July 5-11, 2012
Vol. 9 • No. 27
Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative
ALIEN NATION
the story behind the rise of REDDIT,the web’s most IMPASSIONED community
MUSIC WATTS&WestoN ARTS sybil baker FOOD TORTAS&WARREN ZEVON
REal RYDER
the closest thing to being on the road
Only at Thrive Studio
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Thrive Studio—Healthy Bodies, Happy Minds 2 • The Pulse • JULY 5-11, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com
Every day in June, Happy Hour Special, 25% off your meal and 24% off Ozeki Sparkling Sake and Flirt Red Wine! Happy Hour
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And don’t miss BOGO Sake Night on Thursdays!
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HIGHLIGHTS
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july 5-11, 2012 • vol. 9 no. 27
Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative ChattanoogaPulse.com • Facebook.com/ChattanoogaPulse
EDITORIAL Publisher Zachary Cooper Creative Director Bill Ramsey Contributors Rich Bailey • Rob Brezsny Chuck Crowder • John DeVore • Randall Gray Dr. Rick Pimental-Habib • Paul Hatcher Janis Hashe • Matt Jones • Chris Kelly D.E. Langley • Mike McJunkin • David Morton Ernie Paik • Alex Teach • Richard Winham Cartoonists Max Cannon • Richard Rice Tom Tomorrow Photography Jason Dunn • Josh Lang Interns Hadley James • Katie Johnston Patrick Noland • Cole Rose
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COVER story
Alien Nation
•An eye-popping number of users visit Reddit every day. The site averages 2.5 billion pageviews a month. With user statistics like that, and an especially loyal following, detractors have derided it as a “hive mind,” but that doesn’t fully account for the complexity and generosity of the community. Jessica Roy profiles the man behind the site, its history and phenomenonal popularity. » 6
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The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publishers may take more than one copy per weekly issue. We’re watching. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.
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arts
BREWER MEDIA GROUP President Jim Brewer II
Sybil Baker
• Local author and UTC professor pens a new novel and is a rising star in literary fiction and poetry. By Rich Bailey » 15
Sybil Baker
honest music
local and regional shows
Land Camera, Celadour ($3)
Wed, July 4
9pm
Set the Controls ($3)
Thu, July 5
9pm
The Bright White, Gabriel Newell and Muddy Soul ($3)
Wed, July 11
9pm
Kingsfoil, Ducky and the Vintage, The Royal Hounds ($5)
Thu, July 12
9pm
Free Irish Music • Sundays at 7pm
Full food menu serving lunch and dinner. 11am-2am, 7 days a week. 35 Patten Parkway * 423.468.4192 thehonestpint.com * Facebook.com/thehonestpint
chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 3
BOWL
THE
times of the FREE PRESS
Union effort at TFP? in a nice piece of media reporting, Nooga.com’s Chloé Morrison crafted an in-depth story for the local news website late last week about attempts of anonymous organizers to unionize Our Daily via an email to staffers designed to “test the level of interest ... and gauge the nature of management’s response” before revealing their identities. Interest, according to the organizer’s spokesperson, is strong. Management’s response? Not so strong yet, but fast. Matthew Salada, the paper’s human resources director, quickly tried to tamp down any rumblings among staffers by claiming the email was spam “to obtain access to your Google account username and password,” he wrote in his own email to employees, according to Morrison’s story. We won’t attempt to explain the whole
4 • The Pulse • JULY 5-11, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com
TALK OF THE NOOG chattanoogapulse.com • facebook/chattanoogapulsE SEND LETTERS TO: INFO@CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
story here; Morrison did an excellent job of reporting on the opening salvo from the Workers of the Times Free Press, as the group calls itself, as well as a concise history of unions—and their poor history in the South. You can read her story, “Anonymous group seeks to unionize Chattanooga Times Free Press” on Nooga. com, which also contains links to the flier the group circulated via email through the paper as well as a link to their Facebook page. The unionizing move was the result, according to the group’s spokesperson, of the alleged action of the paper’s management of inserting undercover “consultants” planted in the newsroom posing as interns to see who can be eliminated or what work can be outsourced—what was called “right-sizing the operation.” Regardless of legitimacy of the group or its claims, it’s no secret that times are tough at the TFP, as they are at almost every daily newspaper across the country.
In the wake of news that the New Orleans Times-Picayune is soon to become the nation’s largest city without a daily newspaper (the paper is downsizing, switching to three-day publication and focusing on its website), similar downsizing rumbles have echoed through newsrooms across the country. So it’s no surprise a union movement might arise. Problem is, newspaper unions—though once strong—have all but disappeared, especially in the South, where employers have been historically anti-union for decades. That said, it’s not illegal for employees to organize a union—it’s just dangerous, hence the secrecy. While employees are protected from being targeted by employers for attempting to form a union, it is possible that an employer could use something else as a pretext to fire someone, said attorney Maury Nicely in the Nooga.com story. “The smart employee does not do this publicly, and the smart employer doesn’t terminate employees because they engage in this discussion,” Nicely was quoted in Morrison’s story. It’s worth noting that the TFP’s Salada is a former labor and employment attorney who must be aware he has to tread lightly if the organizers are indeed real and attempts to unionize the paper move forward. It’s also worth noting that while most newspaper staffers—here and elsewhere—might be sympathetic to a union effort (there is union activity at the Knoxville and Memphis papers, the story reports), they may also be justifiably nervous about aligning themselves with the effort for fear of reprisal on another front. On the other hand, newspapers—especially daily newspapers—aren’t gaining any ground; in fact, the reverse appears to be true if New Orleans is any indication, so the question some might be asking is: What have we got to lose? “Job security isn’t for suckers; you can have it too,” reads the first line of the email sent to TFP staffers. Will they rise and rally or hunker down and hope for the best? As the anonymous organizer was quoted in an email to Nooga.com: “This is a story that will have legs. Stay tuned.” —Bill Ramsey
SPORTS
Chattanooga: Futbol Capital of Tennessee? in what soccer world sports agency owner Mark Weisman claims is, “The highest professional soccer event to ever hit Tennessee,” Club America will face off against Pachuca at 8 p.m. on July 7 at Finley Stadium. With a soccer fan base that has proven supportive for the Chattanooga Futbol Club, Weisman says, “We are thrilled and honored to host these amazing and legendary teams from Mexico, and we are confident that the thousands of soccer fans in the Southeast will come out to support what are two of Mexico’s most popular clubs.” With soccer still considered the world’s most popular sport, America is catching up in the international ranks. As a result, a match-up of this magnitude with two members of Mexico’s top-level professional Primera Division is very rarely seen on American soil—and a complete rarity in Chattanooga. The scheduling of an exhibition match of this size in Chattanooga is a reflection of the city’s rising status as a host not only in our region, but also with events of international appeal. With an expected sell-out crowd at the 20,668-seat Finley Stadium, the event has generated quite a bit of anticipation and support from the local community. “This is a great opportunity for Chattanooga to once again showcase how welcoming we are to international communities,” said Gladys Pineda-Loher, business coordinator for the Chattanooga Chamber. “This is the biggest sporting event that has come to Chattanooga in a long time and we will be excited to help it become a success.” —Cole Rose
obamacare
TN to DC: We opt out in the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court decision to uphold Obamacare, the court did allow states the option to refuse to expand Medicaid, which might seem crazy given the program provides tons of free federal money to pay for health care for residents and help doctors and hospitals recoup their losses. But according to a recent report in the Nashville Scene, guess who’s opting out? Tennessee! Like many Red States, it seems, Tennessee Republicans just want to thumb their nose at Washington—at the expense of its citizens. Shameful? We think so. —Bill Ramsey
On the Beat
alex teach
