MADE November Issue 07

A Free Independent Newspaper

Issue 07 NOVEMBER 2013

News, Makers & Trends of the New South

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Montgomery

MONTGOMERY

PUBLISHER MADE Paper

Issue 07 NOVEMBER 2013

EDITORS Brent Rosen, Anna Lowder, Caroline Nabors Rosen, Harvi Sahota CREATIVE DIRECTOR Harvi Sahota DESIGN Matter www.iheartmatter.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Brent Rosen, Caroline Nabors Rosen, Anna Lowder, Andrea Jean, Heather Steen, Tiffany Bell, Will Abner, Johnny Veres, Sam Wootten, Jennifer Kornegay, Scott Steen, Melissa Tsai, Joe Birdwell, Tom Jean, Edwin Marty, Evans Bailey, Tina Hofer Medico, Robert Wool, Will Steineker, Elliot Knight, Mark Bowen, Christian Kerr, Rebecca Seung, David Mowery, Brian Carroll, Josh Carples, Katie Lindgren, Natilee McGruder, Weston Markwell, CarolineTaylor, Skye Borden, Katie Vega

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Harvi Sahota, Grace Photography, Josh Moates, Jon Kohn, Ryan Muirhead, Luke Lindgren, Weston Markwell ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS Jay Wilkins, Robin Birdwell

Made is a free, independent newspaper published monthly.

Modern design, authentic voices, smart articles and curated events.

ISSUE 07 NOVEMBER 2013

DISCLAIMER: Made publishes news and commentary, critique and reporting, offering different views from our community. Our contributors offer a variety of views and perspectives on subjects covered in Made. These views and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Due to the nature of creative industries and the connections we foster with those around us, contributors may have some personal or professional connection with people, events, or organizations covered in the publication or website.

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COVER PHOTO: Mick Hales

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Column feature: McAlpine Tankersley Feature: thanksgiving interpreted architecture Makers Food & DRINK EAT SOUTH music SPaces

e m o h ng i d n i f PAGE 4

MADE is a collective of citizens celebrating the local, the authentic, and the unique. We are creatives featuring other creatives and the engaging work being produced in our city. We call attention to all fields forging new pathways in expression and innovation. We are makers who love to eat, talk, collaborate, question, party, and laugh, and we want you to take part.

Thanks for reading this and supporting the artists, craftsmen, creatives, and active citizens that make a city thrive.

Montgomery, Two Years Later WORDS BRENT ROSEN

I moved to Montgomery two years ago. In thinking about my two years living here - the new friends made, the new experiences had, the adjustments I’ve made to a new way of life - I realized that much of the Montgomery I now enjoy did not exist two years ago.

Central, True, Railyard, Chicken Salad Chick, Irish Bred Company, Wasabi, and countless Korean and Latin-American restaurants that, despite Dave Mowery’s best efforts, I still know too little about.

Montgomery is no longer just fried foods and boiled vegetables; the best restaurants in Montgomery stand up to some of the best restaurants in the United States. In the coming months, we’ll add a Moe’s BBQ in Cloverdale and at least two food trucks humming around Montgomery’s streets.

Leroy, Aviator Bar, SandBar, the Barrah Hookah, a revamp of the Exchange at the Renaissance, the bar at the DoubleTree hotel.

Entertainment districts that allow one to walk from bar to bar, drink in hand, without disobeying the law. Derk’s is now a craft beer haven, but even Winn-Dixie and Publix offer something different than old, reliable, delicious Coors Light. If you prefer making your own beer, Fairview Homebrew can help you with all the supplies you need. And those friendly folks at the package store above Sous La Terre - can’t forget them. I’m also looking forward to Graham Woods bringing a dose of the free market to Fairview Ave.

The Crampton Bowl upgrades, Boat Ramp Park, the West Fairview façade improvements, Wright Brothers Park, Development of the Atlanta Highway near Faulkner, and dozens of other city-led improvement projects have made Montgomery a better looking, more interesting, and safer place to live. Outdated hotels have been razed, dilapidated buildings have been torn down, and eyesores have been removed. More projects are on the way on Lower Dexter Avenue, at Questplex, and on Mobile Street in Cottage Hill. While I’ve been critical of the city in the past, the recent outlay for EAT South to finish its second and third phase of its Downtown Farm is a wonderful sign that our leaders at City Hall remain willing to invest our dollars in the sorts of projects that have made Montgomery a hub of civic innovation in the region.

Speaking of EAT South, the Downtown Farm, as well as Southern Makers, EatEasy, TedEx, the revived Montgomery Street Fair, the Cloverdale Playhouse, ASU’s new stadium, the Raycom Bowl that begat the Camellia Bowl, Better Block Mt. Meigs (which will lead to other “Better Block” parties in other Montgomery neighborhoods),

Denied and Underexposed, Art in Concert, Huetopia, the Marathon and bike races - two years ago, these events and venues had never been heard of. Now, these events and venues bring diverse sections of Montgomery together on a regular basis, creating a sense of civic pride Montgomery so greatly needed.

This sense of entrepreneurialism and possibility that pervades Montgomery is personified by Mendel Brown. Brown has lived all over the world, but now calls Capitol Heights home. He wanted there to be a place in Montgomery where he could go and have a beer or a cup of coffee, a third-space to meet for conversation, relaxation, a break from work and home. Not seeing this sort of place in Montgomery, Brown decided he would open it himself. The future small plates restaurant/bar/coffee shop is named KRU, and will be located at 2118 Mt. Meigs Road.

The name KRU has an interesting history. On KRU’s Facebook page, Brown explains that “KRO/KROG is a very old Scandinavian word for a tavern found in smaller towns and villages (or neighborhoods).

Traditionally situated on a main road with a distance of a half day’s walk, a KRO was located where thirsty and hungry travelers could easily discover the tavern and the local citizens within. Serving simple, traditional food and beverage to both travelers and locals, the KRO concept has been in Scandinavia since the 15th century and is common throughout Northern Europe.” In Montgomery, KRO becomes KRU, a blending of old and new, a welcoming place for Capitol Heights residents and Montgomerians from other neighborhoods to come together and unwind.

When I talked to Brown last week he laid out some of his big plans for his space. There will be multiple decks, lounge areas, and places where friends can gather and talk. He envisions the space bringing light and life to Mt. Meigs St., an area that is usually quite quiet after dark. KRU is the kind of place an entire neighborhood can be built around, and Brown hopes that once he shows people the possibilities of Mt. Meigs, that old commercial district can once again hustle and bustle.

Brown had a vision for what his Montgomery looked like, and then he went out and made it happen. He is just one of many over the past two years to look around, identify a need, and then take action. I am not only looking forward to spending time at KRU, but looking forward to all of the other new projects, investments, and happenings that will spring up around Montgomery in the next two years.

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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MADE sits down with McAlpine Tankerlsey Architecture

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PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED FROM MCALPINETANKERSLEYBLOG.COM

WORDS BRENT ROSEN

Butcher shops, artisanal pickles, urban agriculture, craft beer, millinery -- at best people view these as charming anachronisms, at worst as the domain of the silly hipster.

But 50 or 60 years ago, meat came from the butcher shop (“I’m like Sam the butcher bringing Alice the meat”), all pickles were “artisanal,” agriculture did not mean factory farms, most beer remained regionally, if not locally produced, and hats were still made by hand and sold to stylish people of both sexes.

It’s not just work, but our culture that has been outsourced to foreign lands or computerized to the point that no human element remains.

In our rush to maximize efficiency and computerize everything, we have certainly made progress. But progress is not always progressive, and some boons are sordid. The return of the butcher shop, urban agriculture, local beer and the like feels somewhat transgressive, as if it is taboo to buck the trend of the high-efficiency/low cost model. Some of the pleasure that comes from shopping at the farmer’s market -- beyond meeting the farmers and the sense of community you get when you know where you food comes from -- is that in truth you should not be there. It would be easier, cheaper, to just buy your tomatoes at the grocery store. You feel like you’ve broken the rules when your tomatoes come from a blue-haired old lady who lives outside Clanton.

