of notoriety that can be measured by household name recognition. If seven out of ten members of your target demographic audience can’t pick you out of a lineup, then you definitely aren’t “world famous”, and may even be treading the thin ice of “famous”. More likely you’re just “infamous”. It’s never enough to just be “famous”. People don’t desire to just be “rich” or “famous”, they wanna be “rich and famous”. Some become famous for being rich, like Paris Hilton. Some become rich after achieving fame, like Snooki—although neither deserve either. If the latter is the most likely way I’d become both, for me the consolation term “world famous” will do just fine instead. I have noticed though, that while it’s the public decides who’s “famous” and most of who’s “rich”, the term “world famous” is generally self awarded—and that bothers me. The problem likely started back with P.T. Barnum more than 100 years ago. When he
You might say you’re the best curler in the Ukraine, but until you get out on the ice with those slick Canadian sweepers and compete for gold, you’re just a pig farmer with a passport.
dubbed his circus “the greatest show on earth”, he started a trend of grandiose promotional hype the likes of which had never been seen on this planet. What a genius. Who could pass up attending “the greatest show on earth” if it stopped in your little corner of the world? I’ll tell you who—nobody. And that’s why his promotional prowess is studied in every Marketing 101 class to this day. Therein lies the problem. Every yahoo with a rogue recipe, tourist attraction or sideshow act thinks it’s perfectly all right
to start throwing around the term “world famous” all willynilly until the term itself loses the punch it’s intended to deliver. Maybe there should be a consortium of noted experts from every field known to man that could congregate in a neutral location (likely Switzerland), to analyze claims of global fame and award only those deemed worthy of the term. Then we’d have something. It’d be like the Olympics. You might say you’re the best curler in the Ukraine, but until you get out on the ice with those slick Canadian sweepers and compete for gold, you’re just a pig farmer with a passport. Only the best of the best can truly be considered “world famous”. So until the day when I can be assured by a panel of unbiased taste testers from across the globe that the tuna-fish sandwich I’m eating is someone’s “world-famous recipe”, I’ll just call it like I sees it. And likely eats it. 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.
chattanoogapulse.com • NOVEMBER 24-30, 2011 • The Pulse • 31