Upside of the Southside i took a little heat for last week’s bit on the southside. people said I sullied its name and espoused only the negatives, the stereotypes, and described it from the cynical perspective of a burned out asshole. Oh, and that I was somehow a racist (which usually just entails my presence). Me? Cynical? What a load of crap. And I can prove it: Something good has come from the Southside, and it was something I actually took home with me and held close for years. No, literally. I was a Brainerd man in those days, which meant I dealt exclusively with two types of crime: traffic violators (wrecks included) and shoplifters. It was horribly boring (less the occasional foot chase through what was, at the time, the largest mall in Tennessee), so upon finding I’d been loaned out to Charlie Team (the zone that covers the aforementioned blight of the city), I thought “Hey, this will be a different kind of horrible at least.” And hey, maybe the Shoney’s from my training days was still open. I learned two things over the next few hours. One, the grass is never greener on the other side—it just gets fed by a different septic tank. And two, the damn Shoney’s was closed after all. No one had the decency to even put a cheap Mexican restaurant into the building, as is generally required across the nation. I had barely gotten into the team area when the radio chirped and any remaining thoughts of an easy, unmotivated night perished. Well, most of them. Howard High School. I was being sent on an unknown trouble call there,
and let me tell you: An “unknown trouble” call at a failing inner-city high school can have a lot of possibilities in this world. I acknowledged the dispatch and headed that way. I arrived about the same time as my backup unit and we headed to the front office. The absence of banter between us being notable since I was a tourist in his team. We knew each other by nametags but not much else, and we opened the front doors silently considering one another until we were interrupted by the sound of screams. There were no sounds of shots or scent of gunpowder or other signs of CNN-style shit breaking loose, so we navigated a few hallways and turned to find a group of kids outside one particular classroom. We asked what the problem was. “Sn… Sn…” one girl tried to say between heaving sobs and some kind of dancing on tiptoes. “Hey, hey now … it’s OK. Tell me what is wrong?”I asked her as soothingly as possible. “Sn… Sn... SNAKE!” she cried, then pulled her own hair and ran up the hallway where the others
had gone. It was a Ball Python, to be exact, being held in the rear left corner of an English classroom with a broom held by a very surprised looking teacher. “Please take this. Please.” We later found that the snake in question had been a classroom pet, an environmental sciences specimen that had apparently escaped its terrarium and spent the last year living in the walls of an inner-city high school undetected … amazing. Scarred and emaciated, its aggression and hunger were balanced by its weakened physical condition, so naturally I bonded with it. Upon learning that neither the Humane Society nor any other agency would claim this thing, I did what any other decent human being would do. I took the poor bastard home. What good came of the “pre-revitalized” Southside? A serpent (later named “Howard” of course, it being his alma mater, after all). Five good years we had, Howard and I—eating mice, scaring chicks and never having to say a word to each other. A friend. “Cynical?” I think not. Next question? Alex Teach is a fulltime police officer of nearly 20 years experience. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him on Facebook at facebook. com/alex.teach. chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 5
ALIEN NATION
the rise of REDDIT, the web’s most IMPASSIONED community • by jessica roy the top-scoring link of all time on the social news website reddit is a post that users were never meant to see at all. It is titled, “test post please ignore,” but almost 27,000 Redditors found it so amusing that they voted it up. ¶ That is testament to the website’s impassioned community—and their brand of dry, often geeky humor (the site’s logo is an alien, after all). But Reddit’s user base, which a recent PBS documentary pegged as 72 percent male, has wideranging interests. Other top posts include a link to a news item about the elderly volunteering to clean up nuclear waste in Japan following the 2011 tsunami, and a question-and-answer session with the famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Reddit is one of the country’s most highly trafficked websites, but its general manager, Erik Martin, keeps a remarkably low profile. Most Redditors know the 33-year-old Martin solely by his username: HueyPriest. “Part of that’s just me, but part of it is like, we never wanted Reddit to be about the people who work there,” said Martin from the second floor of a San Francisco café that was swiftly inching toward sweltering in the late April heat. Dressed in a plaid button-down and jeans, with dark circles forming beneath his eyes, he looked every bit the startup ingenue. “We don’t want it to be this cult of personality thing that I think some sites get turned into.” Owned by Advance Publications, Reddit is not a publisher but a platform that allows users to share links, stories and multimedia. Often referred to as the “front page of the Internet,” it is notorious for inside jokes. While cartoon rage comics, for instance, may have originated on the evermore-offensive 4chan message boards, they certainly reached their apex on Reddit. Users also can create their own “subreddits”—or sections—based on any topic of their choosing, and volunteers with no formal association to Reddit moderate them. Democratization is inherently woven into the site’s functionality: users vote
posts up or down at their pleasure. The more votes a post gets, the better chance it has of making it to the “front page,” where the most readers will see it. And an eye-popping number of users do see it: The site averages 2.5 billion pageviews a month. With user statistics like that, and an especially loyal following, detractors have derided it as a “hive mind,” but that doesn’t fully account for the complexity and generosity of the community. A few months ago, the site hosted a poignant que s t ion-a nd-a nswer session with a survivor of Norway’s Utoya massacre, for example, and there are countless threads that help collect donations for the community’s sick or needy mem-
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bers. “‘Hive mind’ is often used pejoratively, and I definitely understand what people are referring to, but I think the idea of a hive mind works pretty well for bees,” offered Martin, when asked about Reddit’s “upvote now-assess later” tendencies. For bees, he explained, a hive mind means that it takes a democratic consensus to make an important decision, like where to construct a new hive. “[The hive mind] is a very fast, sort of reactionary thing, and that has bad results sometimes, results where people are not as skeptical as maybe they should be. You need to make sure enough bees are going to double-check the new location. You need a bunch of bees going like, ‘You are right, that is a pretty great new home, it has a tire swing.’’’ A little history: In 2005, the site’s young co-founders, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, were accepted by the startup incubator Y Combinator for its first-ever round. A year later, in a push to expand its online brand, Condé Nast acquired Reddit for between $10 million and $20 million. At the
time, Reddit averaged just 70,000 unique daily visitors. After the sale, Condé worked feverishly to fold Reddit into its stable of well-established print brands, like Vogue and Wired. “We thought of Reddit, [technology blog] Ars Technica and Wired as what Condé Nast deemed the ‘innovation group,’’’ said Jena Donlin, who runs business operations for Reddit and still works out of the Condé Nast office in Times Square. Martin, who had majored in American Studies at Tulane and worked in the documentary film industry, served as the site’s community manager at the time, a role that he said entailed “answering user questions, dealing with spam and finding cool things in the community to promote.” By all accounts, Martin also played a significant role in ushering in a successful transition from an independently run website to a division of a major publishing conglomerate. What made the job even harder was that Reddit’s approach to publishing exemplified the democratizing influence of the web, which at that very moment was violently destabilizing the whole we-speakyou-listen model that Condé Nast, with its pantheon of all-powerful editors, had long since mastered. As Reddit’s user base continued to grow following the acquisition, the tension between the democratized user-generated site and its ancient publishing parent became more pronounced. Reddit does not offer traditional advertising, so its primary stream of revenue came in the form of Reddit Gold, a paid premium membership subscription, as well as what Martin called “self-serve ads for mom-and-pop shops” and carefully selected marketing partnerships. The site, which boasts a barebones user interface that harkens back to the halcyon days of ’90s Usenet groups, has always