In that same spirit of rule-breaking sits the architecture firm McAlpine Tankersley. For the past 30 years, the firm founded by Bobby McAlpine has refused to be pushed into the high-efficiency, low cost model. The first thing I noticed after walking in the door of the McAlpine Tankersley offices was the absence of computers. Ok, that’s a lie. I knew a little about the firm, had heard off-hand remarks about the firm’s use of hand drawings, understood that the cost of those drawings was quite high.

Computer aided drafting is the norm in the architecture world. The computer helps you draw straight, exact lines, assists in developing drawings with the proper proportions, allows for easy correction of mistakes and saves the architect countless hours crouching atop a drafting table. In truth, I was looking for computers when I walked in the door, ready for rumors to be confirmed or

dispelled. Anyway… there are almost no computers in McAlpine Tankersley’ s offices.

According to Chris Tippett, a partner at McAlpine Tankersley, the firm’s choice to draw by hand is both “happenstance and purposeful.” It’s happenstance in the sense that the principals of the firm prefer to draw by hand, and therefore ask their employees to work in their preferred medium. But it’s also purposeful. John Sease, the other partner I spoke with for this story, explained that “there is a tactile nature to the drawing part of it that makes it easier and more real than it would be just a line on a screen. It’s a romantic thing. Even a modern house has romance to it. That romance gets lost in a computer drawing.” While hand-drawing architectural plans results in a substantial increase in cost, McAlpine Tankersley believes the value of hand-drawing makes those costs worthwhile.

Apparently, so do McAlpine Tankersley clients.

Now, clever reader, you may be wondering how an analog architecture firm can find suitable employees in a digital world. University architecture programs are fully computerized for the most part, with learning to draft by hand akin to learning Latin: It’s fine as an exercise in the humanities, but has limited practical application. Tippett explained that even though hand drawing is becoming a lost art, students still learn to hand draw if they take advantage of study abroad programs. “Study abroad programs don’t use computers -- they have a sketch book and they are out drawing,” Tippet said, and it is during these abroad programs that students have a “first experience being able to look at something, to figure out the proportions on a piece of paper.”

Tippett thinks that once you start drawing by hand, you are inspired to draw more. One need not be a great artist,, but someone with an eye for drawing can put art into their drafting. Or, as Sease put it, “the technique, the quirks, each individual’s drawings are like each individuals handwriting.”

McAlpine Tankersley’s quest to find qualified young architects is aided by the firm’s relationship to Auburn. All but three of the firm’s architects in the Montgomery office attended Auburn, and many of them were actually taught by Bobby McAlpine himself. While McAlpine no longer teaches, Auburn’s study abroad program -- where students get their first taste of hand drawing -- is directed by Scott Finn, whose partner works for McAlpine Tankersley. This pipeline helps McAlpine Tankersley identify potential interns who can draw, who have a good work ethic, and who have promise. Often, those interns become full-time employees.

Bobby McAlpine has a saying, something he impressed upon his students and stresses with his

colleagues: “Why it is is what it is.” This simple aphorism drives the firm’s entire approach. During early interviews with clients, it is the architects job to figure out the “why.” A client says, “I want a large dining room so that I can regularly host dinner parties for at least 12 people.” The why -entertaining -- leads to the what -- a dining room sufficient to graciously host parties. Start with the dining room table. If you want to seat 12 people, how large must the room be accommodate a table of that size? What size windows are proportionate?

How high must the ceilings be to create the feeling of grandeur the client desires? Is the dining room sufficiently important to this client that it can serve as the heart of the house? Should the entire home revolve around this room, or would the client prefer a living room in that role? If the dining room’s dimensions are X, what dimensions will the remaining rooms need to be in order for the entire house to have the proper proportions? These are the “why” questions that make the house “what” it will be for the client.

One thing all McAlpine Tankersley projects share, regardless of individual clients’ desire, is a grounding in classical architecture. McAlpine Tankersley pulls from Europeans influences, whether English, French, or Mediterranean, but then puts a modern gloss on those classic forms. History creates a base and informs the finished product, no different than how a guitar player must learn the chords before it’s possible to jam. Using classic structures and forms as a base makes it easier for the firm’s architects to solve problems. There are dozens of books of classical architecture in the firm’s library and sprinkled throughout the office, and the architects can look back to the past to see how a current problem can be solved.

Sease explained that each unique project shares some common problems. “Every house must have a kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, and each house has its own heart and soul. That said, you still need to figure out where the sink will go, where the shower will go, and how all the rooms will interact.”

Another frequent problem results when a client’s wish list includes “laundry rooms, mud rooms, dog rooms, home gyms, etc.” and “the tail begins to wag the dog” according to Tippett. Adding all of these rooms requires the proportions of classic architecture to be stretched, and then the architect must figure out how those rooms will interact with the necessaries. Often, people will live in a home for a year and realize they use the home completely differently than they thought they would upon moving in. The architect’s job is to learn about the client, determine the client’s style of life, and then help the client edit their needs in order to avoid that sinking, one-year-in feeling.

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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HAND DRAWINGS OF THE A&P COURTYARD ELEVATIONS

PARTNERS: BOBBY, CHRIS, JOHN, GREG

In a similar fashion, architects can use design to determine how their projects will interact with the community at large. Tippett talked about a development in Atlanta where each house is built along a huge common green. Each house shares its “yard” with its neighbors, and this builds a sense of community impossible to create when fences and privacy are the primary concern. This sense of community inspired Tippet when he served as lead architect on The A&P Lofts project. Tippett designed The A&P to have a pedestrian environment with shopping, communal spaces, and numerous areas that everyone -- tenants, home-owners, random passersby -- can use. In the old days, before air conditioning, neighbors would sit on their porches and their stoops to avoid the heat trapped in their dwellings.

Neighbors could visit, gossip, chat, laugh, and get to know one another. At The A&P, there are balconies that look out onto a common courtyard so that residents can see and visit with their neighbors. This was one of many features Tippett designed into The A&P project in an attempt to to bring that community interaction back.

“We are still learning from things we knew a long time ago, but that we forgot,” Tippett said. Winding streets that go nowhere, people isolated from each other on huge lots, communities where no one speaks to one another -- these are modern inventions. Before the suburb, before the highway system, back when the home was your castle, not a castle, you had interactive neighborhoods.

While residential architecture can only do so much to encourage this

interactivity, Sease told me that in meetings they often ask their clients to think communally, and not to build residences that could double as fortresses.

After speaking with Tippett and Sease, I got the sense that the firm does things the old way if that method remains the best way. When cabinets are installed in the homes they design, the architects ask the carpenters to paint the cabinets on site. If the cabinetry is painted in a box in the carpenter’s shop, it looks like a car -- high gloss finish, totally fake. The carpenters will often argue, “’but if we hand paint the cabinets, they will not have a consistent finish,’ but that’s exactly what we want” Tippett explained. A rough, textured, uneven finish lets the homeowner know that the cabinets weren’t simply machined along with thousands of other, identical, pieces of wood and metal.

And that goes back to the hand drawings. McAlpine Tankersley stands against the notion of, as Sease put it, “the machine does that… why are we worried about it?” Computers and industrial processes can make everything in life fast and easy, but at a certain point, it all becomes cut and paste.

Computers and mass manufacturing make it easier to be lazy, to ignore differences in conditions and to apply the same solution to every problem.

Hand drawing forces McAlpine Tankersley architects to view each project as unique, to solve each design problem based on the individual project’s conditions, to put sensitivity and soul into every set of plans. Although it’s not the cheapest or easiest way to design houses, hand drawing performs a beautiful bit of alchemy: it takes engineering and turns it into art.

Follow McAlpine Tankersley on their blog, Finding Home, at mcalpinetankersleyblog.com

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PHOTOS FOR MTA FEATURE COURTESY MICK HALES, KRIS KENDRICK, TRIA GIOVAN, JEAN ALLSOPP, ERICA DINES

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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WORDS ANNA LOWDER

Turkey is fine and all, but let’s be honest here: you like Thanksgiving for the sides. I said it.

That bird is average at best, but those mounds of mashed potatoes, piles of skillet corn, bowls of sautéed greens… well, those are worth writing about. Some would say even worth traveling across country for every November.

To honor the proud tradition of the Thanksgiving side dish, we’ve elevated its standing to The Crucial Component of the holiday meal. The comforting starches, fresh vegetables, and sweet casseroles are what make memories for most of us.

Thanksgiving sides are what keep us, literally, coming back for more each year.

MADE reached out to our favorite local chefs to find out their beloved dishes. Chefs Wesley, Leo and David - they each jumped at the opportunity to share some old family recipes or restaurant best-sellers. All feature seasonal and local the best way to savor this festive fall holiday.

I’ve also added a MADE Reader Favorite. We reached out to our readers via Facebook & Instagram for your delicious holiday sides. The favorite is featured here, updated with a contemporary Southern slant.

Share photos of your Thanksgiving meal with MADE on Facebook & Instagram! @madepaper

Ingredients: 1/2 cup pecan halves 3/4 cup greek yogurt 2 T minced fresh flat-leaf parsley 2 T minced fresh chives 1 T lemon zest, finely grated sea salt & freshly ground black pepper 2 large crisp red apples 1 cup red grapes, halved 2 stalks celery (with leaves), sliced into 1/4” thick pieces (leaves chopped) 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 bunch fingerling radishes, sliced into 1/4” thick pieces 1 cup blue cheese, 1/2” pieces (sweet grass dairy asher blue or similar) serves 4

This 1890’s classic holiday staple was born in New York’s Waldorf Hotel, created by Oscar Tschirky, the famed maitre d’hotel. Traditionally composed with apples, celery and walnuts, I’ve updated the century-old recipe with this New South version.

Livened up with southern apples and radishes, this seasonal rendition also throws local pecans and blue cheese into the mix. The result is a bright side dish that wakes up the palate, perfectly complimenting your turkey and cranberry sauce.

Throw chopped turkey in for a delicious leftover.

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Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast 8-10 minutes.

Cool and break into small pieces.

2. Whisk yogurt, herbs, lemon zest in a large bowl and season to taste.

3. Halve, core, and cut the apples into 1/2-inch chunks, leaving the skin intact. Add apples, grapes, celery, radishes, and lemon juice to dressing bowl and toss. Cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately.

4. When ready to serve, stir pecans and small blue cheese chunks into the salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chef Wesley shares his version of Thanksgiving stuffing. Drawing on his seasoned knowledge of Gulf seafood (Wesley is one of the prominent chefs featured in the national Gulf Seafood campaign), he creates a classic oyster stuffing in place of the more conventional Southern cornbread dressing. The oysters add a briny, unexpected flavor that matches well with the mildness of turkey. serves 6

Risotto ingredients: ½ t saffron threads fresh thyme fresh parsley fresh rosemary ½ onion chopped 1 clove garlic minced 2 T butter 1 cup EVOO 1 cup cubed acorn squash 1 cup cubed sweet potato 2 cups of butternut squash puree 2 cups Arborio rice ½ cup white wine 1 qt chicken or vegetable stock ¼ cup Parmigiano Reggiano Method: 1. Peel and dice acorn squash and sweet potatoes to ¼” pieces. Set aside.

2. In a medium sauce pot, bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil and drop squash and sweet potatoes in for 4 minutes. Remove from water and place in an ice water bath until thoroughly cooled. Reserve.

3. Place wine and saffron in a small pot over low heat and begin to “bloom” saffron.

4. Melt butter and 2 ounces EVOO in a saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onions and garlic. Cook until translucent and add rice. Continue cooking and

Ingredients: 1 pint shucked oysters 4 T pistachios chopped 1 T Tarragon chopped 1/6 cup parsley chopped 1 pound bread (or 10 cups packed & cubed bread) 2 cups sautéed spinach 1 cups raw onion 1 cup celery chopped 8 cloves garlic chopped ½ t nutmeg 4 T butter 2 large eggs ½ cup chicken broth ½ cup oyster juice (from pint) ½ cup Parmesan ¼ cup white wine 1 T salt ½ T black pepper

Method: In a sautee pan, bring olive oil to temp over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, paprika, red pepper flakes.

Sautee for 1 minute, then add shrimp. Sautee shrimp until firm, pour cognac and lemon juice over shrimp and sautee for 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve for plating over risotto.

2. Place butter in medium hot pan. Add onions, celery, garlic and sauté for 4 minutes 3. Deglaze pan with oyster juice, chicken stock & white wine. Add oysters and cook 2 minutes 4. In a bowl, combine this sautéed mixture with parsley, tarragon, bread, beaten egg, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt & ground black pepper 5. Transfer to casserole dish and bake 40 minutes at 350 until golden brown, or stuff into turkey and bake for a traditional stuffing.

WWW.TRUEMONTGOMERY.COM

serves 4

stirring until the rice begins to brown.

5. Pour saffron-infused wine over rice, stir and cook until evaporated. Add enough chicken stock to cover rice, stir and cook until liquid is reduced. Repeat this process 2 more times and add diced acorn squash, sweet potato and butternut squash puree.

6. Hit the risotto one more time with chicken stock, reduce completely. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste and fold in fresh minced herbs. Sprinkle liberally with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Shrimp ingredients: 1 lb fresh Gulf shrimp 4 large cloves of garlic, shaved 1 shallot shaved 1 t sweet Spanish paprika 1 t red pepper flakes 3 oz bourbon (traditional recipe calls for cognac) 4 oz EVOO 3 t fresh parsley chopped 1 lemon for juice

Method: 1. Toast cubed bread in oven 15 minutes at 350˚ til golden brown

Chef Leo brings his Panamanian heritage to the table, combining traditional Thanksgiving fare with new bold flavors. Saffron, garlic, Spanish paprika and lemon wake up root vegetables, while risotto and Catalan-style shrimp offer a bold replacement for rice and gravy.

Ingredients: 1 large baked & peeled sweet potato ¼ cup honey 3 T sugar 2 t kosher salt 1 t ground ginger 1 t fresh black pepper ½ t cinnamon 6oz cream cheese- room temp 6oz Belle Chevre goat cheese 1 cup crispy chopped bacon 1 cup chopped toasted pecans ½ cup minced green onions

WWW.CENTRAL129COOSA.COM

Method: 1. Bake the sweet potato wrapped in aluminum foil until completely tender. Remove the potato from the foil then peel and discard the skin.

2. While the potato is still warm, place in a mixing bowl and add the honey, sugar and spices. Mix ingredients into the potato using a large fork until completely smooth.

3. Add the softened cream cheese and goat cheese to the potato mix and fold together careful not to over mix. 4. Place the dip into a serving bowl and top with bacon, pecans and green onions. Allow the dip to cool before serving. Serve with favorite crackers.

serves 6

Since we’re breaking all the rules, here’s another curve ball. Why not invite a spread or “dip” to your holiday table? Chef David shares his sweet and tangy recipe - an ideal replacement for tired sweet potato casserole, if you dare. Brightened with local goat cheese and bacon, this pairs with bowls of green beans or biscuits. Not brave enough? Serve as an hors d’ouevres with sparkling wine as family arrives.

WWW.ACREAUBURN.COM

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“It would break your heart,” she said. “Everything of value has been stolen. It’s utterly condemnable.”

As we walked up the steps of the historical Holt Street Baptist Church these words, spoken to us earlier that day, echoed in our ears. How can a building that represents the beginning of the movement that changed America, where thousands gathered the night of Rosa Parks’ arrest under the banner of resolve and the words of MLK, and where a true dream began, be so abandoned and forgotten?

This brick and mortar represents many buildings like it in our city. From Cottage Hill to Capital Heights, the buildings that line these hallowed streets are missing their hearts – the dreamers that once made them what they were. Simply put, these buildings existed because people inhabited them – there was life within their four walls – the people, and their dreams, as their heartbeat.

So how do we get the heart back?

From the days of the five and dime and soda shops to a new generation waiting to inhabit and dream new dreams into these places where the shadows of what was and now what we believe is to come, speak to a newfound Revival of Resolve in all of us – one where we decide firmly on a course of action.

If we live in the Capitol of Dreams two questions arise: How do we collaborate between the Capitol City and the dreamers? And why does it seem to be so difficult?

We meet and speak to people who are dreaming big dreams for this place we call Home. We “hear” the buildings too, and like to think these places remember what they once were and await a new generation dreamer to make them another part of history.

So tell us, what are you dreaming?