Reddit Chattanooga it’s no secret chattanoogans love to make their voices heard in comment sections online, and Reddit is no different. Search “Chattanooga” on the site and, like the city itself, you’ll find a small but vocal community full of opinions and hyperbole. The most recent post asked, “Favorite lunch spot in downtown Chattanooga?” to which 89 respondents rave over the entire landscape of downtown dining. But by far, most threads involve advice solicited by potential newcomers to town. On this subject, the “advice” runs the gamut from the pros and cons of living downtown (“just avoid it,” says one commentor), to opinions of Mayor Ron Littlefield (“a complete idiot and total slimeball”) and a rather involved argument on the merits of McKay Books. In general, Chattanoogans give their city an upvote and are quick to point out its high and low points. A group of Chattanooga Redditors once gathered at various downtown restaurants, but the group now seems dormant. — Bill Ramsey
shunned traditional advertising, a stance that even a cash-starved, adhungry Condé Nast couldn’t change. Monetizing Reddit is something Condé Nast “has still not been able to figure out,” Ohanian said in a 2010 episode of Big Think (bigthink.com), adding, “Reddit has a fantastic audience ... How do we advertise to them in a way that isn’t screwing them as a user and at the same time providing enough value to an advertiser to want to do it?’ But in August 2010, an advertising controversy erupted between the stodgy parent company and its willful child. The activist group Just Say Now wanted to host self-serve ads on Reddit in support of the proposed California marijuana legalization law Prop 19, but Condé Nast refused. The Reddit team responded by agreeing to host Just Say Now’s ads on their site for free, a move that was still technically within the bounds of the parent company’s rules, but made a strong point. Reddit’s traffic continued to explode, and in early 2011, the site was getting upward of two billion pageviews a month. Condé Nast wasn’t equipped to handle the technological and cultural challenges that came with that kind of traffic. And the tensions between the little-websitethat-could and its old-school parent company were starting to take their toll. “In the spring of 2011, we had one programmer and two system administrators and me,” Martin explained. “It was kind of a rough time, and I was like, ‘If Reddit needs me to move out to San Francisco, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever Reddit needs. I can’t
let this fail.’’’ Martin agreed to move to San Francisco at the behest of Condé, and took on the general manager role. He began to grow the team, hiring a handful of programmers to administer the site. Finally, in September 2011, the company spun Reddit out of the Condé Nast family into its own standalone subsidiary, while still retaining ownership. “We don’t want to get in users’ way,” Donlin explained. “We want to serve what the community is already doing. Condé Nast understood that, and it’s why we’re independent. They understood that we needed to be able to do that in order to grow. And they realized in the current structure of Condé Nast, it wasn’t as easy to [grow] because there wasn’t a precedent that was set. We’re more bottom up whereas Condé is more top down.” Martin agreed. “The process didn’t allow for [what Reddit needed], that was the main tension. [Condé’s] process is set up for sales cycles that take longer and there’s more sort of time for that kind of vetting and decision-making. But most of the Condé brands have more people on the sales side than we have total employees.” Reddit hired its first-ever CEO in March 2012, an ex-Pay Pal and Facebook engineer named Yishan Wong. Now, Reddit is a subsidiary of Advance, separate from Condé, and reports to a board populated with executives from both Condé and Advance, along with Ohanian. “We’ve been working with Advance Publications to complete [R]eddit’s spinoff,” Wong wrote in a triumphant blog post on Reddit, “[including] a
revamped capital structure that will allow Reddit to manage its own finances and operations.” “The way that the site works,” said Kevin Morris, a staff writer at the Daily Dot, in a recent PBS segment about Reddit, “[is that] it tends to attract people who want to know the truth.” In January 2012, the Reddit community’s large-scale vocalization of their opposition to SOPA and PIPA, coupled with support from equally passionate communities on Tumblr and Wikipedia, eventually persuaded lawmakers to table the legislation. Reddit, an online community that had only been around for six years, had successfully helped to defeat the American government. in april 2012, much to his surprise, Martin was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. For the event, Martin donned a tuxedo for only the second time ever—the first being a friend’s wedding—and completed the outfit with a shiny pair of Reddit cuff links. “It was very surreal,” he confided a few weeks after the event. “I’ve never been to something like that. I got to meet Ralph Nader, who is adorable. He asked about Reddit and I explained it to him, but I don’t know if I was successful.” Martin is unfailingly humble about his contributions to Reddit. “Any credit I would get,” he said, “would be for not fucking it up.” “At Reddit, he doesn’t say, ‘Hey, check me out,’’’ explained Nils Olsen, an old friend of Martin’s. “He says, ‘Hey, check you out.’” “He can be very humble,” agreed Donlin. “That humbleness has also been what’s made him so successful.” Martin will be moving back to New York in July to focus on the business and media aspects of the site and to run the New York office. As for that Time 100 award, it doesn’t appear to have gone to his head. “Ralph Nader went to give me his business card and he said, ‘Well, I kind of ran out of my current cards, but I grabbed this stack of cards from the 1970s.’ All it had was a P.O. box. It didn’t have a phone number, so he scribbled it on the back,” he said. “I was like aaahhhh, I am framing this! It was amazing.” That sounded like an upvote. First published in The New York Observer. chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 7
8 • The Pulse • JULY 5-11, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com
LIST
THE CALENDAR
july 5-11
NIGHTFALL
dirty bourbon river show • Soulful sounds from New Orleans in the eclectic style of folk gypsy circus rock. Local duo The Snake Doctors open. FRI 07.06 • 7 p.m. River City Stage Miller Plaza Downtown Chattanooga nightfallchattanooga.com
» pulse PICKS
» pulse pick OF THE LITTER
THU07.05
A Coup and a Classic
MUSIC Elk Milk • Highly praised local band with Behold The Brave and Milk Tooth. 8 p.m. • JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. • (423) 266-1400
home game
SCHEDULE
EVENT All American Summer featuring David Anthony
Wed, July 11 • 7:15 PM
• Jazz artist performs in the exhibit space of “Sound and Vision.” 6 p.m. • Hunter Museum of American Art 10 Bluff View • (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org
Signal Mountain and Red Bank Night
Thu, July 12 • 7:15 PM
FRI07.06
First Responders Night
Lifeguard Baseball Giveaway & Fireworks!
Dirty Bourbon River Show
• Opening night reception. 5:30 p.m. • 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 • avarts.org
SAT07.07 MUSIC The Communicators present That 90’s Show • Local super group. 10 p.m. • Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. • rhythm-brews.com
EVENT Art Till Dark • Local and regional artists. Noon • 40 Frazier Ave. • (423) 413-8999 winderbinder.wordpress.org
vs. Blue Wahoos
Thu, July 19 • 7:15 PM
• New Orleans blues and brass. 7 p.m. • River City Stage • Miller Plaza nightfallchattanooga.com
AVA All Member Salon Show
vs. Blue Wahoos
Fri, July 13 • 7:15 PM
MUSIC
EVENT
vs. Blue Wahoos
D
eerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt launches the second album of his solo group, Lotus Plaza, with Spooky Action At A Distance. Pundt’s presence in Deerhunter’s music, while certainly evident, mixes into the sonic fabric and makes his part more important in the context of the whole. Pundt retains his signature sound of strong guitar hooks smeared with a haze and reverb distance in this side project. What’s evident with Spooky Action is that Lotus Plaza has achieved their own coherence with strong, complete song
writing. Spooky Action is decidedly the best of the two albums released from Lotus Plaza, with Pitchfork’s Ian Cohen calling it “... one of the strongest indie rock records of the year so far.” JJ’s Bohemia scores yet another coup bringing the band to the stage Friday night in the early stages of their U.S. tour. Lotus Plaza with Hollow Stars, Eight Knives and The Whoremones 9 p.m. Friday, July 6 JJ’s Bohemia 231 MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400
Beer Tasting Night
TUE07.10
Presented by Riverside Beverage Co.
vs. Smokies
Fri, July 20 • 7:15 PM Memorial PINK! Jersey Auction & Fireworks!
vs. Smokies
Crosby, Stills & Nash $49.50-$80 ($180 VIP) 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 10 Memorial Auditorium 399 McCallie Ave. (423) 642-8497 chattanoogaonstage.com chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 9
Party at the richard winham
Watts & Weston: Travelers in Flight All Week Long!
Mon & tue LIVE DJ
Wii on the Big Screen wednesdays
Jonathan Wimpee Jam Session thursdays LOCAL LEGENDS
HOUSE PARTY WITH 5 DJS
WEEKEND
PARTY ZONE!
FRI $1 BEER 10-11PM LIVE MUSIC WITH
STEREOTYPE sat $1 BEER 10-11PM LIVE MUSIC WITH
STEREOTYPE Party on Two Floors!