Email us with your thoughts: dream@madepaper.com

WORDS CAROLINE TAYLOR

Oliver Michaels, Gamaliel Rodriguez and Harvi Sahota utilize individual approaches to architecture as a vehicle for narrative or story. Interpreted Architecture is the inaugural exhibition at Made Gallery.

Artist Spotlight: Gamaliel Rodriguez Influenced by both his years spent in the military and his native Puerto Rico (particularly the 1950s industrialization of the island, “Operation Bootstrap”) Gamaliel Rodriguez executed his series Dark Thoughts while in residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, New York. Other works in the series are currently on view at the Museum of Puerto Rico.

The paintings – from viewpoint of an aerial photo or surveillance video, give clear image of a situation, but relay misinformation about what is actually happening in the image.

Drawing on Roland Barthes’ rhetoric of semiotics, architectural elements imagined and created by the artist act as clues, but the story is completed by the viewer with his or her personal references and experiences – eliciting a state of nostalgia and obscurity in the work.

With an MFA from Kent Institute, UK, Gamaliel’s works have been shown internationally including Galería Espacio Minimo, Madrid; Museum of Modern Art Arnhem, Arnhem, The Netherlands; Sandbekkstua, Raelingen, Norway. His work is included in the collections of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and Comunidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.

Interpreted Architecture is the inaugural exhibition at Made Gallery. Oliver Michaels, Gamaliel Rodriguez and Harvi Sahota utilize individual approaches to architecture as a vehicle for narrative or story.

Join us on November 7 from 6-8pm for the Opening Reception of Interpreted Architecture.

Oliver Michaels, Gamaliel Rodriguez, Harvi Sahota Curated by Caroline Taylor MADE Gallery, November 7 - 21, 2013, The A&P, 505 Cloverdale Road, Unit 102

ARTWORK COURTESY GAMALIEL RODRIGUEZ NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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EXPLORE Southern Makers Words KATIE VEGA

Photos MICHELLE MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Southern Makers, a celebration that was a mere dream just a couple of years ago, has now turned into a Taste of the South and Garden and Gun publicized event—held right here in Montgomery, Alabama. The first annual Southern Makers—curated by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Matter, EAT South, and Southern Accents Architectural Antiques— was assembled to bring Alabama’s top chefs, artists, designers, and craftspeople together to one central location.

And they did just that…and so much more.

The second annual Southern Makers is set for May 3, 2014, but you don’t have to wait all those months to get in on the action. Explore Southern Makers was established to act as a pop-up for the main event—aimed at gearing people up for the main shindig, especially those people who weren’t aware that Southern Makers existed. To learn more about it, we talked with Andrea Jean, Marketing and Communications Director at Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood and key player in establishing the celebration of Southern Makers.

Why do you think it’s so important to support and show off Alabama’s talent in an event like Southern Markers?

Primarily, Andrea thinks there is a lack of awareness around the amazing talent that lives and works in the South. You always hear about designers, architects, and artists coming out of big cities like New York and Los Angeles; but the South, not so much. She also finds it interesting to explore why these people choose to live in the South versus the Northeast, West Coast, or overseas—places where they also could thrive. She believes that southern makers are connected to the heritage, the traditions, and the land, and these play important roles in their modern creations. From

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chefs to artists, architects to designers—the South is in their souls. Southern Makers’ curators and creators believe passionately in the potential here in Montgomery and across the Southeast. Andrea believes this is a way to provide an experience that communicates the core of their brands.

How did the idea of a pop-up for Southern Makers come about? Andrea, along with others involved, sees Southern Makers as a movement and touring miniversions of the event throughout the Southeast seemed to make sense. Their goal? To spread the word and tap into the realms of other visionaries who may not know about Southern Makers.

Explain the PechaKucka format and why it partners well with Explore Southern Makers. PechaKucha is an innovative presentation style that originated in Tokyo.

This format will bring together creative minds from the art, food, and design communities across the Southeast to share their inspiration, talents, and ideas. Each presenter has twenty slides, each up for twenty seconds, and they will talk about the images along the way. The hope of these intimate gatherings is to prompt dialogue and conversations between makers and guests. Explore Southern Makers, powered by PechaKucha, will tap into the creativity and design techniques used by artists that live and work across the Southeast.

Who are the featured makers at Explore Southern Makers Huntsville? Will they make their way into the lineup at the big event?

Edwin Marty with EAT South, Garlan Gudger with Southern Accents Architectural Antiques, Wood Studio’s Keith Cochran, Kellie Guthrie with Re-Invention/G.E.A.R by R-I, Tasia Malakasis with Belle Chevre, Tony Reid with Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, and Downtown Hunstville , Inc.’s CEO Chad Emerson will be featured at Explore Southern Makers Huntsville. These presenters encompass a wide range of makers—activists, animators, arbiters, architects, artists, chefs, critics, curators, designers, dreamers, entrepreneurs, fabricators, fashionistas, historians, rabble-rousers, scientists, insiders and outsiders—each woven with the common thread of wanting to celebrating the best in creativity and design across the South. Presenters at Explore Southern Makers have or will be a part of the movement and these gatherings are being used as extensions of the annual Southern Makers celebration.

What should people bring to these pop-up events?

Attendees just need to bring themselves, a few bucks for a drink, and most importantly—an open mind. Andrea says they hope to prompt discussion and further the Southern Makers movement with these informal gatherings—where imaginative people simply get together and share ideas.

Give us a little teaser for the main event in May. Think Southern Wonderland…

Explore Southern Makers hits Huntsville on November 7 from 6 pm – 9 pm at Amendment XXI. To get updates on other pop-up events and the main shindig, visit their website (southernmakers.com), Facebook (Southern Makers), and Instagram (@southernmakers).

FEATURE FILM NERD ALERT! COMPUTER CHESS, REVIEWED Instagram: MadePaper Post photos of your Makers events, gallery shows, and more.

Tag @MadePaper!

November 7 Explore Southern Makers: Huntsville Amendment XXI, Downtown Huntsville

6 to 9 p.m.

Explore Southern Makers powered

by PechaKucha taps into the best in creativity and design with artists that live and work in Huntsville and across the Southeast through intimate gatherings.

Presenters will use the PechaKucha format to show 20 images for 20 seconds each. Visit southernmakers.com for info.

November 7-December 2 Interpreted Architecture MADE Gallery at The A&P

WORDS EVANS BAILEY

PHOTOS JON KOHN

Computer Chess is an artsy/mumblecore version of the recent Ed Helms vehicle, Cedar Rapids. There’s a shitty hotel, a convention for nerds in a shitty convention hall, some partying, a hooker, and a convention head who thinks way too much of himself. But, where Cedar Rapids goes through the motions of a simple “don’t be so uptight” tale (WITH DRUGS), Computer Chess goes off on far more thought-provoking tangents (WITH DRUGS).

As the title implies, the glasses and short-sleeve-with-a-tie-wearing characters (and one girl) are gathered together to pit their chess playing computers against each other in a tournament to see which computer gets to play the convention’s human leader in a classic man v. machine matchup. Stuck together over some lost weekend in the late seventies or early eighties, the film loosely follows each team of programmers as they proceed through the tournament and interact in-between matches. There’s the academic squad, who’s leader may or may not be in cahoots with Pentagon, the loose cannon, who knows about the feminine side of programming but not how to reserve a room, and conspiracy spouting “fans.”

Shot in a grainy gray befitting of the era, Computer Chess leaves Cedar Rapids in its wake based on its depth. The depth comes not from the chess action, which is rarely featured, but from the characters post-match (sometimes hazy) musings on chess and the burgeoning realm of artificial “intelligence.” There is a dark current to the film, too.

All of the players clearly love chess, the theory, and the competition, yet they gather together to play their favorite game by proxy. These are people who have poor social skills, ostracized by others, who don’t want to directly interact with one another in a “safe” place. The darkness is greatly underscored by the spookiness surrounding with the Cal Tech team. Their computer seems to be on the fritz, making suicidal moves that torpedo their chance of repeating as champions, but their young programmer learns in a late night session with the lone girl that his computer only wants to play (*GASP*) human opponents. We don’t learn until later that the Cal Tech device may be the second coming of HAL 9000.

With no real protagonist and no overarching message, the faux-documentary vignettes and tangents can be a little confusing at times. But there’s some deep stuff going on here, a little bit of the surreal, and a fair amount of squirmy humor too (and LOTS of cats). The young programmer’s almost three-way with some cult-like members is particularly cringe-inducing.

Released earlier this year to some fanfare at the Sundance Film Festival, Computer Chess is the fourth feature from Austin-based director Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha). The film has cult-potential, but the directing style and the lack of any recognizable actors (except maybe Wiley Wiggins, a/k/a Mitchy Cramer from Dazed and Confused) will probably keep Computer Chess from reaching Lebowski-like status. There’s also not enough heart here to make a classic. In the end, the computers win.

(temporarily located at 505 Cloverdale Road, Unit 102) Interpreted Architecture exhibition opens November 7 featuring works from international artists Oliver Michaels, Gamaliel Rodriguez and Harvi Sahota. No charge for admission.

Call 334.223.4862 or email editor@ madepaper.com for an appointment.

November 16-17 Alabama Dance Theatre Presents “MISTLETOE” Davis Theatre

2:30 p.m.

The Alabama Dance Theatre opens its 27th season with Montgomery’s holiday production of “MISTLETOE.” More than 90 dancers and artists participate in this year’s production which features “Favorite Dances of Christmas” and “The Messiah” with The Montgomery Chorale Ensemble.

Tickets and info at alabamadancetheatre. com or 334.241.2800.

November 21 To Kill a Mockingbird Capri Theatre

7:30 p.m.

Capri Classic returns November 21 at 7:30 p.m. only.

Tickets $7 for Members; $9 for NonMembers. capritheatre.org

November 23 Artist Market

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Shop and meet the artists at the 4th annual Artist Market featuring more than 30 artists. This event is free and open to the public. Info at mmfa.org.

Starting November 29 A Christmas Carol

Alabama Shakespeare Festival

The ASF holiday tradition starts November 29 and runs through December 24. Tickets start at just $30.

Call the Box Office at 800.841.4273 or visit asf.net to reserve your seats.

Computer Chess runs November 29 - December 5. Visit www.capritheatre.org

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH

, o i c c a p ar C , m s i un m m o C Cuba: um R d n a Rap

2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination, an event in our recent past that will always be intertwined with the fate of our island neighbor. Most people understand that travel between the US and Cuba is not exactly a free flowing shipping lane from Key West to Havana. What you may not know is that we still maintain an embargo - or as the Cubanos call it - El Blockado - meaning no trade or travel between the nations. (Though Alabama has a special trade agreement to provide certain ag products including chicken and wood, that is of a more humanitarian nature than it is commercial.)

Let’s get this out of the way up front: Communism sucks, and the best way to end Communist rule in Cuba, and bring freedom and opportunity to our nearest Caribbean neighbor, is to End The Embargo.

But since the focus of “Off The Beaten Path” is food, I decided to focus this month’s entry on the culinary aspects of my recent trip to America’s Cold War bête noir.

The obvious question then is - “How did you get to go?” The second question everyone asks me is “How was the food?” I got to go because a friend of mine invited me, and he was able to get our group past customs via a license from the US government.

Unfortunately, the food was not what you might expect for such an exotic locale. The best meal we ate the entire time was at The Columbia Restaurant in Tampa the night before we left.

The one thing that seemed omni-present at every place or meal was a Cuban style antipasti with a passable prosciutto, something like bologna, and a cold cut that resembled mortadella - bologna with the white blotches. None of this was bad, per se, but it wasn’t like getting the antipasti plate at an Italian restaurant either. The cheeses were ok, but all were presented in a shape akin to a combination triangle/ crinkle cut fry, and most appeared to be leaking oils due to the heat. Some of these plates featured small, mealy shrimp and olives.

The best meals we ate were at the Hotel Nacional, where upon arrival we got several sandwich plates, including, yes, a cuban sandwich. For some reason the meats were more appetizing in sandwich form.

Though not on an official delegation trip, on our second night, we did meet with several officers of the Cuban government, including The Minister of The Interior. We had what passes for a dinner party at The Hotel Nacional. The choices were fish or steak, and being that we were on an island, I opted for the fish. It wasn’t bad or inedible, but if you were served this as a hotel’s example of an entree they would serve at your wedding, you would quickly decide on another venue.

It was interesting to interact with government types in a casual environment. To a man they were exceedingly polite, and happy and interested to speak to Americanos. I did refrain from telling them that El Jefe Castro is a Puto Communisto, just for decorum’s sake, though.

The next day we were treated to a 200km bus ride to Xanadu - The DuPont Mansion. When you hear that Cuba is 90 miles from Key West, that’s the measurement from the end of the old pier at Xanadu to the shore at Key West. Nothing like cramming 10 hungover gringos into a Chinese-made bus for 3 hours to see a renovated old house and have lunch.

On the way we stopped at a Cuban rest stop, which is not to be confused with something you’d encounter on The New Jersey Turnpike - nary a Sbarro or Starbucks in sight. They did 14

MADEPAPER.COM • NOVEMBER 2013

WORDS & PHotos DAVID MOWERY

have what seemed to be an ever present bar. For the equivalent of $3 you could get a fresh pina colada to which you add your own rum. Needless to say “some” in our group would gulp down half the frothy coconut concoction while it was virgin, and then fill the glass back to the top with Havana Club.

Side Note Here: The Rum is Awesome. Havana Club, which Bacardi sells a Z Grade knock-off of here in the states, is truly a drink of champions. It comes in several varietals, of which we found the 7 year to be the mid-point between taste and price, and the 1 or 3 year great for dumping into a glass with any mixer available. It was readily available everywhere we went.

The meal at Xanadu, named for a Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem about Kubla Khan, may have been the worst of the entire trip. Our fish, billed as Red Snapper, tasted like a cross between old dried out tilapia and shoe leather. What they lacked in culinary skill, they made up for in stout and sugary mojitos which readily fortified us for the ride back to Havana.

While traversing the countryside, we saw a few emaciated cows grazing on farms situated by the road side. It was explained to us that before La Revolucion, one of Cuba’s main agricultural products was beef. They once had grand ranches that were appropriated in post-revolution land reforms. The result is a once proud industry brought low, and it is now illegal to kill a cow in Cuba. The Government controls the supply and much of it is set aside for tourists - which explains carpaccio being on every palladar menu.

That evening we enjoyed the first of two meals at a Palladar, which are “the Cubans’ attempt at private restaurants.”

These are usually in private homes and reminded me of the Gasthouses we used to eat at when I lived in Germany as a kid. You’re basically in a restaurant set up in someone’s home, usually on the bottom floor, and the residence is on the upper floors.

This one was called La Havaina. We ate in a side room near the kitchen, which looked like a professional kitchen you would see here in the states in a smaller restaurant. The food choices included a special of tres de mare - pescado, camarones, and langosta - fish, shrimp and lobster. The appetizer special was carpaccio de pulpo, which Javier the proprietor told me he caught and prepped himself that morning. This may have been the best thing I ate on island.

There was also an option of rabbit in gravy over rice. While most of our party opted for the tres de mare, I got the rabbit.

I enjoy rabbit, and this was good, though it could have been deboned a bit better. Nothing like reaching in your mouth at the table to pull out shards of bone from between your molars. It was also bland to my pallet. Like Chicken Ala King or something your grandparents served at dinner parties when everyone was too drunk to care about the “flavor components” of their meal.

TI, L’il Wayne and others. They were impressed when I told them about meeting Weezy in ATL and Wacka Flocka “A la playa.” The biggest hit of the night, though, was Icona Pop and Charlie XCX’s “I Don’t Care (I Love It)” which pretty much brought the house down. During the evening, I bought a round of shots, and I asked one of our new friends “Can I yell ‘Viva La Revolucion!’ as our toast?” She said “No - I understand you like the iconography, but La Revolucion means nothing to us.”

The next morning came early, but with a great adventure - we went to Finca Vigia - Ernest Hemingway’s house. And thankfully they were grinding out sugar cane juice for strong rum drinks. My constitution was weak at this point, and the rum was much needed - and the sugar more so.