1st Floor: Live Music • 2nd Floor: Dancing
Raw Sushi Bar
Restaurant & Nightclub 409 Market Street •423.756.1919
igor stravinsky sparked a riot when he debuted “The Rite of Spring” in Paris in 1913. When British saxophonist Trevor Watts and pianist Veryan Weston presented their equally challenging improvisational jazz at Barking Legs last year, the audience response was “phenomenal.” That’s not always the reaction the pair’s music engenders in first-time listeners. As a result, according to Barking Legs owner, Bruce Kaplan, “The Englishmen are eager to play for us again.” They’ll be back at Barking Legs on Dodds Avenue at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 12. What these two world-class musicians do is “genuinely improvised,” as Watts put it in an interview in Jazz Planet. “Neither of us know what the other is going to play, nor does Veryan anticipate what I will do next or vice versa.” Having made music together in various configurations for close to 50 years, the two have developed an instinctual chemistry “and the concentration and quick reaction to what is being played in the moment.” This is intense, challenging music. When asked what advice he’d offer a young musician setting out to master the art of improvisation as they practice it, Watts suggested that the artist “be ready for rejection ... It could be a difficult path.” The same might be said of newcomers to the duo’s freewheeling musical dialogue. Not immediately inviting,
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their work refuses to reveal itself in easily digested verses with catchy riffs and hummable choruses. Yet it yields unmistakable rewards. As a critic wrote in All That Jazz about Watts and Weston’s 2011 album, Five More Dialogues, “It feels as if dawn has been hung upon the waking sky by the dream-like pirouetting of piano and saxophone.” Watts’ compositions are also often surprisingly approachable and melodic. In “Uhura,” an extended, quietly winding piece that can be heard on Watts’ MySpace page, his so-
prano sax traces long, spidery lines over the steady thrum of the percussive and yet subtly melodic drone of the urukungolo, an oversized, dulcimerlike instrument played (and invented) by Mexican-born musician, Gibran Cervantes. “Uhuru” has the feel of an Indian raga: gently insinuating, very relaxing and almost hypnotic. “Musical” and “melodic” may seem the antithesis of the music he makes with Weston, but for Watts it’s all of a piece. “I’d like to make it clear that I love ALL music that stimulates me whatever style is carrying the music is immaterial,” he said in the Jazz Planet interview. “If it’s something that comes from the heart, then I can relate to it. That’s as much to do with classical music as ethnic music as jazz.” Watts, born in 1939 in Yorkshire in northern England, met Weston, a classically trained pianist from Cornwall in southwest England, in the mid-1960s, a time in which creativity and originality seemed an artist’s birthright. Watts, a self-taught musician and lessthan-successful student, only escaped a soul-shriveling factory job by joining the Royal Air Force. It was there that he met drummer John Stevens. After leaving the military, the two formed the Spontaneous Music Ensemble in London in 1965. Weston was also a part of the ensemble for a time. SME’s music was based on rhythm more than melody. Imagine a beautiful room without furnishings, just the bare architectural bones. Watts calls it “pointillistic.” Drawing on that same concept almost 50 years later, Watts and Weston focus on moments rather than long, integrated pieces. In a state of ecstatic concentration, each responds
to the other in the moment. The result is sometimes manic, sometimes serene. In a wild flight of Coltrane-like fancy, Watts stabs the saxophone keys with a furious flurry of notes; in the next moment Weston delivers with a deep, thunderous run on the piano, while Watts blasts an airy cluster into hypersonic space. And that’s just the first few minutes of their performance at Barking Legs last summer (see the video on YouTube). The two musicians share Coltrane’s fascination with Indian modes and the often furiously propulsive interplay between the sitar and the tabla. When they’re playing a raga, the Indian musicians respond to each other’s cues, weaving a dense skein of rhythm and melody as they reach for ecstatic release—very much like Weston and Watts in full flight. For these virtuoso musicians—and their adventurous audiences—the journey itself is the objective. Deciding what they’ll play ahead of their performance, writing it down on paper, and formalizing the composition would mean reaching the destination before they left. That would take all the fun out of it for everyone. Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston 7:30 p.m. • $12/$15 Thursday, July 12 Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org
Richard Winham is the host and producer of WUTC-FM’s afternoon music program and has observed the Chattanooga music scene for more than 25 years.
Music
CHATTANOOGA LIVE
Thu 07.05 Ogya World Music Band, Booker T. Scruggs Ensemble 10 a.m. Chattanooga Incline Railway, 3917 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 821-4224 ridetheincline.com All American Summer featuring David Anthony 6:30 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View Ave. (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Elkmilk, Behold the Brave, Milktooth 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400 Set the Controls 9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.com Jordan Hallquist with Matt Chancey and Butch Ross 9:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com
fri 07.06 Ogya World Music Band, Booker T. Scruggs Ensemble 10 a.m. Chattanooga Incline Railway, 3917 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 821-4224 ridetheincline.com Dirty Bourbon River Show, The Snake Doctors 7 p.m. Nightfall Music Series, River City Stage at Miller Plaza, 850 Market St. nightfallchattanooga.com Power Players Show Band 7 p.m. Top of the Dock, 5600 Lake Resort Terr. topofthedock.net The FOG 8 p.m. Acoustic Café, 61 RBC Dr., Ringgold, Ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.com Lotus Plaza, Hollow Stars, Eight Knives, Whoremones 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400 Gentlemen’s Jazz Quartet
Thursday • 5
Elk Milk • Behold the Brave Milktooth
Friday • July 6
Lotus Plaza • Hollow Stars Eight Knives • Whoremones
Saturday • July 7
Roast of Ed...die Bridges!! with Stephanie Nilles
Sunday • July 8 Holy Smokes
Tuesday • July 10 Water Brothers
Wednesday • July 11
The Legendary BLOWFLY • !Analog
10 years
Thursday • July 12
• Heavy, dark rock with an edge from a Knoxville quartet. Fair to Midland and Kyng open. SAT 07.07 • 8:30 p.m. • Track 29 • 1400 Market St. • (423) 558-0029 • track29.co
8:30 p.m. The Foundry (at the Chattanoogan Hotel), 1201 Broad St. (423) 756-3400 chattanooganhotel.com Six String Suga Daddy 9 p.m. Southside Saloon & Bistro, 1301 Chestnut St. (423) 757-4730 southsidesaloonandbistro.com Ryan Oyer 9 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 The Beaters 9:15 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Skin Deep 9:30 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com Soul Survivor 10:00 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road (423) 499-9878 budssportsbar.com Alliance 10 p.m. SkyZoo, 5709 Lee Hwy. (423) 468-4533 skyzoochattanooga.com
sat 07.07 Ogya World Music Band, Booker T. Scruggs Ensemble 10 a.m. Chattanooga
Incline Railway, 3917 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 821-4224 ridetheincline.com Julie Gribble 12:30 p.m. River Market at Aquarium Plaza, W. Aquarium Way (423) 648-2496 Acoustic Mayhem 7:30 p.m. St. Mark’s on Mississippi, 701 Mississippi Ave. (423) 267-5530 Brock Butler 8 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Rosedale Remedy 8 p.m. Acoustic Café, 61 RBC Dr., Ringgold, Ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.com Roast of Ed...die Bridges, Stephanie Nilles 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400 Opposite Box with Kill, Baby…Kill! and !Analog 8 p.m. Moccasin Bend Brewing Company, 4015 Tennessee Ave. (423) 821-6392 10 Years 8:30 p.m. Track 29, 1400 Market St.
Schwervon • Monocots
(423) 558-0029 track29.co Gentlemen’s Jazz Quartet 8:30 p.m. The Foundry, 1201 Broad St. (423) 756-3400 chattanooganhotel.com Hillbilly Sins 9 p.m. Southside Saloon & Bistro, 1301 Chestnut St. (423) 757-4730 southsidesaloonandbistro.com Mark “Porkchop” Holder 9 p.m. The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 Skin Deep 9:30 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com Jordan Hallquist & The Outfit 10 p.m. T-Bones, 1419 Chestnut St. (423) 266-4240 tboneschattanooga.com The Communicators present That 90’s Show with Glowing Bordis 10 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com Sweet and Lowdown 10 p.m. SkyZoo, 5709 Lee Hwy.