After belting a few of those back, I loaded up on cheap souvenirs and we went back to La Floridita - The Home Of The Daquiri - and featuring a bronze statue of Papa himself leaning against the bar.

On our last night, we went to another Palladar, billed as the top one in Havana. The neighborhood, architecture and clientele all indicated a higher class neighborhood - pretty interesting for a classless worker’s paradise. The food was on par with what we had at La Havaina, though the service was a little slower and the portions a little smaller. Carpaccio must be the new thing down there, as it was a choice for appetizer at this place as well. Here I decided to go with the special of langosta. They were caught that day. And while the lobster was fresh, it was not as meaty or succulent as the type of tail you would get in the US. It was saved by squirting lime over it, as the butter wasn’t drawn, and it tasted more like lard anyway.

We spent the remainder of that evening with our friends from the night before at a club featuring some traditional Cuban singers - and where they proceeded to drink sweet vermouth on ice. If you’ve never tasted it, it’s like a cross between red wine and vinegar, and there’s a reason it’s best known as an ingredient in a drink and not a drink in and of itself.

I did however bring home a menu signed by the owner, chef and staff. As I told him: “Some of my friends have a Mario Batali from Babbo, or a John Besh from August. I have a Frank Stitt from Highlands and from Bottega - but so do a lot of people I know. Don’t nobody got a Javier from La Havaina, and they’re not likely to anytime soon” (Mas Hipster Cred, Amigo!)

We asked them about the reason the food was generally bland, or not that great, and it makes sense - they can’t get too much in the way of ingredients. The main spices they have to work with are salt, pepper, garlic and lime. And thinking back over the meals we had, that is exactly what most of them were flavored with. It explains why the carpaccio were so prevalent, and why some of the things that sounded good came out with the taste and texture of wet cardboard.

That night we stayed out until the sun came up at a Cuban disco-cum-nightclub. Imagine Bud’s if Bud put in Christmas lights, white banquets, and a DJ. It was an interesting time spent interacting with the locals and other foreign visitors.

And in case you are wondering, youth culture world wide is rap culture. They played, and the crowd all knew, Macklemore,

So while I can (and in a later expanded story, will) tell you more about how the embargo affects the lives of the Cuban people, let’s focus on what’s important here: if we lifted the embargo not only would we free 12 million people from under a Communist dictator’s boot heel, tourists would be able to get better food.

Words NATILEE MCGRUDER Photos WESTON MARKWELL

As an Air Force transplant who moved with my family from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to Maxwell AFB here in Montgomery, I have a long-standing connection with the military way of life and an affinity for travel and different cultures. I was nine when this life changing move to Alabama occurred and, in part because of my age, easily melded into to the “Southern Way of Life.” While my move consisted of a paltry 600 odd miles and a change in (albeit very different) US cultures, Melissa Smith of Manchester, Jamaica moved 1,230 miles to Montgomery and a world of difference in culture and temperature with her active duty husband and her two young sons.

When she arrived it was winter—January 2000 in Montgomery seemed cold and unforgiving as well as incredibly foreign. Melissa is soft spoken with a lyrical nature to her speech, common of people who are native to the Caribbean seas.

She notes that the first few months, “we went to Atlanta every weekend to help me adjust, to eat Jamaican food and buy spices. I was depressed and in culture shock.” Things might have been harder had her family not lived on base because as Melissa explains, “the military is big on family and that was a blessing.”

Things took a turn for the better when Melissa and her husband Richard, high school sweethearts, attended an office party where he had volunteered her services to make jerk chicken. The dish was a roaring success and they were encouraged to open a restaurant to provide a taste of Jamaica to Montgomery, something that Melissa had already been contemplating.

After almost 11 years of business, Island Delight has become a part of the fabric of Montgomery, as have Melissa and her family. Located on Air Base Boulevard just a stone’s throw away from the Day Street entrance of the base, Island Delight has resulted in many happy military personnel who leave on assignment and tell people on bases in Japan and Germany the gem that can be found in Montgomery, Alabama.

Looking back on how far she has come, from not having a drivers license and feeling miserable in a foreign land to providing a place of love and cultural sharing for her new Montgomery family - as well as her parents who now live here - Melissa says, “I am happy I actually did [open Island Delight] because I have met some amazing people who I can now call friends. They have watched my children grow up, I have been there for the birth of theirs and now we are almost like family. I especially enjoy the looks on my military family faces after they have left for Melissa’s biggest challenge used to be that other bases for a few years and return to find me. It people were not familiar with Caribbean cuisine makes me feel really good when they say they were and were hesitant to try it, but after 11 years she praying I was still here.” has gathered a reputation for fall-off-the bone tender ox tails, delicious jerk chicken, whole red Stop by and see Melissa at Island Delight at 323 Air Base Blvd, snapper, king fish and tilapia to order as well as Montgomery, AL 36108. Phone: 334 264-0041. Hours of operation the ubiquitous Jamaican beef patties and rice and are Monday-Friday 11am – 4pm. beans. One question customers often ask “is it real goat meat?” makes her laugh. Her rotating menu FOOD & DRINK EVENTS features curry goat and chicken and she always has a great selection of natural sodas like ginger November 12 beer as well as fruit juices. At this point what she Trivia Night really needs is reliable help, which according to Leroy 7 p.m.

Come join the crew at Leroy for the monthly Melissa and other small business owners she has Trivia Night. leroylounge.com consulted with, is a problem around town. She is looking for someone ideally who knows how to November 17 prepare the cuisine, but who at least is willing to Fantastic Farms Fall Festival Hampstead Farm learn and be trained. With her eye on expansion 1 to 4:30 p.m. to another location where she can do lunch and Montessori School at Hampstead and E.A.T. South present the 2nd annual Fantastic Farms dinner, reliable help is a must.

Melissa explained that throwing herself into the daunting task of restaurant ownership as the chef, busboy, cashier and wait staff all rolled into one while caring for her sons allowed her to shake her depression and introduced to her Caribbean people in the area, Jamaican food enthusiasts, and island culture neophytes who all became a part of her new family. Through the restaurant she has made life-long friends who made her transition a lot easier.

Melissa has made Montgomery her home and doesn’t plan on leaving it any time soon, but one thing she would like see is more activities for young people and families. She feels that when you don’t have things for kids to do, they get in trouble, which is one reason why she has started a youth program at her church, Montgomery First Seventh-Day Adventist which features music, drama and discussion classes for young people.

She was inspired by the dynamic churches she was a part of in Jamaica that would host bonfires, sing-alongs and socials in the evenings for the whole family to attend.

Fall Festival fundraiser. The festival is free for anyone to enjoy a great fall afternoon with family and friends at the barn. $10 for a farmfresh lunch; silent auction and baked goods sold separate. For info visit eatsouth.org.

Fridays in November Desde el Jardin Central 5:30 to 11 p.m.

Chef Leo Maurelli, III and the EAT South Downtown Farm join forces every Friday night for Chef Leo’s popular Friday night dinners.

Menus are created based only on what’s fresh from the farm and sea. Follow Chef Leo to watch the meal unfold from delivery to finished product on Instagram @chefleo3

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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The Lavender Pig WORDS KATIE LINDGREN Photo LUKE LINDGREN

A few months ago I was given a bar of hand soap as a gift. As I held it in my hands I realized it was made locally in Hope Hull, Alabama by The Lavender Pig. Its scent said Bergamot Grapefruit, and after one whiff I was hooked; it smelled incredible. I never realized that something so small like a bar of soap could cause me to stop and evaluate the products I use in my everyday life. But using something that was made by hand with care, and then shaking hands with the person who made it, takes the experience to a whole other level. Every time I use this soap, it leaves my hands soft, clean, and the delightful scent lingers. I know who made it, how they made it, what ingredients are in it, and most importantly, that it won’t harm my skin.

I met with The Lavender Pig owner and creator Leigh Black at The Montgomery Curb Market to talk about what she makes, and how The Lavender Pig came to exist. She explained that she started making soap because she had a skin sensitivity that prevented her from using over the counter products. Unfortunately, Leigh was forced to use soaps that had no scent. After she tried a homemade soap that smelled great and didn’t irritate her skin, she knew she had to make her own.