»P14
Friday • July 13
Christabel and the Jons • Royal Hounds
LIVE MUSIC CHATTANOOGA JULY
5 FRI. THE BEATERS 9:15p 6 SAT. + 10p 7 THAT 90’s SHOW WED. LOWER CALLING 9:30p 11 THU. ERICK BAKER with ELENOWEN — From “The Voice” 9p 12 JORDAN HALLQUIST
with MATT CHANCEY and BUTCH ROSS
THU. 9:30p
The Best Party Band Ever! Let’s Dance!
The Communicators Present
GLOWING BORDIS
From Athens with a Cool New Sound
COMING: 7/13: FLY BY RADIO 7/14: BACK IN BLACK 7/17: NATHAN ANGELO 7/18: LONG GONE DARLINGS ALL SHOWS 21+ UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED • NON-SMOKING VENUE
221 MARKET STREET
HOT MUSIC • FINE BEER • GREAT FOOD BUY TICKETS ONLINE • RHYTHM-BREWS.COM
chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 11
Books. Lots of books. And more. We buy, sell and trade. 12 • The Pulse • JULY 5-11, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com
Used Books, CDs, Movies, & More
7734 Lee Highway McKayBooks.com Monday-Saturday 9am-10pm Sunday 11am-7pm chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 13
901 Carter St (Inside Days Inn) 423-634-9191
Thursday, July 5: 9pm Open Mic with Mark Holder
Friday, July 6: 9pm Ryan Oyer
Saturday, July 7: 9pm
Mark “Porkchop” Holder
Tuesday, July 10: 7pm 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
Facebook.com/theofficechatt
ARTS STATE OF THE
COMING 08.23.12
KEEP CALM AND
MAKE ART Since 2003
Music
Between the Sleeves
CHATTANOOGA LIVE
record reviews • ernie paik
(423) 468-4533 skyzoochattanooga.com Soul Survivor 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road (423) 499-9878 budssportsbar.com
singer neneh cherry has had a meandering musical career spanning three decades, going from post-punk era outfits like Rip Rig + Panic to hip-hop/pop/dance solo artist success (remember “Buffalo Stance”?) to being a collaborator with the pioneering trip-hop group Massive Attack. It’s easy to forget that she was raised with an infusion of free jazz—her stepfather was the brilliant trumpeter Don Cherry, whose own remarkable solo albums were often unfairly overshadowed by his partnership with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. The Scandinavian free jazz trio The Thing was formed a dozen years ago initially as a tribute to Don Cherry, so it makes sense that Neneh Cherry and The Thing have teamed up on an album that attempts to bring free jazz out of the fringes. Neneh Cherry “Cashback,” a Neneh Cherry original, is an impressive opener, & The Thing The Cherry Thing with urgent, insistent drumming from Paal Nilssen-Love and pointed, sturdy upright-bass playing from Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, (Smalltown complementing the street-smart flair of Cherry. However, Mats Supersound) Gustafsson steals the scene with his fiery sax squawking, coming from the Peter Brötzmann school of hard-blowing, and kudos to him for not holding back. The other original, Gustafsson’s “Sudden Moment,” slithers with the vocals and sax mirroring each other, and it might be a surprise to those only accustomed to his intense avant-jazz side. A cover of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” avoids the metronomic momentum of other renditions and has a peculiar tug to it, going for a smoother roll; it definitely grows on you. Some covers dig into a riff with less success, like the take on the Stooges’ “Dirt,” but the non-western groove of “Golden Heart” (a Don Cherry piece) and the soulful, loose rendering of “What Reason Could I Give?” (by Ornette Coleman) work well. The quartet storms through its material, serving as an avant-jazz crossover that may get the attention of rockist listeners and presents Cherry as an ample jazz songstress.
sun 07.08 Dana Rogers 10 a.m. Urban Spoon, 207 Frazier Ave. (423) 710-3252 Mark “Porkchop” Holder, Derik Hultquist, Jennifer Daniels 12:30 p.m. Chattanooga Market at First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Reggie White Blvd. chattanoogamarket.com Holy Smokes 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400 Soul Survivor 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road (423) 499-9878 budssportsbar.com
mon 07.09 Southside Casual Classics featuring Chattanooga Tuba Euphonium Quartet 7:30 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com
tue 07.10 Crosby, Stills, & Nash 7:30 p.m. Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave. (423) 757-5156 chattanoogaonestage.com Water Brothers 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400
wed 07.11 Blowfly, !Analog 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 266-1400 The Bright White 9 p.m. The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.com Lower Calling 9:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. rhythm-brews.com
Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send live music listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com.
Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative 14 • The Pulse • JULY 5-11, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com
the husband-and-wife queens-based duo the home of easy credit has its own twist on free improvisation—that is, spontaneous music with no particular genre in mind—by putting it in various, sometimes unexpected settings with expansive, if confusing elements on its self-titled album. Take for example the opening nine-minute track, “Monolithic Insanity,” which unfurls the twosome’s playing styles: saxophonist Louis Dam Eckardt Jensen, originally from Denmark, whips up a hypnotic mesh of repeated three-note patterns, while bassist Tom Blancarte, from Texas, goes to town with furious string harmonics, gradually rising in intensity and disorder. However, the odd thing about the track is how atmospheric it sounds, with certain qualities of ambient music. Eventually, Jensen adds her wordless siren-song vocals, and the whole The Home of bundle is gorgeous, eerie, and unsettling. Easy Credit The duo doesn’t seem to be concerned with showboating chops or The Home of delving into extended techniques to demonstrate a huge range; that Easy Credit doesn’t seem to be the point here. Instead, Blancarte and Jensen (Northern Spy) seem to be extending the idea of musicianship by using electronic manipulation and recording controls as part of their strategies. For example, Blancarte’s bass taps are magnified using stereo delay panning effects on “The Dream of a Democracy of Goods,” while the album’s enigmatic closing track features Jensen on flute, with delicate sequences that gingerly swell with microphone feedback. Jensen’s vocals provide an uncommon characteristic, like on the disorienting “The Feast of the Meal Replacement Bars,” with echoing snippets of singing with an enunciation that evokes Björk’s elfin weirdness. “A Fireproof House for $5000” provides acoustic noise and bubbling chaos, with Jensen seemingly blowing raspberries while Blancarte tries to sound as ghostly as possible, and more conventionally palatable moments, like the smoky jazz of “The Dream of the Pursuit of Happiness,” have a sinister undercurrent of faint looped vocals. Pushing away from the crowd, The Home of Easy Credit distinguishes itself with its playful, strange, yet sometimes angelic discordance. Read Ernie Paik’s reviews online at chattanoogapulse.com.
Arts
LOCAL AUTHORS
Revelations and Reversals Chattanooga author Sybil Baker has been called one of “today’s strongest emerging talents in literary fiction and poetry.”
By Rich Bailey sybil baker’s new novel, into this world, draws the reader into two worlds, slowly at first, then faster and faster as it moves relentlessly toward a climax of secrets revealed and relationships changed. One world is the exotic yet familiar community of American expatriates in Korea, cruising drunkenly through a culture they don’t attempt to understand. The other, more interesting world is the troubled relationship of two sisters—one Caucasian, one adopted from Korea by an American GI—and the knot of family secrets surrounding them. The staid white Allison and the confident Korean wild child Mina begin the novel as a pair of opposites. But by the end they seem more like their own unique yinyang symbol, so different but circling around each other always, each one holding the seed of the other for better or worse. Baker’s three books all draw on her 12 years living in Korea and traveling around Asia. “They’re all about the allure and alienation of Americans traveling in or living in Asia,” she said. The Life Plan (2009) is a comic novel about a woman trying to keep her marriage together by chasing after her husband who has left to study massage in Thailand. Talismans (2010) is a darker book, a collection of linked short stories about a woman traveling around Asia trying to find out what happened to her father, a Vietnam veteran who moved back to Vietnam and then disappeared. “One of the nice things about being with small presses is that I can just write about whatever I want,” she said. “I have friends who are published by the bigger presses. Often there is a lot of pressure to write same book over and over.”