Making soap was only the beginning; because in addition to her bar soap Leigh now makes lotion, lip balm, body scrubs, shampoo, conditioner, and so much more. She even makes natural flea repellent for dogs. The Lavender Pig offers upwards of 70 different fragrances and flavors, and she is still expanding, experimenting, and growing.

To learn more you can visit her website www.thelavenderpig.com, or you can e-mail her at leigh@ thelavenderpig.com. She has a booth at the Montgomery Curb Market, which is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 7am-1pm.

We are pretty big beer fans here at SpringHouse, and we are particularly fond of our Alabama brewers. We have witnessed numerous breweries crop up in the past few years and they are creating greatness. Recently some brewers from Good People Brewing Company came to dine with us and I wanted to see if I could come up with a cocktail that would feature and compliment one of their crafts.

It was one of the first crisp, cool evenings of Fall so I reached for their Brown Ale. It has a nutty and malty quality that would send this drink in the right direction. Also, it could sit well with bourbon. Our house bourbon, Buffalo Trace, is rich, with an excellent balance of corn and rye further strengthening the sense of Fall I wanted this cocktail to have.

Once I decided on the base spirits I had to find a way to bridge the gap between beer and bourbon. Sweetening things up I added some maple syrup, and to marry it all together I chose to introduce fresh muddled pear. The heaviness of the beer, bourbon and maple syrup is offset slightly with the fresh fruit qualities that sit in the background of the drink.

To make The Handlebar 1.75 oz Buffalo Trace 1.5 oz maple pear syrup 2.5 oz Good People Brown Ale Pear slices for garnish

Photo JON KOHN WORDS WILL ABNER

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The Handlebar

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Maple Pear Syrup 1 pear .5 cup of maple syrup 1/3 cup white sugar 1 cup water Create a simple syrup by adding water to sugar & maple syrup and simmering. Thinly slice the pear and add to the simmering mixture. Use a wooden spoon or muddler and carefully press on the pears occasionally as they soften, but don’t mash them.

Let it sit on low for about an hour.

Add the syrup, ice, bourbon and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice and top with the beer. Garnish with a hefty slice of pear.

E.A.T. South encourages healthy lifestyles through education and sustainable food production in urban areas throughout the Southeast. www.eatsouth.org

Helping the Heroes

Words & PHOTOS SKYE BORDEN

Holy Comforter’s food pantry accomplishes something akin to a food miracle every week: it turns trash into food.

The pantry is stocked with items that are perfectly good to eat but would have, for one reason or another, ended up in a landfill instead of on a plate. On the pantry’s shelves, there are fruits and vegetables culled from farmer’s fields for being too small or oddly shaped, as well as unsold produce from local farmers’ markets. There are also donated dairy products, frozen meats, and canned goods with closeapproaching “best by” dates.

But you’d never suspect the food was salvaged just by looking at it. In fact, you’d hardly even suspect the pantry was a charity at all. Holy Comforter’s volunteers have created an atmosphere that is every bit as dignified and welcoming as your average grocery store.

While I was there, I watched as volunteer Lyn Frazer helped an old man walk slowly around the pantry’s packed walls. “Do you think your wife would like chicken this week?” she asked. “What about green peppers or onions?” Within minutes, the gentleman’s grocery bag was packed full, and Lyn had called another shopper into the room. She’d see another twenty people before the morning was over, but she assured me it was still a relatively slow day.

While too many of us stay on the sidelines, Holy Comforter’s volunteers have suited up to fight some of our country’s biggest societal problems – hunger and

wastefulness. And with one hundred families fed each week, as well as thousands of pounds of food diverted from landfills every year, I’d say they’re doing a darn good job.

The problem, however, is too big for any one group to fight.

According to the nonprofit group Feeding America, one in five Alabamians is food insecure, and nearly 50,000 people in Montgomery struggle to put food on the table every day.

As the Coordinator for the River Region Food Policy Council, I want to ensure that everyday food heroes, like Lyn, have the support that they need to fight these big battles. I also try to encourage a few new heroes to step up, too. EAT South formed the council last year with this basic idea in mind: if we link the right people to the right information and resources, they can transform their own communities. They can become food heroes, too.

Sometimes our solutions are simple. We’re working with our lawyers, for instance, to create an informational brochure for Holy Comforter and other pantries about the liability associated with washing and bagging donated produce. We’re also taking on complex challenges, like encouraging investors to support a facility to wash, sort, and distribute gleaned produce for pantries.

What would you do to encourage food heroes in your community? We’re always looking for new ideas, and we’d love to hear yours. Please consider joining the council, so that we can work together to help the heroes.

Visit www.riverregionfood.org to learn more.

What Is A “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) Program ?

It’s simple: members sign up for a season of vegetables (Spring, Summer, Fall), pay in advance, then pick up a box of fresh veggies and fruit every week of the season.

Easy and delicious!

Members of a CSA buy a subscription to the farm early in the year, which helps to pay for the seeds and farm equipment needed to get the season rolling. Additional revenue from the CSA program supports EAT South’s farms and children’s education programs.

The CSA program is offered three times each year. CSA members visit our Downtown Farm or Hampstead Farm to pick up a weekly harvest of in-season, naturallygrown vegetables, fruits, and herbs freshly harvested

from both farms. Participants receive a family-sized variety of produce valued at $25 and a newsletter complete with healthy recipes and updates about farm life and events. A limited number of work/trade positions are available each season.

Produce grown at our EAT South farms for the CSA includes:

Cut Flowers, Herbs, Peppers, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Melons, Green Beans, Sugar Peas, Arugula, Sweet Potatoes, Fennel, Collard Greens, Turnips, Shelling Peas, Onions, Squash, Cucumbers, Beets, Kale, Broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Choi, Pumpkins, Carrots, Radishes, Chilies, Chard, Spinach, Tomatoes, Cabbage For info regarding EAT South’s CSA program, email jetson@eatsouth.org

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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This month, MADE highlights a few of Montgomery’s own distinguished, sorely under-served rock bands. While our city lacks agreeable turf for physical music distribution and consignment, these bands have set a name for themselves anyway - based purely upon the strength of their live shows and personalities.

Words BRIAN CARROLL

Prattville’s Eleven Year Old plays bad ass garage-tinged surf music. By hitting two of the three or four or ten eternally cool 1950’s and ‘60’s guitar styles, their music projects the requisite dedication and focus respected in bands who attempt mining in such rich, classic veins. The youngest band on the list, these guys may look to be just out of high school, but are quietly serious about the music they make and never fail to impress. What sets them apart from lastgen Alabama surf acts like Daikaiju and Man or Astroman? is a welcome lack of kitsch in their presentation. Solid beyond their years, Eleven Year Old is a must-see band, unburdened with caricature, who fire up crowds with a driving and crucially likable sound.

An article on Montgomery music would be incomplete without highlighting the prolific Jeff McLeod, who over the course of his career as a musician in this city has put together numerous bands and albums with intelligent, unique, high concepts. These days McLeod pulls double duty as lead singer and guitarist for local hard rock band “No,” while his solo recordings find him pulling a free-handed humanity out of the freshest experimental gear as part of a wizard-like, chaotic, esoteric attack on convention. His albums feature a wide variety of instruments put to use exploring ambient and noise in mostly-instrumental music, and are sometimes augmented by electronics that act as an antithesis to the canned or metronomic sound the word typically conjures. Six of his numerous solo releases can be heard at jeffmcleod.bandcamp.com, and the terrific and terrifying pure essence of negativity manifested as a genius rock trio “No” can be seen playing live, often misunderstood, wherever the loudest local music is to be found. ...And the Lawyers Guitarist Jason Fifield fronts a local favorite: A two-piece indie rock band named ...And the Lawyers. With a signature funky afrobeat guitar sound that favors intriguing jazz chords and uptempo, progressive rhythms, ...And the Lawyers puts on a wonderfully diverse set, some songs highlighting Fifield’s acerbic, playful spoken vocals, full of non-sequiturs and humor, others going in a more instrumental, bombastic or pastoral direction, with immaculate clean-channel guitar noodling and a big drum sound. Not to be confused with smooth jazz Tuscaloosa band “The Doctors and the Lawyers,” Fifield’s band brings a much-needed homespun weirdness and occasionally comic mischief to the Montgomery scene.