The Huffington Post called Baker one of “today’s strongest emerging talents in literary fiction and poetry.” If her summer teaching schedule is any indication, the rest of the world is also noticing: the Yale Writers’ Conference in June and City University of Hong Kong in July. Baker returned from Korea in 2007 to become an assistant professor of English and creative writing at UTC, as well as assistant director of the Meacham Writers Workshop. She is also fiction editor for Drunken Boat, an online journal of art and literature. “It takes a while to write about a place when you’re closer to it. I think I had to leave Korea to write about it,” she said. “My novel I’m just starting now is set in Chattanooga. I moved here in 2007, and I haven’t felt like I was ready to write about it until now.” The idea for Into This World,
published last May, began at the Hunter Museum. Baker helped organize a teachers conference held there in 2010 and joined other participants in writing a response to a painting. She wrote about “Confrontation” by Hughie Lee Smith, showing two girls in a desolate landscape. Baker decided they were estranged sisters, one of them Korean, and wondered why they were estranged. “That was the germ of the novel. I have to thank the Hunter for that,” she said.
Into This World is quite a pageturner, without having any of the throwaway qualities of fiction that usually gets that label. The set up is simple: adopted sister Mina goes to Korea looking for her birth mother, and Caucasian sister Allison follows to be sure she’s okay. Looking back after finishing the book, it’s clear that the relatively mundane events of the first few pages—a drunken call from Korea, worried parents, the American sister reflecting on
the torch she carried 12 years for her boss until quitting that day— foreshadowed the unfolding of a complex story of great emotional subtlety. The ending is the culmination of an intricate weave of revelations and reversals. It grows organically from that first scene with the inevitability of a knot of DNA unraveling to give up its secrets. “Allison becomes the person who wants to know the truth no matter what,” said Baker. “At the beginning not so much. She doesn’t want to deal with the truth. Once she deals with how she’s been stuck in her life, who her father is and who her sister is, she wants to expose it to the whole family, even if that makes the family fall apart. Mina is concerned about finding out the truth of her own identity, but she doesn’t care about dealing with family.” As Mina comes closer to finding her mother, she loses something of herself. But as the once passive Allison searches for Mina, she becomes a stronger, more sympathetic character and is, in fact, the engine moving the novel to its dramatic finale. The book ends on a moment of stunning clarity and emotional power. Without negating the suffering that led to it or pasting a literary smiley face on a complex story, the final scene and the very last image place a beautiful full stop at the end of this rich literary composition.
chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 15
Arts & Entertainment
CALENDAR
Thu 07.05 Red, White & Blue Days 10 a.m. Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 756-2738 cdmfun.org Street Food Thursdays 11 a.m. Motor Court at Warehouse Row, 1110 Market St. warehouserow.net Birds of Prey 11 a.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Road Lookout Mtn., Ga. (706) 820-2531 seerockcity.com/birds All American Summer: David Anthony 6 p.m. Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View (423) 266-0944 huntermuseum.org
Sushi Nabe to The Pulse: We create delicious Japanese cuisine, not jazz last week the pulse profiled Sushi Nabe Japanese Cuisine in an article titled “Sushi Nabe Serves Comfort Food, Japanese Style.” The content of the article, however, was switched in a freak copy-paste incident. Instead of sushi, the article reviewed an experimental jazz quartet. After the article was published, Mr. Nabe contacted our offices and explained that, while he certainly appreciates jazz, he would continue to make Japanese cuisine to satisfy the fans of Sushi Nabe for years to come and
leave the jazz to musicians. Mr. Nabe did speculate, however, that the gesture of “Jazz Hands” in a dance style would be possible for him after making a particular selection of sushi rolls. “I understand that ‘Jazz Hands’ are popular. So is my sushi,” he said. The Pulse has long been a fan of Sushi Nabe as well as jazz, but the combination of these two elements in an article is regrettable. Give Sushi Nabe a visit and “like” the restaurant on Facebook.com/sushinabechattanooga.
Sushi Nabe 110 River St. (423) 634-0171 Tuesday-Friday Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner: 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday: Noon to 10 p.m. Sunday: Noon to 9 p.m. Happy Hour Special 25% off Ozeki Sparkling Saki and Flirt red wine Tuesday-Friday 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Free Parking in Coolidge Park after 4:30 p.m. and all day Sunday.
fri 07.06 Fresh on Fridays 11 a.m. River City Company, 850 Market St. (423) 265-3700 rivercitycompany.com “See Through” Opening Reception 5 p.m. In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423) 267-9214 intowngallery.com AVA Opening Reception 5:30 p.m. AVA Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-1282 avarts.org “Collecting Thoughts” Opening Reception 6:30 p.m. River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St. (423) 265-5033 river-gallery.com Nightfall Concert Series 7 p.m. Miller Plaza, 850 Market St. (423) 265-0771 nightfallchattanooga.com Movie Night 8 p.m. The Camphouse, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com “HAIR: The American
16 • The Pulse • JULY 5-11, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com
Tribal Love-Rock Musical” 8 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com Wide Open Floor 8 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org “The Music Man” 8 p.m. Signal Mountain Playhouse, 301 Rolling Way, Signal Mountain smph.org Ruby Falls Lantern Tours 8:30 p.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S. Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544 rubyfalls.com Ward Anderson 9:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com Late Night Hoops! 10 p.m. Howard High School, 2500 S. Market St. (423) 643-6055 chattanoogahasfun.com
sat 07.07 Downtown Kayak Adventures 9 a.m. Outdoor Chattanooga, 200 River St. at Coolidge Park. (423) 643-6888 outdoorchattanooga.com River Market 10 a.m. Tennessee Aquarium Plaza, 1 Broad St. (423) 402-9960 chattanoogamarket.com South Chattanooga Library 20th Anniversary Celebration 10 a.m. South Chattanooga Library, 925 W. 39th St. (423) 757-5310 lib.chattanooga.gov Summer Music Weekends Noon. Rock City, 1400 Patten Road Lookout Mtn., Ga. (706) 820-2531 seerockcity.com Art til Dark Noon. Winder Binder Gallery & Bookstore, 40 Frazier Ave. (423) 413-8999 winderbinder.wordpress.com
Movies in the Park 7 p.m. AT&T Field, 201 Power Alley, (423) 267-5383 firstthingsfirst.org Brock Butler 8 p.m. The Camphouse, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com “HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” 8 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com “The Music Man” 8 p.m. Signal Mountain Playhouse, 301 Rolling Way, Signal Mountain smph.org Club America vs. Pachuca CF 8 p.m. Finley Stadium, 1826 Carter St. (423) 266-4041 ticketmaster.com Ruby Falls Lantern Tours 8:30 p.m. Ruby Falls, 1720 S. Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544
rubyfalls.com Late Night Hoops! 10 p.m. Howard High School, 2500 S. Market St. (423) 643-6055 chattanoogahasfun.com Ward Anderson 10:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com
sun 07.08 Chattanooga Waterfront Triathalon 7:30 a.m. Ross’s Landing, Chestnut St. at Riverfront Pkwy. team-magic.com Downtown Kayak Adventures 9 a.m. Outdoor Chattanooga, 200 River St. at Coolidge Park (423) 643-6888 outdoorchattanooga.com Chattanooga Market: Peach Festival 11 a.m. First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Carter St. (423) 402-9960 chattanoogamarket.com Summer Music Weekends Noon. Rock City, 1400 Patten Rd. Lookout Mtn., Ga. (706) 820-2531 seerockcity.com A Special Night to Remember Natalie Teams Caylor 8 p.m. The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com
mon 07.09 Music Monday 7 p.m. Pasha Coffee & Tea, 3914 St. Elmo Ave. (423) 475-5482 pashacoffeehouse.com Southside Casual Classics 7:30 p.m. The Camphouse, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com
tue 07.10 Crosby, Stills & Nash
CROSBY, STILLS & NASH TUE 07.10 • Rock legends still going strong after more than 40 years. 7:30 p.m. • Memorial Auditorium • 399 McCallie Ave. • chattanoogaonstage.com
7:30 p.m. Memorial Auditorium 399 McCallie Ave. (423) 642-8497 chattanoogaonstage.com Tuesdays at Tony’s 11 a.m. Tony’s Pasta Shop & Trattoria, 212 High St. (423) 265-5033 bluffviewartdistrict.com Songs & Stories 7 p.m. The Camphouse, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Live Team Trivia 7:30 p.m. Brewhaus, 224 Frazier Ave. (423) 531-8490 chattanoogatrivia.com Mouth of the South 8 p.m. Vaudeville Café,
138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com
wed 07.11 Mideast Dance 10:30 a.m. Jewish Cultural Center, 5461 N. Terrace Rd. (423) 493-0270 jewishchattanooga.com Main Street Farmer’s Market 4 p.m. 325 E. Main St. mainstfarmersmarket.com Chattanooga Night Market 5 p.m. Ross’s Landing, Chestnut St. at Riverfront Pkwy. chattanoogamarket.com Wine Wednesdays 5 p.m. Back Inn Café,
412 E 2nd St. (423) 265-5033 bluffviewartdistrict.com Wine Down Wednesday 5 p.m. Broad Street Grille, 1201 Broad St. (423) 424-3700 chattanooganhotel.com Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Blue Wahoos 7:15 p.m. AT&T Field, 201 Power Alley (423) 267-2208 lookouts.com
Map these locations on chattanoogapulse. com. Send calendar listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@ chattanoogapulse.com.