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MADEPAPER.COM • NOVEMBER 2013

A new, eager to play, good-natured band out in Dothan, V-8 Death Car spends a lot of time in the city of Montgomery, delivering old fashioned major chord rock and roll, nostalgic drive-in movie era branding, and a slight classic punk vibe, which, all combined, has the odd but understandable effect of landing them in ‘70s power pop territory. Figuring out which direction they will veer, musically, is one of the best things about discovering new bands, but personally I’m hoping that they give in to this “Teenage Kicks”vibe at which their music hints.

V-8 Death Car holds the distinction of being the band most likely to appreciate press given to them, having worked hard in the last few months to get our city’s deserved attention. We hope to see more recordings from the band in the future, but they’re working on it. For now, you can sample their wares on YouTube.

Ed Kemper Trio veteran Kenny Johnson runs a local record label called Pinebox Sound that hosts several related bands worth checking out including Black Racers, El Chupa Cabras, and Reverse Engineer. Fans of the EK3 will not be surprised by the overarching, maniacal, Brainiac-esque hard-rock style evident on some of these projects, however, Montgomery has a lot of hard rock bands (probably too many) and it’s unclear specifically why, other than that our people are angry, which has become obvious nearly to the point of dismissal on the grounds of false dramatics being no less wearing than the false realities against which they rail. That’s why its great that the most recent work on Pinebox’s Soundcloud page, particularly with Reverse Engineer, show that Johnson has taken a natural, introspective leap to more avant-garde instrumental compositions, ever pushing artistic boundaries. An expansive, nervous, multi-textured improv collaboration featuring diverse local players, Reverse Engineer is crisply recorded and acid-jazzy, the sort of band that would sound perfect between Bitches Brew and Sun Ra listening sessions.

Another great band from Prattville, this doomy three piece is comprised of veterans of the Montgomery hard rock scene, and sounds a bit like Queens of the Stone Age had a baby with Motorhead. Elements of punk and wicked, sinewy guitar leads provide punctuation to the band’s concept: dark, loud, moral ambiguity. The Hard Gospel, as an idea, straddles lines between heaven and hell, and as a band, between classic ‘70’s metal and the modern vestiges of commercial rock. Due to each member’s experience working in related styles, they sound remarkably polished for a new band. Having just released their hi-fi debut album, “The Commandments of Morality,” directly on bandcamp to excited local buzz (in The Gump, that means a few bands liking each other’s Facebook posts), The Hard Gospel is a band of musician’s musicians, but they don’t overdo it; The rarity of their live shows makes each one subconsciously feel like a guarded secret of the well-informed, and it works.

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Town building, design, & construction are an evolving process. The Hampstead master plan, features, floor plans, & pricing may change without notice due to a variety of considerations. Any illustrations are artist’s depictions only & may differ from completed improvements. This is not an offer to sell real estate property. Information is correct but not warranted. Void where prohibited by law. Equal Housing Opportunity. © 2 0 13

Photo LNLY WLVS

Words BRIAN CARROLL

Words WESTON MARKWELL

Kyle Humphrey of LNLY WLVS How did you create the name of your band?

It all started when we were brainstorming for a name but just weren’t coming up with anything. Then one night we were having practice and my dog, Mo, started barking and making all kinds of noises during one of the songs. Mo always has the sad look on his face and Pike mentioned something about him looking like a lonely wolf. And boom, that was it. We took out the vowels when we ran a sticker design that resembled a license plate and liked how that looked, and it differentiated us from the handful of other “Lonely Wolves” on Facebook. There were some pretty questionable bands with that name actually.

What genre do you consider yourself?

Blues Rock, or just Rock & Roll.

Who are some of your influences?

Well first, the Blues. If we didn’t have the Blues we would arguably have zero of the music we have today. The Blues was about taking raw emotions and sitting down with a guitar and hashing out those emotions. The songs were fairly straightforward as far as structure goes, but the complexity of the storytelling was what was so compelling.

And as far as I’m concerned, the Blues birthed Country, Country birthed Rock & Roll, and the rest is history.

Personally, I have three very different influences that all play a part in contributing to the band: Led Zeppelin, Hank Williams, and Wu-Tang.

Zeppelin is the perfect band in my eyes. They took something old (Blues) and made something new (Rock & Roll). They were also incredibly talented, and I don’t know if there will ever be a band like Zep. Hank Williams is a Montgomery native and the fact that someone with such an influence on the entire music industry lived so close to where I do is still staggering to me. Hank was a messed up dude and he never held back in his songs. When he was happy, the song was happy, and when he was sad, the song was the saddest thing you had ever heard. This goes back to the Blues and putting

all your emotions into a song. Even someone who didn’t understand English would most likely feel sad if they heard a Hank song.

Wu-Tang is all about the collaboration in music and having the right mindset as a musician. If you don’t put all 4 chambers of your heart into your music, it won’t survive, and that’s why “36 Chambers” is such a great album. 9 hearts putting all 36 chambers of their hearts into one album, and you can really feel it. Again, an adage to the blues and putting emotion into your music. It ain’t called Rhythm & Blues for nothing…

What types of instruments are featured in your music and who plays them?

For the longest time we were just guitar and drums, the essentials to Rock & Roll. But recently we’ve added bass and it gives us much more depth. In recordings we throw around banjo, keyboard, and all types of different percussions.

Favorite band you’ve played with?

My boys from L.F. Knighton. Not sure if they’re still together, but they were a talented bunch from Mobile that reminded me that Rock & Rollwill never die. Also, they knew how to party.

Funniest moment at a show?

A reoccurring moment that happens is that I knock over my beer during a song. Doesn’t matter if it’s on the ground or on a table or on my amp, I always find someway to knock my beer over. Luckily I’ve never electrocuted myself in the process.

Favorite “guilty pleasure” music?

Well, my friends would tell me Jimmy Buffett is a guilty pleasure, but they’re wrong. So I’d have to go with PopCountry in general.

What do you do in your down time?

I’m in school for graphic design, so that takes up a lot of my time. But it encompasses a lot of my other hobbies,

like brewing beer and obviously playing music. So I love having side projects that I can design something for, like beer labels or a new t-shirt design.

Where do you call home, and what do you like about it?

Auburn has been my home for 6 years now, but I also call Baldwin County home, and I’m from the Greater Valley Area, so, I just hop around a bunch.

Favorite lyric and its meaning?

The entirety of “Empty Gun” is my interpretation of what my drummer must have gone through when his dad passed away. It was a challenge to write consoling, empathetic words while also trying to convey that I couldn’t even begin to fathom what that must feel like. So instead of writing him anything personal, I turned it into a story. One of my favorite lines from that song is the very first line, “Met a fortune teller who didn’t tell no lies. And I believed her when those tear’s came from my eyes.”

What’s interesting is that I’ve had people ask me if it’s “from my eyes” or “from HER eyes.” I love that one word can be misheard and change the entire meaning of a line. If it’s “from my eyes,” the line speaks of how we go through denial in a time like this; we don’t believe the signs until they’re made truth. If it’s “from HER eyes,” then it speaks to the magnitude of acceptance, even when the truth may not be known just yet. I’ll keep letting people decide what they hear.

Current reading list?

I just finished Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen and it is a must read. I picked up Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang to start soon. Wow, just realized that’s two monkey books...

What’s your least favorite trend?

MDMA or Molly. Also, the Lebron James / Michael Jordan comparison.

Where can we grab some of your music?

We have all of our recordings on lnlywlvs.bandcamp. com, and we hope to be recording a second full-length this winter.

NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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Urbex urb • ex / noun / “Urban exploration (often shortened as urbex) is the exploration of man-made structures, usually abandoned ruins or not usually seen components of the man-made environment. Photography and historical interest/documentation are heavily featured in the hobby and, although it may sometimes involve trespassing onto private property, this is not always the case and is of innocent intention.[1] Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as infiltration, although some people consider infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or inhabited sites.” thanks wikipedia Photos WESTON MARKWELL

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MADEPAPER.COM • NOVEMBER 2013

Post, Share or Email MADE your own Urbex photos and we’ll share. @MadePaper NOVEMBER 2013 • MADEPAPER.COM

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