chattanoogapulse.com • JULY 5-11, 2012 • The Pulse • 17
MONDAYS rEStAUrANt
EMPlOYEES APPrEciAtiON
NiGht BEEr, WiNE & FOOD SPEciAlS 5-10PM
B S
Sushi & Biscuits
MIKE MCJUNKIN
Philosopher King of Sandwiches in the mid-1970s i remember being a plaid-panted -and-polyester-blended young man with a head full of dreams about becoming a famous rock star and traveling the world with Mott the Hoople. Even though I had just crossed the threshold into my teen years, my mom felt it necessary to give me regular reminders about how important it was to appreciate the simple things in life. At the time, I couldn’t hear her advice over the sweet tunes blaring out of my bright orange JC Penney 8-Track player, but the message somehow managed to lodge itself into the tiny grey folds of my hormone addled brain. Decades later the idea of becoming a rock star is about as appealing as a dose of flea market bath salts, but the simple pleasure of a well made sandwich wraps around me like a Snuggie of existential comfort in my sometimes overcomplicated life. Warren Zevon famously said, “Enjoy every sandwich,” when faced with the impending certainty of his own death. He used the perfect, poetic simplicity of the sandwich to illustrate lessons he had learned about life, death and the misdirected value of excess in a culture that elevates the elaborate and mocks the minimalist. He also really liked sandwiches. And Mexican food. Which completes the circle of life between the advice of my mother, the life lessons of Zevon, and the one sandwich that ties it all together—the Mexican Torta. If you are not already famil-
iar with the Mexican torta you are missing out on one of life’s simple pleasures. These are not complicated sandwiches with hand-crafted aioli’s or carefully tweezed micro-greens. These are two-fisted, look-youin-the-eye sandwiches with no pretension or hidden agendas. They’re the kind of sandwiches that hold your hair back after a hard night on the town and can comfort you after an early morning walk of shame. A successful sandwich, like a successful life, is all about balance. The ratio of bread to condiment to filling is of utmost importance and must be carefully managed, similar to the
balance between work, social obligations and masturbation. The torta is an undefeated champion of balance, starting with its soft, comforting bread with its light crust and equally light flavor. Depending on the preference of the cook, either a bolillo or a telera bun is used, which is then split, toasted and spread with a nice schmear of refried beans, a little mayo and some avocado slices. In Mexico, street vendors and tortería owners fill their sandwiches with an endlessly creative assortment of fillings and give them names like “La Gringa” or “La Barbie.” Here in Chattanooga, most restaurants keep it simple and stuff their tortas with chicken, beef, chorizo sausage or pork carnitas. Occasionally, Taqueria Jalisco will offer a torta with pork, ham and grilled pineapple, but my personal favorite is a simple pork carnitas torta. Finish filling the sandwich with a little lettuce, tomato, maybe a few slices of pickled jalapeno, and you have the Philosopher King of sandwiches, ready to sustain you, please you, and present itself for contemplation on its simplicity should you feel the need to contemplate. If not, just enjoy the sandwich and leave the contemplation to Richard
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Gere. When I find myself in need of the comforting simplicity of the mighty torta, I make my way to my neighborhood sanctuary of solace—La Altena Mexican restaurant. La Altena offers pork carnitas, which are the most holy of all torta filling options. Pork carnitas are shoulder cuts of pork that are slow cooked until tender, pulled and picked, then quickly roasted or pan seared just prior to service to produce a tongue-seducing textural playground between the softness of the slow-cooked pork and the crispiness of its caramelized edges. While it should be illegal to fill a torta with any other meat, such intolerance runs counter to the guiding principles set forth by Mr. Zevon and my mom so I will refrain from such narrow judgments for now. As time goes on, the more I realize my mom and Warren Zevon were right. Appreciate, enjoy and elevate the simple things, even if it’s nothing more than a really good sandwich.
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mythology, Fenrir was a big bad wolf that the gods were eager to keep tied up. In the beginning they tried to do it with metal chains, but the beast broke free. Then they commissioned the dwarves to weave a shackle out of six impossible things. This magic fetter was no thicker than a silk ribbon, but it worked very well. Fenrir couldn’t escape from it. I invite you to take inspiration from this story, Leo. As you deal with your current dilemma, don’t try to fight strength with strength. Instead, use art, craft, subtlety, and even trickery. I doubt you’ll need to gather as many as six impossible things. Three will probably be enough. Two might even work fine.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): This is a time when your personal actions will have more power than usual to affect the world around you. The ripples you set in motion could ultimately touch people you don’t even know and transform situations you’re not part of. That’s a lot of responsibility! I suggest, therefore, that you be on your best behavior. Not necessarily your mildest, most polite behavior, mind you. Rather, be brave, impeccable, full of integrity, and a little wild. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Goldfish that are confined in small aquariums stay small. Those that spend their lives in ponds get much bigger. What can we conclude from these facts? The size and growth rate of goldfish are directly related to their environment. I’d like to suggest that a similar principle will apply to you Librans in the next ten months. If you want to take maximum advantage of your potential, you will be wise to put yourself in spacious situations that encourage you to expand. For an extra boost, surround yourself with broad-mind-
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ed, uninhibited people who have worked hard to heal their wounds.
SCORPIO
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Over the years, you’ve explored some pretty exotic, even strange ideas about what characterizes a good time. In the coming days, I’m guessing you will add to your colorful tradition with some rather unprecedented variations on the definition of “pleasure” and “happiness.” I don’t mean to imply that this is a problem. Not at all. To paraphrase the Wiccan credo, as long as it harms no one (including yourself), anything goes.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There come times in your life when you have a sacred duty to be open to interesting tangents and creative diversions; times when it makes sense to wander around aimlessly with wonder in your eyes and be alert for unexpected clues that grab your attention. But this is not one of those times, in my opinion. Rather, you really do need to stay focused on what you promised yourself you would concentrate on. The temptation may be high to send out sprays of arrows at several different targets. But I hope that instead you stick to one target and take careful aim with your best shots. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I’ve been meditating on a certain need that you have been neglecting, Capricorn—a need that has been chronically underestimated, belittled, or ignored, by both you and others. I am hoping that this achy longing will soon be receiving some of your smart attention and tender care. One good way to get the process started is simply to acknowledge its validity and importance. Doing so will reveal a secret that will help you attend to your special need with just the right touch. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Due to the pressure-packed influences currently coming to bear on your destiny, you have Official Cosmic Permission to fling three dishes against the wall. If you so choose, you also have clearance to hurl rocks in the direction of heaven, throw darts at photos of your nemeses, and cram a coconut cream pie into your own face. In the next phase, you should capitalize on all the energy you’ve made available for yourself through purgative acts like the ones I mentioned. Capitalize how? For starters, you could dream and scheme about how you will liberate yourself from things that make you angry and
frustrated.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Check to see if you’re having any of the following symptoms: 1. Sudden eruptions of gratitude; 2. A declining fascination with conflict; 3. Seemingly irrational urges that lead you to interesting discoveries ing and receiving the love that’s available to you. If you’re experiencing any of these, you are certifiably in close alignment with the cosmic flow, and should keep doing what you’ve been doing. If none of these symptoms have been sweeping through you, get yourself adjusted. ARIES
(March 21-April 19): Members of the Nevada Republican Party have concocted a bizarre version of family values. A large majority of them are opposed to gay marriage and yet are all in favor of legal brothels. Their wacky approach to morality is as weird as that of the family values crowd in Texas, which thinks it’s wrong to teach adolescents about birth control even though this has led to a high rate of teen pregnancies. Why do we let people with screwed-up priorities claim to be the prime caretakers of “family values”? I urge you to reject the conventional wisdom as you clarify what that term means to you. It’s an excellent time to deepen and strengthen your moral foundation.
TAURUS
(April 20-May 20): There’s a term for people who have the ardor of a nymphomaniac in their efforts to gather useful information: infomaniac. That’s exactly what I think you should be in the coming week. You need data and evidence, and you need them in abundance. Be as thorough as a spy, as relentless as a muckraking journalist, and as curious as a child. P.S. See if you can set aside as many of your strong opinions and emotional biases as possible. Otherwise they might distort your quest for the raw truth. Your word of power is empirical.
GEMINI
(May 21-June 20): Of all the signs of the zodiac, you’re the best at discovering short cuts. And you could teach a master course in how to weasel out of strenuous work without looking like a weasel. None of those virtues will come in handy during the coming week, however. The way I see it, you should concentrate very hard on not skipping any steps. You should follow the rules, stick to the plan, and dedicate yourself to the basics. Finish what you start, please!
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1. “Unbelievable” band of 1991 4. Wallflowers lead singer Dylan 9. Like much medicine 13. DiCaprio, to fans 14. Puget Sound city 15. Stupor 16. Writing assignment that, through complete luck, got an A? 18. Vowels that look like an H 19. Did away with Homer’s neighbor for good? 21. He was joined on stage by a Tupac hologram in 2012 23. ___ out a living 24. Item rolled by gaming geeks 25. Axton of “Gremlins” 26. Exhale like a dog 29. “Bionic ___” (2007 NBC remake) 31. ___-Tzu (Chinese philosopher) 32. Song played on a sitar
33. Detergent brand 34. Band of John Wayne-loving computer programmers? 39. Come up short 40. It’s good to hear after a spill 41. Freddy’s street 43. Big bone 46. ___-rock 47. Popeye’s kid ___’Pea 48. That, in Spanish 49. “Call Me Maybe” singer Carly ___ Jepsen 51. Stair part 52. Completely fooled one of the Beverly Hillbillies? 57. Color of un zafiro 58. Bumper sticker slogan for Stooges fans? 61. ___ and void 62. Fixed sock holes 63. 56, in old Rome 64. “___ does that starspangled banner...” 65. ___-Hawley Tariff 66. Have some havarti
Down
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Diaries” occupation 2. “Spaceballs” director Brooks 3. Seeker’s cry to the hider 4. Mock 5. Mil. school 6. Head of Germany? 7. Folded breakfast dish 8. Former Israeli prime minister 9. Took way too much 10. Warning on video games with lots of gore 11. Hank who voices Chief Wiggum 12. Take down a notch 14. Precocious kid 17. MTV mainstay Loder 20. City where Whitney Houston’s funeral was held 21. Rival of UPS and FedEx 22. Word before hog or rage 26. Rate 27. In the past 28. Lowest point 30. ___-Wan Kenobi 32. Wanted poster word
33. Leaping creature 35. Pond fish 36. Punk offshoot 37. Song from “Licensed to Ill,” with “The” 38. Show whose fans are named by adding “ks” to the title 42. Debussy’s “La ___” 43. Selena’s music genre 44. Rodeos and Troopers, e.g. 45. Actor Scott of “Quantum Leap” 46. Train in a 1974 movie title, or its 2009 remake 47. ___ Spin (classic toy) 50. Heartburn causes, maybe 51. No longer working: abbr. 53. Pocoyo’s pachyderm friend 54. Prefix before space 55. Fighting word that means “hand,” not “person” 56. ___-‡-porter 59. Jefferson founded it 60. Model maker’s need
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Life in the Noog
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when my daughter and i landed in washington d.c. we had no idea that oncoming storms were about to render Dulles International Airport a homeless shelter for the night. By the time our connecting flight was officially cancelled I was already cued up at the United Airlines customer service desk watching the next available agent type a novel on her tiny keyboard just to re-book us on the next available flight to Atlanta—at 8 a.m. the following morning. Maddie grabbed a few of the limited number of airline blankets and tiny bags of peanuts tossed out to the masses like consolation prizes and set up our camp in one of the coveted rows of seats in gate C-18 that was located near an electrical outlet for phone recharging. As I made my way down the concourse in search of food, I passed several hobo camps of makeshift tents and sleeping pallets constructed from luggage and blankets. It reminded me of some sort of post apocalyptic Mad Max situation where we bohemians would do anything to procure “the juice.” In this case “the juice” wasn’t gasoline but actual juice, or anything of sustenance that could be found. The only places in an airport terminal still open for business at 1 a.m. are 1) Dunkin Donuts and 2) snack kiosks. The first option offered little more than sugary-sweet lard rings and high-powered caffeinated drinks, both of which would ensure we’d remain completely conscious for the rest of our ordeal. The snack kiosk was our only hope. But by the
Life in terminal is a flight for survival. time I found one it had already been ravaged and nearly cleaned out by the other campers. Within the remaining rubble I found an overlooked package of snack crackers, some beef jerky, Skittles and a copy of the latest Entertainment magazine with Louis C.K. on the cover. Score! Back at the camp, I proudly shared our bounty with Maddie like a papa bear returning to the den with a freshly mauled gazelle or beaver—whatever it is bears eat. Anyway, once fed, we decided that sleep was the only activity that would make the night go by a little faster. Laid out across four or five row seats I closed my eyes, but the stimulating surroundings meant napping wasn’t going to happen so easily. The whole environment reminded me of the FBI’s sleep-deprivation tactics used to drive David Koresh and his followers out of their Waco compound. First of all, the place is lit up like a bar at closing time. Fluorescent light boxes on the ceiling every two square feet made the
place glow so brightly that you couldn’t even see your own shadow. Then there was the noise. The sound of an airport terminal when you take away the chatter of daily inhabitants is a potpourri of vacuum cleaners, loud TV news broadcasts and a soft-rock, radio-free intercom system that contained Kenny G’s entire catalog—and nothing else. But even Kenny himself couldn’t top the random FAA-regulated announcements. My favorite? “May I have your attention please. An alarm was deployed and is being investigated by the fire department at this time. We will keep you informed of further instructions. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.” Air travel can be way overrated, or underrated, depending on your most recent experience with it. When cancelled flights, lost luggage and layovers get in the way, flying suddenly becomes overrated. But when you think about the fact that we have the ability to catapult a couple of hundred people 35,000 feet in the air from destination to destination at 500 mph—air travel might be one of the most underrated feats man has ever accomplished. At least that’s what I pondered while stranded for the night at gate C-18. Chuck Crowder is a local writer and general man about town. His opinions are just that.
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